Black Pistol Fire & The Love Tongues // Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Pyramid Cabaret
Photos & Words courtesey of Jenny Ramone | 25 August 2018
Austin, TX based garage rock duo Black Pistol Fire brought their frenetic live show to the Pyramid Cabaret in Winnipeg, Manitoba on August 25. The show marked both the band’s first appearance in the city as well as the start of their end-of-summer tour taking them across Western Canada, Seattle and Atlanta. Members Kevin McKeown and Eric Owen showed no signs of start of tour jitters as they tore through their 90 minute set. Owen, while not the flashiest drummer, is a hard hitting, rock solid one, holding down the beat while McKeown jumps off the bass drum, stumbles across the stage and literally falls to the ground while not missing a note on the guitar. Stage antics aside, the duo are both remarkable musicians who play as a tight unit, feeding off of one another’s energy. The pair had the near capacity crowd hanging on every note from the second they hit the stage. Songs “Bully”, Lost Cause” and “Speak of the Devil” got the crowd singing along and head banging. To cap off the night, McKeown lept from the stage onto the hands of the adoring, adrenaline filled fans to play the solo in “Crow’s Feet” while crowd surfing. Judging by the enthusiasm of the crowd, Black Pistol Fire will be welcomed back to Winnipeg anytime and will likely be playing to a crowd twice the size the next time they are through.
Support for the evening was provided by Winnipeg’s sleazy 80’s tinged rockers, the Love Tongues. Lead by vocalist Ewan Turnbull, whose voice falls somewhere between Chris Cornell and a young Steven Tyler, the 5 piece band’s heavy, grungy sound was the perfect compliment to Black Pistol Fire’s slightly more polished garage rock.
Sylvan Esso & Moses Sumney // Washington, DC @ The Anthem
Photos courtesey of Anna Moneymaker | 26 July 2018
Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer @ Knox United Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Photos & review courtesy of Jenn Kostesky | 21 June 2018
The Reverend Rambler:
Vancouver blues duo the Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer played a sweaty set in downtown Winnipeg’s historic Knox United Church June 21st as part of the 2018 TD International Winnipeg Jazz Festival. The band, accompanied by Winnipeg’s Andrina Turenne on backup vocals, fought through a power outage that would cut their vocal mics and eventually the stage lighting during fan favorite “Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To”. Without missing a beat, they uncovered the church piano and continued acapella until the technical issues were resolved. The sweltering summer heat combined with the band’s ability to adapt to challenges on the fly while still delivering the goods will make this a show the audience members won’t soon forget.
Winnipeg’s the Reverend Rambler brought his brand of gospel and punk infused blues rock to the church as support for the evening.
Stone Sour with Nothing More @ Roundhouse, London, UK
Rainsford @ Gramercy Theatre, New York, NY
On tour with Aly & AJ for their Promises Tour 2018
Photos and review by Stefanie Dabs | 11 June 2018
On Monday, June 11th, Rainsford ( a.k.a. Rainey Qualley) — a singer/ songwriter based in
Los Angeles— played to an enthusiastic sold out crowd at the Gramercy Theatre in New York
City.
Rainsford is currently on tour with Aly & AJ as the support act for their Promises Tour
2018—It’s her first time on tour and in my opinion she did an excellent job with getting the crowd going.
Rainsford sang songs including “Up In The Air” and “Japanese Time” off of her EP Emotional
Support Animal that you can listen to on Spotify. “Japanese Time,” one of her latest singles,
also has a music video that was directed by Jamie Strachan — an amazing photographer that I
personally admire— that can be found on youtube.
Be sure to catch her if she plays a gig near you. She is definitely one to watch that will be
blowing up on the pop scene.
Aly & AJ:
Colouring @ Baby's All Right, Brooklyn, NY
Photos and review by Stefanie Dabs | June 4 2018
On Monday, June 4th, Colouring, who hail from London played at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, NY to a crowd that was enthusiastic for their performance. Group members include Alex Johnson, Dom Potts, Jack Kenworthy, and Sam Reilly.
They joined Interscope in 2015 and their first Colouring release was “In Motion” which premiered on BBC Radio 1 in mid-2016. Their first EP Symmetry, arrived later in 2016 and was followed by tour dates in North America supporting the 1975.
In May and June of 2018 they have been supporting LANY on tour, with some dates along the way on their own. Their song “Time” appears on the second season of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix.
Be sure to catch them if they tour near you. They are definitely a indie electronic rock band you should be listening to.
Breaking Benjamin @ The National, Richmond, VA
Photos and summary courtesy of Annette Holloway Photography | 25 April 2018
Breaking Benjamin unleashed many of their beloved classics to a crowd ready to rock at The National in Richmond, Virginia April 25, 2018. However, the heavy hits on their newly released album, Ember, sent the crowd into a psycho frenzy with tantalizing guitar riffs fed with the impressive drumming of Shaun Foist. The mix proved true to Breaking Benjamin's roots, but added an edgy excitement with the darker sound of Ember.
Middle of Nowhere @ Park Theatre, Winnipeg Manitoba
Photos courtesy of Jenn Kostesky | June 1st 2018
