Cheer up!

Here are a few brief impressions of the Kill Cheerleader, Creeps , Eight Minute Veil and Krown show at Mavericks, abbreviated due to extreme sleepiness: Hand drumming. Ramones. Johnny Thunders. Mosh pit. Short woman throwing beer bottle. I arrived too late to catch the first band, so here are some pictures of three of the aforementioned bands, in reverse order:

Graham, Neal and Matt of Eight Minute Veil (not shown, drummer Matt).



The Creeps: Skottie Lobotomy, Bevans and a bit of Jordy.



Kill Cheerleader: Kriss Rites, Chad McKinnin and Ethan Deth.



(This last one also available for viewing in a larger size.) Now I sleep.

Choir goings on

There's something about country and folk music that seems to attract punk rockers. It's almost an inevitable evolution: One day it's a leather jacket and bullet belt, the next it's a western shirt. The Mekons may be the best known group to follow the route en masse; the same bug has obviously struck former Van Johnson members Nick Di Gaetano, Bill Greene and Andrew Butko. Their new outfit is Nick Di Gaetano and the Vespertine Choir, a.k.a. the O'Connor St. Vespertine Choir. They're joined by Sleeping Pilot/Army of Saint Joan/Embassies of Denmark's Pat Johnson and keyboardist Alexis Van Bernel. Their debut show at Babylon went off really well. Pretty good attendance too, for a Tuesday.

Di Gaetano goes Nudie.



In profile.



Butko and Van Bernel. Keyboards are obviously the way to go if you like a wide drink selection.



Pat prepares to deliver a double whammy.



Bill; scroll down a wee bit and you'll see him and Pat in Embassies of Denmark.



Choir action!







And altogether (and larger).



Definitely worth checking out. I'm not sure when the group's next show is, but you're sure to catch various members in their other projects sooner rather than later.

• Show reminder: In Sleeping Pilot, for example, which performs with The Grey and Crimson Mire at Zaphod Beeblebrox tonight. Kill Cheerleader, The Creeps, 8 Minute Veil and Krown play Mavericks. Upstairs, JerryCan, C.I.A., The Botched Suicides and The Knockoffs play Cafe DeKcuf.

Toast of the town

Jerry Busher and James Canty have enough Washington D.C. cred to float the boats of 1,000 Dischord fans, with one or the other having served with Fugazi, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Nation of Ulysses, The Make-Up and various other acts. Instead, their band, French Toast, is often described as angular and has been compared to Spoon. I though they sounded like they'd be good on a bill with Ted Leo.

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!



James on bass.



The old switcheroo.



They recently added Ben Gilligan to the lineup. Here Ben takes a spin on a somewhat modified Telecaster.



Canty also enjoys jumping into the audience



There was a lot of instrument switching going around; only Busher confined himself to bass and drums.







Toast rocks as Shawn Scallen shoots. "Shawn booked my first band's tour in Canada," confided Busher "I think your parents were at that show - tell them we said hi!"



Fun way to spend a Sunday.

Family business

Akron/Family were as good as I'd hoped they'd be. The New York quartet bridged the gap between 78 rpm folk music and raga drones. If John Fahey were alive it would be right up his alley. Animal toys, feedback symphonies, slide wistles, banjos and dolphon riding all featured (or at least got a mention). Excellent turnout too.



This one's large, too, so you can groove on the stuffed animals, Canadian flag, antlers, etc.

City boys

Bangkok also played a short set - albeit longer than Embassies of Denmark. I'm probably showing my age when I say I think they sound like a noisier Wire or The Ex.

Steve Donegani has many buttons.



Anthony Minichelli in one of my rare half-decent drummer pictures.



Mark Milloy and Luca Furgiuele.





Steve also sings; he is however not named Jim.



Mark sings; Luca looks alarmed - possibly at Zaphod's ugly ceiling.



Even larger this group photo is too dark.



They're definitely getting a sound together.

More danish!

Those crafty Danes must have gotten a better PR person, because if they aren't setting off international riots or playing Canadian Music Week showcases, they're getting name-checked by local bands. This was the first show for Embassies of Denmark, and it was a short one - and I do mean short. It seemed like it was over in three songs. Three good songs.

Since Pat and Bill got the first picture, here's one of Eric Elgar and a blurry Mike Bond to start things off.



Mike and Pat Johnson are both in Sleeping Pilot as well, but for their ambassadorial gig they switch instruments, with Mike on drums and Pat on guitar.





And now for lots of singing with fourth member Bill Burke.







As mentioned below, they'll be playing Civic Duty at Babylon April 4.

Thick and thin

After a couple of un-Celtic perfomances from The Violet Archers and Buttless Chaps, it was time for hometown faves Rhume to rescue the St. Patrick's Day show. Jon Bartlett may decry "wheedley-wheedley-wheedley" music, but he did wear green, and drink a lot of booze from tiny green glasses.



Twin guitar action! From John Higney and Chris Page.





Jamie Gulliksen looks a bit shocked.



Must be Page's fault.





Higney and Jarrett Bartlett get on down.





Rock action! (Or is it singalong action?)



Dancefloor ruckus! Sometimes wearing glasses is a very good thing.





Once again Jon's pants sacrifice their structural integrity for rock.





Page with a police siren? That must mean there's going to be a Jailbreak! Somewhere in this town! And possibly a cover of The Boys Are Back in Town as well. Jon even threw out the "Is there a little Irish in you" line from Live and Dangerous.



"Everyone's getting home safely tonight ... even you, Andrew Carver!"



And so I did - it's the luck of the Irish-Scots-English-German Jew, I tell you. The fuzzy bit around the edge of this picture is because I shot it through one of the tambourines the band handed out (and at least two of which were chucked back at them with some force).

• Show reminder: Akron/Family - who I heartily recommend - and Dear Judah play Zaphod's; Adam Solomanian is also on the bill. No Other Way, Darker Red and Contrabandit play Oliver's Pub.