Unsteady as she goes

On to the Rickity Ship. I get the impression a good chunk of the crowd was pals with openers Use Every part of the Deer, because many of them split before the Ship's set. Pity! Anyway, this was definitely atighter, harder-rocking set than the one at Irene's a month ago.

Darrel sings! He was in The Desecrators, you know.



Richard from down low.



Tim; I think the red floods were set to grill.



Nate, also from down low.



I like the pretty colours.



The whole lot!



Mandatory clapping action!



Big rock finish!








A show with Four'n'Giv'r impends.

• Show reminder: Kintra, The Unavowed and Breadfan rock Cafe DeKcuf. Good2Go and Robin Black perform at Zaphod's. Danko Jones and Hot Springs perform at Barrymore's. The Sunbleached Skulls play the Elmdale House Tavern.

Near and deer

I headed over to Zaphod's last night to see transplanted Winnipeggers Use Every Part of the Deer and Rickity Ship. Wednesday's wet weather discouraged a heavy turnout, but both combos gave it their all. Hopefully they'll have a better opportunity to convert new fans next time around.

Use Every Part of the Deer kicked out some very competent folk tunes on violin, acoustic guitar, mandolin and "stink organ.". They also covered The Misfits' I Want Your Skulls and The Smiths' There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. There's a combination you don't hear every day.



And then as Use Every Part of the Deer said, Rickity Ship came on to "kick you in the balls so hard you puke on your balls and your ass." They were a lot sharper and definitely heavier at this show. In addition to Lucifer Sam they also covered Neil Young's Vampire Blues and The Rolling Stones' Citadel.



After that I went over to Cafe DeKcuf to see if there was anyone left on stage, only to find they'd moved to Mavericks and all there was to do was say hi to ZingZing as she left.

• Show reminder: Sarah Slean and Royal Wood perform at the Bronson Centre; The Fucking Machines and The Annoyers play the Bytown Tavern.

High seas

Many years ago I worked at the Ottawa Sun with Darrell Angus of Golden Famile (I still do; he left to pursue education and employment elsewhere). We rode the bus in to work together, talked about music and traded CDs. It's probably not a coincidence that he was the first person I photographed when I started documenting the local scene - talking with Birdman Sound's John Westhaver outside Bumpers (gone but not forgotten ... Malcolm Bauld mentioned playing shows there during his performance Tuesday night). That night The Golden Famile were opening for the Asteroid No. 4. I've seen him in both The Golden Famile and backing Casey Comeau as a Half-Miler. The other members of the band have similarly extensive pedigrees in the local music scene - Nate Hurlow was in The Dead City Rebels, The Fortunate Sons and The Glads, Richard Jeffrey is in Mono Hum and is Casey Comeau's partner in music and life, Tim Matthews is also a Glad, was a Knurling, is also in Mono Hum. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Rickity Ship is picking up where the Famile left off with some extra VU and early Floyd mixed in courtesy of a cover of Lucifer Sam.

Darrell.



Nate.



Tim.



Richard sings Sam.



Rhythm section action!



Ship-shape action!



Clapping action!



The whole lot!



There was some joking after the show from band members that the performance was as rickety as their name - all part of the charm, I'd say. Maybe they'll be note-perfect when they play Zaphod's with Use Every Part of the Deer on May 21.

• Show reminder: The Constantines, Attack In Black, and Castlemusic play the Capital Music Hall. The Habit, Sadie Hell and Eastborough perform at The Rainbow. Brock Zeman plays Irene's. Lords and Cloak/Dagger hit the End Hits basement. Knives for Kids, Inire and Special Ops performs at Zaphod's.

Shh!

Irene's is getting close to cornering the market on country rock in Ottawa; just a few hours ago I saw some veterans of the local music scene and some veterans of some other town's local music scene. First up were Rickity Ship with a more Velvet Underground-style take on frontman Darrell Angus' former outlet Golden Famile. Bassist Nate Hurlow and guitarist Richard Jeffrey were also Famile men, and Richard, Darrell and drummer Tim Matthews were also in the Half-Milers. There are a few other connections I won't get into. Let's just say "Music for Cats" and move along ... Oh, and Richard sang a cover of Pink Floyd's Lucifer Sam.


Rickety Ship, Irene's, April 19, 2008

Then Toronto combo The Shovels performed; country rock with originals and diverse covers - both traditional stuff (Long Black Veil) and less so (Judy Is A Punk). It was a swell show including a lot of dancing during the slow songs and twisting during the faster numbers.


The Shovels, Irene's April 19, 2008

These folks have resumes that include Jay Clark and The Jones, The Sin-Tones, Dodge Fiasco, The Midways, Heatseekers and Suckerpunch - actually that's just drummer Sean Dignan. I know guitarist Todd Gallant was in Jughead; I'll have to check out what steel man Larry Thomas and guitarist/vocalist Julie Tobbogan (to say nothing of bassist Jake Summers, off to the right outside the frame in the above photo) have done sometime when I'm less tired.

• Show reminder: Saint Bernard of Love and The Vespertine Choir play a free show at The Manx; Woodhands, Crush Buildings and We Fled Cairo play Zaphod's. Protest The Hero, Drillpoint and Today I Caught The Plague play a sold-out, all ages show at Babylon.