Pull the plug

And at last we come to the end - of this particular Mavericks show, and of Dr. Wily and The Robot Masters, that is. Ottawa's best video game metal soundtrack band is no more. You want the Donkey Kong theme song? You'll have to play the game itself, for Tim, Fatty, Steph and Pete have hung up their guitars (quite how you do this with a headless Steinberger I dunno) - or at least gone on to other musical projects. And now on to the pictures, the vast majority of which are nowhere near as good as the ones I took last time.

My best shots of Pete are both group pics.





Fatty is still not all that fat.



Steph rocks out!



Tim brought a labcoat for the occasion.



Up!



Down!



And finally a bit more Steph.



I know Tim plays in Deamon and The Donner Party - as for everyone else, who knows?

• Show reminder: Montag returns, and plays Zaphod's with The One AM Radio and Lymbyc System.

The doctor is out

I went off to Mavericks to catch the farewell gig for Dr. Wily and The Robot Masters. The video game metal titans threw themselves a shindig to say goodbye to their fans - a fair crowd of them turned out - and sell off some excess merch.

Valveenus opened things up with some steamroller punk rock.



Jesus Mullet returned after a hiatus with their Motorhead-meets-Nebula heavy rock.



Finally, Dr. Wily and The Robot Masters played their last ever show.



Game over?

• Show reminder: There are a couple of house shows on tonight: For the Mathematics, The Marvelous Darlings, Diemonds and Onetree perform at The Slaughter House (452 Gladstone Ave. at Kent); I Refuse, Words, This Ship Will Burn, Scary Hours, and Low Budget Cast play 34 (or as the postman calls it, 34 Meadowlands Dr.). A Plot Against Me and Dead And ConfusedBenefit of A Doubt, The Epilogue, Sunday Night Cruise and Fire Heats Water play Mavericks; perform at Club SAW. The Divorcees and the always excellent David Picco perform at the Black Sheep Inn.

Look ma, no head!

I struck up a brief conversation with another concert-goer who asked me if Maserati had been on yet. No, I replied, just the locals Sleeping Pilot and Dr. Wily and The Robot Masters. "What are they like." They do instrumental metal renditions of Nintendo video game themes, replies I. "They couldn't possibly be as good as I could imagine them." His response was partially sarcastic, but in truth they were a bit better than you'd think. They've got chops, and the composers of video game theme music are all pros.

Guitarist Pete rocks the Steinberger.



Fatty rocks the other headstockless guitar ... hey, he's not so fat!



Drummer Tim - also of Deamon.



Six-string-bassist Steph gets in on the tapping action



Mega-action!







That was kind of interesting ... might be more appealing to Nintendo addicts, though. A good choice to open the show, I'd say.

• Show reminder: Clothes Make The Man and The Ride Theory rock Greenfield's Pub; The Watters Brothers, Jacquie in the Kitchen and Addison perform at Zaphod's.

Sleeping with the dead

Last night at Mavericks offered an interesting quartet of acts. First, Dr. Wily and The Robot Masters. This young foursome plays instrumental metal versions of Nintendo soundtracks. I never played enough to Nintendo to recall any of their theme songs so perhaps that's just a leg pull. But I doubt it.



Next up, Sleeping Pilot, the only band with vocals that evening, and the band most likely to have members fall over one another.



I was particularly impressed with instrumental combo Maserati; to me they sound like a less aggressive Pelican, or perhaps a more volatile Mono.



Finally Zombi closed the night off - because of their association with Relapse, they're sometimes tagged to as a metal band. I imagine they appeal more to fans of Goblin. They take their name from the Dario Argenta film Goblin soundtracked, so I'm sure it's not a comparison they'd duck. Phaedra-era Tangerine Dream may figure in there as well.



They were cool, but work better on headphones, I'd say.

• Show reminder: The Sick Fits perform a short-notice show at Irene's with Paul Fenton, producer of their upcoming CD; The Soiree, Flotilla and Acres play Zaphod Beeblebrox.