Out of their shell

Is it just me, or their been a powerpop explosion of late? Seems the kids can't enough of the sound pioneered by folks like The Raspberries, Big Star and Paul Collins. Conveniently enough, Collins is a few years into his second wind and breezed through town for a show featuring a bunch of his Canadian musical offspring, starting with The Walnut Kids.

Introduction action with Ian Manhire!



Ian sings, Sebastien hits, Olli does whatever bassists do!



And on your left, guitar-man J. Marteau.



Sebastien hits!



The whole powerpoppy lot!



Olli rocks the mouse.



More hitting!



The view from lowdown.



J. sings!



More nutty action with Olli.



Oh them Kids!



Thank you and goodnight!



The next legend they're opening for is Glen Matlock in early December ... no word on any Ottawa shows.

• Show reminder: God Falls, Call The Cavalry, Horizons, The Rest is Silent, Attack of the 50ft Woman and The Channel 4 News Team play Cafe Dekcuf; Rusty Waters and The Broken Troubadors perform at the Rainbow. 

Their lucky day

If you like powerpop, Babylon was the place to be last night, as Paul Collins graced the stage along with three combos of his devout disciples. Powerpop is big in Ottawa right now, what with Mother's Children, White Wires and others rocking the sound of the Raspberries, Big Star, Cheap Trick and, yes, Paul Collins groups like The Nerves and The Beat.

Things started with Montreal combo The Walnut Kids ... their 7-inch is almost sold out and they were sounding hotter than ever both on their own material and a ripping cover of The Real Kids' All Kinds of Girls.


The Walnut Kids, Babylon, August 13, 2010

They were followed by The Sonic Avenues, who keep getting better despite starting off as one of Canada's most killer live acts.


Sonic Avenues, Babylon, August 13, 2010

Mother's Children got to follow those acts and go on before The Paul Collins Beat, which must have been relaxing. They made it three-for-three for ace performances. Dave Forcier of Pregnancy Squares and photography fame was filling in for Tim Ostler on drums since Tim couldn't tour. All the bands kept things short and sweet, as it should be with power pop.


Mother's Children, Babylon, August 13, 2010

Finally  Paul Collins and company really shredded ... and I'm not just referring to his larynx (apparently prior exposure to some air-conditioning is to blame). They started things off with Hanging On The Telephone which got things pumping from the get-go. There was plenty of crowd-surfing and jumping on stage to sing along from the usual suspects, and it's fair to say everyone had a great time.


Paul Collins Beat, Babylon, August 13, 2010

An awesome show from start to finish.

• Show reminder: Dissentient, Endemise,  Eclipse Eternal and Empyrean Plague get all metallic at Cafe Dekcuf; The Holly Springs Disaster, Architects and Structures are at Ritual; Sister Hyde, Boom Creek  and The Sin Sisters rock The Elmdale Tavern; Giraffes? Giraffes!, We Fled Cairo and Adam Saikaley perform at the Avant Garde; Soul Bomb and Front In Centre are at Zaphod's; The Jesse Greene Band play the Rainbow; Ray Harris and Hard Pushin' Papa roll into Irene's.

Shell game

Montreal's Walnut Kids played next. First time they were in town at Ritual for their 7-inch release on Going Gaga, they tore through their set with much enthusiasm and less tuning. They were equally energetic this time around, despite some of the band's members attempting to walk from Montreal to make the gig.

Ian sings!



According to legend, Olli's bass was a loaner since he left his own behind a roadside bush.



Ever-grinning drummer Sebastien.



Olli sings!



Guitar action with J. Marteau.



Walnutty action!



More J.



The end!



There next show? Tonight at Babylon with Mother's Children, Sonic Avenues (who followed them at Gaga Weekend, as well) and powerpop legend Paul Collins.

• Show reminder: Evil Farm Children have you covered at Elmdale House Tavern. Flow 14, The Termights and Duke Squad perform at Zaphod Beeblebrox; The Sin Sisters shake it at the Rainbow; Steve Thomas and Tempus Fugitives are at Irene's; Kristen Young performs at the Avant-Garde.

Let's do the time warp again

Gaga Weekend is over for another year, and an awesome time was had by all. I want to stress that point because I feel fairly certain that a significant number of people who were there may no longer have actual memories of the event. The night at Babylon was a supercool end to the three-day event, with the only real bummer being The Goodnight Loving being stopped at the border. No matter, all six bands played really wicked sets, starting with Cold Warps.

Cold Warps were so good I bought both their tapes, a T-shirt, and a pair of really overpriced buttons on the spot. They played ace powerpop with a definite Marked Men feel, and have super stage presence as well. Definitely a festival highlight.


Cold Warps at Babylon, June 12, 2010

The Steve Adamyk Band played a really hot set after being introduced by a shirtless Ian.


Shirtless Ian at Babylon, June 12, 2010


Steve Adamyk Band at Babylon, June 12, 2010

They had some of Statues up to sing along to The Modernettes' Barbra.


Jeff Houle sings Barbra at Babylon, June 12, 2010

Montreal's rambunctious Chuck Berry-lovers The Walnut Kids also rocked out in style, and definitely more in tune that their Ritual performance at Bored to Death earlier this year.


The Walnut Kids at Babylon, June 12, 2010

I've always been impressed by The Sonic Avenues' live show, but fresh off their U.S. tour they were sharp as never before.


Sonic Avenues at Babylon, June 12, 2010

There goes Ian!


Ian Manhire is taken away, Babylon, June 12, 2010

As for Statues, the frequent visitors from Sudbury already have tons of fans in this city, which is why the moshing reached a fever pitch during their set. They played a swell version of The Buzzcocks' Lipstick.


Statues at Babylon, June 12, 2010

Ian told me earlier that he had The Visitors on as a closer because they were totally reliable at rocking the crowd. True, that. Skotty told me earlier that he had a finger's breath left of energy for the performance, and might consider curling up asleep on stage after the set.


The Visitors at Babylon, June 12, 2010

I was interviewed by one of Luca's minions during the show and asked how many photos I'd taken; I thought it was somewhere in the 1,500 to 1,800 range. Actually, it turned out to be 1,700, give or take a few duds I deleted immediately. Most of the ones from the last two shows are pretty horrible as my ability to compose a shot deteriorated, but still not a bad document of Ottawa's first and only rock'n'roll festival.

• Show reminder: Caitlin Dolan and The Sheepdogs join The Grass at Zaphod's. Netherlands dream-country band Templo Diez and Sackville folkster RA Lautenschlager play The Rainbow.

Nuts to that

The Walnut Kids finished the night off with some rough'n'ready rock'n'roll sounds. These guys say they like Wreckless Sic, The Buzzcocks (who they covered), Kids Real and otherwise and similar Basher-loving, Stiff-signed 1970s rockers. They also dig The Animals and the less-polished end of 1960s rock.

Yet more introduction action from Ian, who is going the full Walnut with both T-shirt and button. Bassist Olli is at right.



Singalong action with guitarist Ian.



Crazy face-making action from drummer Sebastien deChamplain.



More low-angle singalong action!



Grimacing and other guitarist J. Marteau.



See-through action!



The crowd goes wild! And complains about tuning!



More J. and Sebastien.



And from the other side of the stage.



Sebastien hits!



More Olli!



More Ian!



Big finish!



Their next gig is in Montreal supporting the Vibrators at Crobar May 17.

• Show reminder: The Novaks, The Birthday Boys and The Allrights rock Mavericks; Hotshotcasino, Boombonic Plague and Courtney Thorman plus a heap of artists roll into Zaphod's; Elmdale House's monthly songwriter's circle features Peggy White, Tony True, Lefty McRighty and Ray Harris.

By the Bored

There was so much on last night it was tough to decide which direction to head off in, but since there were two shows I wanted to see close by, I decided to head to Mavericks to see The John Henrys' CD release show and then go to Ritual Nightclub two blocks away to see The Walnut Kids and and their 7-inch release show at the club's monthly Bored To Death punk-rock DJ night.

When I got to Mavericks Brendan Flynn and The Terrible Liars were on stage, with a handful of songs still to go. They sounded really good, very much in the vein of Steve Earle.


Brendan Flynn and The Terrible Liars at Mavericks, April 9, 2010

Next up were Madison Violet, a couple of sweetly harmonizing and shots-drinking ladies from small-town Ontario who covered both Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson and Fox On The Run, the Manfred Mann tune that has since become a bluegrass fave. They weren't shy about calling-out crowd members who kept chatting away during their set. For this set they were accompanied by Adrian Lawryshyn, standup bassist for such folks at Liam Titcomb.


Madison Violet at Mavericks, April 9, 2010

John Henrys finished things off with their usual high grad country rock. Their new album is called White Linen.


John Henrys at Mavericks, April 9, 2010

I only stuck around for a half-dozen songs, since I wanted to go and see The Walnut Kids at Ritual. The nightclub holds a monthly night of punk rock tuneage in its downstairs room. As I entered The Avengers We Are the One was being played. As it turned out no one had gotten on stage yet - or the corner that passes for a stage.

The first band up was Toronto's Chattering Class, who sounded a bit like the offspring of The Germs and The Armitage Shanks and covered a tune by VOM. Matt from School Jerks sings and plays guitar.


Chattering Class at Ritual Nightclub, April 9, 2010

Finally The Walnut Kids put on a snappy set of punky powerpop tuneage, complete with Chuck Berry and Buzzcocks covers as well as songs from their new vinyl on Going Gaga Records. There was some tuning woes and the bass player's head cut out near the end of the gig, but other than that it went pretty well.


Walnut Kids at Ritual Nightclub, April 9, 2010

Ian told me the nightclub will also be hosting one of the Gaga Weekend shows.

• Show reminder: Greg Smith Sounds and Andrew Vincent play Raw Sugar; Kingdoms, Therefore I Am, Hunter City Madness and Assemble Me perform at Cafe Dekcuf; Good2Go, and The BushPilots rock Irene's Pub; Parallels, Politique and Blazer are at Zaphod Beeblebrox; Castor and Monobrow send the Dominion Tavern into outerspace; White Cowbell Oklahoma and Silver Creek roll into Mavericks; there's CHUO fundraising activity aplenty at the Elmdale House with Slo’ Tom, Patsy Clash, Steve Stacey and Chris Mellor and an all-star band.