Balls of the 'Bell

Subtlety ... restraint ... good taste. These are all things you will not risk overexposure too at a White Cowbell Oklahoma show. They have a new CD out - Casa Diablo, I don't like it as much as their first, but it has a few good moments - and came to Ottawa to expose a good-sized and rambunctious audience to the many pleasures of whatever the heck it is they do. So here you go!

As is his fashion, the sheriff done warns us of these ne'er-do-wells proclivities.



It didn't take long for the ladies to get on stage.



Cowbell action!



I was sure I took some decent photos of Jessup H. Christ, but this was the only one that turned out remotely decent. Did I say decent? I meant "in focus."



No WCO shoot is complete without a jump'n Cousin.



They had some trouble starting up Chainsaw Charlie's chainsaw, but when they did it was adios to various paper products.





The whole lot!



Bubba gets to sing one.



The Sarge does enjoy his stints on bass, doesn't he?



Mo' Bubba.



Doubleneck action from Hollis!



"How does Clem keep his suits so white?"



Let me hear you holler!



Many people find Clem's guitar work most satisfying.



Like wise for Hollis.



They're just good friends.



Big finish!



Unfortunately I failed to adequately capture keyboardist Jess Lactater or their new drummer, Dingo Von Devereaux. As I always say ... next time!

Big and small

My days off have been a little sparser than usual of late, so I'm glad I had a free one to pop around to Zaphod's to see Acres and up-and-comers Young Galaxy appear as part of Mocking Music's weekly Ice Cream Sunday event.

It was bright enough to bust out the macro lens for a few shots, so here's an apple-cheeked Matthew from Acres.



Young Galaxy made me think immediately of Besnard Lakes, another Montreal band. I was unsurprised to learn their upcoming album was recorded at Jace Lasek's Breakglass Studios. With their male female-vocals I also thought of Young and Sexy. Please note the pic below omits a keyboardist off to the left.



We haven't heard the last, etc.

FM, OK?

The Fucking Machines were a bit off an odd choice to open for White Cowbell Oklahoma. I dare say that some of the audience solely interested in boogie (and possibly boobies) were not hep to their hardcore assault. Pity! I thought this was a pretty cool set, though I've preferred sets at The Dom and Babylon where they can get in the audience's face a bit more. Anyway, I dropped the ball a bit by sticking with my macro lens, thus these are my worst Machines pictures ever ... I should have shot a few shots with flash. Next time!

Smiley Joe action!



Smiley Dave action!



Hey, one of my pictures actually turned out in focus!



Civ yells!



Machine action!







Nuzzling action!



Non-nuzzling action!



I also took a couple of pictures of drummer John Sproull - let us never speak of them again.

Oh brothers, where art thou?

The last Hellbros show I attended was loads of fun, and it was the same deal this time around. Great metal action, good crowd and an all-round kick-ass performance. I thought it was a funny coincidence that there were two outfits with Hell in their name, but since it turns out some of the bros were in Sadie Hell, maybe not so much.

Nightwolf was in particularly good form this time around.





Stabatron sings!





Dr. Rockula rocks.



Killbot in front, back-to-back action in the rear (hmm, that sounds a bit pervy).



Hellish action!








I like my rock jumps, but this one went a shade high.



The band were about to play a sexy song so they implored the audience to reach out and grab someone. Here they lead by example.



Audience participation action!



Like the saying goes, never a dull moment.

You want blood?

Darn it, this marks the second time I've the Zoobombs; last year I was in B.C. when they came through, this time I was at work. At least I didn't have to worry about missing The Bloody Hollies twice. I got a ride home from work and Babylon is but a hop, skip and a jump away from my apartment so I managed to make it in time for The Double Pumpers' opening set.

The Pumpers laid out three new songs intended for their upcoming album, including one they wrote just this week. In a remarkable coincidence, three may turn out to be the title of their next album too!



The Bloody Hollies' gutsy rock'n'roll hit the spot too.



A good crowd into the whole gig was in attendance as well.

• Show reminder: Orphan Choir and Last Communion perform at End Hits. Young Galaxy and Acres play Zaphod Beeblebrox.

How rude

Next up were The Rude Dudes. I've never seen them before, and was expecting something along the lines of punky ska. That may be their regular kick, but for this show I get the impression they were doing things a bit differently with a bunch of covers ... unfortunately I didn't really get a chance to find out what was going on or hear much since after a song or two my guts decided to start tying themselves into knots. Thus, I spent most of their set down in the washroom gassing away. Bleah. So here's a bunch of pictures and not a lot in the way of further explanation.

The only guy I know from this crew is Matty.



If the saxophone got any use I wasn't around to hear it.



Guitar action! And an inconveniently placed microphone stand.



Lyric consultation action!







Drinkin' n' drummin'.



The whole lot!



As for what they have planned, I know even less. This was a fun show seriously short on seriousness.

• Show reminder: The Bloody Hollies and The Double Pumpers perform at Babylon; Zoobombs, Sweet Thing and Good2Go play Zaphod's; For The Mathematics, City of a Hundred Spires and Special Guests at 80 Spruce St.; The Flaps perform at Irene's. Jim Bryson and Camp Radio perform at the Black Sheep Inn.
  

Blasphemy-a-go-go

The Goddamn Goddamns were up next. They're from Burlington and have got the 1950s 'billy style going (in part, anyway) and sound like a more rock, less roll version of Social Distortion.

Guitarist Johnny Allman fronts Burlington trio Dark Pearl.



Lizzy Trash sings lead and plays hollowbody. (That's a somewhat spectral Johnny at left).



Drummer Snarly.



Bassist Chud.



Goddamn action - goddamnit!











Liz asked the audience to raise a cheer to get the guys to take off their shirts. It was a sort of halfhearted cheer so only Chud followed through entirely.



The whole damn bunch!



I thought they were pretty good; I chatted briefly with Chud post-show and he said this was their first gig; I thought they sounded quite a bit more road-tested than that.

• Show reminder: Germans, VKNGS, The Soft Disaster and The Allrights perform at Mavericks.

To hell and back

Sunday's show was something a bit different. Zaphod's hosted the annual Art and Music event, where a few local artists with a pop culture bent bring their stuff to sell and a host of musicians kick in on the audio side. The art was the sort of stuff one might find showcased in Carbon-14, and the music was too. First up, Sadie Hell. Ben Welland's regular musical partner Cindy Olberg was under the weather, and the music missed the dark undercurrent provided by her cello playing, but it still came off pretty well.

First Ben - shouting as usual.



The drum post was held by Sean Laframboise this time around.



Ben set up his chair on top of a couple of those monitor wedges (or whatever the heck they are) and remarkably enough did not tip off.



The whole lot! Minus the one who wasn't there!



Hellish action!



Sadie Hell's next show is ... tonight! And it's free to boot. Huzzay!

• Show reminder: No Other Way, Radiodazed and, yes, Sadie Hell will be living it up at Live Lounge; Shout Out Out Out Out and 120 Days will be kicking and stuff at Zaphod's.