The Beat goes on

Paul Collins helped put down the 1970s powerpop template in The Nerves and The Beat ... three decades later he's at it again, and certainly not showing many signs of age (musically, anyway - there's a lot less hair and more stomach  nowadays). He's accompanied by a very able rhythm section, Spaniards Chris Bongers on drums and Juancho Lopez on bass guitar. Usually his group is rounded out by  Manolo Espinosa on lead guitar, but he had a substitute, a Wisconsonite like Bongers, whoae name sounded a bit like King Swagger, so that's what I'm going to call him.

Shocking introduction action!



We're not worthy!



Let the rocking commence!



Bongers bangs the drum!



Singalong action!



Paul rocks the Ric!



Paul looks shady.



Juancho rocks the low end!



The Beat goes on!



Assorted rocking about!



Audience participation action!



I think Ian got a little carried away.



More Paul!



I didn't get many Swagger photos. Sorry!



Guitar raising action!



Paul strikes a pose.



Bassist singalong action with Davey!



More Swagger!



Back-to-back action!



Cue the dancing girls!



Rhythm section action!



More Bongers!



The crowd goes wild!



That was lots of fun. I also believe it was the most crowd-surfing I've seen at one show all year.

• Show reminder: The Weakerthan's Greg Smith and his Bad Seeds plus Dave Tough play the Raw Sugar Cafe; On Burning Shores, This Is DeathValley, Royal Rumble, At the Hands of Death and Against All Odds perform at Cafe Dekcuf; Metz, Big Dick, and some super-secret guests destroy Babylon with volume; Ted Axe and The New Action and The Cutmen rock The Elmdale Tavern; Kalle Matson, Life In 2D and James & Blackburn are at Zaphod's; White Cowbell Oklahoma, Big John Bates and The Schomberg Fair roll into Mavericks; Steve Fai and Vapourizer go country at Irene's; The Sean Duhaime Trio bring some fusion jazz sounds to the Avant-Garde.

Close to the tree

Hmm, every time I go to see Mother's Children it seems I end up posting more photos from a previous show a few days later - I'm either going to have to step up my game, or I see Mother's Children a lot. This August show (and mini-tour) with The Paul Collins Beat was probably the sui generis example of a band opening for their inspiration.

On with the show ... well I guess there's a little time for some shots first.



Shadowy Michael and surprise guest drummer Dave P. Forcier (filling in for Tim Ostler, who couldn't tour).



Bonus Dave!



Stripey singalong action!



Ken rocks the Tele.



Yet more 'Caster action!



David hits!



Psychedelic Ken action!



Davey sings!



Okay, so the fisheye straight-on shot is not the most flatering to certain figures.



That's a little better.



More Michael!



The whole lot!



Drinking on the job.



Davey works the crowd ... also, the end!



Their next announced show is in Montreal with Sonic Avenues, White Wires and the recently in town Bators.

• Show reminder: Koffin Kats, Machine Gun Dolly and The Valveenus hit Cafe Dekcuf; Arkells, The Reason and Dinosaur Bones play Capital Music Hall; A Plot Against Me, The Big Muffs and Autoracing are at Zaphod's; L.A.'s Total Chaos, The Whiskey Shits, Germ Attak, Subsistance and Ab Irato destroy the Avant-Garde (I'm guessing); The Jimmy Swift Band rolls into Mavericks; the Elmdale House hosts The Warped 45’s and Nine Mile.

On the road

Whenever I see The Walnut Kids, I look around for the Sonic Avenues ... in my memory, if not reality, I always seem to be seeing them in tandem. The Avenues must have one of the sharpest, hardest-hitting live shows in Canada, and this was another top-notch performance. I'm starting to get hungry for new tunes, though, so it's good to hear they've been booking some studio time lately.

Maxime is a blur!



J.C. models one of Mother's Children's oh-so-stylish T-shirts.



Sebastien works, the Ric, bassist Jamie at right.



Guitar-lifting action! And what a lovely microphone too.



Maxime sings!



Ditto, Sebastien!



More J.C.



Running about!



Sonic action!



Jamie sings!



Big finish!



Excellent as ever.

• Show reminder: Chris Colepaugh and Around Joshua perform at the Rainbow; The Secret Broadcasts and New Teeth play the Elmdale House. Rusty Water and The Troubadors are at the Avant-Garde.

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.