In a different key

You may recall a few years back that The Gris Gris and their frontman Greg Ashley putting on some wicked garage psyche shows at Babylon and The Dominion Tavern. You might not have known that Ashley was back in town this Sunday at the Dominion Tavern for something a little different. Ashley's been playing bass with The John Brothers Piano Company of late, and they were one hand to open things up with some swinging sounds.

And here most of them are: Clarinetist Thatcher Boomer, trumpeter Arlo Perlstein, drummer Jimi Martin and Ashley.



And here's the piano man, John Morgan.



Windy action!



Jimi hits!



Extra Ashley!



As for Ashley's set, the music didn't change a whole lot; it was considerably more jazzy than his previous output.



Swinging action!



Bonus Boomer!



Additional Arlo!



As you can see, Morgan uses an honest-to-goodness, if much-abused, piano.



Rhythm section action!



And a bit more Jimi.



The turnout was about what you'd expect for a rainy Sunday, but the audience was certainly enthusiastic.

Medical attention

Greg Ashley has cruised through town a few times before; I've been fortunate enough to see a couple of brilliant shows by the Texas-to-California psych dealer (it would've been three but for a bit of border trouble) with his regular band, The Gris Gris. This time around he came to Babylon as part of a "solo tour" - in actuality Ashley, frequent co-conspirator Brian Glaze and multi instrumentalist, Alan Harrison (it would've been four, but for a bit of border trouble). His previous shows have featured a lot of feed back and reverb. The Medicine Fuck Dream stuff was more folk than garage rock.

Greg started things off with a couple of folky numbers.



Alan also kicked in some piano and guitar (not to mention handling merch duties).



Brian Glaze chips in one of his own numbers.



Greg multitasks.





Tim Matthews of Mon Hum went on stage to help out on percussion during one of Brian's songs.





There's more than one way to play a bass guitar ...



The whole lot - except for guitarist Nathan Dunn, grounded in New York due to some youthful indiscretion.



Greg and Brian trade off on drums and guitar.





The Medicine Fuck Dream's drum was in somewhat dodgy shape, and required some intervention from a helpful audience member to stay upright.







The encore was a couple of solo turns from Brian and Greg (aided by some onstage drinking - moral support, you know). "We're going to play some hippy-dippy stuff ... we're from the Bay area so that's how we roll" observed Brian.



And so we leave you as we arrive ...



A lovely show (PS: There are a couple of other pictures on my Flickr account).

• Show reminder: Indie music lovers across the region yelp in agony as The Books at Babylon go head-to-head with Final Fantasy at Black Sheep Inn. Matthew de Zoete, Nathan Bishop, David Gaudet play Cafe DeKcuf.

Perchance to dream

It's been a year since Greg Ashley and Brian Glaze graced our fair city. As is traditional, they had problems at the border (their guitarist is still back in NYC) but three-quarters of their touring outfit played a laidback set at Babylon as Greg Ashley's Medicine Fuck Dream last night.

Here's Greg Ashley finishing the night off.



Less feedback this time, still very cool. Unfortunately I missed Mono Hum's opening set (work, work, work ... which is also why my Two Koreas pictures are going to wait a day or two).

Easter everywhere

Brian Glaze used to be in notorious but musical trainwreck The Brian Jonestown Massacre; now he's got a solo album out on Birdman, recorded with considerable assistance from Gris Gris and Mirrors frontman Greg Ashley. The influence of Texas heads The 13th Floor Elevators looms large on Let's Go To The Sea, as does '60s West Coast rock. Glaze's sound fits hand in glove with The Gris Gris, which is a good thing since the band served as his backing unit when he opened for them at The Dominion Tavern April 10. They had a bit of a tough time at the border ("They even confiscated Oscar's pepper spray!") but at least they managed the haul to Ottawa.

Maybe I should throw in some early Bob Dylan as well, given Glaze's sartorial style.



Oscar Michel, sans pepper spray.



Joe Haener in the red.



Gris Gris mastermind Greg Ashley.



Lars on organ ... prior to the show I was wondering if Ashley had acquired a few new members since their last appearance - turns out Lars just cut his hair since the band's last show here.



Group action!







Big crazy finish!





With that done, it was time for the Gris Gris to play some of their own music. So here's Oscar (showing off his moves), Lars and Greg.



I actually managed to get a decent shot of Joe in this set.



A wide-angle view of the keyboard.



... and some dual-keyboard sound manipulation.



Psychedelic action!





Rock action!









A killer show with a frenzied finish - and the turnout was remarkably good for a Monday show with underwhelming promotion.

• Show reminder: Lots of opportunity tonight for fans of pop and folk (and poppy folk) - Poorfolk and Orillia Opry (which I hear features some vets of Timber) play Irene's; Final Fantasy and Grizzly Bear play the Black Sheep Inn; Young And Sexy and That's The Spirit (i.e. Ben Wilson from The Polytones doing his solo stuff) play Zaphod's.

Goin' to a Gris Gris

A pair of trippy sets from Birdman Records psychedelic popper Brian Glaze and the Gris Gris - since the GG backed BG, it all flowed together nicely, with some extended psychedelic workouts at the end. Some pictures ...

Mr. Glaze.



Greg Ashley, Gris Gris mastermind.



Far out, man.