A bunch of punks (2)

I flipped a coin over Zaphod's vs. Babylon last night - well, actually I checked out Call Me Poupee's Myspace and decided I didn't really fancy their beatbox Tex-Mex garage rock and strolled a couple of blocks to see a quintent of punk rock bands in assorted flavours instead: Million Dollar Marxists, Hostage Life, Knucklehead, Last Communion and Healing Power. The variety was indeed interesting.

First up, Halifax quartet Healing Power. Fractured punk and a cover of The Undertones' Teenage Kicks.



Local foursome Last Communion was more in the screamy hardcore vein.



Knucklehead: Working class punk rock quintet from Calgary. Kyle's cloth cap says it all.



Next, the smart and well-muscled punk of Hostage Life.



Finally, the New Wave-damaged rock of them Marxists.



There was a bit less chaos this time, and one less keyboard since some rotter pinched it.

Murder was the case

Murder by Death struck me as a somewhat gothic punkabilly band with a slight overlay of Calexico atmospherics. I may have imagined the last bit: I only had the chance to lend an ear to three songs before they made way for the headliner. Pictures turned out nicely though, didn't they?

Adam Turla likes black.



The ever-pretty Sarah Balliet was playing keyboard when I entered, shortly after she switched to cello.



Dagan Thogerson rocks the corduroy cap.



A shadowy Matt Armstrong.



Turla sneers, Armstrong mulls.



Murderous action!





A pleasant enough opening act.

• Show reminder: Million Dollar Marxists, Hostage Life, Knucklehead, Last Communion and Healing Power punk it up at Babylon; Mile Over Mecca and Jimi Haze perform at the Avant-Garde Bar.

Who's spooling who?

Tapes'n'Tapes followed Ladyhawk with their own robust take on indie rock. They have an insistent edge which has garnered them a few Pixies comparisons. I enjoyed the music but didn't find it hugely memorable. The most lasting impressions from the show are bassist Eric Appelwick showing off his moves (it was definitely a night for active bassists) and keyboardist/percussionist Matt Kretzman tooting on a euphonium. And that they had actually cassettes of their album The Loon for sale.

Singer Josh Grier.



Eric shakes his stuff.



Drummer Jeremy Hanson.



Matt horns in on the action.



Taped action!



Eric shakes his other stuff.



Faceoff action!







Not a rock moment, but in fact Josh shouting "Go Sens!"



A very shadowy Eric.



The whole lot!



They had lots of fans in the crowd, but personally I kept thinking "I've heard something like this before."

• Show reminder: The Cliks and We Are The Take perform at Zaphod's.

Ladies' night

I bought Ladyhawk's eponymous debut last year, and it was easily one of my favourite records of 2006 in all its Dinosaur Jr./Neil Young-loving glory. I dare say a number of folks who turned out for their Barrymore's performance a while back came for them and not the headliners, Tapes'n'Tapes. The band treated them to a brisk run through their material which did the record proud. The only caveat came from the photographic point of view; the light was quite low and thus the pictures I took are all blurry, grainy and somewhat hairy. In other words, they suit the band perfectly.

Duffy Driediger has an endearing bleat of a voice.



Bassist Sean Hawryluk in a rare, non-hair-shaking moment.



Drummer Ryan Peters. There are a lot of vocalists in this band.



Guitarist Darcy Hancock.



Singalong action!



See what I mean about the hairshaking?



And so on.



Hawkish action!







The whole lot!



They have a new EP out. The only disappointment is that they didn't bring their album cover letters on tour with them ...

• Show reminder: Mice Parade, Tom Brosseau and David Karsten Daniels perform at Barrymore's; Social Code, Hunter Valentine and The Riot Service play Mavericks.

Up above

The Mighty Eagle Band ended things with a roar, despite, in Neal's words, being "totally wasted". Went off great, despite some shocking shooters spillage near the end.

Those Eagle Banders, in various states of fuzziness.



Scott in the limelight.



Adam drums in a sinister fashion!



Rhythm section action, with substitute bass player Johnny Nash.



Neal hogs the stage!



Shawn sings!



Leaning action!



Faceoff action!



Silhouetted action!



Monitor-standing action!



The whole lot!



Neal hits the dance floor for some extra grimacing!





Some pretty sweet pictures up on Flickr as well.

Quiet night

It got a bit chilly yesterday, didn't it? It was quiet as I walked down to Irene's (particularly compared to Saturday's blaring horns), and fairly quiet inside Irene's as well. Maybe everyone was sleeping off their post-Sens victory hangover; there were about two dozen people on hand to watch Sarah Hallman and Great Aunt Ida.

A slightly blurry Sarah with an even blurrier rhythm section.



Ida Nilsen and bassist-illustrator Scott Malin.



Lovely performances from everyone involved. Oh, and Mighty Eagle Band photos should be up later in the day.