Mad, bad and dangerous to know

As July kicked off I headed over to House of Targ for a quadruple helping of rock'n'roll. Locals Nightshades and sort-of Locals Vile Bodies were joined by Toronto crew Mad Ones and Quebec combo Rebelle. I'd seen the other three bands on the bill before, but the Vile Bodies were new to me. I was mighty impressed by their high energy stage antics and their lo-fi Memphis rock sound. They'll be at Pressed with Fuzzy Undertones and Possum Sept. 1. Here's some guitar action!



Singalong action!



These bodies have a strong shirt game.



Percussive action!



Vocal action!



Vile action!



Microphone-sharing action!



And so on!



Bodily action!



On to the sharp sounds of the Mad Ones ... they played a great set and were kind enough to lay a free copy of their latest record on me. here's Russ (ex-Mercy Now, Shikasta)!



Guitar action with Andy!



Singalong action!



Closeup action!



Adam sings!



Adam hits!



Extra Andy!



Faceoff action!



Nightshades played a quick, punchy set. Here's Mallory!



Bass action with Dean!



Percussive action with Geoff!



Guitar action!



More Dean!



Mallory sings!



I first twigged to Rebelle at a Gabba Hey show in September 2016; once again I was mighty impressed by the Wakefield combo. Here's guitar action with David!



Rhythm section action with drummer Joey and bassist Ryan!



David sings!



Ryan sings!



Camouflage action with Rylee!



More David!



Joey hits!



Even more Ryan!



Rylee claps!



Headbanging history!



And so on!

Crystals and cream

A week and a weekend ago, Gabba Hey put on a great show of bands familiar and unfamiliar. There was local indie duo Piith (formerly known as Pith & The Parenchymas), Calgary's Crystal Eyes (en route to Pop Montreal), Wakefield's Rebelle and much-talked-about headliners Ice Cream. Piith were up first; their new album Sweet Sweet Morning was also making its first appearance courtesy of local promo crew Casual Hex. Here's Andy!



Chris sings!



Laptop action!



Guitar action!



The whole lot!



Adjusting action!



More Andy!



More microphones!



Crystal Eyes passed through Ottawa for a stop at Ottawa Explosion this summer, performing as a trio. They were up to quartet strength for this stop for extra shoegazing jangly goodness.



Faceoff action with Criss on bass and a guitarist whose name I don't know!



Mathieu hits!



Extra Chris!



More guitar!



More Mathieu!



Extra Erin!



Eyeful action!



Shadowy action!



The end!



Wakefield's Rebelle have been around for several years - going back to their days as The Strain. I was really impressed by their performance; they'll be on stage again Oct. 12 opening for Paper Lions at Zaphod's. Here's the sister-and-brother at the hart of the band, Rylee and David!



Bassist Ryan is udner there somewhere.



Rylee works the keys!



David sings!



Rebellious action with drummer Joey!



Extra Joey!



Guitar action!



More Ryan!



Joey hits!



Ryan sings, plays some guitar!



The whole lot!



Ice Cream is a minimalist synth-pop duo, formed by Huckleberry Friends' Amanda and Carlyn from Blond Elvis. Amanda and Carlyn have also appeared before on the blog as part of rockers Darlene Shrugg. Here's Carlyn on bass!



Keyboard action with Amanda (who you may also recall singing backup with U.S. Girls at the 2015 edition of Arboretum)!



Carlyn sings!



Extra Amanda!



They also worked in a dance tune.



Dancing action.



And so on!



 Even more Amanda!



The whole lot!



A really fantastic night.