Goodnight Moon

Once upon a time there was a mod-pop band from Montreal called The Datsons. Before I had a chance to see them lives they morphed into The Datson 4 due to the sudden prominence of antipodean grunge rockers The Datsuns; by the time I saw them at Bumpers they were The High Dials and were beginning to adopt a more psychedelic outlook. Bumpers is no more and The High Dials have switched a several members, the most notable departure being Rishi Dihr, who is now exploring the Indian side of psychedelic music with Elephant Stone. They have a new album out and wrapped up a North American tour in support of Moon Country. about a week ago. One of their first steps was a pre-Mod Club gig at Babylon. No surprise there since they're long time pals with DJ Gaz and Emmett.

Guitarist and singer Trevor Anderson leads the combo now.



Keyboardist Eric Dougherty is a new addition to me ... since I last saw the band years ago at The Dominion, this means even less than usual. Drummer Max Hebert is just behind him.



New bassist Seamus Cowan is at right - last time I saw him he was waving his hair about as one-third of power-blues trio Bullmoose. By comparison Robbie MacArthur is an old hand.



The whole lot!



And some flashless action.



And so on! As you can see Trevor's right foot is in a cast - what a trooper.



Singalong action!



MacArthur bends!



Max drums!



Microphone-gripping action!



Right about now they're bound for New York (and a one-night stand in Philadelphia), where they're playing a few gigs - one of them with Ottawa's own Hi Lo Trons.

• Show reminder: Every Time I Die, Stick To Your Guns, The Bronx and The Courtship rock Babylon; it's a metal Monday at The Rainbow with an international cast: Brazilians Krisiun, Belgians Leng Tch'e and Montrealers Paroxysm and Talamyus fill the bill. Zaphod's free showcase hosts The Face of Jam, Stittsville rockers The Weeds, Forest the Band and Corey Norris of Channel One.