The last few years have seen a bunch of great festivals spring up in Ottawa; first came Gaga Weekend, which turned into Ottawa Explosion, then came Arboretum, and most recently Megaphono has emerged to champion local bands and give Bytown's music business a boost (Not to mention the bevy of other one-two-and-three day affairs filling out the yearly schedule). I missed out on the Wednesday fun, but made it out to Barrymore's on Thursday and The House of Targ on Friday to see some of past and future favourite bands. It was nice to go back into Barrymore's I saw a bunch of shows there in my early days of going to shows (including what I think of as my first "big" show, Swervedriver). It doesn't look like it's changed much inside, though the soundboard setup isn't the same (no more watching the hockey game set up under the old board!). First band on stage was Montreal's IDALG, formerly known as Il Danse Avec Les Genoux. They played an awesome set of psych rock (I heard a few flashes of
Astronomy Domine-era Floyd). Here's some bass action with Tommy!
Gripping action with Yuki!
Tambourine action with Philippe!
Guitar action with Jean-Michel!
Percussive action with Felix-Antoine!
Singalong action!
Guitar action with Martin, and more Tommy!
Noise-generating action!
Keyboard action!
Extra Martin!
Reddish action!
More guitar!
Illuminated action!
Extra Tommy!
The whole lot!
Danseable action!
Extra Philippe!
I was really blown away by Partner when I caught them at Pressed, and they were even more fantastic this time around: A bigger stage suits them. Here's Josee, just warming up a bit before their set.
Guitar antics with Lucy!
Bass action with Kevin!
Josee had to shop around for a substitute pair of Harry Potter style glasses.
Percussive action with Brendan!
Lucy sings!
More guitar with Dan!
The shouty bit!
More guitar!
Partnered action!
I'll say one thing for Barrymore's, you do get more interesting lighting ....
Extra Josee!
Hand-clapping action!
New Swears finished things off with a killer set. As usual the crowd was rambunctious from the get go - some time later they were fed the on-stage placard for the Megaphono Getaway. Here's Alex!
Bass action with SammY!
Singalong silly-stringed action!
Guitar action with B.J.!
Illuminated action with Nick!
The whole lot (and the soon-to-be-sacrificed sign).
Abridged action!
Confetti-launching action!
Swell as always.
