Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Opening shot

A couple of days after catching Crabe and Big Moan I sauntered over to Zaphod's to see some local acts. Two of them were new to me (Dead Bees and Sick Sick Sicks), but opener The Glorious Moonrockets have already made a few appearances on the blog. Off we go!

Chris sings!

Glorious Moonrockets at Zaphod Beeblebrox

David DiMaria hits!

Glorious Moonrockets at Zaphod Beeblebrox

Closeup action!

Glorious Moonrockets at Zaphod Beeblebrox

The whole lot!

Glorious Moonrockets at Zaphod Beeblebrox

Faceoff action!

Glorious Moonrockets at Zaphod Beeblebrox

Rhythm section action!

Glorious Moonrockets at Zaphod Beeblebrox

Jumping about!

Glorious Moonrockets at Zaphod Beeblebrox

And so on!

Glorious Moonrockets at Zaphod Beeblebrox

The feedback-loving end!

Glorious Moonrockets at Zaphod Beeblebrox

Since this gig they've released a new EP, More Other Stuff.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

In a pinch

Montreal duo like their No-Wave and their Melvins; they put on a clattering set for the assembled at Daily Grind that also reminded me of a more disjointed Gunslingers or Hella.

Mertin Hoek rocks the Jazzmaster.

Crabe at Daily Grind

David Dugas Dion hits!

Crabe at Daily Grind

The whole lot!

Crabe at Daily Grind

Mertin sings!

Crabe at Daily Grind

Crabby action!

Crabe at Daily Grind

Dancing action!

Crabe at Daily Grind

Trippy action!

Crabe at Daily Grind

More guitar!

Crabe at Daily Grind

Fisheye action!

Crabe at Daily Grind

If I read things right, they've just played their last show for a while since drummer David is off for a stint in Brazil.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Moaning before midnight

I've been out to see a lot of shows this year (a happy side effect of no longer working until midnight out in the suburbs), which is why we're still in mid-January. This was my first exposure to blues heavies Big Moan, a band that makes me thing of outfits like Kyuss, Valis, Roadsaw and Isaak (or basically every band on the Small Stone label).

And here they are! That's Calvin McCormick on guitar and Will Thorne-Morris on more guitar, and current guitarist Kane O'Shaughnessy on drums; I'm guessing that's then new recruit David Gonis on bass, but I could be wrong.

Big Moan at Daily Grind

Percussive action!

Big Moan at Daily Grind

Calvin sings!

Big Moan at Daily Grind

Hoodie-wearing action!

Big Moan at Daily Grind

Fisheye action!

Big Moan at Daily Grind

More Will!

Big Moan at Daily Grind

More guitar!

Big Moan at Daily Grind

Big hit!

Big Moan at Daily Grind

Since then they've released their debut EP, done a spot of touring, played the Fun Boy Club House's Canada Day shindig; most recently they were at the Brass Monkey. FLASH UPDATE: They've just jumped onto the bill at the Avant-Garde on Thursday with Montreal's Kurvi-Tasch.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Take it to the streets

Eternally touring Hamiltonian B.A. Johnston is always a fun show. Although it sometimes seem ike his set is carved in stone, there's always some tweak that allows him to insult the audience a little more or another heartbreaking ditty about being extremely pathetic.

Novelty sweatshirt action!

B.A. Johnston at Pressed

Kicking action!

B.A. Johnston at Pressed

Jumping action!

B.A. Johnston at Pressed

B.A. works the floor.

B.A. Johnston at Pressed

Then there was some hands- and shirt-free keyboarding.

B.A. Johnston at Pressed

Guitar action!

B.A. Johnston at Pressed

B.A. works the crowd!

B.A. Johnston at Pressed

He finished things off by playing in traffic.

B.A. Johnston at Pressed

Things are pretty quiet on the tour front right now, shockingly enough, but we can expect a "huge" fall tour following the Labour Day release of his latest album, Mission Accomplished, on Mammoth Cave.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

House of guitars

There were a ton of tempting options for music Friday night, but in the end I decided to head over to the House of Targ, mostly to see what's up with Ian Blurton these days, but also to see Monobrow - always a good reason to go out - and to check out Electric Ruin, a band I've heard of but not heard.

They took the stage first. They used to be an instrumental outfit, much like Monobrow, but they've added a vocalist.

Electric Ruin at the House of Targ

Guitar action!

Electric Ruin at the House of Targ

 I dare say the big draw of the evening was Blurton's new combo. I was wondering what he'd get up to after the dissolution of C'mon and recent Change of Heart activity. Turns out he's teamed up with Ottawa's own Eric Larock, Lying Cheat Ryan Gassi on drums and organist Caitlin Dacey (ex-Bella Clava) in Public Animal. Dare I say it, this may be Ian's hottest combo yet!

Public Animal at the House of Targ

The inimitable Mr. Blurton.

Public Animal at the House of Targ

Monobrow finished the evening off with some of their usual high-grade instrumental heavy prog, along with a couple of new songs.

Monobrow at the House of Targ

Bass action!

Monobrow at the House of Targ

It was a whole lot of entertainment for $5.

Friday, July 26, 2013

City to city

It's back to Pressed and on to Toledo. The quintet - operating as a foursome on this occasion - draws its members from Hamilton and St. John's and likes The Replacements. They also made me think quite a bit of Joel Plaskett, fellow East- Coast-to-Toronto transplant David Picco and Ottawa's own Andrew Vincent.

And they're off! I believe that's Michael J. Boyd at left, Dan Empringham on drums and Cam Malcolm singing.

Toledo at Pressed

Extra Cam!

Toledo at Pressed

More Boyd!

Toledo at Pressed

The whole lot! With Lee Hanlon at right. I believe the fifth member, Dan Banoub (who has made an occasional appearance on the blog) was off studying in the U.K. while all this was going on.

Toledo at Pressed

And so on!

Toledo at Pressed

Flashy action!

Toledo at Pressed

Grimacing action!

Toledo at Pressed
The end!

Toledo at Pressed

They released their EP Years Without Focus a week or two before this show, and it's well worth checking out.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Basement ritual

It's been a while since I was at a house show - last time was Peach Kelli Pop's Fun Boy Club House gig - but last night's shindig at 614 Gladstone was something out of the ordinary. Tempe, Arizona's Marshsteppers are on tour, and they brought their occult power electronics to the spacious basement of the home occupied by a couple of Yips. Also on hand were Blue Angel, a mysterious masked (or at least bagged) trio of female Bruised Tongue allstars.

Lidija from Roberta Bondar had a wardrobe malfunction, that's Sami from Organ Eyes on bass at left. The band actually sounded what you'd think a combination of Organ Eyes and Roberta Bondar would ...

Blue Angel at Yips House
Blue Angel at Yips House, July 24, 2013

With a side order of Boyhood, since Caylie Runciman handles the drums in this outfit. They played a too-short four-song set; more or less all the material they have worked up right now. 

Blue Angel at Yips House
Blue Angel at Yips House, July 24, 2013

On to Marshstepper. Their noxious, threatening audio murk takes a back stage to the ritual performance that goes on in front of their electronic gear. It involves some (very blurry) male nudity, so I've put it after the jump for those of you with sensitive eyeballs.