Saturday, May 23, 2015

Temporal fixations

Festival season has begun, and that means bands from all over are criss-crossing the nation. That means Ottawa gets to be on the receiving end of the occasional oddity, such as French prog-rockers Jack Dupon. They played the avant-garde Victoriaville festival on Saturday, and Sunday they made their way to Pressed. Coming from the opposite direction, on the tail end of their own tour was post-punkers Notta Comet. Stuck in the middle and going nowhere (geographically, that is) was Ottawa's The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol. Notta Comet kicked things off with their "science punk," which apparently means they have songs called Somebody Oughta Burn Down Ray Kurzweil's House. Here's Crawford Smith on bass and Alex Williams on guitar.

Notta Comet at Pressed

Crawford sings!

Notta Comet at Pressed

Percussive action with Eli Kaufman.

Notta Comet at Pressed

Alex sings!

Notta Comet at Pressed

Singalong action!

Notta Comet at Pressed

Rhythm section action!

Notta Comet at Pressed

And of course the traditional shot through the entryway window.

Notta Comet at Pressed

Tapping action!

Notta Comet at Pressed

The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol tore through their set.

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

Bill frets, John hits!

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

Bonus Bill!

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

Extra Nathaniel!

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

More guitar!

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

John hits!

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

Miche is under there somewhere.

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

Jason manipulates some electronics.

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

The whole blurry lot!

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

More Jason!

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

Sliding action!

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

Guitar-hanging action!

The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol at Pressed

Jack Dupon are keeping the traditions of French prog alive, with themed albums and polyrhythms. They've been compared with King Crimson, Frank Zappa and Gong, all of which I defiitely hear as well.

Jack Dupon at Pressed

Arnaud M'Doihoma sings!

Jack Dupon at Pressed

Thomas Larsen hits!

Jack Dupon at Pressed

Philip Prebet frets!

Jack Dupon at Pressed

Gregory Pozzoli rounds out the group on guitar.

Jack Dupon at Pressed

Extra Gregory!

Jack Dupon at Pressed

Progressive action!

Jack Dupon at Pressed

Philip sings!

Jack Dupon at Pressed

Rhythm section action!

Jack Dupon at Pressed

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