Wood before wires

Back at the start of July Arms and Sleepers breezed through town; Steve Ducharme of Mud Lake opened the show with some acoustic tunes - it was a bit of an odd combination ...

Steve strums!



Steve sings!



Well, you get the idea.



Bonus Steve!



He did get some help for a few tunes from fellow Mud Laker Ryan Hamilton.


The whole lot!



Acoustic action!



And so on ...


Post-Canada day patriotic action!



Gripping action!



Last I heard, Mud Lake tunes were being retuned for acoustic performances.

• Show reminder: Extra Happy Ghost!!!, Silver Dapple and Roberta Bondar play Raw Sugar; there's Oi! aplenty at the Dominion with  Produzenten der Froide, The Prolwers and The Rookers. Dominique Fraissard performs at Zaphod's; The Matadors twang away at Mavericks; The Prophets of Genzee are at the Elmdale; venerable drummer Brian Downey and an armada of pals celebrate his years on the traps at Irene's; Static Revolt and Breaking The Fourth play the Avant-Garde Bar.

Acoustic and electric

I've seen peculiar double bills, but last night's show at Zaphod's definitely spanned a wide spectrum, or as opening act Steve Ducharme noted of Arms and Sleepers. "We're acoustic, they're electric." Folks with long memories might recall a few words about Mud Lake back in June 2009 when they opened for Tokyo Sex Whale and Dark Meat - that was a bit of a peculiar bill too. Anyway, Steve Ducharme is the guitarist for that combo. Mud Lake is apparently reworking its material for some acoustic recordings, but with the drummer unavailable, Zaphod's was treated to a mostly solo performance by Steve.


Steve Ducharme at Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 4

He was joined for a few songs by Mud Lake bandmate Ryan Hamilton.


Steve Ducharme with Ryan Hamilton at Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 4

Arms and Sleepers are a duo (sometimes filled out to a trio by Ben Shepard from Uzi and Air). Apparently they had a few unavailable members last night as well, because it was just Mirza Ramic on stage last night, playing electro while films were projected over top.


Arms and Sleepers at Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 4, 2011

It seemed like pretty straight-up electro to me, and I confess I lost interest after about half an hour - just not my cup of tea.

• Show reminder: Apart from Bluesfest, there's White Lung, Nu Sensae, and Pregnancy Scares at Babylon; The Elmdale hosts Brave By Numbers and The Mob.

Here's mud in your eye

Off to see Athens, Ga., psychedelicists Dark Meat at Zaphod's on June 1, I walked in the door as openers Mud Lake were into their last few songs. Apparently they're an offshoot of another local band, the more rock-oriented Black Hill. As both bands feature Steve Ducharme and Ryan Hamilton, I'm not so sure how far apart they really are ... judging by their online offerings, not much. Mud Lake put on a decent performance, though they struck me as a young band still finding their feet they still managed a pretty solid Who cover and some appealing originals. They made me think a bit of Steve Wynn and The Dream Syndicate.

On the left, Ryan Hamilton on lead guitar, mainman Steve Ducharme and drummer Benoit Paquet.



On the right side of the stage, Matt Buttler provides the keyboards and Nick Dore plays bass.



Guitar action!



Drumming action! Benoit was near the front of the stage since he was using Tokyo Sex Whale's kit.



Grimacing action!



Steve sings.



Acoustic guitar action!



The end!



They're playing the Bassline Station August 5.

• Show reminder: The Cliks and The Montelongos perform at Zaphod's; Havok Way rock The Rainbow.

Meaty, beaty, big and bouncy

The weather's been stinky of late, hasn't it? Unfortunately way too many people who should have known better failed to make it out to Zaphod's last night to catch wicked sets from Tokyo Sex Whale and Athens, Georgia psychedelic circus Dark Meat.

That is not to be mean to openers Mud Lake, a youthful quintet whose set I mostly missed. I did hear their good cover of The Who's Baba O'Riley, though.


Mud Lake, Zaphod Beeblebrox, June 1, 2009

Tokyo Sex Whale were up next and their stacks quickly pummeled Zaphood's into submission with one of their heaviest sounding sets to date. I don't recall any of their tunes coming off of their LP. The closer Sleep was definitely worthy of bearing the name of the acclaimed doom band.


Tokyo Sex Whale, Zaphod Beeblebrox, June 1, 2009

Dark Meat played a sonically hefty set as well. Their pyschedelic throb was alive and well, and actually sounded quite a bit more focused than on their album. Maybe that's what happens when you pare your band down to seven on the road. Unfortunately the picture below omits what makes them special, their horn section: There's a trombonist off to the right and a trumpeter off to the left, as well as a slim lady on piccolo.


Dark Meat, Zaphod Beeblebrox, June 1, 2009

A great show, unfortunately only close friends and relatives of the various bands made it out, and I'm guessing the audience topped out around two dozen.

• Show reminder: Laganza performs at The Rainbow. They like Neil Young and Bob Marley and come from Muskoka. Guy Del Villano performs at the Elmdale House.