OXW 2013: Thursday, Part II

After my break for Tav Falco & The Unapproachable Panther Burns, it was back to Club SAW just in tome to catch the last song from Mother's Children, Nobody's Business.


Mother's Children at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013

Birthday action!


Mother's Children at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013
 
Then it was on to Moncton's Mouthbreathers, who livened up their set with an Eric's Trip cover.


The Mouthbreathers at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013

Guitar action!


The Mouthbreathers at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013

The real craziness began when Le Kid et Les Marinellis hit the stage. There was much spilling and spewing of liquids, microphone stand molestation, and general audience misbehaviour.


Le Kid et Les Marinellis at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013

Things got a little carried away ...


Le Kid et Les Marinellis at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013

After a bit of stage cleanup, it was time for California power pop sensation Mike Krol to play. Krol made a name for himself in the world of graphic design, but now it's music all the time, with some ace sounds, not unlike a lo-fi Weezer.


Mike Krol at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013

He's also playing at the pool party gig this afternoon, just minutes away!


Mike Krol at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013

Calgary's Mandates finished things off with some loud fast rules style punk rock, culminating in The Dead Boys' All This And More.


The Mandates at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013

They'll be at Vertigo for the in-store performance this evening.


 The Mandates at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 20, 2013

 Much more mania to come!

The Kid is back

Le Kid et Les Marinellis finished off the night at the Dominion, and like the previous act (The Dagger Eyes, that is) they're playing at Club SAW on Thursday.

Guitar action!



Percussive action!



Guitar action!



More hitting!



Backing vocal action!



More drumming!



Gripping action!



The rocking end!



They'll be inside Club SAW tomorrow with Mike Krol, The Mandates and others.

Eyes and ears

It was a chilly night on Saturday, but not cold enough to stop me trouping off to the Dominion Tavern for some punk rock action, in three distinct flavours: Pop punk, minimalist punk and garage punk. Think of it as the Ottawa Explosion in miniature - actually the last (and in two cases, the first) time I caught the bands was at the June festival.

First up, Voicemail (a.k.a. Gary Voicemail and The Touchtones, though I guess that name expired almost as soon as it was coined). The band features Ian Manhire of White Wires fame and a bunch of Sweet Janes/Mother's Children folks, and leans toward the new wave. There was even a cover of Blondie's Sex Offender (and a brief rip of The Adverts' Gary Gilmore's Eyes).


Voicemail at the Dominion Tavern, December 15, 2011

Ken frets! The band has another show coming up soon: Jan. 3 at The Daily Grind on Somerset, to be precise.


Voicemail at the Dominion Tavern, December 15, 2011

Dagger Eyes filled out the middle slot; they've just released their debut LP on P-Trash. It was another fine dose of short sharp shock from the Montreal-Ottawa trio.


Dagger Eyes at the Dominion Tavern, December 15, 2011

The Dom always offers a very orange experience ...


Dagger Eyes at the Dominion Tavern, December 15, 2011

Finally, Le Lid et Les Marinellis. They breezed through nine songs and sounded superfine while doing so. There seemed to be a lot more in the way of backing vocals this time around, to good effect.


Le Kid et Les Marinellis, December 15, 2011

Le Kid, a.k.a. Cedric Marinelli, himself!


Le Kid et Les Marinellis, December 15, 2011

Like Dagger Eyes, Kid and Co. have a new LP out on P. Trash. Those Germans must like the frozen north.

Oh, you Kid!

For a little while it seemed like there wa sa garage rock explosion going on inQuebec, with bands like Les Les Breastfeeders and Les Sequelles busting out all over. It's a might quieter now (or perhaps the noise doesn't travel as far), but here's Le Kid & Les Marinellis to show that tambourine shaking is alive and well in la belle province.

That Kid (a.k.a. Cedric Marinelli)!



Guitar action (I believe this is Ralph)!



More guitar action from J.F. and Benoit!



Benoit sings!



Cedric sings and shakes!



Drumming action with Oli!



Fretful action!



Yet more guitar!



A fine set.

• Show reminder: There's more Finish What You Started at Cafe DeKcuf with Teethmarks, Spilt Guts, Stay Here and Shahman; Evening Hymns release their new record at Raw Sugar, accompanied by Andy Swan. The Elmdale hosts the Quebec Redneck Bluegrass Project; Irene Torres & The Sugar Devils play the Rainbow.

Ottawa Explosion 2012, Day 2

Once again, it's time for Ottawa to explode! Last year, things were put together a bit hastily; this year the minds behind the Ottawa Explosion had a bit for opportunity, and things are a bit more expansive. For one thing, the festival is five days this year. I missed the Wednesday (a show by The Men, Metz and Pregnancy Scares at Club SAW), but no I have a few days off work so I can check out the action ... assuming I survive until Sunday. Last night was a doubleheader, starting off with some shows at Club SAW.

First up, Ian Manhire's new band. Billed as Gary Voicemail and The Touchtoones, apparently they're cutting it down to just Voicemail. Here they are jamming on a song pre-show. Apart from Ian and Todd (of Sweet Janes et al.), there's Mother's Children Ken and Mike on guitar and drums.


Voicemail at Club SAW, June 14, 2012

Also on the scene, Dirty Donny, touching up the design he did for the Ottawa Explosion on one of the T-shirts.


Dirty Donny at Club SAW, June 14, 2012

Following Voicemail's actual set, The Nymphets took over with their adorable yet jittery sound. There was much tussling between Jared and his microphone stand.


The Nymphets at Club SAW, June 14, 2012

Le Kid and Les Marinellis are a Montreal band, featuring a bunch of vets from that scene, including Breastfeeders and Walnut Kids.


Le Kid et Les Marinellis at Club SAW, June 14, 2012

The real audience rambunctiousness gets started with Big Dick's set. Lots of really loud noise, but strangely enough no Tutti Frutti cover.


Big Dick at Club SAW, June 14, 2012

Mother's Children wrapped things up with a hot set.


Mother's Children at Club SAW, June 14, 2012

I zipped off home to dump some merch, then headed over to Babylon in time to catch Dead Weights. You could call this night "Bands influenced by Leatherface" (with the exception of Robots everywhere, who I arrived to late to see, and Low Culture). It was a really sharp-sounding performance.


Dead Weights at Babylon, June 14, 2012

Crusades really had the audience fire up for their set.


Crusades at Babylon, June 14, 2012

Low Culture came all the way from New Mexico to rock the Explosion (and parts of New York and Quebec with Iron Chic) - which they did quite adeptly.


Low Culture at Babylon, June 14, 2012

Iron Chic - who play again today at Club Saw - finished the evening off with some audience singalongs.


Iron Chic at Babylon, June 14, 2012

There's more Ottawa Explosion going on today, at Club SAW, Mavericks and DeKcuf and Mugshots, the jail hostel bar.