What better way to get over a mean St. Paddy’s hangover than a laid back house show? One of our favourite acts in Ottawa right now, Bosveld, invited me out to a small gathering of friends on Sierra Pvt. last Wednesday night.
Tag Archives: House Show
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.
Real Cool Time: The BCASA house show + PUP @ Gabba Hey!
It was decided that Friday night was going to be a multi-venue punk marathon for me, seeing the BCASA and PUP at different spots on the same night. Why not? Although timing would be tight, nothing was going to stop me. Not Supershredder, not Vanilla Ice ‘rapping’ on stage, and certainly no inept, bug-eyed Foot Clan member I could have encountered along the way. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you may have a more difficult time grasping BCASA. But for those of us who have fond memories of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (old school cartoon and movies), still remember right button combos for Mortal Kombat finishing moves, and also happen to love some good ol’ punk music, BCASA is a Montreal punk band that is ahead of its time.
Photo: POP Montreal
For your birthday we got you: Stuck Out Here, PKEW PKEW PKEW (Gunshots), Bloody Boy Blue, ROBOTS!EVERYWHERE!! @ ROBOT!HOUSE!
Bloody Boy Blue among the balloons and the chaos at ROBOT!HOUSE!
House shows are my favourite form of concert to begin with. Then add 100 balloons, birthday cupcakes and sangria, living room moshpits, a keytar, bands playing split sets and a drunken naked closer… yup, I LOVE ROBOT!HOUSE! Continue reading
The End of the Fun Boy Club House
Yes, you read correctly. Saturday November 23, 2013 marked the end of an era, the end of an institution, the end of the Fun Boy Club House. Continue reading
558 Scum’s Final House Show Was A Rager
Thursday night marked the end of an Ottawa punk rock institution, 558 Scum house (558 Gladstone) hosted its last show after two years of house concerts.
On the plus side though, they went out with a bang! After The Fall, Brutal Youth, Pink Flamingos, Walk the Plank and Jon Creeden were definitely up for the send off.
The shows take place in the basement of the little townhome. The space can not be much more than 20 square feet and the highest portion of the ceiling is about 6′ 2”. It is small, crammed, dirty, humid, loud and exactly what you want for a hardcore show.,
Amidst the patrons, who were mostly sipping on Old English and PBR all night, John Creeden took the floor to open the night. Jon is a punk rocker with an acoustic guitar and a booming voice. He was tasked with kicking off the night and playing songs between every set. He opened in the basement and played in the kitchen while bands set up. Jon played a bunch of awesome originals, many of which had Brutal Youth’s singer and drummer singing a long, as well as many long time fans. On top of that, it was so adorable to watch his girlfriend mouth along every single lyric. When he covered Dead Weight’s song “The Captain,” some kitchen crowd surfing happened.
Walk the Plank was next up. The band from Washington, DC had never played in Canada before. The guitarist was one heck of a tall guy, as his neck was at the ceiling and he had to play slouched over the whole time. The band had great energy and you could tell they were super stocked to be there. My favourite song from their set was “Hush Hush.”
No band traveled further to play 558 Scum’s last night than France’s Pink Flamingos. The three piece delivered straight forward, no fluff punk rock form across the pond. This show was a big deal for them as it was the first time they ever played outside of Europe, and it was there only North American show outside of Quebec. They closed with two wicked tracks, ”Behead the King” and ”Daddy Issues,” of their new EP The Clown Wars. Great band and great guys who were very humbled by the experience. Vachement bon!
Brutal Youth, who are from Newfoundland but now call Toronto home, were up next. They played fast, hard and in your face. Felt like they were channeling old-school 80’s hardcore bands as they tore through their set with insane energy. Fans crowded the mic, in the packed basement to sing with them. They played ”Hunting Wabbits,” off their new record, as well as lthe awesome ”Newfoundland time.” Lead singer, Patrick Neary, often smashed himself in the face and in the head with his mic. Sometimes taking it to the next level by jumping and smashing his face on the lower ceiling. The crowd loved it all, moshing and crowd surfing in the very tight space. They played the wicked unifying song “Xpss&Winex,” which is about how straightedge and non straightedge people should all get along. It is one of my favourite hardcore songs going right now.
Time was running on and the night was going great until After the Fall were about to take the stage. At 10:20 pm two police cruisers showed up, so the band did not start. Luckily the cops only gave a warning and then took off. Having their set cut a little short, the 12 year veterans from Albany, NY launched right into it. They played some great ragers like, ”Senseless,” ”Cathedral” and ”Eradication.” Most of the members from the other bands could be seen rocking along in. I love seeing the others bands front and center. Stuff really got crazy when After the Fall invited , Neary, to sing Minor Threat’s epic ”Small Man Big Mouth.” They then closed with ”Power Trip,” which was dedicated to the cops and ”Its a Choice.”
The crowd started to clear out thinking it was the last song to ever be played at 558 Scum, but those who stuck around past the 11 pm curfew were rewarded. Out of the blue came Royal Red Brigade, from Regina. They stopped by on their way to Montreal and rocked through a mini five song set. Loved the track ”A-Love Radio.” They were an awesome surprise addition, and thankfully when I left around 11:20-11:30 the cops had not been back yet.
All in all it was an epic send off for the house that has helped launch some careers and hosted some excellent shows. This was another portion of My Brain Hurts Volume 1, and as always Finish What You Started just knows how to find the right bands to throw a party. RIP 558 Scum!
Peach Kelli Pop, The Girlfriends and Voicemail rock out at the Fun-Boy Clubhouse
Peach Kelli Pop headlined one of the craziest and most packed Fun-Boy Clubhouse shows ever on Friday night.
But what is the Fun-Boy Clubhouse? Well, you know you’re there when you see Fun-Boy Clubhouse painted on a couch on the front lawn and the toy horse hanging in front of the balcony. With every room painted a different colour, ranging from pink to green, and a sick mural by local artist Ben Jensen honouring the New Swears in the kitchen, there is no better venue for a rock show. Walking down into the basement you find a low ceilings, one mural depicting The Beatles and super heroes, another with the Fun-Boy Clubhouse logo, a TV behind the bar playing original Scooby-Doo cartoons and a spider man head that lights up with the kick drum…yup doesn’t get much better than this folks.
Beers cans and broken glass littered all over floor, Christmas lights draped all over the ceiling and through a thick wall of cigarette smoke, Peach Kelli Pop hit the stage in the basement of the Fun-Boy Clubhouse on March 29th. The band from Ottawa played a great fun set of dancey upstroke surfer style rock. Heck don’t just take my word for it, the crowd liked them so much they hollered and chanted for “one more song,” when the band finished. They got what they wanted and more as the party kept going with a 2 song encore. Peach Kelli Pop are in the midst of a huge tour, check them out in a city near you, here are the dates.
The Girlfriends played second, and no offense to Peach Kelli Pop who played an awesome set, The Girlfriends stole the show for me. Dressed in lingerie, the boys took over the basement for this extremely special occasion, their reunion show and tape release. The Girlfriends incited the crowd into a near riot. Non stop crowd-surfing beneath the 8 foot ceiling and a pit that never slowed was complemented by some great grooving in your face rock. Topping it off with confetti and silly string, as well as taking requests, The Girlfriend tore it up.
Advertised as 25 minutes of dial tone, Voicemail delivered much more than that as the opener. Using old records to prop up the mic stand this Ottawa four piece brought a great garage punk sound to the crowd. An excellent way to kick off an amazingly rambunctious night.
House shows have always had a very special place in my heart, ever since seeing the likes of The Sickfits and Robot Kill City play Powel house years ago as a young teen. Those who hosted shows at Powell would be very proud of the sheer chaos and epicness of the Fun-Boy Clubhouse.
Ottawa Showbox 