Gig Review: Pow Wows / Disasterbaters / Phone Jerks @ Cloud Nine July 15, 2015 (Moncton, NB)

 Hosting a rock and roll gig on a Thursday night is unusual enough for this town but making your way to a dance bar and up those dreaded stairs that once led to legendary music clubs (Au Deuxième and 53rd & 3rd) was enough for me to have a brief deja vu. I had made this familiar trek countless times almost two decades ago and never thought I'd witness live music here again. Out with the old and in with the new as they say.

 Local openers the Phone Jerks started the party with a non-stop barrage of noisy 1990's flavoured garage punk. Every song is catchy, short, high energy and to the point. They've been playing lots this year so hopefully they will be recording in the near future.

 The hosts of the evening were the Disasterbaters, a scrappy shaggy-haired trio belting out politically incorrect garage rock and roll with Johnny Thunders style lead guitar and John Entwistle bass manoeuvres. Always a fun live act, this band is working hard and playing out frequently which ultimately improves their stage presence. Catch them before they get too good.

 Headliners the Pow Wows hail from Toronto and have had a buzz about them for the last couple of years because of the fact that they are on the ultra cool Get Hip label from Pittsburgh. Having gone to this gig with very little expectation, I was rewarded with great showmanship and tunes that stand solidly in the classic garage/rock and roll tradition. Lots of hip shaking and foot stomping going on from the modest but appreciative crowd. A good night on the town on a otherwise nondescript week night. Thanks guys.

Interesting fact: Pow Wows replacement drummer Peter "Lucky" Lambert is a punk rock vet having played with the likes of 63 Monroe, The Trojans and Angelic Upstarts among others.  

Disasterbaters rocking out on a Thursday night