Sunday, November 15, 2015

East meets South

I'm starting to feel a little guilty about the amount of time I'm spending at House of Targ. There are plenty of other venues around town hosting shows, but Targ keeps dragging me over. Not that I offered much resistence to a double bill featuring Bad Uncle (last seen rocking the old HoT on Main) and Ukrainia - last seen at Bluesfest an alarming five years ago. First off Bad Uncle - they've got that Eastern European sound that seems to be automatically conjured up whenever accordions are involved (see also: Gogol Bordello, Beirut) even if, like frontman Santosh, you affix a wee Casio to it.

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

Singalong action with Jean-Phillippe and Ram!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

Extra Santosh!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

Hugo bends a bit!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

Extra Ram!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

Uncle-ish action!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ
More singalong action!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

Bonus Ram!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

More Hugo!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

Hatless action!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

Gripping action!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

Contrabass action!

Bad Uncle at House of Targ

As I mentioned earlier, it's been a good half a decade since I saw Ukrainia in action, though I've caught all the members in other projects far more recently. Since then, there's been quite a bit of a lineup change. A trio of Hilotrons have been drafter in to fill in for Tom and Yogi. Here's Damian and Trons drummer Phil Bova.

Ukrainia at House of Targ

And stage right, guitarist Paul Hogan (also of the Empiricals, etc.) and Mike Schultz, whose keyboards provided a big boost to the band's sound.

Ukrainia at House of Targ

I'd better through this pic og Mike up now, because I think it's the only good one I got ...

Ukrainia at House of Targ

Dave rocks the low end.

Ukrainia at House of Targ

Guitar action!

Ukrainia at House of Targ

Mike sings!

Ukrainia at House of Targ

Extra Phil!

Ukrainia at House of Targ

Gripping action!

Ukrainia at House of Targ

More Damian and Dave!

Ukrainia at House of Targ

Face-making action!

Ukrainia at House of Targ

A really excellent show.

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