Ottawa blues band MonkeyJunk  need a bigger room, one with a dance floor. The Juno award winners played a sold out show at the Geomatic Attic, Nov. 8 which had people dancing in the aisles again.

I only caught the tail end of the show, but the trio, including Steve Marriner on harp and baritone guitar and vocals, plus lead guitarist Tony D and drummer Matt Sobb were locked in and in fine form.

 Marriner, not only played innovative baritone guitar, holding down the bottom end, but also displayed a magnificent  soulful voice.

 They played  upbeat blues rock music, but added some reggae and meandered off on intense jams combining a lot of stellar playing.

 “King Sized Boogie Man,” had  toes tapping and ears singing with searing guitar leads. they saved the best, for almost last “Mama’s Crying,” the first song off their latest CD “To Behold,” which was fantastic, including a hot  harp solo and had the crowd on their feet for a standing ovation.

They returned and Marriner joked “that next time maybe we can play in a church, though I don’t know how we’d go over there,” before adding the next song might make people “go home and fornicate.”
 They played one more uptempo rockers then ended the show on a slow, soulful note.

 Big Sugar brought the house down with a whole lot of peace, love and happiness, Nov. 6 at Average Joes by bringing out the big guns at the beginning of the show which left approximately 300 people in ecstasy. They make me proud to be Canadian.
They are pretty much the archetypal Canadian band— experimental, innovative, yet humble while drawing on a cornucopia of multi-cultural influences from all over the world.

While lead singer/ guitarist Gordie Johnson spends most of his time in Austin, Texas these days, he wears his Canadian roots on his  sleeve, whether singing about Alberta in “All Hell For A Basement,” which officially brought the show to a close,” or playing a scorching rendition of “Oh Canada,” on his battered white Gibson double neck guitar, which had the Canadian flag emblazoned on the back of it.

They began an incendiary, freewheeling, free spirited show full of peace, love , good vibes and the scent of  incense wafting through the air with their big hit  “Digging a Hole,” featuring  multi-instrumentalist Mr. Chill  (Kelly Hoppe) sharing his microphone with frontman Gordie Johnson. He’d play sax, harp, keyboards and a melodica ( the little gadget that looked like a mini-keyboard with a mouthpiece Mr, Chill blew through, throughout the show.

It can be easy to take it for granted exactly how much he adds to the band when you hear them on the radio or on CD, though you really notice him and appreciate his contributions live.

 They band sounded great. You could hear every note from everybody just about perfectly.

The stage lighting was superb, so you could see everything everyone was doing. Bassist Garry Lowe played perfectly in the pocket, usually staying at the back of the stage, but came to the front to sing with Johnson, and occasionally to preach the gospel of peace and love.

 Danny Michel brought his new band, a lot of good humour plus hot guitar playing and new songs to the Slice, Monday Nov. 5. It was the first of two different shows he played at the Slice.
The Monday show combined new and old songs in an enjoyable set which was surprisingly not sold out.

 His band was tight and energetic, bassist Mike McIntyre added extra harmony vocals. Opening act Quique Escamilla sat in the background playing extra percussion, though he stepped up to add extra guitar and vocals, provoking McIntyre to chuckle “now you’ll be singing on all of the songs.”

Michel mused why nobody was dancing in the big open space in front of the stage, which convinced a couple to get up and move to Michel's Caribbean tinged groove. Most of them were content to sit back and listen carefully.
A newer favourite “Wish Willy,” came early in the set.

“ Feather Fish and Fin ” was a highlight as was an older song, “ Invisible Man.”
He combined newer songs with a lot of old favourites the audience knew.
Michel told a lot of jokes as well as stories including one about stealing Paul Simon's apple core after meeting him after a show in Toronto and trying to plant a Paul Simon apple tree, which later died.

Movember marks this week.
 A big event to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research takes place at the Owl Acoustic Loinge, Nov. 15. Candiana country musician Tim Hus and his band will be performing at the event, which begin at 8 p.m.. In addition to the music, there will be a  silent auction and prizes for best moustache and Man of Movember.

A couple big events takes place at La Cité des Prairies, Nov. 17 at La Cité Des Prairies where  the L’ACFA régionle de Lethbridge/ Medicine Hat present Le Coup de Coeur Francophone, a music festival dedicated to the discovery of new trends which promotes and spreads French song.”

172 shows will take place across Canada and the ACFA régionale de African reggae artist Kibwe will be opening the show. He is originally from Lubumbashi in Katanga. Kibwe is an artist, musician, entrepreneur, politician and businessman.  Kibwe hopes to raise awareness about violence and poverty.  He performs for numerous benefit concerts and has created his own clothing line company.

Headliner Patrice Michaud will present his new show: Le Triangle des Bermudes which includes a lot of humour and storytelling Since the launch of his debut album in spring 2011, Patrice Michaud has been touring the roads of Quebec, France, Belgium and Switzerland. With more than 100 performances, Michaud is part of a very select club of two or three artists from “La Belle Province” that has performed the most throughout the year.