Set on repeat

Back on August 10 I hurried over to the Dominion Tavern to catch some garage-rocking action from a longtime Ottawa favourite, Mike Krol. Krol made one of his first appearances outside his hometown at the Ottawa Explosion - one of his earliest live shows, period - and has returned a few times, sometimes backed by local musicians. For this trip, he was accompanied by Swearin', with Average times kicking things off. Here's Seiji!



Steph hits!



Closeup action with Curtis!



Singalong action!



Todd sings!



Rhythm section action!



More singalong action!



Next up, Mike Krol (He switches up the order he appears in with Swearin').



Singalong action with Allison (who's also in Swearin').



Percussive action!



More of everything!



On to Swearin', who also played a great set. I saw them about five years at Cafe Luneta; since then they've broken up, reunited, and released a new album.



Percussive action!



Bass action!



Guitar action with Kyle!



More Allison!



Extra Kyle!



And that's it!

From Fix to finish

Ottawa Explosion's show at the Dominion started with a set from Mother's Children, but I arrived too late to catch them - Mental Fix was the first act I saw. The Montreal quartet plays some straight up old-school punk rock. Here's bassist Steve1



Marie-Eve hits!



Frank sings!



Extra Steve!



Hugo sings!



Singalong action!



Feedback action!



Extra Marie-Eve!



Extra Frank!



Every year I wonder "Who has travelled the greatest distance to be here?" Some years it's a close call. This year it is not, unless there's a band from Antarctica I didn't hear about, since Dad Jokes came all the way from Auckland, New Zealand. Here's Ian and Matt!



Matt sings!



Danelectro action!



Ian sings!



More Matt!



Mike Krol had his scheduled appearance with his local burglars.



Pat hits!



Johnny handles the low end, Davey bends!



Gripping action!



Steve sings!



Mikey Erg finished things off, backed by a couple of his fellow Worriers, Alex and Lou.



Lou hits!



Closeup action!



Alex handles the low end!



Ergonomic action!



Rhythm section action!



Extra Lou!



Extra Erg!



Another great day.

Break in and break out

The first act of Friday night at Ottawa Explosion was to have been Shell Shag but their van had a spot of trouble en route so Mike Krol stepped in to kick things off. Mike recruited well-known local rockers Davey, Steve, Johhny O and Pat and to bring his fuzzed-out tunes to life.



Rhythm section action with Johnny and Pat!



Masked action with Davey!



Adjusting action!



Tongued action!



Extra Pat!



Mike works the crowd!



Steve frets!



Tambourine action!



The whole lot!



More Mike and Pat!



Extra adjusting!



Vacation has made four trips to the Explosion from Ohio and played a couple of sets as well; this was their first. Here's soem guitar action with John!



Last time I saw Vacation at the Explosion in 2013, Jerri was singing and playing the drums. He's moved up front since their last Explosion set.



Closeup action!



Jumping action!



Dylan hits!



Rhythm section action with Evan!



And more jumping!



Dylan sings!



The crowd goes wild!



Vacation action!



Back-to-back action!



Vancouver's The Drearies were on the inside stage; guitarist Penny Clark has played plenty of shows in Ottawa as part of Tough Age and Century Palm, but I'm not sure who else is in the band.



More guitar!



Bass action!



Percussive action!



The whole lot!



Extra Penny!



Rhythm section action!



More drumming!



Closeup action!



Penny jumps around!



Penny works the crowd!



The end!



The music went back outside with Brooklyn's Worriers, which are fronted by Lauren Denitzio, formerly of The Measures and a revolving cast of backing musicians including Mikey Erg. Here's Lauren!



Alex handles the low end.



Singalong action with Lou!



Extra Lou!



More Lauren!



Extra Alex!



Mikey hits!



Closeup action!



Feedback action!



I headed back inside for a quick dose of Strange Attractor.



Mitch hits!



Jeff sings!



Eric frets! Not sure who their bass player is these days!



Rhythm section action!



More Mitch!



Extra Eric!



More Jeff!



The outside sets came to a close with a blistering set from New Jersey's Screaming Females. Here's Marissa Paternoster, absolutely destroying on guitar (as usual).



Heated action with Mike!



Jarrett hits!



Monitor-standing action!



Closeup action!



Guitar action!



More Mike!



More Jarrett!



Extra Marissa!



Faceoff action!



The it was off to the Dominion Tavern for more of the same.