Saturday, April 29, 2006

Under the microscope

Wednesday night I nipped over to Babylon again to catch a quartet of billified bands. The hardcore hepcats came out - I was one of the few guys in the audience without slicked-back hair. Some people thought the turnout was mediocre but I thought it drew a decent crowd for the style. The Pandemics are a Montreal rockabilly trio, complete with standup bass and standup drummer. They get pretty wild on stage.

Singer and guitarist Ryan - likes a bit of leopard.



Bassist Jordan.



Drummer Rene ... I think he's wondering what those other guys are up to.



Rockabilly action!





Shake that hair!





I was showing the Pandemics a preview ... they liked the first group shot; I prefer the second.





An energetic kickoff for sure!

1 comment:

A.C. said...

There was a comment here that I was forced to edit ... here's the part I'm glad to have posted:

An Avid Lefty McRighty & The Boxcar Cadavers Supporter said...

Hi, I was in Ottawa, from Montreal, for the show at Babylon (my brother is one of the fellows "with tattoos")...I was working the door when you came in, actually.
Just a couple of things, of note; The Pandemics are a Psychobilly band, not Rockabilly ... I believe you were the first person to actually photograph them both professionally, and well.

Also, I saw the fellow in the crowd (who shall remain nameless) knocking into you. I didn't realize he'd caused as much damage as he did, though. I wanted to say something to him, but wasn't sure if, in his state of...we'll go with inebriation, that he'd even be able to tell who I was. But I was hoping you'd show him who was boss!

Great photos, too! I'm glad that you were there to capture this show.


First, thanks for the kind words. I try to avoid having it out with drunks - as you say, they probably won't even understand who or what is telling them to sod off ... there's also something about toting $3,000 in camera gear that makes one diplomatic. The guy sweeping bottles off the floor told him to behave too. No point in getting snarky or pushy toward some guy just trying to entertain himself - it's not like there was any ill will (well, not that I could tell). Besides, the damage was minimal; it didn't even hurt, and I only noticed it after a few minutes, when I felt the blood start to drip down my wrist. It was just damn messy.

Regarding rockabilly vs. psychobilly, I always figured that psychobilly was a subset of rockabilly, just like hardcore is part of punk, etc. I'll definitely agree The Pandemics qualify as psychobilly, though.

Now, on to more serious matters - I hate to "edit" or remove posts (I even kept the one accusing me of listening to alternative rock and telling me to commit suicide), but in this case I have no choice. I am legally liable for allegations of criminal activity - I could be sued or charged with contempt of court.

Cheers and thanks again!