Yeah, yeah, yeah

The final set for August goes to Toronto's Hell Yeah Fuck Yeah, and their punk-influenced rock'n'roll and rock'n'roll-influenced punk. Plenty of fine banter and Al911's trademark puking next to the drum kit.

Al911 and Adam (not on that order)!





Nicky Crypt and monitor-standing action!



Ryan!



Adam!



And so on!





Flag-waving action!



Greenish action!



The whole lot!



The crowd could've been larger .... I'm not sure Zaphod's is their best bet, perhaps the Dom, Bytown or Bayou next gig?

• Show reminder: Centretown Cripplers, The Februarys, Harvey Cartel and Auto Racing play Zaphod Beeblebrox; The Fallacy, Storyteller, Pray For Tomorrow, Aimless Endeavor and Another Blank Note rock for all ages at Cafe Dekcuf.

@#!$ to Zed

As my vacation rushes swiftly to its death I waltzed over to Zaphod's to see some rock'n'roll, along with whatever it is that openers ZERG! do. The duo of Mobot and Billy G. are rounded out by a keyboardist and drummer for their live shows, which feature blippy electronic rock and a cover of the theme song from Revenge of the Nerds. Mobot also had an Ampeg guitar, which frankly sounded better than his Yamaha EZAG electronic teaching guitar. As for their claims of resolute nerdishness, I think I saw a few too many tattoos for them to qualify. Sorry.


Zerg!, Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 31, 2008

Next up were The Bella Bombs, who sounded particularly thunderous this time around.


Bella Bombs, Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 31, 2008

I was chatting with Reg Allen of Good2Go and mentioned that I'd heard Hell Yeah Fuck Yeah were a band with an energetic set with a sound not unlike Scandinavia's more motor-riffic groups. Until lead singer Al911 wrapped his Toronto FC scarf around the microphone stand while the band was setting up their gear I hadn't realized that I've actually seen them before at Zaphod's in January performing with Hellbros. This was while my camera was off for repairs, so here they are (or at least Al and guitarist Adam) for the first time in living colour.


Hell Yeah Fuck Yeah, Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 31, 2008

As I said before, it's solid rock'n'roll in the vein of Zeke (albeit not as speedy), with witty banter and stinky puking between songs.

Hell freezes over

When I arrived at Zaphod's around 9 p.m. Cross the Floor were already well into their set and my kneecaps were frozen solid from the walk over to Zaphod's. Brrr. CTF's sound is close to alt metal, but stands above the also-runs thanks to some good backup singing and a versatile bunch of tunes. Good dynamics from an outfit who understands it's best not to turn everything to 11 all the time, and a solid performance all-round.
There was even more jumping and bumping around from the Hellbros bunch for this show. It was their usually thrashy stuff with some extra-throaty singing. they had a rubber leg in handcuffs which travelled from Stabatron's microphone stand to Killbot's arm ("This is going to hurt" he observed) and then all over the stage.
Hell Yeah Fuck Yeah made me think of Zeke and Peter Pan Speedrock: Motor-rock overdose with some almost pop-punk vocals (or at least no cookie-monsterisms). Two members were also wearing Dwarves shirts. The it was out into the freezing cold once again.
Show reminder: It's ladies' night at the Rainbow with Unexpect, Echoes of Eternity and The Agonist. The long-haired dudes of Atma fill out the bill.