Adstock 2013 in Maple Ridge

Today was Adstock 2013! This year, I only checked out a couple of bands, most enjoyably the Bone Daddies, who offer a spunky blend of ska and punk and rockabilly. Rhythm guitarist/ vocalist Jonny Bones is a natural frontman, true enthusiast, and an important figure on the local scene, also responsible for the Pitt Meadows' Horrorshow series of Midnight Movies (note his Texas Chainsaw t-shirt). He said between songs at one point that the Bone Daddies have been going at it for nine years already, so I guess they're due some kind of notice. They certainly deserve it: they were tight and fast and fun as hell, and Bones is probably about as close a punk to Joe Strummer in spirit as Maple Ridge will ever produce (though a Joe Strummer with a passion for horror and cult movies, which, you must admit, is a pretty pleasing concept). They have a new CD out now, called Sinister City... Got a great kick out of their bassist's lime green bass strings...

Like last year, the crowd - including Maple Ridge notables like the Likely Rads' Jay Raymond, currently taking a break from music - was mostly clustered in the shade at the peripheries of the park, with a small cadre of diehards getting up to stand on the concrete in front of the bandstand. The most enthusiastic person in that area was the young female toddler who weaved in and out between the skankers' boots and elbows, occasionally booting a bottle of blue Gatorade, egged on by a member of the Wrecktals (I think he was, anyhow - he sure was keen to snap a photo of the Wrecktals' logo on Bones' guitar strap!). Her assumed Mom (with pink hair and a Misfits t-shirt) occasionally swooped in and scooped her up when things got a little too enthusiastic; she didn't get moshed on that I saw...

My girl, in town to check out some of the bands with me, was less inclined to stick around for Abriosis, a highly challenging Vancouver death metal band with Alxs Ness, formerly of Without Mercy (previously interviewed on this blog, here). They opened with the number "Crypsis," then followed with "Vessel," from their new EP, available for free download on their website (click their name, above). From the gitgo, it was all flinging hair, involuted, dense guitar lines and guttural growls from Ness, who can hold her cookies against those giant mofos in Tyrant's Blood (or any death metal vocalist you can name). Alas, I had dinner to cook and a Mom to visit, and a girl none too sad to take off early, so I snapped a few pictures and beat it. Truth is, I've always found death metal sounds better on headphones during a commute, when you're trying to shut out the banalty of your fellow passengers' conversation, than on a sunny bandstand...!

In between bands, Howard St. Roy kept the crowd happy with fast-paced acoustic guitar tunes that had plenty of "go" to them - including a spur-of-the-moment cover of Billy Bragg's "New England," when Abriosis needed a bit of extra time to get their gear set up (note: how many cymbals does one drummer need, anyhow?). St. Roy was a perfect between-band entertainment, very entertaining and engaging. Apologies go once again to Ninjaspy, but by the time I got my gal home and got dinner into us, we really didn't have the stamina to head back into the sun, and sat around listening to records while Ninjaspy roared dimly in the background (when Adstock is happening, you can hear it for quite a ways). Ninjaspy now surpass the Bone Daddies as the band I have had the most opportunities to see without ever actually having done so! Maybe next year...

Thanks to Adam Rayburn (AKA the Ad in Adstock) and the people who organize this event. Maple Ridge may be a bit of a cultural backwater - Barney Bentall drew a bigger crowd when he played the same bandstand than I've ever seen come out for Adstock - but for the counterculture kids (and aging punks) of suburbia it's a pretty vital experience...!

I may be taking a bit of a break from the blog for awhile - I have to focus on some other stuff - but I'll be back eventually, no doubt. Have a good summer (and remember, there's free music all next weekend in Maple Ridge, too, at the Caribbean festival!).