National Capital Rock: Mannequin

Showing posts with label Mannequin. Show all posts

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Down the rabbit hole

The K-Hole house I've often passed en route to shows elsewhere, and the occasional gaggle of folks hanging out outside as I made my return often made me wonder if it was the site for house shows. Well, if it wasn't before it is now; a bunch of past and present Montrealers (and some past and present Ottawans) brough some psychedelic burnout to its front room two Fridays ago. First up, Slow Dawn. If you wanted to know what former Holy Cobras members were up to, here you go. The new combo combines the Cobras' psychedelic punch with a lot of shoegaze. Here's Jesse and Caylie (Boyhood, Blue Angel, etc.).

And here's former Cobras frontman Dan Druff.

Aother Boyhooder, Alex, rounds out the group on guitar.

Caylie hits!

And so on!

Dan asked for a post-gig group shot, so here you go.

On to DeerGod, the only band of the evening who were strangers to me; they hail from Toronto. They were pretty wild!

Percussive action with Chris Scott!

Here's some guitar action with, and Matt on bass.

Evan works the crowd.

Gripping action!

Back to more familiar faces; No Negative features a couple of vets from The Fuzz (not the Ty Segall group), Mark Frags (also of Ultrathin and Holy Cobras) and Matt Oxley of copious psychedelic outfits (Mannequin, New Humans).

And here's Mark, along with his trademark white belt.

I spoke with bassist Carlo after the show; I don't know who the drummer is.

Feedback and drinking action!

There was just a bit of time for Drainolith (who recently opened at the House of Targ for Neil Michael Hagerty) to play a quick set; their material was a bit mellower than their Targ noise.

Trippy Twins action!

The whole lot!

Alex sings!

Fisheye action!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Hard times

Saturday was another night where I could easily have been elsewhere, but I decided to make the trek through the rain to the not-quite-top-secret location that houses Gabba Hey. On offer was Ottawa expat collective The Fuzz, francopunks Asile and local shouters Pregnancy Scares.

This was a projection-enhanced event.

Off we go with Asile!

Bass action with Scott!

Patrick sings!

The shouty bit!

Rhythm section action!

Joel hits!

Grimacing action!

Double hit!

After that, it was time for some fuzz with The Fuzz - after the jump ...

Temple of buzz

It was a swell time at the Dominion Tavern Saturday night with Montreal's The Fuzz headlining, Dagger Eyes rocking out and new Ottawa trio Neck making their on-stage debut.

If you've been following the blog for a while you'll know everyone involved in Neck: Jeff from Garaga and Harshey plays guitar, while Kevin and Bevans from The Visitors and The Creeps handle rhythm section duties.

Neck at The Dominion Tavern, April 6, 2013

And they sound just like you'd think a combination of those bands would!

Neck at The Dominion Tavern, April 6, 2013

Last time I saw Dagger Eyes was at The Dominion, back in December. They're sticking to their guns.

Dagger Eyes at The Dominion Tavern, April 6, 2013

Oh, and Ilona has a big new tattoo on her right arm, which I failed to properly document.

Dagger Eyes at The Dominion Tavern, April 6, 2013

Montreal combo The Fuzz seems to be entirely composed of Ottawa expats: You've got a couple of Matts (from Mannequin and Thee Nodes), and of course Rodney from The Holy Cobras on drums. They make a very Stooges-esque sound.

The Fuzz at The Dominion Tavern, April 6, 2013

Oxley frets!

The Fuzz at The Dominion Tavern, April 6, 2013

A super set; I can hardly wait for a record.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Can't stop standing still

Gardens have a retro-1960s sound, more toward the beat end of the spectrum than the fuzz'n'psyche end. Much like The Singles, say. That brings us to opening act Mannequin, another of Matt Oxley's brainchilds, which is very much about fuzz and psyche.

Oxley and Andrea turn things into the red.

Andrea hits!

Shouldn't this be louder?

Fisheye action!

I barely recognized Jesse in curls.

Oxley sings!

Extra Andrea!

Rhythm section action!

Extra Jesse!

They have a new tape - their debut, in fact - out on redoubtable cassette label Bruised Tongue.

Show reminder: Laurier, Charmian Devi and Erika Wood perform at The Rainbow Bistro.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Shoots and leaves

Dave Aardvark of Off the Beaten Track and CHUO fame has taken to putting on the occasional live show at The Dominion, such as John Wesley Coleman and Rayon Beach, and this time around The Gardens, a Detroit psychedelic band.

Mannequin was tapped to start thing off. They're a much louder and more psychedelic band, as you'd expect from a combo fronted by Matt Oxley. This set was a real brainburner, and it wasn't too easy on the eardrums either. He was apparently dissatisfied with the guitar volume on the first tune so he just cranked things up to grill and let fly.

Mannequin at The Dominion, August 24, 2011

Monster rhythm section action!

Mannequin at The Dominion, August 24, 2011

Gardens played a brief but tuneful set that put me in the mind of a less wiggy Brian Jonestown Massacre. The Detroit outfit largely eschews effects (Indeed I don't think they had a single stompbox between them) and have a sort of classic 66-beat sound as a result.

Drummer Julian Spradlin and singer Jeffrey Thomas (formerly of Genders).

Gardens at The Dominion, August 24, 2011

Guitarist Matt Mueller and bassist Vincent Mazzola.

Gardens at The Dominion, August 24, 2011

Snappy stuff all round.

Show reminder: The Weather Station and Rolf Klausener play up a storm at Raw Sugar Cafe; Guttermouth, The New Threat, Gusto Fiasco and Lost Youth rock Mavericks; Fear of Lipstick and The Visitors kick out the jams at The Clocktower; The Elmdale hosts The Big Chill.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

He wears it well

Knifemare recently released a split cassette with Mannequin, so it was only logical that Matt Oxley's combo follow them on stage at Babylon. I'd say it was his newest act (following Nervous System, Crazy Ocean and others) but I'm not even sure that's true, since he performed later at Birdman Sound with New Human. Also sharing the stage are Jesse Winchester, also of Nervous System, on bass and drummer Andrea Poulin.

Matt rocks the SG!