Static electricity

The Rheostatics are no more, and its constituents are now busy proving the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. Sorry! But there's no denying Dave Bidini's a fun performer - you can just see from the photos below what an active fellow he is - and he's got an ace band.

The man himself.



Paul Linklater sings!



Don Kerr gazes!



Singalong action with Dave Friesen, who can also be seen playing with Ben Gunning and Peter Elkas.



And of course Six Shooter mainstay and collaborator-with-everyone Ford Pier.



The whole lot, except for Ford.



And so on!









Dave's also a writer ... I think I prefer the book ...

• Show reminder: I'm sad to be missing some Deadly Snakes vets unleashing some seriously heavy rock fuzz as Quest For Fire at Cafe DeKcuf; ex-Jon-Rae and The Riverites $100 and a couple of Constantines doing the solo thing - Woolly Leaves, (last seen on this here blog performing on a bill with Julie Doiron) and Deloro are also on the bill. Matt Costa, Sera Cahoone and the particularly ace Winter Gloves perform at Barrymore's; ManKillsMan, Mekhaya, Grafenberg and Goetia spread happiness and cheer at Mavericks; Ty Hall performs at The Rainbow. Holger Schoorl performs at The Avant-Garde.

Deep purple

The Violet Archers are fronted by Tim Vesely of The Rheostatics, and feature a few Wayne Omahans, one Buttless Chap and an Elliot Brooder. The music is moody, slightly psychedelic pop with some synth beeps thrown in for good measure. I can definitely hear the influence of the Rheos and WO.

Some call him ... Tim?



Ida Nilsen, also of Great Aunt Ida; she' also serving in the Buttless Chaps, so more pictures of her will appear in short order.



Last time I saw Yawd Sylvester was at Shed Sessions; it was a nippy night in the Gatineau Hills, he was wearing a nightshirt and sleeping cap, there was a bat flying around the stage and he was playing a nose flute.



Aaron MacPherson, also of Wayne Omaha.



Last time I saw Steve Pitken, it was at Zaphod's and he was playing a suitcase.



With introductions out of the way, we can now turn to pop action ...







Ida joins in on backing vocals (also larger).





To get a good group shot with a 50mm macro lens you have to stand back a ways. This picture was taken from the top level of Barrymore's (larger here).



Their debut album is called This is the End of Part One.

• Show reminder: Les Six play Zaphod's along with Eric St. Cyr, Interfear and Finger of Knowledge.

The most Canadian band ever!

Would be a Stompin' Tom Connors cover band from Medicine Hat. But as far as I know no such beast exists, so we're stuck with The Rheostatics. I've seen them a few times ... sometimes they're a focussed group of performers, sometimes they just go way out there, and if the audience doesn't like it, tough beans.
I'm not quite sure why The Rheostatics are described as the most Canadian band ever, perhaps because they don't sound like somebody from anywhere else, though you could probably trace their lineage through punk, new wave and prog to some foreign shore. Less theory, more pictures:

Here's Dave Bidini, guitarist, singer, occasional bassist, talented writer on such subjects as baseball in Italy and band tours. He has a new book, For Those About To Rock, reputed to contain advice for all you young'uns thinking of starting a band. Mr. Bidini, could you mug for the camera, please? Thanks.



Here's a picture of a Steinberger guitar. And where the guitar goes, Martin Tielli is not far behind.



Tim Vesely skipped the suit jackets for the "suburban dad about to take the kids to soccer practice" look.



Drummer and Canuck super-producer, Phil Wojewoda.



Now for some group pics (well, sort of). First, Tim and Martin - the latter on tenor guitar.



Now, Dave and Martin.



Phil stepped out from behind the kit to serenade the audience. That's about what it takes to get a decent drummer picture, although this one actually had some aesthetic problems. Normally, I only alter pictures by cropping to remove ceilings, irrelevant band members, annoying bar patrons, my thumb, etc., with perhaps some judicious sharpening thrown in for scans. In this case, there was the headstock of a bass guitar I could not abide.



You may be asking ... was this one of those "to heck with the audience" shows? Sort of. Here Mr. Tielli flaps his arms and caws like a bird. And not for the first or the last time.



On that note, we fly away, leaving you a parting picture of opening act Julie Doiron.



In just about any other country, The Rheostatics would be opening for her. Funny old world.