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.
  

Halifax pop explosion

Heath Matheson, Kristina Parlee and Chantal Tardiff may have had to cope with a sleepy and diminished audience by the time The Maynards hit the stage in the wee small hours. And they were a whole lot of fun! Something about Heath's voice and demeanour remind me of local garage rocker Pat Shanks. The Maynards are more art-rocky than The Glads, but I could definitely see them sharing a bill (and since Pat was there doing the twist, who knows - it may come to pass).
They had great banter, ("Dear Diary: I wet myself - I'm lonely") particularly Heath's introduction to Pleasure Planet, which pointed out that if you're in a sci-fi film, and you land on a planet full of hot babes in bikinis, sooner or later half your spaceship crew will be either shot or devoured by monsters (you remember that episode of the original Battlestar Galactica, right?). It's funny because it's true.

"Tonight, we'll be pulling out all the stops!" declared Heath. And so they did!



Kristina on the bass and copious quantities of 50.



Chantal Tardiff, the quiet one - well, except for all that drumming. Did not wear big glasses. Shocking lapse, really ...



Heath goes down!



... and then falls over completely after being bullied by Kristina.



Kristina! That goddamn post! Chantal! Heath!



There was also a dance contest. Yay!

Party of three

Toronto's Cougar Party play a churning, heavy post-punk sort of hardcore, with drummer Shannon Goodwin screaming lyrics; guitarist Amanda Caskie also sings, a bit more melodically, while bassist Shannon Mitchell also sings. Goodwin met Mitchell at Ottawa Ladyfest so it was quite appropriate that they play on the mini-tour bill here in Ottawa.

Here's Amanda Caskie with her Mark Tremonti PRS guitar. Mark Tremonti?!?



Shannon M. takes a vocal turn.



And Shannon Goodwin on drums.



Shannon M. has one sparkly bass!



Party at Irene's action!



I got the impression that most of the audience dug them more than I did.

• Show reminder (for the third time): The River City Tanlines play the Dominion .... plus a mystery opener!
  

We have a match

Les Allumettes played a short set where they showed off a lineup change. Andy Cant of Slow Parker and New Autumn Line fame replaced Heather "Hell" Osborne on drums while she is in Missouri on some sorghum-related matter; Jordanna played guitar since Christina is busy crafting things. The lineup change has shifted the sound since Andy has considerable technique compared to Heather's Meg White-style and Jordanna plays more chords compared to Christina's clean single-note lines (unless my memory is deceiving me, which it often does).

Natasha on bass.



Jordanna sings (with a handy lyric cheat-sheet).



Andy really zones out when he drums.



I could have sworn I had a better picture of Nina.



Jordanna takes over on bass while Natasha shakes.



Lineup changes aside, it's still entertaining lo-fi pop a la Yo La Tengo and Tall Dwarves.

• Show reminder: I can't think of anything tonight, so I'll just remind you all that the River City Tanlines of Memphis play tomorrow night at The Dominion.
  

Good and early

Good2Go may have had the most space on the Irene's chalkboard where upcoming shows are declared, but they also played first - drummer Gilles Mantha and guitarist Christian Lapensee had other gigs to perform at, so they had to play and run. They played a really tight set - perhaps because it was a little earlier than they usually hit the stage.

Gilles Mantha sings "You can make it if you try" to start the show - his first of three that night.



Maureen Hogan; I did a lot of flash-bouncing and almost all of it worked out quite nicely indeed.



Christian's rhythm playing was particularly sharp, I thought.



Reg Allen - what, no Beer Truck?!?



Maureen helps out on the percussion.



Shake, shake, shake! "Tambourine lessons, my place, $10 an hour" she says.



Good2Go action!



As you can see from the banner, this was a Ladyfest Ottawa shindig. G2G also have an upcoming show at The Aloha Room on Nov. 23.

• Show Reminder: I really liked B.A. Johnston's show at The Avant-Garde Bar; he's performing at Zaphod's for one of their free showcase gigs. Immaculate Machine are also on the bill. Vocalist Kathryn Calder has been in the spotlight of late because she's been subbing for Neko Case in her uncle Carl Newman's band, The New Pornographers. Also on the bill: Lure, folk-rockers Mile Over Mecca and Twelve34 (which features Jasen Colson from Kingston Fog on drums and vocals).