All's well

I spent the end of Megaphono's Thursday night at the Dominion. Not to slight the lineup at Mercury Lounge, where I had initially planned to spend my evening, but the stuff at the Dom was more in my line. Apart from Kings Quest and Crosss (one of my favourite bands), there were a couple of interesting unknowns in Michael Rault and Petra Glynt.

Kings Quest started things up shortly after I arrived. Here's Ann and Jenna.



Eric is a little bit hairier every time I see the band.



Jenna sings!



Owen hits!



Extra Anna!



Fretful action!



Rhythm section action with Derek on bass!



Extra Jenna!



Eric sings!



Over to Edmonton-via-Toronto's Michael Rault, who has a very sweet line in power pop sounds. Burger Records are unleashing his Living Daylight album on the world in April (the label's Lee Rickard was on hand to give the thumb's up). Here's Michael at right.



Michael sings!



Backup vocal action!



Percussive action!



Singalong action!



Rhythm section action!



Closeup action!



Daylight action!



And so on!



Petra Glynt followed them with a stunning set. The artist otherwise known as Alexandra Mackenzie (formerly of Toronto rockers Dentata) uses loops and samples as well as a snare to buttress her powerful voice with some Teutonic tribal sounds.



Closeup action!



Percussive action!



She made quite an impression.



More hitting!



It was getting past 1:30 a.m. by the time Crosss got things started, but there was still a pretty good crowd for their Friction-meets-Syd Barrett sound. Here's main man Andy March.



Andy has recruited a new bassist since I saw them late last year at Pressed.



Same drummer though.



Andy sings!



More percussion!



Guitar action!



More bass!



Closeup action!



Rhythm section action!



The whole lot!



A swell capper to what looks like a very successful event.

Hues and cry

Last week I toddled over to Pressed to see Crosss. The band is a frequent visitor, but I just can't get enough of the band's doomy Wipers-style psyche rock. They were joined by the gently post-punk sounds of Moss Lime and some avant-drone courtesy of Self Surgey.

Pierre begins the oscillations.



Now in four distinct colours!



Vocal action!



Pressed has my favourite lamp.



Moss Lime hail from Montreal and jokingly describe themselves as a combination of smooth and surf (a.k.a. "smurf"). There are some clear single note lines courtesy of guitarist Joel Young, but this crowd's sounds really come from the early 1980s.



Singalong action with Helene Barbier!



Extra Joel!



More Helene!



Caitlin Pinder sings!



Cross finished the evening off with a heavy set.



As usual I have no idea who these men of mystery are (apart from frontman Andy).



Percussive action!



It was a multicoloured evening.



Rhythm section action!



And that's it, since conditions were not ideal for photography. Dynamite show, though.

Excellent execution

As I mentioned on Sunday, the stars of that day's show at Pressed were also on the bill: Halifax/Hamilton drone-psych rockers trio Crosss. They keep a low profile, but on stage they raise a mighty din.

Andy March rocks the SG!



Nathan Doucet - also of Yellow Jacket Avenger - is just the man to handle the drums.



Ryan Allen handles the low end.



Feedback action!



The end! (I took very few photos at this show.)



As mentioned on Monday, they have an excellent new album out, along with a limited edition lathe-cut split with Un-Blonde.