Weekend Music Roundup: Feb 28 – March 2

For full event listings, click here.

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Friday, Feb. 28

FINDERSKEEPERS 7″ Release with RAWRAWRIOT and NECK @ Lunneta

Friday Night @ the House of TARG presents – MOKOMOKAI w/sg WW4 and BLACKBREAD

INDIE CITY MADNESS PRESENTS: Weird With Cats, The Fox and the Moon, Carolina Hum, Zak McKnight @ Avant-Garde

John Carroll And Ken Voita At Pressed

THE JERRY CANS (Iqaluit, Nunavut) + SAALI @ Zaphod’s

DOUBLE BARREL w/MR.CAFFREY, CALKUTA and CHRIS INT’L @ Mugshots

SHAMELESS FEBRUARY EDITION! @ Babylon

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Saturday, March 1

Doldrums Saturday Night Showcase: Keturah Johnson Band, Those Gulls, The Ticket, Cold Capital and Big Moan @ Cafe Dekuf

Dark and Stormy: Steve Adamyk Band, Tropical Dripps, Brendan Flynn’s Terrible Liars! @ Babylon

The Cardboard Crowns// The Baxters // Finding Chuck // PLAY ZAPHOD BEEBLEBROX //

ORGAN EYES // TRADE SECRETS // PITH @ MUGSHOTS BAR

Sound of Lions with Flying Hórses –  8:30 pm  @Blacksheep Inn (Wakefield, Québec)

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Sunday, March 2

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For full event listings, click here.

Interview – Chris Cook of Finderskeepers

Finderskeepers are set to release a new album, check them out rocking out.

This Friday, February 28, Ottawa punk rock three-piece Finderskeepers are releasing a six song 7” called Pack Your Bags.  This will be the band’s third official release, and having been lucky enough to listen to it I am very excited for them.  But not everyone knows these lovely people so I thought best to do a little question and answer with guitarist and lead singer Chris Cook on the band and the upcoming release.  Check it out and you can stream Pack Your Bags below.

NXNE Second Round Announced

It’s that time of year when summer festival announcements begin pouring out the yin yang, and today NXNE announced its second wave of artists for the June 13-22 festival in Toronto.

First Round: includes St. Vincent, Danny Brown, Run the Jewels, Juicy J, Mac DeMarco, Rhye, Omar Souleyman, Speedy Ortiz, Odonis Odonis, Courtney Barnett, Mas Ysa, the Golden Dogs, the Cliks, and Paradise Animals, and more.

Second Round: includes Spoon, Sleigh Bells, Spiritualized, Swans, A$AP Ferg, tUnE-yArDs, METZ, Ryan Hemsworth, Tim Hecker, Oneohtrix Point Never, the Pizza Underground, Fuck Buttons, Low, Small Black, Eagulls, Perfect Pussy, the Barr Brothers, Le1f, Swearin’, Glasser, Alvvays, Saint Rich, Ratking, Mutual Benefit, Juan Wauters, Kelela, and more.

For more wristband and ticket information, see here. Before you know it June will be upon us, and we’ll be seeing you there!

Three O’Clock Train and Trait D’union @ Zaphods

Three O’Clock Train during their rocking reunion at Zaphod’s in Ottawa. Photo: Eric Scharf

Three O’Clock Train was the first band to ever play Zaphod’s, and 21 years later I had the pleasure of seeing venue & band reunited.

My dad was there 21 years ago, so when I found out he was retiring, a bunch of us got together and bought him tickets to this show. It was very special to be there with my dad and little brother, to see a band that my brother and I grew up listening to on record, CD, and even mix tapes on long drives. They got the show started by playing songs off their latest album, Moon, which they released in 2012. I was proud of them for playing their new stuff and not just playing what the crowd wanted. Reunions should be about music and passion, not just appeasing the audience. That being said, when they got to the middle of their set and started playing every one of the songs I’ve loved for the last two decades, I was ecstatic.

Stuart MacKenzie, Three O’Clock Train, making the steel guitar sing at Zaphod’s in Ottawa. Photo: Eric Scharf

With my brother on one side and me on the other, you couldn’t miss the smile that ran from ear to ear on my dad’s face as we all belted out the words. From the romantic “Be My Baby,” which sounded amazing with Stuart Mackenzie on slide guitar, to “Train of Dreams,” then “Hold Me Darling” and “Fingers.” They were rocking out and had us in awe.  That is when they played “Fire You Can’t Put Out” followed by an excellent transition to my brother’s favourite tune, “Muscle In.” What a rendition of the song – it was a beautiful extended version with excellent musicianship. So good that Stuart managed to spill his beer. But never fear! My girlfriend grabbed the drink ticket from his hand and quickly got it replaced it for him.

Bob Eaglesham of Three O’Clock Train, laying down a sweet little solo at Zaphod’s in Ottawa. Photo: Eric Scharf

With all those awesome songs played from their classic albums from the 80’s (Wig Wam Beach and Muscle In), they took a little break from originals and paid a tribute to Lou Reed, playing “Down at the Arcade.” Three O’Clock Train then capped off my night perfectly by playing my favourite song, “Love to Rain,” and also threw in a Beatles cover and one more new song for good measure before walking off the stage. What an awesome night of getting to experience something I never thought possible.  Oh, and I even got them to autograph the set list for me. If you want to hear any of the songs I described above, you can stream all three of Three O’Clock Train’s album on their website.

Trait D’union playing Zaphod’s in Ottawa. Photo: Eric Scharf

I missed the opener, but the second band Trait D’union (which means “hyphen” in French) really impressed me. The four-piece from Gatineau is a group of high school kids who were playing their first show as more than a duo.  They opened by saying, “We are Trait D’union and you probably can’t pronounce it, but let’s have fun.” They played a great set with originals from the EP, Split, which they released in 2013. My favourite of theirs was “Healthy Revolution,” but all their songs sounded great. Some of their stuff reminds me of Kalle Mattson and The Weakerthans.  The crowd liked them as well, giving them a warm round of applause after every song.  Keep your eyes out for these guys, they are definitely on my radar from now on.

Ming Wu’s Birthday Bash: Flying Horses, Big Dick, DJ Sweetcheecks and Adam Saikaley

Flying birthday boy, Ming Wu, at Babylon in Ottawa.

February 20th has brought us such greats as Kurt Cobain, Rihanna, Angelina Grimké, and Ming Wu. How does one celebrate such an occasion? Well you get Flying Hórses, Big Dick, DJ Sweetcheeks, and Adam Saikaley to perform at Babylon… Oh, and you do so without telling the birthday boy until the afternoon of the show. Ming is an omnipresent individual in Ottawa, going to almost every single event. Ever. He always brings his camera and snaps some shots wherever he goes. His photo blog Photogmusic provides Ottawa with an unofficial photo essay of things that happen in town. Ming also has a twin brother Lenny who we also celebrated .

New Music: Cashtro Crosby – A Million Fans: Gin & Furr [Mixtape]

Photo: Bleu Magazine

Pregnancy Scares, Roomrunner and Multicult @ 614 Gladstone

Crowdsurfing madness as Pregnancy Scares rip 614 Gladstone apart. Photo: Eric Scharf

What do you do on a mild winter Wednesday in February? Go to a rager of a house show with Pregnancy Scares, Roomrunner and Multicult, that’s what!

Pregnancy Scares was pure madness as always. The basement was stuffed to the brim and there was a never-slowing moshpit, people throwing couch pillows and crowdsurfing galore. Through this, Craig fought his way in, out and through the crowd to sing with his trademark demonic look on his face. These local boys just blast through powerful sets full of fast-paced heavy sludge explosion. To truly understand this, you must go see Pregnancy Scares live. Even if somehow you don’t like their music, these guys are still a must see act in Ottawa. Get some earplugs, an open mind, and come experience the insanity! I have had visions of their performance of “Facelift,” in my mind non-stop since last night.

Roomrunner delivering some sweet modernized grunge to the people of Ottawa. Photo: Eric Scharf

Baltimore’s Roomrunner made their Ottawa debut in the basement on Gladstone. These guys certainly made a lot of new fans with their performance, and I am certainly one of them! To me they are the result of grunge having a child in the nineties and evolving its sound into the 2000’s while staying true to its roots. I was hooked throughout the entire set, and there was a pretty solid mosh pit going on where the couch pillow made its first appearance. The lead singer was really feeling the crowd’s energy – “You guys are wild and that’s cool,” he said with a big grin. He later offered to trade a record for nacho cheese size 11 shoes or boots, the Tom Green score board outside, or any Tom Green memorabilia. I love their tune “Vaporize,” it’s so good!

Multicult getting things started at 614 Gladstone in Ottawa. Photo: Eric Scharf

Kicking off the night was another Baltimore band, Multicult. The America trio were making their Canadian debut, and they picked the right place and night for it.  They play some sweet heavy noise rock with absolutely amazing sounding bass lines.  Bassist Rebecca Burchette feeds her bass through a rat pedal and gets this wicked crust sound at times that just takes their songs to the next level. Check out their track “Very Large Waveform,” for a good feel of that cool bass sound.

Bruised Tongue 5 Year Anniversary: Crosss, Tropical Dripps and Blue Angel

Crosss killing it at Gabba Hey! in Ottawa.

After a night of partying on Saturday, Bruised Tongue was at it again putting on a great matinee show.

With three S’s, Crosss (pronounced ‘crosses’) channelled all the energy from the bands before them and put on quite a show. The band with members from Halifax and Toronto tore it up at Gabba Hey! I really dug their sound and hope they can return soon to play to a healthier, less hungover crowd.

Tropical Dripps rocking out at Gabba Hey! in Ottawa.

Ottawa’s Tropical Dripps had a lot to be happy about on Sunday. Not only were they part of a pretty sweet bill, they released their new tape, Cool Dude. They gave the crowd a good taste of the tape as they really displayed the progress they have made in their sound.  The band, who I had previously described as surf rock, have definitely evolved and added a lot of depth.

Opening the shows was Bruised Tongues all female all-star band, Blue Angel. This was the second time I saw Blue Angel, who consists of Roberta Bondar’s Lidija Rozitis, Organ Eyes’s Sam Pippa, and Caylie Runciman of Boyhood. They are quickly becoming one of the must sees of the Ottawa music scene right now, just the right dose of weird, rock and excitement.

Weekend Music Roundup: Feb. 20 – 23

For full event listings, click here.

Bruised Tongue 5 Year Anniversary: Roberta Bondar, Boyhood, Cousins of Reggae and Self Surgery

Tyler Ivan Goodman, drummer for Roberta Bondar in the zone at Gabba Hey! in Ottawa. Photo: Eric Scharf

Roberta Bondar capped off an excellent night at Gabba Hey! for Bruised Tongue‘s 5-year anniversary show Saturday, Feb. 15.