Nightwitches

The gigs you need to see before Xmas drowns out all good music

Johnson’s best shows of the week PLUS one terrible show that somehow sold out.

If the lords residing at the top of Cult MTL‘s masthead wuz paying by the word, I would be a pretty broke little hack over the next couple of weeks. The reason why I can’t be that verbose in this column is most local haunts are dealing with the build-up to New Year’s Eve, while touring bands tend to get off the road for the holidaze, not to mention company Xmas parties, family functions etc. Although things are a bit lean and won’t pick up for awhile, there are still some great gigs happening before the Xmas fuckery.

Thursday: The place to be tonight is at the Barfly when the Nightwitches get heavy with O town’s Muffler Crunch, the Lef7oves and Lousy Riders. 4062 St-Laurent, 8:30 p.m., $10

Nightwitches

If you’re looking for some glimmering pop all put to bed with gorgeous vocal harmonies, you could do a lot worse than checking out Saskatoon’s Dumb Angel with the Tom Petty strum and croon of Sunfields and Rick Reid at l’Esco. 4461 St-Denis, 9:30 p.m., price unlisted

Friday: If you’re anything like me and think all of the good punk rawk has already happened, join other cantankerous punks at Katacombes for a tribute to Misfits, the Hungry Ones, Sex Pistols tribute Johnny Guinness, the Raymonds (a tribute to the bruddahs from Queens) and opening act Damaged — who are not listed as a tribute to anything, but one would hope they’re donning their cap to the holy bible of hardcore, Black Flag’s debut rekkid. 1635 St-Laurent, 9 p.m., $10

If you’d like to swig along to the original Misfits, Sex Pistols, Ramones and Black Flag, scale the steps at North Star to check out the stud-muffin DJ duo the Punk Police, who will gladly put the needle in your groove. 3908 St-Laurent, 10 p.m., free

Remember when it was totally rad that emo ruled the roost and bands had one singer singing sweetly about not being hugged enough while another singer screamed like a babysitter stuck in a bear trap and the band chugged along with reheated riffs? Neither do I, but apparently some people do as Silverstein, Hawthorne Heights, As Cities Burn and Capstan sold out le National. Geezus, I can’t believe people still listen to this dreck.

Saturday: My big pick of the week is WeRdying2KillU at Barfly. You may remember them as the backing band for Crass’s Penny Rimbaud; well, after a lengthy hiatus they will be coming out of hiding for a little while, so see ’em while you can. 4062A St-Laurent, 9 p.m., price unlisted

If you’re one of the dry humps that helped sell out le National on Friday night, you’ll want to keep your mediocre angst going at Foufs with Wavy Jones, Horsehead, Miscellanium, Bill Noir, Cloud and Dreams000rx. May Allah have mercy on yer soul. 87 Ste-Catherine E., 7 p.m., $20

Current Obsession: Straight Arrows, On Top!

jonathan.cummins@gmail.com