Oh, me nerves

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

The past couple of weeks, I finally made my summer sojourn out of town, to one of my favourite places on Earth—Newfoundland. Having spent about four days in Moncton, Halifax and Saint John on my way out east, I finally made it to the Rock. I started things off with three days of utter solitude on Fogo Island, had a great night “riding the Black Horse” in Cornerbrook and finally capped it off with a weekend in St. John’s. There’s just something about the people of Newfoundland that is just beyond description.

I got to see some amazing Newfoundland bands like Jigger, sHeavy and Potatobug, but the best was just hanging with super solid people who gladly opened up their doors to me, hipped me to the local music scene and India Ale, and served up more cod then any human should ever eat. If you haven’t had the good fortune to go to the Rock, I can honestly say that Newfoundland will rekindle your faith in the kindness of strangers, no matter how callous or jaded you are.

Having said that, though, I’m on the ferry traveling from Port aux Basques to Sydney as I type this, and I must admit, my liver can’t wait for me to get back to “away.”

HATCHING PLANS: Baby Eagle

For those of you who managed to get out of town before summer evaporates and are eager to get out of the R&R mode, there are some great shows happening this week to help get yer ya-yas out. If you’re worried about grinding your gears too much, you can ease yourself back into the bustling nightlife tonight, Aug. 7, at Centre St-Ambroise, which hosts the cool croon and strum of Little Birdie, with Alison Notkin and Two Roads Home. If you want to just dive headfirst into the chaos, get over to Bar St. Laurent II tonight for the best-named band in the city, Bill Cosby Anarchist Society of America. It seems that ying and yang are indeed in tune—on the bill with BCASOA tonight are the worst-named band in the city, the Crew, with special guests Artcon. The Crew? Is that really the best you can do?

Friday night proves to be a great one for those who like a bit of dementia mixed with traditional form, when Lake of Stew play Sala Rossa with Lee Mellor and the Bible All Stars, while

Malcolm Bauld brings the twang to his punk rock with ex-Royal Mountain Band/Bullmoose hybrid Spoon River, down at l’Escogriffe. On the other side of the coin on Friday night is the third edition of Kvlt Summerkamp, which should have the noiseniks, haters of melody and general musical misanthropes doing the wang-dang-a-doodle at Casa del Popolo. Headlining will be Providence, RI’s Diagram A with Ohio/California’s

Realicide, Jacksonville, Florida’s Often, T-dot’s Disguises and Pisshorn, and locals Gym Sweat opening up the night.

Sunday night, you can check out the Killed By Death-style punk rock of the Confusers, with the Statues and the Sedatives, at l’Escogriffe, and finally, on Tuesday, fans of the Constantines will want to take note that Baby Eagle, opening up for Attack in Black at Divan Orange, does indeed harbour members of one of the most interesting roots-based bands in Canada.

GET AN INDIA IN YA…JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM