Ottawa Explosion: Sunday

I only had a couple of hours of free time on the final day of Ottawa Explosion, but they were well spent with Feel Alright and Empath. Feel Alright reminded me a bit of Saturday Looks Good To Me, with their guitar pop and harmonies. Here's mainman Craig Fahner!



A shouty bit!



Singalong action! That's Jesse Locke filling in on the skins.



More Jesse!



Rhythm section action!



Alright action!



Guitar action!



More Craig!



Faceoff action!



On to Empath, who brought some raucous synth punk to the game, all the way from Philadelphia. And they're off!



Closeup action!



Keyboard action!



Percussive action!



Singalong action!



A very pleasant afternoon.

Ottawa Explosion: Saturday, Part II

My Saturday night had a bit of a late start - in fact, the only set outside I caught was The Smugglers' headlining shindig. Anyway, here's a shadowy Grant leaping out of the frame, as he is wont to do!



Guitar action!



Vocal action!



Grant takes a stand!



Smuggled action!



Graham hits!



Bass action with Beez!



After being served, protected and entertained, it was time to head inside for some scuzzy punk with Cleveland's Vanilla Poppers.



Vanilla action!



Guitar action!



Percussive action!



Next up, Halifax's Booji Boys, who are fond of DEVO and power-pop. There was a lot of jumping about from this crew.



Vocal action!



Eyeball action!



More running about!



A shouty bit!



See-through guitar action!



They were followed by more Calgary crudpunks Leather Jacuzzi. Singer Sarah is from Ottawa and has performed in local combos like The Misclits and early Zebrassieres.



Sarah sings!



Vocal action!



Percussive action!



Singalong action!



More singalong action!



Leathery action!



And that was it for me - I had other business I had to attend to, which is why this post is like two months late.

Ottawa Explosion: Saturday, Part I

Several Saturdays ago I wandered over to SAW Gallery for some More Ottawa explosion action, starting with Future Girls and some percussive action with Dewayne!



Closeup action with Matt!



Futuristic action with Heather and Coleman!



Heather sings!



More guitar!



More Coleman!



More Heather!



There was another member of the Ohio contingent up next as Pretty Pretty took the stage. Singer Evan and bassist Larry rounded out their trio with Jerri from Vacation et al. on drums for this gig.



Telecaster action!



Banner action!



Larry sings!



More Jerri!



Extra Evan!



Back-to-back action!



Pretty action!



Laika's Orbit came up from New England again to rock the fest: Here's Shane, Mackenzie and Nick!



Dan hits!



Closeup action!



More Dan!



More Mackenzie!



Orbital action!



The whole lot!



Rhythm section action!



Swim Team swam all the way from Cincinatti to play an intense set. Here's Lillian!



Gripping action!



Guitar action with John!



Shirtless action!



Aquatic action!



Closeup action!



They're an active lot.



My afternoon ended with Shellshag, who started things off with a hug. Here's John and Jennifer!



This calls for special boots!



And they're off!



John sings!



Jennifer sings!



Jennifer hits!



John frets!



Singalong action!



John bends!



Then it was off to grab a bite to eat.