OXW 2013: Saturday, Part I

Well, upon further investigation, my Time Machine backups seem to have stopped somewhere around mid-June. Fortunately everything from Ottawa Explosion was already uploaded to Flickr, so you can expect many months of reposting. Huzzah! For Saturday I split my tim between The SAW Gallery and Mugshots. Unfortunately it was a pretty rainy day, but that didn't stop plenty of rock'n'roll shenanigans.

Things started off (for me, anyway) with Sackville's Astral Gunk, who have a wicked psychedelic punk thing going on. Plus colourful shirts.


Astral Gunk at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, July 22, 2013

Hawaiian action! Some of these guys were apparently rocking earlier as The Noisehounds, but I missed that bit.


Astral Gunk at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, July 22, 2013

Local comedian Greg Houston was on hand to host some in-between-sets standup comedy.


Greg Houston at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Another bunch of New Brunswickers, Thalidomy Kids, played next. I should also point out the gent to her left, Marc Gaertner, who flew in for the fest from Germany and took a bunch of great photos. Check out his site for those shots.


Thalidomy Kids at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Ilisha and drummer Jesse will make another appearance shotly, in Feral Trash.


Thalidomy Kids at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Sexed up drums-and-beeps trio Street Meat played a fine set; I've caught them before at Zaphod's. Drummer Leigh Newton is of course also in World War 4 and Daiquiri (among others)


Street Meat at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Elena rocks the microphone.


Street Meat at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Chit Chat were one of my favourite bands of the OXW.


Chit Chat at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Just some really killer garage rock.


Chit Chat at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

The Sugar Stems stayed true to their names with some sugary pop sounds.


Sugar Stems at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Backing vocalist Drew Fredrichsen was once in The Leg Hounds, who played Irene's back in 2005; there's a suitably ancient  photo of him somewhere on the blog ... He'll pop up again, playing with The Jetty Boys at Mugshots.


Sugar Stems at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Hollywood rocked the festival last year, and I was glad to see them back for more.


Hollywood at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Always a lively show from these guys!


Hollywood at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Teenanger are another bunch of frequent visitors.


Teenanger at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Guitar action!


Teenanger at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

You know things are going to get crazy when The New Swears play, and their was plenty of confetti, garbage bag costumes, matrimony, crowd-surfing, fake money and silly string at their latest extravaganza.


New Swears at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

And the crowd goes wild!


New Swears at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Trashy action!


New Swears at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

After that it was time to head indoors and downstairs to Club SAW proper for some Feral Trash ... more on that later!

Still in Hollywood

So on sunny Saturday, June 16, I leapt from my bed with youthful vigour ... okay, stumbled gamely .. well, would you believe crawled? Suffice to say Friday's Ottawa Exploding did I fine job of sapping my reserves, and Saturday almost knocked me flat. But I persevered! Mostly because there was a few bands rocking out at Club SAW of which I knew nothing. There was also a bunch of cool stuff going on at the House of Targ, but really I needed a venue where I could sit and/or lie down. First band of the day for me was Hollywood, a greasy rock'n'roll combo from Baltimore.

Hitting! Howling! Bassing!



Singalong action!



The whole hairy lot!



More shouting!



More hitting!



Guitar action!



Rhythm section action!



Closeup action!



The end!



They rocked most excellently, so I bought their records! They appear to have a new one, at least on their Bandcamp ...

Ottawa Explosion, Day 4, Part I

Well, Day 4 just about killed me. I actually headed off to Club SAW instead of the House of Targ largely because I knew I'd have a place to sit down. It was a hard task getting out of bed, I tell you ...

Fortunately I did, since Hollywood played a really great set; Big Neck records is always a sign of quality, I tell you ...


Hollywood at Club SAW, June 16, 2012

Another reason to go to Club SAW: A chance to check out First Base again. They played a great set of bedroom pop at the last Gaga Weekend and were just as good this time around.


First Base at Club SAW, June 16, 2012

I've seen Dog Day a few times in different configurations. For this show husband-and-wife team Seth Smith and Nancy Urich have stripped down to drums and guitar, and it really works too.


Dog Day at Club SAW, June 16, 2012

Lipstick Homicide also killed it with some hard-charging punk rock - a really great set from this Iowa City trio.


Lipstick Homicide at Club SAW, June 16, 2012

The Visitors wrapped things up at Club SAW to an appreciative crowd


The Visitors at Club SAW, June 16, 2012

After that one could check out some videos, or go and see Cold Warps and Dry Feet at Vertigo Records or go and grab some dinner and a quick nap (which I did).