Showing posts with label Mississippi Grover. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mississippi Grover. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Of Miss and men

On Friday I popped over to Pressed for a bit of roots rock. On the bill, Kingston one-man band Mississippi Grover (aka Grog of The Desecrators, Fiends and Orange Alabaster Mushroom) and local combo Life-Size Men. Here's a man whose tonic is sonic.

Mississippi Grover at Pressed

Harmonica action!

Mississippi Grover at Pressed

Greg sings!

Mississippi Grover at Pressed

And so on!

Mississippi Grover at Pressed

Percussive action!

Mississippi Grover at Pressed

Life-Size Men also played a lively set. Here's some rhythm section action with Kevin and Jeb!

Life Size Men at Pressed

Sparkly action with Jeff!

Life Size Men at Pressed

Extra Kevin!

Life Size Men at Pressed

Jeb hits!

Life Size Men at Pressed

R.W. sings!

Life Size Men at Pressed

Frontline action!

Life Size Men at Pressed

Extra Jeb!

Life Size Men at Pressed

More R.W. and Kevin!

Life Size Men at Pressed

And so on!

Life Size Men at Pressed

Plenty of fun.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Got Live if you want it

Last Wednesday was my first visit to a new venue, Live! On Elgin. It's a nice space, just upstairs from Dunn's, that seems well intended to also work well as a venue for theater productions, standup comedy, film presentations and the like. It's obvious some thought has gone into the arrangement of the seating, and it's well-suited for sit-down shows - the sort of show with moshers and slam-dancers, maybe not so much. My Live! baptism came courtesy of Mississippi Grover, Mere Humans and The Ven Dreddies - starting of with the man whose tonic is sonic.

Mississippi Grover at Live! On Elgin

Percussive action!

Mississippi Grover at Live! On Elgin

Gripping action!

Mississippi Grover at Live! On Elgin

On to The Ven Dreddies, a.k.a. Jim, Tyler and Ike's excuse to rock and goof around at the same time.

The Ven Dreddies at Live! On Elgin

Tyler frets!

The Ven Dreddies at Live! On Elgin

Ike hits!

The Ven Dreddies at Live! On Elgin

More guitar!

The Ven Dreddies at Live! On Elgin

Jim sings!

The Ven Dreddies at Live! On Elgin

Extra Ike!

The Ven Dreddies at Live! On Elgin

Tyler sings!

The Ven Dreddies at Live! On Elgin

The whole lot!

The Ven Dreddies at Live! On Elgin

The Mere Humans released their debut album on Bandcamp at the beginning of the month (appropriately titled This Is Rock'N'Roll), and promise a vinyl version if enough folks pick up the digital version. Here's Dave rocking out some tunes from said album.

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

Janice handles the low end.

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

More guitar!

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

Grimacing action!

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

The whole lot!

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

Dave sings!

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

Janice sings!

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

And so on!

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

Chris hits!

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

And a better view of the space itself ...

The Mere Humans at Live! On Elgin

Definitely a show that deserved a wider audience.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Get lost!

If you've been following the blog enough, you'll recall the occasional appearances by Greg Watson. The veteran of many garage combos played in several local bands before going the solo root as one-man band Mississippi Grover. Well, for this March show down in the Clocktower's basement he returned to the group sound, along with frequent collaborator Gordon Mylks and Owl Farmer Christopher Lyons.

Causative action!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

Gordon frets!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

Shadowy action!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower
 
Christopher hits!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

Gordon sings!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

Greg works the keys!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

Hair-flinging action!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

A little instrument switching.

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

Bass action!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

Bonus Greg!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

The feedback-lovin' end!

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower

Since March they've added a bassist, and plan to return to Ottawa in November for the Surf & Turf festival.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Lost and found

Off to the cozy confines of the Clocktower's basement to see a bunch of familiar faces.I occasionally go through phases of devouring one particular kind of music, and garage rock was one of them. I still love all that 1960s stuff, and Ottawa was once a hotbed for the sound, with folks like Patrick Shanks and Greg Watson involved in several combos weened on the Crypt comps sound. Having already served in The Fiends, The Desecrators and done his own thing with The Orange Alabaster Mushroom and as Mississippi Grover, he brought his Ace Tone organ, a bunch of classic stompers (such as The Haunted's 1-2-5 and How Is The Air Up There?) and some fuzzy originals with his cohorts in The Lost Cause.

Greg sings! That's a blurry Christopher Lyon of Owl Farm in the back.

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower
Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower, March 9, 2013

Gordon Mylks takes a spin on bass.

Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower
Thee Lost Cause at The Clocktower, March 9, 2013

This was also the first live show for The Mere Humans, a rock'n'roll combo born from Evil Farm Children and Boom Creek (or Four Frames/Mouthpiece, if you can remember that far back). They sound exactly like what you'd expect from that combination, with a tough sounding Motor City vibe, along with a cover of Radio Birdman's Murder City Nights. Here's EFC's Janice and Boom Creeker Ian.

The Mere Humans at The Clocktower
The Mere Humans at The Clocktower, March 9, 2013

And a shadowy Dave.

The Mere Humans at The Clocktower
The Mere Humans at The Clocktower, March 9, 2013

They wrapped things up with a cover of The 13th Floor Elevators Levitation - fine debut!