Bluesfest: Lindsay Ferguson

I could have stuck around to see some more of Coheed & Cambria, but I figured I'd dabble a bit more with other acts, so I wandered over to the Subway Stage to see some of Lindsay Ferguson's livelya ct.

She was looking quite luminous ... or maybe I should have upped my f-stop.



Guitar action!



More Lindsay and mystery bassist (actually, everyone in the band is a mystery to me).



Assorted shaking about!



Drumming, etc.



More Lindsay!



And so on!



Most recently she performed at Wakefest up in Wakefield.

• Show reminder: Monday I Retire, Metavari, Husband And Wife and I Spell It Nature are performing at Zaphod Beeblebrox;Catalina (whoever or whatever that may be) is at The Rainbow; James Leclaire and The Gatineau Steamers play The Elmdale.

Lost blues

With things taking a turn for the chilly, it's time to recall the sultry days of July. That means Ottawa's even-less-bluesier-than-last-year Bluesfest. And hat means the dreaded Day 1 lineup.



As for the music, I can't say I was as disturbed by the ongoing changes in the festival as some people, but I must admit to being substantially less thrilled this year. I recall several killer headlining shows in 2010, while this time My Morning Jacket stood alone for main stage wows. (Not to leave out my personal highpoint, Leon Russell.) But back to the beginning, a fine set from prog-metal combo Coheed & Cambria.

Claudio Sanchez is an early entry for best hair of the festival.



Guitarist Travis Stever rocks the Goldtop.



The whole lot!



Hair-flinging action! The bassist is the unfortunate Michael Tod, who a few days after this picture was busted for armed robbery in Massachusetts.



The discoball belongs to The Flaming Lips.



So that's what Carlos looks like!



More Stever.



Chris Pennie hits!



Rocking action!



Headbanging action!



He's under there somewhere.



More Michael!



More Chris!



Claudio may also have the festival's best dimple ...



The band is apparently now writing songs for their next record.

• Show reminder: Milo and The Bad Lads show they aren't so bad by playing a benefit for CARE Canada at The Rainbow.

Sleepy limb

Arms and Sleepers followed Steve Ducharme's set with some low-key ambient electronic music. I had thought the show might be something like The Books' combination of sound and image, but the image projection didn't have quite the same connection. After about 30 minutes I filed this show under 'stuff I prefer to listen to through headphones and split for home.

Mizra Ramic mans the gear.



At least Apple got paid.



Electronic action!



Dial-twisting action!



Their YouTube videos look nice, though.

• Show reminder: The Meadowlark 5 perform at The Rainbow.

Wood before wires

Back at the start of July Arms and Sleepers breezed through town; Steve Ducharme of Mud Lake opened the show with some acoustic tunes - it was a bit of an odd combination ...

Steve strums!



Steve sings!



Well, you get the idea.



Bonus Steve!



He did get some help for a few tunes from fellow Mud Laker Ryan Hamilton.


The whole lot!



Acoustic action!



And so on ...


Post-Canada day patriotic action!



Gripping action!



Last I heard, Mud Lake tunes were being retuned for acoustic performances.

• Show reminder: Extra Happy Ghost!!!, Silver Dapple and Roberta Bondar play Raw Sugar; there's Oi! aplenty at the Dominion with  Produzenten der Froide, The Prolwers and The Rookers. Dominique Fraissard performs at Zaphod's; The Matadors twang away at Mavericks; The Prophets of Genzee are at the Elmdale; venerable drummer Brian Downey and an armada of pals celebrate his years on the traps at Irene's; Static Revolt and Breaking The Fourth play the Avant-Garde Bar.

Ha-ha-happy birthday!

Those White Wires are all over the place. One day they're out rocking California, the next they're playing some guy's birthday party. I can't get out to Cali, but I did make it to the apartment for a few Wires tunes on the occasion of Brad and Craig's mutual birthday shindig.

Them Wires!



Ian sings! That crowd is in mighty close.



Allie, plus some amp pears.



Assorted rocking about!



Luke sings!



More Ian!



This show needs more fisheye.



Guitar and bass-lifting action!



Overhead action!



More Allie. And in case you're wondering what's on my lens - it's humidity.



The crowd goes wild! Or is beginning to suffer heat exhaustion. One of the two.



Party action!



"Crown those boys!"



Surfing Craig action!



Sweaty action!



The end!



Fun as ever! They've just been immortalized by Dirty Donny in T-shirt form, and are currently in California ... they're in L.A.  tonight, San Diego tomorrow and Fullerton Sunday.

• Show reminder: Secret Chiefs 3, FAT32 and *Major Entertainer* Mike H play Mavericks; Three Second Rescue, Emmas Ringer and Matt Dorgan Project perform at Live Lounge; The Stogies are at Zaphod Beeblebrox; The Jesse Greene Band holds forth at The Rainbow; Digmobile and E.R. Collective groove into Irene's; The Elmdale hosts The Brothers Chaffey.

Fuzz and fizz

We don't get many Woodsist artists rolling through town, so I was glad to have Wednesday off: It gave me an opportunity to catch Royal Baths at Zaphod Beeblebrox. The opener was local electronica man Adam Saikaley. He seemed like a bit of an odd choice initially though his set was quite good. However it segued quite nicely into Royal Bath's own set, which was quite a bit more psychedelic than I expected.

First up Adam, using a keyboard donated by Rolf Klausener.


Adam Saikaley at Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 31, 2011

Dial turning action!


Adam Saikaley at Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 31, 2011

He added a couple of improvisations to his set because Royal Baths were late in arriving. They finally got everything set up and things underway about 10:35 .... the curfew was stretched a bit so we ended up with a fine 40-minute set of fuzzy psychedelic murk and cigarette-lighter slide guitar that reminded me a lot of Dead Meadow.

Jeremy Cox and drummer Eden Birch.


Royal Baths at Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 31, 2011

Jigmae Baer rounds out the trio.


Royal Baths at Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 31, 2011

Too bad about the delay, but well worth it!

• Show reminder: Pirate metal proponents Alestorm are at Mavericks alongside The Agonist, Blackguard, Aggressor and Deformatory; Brendan Albert and Alissa Vox Raw. It must be folk night: Tyler Gilbert and T.B. Judd perform at the Avant-Garde. The Middens return from the trash heap in the sky for a show at the Clocktower with Covercraft and Thunderuncle.