Wood before wires

Back at the start of July Arms and Sleepers breezed through town; Steve Ducharme of Mud Lake opened the show with some acoustic tunes - it was a bit of an odd combination ...

Steve strums!



Steve sings!



Well, you get the idea.



Bonus Steve!



He did get some help for a few tunes from fellow Mud Laker Ryan Hamilton.


The whole lot!



Acoustic action!



And so on ...


Post-Canada day patriotic action!



Gripping action!



Last I heard, Mud Lake tunes were being retuned for acoustic performances.

• Show reminder: Extra Happy Ghost!!!, Silver Dapple and Roberta Bondar play Raw Sugar; there's Oi! aplenty at the Dominion with  Produzenten der Froide, The Prolwers and The Rookers. Dominique Fraissard performs at Zaphod's; The Matadors twang away at Mavericks; The Prophets of Genzee are at the Elmdale; venerable drummer Brian Downey and an armada of pals celebrate his years on the traps at Irene's; Static Revolt and Breaking The Fourth play the Avant-Garde Bar.

Acoustic and electric

I've seen peculiar double bills, but last night's show at Zaphod's definitely spanned a wide spectrum, or as opening act Steve Ducharme noted of Arms and Sleepers. "We're acoustic, they're electric." Folks with long memories might recall a few words about Mud Lake back in June 2009 when they opened for Tokyo Sex Whale and Dark Meat - that was a bit of a peculiar bill too. Anyway, Steve Ducharme is the guitarist for that combo. Mud Lake is apparently reworking its material for some acoustic recordings, but with the drummer unavailable, Zaphod's was treated to a mostly solo performance by Steve.


Steve Ducharme at Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 4

He was joined for a few songs by Mud Lake bandmate Ryan Hamilton.


Steve Ducharme with Ryan Hamilton at Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 4

Arms and Sleepers are a duo (sometimes filled out to a trio by Ben Shepard from Uzi and Air). Apparently they had a few unavailable members last night as well, because it was just Mirza Ramic on stage last night, playing electro while films were projected over top.


Arms and Sleepers at Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 4, 2011

It seemed like pretty straight-up electro to me, and I confess I lost interest after about half an hour - just not my cup of tea.

• Show reminder: Apart from Bluesfest, there's White Lung, Nu Sensae, and Pregnancy Scares at Babylon; The Elmdale hosts Brave By Numbers and The Mob.