Man oh man

Early Man were the big draw of the night for me. Not to knock Priestess, but they come to town with some regularity, whereas Earl Man does not. In fact I was a bit surprised to hear they were still around, since they haven't exactly been pumping out new music since their Matador album hit the streets in 2005. They rocked Mavericks pretty hard, and generated some serious moshing action in the crowd.

Mainman Tim Conte.



Hairshaking action from lanky bassist Tim Ramage!



At left, wheedler extraordinaire Pete Macy.



Pete says his favourite guitarist ever is Rhandy Rhoads. No shock there.



Drummer Adam Bennati is somewhere under the hair.



Faceoff action!



Early Man were fresh off a tour with Skeletonwitch, thus the shirts.



Early action!



They finally have a full-length followup to Closing In, entitled Death Potion, on the go.

• Show reminder: Lynn Miles has a sold-out show at the Elmdale House; Graydon James folk-rocks the Rainbow Bistro; Orphan Choir, Whiskey Trench, Shared Arms, Jon Creeden and Mount Trashmore hit the basement at Tough Times on 60 James St.

A triple-edged sword

Eighteen days without going to a show is probably a record for me, at least in this millennium - but that's more or less how long it's been between going to see Priestess, Early Man and Trigger Effect last night and catching a free Zaphod's showcase near the start of the month. This was an ace triple bill of heavy metal music, in three distinct flavours.

I hadn't heard of or seen Trigger Effect before this show, apart from a few snippets of praise on the punkottawa.com message board. They come from Montreal and are closer to punk rock than metal - lots of metal in their sound and some smart alec banter from singer Nick Babeau, who jumped into the crowd on their last song to raise havoc.


Trigger Effect, Mavericks, November 20, 2009

I was trying to remember when I got Early Man's debut, Closing In - turns out to be 2005, when it came out on Matador, of all labels. Back then they were a duo. Now they're a aquartet with a heavy debt to thrashy and wheedly metal bands. They really had the crowd moshing and put on an awesome display of guitar prowess - extra props to Pete Macy, who really knows how to shred.


Early Man, Mavericks, November 20, 2009

The big news on the Priestess front - and the reason for this tour with Early Man and Trigger Effect - is that they finally have a new album out, Prior To The Fire. I've run out of things to say about Priestess; as usual they put on a great show. They also have some slide-projector generated light effects to jazz up their set, not that they really need it. I'm predicting everyone will be wearing sunglasses by the end of the tour, because it's set up so it shines right in their faces.


Priestess, Mavericks, November 20, 2009

Their cross-Canada tour is now heading south to Toronto and Hamilton before heading north and west.

• Show reminder: Quest for Fire (featuring former Deadly Snakes) and Sports play Zaphod's and make me regret I don't have the day off. The Hammerheads are at The Rainbow; Holly McNarland and Fused perform at Mavericks; Irene's hosts Far Away Star; The Big Bend - last seen on this site opening for The Scenics - Brendan Flynn and the Terrible Liars and Devin Johnstone play The Elmdale House.