Ghost power

Ben Wilson wrapped up his label's first anniversary show with a performance of his own band That's The Spirit, operating at full strength.

Ben!



Noted steel player about town Tom Thompson.



Trumpeter Nicholas Dyson and bassist Simon Wright (also of The Village Bicycles) get the bounced flash treatment.



Department of Foreign Affairs man Brennan Pilkington.



Tom takes a turn on the keys.



And so on!





Big rocking finish!





Right now Ben's off in Scotland (he played in Glasgow last night and will be in Edinburgh on Thursday). A couple of dates in England and Ireland, then it's back to Canada to open for Apostle of Hustle at Zaphod's on May 23.

• Show reminder: Static Thought, The Valveenus and Sack Lunch rock Mavericks; Rosebush! and Ad·ver·sary perform at Zaphod's; The Liptonians, The Wind Up Radio Sessions and Henrietta are at the Elmdale Tavern.

Tones of town

Back to the Antique Room shindig at Zaphod's, with Ben Wilson's other band (or maybe his other, other band since he's also in Department of Foreign Affairs), The Polytones. I've already said they're one of Ottawa's sharpest combos and have little to add at this point, so here come the photos (which were mostly horrible, by the way ... this was not one of my better nights).

Them Polytones: Brenda Bedford, Lesia Manchulenko, George Jennings and Tim MacKinnon ...



... and Ben Wilson, off to the side.



No mod parking allowed!



The mandatory hair-swirling photo.






This flash shot I bounced off the reflective backing of the regular lights on Zaphod's stage ...



Tim's head doesn't have any special reflective capabilities, he was right under a very red light.



"Someday, I'll have a keyboard of my own ..."



Brenda keeps the beat.



Singalong action, I guess.



The mandatory Tim and keyboards shot.



The whole lot!



As usual, swell.

• Show reminder: Misery Index, Killitorous, Mortor and Insides Out beat your ears black and blue at the Rainbow; A Darker Day, Manitoba metal monsters Xplicit and Mind Machine perform at Zaphod's.
  

Vintage sounds

Last night I went over to Zaphod's to see The Polytones, That's The Spirit and a band I was unfamiliar with, The Village Bicycles. This was sort of a label promo show for Ottawa indie Antique Room., which is That's The Spirit mainman Ben Wilson's baby. I believe it was also recorded for CBC2, so if you couldn't make it hopefully it will be appearing on radio or online soon.

First up were The Village Bicycles ... "The Sluts were taken," bassist Simon "pDik" Wright explained. And here I thought it might be a reference to The Prisoner. There music blends in rock of the spacey, hard and stoner varieties, but they also through in a reggae tune. You can't make it out in this photo but lead singer Tyler "Teatime" Knowlton is wearing a "Listen to Bob Marley" shirt. They also played what they claimed was an update of a Ukrainian folk song. It was a fun show with some really good guitar and keyboard sounds, and I can definitely see them appealing to Ottawa's rock lovers. Also, they really like skateboards, and have a tune dedicated to one confiscated by the police. They finished things off with a cover of Van Halen's Jump.


The Village Bicycles, Zaphod Beeblebrox, April 27, 2009

The Polytones played their usual energetic set, with lead singer Lesia Manchulenlo whirling about nonstop as usual. They were invited to play by That's The Spirit - mainman Ben is of course also in The Polytones. "I don't want to call it nepotism ..." joked Lesia.


The Polytones, Zaphod Beeblebrox, April 27, 2009

It's been more than three years since I saw Ben do his That's The Spirit thing - before he had an album and before it turned into something more than a solo project. He still does perform solo, but for this occasion he had Brennan Pilkington from Department of Foreign Affairs (in which he also performs) and Jake Lovetart on drums, steel guitar whiz Tom Thompson, Nicholas Dyson on trumpet and Village Bicycle Simon on bass.


That's The Spirit, Zaphod Beeblebrox, April 27, 2009

He'll be off to Scotland, England and Ireland for a few shows in a couple of weeks.

A lot of balls

As I walked into Zaphod's last night, Eastborough was already partly into their set. Frontwoman Stefani Guzman already has a slew of CDs to her credit; her latest outfit includes Alumette Nina and Aedan Helmer (a coworker of mine, as it happens) on guitar, Paul Mahar on bass and Justin Purvis on drums. This was my first time seeing them live, and I was immediately struck by how well-suited they were to share a stage with The Polytones. Both bands are born out of similar streams of melodic pop, indie rock and punk. I think they might also appeal to fans of Rebekah Higgs or Tegan and Sara (though Eastborough has a folkier edge).
Shanker and Romps provided the sweet layer to the evening's musical Oreo cookie with their garage-influenced crunchy pop and songs about biking, wiggling, sock-repairing, kissing and just being too darn cute for words. They sounded particularly good through The Zaphod's sound system (actually, the sound was on form for all the bands this particular evening, to my ears).
The Polytones finished the night off with a very energetic set, with Lesia Manchulenko even bouncier than usual. As is their wont, the band decorated the stage with a seasonal theme - sparkly silver balls, white Christmas lights and a few bundles of those willow like plants with the flat shiny white leaves whose name I can never remember. Their next show is April Fool's at Mavericks, so you can probably expect harlequin masks and whoopee cushions next time.

Twice as many

It's been about 10 months since I last saw The Polytones. I caught them at Zaphod's, May 27, 2006, but their live shows tend to be few and far between. Catch them when you can, I say. There was a good turn out of friends, fans and doctors for this show.

Lesia Manchulenko reaches for the microphone.



George Jennings. It gets hot up on stage in a jacket.



This shot of Tim MacKinnon looks quite a bit like my last shot of him.



Brenda Bedford in blue.



There was a new song "Which I call Hah!" said Lesia. Here she consults the lyric sheet mid-tune.



More George and Tim!



Lesia offers some percussion assistance.



Singalong action!



Those flowers certainly absorb a lot of flash.



Ben strums, Lesia bends.



Fun with lights. Not quite as effective as when Home played Babylon a while back.



The whole lot!



Polytonic, and possibly polyphonic, action!





I've been taking a few pictures at slower camera speeds. They seem to be turning out well.



Another capital performance.

• Show reminder: Hockey rockers The Zambonis and Meredith Luce play Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Electrik and company

TGIF - and I'm not just saying that because it's the only day I got off work this week. I went off to Zaphod's to see The Polytones put on one of their rare-as-hen's-teeth performances and get a look at General Electrik, of whom I knew naught. I also paused to admire the artificial foliage with which someone decorated the front of Zaphod's stage. Must be spring!

First up, General Electrik - I was very, very impressed. Excellent indie pop, a few country flourishes and super harmony work.



And as before The Polytones were excellent.



All told, a very sharp example of the musical craft Ottawa is capable of.

Out of many

The Polytones top the list of bands I have strived to see, only to have my hopes crushed by scheduling conflicts. Well, make that topped - I finally had a chance to witness them in action Saturday at Zaphod Beeblebrox. Unfortunately Lesia Manchulenko's onstage twirling and bouncing lose something in the translation to digital, and my pictures of everyone else in the band with the exception of Tim MacKinnon stink, but at least it sounded good.

Lesia.



Ben Wilson, also of That's The Spirit, fisheyelens and Paperjack.



George Jennings, Tim and the notorious Zaphod's post.



I was momentarily thinking of captioning this photo "How did Lesia get up there?" but truth is my watchword ...



Brenda Bedford - next time, more flash.



Rhythm section action!



Singalong action!



Here's that non-stinking Tim photo I mentioned.



Tonal action!









The whole lot.



Their next show is at The Black Sheep Inn June 15 with Red Shag Carpet.

• Show reminder: The Illuminati, Die Mannequin and The Double Pumpers play Zaphod's.