It's time for another trip back a month to the end of May (yes, another delayed by life itself post), and an album release for Slavic rockers Ukrainia. Spy-fi instrumental crew The Reverb Syndicate kicked thinks off with some go-go action!
Guitar action with Mike!
Jeff chats up the crowd!
Rhythm section action with Michael and Jeff.
More Michael!
More-go-go dancing!
Commodore 64 action!
Yet more Mike!
Greenish go-go action!
Ukrainia put on a fine performance of tunes from their latest, Shadow Era, for the enthusiastic crowd. Here's some gripping action with Damian!
I'm starting to feel a little guilty about the amount of time I'm spending at House of Targ. There are plenty of other venues around town hosting shows, but Targ keeps dragging me over. Not that I offered much resistence to a double bill featuring Bad Uncle (last seen rocking the old HoT on Main) and Ukrainia - last seen at Bluesfest an alarming five years ago. First off Bad Uncle - they've got that Eastern European sound that seems to be automatically conjured up whenever accordions are involved (see also: Gogol Bordello, Beirut) even if, like frontman Santosh, you affix a wee Casio to it.
Singalong action with Jean-Phillippe and Ram!
Extra Santosh!
Hugo bends a bit!
Extra Ram!
Uncle-ish action!
More singalong action!
Bonus Ram!
More Hugo!
Hatless action!
Gripping action!
Contrabass action!
As I mentioned earlier, it's been a good half a decade since I saw Ukrainia in action, though I've caught all the members in other projects far more recently. Since then, there's been quite a bit of a lineup change. A trio of Hilotrons have been drafter in to fill in for Tom and Yogi. Here's Damian and Trons drummer Phil Bova.
And stage right, guitarist Paul Hogan (also of the Empiricals, etc.) and Mike Schultz, whose keyboards provided a big boost to the band's sound.
I'd better through this pic og Mike up now, because I think it's the only good one I got ...
Some shows I want to go to, some shows I feel like I have to go to. Last night's orgy of reunions at the House of Targ combined both, with local greats Four Frames, King Kung and Double Pumpers taking a break from all their other bands to rock the stage at the House of Targ. It was good to seel all the familiar faces both on stage and off.
Four Frames were up first. I've namechecked the band a bunch of times, but I'm not actually sure I have any photos from their heyday ... they might just have snuck in pre-blog (it's been 13 years or so since they got on stage together). I can distinctly remember singer Chris puking his guts out at Bumpers (he warned the crowd last night about possible projectile vomiting).
Wayne frets!
Brother Albert hits!
On our right, Rene LeClair made the trip from New Brunswick, Ian Vance did not.
More Ian!
That reminds me, I have to check out that Xenozoic Tales collection.
Extra Rene!
More Chris!
Extra Wayne!
Running about!
Rhythm section action!
Wide angle action!
Guitar-lifting action!
Bendy action!
The end!
Now here's some video of the band tearing through one of their tunes; my apologies for the terrible sound, my camera's wee microphone has been subject to so much volume over the years I think it's adding an extra layer of fuzz to everything.
King Kung were definitely pre-blog. If memory serves, I saw them only
once, performing at the Hi-Fi/Lucky Ron's (I forget what stage it was at
then). Since then, I've seen Rob Snasdell-Taylor perform with The Pop
Shove-Its and more recently stage a return with Chops & The Holics;
bassist Johnny Nash has kept busy with The Fucking Machines, Long Timers
and most recently Neck (among others). Shawn Hill was pretty active for a while with Garaga and Mighty Eagle Band. Drummer Scott Terry has also done plenty of other things, most recently behind the kit with Trees of North America, but wasn't on hand for this get-together. Here's Rob!
Here's Shawn!
Here's Johnny!
The whole lot (with Joel Lemieux on drums)!
Guitar action!
Joel hits! Hel also plays drums in Rob's new combo, Chops & The Holics.
Faceoff action!
Guitar strap repairing action! It was a night of technical difficulty "just like the old days!"
The shouty bit!
Singalong action!
And so on!
Rob likes a good ankle workout.
Extra Joel!
Finally Double Pumpers wrapped things up with their patented greasy boogie.
Rhythm section action with Damian and Yogi!
Dave sings!
Nightmarish action with Yogi!
Damian sings!
The whole lot!
Singalong action!
Extra Yogi!
Gripping action!
Extra Dave! "Try not to get too much nostril hair.," he told me ...
Barre chord action!
The shouty bit!
Clapping action!
The end!
A might fine walk down memory lane for all involved.
I'm an inveterate show-goer and photographer from Ottawa, Canada, and take copious pictures of live shows, most of which can be seen here on my blog or on Flickr. You can also follow me on Twitter, or on Tumblr. Past show and music reviews can also be found at Penny Black Music.
All contents are copyright Andrew Carver, except for album covers and the work of other photographers. Bands are free to reproduce photos of themselves on their blogs and websites; please don't use them elsewhere without permission. Most photos after April 2006 are linked to a larger version. I can be reached at andcarver "at" hotmail.com.
