Cash for Nash

Getting back to the last week of November; there were several charity shows apart from the one for the victims of the Somerset St. fire - the other one that I attended was for Johnny Nash. I've taken plenty of pictures of Johny over the years; the earliest I could find with a cursory search through the blog was of him fronting The Long Timers back in 2005. Back then I knew him as the bassist for South of 78; in the interim I've seen him perform with The Fucking Machines, And What Army, The Mighty Eagle Band and Neck. He's been waging a battle with cancer for a few years now, and it's taken a financial toll that a bunch of friends thought they could help reduce. His bandmate Jeff Martin and others got together to stage Cash for Nash at The Dominion Tavern, and I could tell things were going well as soon as I stepped through the door - or rather, after I waited at the door for a quarter hour waiting for a chance to get in while Camp Radio started things off. Here's Chris Page.



The whole lot!



Chris sings!



Scott hits! It was a busy night for him.



Extra Chris!



Rhythm section action!



Raffling action!



Slo' Tom filled out the time between the acts with Nash tales and a song or two.



Next up were The Banditas, who I've officially seen more times after they broke up than before.



Scott sings!



CiV hits!



The whole lot!



Extra Scott!



Speaking of reunions, Jeff's pre-Neck band, Garaga, hooked up again for this show.



Shawn and Colin.



Extra Jeff!



Kevin from Neck filled in on the drums.



Colin sings!



Extra Shawn!



The whole lot!



Johnny gets up to say a few words.



After another Slo' Tom interlude, Andrew Vincent & The Pirates played a really rocking set, the highlight of the evening for me.



Davey Quesnelle gets Pirated!



Singalong action with Johnny!



Andrew sings!



Even more Scott!



Piratical action!



The Hi Lo Trons finished things off in fine style as a trio.



Percussive action with Pascal!



Alex frets!



The shouty bit!



A great success on all fronts.

Trees and Bees

I headed over to Pressed on Friday to catch a few returns to the stage. Rob Snasdell-Taylor, last seen on the blog with The Pop Shove-Its many years ago (November 2005 or thereabouts to be precise) is back in action with his new combo Chops and The Holics, and Christine Chesser of The Johnnies, Secret Lovers and Chickpea has also made a comeback with Treees of North America, featuring a slew of familiar faces.

The actual opener was Slo' Tom, whose set I arrived to late to see; Trees of North America were on stage and you should recognize everyone from other posts - well, maybe not, since I neglected to keep my camera battery charged and was forced to fall back on my iPhone. Anyway, that's Darrel Angus (Golden Famile, Shakey Aches, Desecrators, etc.) on guitar, Patrick Shanks (Glads, Shanker & Romps, Merle Knurling, etc.) on bass and Scott Terry (Klovenhoofs, Camp Radio and a bunch of others) on drums.



Singalong action! Darrel, Christine and Scott all took turns singing lead on a tune while I was there.



On to Chops and The Holics; here's a very blurry Rob.



He's ably assisted by Johnny Nash Neck, And What Army, Fucking Machines, Long Timers and so on)on rhythm guitar, Matt Murdoch on lead, along with a rhythm section of Max McMillan and Joel Lemiuex.



The Dead Bees finished things off; I saw them at Zaphod's in January of 2013, and they're still the same sharp pop cpombo they were then.



Chris sings!



Unfortunately all my other photos were terribly grainy so I'll leave it at that.

It takes a lot

And What Army finished the night off at The Rainbow. This was the first time I saw them in action, but bassist Johnny Nash has shown up in a number of other bands, notably The Fucking Machines and Long-Timers. I've also seen drummer Kevin Earle play at The Rainbow - more than four years ago in Design of Cities. Guitarist Ryan Hillier did time in Crank and Chickpea.

That Nash!



Kevin hits!



Ryan steps on it.



Ryan sings!



Rhythm section action!



Fisheyed action!



The whole lot!



Johnny sings!



The shouty bit!



Bonus Kevin!



They're playing April 27 with Halifax's Alert The Medic at Zaphod's.

Lights out!

If a band comes all the way from Australia, I figure I owe it to them to head to the club and check them out. In the case of Wagons, it was definitely worth the trip, since they played a great set of roots rock interspersed with some of the best stage banter I've heard in a while, plus an unexpected hip-hop tune. As an extra bonus, Old Crowns played a very fine opening set.

It's been a while since Stephen St. Pierre and company have graced Ottawa with their presence. The last time I saw themselves myself was at Mavericks in January 2010.


Old Crowns at Zaphod Beeblebrox, September 7, 2011

Sam Seguin strums!


Old Crowns at Zaphod Beeblebrox, September 7, 2011

What's an Australian country-rock band doing touring Canada? Well this lot have been picked up by Six Shooter Records - whose roster they blend in quite well with - and are consequently touring North America. Henry Wagons is a very jovial frontman whose amusing commentary between songs was also first rate. The play some country rock, a boogie song and a cover of Elvis Presley's Never Been To Spain. The show was also spiced up a bit by the club being suddenly plunged into darkness just before they hit the stag. It soon emerged that the stretch of York St. Zaphod's is on was also in darkness. Fortunately things started up again ...


Wagons at Zaphod Beeblebrox, September 7, 2011

Singalong action!


Wagons at Zaphod Beeblebrox, September 7, 2011

I could have toddled off home, but as it happens there was also a rock show going on at The Rainbow. The opener was The Armortones, but they had apparently been and gone by the time I left Zaphod's. As I approached the Rainbow I could the raucous noise of The Allrights from a block away.


The Allrights at The Rainbow, September 7, 2011

Faceoff action!


The Allrights at The Rainbow, September 7, 2011

This was also the second outing by And What Army?, who played a feedback heavy psychedelic pummel, plus a cover of The Doughboys' Fix Me. The trio features Johnny Nash of The Long Timers and Fucking Machines on bass.


And What Army? at The Rainbow, September 7, 2011

Guitarist Ryan Hillier and drummer Kevin Earle round out the trio.


And What Army? at The Rainbow, September 7, 2011

They'll also be playing the Glebe Streets festival Sept. 10.

• Show reminder: Brian Simms, The Fays and The Dishslayers perform for the Out of Ottawa CD release show at The Elmdale Tavern; Not Even Death, Be The Saviour, The Gillingham Fire Demonstration, D.F.O.S., Eyes Of New and Torn Apart By Wolves make some noise at Mavericks; Guilty About Girls and Remember The Fire play Zaphod's.