Monday, July 27, 2015

Teachable moments

I made a return trip to Raw Sugar Saturday night for another helping of indie rock from out West, in the form of Shotgun Jimmie (formerly of Ajax, Ontario, Dawson City, Yukon, and Sackville, New Brunswick, now  holding down the fort in Brandon, Manitoba), who's headed out East for some Sappyfest activity. Keeping him company in the van are Vancouver's Adrian Teacher and The Subs and Human Music, who are also serving as his backing band. Adrian Teacher and company were up first. Teacher is formerly of Apollo Ghosts and has backed a bunch of folks, including Julie Doiron, Baby Eagle and Shotgun Jimmie. He's just finished recording an EP with K Records kingpin Calvin Johnson.

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

Amanda Panda on drums!

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

Closeup action!

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

Robby Bobby on bass.

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

Amanda is amused.

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

The whole lot!

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

Big finish!

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

More British Robbie!

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

Educational action! (Fun fact: Adrian is, in fact, a teacher.)

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

Adrian heads outside to check out his wireless!

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

All that running about, a man has to take the weight off.

Adrian Teacher and The Subs at Raw Sugar

Moving right along, we have the human musicians of Human Music, Jory, Mef and Cole. The band works out of Winnipeg and essays the sort of pop I can see emerging on Twisted Nun.

Human Music at Raw Sugar

Cole strums!

Human Music at Raw Sugar

Jory rocks the Fender VI.

Human Music at Raw Sugar

Singalong action with Mef!

Human Music at Raw Sugar

Mef hits!

Human Music at Raw Sugar

More Cole!

Human Music at Raw Sugar

More singalong action!

Human Music at Raw Sugar

Mef gets in some bass time.

Human Music at Raw Sugar

The whole lot!

Human Music at Raw Sugar

Jory hits!

Human Music at Raw Sugar

Mef rocks out!

Human Music at Raw Sugar

Everybody plays everything in this band.

Human Music at Raw Sugar

A short break and they were all on stage again, this time backing up travelling man and tour urganiser Shotgun Jimmie.

Shotgun Jimmie Band at Raw Sugar

Backup action with Mef and Jory!

Shotgun Jimmie Band at Raw Sugar

Cole drums a bit.

Shotgun Jimmie Band at Raw Sugar

Jim sings!

Shotgun Jimmie Band at Raw Sugar

And so on!

Shotgun Jimmie Band at Raw Sugar

Well you get the idea!

Shotgun Jimmie Band at Raw Sugar

The end (which was a cover of The Constantines' Young Lions)!

Shotgun Jimmie Band at Raw Sugar

Props also to Raw Sugar for hosting the show after the unfortunate demise of Mugshots.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Solo flights

So I missed Weed Mom on Wednesday, but at least I had an opportunity catch one of the band's members, Allie, performing solo as Trails. She was opening for Astral Swans, the solo project of Michael Swann. He's performed in town before, on a bill with Chris Page and Heavy Bedroom in November 2012. Since then he's released All My Favourite Singers Are Willie Nelson (in February). Allie took the stage first and was extremely impressive - her playing, singing and songwriting form a wonderfully cohesive whole.

Trails at Raw Sugar

Guitar action!

Trails at Raw Sugar

Allie sings!

Trails at Raw Sugar

Michael Swann was as introspective as expected, singing songs new, old and as yet unreleased, as well as his cover of Wolf Parade's You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son and Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain, the Fred Rose-penned tune that elevated Willie Nelson to No. 1 on the country charts for the first time.

Astral Swans at Raw Sugar

Guitar action!

Astral Swans at Raw Sugar

Michael takes a little time to tease his step-dad, who came to the show.

Astral Swans at Raw Sugar

That guitar's older than the both of us.

Astral Swans at Raw Sugar

And, er, that's it!

Friday, July 24, 2015

The upper crust

Well, my heart was torn in two on Wednesday; should I go to WTCHS and Weed Mom on Gladstone, or Hard Charger, Swarm of Spheres and Slumlord at the House of Targ? I figure odds are slightly better that WTCHS will head back this way before Fredericton's Hard Charger, so I slunk over to Ottawa South for some rock attack. As it happened, this was also the fifth anniversary of Slumlord's inception and singer T.J.'s birthday, which meant there were cupcakes involved. Here's T.J. and his mighty sideburns.

Slumlord at House of Targ

Bassist Sev! Since the band formed more or less to perfor at her and T.J.'s wedding, it was also their fifth anniversary.

Slumlord at House of Targ

Trasha hits!

Slumlord at House of Targ

Sev sings!

Slumlord at House of Targ

T.J. bends!

Slumlord at House of Targ

Extra Trasha!

Slumlord at House of Targ

Guitar-lifting action!

Slumlord at House of Targ

Marital action!

Slumlord at House of Targ

Ponytail-swinging action!

Slumlord at House of Targ

More T.J.

Slumlord at House of Targ

The shouty bit!

Slumlord at House of Targ

And finally a bit more percussive action!

Slumlord at House of Targ

Swarm of Spheres played a really killer, and fairly brisk, set. Here's Mark hitting some stuff.

Swarm of Spheres at House of Targ

Flashy action with Andrew!

Swarm of Spheres at House of Targ

Jay frets!

Swarm of Spheres at House of Targ

Wah-wah action!

Swarm of Spheres at House of Targ

Andrew bends!

Swarm of Spheres at House of Targ

Everybody's doing it.

Swarm of Spheres at House of Targ

More Mark!

Swarm of Spheres at House of Targ

Big red action!

Swarm of Spheres at House of Targ

The end!

Swarm of Spheres at House of Targ

Hard Charger also killed it. The New Brunswick combo make me think of latter-era Darkthrone crossed with Motorhead: A bit crusty, a bit metal, and a whole lot of rock'n'roll.

Hard Charger at House of Targ

Percussive action!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

Guitar action!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

The whole lot! The Yeti! The Wolf! The Hammer! Not necessarily in that order!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

The shouty bit!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

Singing drummer action!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

Rhythm section action!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

More bass!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

More drums!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

Closeup action!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

Even more guitar!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

Faceoff action!

Hard Charger at House of Targ

A very solid night of entertainment.