Natural Hi

I suspect the crowd that gathered to see The Hi Lo Trons in End Hits' basement was one of the smallest the outfit has played to since their earliest days. Then again, it's also probably the city's smallest venue (possible exception: The Manx). This was a brisk but less sweaty than usual performance, more of a taster for the folks to young to attend their album release party at Barrymore's April 4.

Most of them. There's not enough room for Mike Dubue's keyboards so the once-departed and now-returned Mike Schultz handled all that end of the show.



The rest of them. And electricity.





More Paul Hogan.



More Mike.



More other Mike.



More shouting!



As mentioned before their new CD Happymatic hits the streets on Kelp Records April 1. They celebrate its venturing into the outside world April 4 at Barrymore's.

• Show reminder: I'm repeating myself, but this evening you can see The Love Machine, The Junction, These Electric Lives and Fire Heats Water entertain the multitudes at Barrymore's; Amanda Rheaume and Tim's Myth play Zaphod Beeblebrox, you can catch Manpower, Mighty Eagle Band and Polymorphines at Babylon or head over to Irene's for a big 'ol helping of Missippi Grover, Shanker and Romps and The Felines.

Handiwork

So here we are, back in End Hits basement ... they've given it a lick of paint since I was last there to see Calvin Johnson and Captain Foxy - no longer does graffiti declare it the best venue in Ottawa for five or six years running. At least the hole in the ceiling is still there. Giant Hand was into the last handful of songs so I only snapped three or four photos, of which this fuzzy crowd scene is one.



And here's Kirk Ramsay winding things up.



After that Immaculate Machine was up. They turned a few knobs on the soundboard (stowed away in a closet to the side of the stage) and embarked on a first number with more guitar than they likely planned. After four months away from photography I found myself pretty rusty, so I spent a lot time adjusting settings. As for the band, they were much as I remember them from their Babylon set. They did have some new songs from Fables to perform and an abbreviated take of their Mandarin version of Dear Confessor.

Brooke and Luke sing!



Kathryn Calder and singalong action. The New Pornographers announced they're performing in Ottawa April 8 - I understand Neko Case is supposed to be with them this tour.



More Kathryn action! I just wish she was in better focus than the keyboard. Oh well.





This time Luke kept his shirt on. He also wished people farewell at the foot on the stairs.



The end!



I plan to see them again on March 21 with Ladyhawk.

• Show reminder: Crush Luther, The Love Machine, Ukrainia, Antizario and Clepto and the Gypsies and assorted other entertainments will be rocking for the teens at the National Gallery of Canada noonish. John Allaire plays The Rainbow with Kaya Fraser. I quite forgot to mention earlier that Vancouver's The Town Pants will be playing at Zaphod's; Newfie Fog will roll on stage to warm things up.

Back in the saddle

They say pictures don't lie. This wasn't true, even before the days of Adobe Photoshop, but the brand-spankin' new pictures below are pretty solid evidence that I have my camera back. I shall not dwell upon the almost four months it took the company that oversaw my warranty to figure out whether they were repairing or replacing it. I'll just say a quick thanks to the speedy and ever-competent work done by the good people at Nortown Photo Service (next time something breaks, I'm just sending it to them and to hell with the warranty) and move on to last night's show at End Hits: A rare chance for The Hi Lo Trons to perform before an all-ages crowd.

First up on stage (okay, floor) was Giant Hand, a.k.a. Kirk Ramsay, with some fragile folk. He seemed a bit nervous. This was his first show and I only caught the last couple of songs, including one he just wrote to stretch out the set.


Giant Hand

The Immaculate Machine were passing through town on their way to other gigs and did an impromptu show. Brooke had laryngitis, so they tried to confine themselves to songs with only three or four notes.


The Immaculate Machine

Finally The Hi Lo Trons bounced their way through a quick set, including tunes from their upcoming album.


Hi Lo Trons

A good and much-photographed show. Immaculate Machine will of course be back March 21 to perform with Ladyhawk at Zaphod's. The Hi Lo Trons have their CD release show at Barrymore's April 4.

Move around

July 3 I slipped away to End Hits to see Captain Foxy - a local group I've never seen before - and Calvin Johnson, K Records founder. Captain Foxy play punk rock about unrequited love and oddball indie pop about working in an ice cream store. Or is it the other way around? It was 10 days ago and I can't recall anything that ancient.

Rekha on tambourine and vocals.



Chris Landry, once of Expatriate.



Allie Hanlon on drums.



Unfortunately I failed to get a good solo photo of bassist Andria (or of much else, I'm almost moved to say).



The whole lot!



Foxy action!



Captain action (it's quite similar, you'll notice)!



After that it was time for Calvin Johnson to take to the stage. Of course since this show was in End Hits' basement there was no stage, so he made do with a small bit of grey carpeting. Johnson has turned to acoustic balladry, which suits his careworn baritone and heartbreak lyrics. For this show he just stuck with acoustic guitar - he didn't even plug into a PA, not that one was required in the End Hits' basement with such an attentive audience. He also performed a capella on Move Around, When Hearts Turn Blue. He covered Dusty Springfield's A Little Bit of Lovin', which he said he admired for its combination of Memphis musicianship, Brill Building songwriting and Brit blues vocals.

All of my pictures of Johnson also turned out irredeemably horrid with but a few precious exceptions. Here's Johnson and his audience.



And him busting a few moves during the a capella Move Around.





An entertaining and occasionally funny show. I definitely heard some tittering and the odd guffaw.

• Show reminder: Brock Zeman performs at Irene's. In addition to their Bluesfest gig, The Deadstring Brothers will perform at the Rainbow.

Leaders of men

K Records founder and many of many bands Calvin Johnson put on an interesting show in conjunction with local's Captain Foxy. The Foxy ones are a new-wave influenced quartet (X-Ray Spex are somewhere in their DNA) and Johnson was playing solo acoustic, so it was a bit of an odd match. Then again, both have songs about unrequited love, so perhaps it's not such a bad fit after all.

Captain Foxy.



Johnson dispensed with the PA. Unfortunately End Hits' basement doesn't allow for a campfire.



Good turnout too: It was sitting room only.

X marks the spot

Xbxrx have a reputation for fun shows; and like opener Elephantoms they put on a physically vigorous performance. Their music has apparently changed over the years from a synth driven noisepunk style to their current, guitar-focused noise catharsis.

Guitarists Steve and Vice Cooler started the band up in Mobile, Ala. - now they're based in Oakland, Calif.



Purple duct tape ... what can't it do?



Running about! I can understand why Vice was limbering up before the show.



Brotherly action!



I can see the headline now: "Photographer squashed by Vice."



The drummer is MC; The bassist goes by WW, near as I can tell. They should sell bracelet with "WWWWD?" on them.



There's no crowd so small you can't surf on it.



Rhythm section action!



Vice Cooler rocks the much-abused Strat.



See that yellow conduit? That's the gas line. Run for your lives!





Big finish!



I picked up their new CD Wars and quite enjoy it. They make a hell of a racket but you can hear the song structure underneath the scree.

• Show reminder: Much Kelp-related action, starting with an in-store performance by The Acorn at Compact Music (the one downtown, near Bank and Gloucester) at 12:30; they also play with The Flaps, The Michael Parks, Agile Like This and Brockway Biggs at The Navy Club. Slackjaw Sinners, Entire Cities and Ennuie perform at The Gallery at Ecclesiax (just off Fifth Ave. in the Glebe, a block from Bank St.). Rock Plaza Central, Paper Airplanes and Books On Books play Zaphod Beeblebrox; Pawa Up First and My Dad vs Yours perform at the Black Sheep Inn. The Stills, The Besnard Lakes, Karkwa and Mahjor Bidet indie-rock the Capital Music Hall. Washboard Hank and The McGillicuddy Sisters perform at Irene's.
  

Twist and shout

Back in February I went to Babylon to see For The Mathematics, F!ght F!ght F!ght, Sleeping Pilot and Elephantoms. Well, I arrived too late to see Elephantoms, but someone - Justin of Sleeping Pilot, perhaps? - commented on the derring-do of Elephantoms' singer. That was about all I knew of the band when I went to End Hits to see them open for xbxrx, although I was willing to bet they'd be fast, frenzied and noisy. Any takers? I thought not.

And down goes the PA on the first song!



Here's the aforementioned singer, Kevin. He was indeed active, making several painful-looking flops onto his back. (Although guitarist Gary said he was actually a bit sedate at this performance in a post-show e-mail. Yipes.)



Drummer Mike - just another day at the office.



Gary yells.



Unfortunately I failed to get a decent solo shot of bassist Matt. But then I recall my family motto: "Next time." Anyway here he is with Gary.



Elephantine action!





Kevin post flop!



Some running about ...



And some last-minute shouting from Gary.



They'll be back in the basement, opening for Genghis Tron May 4; they'll also be at Zaphod's August 8.

• Show reminder: The Sick Fits finally release their CD at Babylon with Diemonds. The Reason play an acoustic set at End Hits in the afternoon - you can also catch them at Babylon for an early show with Anberlin, Daphne Loves Derby and Jonezetta (assuming of course you already have your ticket); Lieutenant Antlers, What the Shit?! and Gagner perform at Mavericks. The Marble Index, The Dunes and The City Above play Zaphod Beeblebrox.