That eyrie feeling

It's a Thursday, and that means rock'n'roll and pizza at Babylon. The Mighty Eagle Band - depicted below at Zaphod's in May 2007 - will be shaking the joint to its very foundation in conjunction with The Holy Cobras.



They have another Babylon nightclub show lined up Feb. 9 with The Jesus Mullet (which I believe is the first time the two bands have shared the stage, strangely enough). Also on Thursday you can observe Doll at the Algonquin College watering hole The Observatory along with Toronto psychobillies The Creepshow.
On Friday you can sample punk rock aplenty over at Cafe DeKcuf with International Maniac Institute, Fleeba, Contrabandit, the hotly tipped Critical Convictions and Head Down. You can also catch Econoline Crush and A Plot Against Me at Zaphod Beeblebrox. EC have reformed and a new album will officially emerge in a few days. The Brothers Chaffey are playing at The Black Sheep Inn with John Allaire. Shawn Tavenier and Silver Creek release their new CD with Amos The Transparent and Tympanic at Barrymore's.

All the young dudes

Not to slight the other fine acts on the bill, but my favourite set of the night was The Mighty Eagle Band's. I've already introduced these guys, so here goes!

Guitar action!



Kneeling Neal action!



He does it quite a bit.



More guitar action!





Rhythm section action!



The whole lot from the peanut gallery.



Keep your head down!



Neal among the merch and gear. Speaking of which they have new shirts, in various dude and lady sizes.



What next for the MEB? A record, I hope!

• Show reminder: Stephen St. Pierre releases his new CD at Zaphod's with Boys Republic and Douglas Soltys. Joey Only, Mile over Mecca, and Oni the Haitian Sensation perform at Irene's Pub; Mavericks hosts another evening of Ladyfest Ottawa music with Masia One, Eekwol, DJ L'Oqenz and Stargazer at Mavericks Bar.

Some heavy

First up, Toronto reggae musician Bill Murray. His music has a rough and rootsy edge (possibly not by design, he told me after the show it was a problem-plagued performance); nonetheless, a lot more appealing to my ears than a lot of what the ska crowd is doing.



Up next, Ottawa's own Mighty Eagle Band. They sounded superheavy, and have some snazzy new shirts to sell as well.



Georgetown's Fullton's Point followed with a set of heavy trio stoner rock. If they don't end up releasing an album on Small Stone there's something very wrong with the world. Guitarist Ryan also plays drums in Sons of Otis. Drummer Devin Legate has crushing form.



Tara Lee Combs finished things off: More heavy rock with the occasional quirky edge and a cover of The Runaways' Cherry Bomb. Guitarist Simon Trepanier is out front in this snap. Tara was also in Navajo Code Talkers, credited as "Ms. Jett". I seem to recall reviewing their Heavy Dirty Sounds for the Ottawa Sun.



It was a good night to bring earplugs.

• Show reminder: Au Revoire Simone and Oh No! Oh My! perform at Zaphod's (not Babylon, contrary to some listings, including an earlier version of this one).

Up above

The Mighty Eagle Band ended things with a roar, despite, in Neal's words, being "totally wasted". Went off great, despite some shocking shooters spillage near the end.

Those Eagle Banders, in various states of fuzziness.



Scott in the limelight.



Adam drums in a sinister fashion!



Rhythm section action, with substitute bass player Johnny Nash.



Neal hogs the stage!



Shawn sings!



Leaning action!



Faceoff action!



Silhouetted action!



Monitor-standing action!



The whole lot!



Neal hits the dance floor for some extra grimacing!





Some pretty sweet pictures up on Flickr as well.

Guys and Doll

Phew, what a turnout for a free Monday show at Zaphod's! Last time I saw that large a crowd for a Beeblebrox freebie was probably for Hot Hot Heat. All the more remarkable since it was for a night of hard'n'heavy rock

The Unavowed played their first show; solid growly punk-metal.



Doll are another newish Ottawa band who like L7 and grunge. They also brought a pair of cute dancers.



The Mighty Eagle Band really turned things up a notch with a particularly hard-hitting set.



Heck of a way to clear out the ol' ear drums.

More guitar

Vancouver's Pride Tiger rolled through town a little while back, and their Thin-Lizzy-loving boogie rock found an ideal pair of local openers in The Mighty Eagle Band and The Double Pumpers. I caught the lion's share of The Might Eagle Band's set. They're sounding better than ever with Pirate/Bandita Scott Terry on second guitar.

Scott puts on a happy face. No doubt I'll see him and Joey (at back) in 10 days when they open for White Cowbell Oklahoma as part of The Fucking Machines.



More Joey!



Shawn and Adam.



And more rock action with Neal and Shawn.







Mighty solid.

• Show reminder: Josh Ritter and Jill Barber play a second show at The Black Sheep Inn; celebrate Valentine's Day at Babylon with For The Mathematics, F!ght F!ght F!ght, Sleeping Pilot, Elephantoms and The Death March Volunteers; The Busboyeez deliver their new CD at Zaphod's with Ladymilk.

Feline groovy

It was a night of heavy music at Zaphod's on Saturday. When I arrived The Mighty Eagle Band were on stage. They crunched their way through five songs, and sounded tighter than ever.



Next up, The Double Pumpers. I feel like I've seen a lot of Pumper people in other outfits of late, so it was a bit different to see them all on stage together.



Finally, Pride Tiger steamrollered the audience with a sound that reminded me of a bulked up Thin Lizzy. Half of the band are off to the left out of camera range; this is singing drummer Matt Wood and guitarist Bob Froese.



All very 'eavy, very 'umble.

Different feathers

The Mighty Eagle Band were just starting things up last Saturday as I climbed the stairs to Cafe DeKcuf. They've gone through yet another personnel change - organist Matt Rose has departed, Scotty Terry (Banditas, Fucking Machines, etc.) is in on second guitar. A few band members were looking a bit dazed (no doubt due to their participation in the previous evening's AIDS awareness benefit and drinking marathon). Still sounded good, if perhaps not precise.

Didn't I just see these guys yesterday?



The Jammy one.



Now I really regret not wearing my High on Fire shirt.





Avian action!





Good stuff as usual.

• Show reminder: Flecton Bigsky, Bloomistry and Bob Dude perform at The Manx. Tones For Twilight, Rebekah Higgs, Benefit Of A Doubt, John McKiel (whose band is backing Higgs, if I understand things correctly) and Kevin Frasier perform at Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Hell ain't a bad place to be

As I approached Cafe DeKcuf, a vast crowd of tattooed teens with dyed black hair were assembled on the sidewalk. At first I assumed that the show on at DeKcuf was a bigger draw than I thought and that I was in grave danger of being locked out, but as it turned out a collection of groups I'd never heard of - Soap Opera Coma, Lostinside, the Matthew Boyle Experience, Status Embrace, Her Train of Stars and Holding Onto Nothing - had just wrapped up an all-ages show at Mavericks. The loud proto-metal and heavy rock dished out by the trio of bands one floor up isn't quite the draw, but there was still an appreciable crowd of disreputable longhairs there to get their eardrums de-waxed.

The Mighty Eagle Band was playing as I walked in the door - they were "still hungover from last night," but sounding good. As you no doubt notice, they have a new member in Scott Terry on second guitar.



Next up, Toronto's Diablo Red. Superheavy rock with a southern-style chaser. You could put 'em on a bill with 99% of Small Stone bands, and they'd fit just fine, give or take 1%.



Finally, Ottawa's Hellbros. I was feeling a bit tired as the evening progressed and was within a hair of skipping out early, but as soon as they hit the stage I felt rejuvenated. Not that they're a miracle cure or anything, music just affects me that way and they were a lot of fun.



There will be more pictures of all this, and a man in Spiderman underwear, in a few days.

• Show reminder: RadioDazed and Persona play The Rainbow; French Kicks and Sound Team perform at Babylon.

Might makes right

Perusing this blog of late, one can't help but notice a tragic shortage of Mighty Eagle Band-related posts. Really, these guys need to get off their duffs and start playing out more ... I think it may have been a whole two weeks since I saw them last! You can always go backward in time or check out their site if you need an introduction ... for now let's groove on some Irene's April Fool's action.











No news of upcoming shows that I can detect, but no doubt it won't be long ...

• Show reminder: Let the festivities commence! Rhume, Camp Radio, Th'Grain and Roofrack play the Navy Club to kick of Kelp's 12th anniversary. Growly punk folk rocker Mr. Plow plays the Avant-Garde Bar with BA Johnston and Ladymilk.