Sail away

Once again Ladyfest staged a series on concerts in town and much fun was had by all except me. I worked two out of three days, so my fun was relatively moderate. I did get to see Flotilla again, though, and once again enjoyed their blend of slowcore with electronica tidbits.



Veronica Charnley in smashing frock and a shadowy Benoit Moniere on drums.



Geof Holbrook, multitasking as usual on keys and bass guitar.



Regular harpist Eveline Grégoire-Rousseau was unavailable, so Kristan Toczko filled in on short notice.






Singalong action!



Harpist action!



The whole lot!



There was some last-minute triangle.



Big finish!



One of these days I'm going to have to catch them when they have all their members present and accounted for - which may be Nov. 28, when they perform at 443 Kent St. (or not - I think I'm working that day).

• Show reminder: Venerable Belgian punk combo The Kids, Brutal Knights and Critical Convictions play The New Bayou; Broken Social Scene and Land Of Talk perform at the Bronson Centre; Canadian-Japanese combo Monkey Majik hit Zaphod's; Hospital Bombers opening bands Rhume and Code Pie rock the Elmdale House Tavern.

Sharp dressed women

I popped over to the Bytown Tavern for the second night of Ladyfest festivities last night. Unfortunately I got there too late to see The Weathermakers, since I started watching a movie and lost track of time. Just for the record, The Good German should probably be called The Okay German. The band features a couple of Allumettes and one member of The Grey. Natasha did tell me they have a show coming up Oct. 16 with The Ruby Coast. The next band on stage (or, since this is The Bytown, on floor) was Flotilla. Last time I saw them was at Zaphod's in December 2006. They were missing their drummer and sounded like a fragile slowcore band that would fit well on a bill with Great Aunt Ida, Sarah Hallman or Julie Doiron. They did have their drummer on this occasion, and either his presence or the passage of time has conspired to make them sound much punchier. Veronica Charnley's dress was also mighty snazzy.


Flotilla, The Bytown Tavern, September 20, 2008

Continuing the sartorial and musical excellence, E.S.L. put on a fine show. Call it Balkan-influenced folk (but without the brass of, say, Beirut or the rock presence of Gogol Bordello). They made a lot of cracks about drinking too much at their Black Sheep show the night before, and had a plastic dinosaur for a mascot. I recall drummer Joy Mullen from The Doers' show at the Montgomery Legion a few years back. They also covered The Velvet Underground's Venus in Furs.


E.S.L., The Bytown Tavern, September 20, 2008

They finished off with a pitch for their buttons, postcards and CDs, then a performance of their own I Don't Buy It.

• Show reminder: The High Dials play an early CD release show at Babylon. Contagium and Captain Finger play an even earlier show at The New Bayou. The Unavowed, Kintra and Rock City perform at Zaphod's.
  

Set sail

I learned one thing from going to see Flotilla: It's damn hard to take a good picture of someone playing a harp. There's a fair amount of music education with Flotilla - Geof Holbrook is an award-winning composer, and Veronica Charnley has won a fair amount of acclaim for her songwriting talents. Eveline Gregoire-Rousseau handles the harp (yes, they do say they like Joanne Newsom - but who doesn't, apart from Rolling Stone?). I gather they also have a drummer named Mark Nicol, but he wasn't in evidence, leaving Holbrook to handle the backbeat with an electronic drum pad. I can well imagine them on a bill with Sarah Hallman or Julie Doiron.

Veronica is an Ottawa transplant.



Geof.



Eveline concentrated on the high end.



Naval action!



Geof does double duty - triple if you count the vocals.



The whole lot.



Singalong action!





Flotilla plans to return for a date at Arts Court Feb. 23.

Land and sea

I decided to spend a low-key night at Zaphod's, so off into the cold (not too bad), and off to see Acres started things off. Last time I saw them at Zaphod's (an early show by them), they were quite impressive. No difference this time around.



Flotilla were a bit more twee - but then they have a harp, so it more or less goes with the territory. The Montreal band rounds out their interesting lineup with a singer-guitarist and a backing vocalist who played electronic drums with one hand (and foot) and a synthesizer with the other. They put me in mind of Julie Doiron.



Finally, The Soiree put on a short set of their moody roots-pop.



That was a nice night out.

• Show reminder: EZ Company and As the Poets Affirm perform at Bronson Centre Theatre; The Sick Fits, The Sweet Janes and The Jet Five rock Babylon; Jim Bryson and naval stalwart Andrew Vincent do something festive at the Black Sheep Inn; Magneta Lane and Die Mannequin play Zaphod's.