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I never had a true conception as to what I was expecting when I signed up for this whole website thing. I knew we wanted to write about the music, the people and representatives of cities across this country. That was it. The rest, I hoped, would present itself somewhat organically as we moved forward. To this end, I was going to have to step outside my comfort zone and embrace new ideas and concepts…and perhaps music I traditionally didn’t care for. Thing is, this wasn’t going to necessarily be just about the music. I was interested in the people behind it, getting to know the personalities. So, where am I going with this? I’m going to Mavericks…on a Sunday night…during a long weekend…to see a punk show.

Enter Matthew Wells. More importantly enter The Centretown Cripplers. A seven piece Ottawa set that enjoys the loud. I’d been meaning to meet Matthew for some time (we’ve spoken via email rather often but had yet to meet), and decided this was as good a time as any. The Cripplers were the beginning of a three band set that included The Paint Movement (of Mississauga) and Modern Boys Modern Girls (of Toronto). Sunday in Ottawa is a tough crowd at the best of times, this being a long weekend makes it worse. It was kinda surreal to walk into the bar…I felt how Ian Curtis might have that first fateful night at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall, (empty space save for music types that were soon to become famous – it’s a neat story…look it up) except instead of future Joy Division, Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks it was The Balconies, Cripplers and Paint Movement.  My buddy Ming was already there and introduced Matthew and I (I totally should have asked if “Matt” was good enough, this additional typing…), and he was, in my mind, exactly the opposite of what a punk rocker should look like. I know I know, what a terrible thing to say, but this was the same guy who described a gig to me as “…and we managed to annoy the shit out of all the old farts in the back of the room. So personally, I call that a success.” So you can see where I may have had some preconceived notions. “Punk” attitude though, if not “punk” appearance. We’re joined shortly after by Chris, the “other” singer, and get to talking about the Ottawa scene, from their point of view. Punk it seems is perhaps the largest and most significant scene going in Ottawa currently. This is news to me, but when you don’t move in certain circles, you aren’t likely to be familiar with them are you? Both guys are affable and speak about the rest of their band mates as a natural point of conversation. My initial reaction is that this is seven people who’ve been friends for awhile and do this because they enjoy it, there’s no pretense, no expectation. I look around at the “crowd” and count maybe thirty people. When you consider there are three bands that account for half of the people I see, I wonder how the band doesn’t feel deterred. Matthew is unfazed, shrugs and says “we’re just going to go up there and get sweaty”. It’s not about the crowd I realize, it’s about the fun they have when they’re up there.

The truth of those thoughts is never more apparent than when the seven take to the stage. Three guitars, bass, keyboards, two percussion and seven smiles. No really, it’s corny but it’s true. There they were two guys and a gal, all screaming (nearly) incoherently…all the while the bunch of them are smiling away, having a brilliant old time. It was impressive. I can’t claim the punk sound as my ideal choice, but I knew I wanted to be open minded, and as I stood there, I found my toes tapping, my head bobbing and a smile on my face. The energy was infectious and I was glad to have been a part of it. Granted, next time I’m bringing earplugs…because well…it was loud. Besides the volume, a couple other things stood out for me. Firstly, and I do mean this as a compliment, Chris is a rock star. Ok, that may be somewhat vague, but what I’m getting at is that his on-stage presence was impressive. He had all the mannerisms and        on-stage charisma that you would expect from a big time star. He was commanding and confident and that, in my experience, is a rare thing to find “naturally” in someone. Secondly, I recall a quote I heard once by one of the Ramones. This not verbatim, but it had to do with the simplicity of punk, due to the few chords necessary to play it. Watching these seven play, simplicity did not come to mind as they maintained a tight cohesion playing their instruments at speed. It may sound a simplistic compliment, but seven musicians; playing at speed in unison…I was impressed, especially to an empty room, where they could have been excused for taking the show lightly.

The band is back again playing live May 29^th at Café Dekuf. I’ll be there, having as Jack Black says, my face shredded.