We didn't even get to the door before Brantford Frankie yelled out 'where's my shirt' as he desperatly had to cop a fix with a brand new What Wave tee, only the stylishly cool need apply for these shirts and Brantford Frankie certainly fits the bill! As does his equally cool brother!
Forked over a meagre 10 spot to doorperson Lindsay who just happens to be an X-Londoner and has obviously moved up in the world, working at this fine establishment. And hey, there's Rob Frankenstein 5 lurking in the shadows of the club, he always seems to be at all of the Hamilton shows that I make it to! And right in front of the soundbooth is none other than Rick Chessmen and his wife Ada who conveniently happens to be celebrating a birthday with her fave band, The Cynics! Coincidence or what?
Anyways, The Squids finally hit the stage just before 11 and put on a pretty decent set. This duo has a 2 string guitar and a full drum kit....kinda like Deja Voodoo meets The Ramones meets The Dik Van Dykes and this is the result. Totally enjoyable rock'n'roll that I would certainly go see again.
Next up, The Ugly Beats from Austin Texas, 5 piece mid 60's style garage combo that certainly had the crowd up and dancing. Dual guitars, keys and lots of harmony vocals from this band, that i'd LOVE to see again. Only complaint, the bass was way too loud, no fault of the band...Here's a pic of Jeanine on the keyboards that had all of the guys in the club drooling....
Total non-stop dancing and smiling as she pounded that Farfisa for all it was worth! And she was real friendly too, as all of The Ugly Beats were. It was their first time to Canada, so i sure hope we made a good impression on them...and thanx for playing 'I'm The One', my fave song from the 'Bring On The Beats' CD...only on Get Hip Records. Below is a pic of an Ugly Beat invading the crowd...ya, it's hard to tell but he's dancing and playing that 12 stringer! That geek in the blue shirt with the tambourine is Kellen from Bandaloop Radio making another attempt to join a band.
Next up, the band we've all been waiting for, Pittsburgh's Cynics....now with an Ugly Beat on the bass and a drummer that someone said was an X-Untamed Youth. Instantly recognizable guitar tone from Gregg as they got ready to blast us with an assortment of classic and new Cynics material..everything from 'Blue Train Station' to 'What She Said' from the latest LP! All I can say is WOW! This is probably the best Cynics show I've seen since the first time we saw them back on Aug 1, 1988 at the Gown and Gavel in Hamilton! Michael was in prime form, posing for the cameras and dancing up a storm, jumping off the kick drum and just having a great time on stage! Where this guy gets his energy from is beyond me, I was sweating up a storm watching him! The high point for me was a stretched out version of The Unrelated Segments 'Cry Cry Cry' that had Gregg constantly changing amp settings, getting the maximum noise and fuzz outta that old Fender setup! Wotta way to end the show!! No encore, everyone was completely drained out and it was well after 2 in the morning on a work night! Here's a picture of Gregg on the guitar...
And finally an out of focus Cynics sandwich with Ugly Beat bread....this is a hot, sweaty and nasty combo, only served at the finest diners and certainly not for the faint of heart...
Wotta blast! We need to get more shows like this happening, big thanx to Lou Molinaro for putting on this show in his brand new club....lots of other cool stuff is coming to this club and it's only a little more than an hour from London...well worth the trip!
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