Semiprecious stones

First time I saw Adam Waito, he was with Telefauna at The Rainbow - a fine show! Since then he's moved on to fronting his own band as Adam & The Amethysts, releasing the well-received Amethyst Amulet in 2008 and the even more appreciated Flickering Flashlight in octopber 2011 on Ottawa's own Kelp records.

That Adam! Also bassist Scott Johnson Gailey and drummer Jordan Cramer, a.k.a. Owl Loris.



Robert Lessard plays the cellow while Kelp supremo Jon Bartlett works the board.



Adam bends!



Let me just turn that flash up a bit.



Roberta switches to the keys!



The whole black and white lot!



More Adam!



Bonus Rebecca!



Barefoot action!



More Scott!



The end!



No word on what they're up to lately.

• Show reminder: Orchid Thieves, New Age Soldier and Cardiopanic perform at the Elmdale. Cam Jones plays the Avant-Garde.

Hidden gems

There was a fair amount of loud music on offer Thursday night, but I decided to go for something a little lower in volume at Raw Sugar. Adam & The Amethysts hail from Montreal. They're fronted by Adam Waito, who has appeared before in National Capital Rock performing with Telefauna and Miracle Fortress.

The opener was Owl Loris, a.k.a. Jordan Robson Cramer, who also played drums in Miracle Fortress at their Babylon show, has played with Spencer Krug's Sunset Rubdown and also mans the traps for The Amethysts. Some shoegazy pop that unfortunately slid into some high-pitched feedback on the first number, but turned out nicely when the PA was brought back under control.


Owl Loris at Raw Sugar, August 18, 2011

Something about one guy and a guitar inspires fooling around with shutter speed and whatnot.


Owl Loris at Raw Sugar, August 18, 2011

Onto A&TA. Waito has a nice offbeat line in pop music - I think I heard hints of Roy Orbison and Television Personalities in his tunes, which you don't get every day.

That Adam!

Adam & The Amethysts at Raw Sugar, August 18, 2011

And some Amethysts, including Jordan on drums, Rebecca Lessard on cello and Scott Johnson Gailey on bass (not Rory Seydel as I originally said).


Adam & The Amethysts at Raw Sugar, August 18, 2011

Adam & The Amethysts have been signed by local label Kelp, and album No. 2 is expected in the fall, so no doubt a return visit looms.

• Show reminder: Finish What You Started continues with G.O.D., Four Stroke, Wooka Tribe, Nightmare//Reality, Asco, Silent Bones and Dead Lights at Mavericks and Prevenge, LOKI, The Beer Barons, Todi Stronghands, Dead Weights, Benevenstanciano, Woolkfolk upstairs at Cafe Dekcuf; M.O.T.O., Needles//Pins and The Moby Dicks rock the Montgomery Legion Hall on Kent Street; Lefty McRighty and the Sinister Six, Lee Mellor and Huntley Slim play The Rainbow; Little Stella, Tyler Kealey and Breaze perform at Zaphod's; Corinne West and Kelly Joe Phelpsplay Irene's with James Farr as an opener. Bloodshot Bill and The Greasemarks slide into The Elmdale.

Plus Fort

Day 2 of the Capital Idea Festival and it was off to Babylon to see three bands I had never seen together. True, I've seen Spencer Krug - mainman of headliner Sunset Rubdown - perform in both Frog Eyes and Wolf Parade. All I knew of the other two acts was that the opener, Miracle Fortress, was the work of Graham Van Pelt, who is also in Think About Life. Not much help there; although TAL has played in town a few times (they seem to be regulars at the 59 Argyle St. basement) I hadn't seen them either. However, as it emerged after the show I'd seen at least half of Miracle Fortress' live band. I saw guitarist and bassist Jessie Stein play Mavericks in March 2005 with her band SS Cardiacs. I was sure I'd seen Van Pelt's other guitarist and keyboardist before as well, but only placed him after he asked if I'd taken pictures of Telefauna's gig at the Rainbow April 9, 2006; it was Adam Waito. Anyway, onto Miracle Fortress, who I wouldn't rush to compare with any of the aforementioned bands (man, that was a lot of leadup for nothing, wasn't it?). I'd say MF incorporates both the Beach Boys’ dreamiest moments with some of My Bloody Valentine’s noisiest and crossbreeds Cornelius with Saturday looks Good To Me.



Popsmith in chief Van Pelt.



Drummer Jordan Robson-Cramer also features in Sunset Rubdown. Good thing too, since it means I'll have another picture of him less dull than this one.



Jessie rocks out!



Adam takes his turn on the Ibanez.



Fortified action!







They'll be back in town (or close to it) on July 12 when they play the Black Sheep Inn on their return from from a western tour.

• Show reminder: Speaking of 59 Argyle, Screaming Females and F!ghtF!ghtF!ght are playing a gig there this evening.

Animal or mineral?

Not to slight Pianosaurus Rex or Books on Books, but the Sunday night show at The Rainbow was really kicked up a couple of notches by Telefauna; they're a Montreal group with a penchant for weirdo dance pop.

So who are these folks? Well, first we have Tyler Rauman, seen here on melodica.



Adam Waito is the band's outgoing point man.



The lovely Katherine Peacock on keyboards and vocals. Used to work at the Ottawa Library's children's department, says the band's bio - hey, me too!



Here's Ian Goodman, who takes care of most of the guitar, and also some keyboards and singing.



"We're finding Ottawa very nice ... and brightly lit!"



There was even enough light for a shot with my wide angle lense (f-stop about 3.5) from the side of the stage - a bit dark, but still viewable.



Let's just tune that a bit ...



Cowbells vs. wooden block action! Needless to say, the block won.



Ian sings some.



Singalong action!



Shoutalong action!



Singing-into-the-same-microphone action! (Which is mighty sexy, by the way.)



I believe this song involved patty-cake.



The big picture! (there was more audience out of sight under the Rainbow's upper loft, by the way - the show didn't attract a huge crowd, but it wasn't as sparse as the picture suggests).



"I say Tele! You say Fauna!"



See them if you can!

• Show reminder: In Safe Hands, four-stroke, Road Bones, Blackball and Layiterslayit play Cafe DeKcuf.

Horse of a different colour

The Rainbow played host to an incongruously post-pop bunch of bands; four in all, and things got underway at 10 p.m., so I just have a chance to name the culprits - They Shoot Horses, Don`t They?, Telefauna, Pianosaurus Rex and Books On Books - and show you some pictures before heading to bed.

Here's 50% of Pianosaurus Rex.



A quarter of Books on Books.



Three-fourths of Telefauna.



And two-sevenths of They Shoot Horses, Don't They?



Good sets from everyone - Telefauna in particular were a lot of fun. I also note from the Rainbow's listings that Black Boot Trio and Casey Comeau have upcoming shows at the venue, April 21 and April 23 respectively.