In the beginning

The initial plan for the evening of March 5 was to go and see Flying Fortress and Monobrow at Cafe DeKcuf. But since it was a later show and there were some bands at Zaphod's I decided to hit that up as well, since I hadn't heard of any of the acts performing that night. As I walked in The Start were on stage, heading into their last three or four songs. While the lion's share of the bands I see confine themselves to a cover or two per night, The Start are dedicated anglophiles. This isn't too hard since frontman Graeme Weeks is born-and-raised and guitarist Gareth Powell has tread the boards across the pond as well.

How many bands have one musician playing a keytar and the other a Ric? I wager not many, but if you cover everything from The Beatles to Depeche Mode I guess it makes sense.



Gareth is in charge of facial expressions and guitar.



Shoulder-synth action with Nathan Taylor-Conboy!



Frank Deehan handles the low end.



The whole lot - including drummer Aaron Clarke (and an unfortunately placed microphone)!



Graeme sings!



Is rock'n'roll the devil's music? Possibly, possibly ...



More Start!



More Gareth!



Guitar-lifting action!



And some final bonus Frank.



The Start keep busy with semi-regular gigs at The Pour House (you can catch them there this Friday, and on April 1 and 2) as well as weddings (just ask The White Wires' Ian Manhire) and suchlike.

• Show reminder: Kalmah, Warcall, Insurrection and Accursed Spawn rock The Rainbow; Go for the Eyes, Hibou and Birthday Girls are at the Elmdale.

From Start to finish

Last night made me feel very clever. Not because I applied any extra brainpower to anything yesterday, but because I got to walk around in the galoshes I bought a couple of years ago. Gigantic puddles, I mock thee! As for the musical portion of the evening, I started things off at Zaphod Beeblebrox with a trio of previously unseen and unheard of bands (at least by me).

The Start was playing as I walked into Zaphod's. In fact, it was almost the end of their set; they were playing Tainted Love (a version that owed more to Soft Cell than the Gloria Jones original ... notice the shoulder synthesizer in the snap below), before moving onto the Kinks You Really Got Me. Yes, The Start are a cover band with a love of all things English (though apparently they sneak in a non-U.K. ringer on occasion), ranging up to relatively recent acts like The Arctic Monkeys, though they seem to favour the 1960s and 1970s (judging by their setlist, I'd missed The Stones' Miss You and tunes by The Jam and Elvis Costello).


The Start at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 5, 2011

Up next were local trio Move Your Mountain; they call themselves powerpop and included a cover of Big Star's Thirteen in their set list; they also have a tune called Electric Booty and very busy bassist, and I hear a bit of post-punk funk in their sound. You can't quite tell from this picture, but former Four Frames/Mouthpiece singer - and later still Boom Creek drummer - mans the skins for this trio. Testuro Takara plays bass.


Move Your Mountain at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 5, 2011

Here's singer Kevin Ochal.


Move Your Mountain at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 5, 2011

Brainhunter wrapped things up. I sense a definite Misfits influence in the bands pop culture monster mash, though musically they've absorbed a few more modern influences. They also say they like their psychobilly ... I guess the fashion influence is there, but since I didn't catch their whole set I'll withhold judgment on that score.


Brainhunter at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 5, 2011

Here's guitarist Shareef Shabazz, decked out in zombie-friendly duds, and the band's swanky banner.


Brainhunter at Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 5, 2011

I actually popped over to Cafe DeKcuf for the en of the night. I hoped to catch Monobrow and Flying Fortress and got 50% of what I wished for. Monobrow played an absolutely killer set of instrumental heavy metal sure to delight the ears of fans of Sons of Otis and similar acts.


Monobrow at Cafe DeKcuf, March 5, 2011

And here's guitarist Paul Slater and a lot of shutter-nonsense.


Monobrow at Cafe DeKcuf, March 5, 2011

Unfortunately Flying Fortress cancelled due to the weather - a wise move with the ice making traffic very dicey.

• Show reminder: Speaking of Cafe DeKcuf, Acres of Lions, Brights, Hamilton and Dead Weights are there tonight. The Soles and Monique Barry perform at The Rainbow; the Elmdale is hosting a showcase of Random Orbit Records recording artists ... namely Brennan Pilkington of That's the Spirit and Department of Foreign Affairs, Greg Brayford and Michael Peterson of The Flats and Marc Audet from The Woodrunners.