Time after time

Way back on Sept. 5 I toddled over to the House of Targ for some classic Canadian supergroup action. Ian Blurton (of Change of Heart, C'mon and Public Animal, among others) has a new combo, pseudonymously titled Ian Blurton's Future Now, and it might just be his best one yet. First up, Glenn Milchem (of Holy Fuck and Blue Rodeo) played some solo stuff.



Guitar action!



Glenn sings some more!



Next up, Espanola. This is the project fronted by Aaron Goldstein, who's best known for being a go-to steel guitarist in Toronto; he's popped up on the blog before as part of Huron (who also backed Ian for his Happy Endings show at Targ) and accompanying Daniel Romano.



Glenn hits!



Anna Ruddick on bass - she's also in City and Colour and is definitely an ace on her instrument.



And of course Ian helps out on guitar.



Rhythm section action!



Extra Anna and Aaron!



The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol hit the stage next. Here's Scott on trumpet!



Keyboard action with Jason!



Guitar action with Bill!



Bass action with Nate!



More Scott and Bill!



More guitar with Dave!



John hits!



Fisheye action!



And so on!



And finally a bit more Dave.



Ian Blurton's Future Now absolutely killed it. I dare say this quartet is the four most technically proficient musicians he's assembled (and yes, it is himself, Aaron, Anna and Glenn again). First off, some hand percussion with Glenn!



Ian sings!



Bass action with Anna!



Glenn sings!



Flying V action!



More Ian!



Anna sings!



More Glenn!



An absolutely killer set!

The bag they're in

Last week I tramped over to Pressed for some instrumental action by Ottawa musical veterans. Steel guitarist Tom Thompson, who has appeared on the blog playing with Orienteers and Trevor Alguire, started things off with his Chime of Wrens project. He uses effects and looping to create some sounds that had me thinking of Roy Montgomery's work.



Steely action!



Whammy bar action!



Chautauqua were on next; they're a rootsy instrumental quartet featuring folks from Golden Famile, Trees of North America, The Reverb Syndicate and Public Animal. They're playing Irene's Sept. 29 as part of the Pretty Bad Records showcase. First up, Mike from Reverb Syndicate and Golden Famile.



Christine of ToNA, Secret Lovers, Johnnies, Chickpea, et. al breaks out the violin!



Guitar action with Darrel (Golden Famile, ToNA, et. al).



Upright action with Eric from Public Animal and Tricky Woo!



More Christine and Eric!



Extra Darrel!



Instrumental action!



More Mike and Christine!



Adjusting action!



A most pleasant night out.

Animal attractions

I took a bit of a break from show-going at the end of July, and it was a third of the way into August when I headed back to Targ for some heavy sounds, courtesy of World War 4, Public Animal and Thunderkok. Here's Josh from World War 4 to kick things off!



Guitar action with Necroburger!



Bass and guitar action with Michael and Orca!



Extra Josh!



Leigh hits!



More Michael!


Smokey action!



More Orca!



More Necroburger!



Public Animal went on before Thunderkok, which is wise, since it means fewer fluids to clean off stage between sets. Here's Eric tuning up a bit!



Keyboard action with Caitlyn1



Ian sings! He'll be back at Targ Sept. 23 for a show with his other band, Change of Heart.



More Eric!



Caitlyn sings!



And so on!



Ryan hits!



More Ian!



Extra Eric!



Bonus Caitlyn!



Thunderkok provided a happy ending for the night; here's Travis checking the ejaculation (I think).



Guitar and spandex action with Hamish!



Smokey guitar action with David!



Kelso hits!



Pick-sliding action!



And so on!



Garrett sings!



More David! It was a smokey set!



Travis sings, Garrett pours!



There were accuracy issues.



And then there are the photos for which I have no explanation.



Always messy fun.