Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Turn the other cheek

Continuing our delayed Ottawa Explosion coverage, things headed inside at Club SAW, for sets by Kappa Chow, Monomyth pals Nap Eyes, the "Socan Billionaires" (various Scattered Clouds and Hi-Lo Trons members) and The Yips. Kappa Chow started things off with some rough-and-tumble punk rock, now with extra buttock exposing.

Joe rocks the wraparounds, Ilse prepares to hit!

Kappa Chow at Club SAW

Some Astral Gunkster guitar.

Kappa Chow at Club SAW

More guitar!

Kappa Chow at Club SAW

Joe expresses himself.

Kappa Chow at Club SAW

Singalong action!

Kappa Chow at Club SAW

Cheeky action!

Kappa Chow at Club SAW

More guitar!

Kappa Chow at Club SAW

Nap Eyes put on a particularly strong set; once again I was particularly ipressed by Brad Loughheed's ripping guitar work, which perfectly complements Nigel Chapman's laconic singing and Velvet Underground-inspired songcraft.

Nap Eyes at Club SAW

Nigel sings!

Nap Eyes at Club SAW

Rhythm section action from Monomyth's Josh and Seamus!

Nap Eyes at Club SAW

Percussive action!

Nap Eyes at Club SAW

Brad kicks out the jams.

Nap Eyes at Club SAW

And so on!

Nap Eyes at Club SAW

On to the band billed as "SOCAN Billionaires". This turned out to be most of the latest lineup of the Hi Lo Trons - that is, Mike Dubue, Phillipe Charbonneau, Pascal Delaquis and Alex Moxon - but without synthesist Adam Saikaley.

"Socan Billionaires" at Club SAW

Mike sings!

"Socan Billionaires" at Club SAW

Pascal hits!

"Socan Billionaires" at Club SAW

More Mike!

"Socan Billionaires" at Club SAW

Extra Alex and Phillipe!

"Socan Billionaires" at Club SAW

Rhythm section action!

"Socan Billionaires" at Club SAW

Pascal, post beer-spillage.

"Socan Billionaires" at Club SAW

The Yips finished off Day One with a typically rocking set.

The Yips at Club SAW

Kerri sings!

The Yips at Club SAW

Faceoff action!

The Yips at Club SAW

Headbanging action!

The Yips at Club SAW

More guitar!

The Yips at Club SAW

Hair-tossing action!

The Yips at Club SAW

Percussive action!

The Yips at Club SAW

And so on!

The Yips at Club SAW

A great start to this year's weekend blast.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Everybody do the explode!

Yes, it's that time of year again - Ottawa is exploding, with punkers, rockers and poppers coming from as far away as Germany and California to play music for all the cool kids. I missed last year's gigs because I was busy building the world's largest pepper-grinder; this year I made it out to Club SAW on Wednesday in time to catch the last half of Tough Age's set.They were here in April for a show at Gabba Hey, then went back west, and have returned east - that's a lot of road mileage!

Here's Jarrett and Paul!

Tough Age at Club SAW

Penny sings!

Tough Age at Club SAW

Paul, Penny and Jesse are also performing as part of Century Palm this year.

Tough Age at Club SAW

Extra Jesse!

Tough Age at Club SAW

Guitar action!

Tough Age at Club SAW

More Penny!

Tough Age at Club SAW

The whole lot!

Tough Age at Club SAW

The crowd goes wild!

Tough Age at Club SAW

Over to Mugshots for The Dirty Frigs, who put on a dynamite set, particularly Bri, who I have to say has a dynamite voice. They really made me think of The Pretenders this time around.

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Cameron bops about!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Edan hits!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Bri sings! Duncan's Silvertone amazingly has not fallen apart yet!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Dirty action!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Duncan bends!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Bonus Bri!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Extra Edan!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

The whole lot!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Hair-tossing action!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Shadowing action!

Dirty Frigs at Mugshots

Back to the SAW Gallery's courtyard for the gentle sounds of Monomyth. They were down to a quartet for this gig.

Monomyth at Club SAW

Mythical action!

Monomyth at Club SAW

Rhythm section action!

Monomyth at Club SAW

Singalong action!

Monomyth at Club SAW

Smiley drummer action!

Monomyth at Club SAW

The last set of the night in the Mugshots courtyard came courtesy of Denver's Homebody's off-kilter jangle.

Homebody at Mugshots

Singalong action!

Homebody at Mugshots

Percussive action!

Homebody at Mugshots

Rhythm section action!

Homebody at Mugshots

The whole lot!

Homebody at Mugshots

A bit of guitar-switching ...

Homebody at Mugshots

The final set outside went to the splendidly named Guantanamo Baywatch, who really rocked the play with their surf slaughter.

Guantanamo Baywatch at Club SAW

Chevelle has the best shoes of the festival so far.

Guantanamo Baywatch at Club SAW

Jason hits!

Guantanamo Baywatch at Club SAW

Bayful action!

Guantanamo Baywatch at Club SAW

Twist action!

Guantanamo Baywatch at Club SAW

Chris sings!

Guantanamo Baywatch at Club SAW

More guitar!

Guantanamo Baywatch at Club SAW

The crowd goes wild!

Guantanamo Baywatch at Club SAW

Tongue action!

Guantanamo Baywatch at Club SAW

Then it was off inside.