Hit the highway

You know how things go with the Ottawa music scene - folks move away. On the plus side, sometimes they come back to play shows, like this one a couple of weeks ago by former Bytowners Adam Saikaley (Telecomo, and others) and Lidija Rozitis (Roberta Bondar, Blue Angel). First up, Lidija performed under her new Tempestas handle, backdropped by a a projection of La Haine.



Lidija sings!



And so on!



Drum machine action!



Well, you get the idea.



Then it was a barely illuminated Adam's turn; he played some highway-driving-inspired compositions (music books available at the merch table).



Fisheyed action!



Keyboard action!



Cool stuff all around.

Down the rabbit hole

The K-Hole  house I've often passed en route to shows elsewhere, and the occasional gaggle of folks hanging out outside as I made my return often made me wonder if it was the site for house shows. Well, if it wasn't before it is now; a bunch of past and present Montrealers (and some past and present Ottawans) brough some psychedelic burnout to its front room two Fridays ago. First up, Slow Dawn. If you wanted to know what former Holy Cobras members were up to, here you go. The new combo combines the Cobras' psychedelic punch with a lot of shoegaze. Here's Jesse and Caylie (Boyhood, Blue Angel, etc.).



And here's former Cobras frontman Dan Druff.



Aother Boyhooder, Alex, rounds out the group on guitar.



Caylie hits!



And so on!



Dan asked for a post-gig group shot, so here you go.



On to DeerGod, the only band of the evening who were strangers to me; they hail from Toronto. They were pretty wild!



Percussive action with Chris Scott!



Here's some guitar action with, and Matt on bass.



Evan works the crowd.



Gripping action!



Back to more familiar faces; No Negative features a couple of vets from The Fuzz (not the Ty Segall group), Mark Frags (also of Ultrathin and Holy Cobras) and Matt Oxley of copious psychedelic outfits (Mannequin, New Humans).



And here's Mark, along with his trademark white belt.



I spoke with bassist Carlo after the show; I don't know who the drummer is.



Feedback and drinking action!



There was just a bit of time for Drainolith (who recently opened at the House of Targ for Neil Michael Hagerty) to play a quick set; their material was a bit mellower than their Targ noise.



Trippy Twins action!



The whole lot!



Alex sings!



Fisheye action!

Rock and a hard place

If you've been following the blog for any length of time, you'll know that I went over to the Daily Grind every once in a while to see shows in the intimate space, often of the loud and metallic variety. Last time, things got a little too loud and the plug was pulled. I left wondering if I'd ever see another live show there. Well, due to entirely unforeseen and unhappy events, it turns out I won't. However, the real tragedy is that the fire which claimed the Daily Grind, Shiraz Market and Middle East Bakery also left a bunch of folks from the local scene homeless. Friends swung into action and soon a charity show at the House of Targ was organized to help them get back on their feet. On the bill: Aube, Blue Angel, Entrenched and Alcohol Fueled. Aube were just starting up as I headed in the door. First, some rhythm section action with Scot and Hugh.



Gripping action with Joel!



Percussive action with Scot!



Fretful action with Rick!



Extra Joel!



Bonus Scot!



After some raffling with Ska Jeff and Remi Royale, Blue Angel played a quick set. Here's Sam!



Caylie sings!



Shouty Sam action!



Lidija rocks the Telecaster.



And sings a bit!



What do you get when you add two parts Big Dick to one part Yips? Warp Lines, that's what. And the fruit did not fall from the true, which is a good thing all round. Here's Dave.



Kurt was on hand to play bass.



More Dave!



Guitar action with Johnny!



Johnny sings some.



Kurt joins in!



Dave sings, too!



The whole lot!



Singalong action!



Time for more raffling action with Jeff and Remi!



On to Entrenched; if I understand correctly their guitarist was one of the fire victims. This was the band's first show and they did a fine job (they're back at Targ in January to open for resuscitated Quebec thrash-punks DBC).



Percussive action!



The shouty bit!



The whole lot!



More percussion!



Alcohol Fuelled brought things to a close with a fun set.



Wil hits!



Tim sings!



Crowd singalong action with Aaron!



More Wil!



Rhythm section action!



Extra Aaron!



Singalong action!



Alcohol fuelling action!



And so on!



A good time for a good cause.