Living off the land

It's been a while ago now, but there are still a few leftovers from Acres' and Electric Lives' opening sets for The Late 94s. I only caught the last couple of songs by Acres, then heard them in the distance a couple of weeks later when they performed at Bluesfest.

The whole lot!











The recently remixed These Electric Lives had a fun set as well. They weren't quite as bouncy as the last time I saw them, but were even sharper musically, with some prime Britpop sounds. Other than that it's all a blur to me (both mentally and photographically).

Blurry Bryan and Griffon (who was tucked away on the other side of the pillar behind a huge fan for most of the set).



Blurry Gary!



Not so blurry Mark and Gary singalong action!



Drummer Adam.



And so on.









Like many another band, These Electric Lives will be performing at the iheartmusic fest; in particular at Mavericks on August 21.

• Show reminder: Obelysk! and Tauno play Clemow Mansion (which is probably not a mansion, but is on Clemow - No. 326 to be precise). The Polymorphines release their new CD alongside The Mistress at Zaphod's. The Sin Kickers and Power Farm perform at Irene's. Capital Grass & The No-Men and Elizabeth Bruce perform at the Avant-Garde Bar.

Late again!

I shouldn't have tarried over Japanese chambara films last night. I got to Zaphod's while Matthew of Acres was introducing the band's last song, Diplomats, and also praising the new hand-dryer in the men's washroom. It was a powerful performance by both band and dryer.


Acres, Zaphod Beeblebrox, June 28, 2008

These Electric Lives put on a really stellar set. As before I hear echoes of The Cure, Interpol and Bloc Party. This may be just my internal Adorable fanboy speaking, but I also thought Mark Stanfield (depicted below) was sounding a lot like that band's Piotr Fijalkowski. They had a better audience than the last time I saw them, also at Zaphod's, as a headliner over Embassies of Denmark.


These Electric Lives, Zaphod Beeblebrox, June 28, 2008

Finally The Late '94s rocked the house. The crowd swelled considerably by the time they got on stage for both their first performance and their CD release show. Ryan O'Hagan, Tristan Knott (that's them below) along with bassist Mike Short and drummer Mike Bond, who was in thumping good form.


The Late '94s, Zaphod Beeblebrox, June 28, 2008

A promising debut.

• Show reminder: Endemise, Arising Roots, Aggressor, Demise of a King and Mercury Flow play Mavericks.

Some shows

I swear I'm going to get those Hi Lo Trons photos up some day, but a busy social calendar means a few much-delayed show notices will have to do for now. Tokyo Sex Whale, Hemi-Loco, and Doll rock Zaphod Beeblebrox tonight.


Tokyosexwhale, Babylon, September 28, 2007

Also Friday, The End, Johnny Truant, A Textbook Tragedy and Darkness Rites make rocky noise at Cafe Dekcuf.
On Saturday, The Love Machine, The Junction, These Electric Lives and Fire Heats Water entertain the multitudes at Barrymore's.


These Electric Lives, Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 26, 2006

Also on Saturday, Amanda Rheaume and Tim's Myth play Zaphod Beeblebrox, and you can catch Manpower, Mighty Eagle Band and Polymorphines at Babylon. Last but not least, Missippi Grover, Shanker and Romps and The Felines bring pig poles, pancakes and purrs to Irene's.

It's a shock

These Electric Lives had some fun rounding out the bill at Zaphod's on Saturday. Unfortunately a good chunk of the audience who showed up to catch Embassies of Denmark decided not to stick around. Fortunately a few noisy types stuck around to scream on cue so it didn't seem like total desertion, and the band put on a jumping show. Unfortunately I couldn't catch any leaps from the riser due to slippery floor conditions but here are a few other pics.

Singer Mark Stanfield.



That rhythm section: Drummer Adam Balsam and bassist Gary Peter, Metric roadie extraordinaire.



Guitarist Bryan Lowe and keyboardist Griffon March.




More Adam!



More Griffon!



Faceoff action (I think somewhat obscured keyboardist Griffon is saying "Okay you guys, go back to your microphones ...")



Electric action!







A bit Cure-like; they say they like Interpol and Bloc Party and I can certainly hear that as well.

• Show reminder: Big D and the Kids Table, The Rude Dudes and No Dice perform at Cafe Dekcuf.

Lives become electric

Interesting triple bill at Zaphod's this evening, starting with the post-rock of City of 100 Spires, moving on to the screamy punk of Embassies of Denmark and then These Electric Lives' Cure-influenced, Metric-lovin' post punk.

Those city boys set up on the dancefloor and beckoned the audience to come closer. Then they jumped around a lot and played fuzzy, Tortoise-inspired instrumental rock.



Embassies of Denmark got up on stage and did their thing in honour of the release of their new EP.



Finally These Electric Lives performed. Unfortunately a good chunk of the audience evaporated while they did, which was a pity, since they put on a good show.



I shall speak more of this later.

• Show reminder: Vandelay, Dora and Planetary Confusion perform at End Hits; Gutter Demons, Urban Alien and The Sewer Rats perform at Cafe Dekcuf. You could probably see the former then skip over to see the latter if you felt so inclined, since show times are 5:30 and 7:30 respectively. Heck, you could also see The Flaps perform at Andrew Hayden Park earlier in the day and make it a threefer.