It’s funny how the most recently occurring shows also seem to have been the most memorable.
 While Seas’s impressive  alternative rock  and punk show was a good candidate for best alternative rock show of the year on Nov. 19, Bocephus King returned to the Slice, Nov. 28 for the weirdest and most hypnotic folk show.
 He always makes an impression. Apparently he was just here a year ago, but I missed him.

 I was glad to have caught him this time. Jamie Perry aka Bocephus King, his drummer and a female dancer who only made a brief appearance on stage were just finished setting up an array of guitars, sequencers, gadgets and an assortment of drums as I arrived around 10:30 p.m. They had rushed in for the show from the middle of B.C. and made it just in time for the show.

 
 As a bonus, he recruited four local belly dancers, Maddy Young. Shelby Zuback, Kayleigh Nielsen and Pardip Athwal to seductively shimmy, shake and sway in time to  his more entrancing, hypnotic, atmospheric, multi-layered trance style music. He uttered nonsense syllables for some of these stranger tracks, switching between an acoustic 12 string guitar and electric guitar plus percussion and a hand drum as the mood struck him, while adjusting buttons on machines. On the other side of the stage, his drummer kept time so carefully that it almost sounded pre-recorded.

They left plenty of room for the belly dancers to weave their way from the dance floor and onto centre stage.

  They were a nice touch they performed symbiotically with the music, which King changed as needed.

 I wasn’t a huge fan of the more ambient material, but he performed it well. The highlights of the show for me, were his more roots and blues material from his CD “ Willie Dixon, God Damn” including the title track and “Cowboy Neal.”

He played a couple new songs  including “You The most,” which reminded me of The Violent Femmes’“Blister in the Sun.”
He ended his set around 1 a.m. with a more reggae influenced jam but was called back for an encore, which was one of his more uptempo bluesy numbers.

The Geomatic Attic wound up the year with an excellent blues show, Sunday, Nov. 25 as Winnipeg bluesman Joey Landreth and his trio of drummer Roman Clare and bassist Meg Dolovich.
 It was a longer night than I expected. Roman Clarke opened the sold out show on the dimly lit stage with a quick solo set, singing soulful original music of 20 something problems, accompanying himself on keyboards and reminding me a little of Joel Plaskett.

 I was pleasantly surprised to see local indie rock band the Utilities on the bill as well. they played  their always appealing version of chiming, folky indie rock reminding me of  the Jayhawks and the Church, back in the ’80s. They played plenty of catchy , jangly electric guitars and showed off some fine vocal harmonies.

 They played several tracks from their most recent CD “Heavy South,” but also introduced brand new music, which  drummer Drake McCheyne learned on the weekend as he drove in from Edmonton for the weekend and the show.
 Of course, Joey Landreth was the main event. He opened for the Sheepdogs during Whoop Up Days in the summer, but this set was a lot more subdued.

  He sang appealingly soulful vocals, backed by impressive  harmonies from his band mates.
 He played more slower blues, a lot of subtle slide solos on his guitar which reminded my of Sonny Landreth, a little funk and a few songs that reminded me of Kenny Wayne Sheppard.

 The appreciative crowd sat enraptured and clapped along in places, while Landreth  observed how exhausting  his tour had been and told a few heartfelt stories and about laying with his brother in the Bros. Landreth.
 I was getting sleepy, so left as Landreth finished a quick mini-set on his own.

Fundraisers can be an exciting opportunities to support a good cause while  seeing old friends play and discover brand new acts. All of that was in effect for a packed Slice, Friday, Nov. 23 as local musical and dramatic talent joined  forces to help the victims of the Aug. 15 Kerala Floods in India.

I was there for the return of local blues rockers Zojo Black including Greg Gomola, returning to Lethbridge  from Edmonton, Paul Kype, bassist Tyson Maiko and drummer Brady Valgardson. But I had to wait for them until the end and discovered a lot of new bands with plenty of familiar faces.

I missed  a group called Fox Kitt, but I caught a couple of big new orchestras on the bill including a brand new ’50s doo wop band  called Frankie and the Bridge Mix including familiar faces Dil Jopp on upright bass, Erica Hunt and actress Victoria Officinalis, plus Bente Hansen playing keyboards, a full horn section and a lot more.
 They played an array of ’50s style pop ,  soul and rock and roll like “Rockin’ Robin.”

U of L Digital Audio Arts Student Ajay Jameson was up next with his band performing a set up upbeat, perky and sometimes plaintive contemporary pop music.
He was the local connection as his family is originally from Kerala. I’m not a big fan of modern pop music, so ducked out to catch a couple of other shows.

 But I got back just in time for Latin Rev, a new multi-cultural and multi-textured Latin infused band featuring several of the members from Frankie and the Bridge mix. They brought a taste of the Caribbean to the Slice, and grinned as they salsa danced together. and got most of the room on their feet though a capacity crowd has started to dwindle by then. The ones who stayed were entertained as they launched into an original song.

Zojo Black was a treat as always, especially as they haven’t been playing for a while due to Greg Gomola having moved to B.C and now Edmonton.
 They played a comfortably familiar set of original material like “Modern Day Marilyn Monroe,” “Keep it Real” and Live My Life.” But most of their set was dominated by blues infused classic rock like their cover of Deep Purple‘s “Hush.”
A highlight was Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic.”

Paul Kype alternated vocals with Greg Gomola, singing a few more country numbers like “Sing Like Johnny Cash,” and the Rolling Stones “Miss You.”
 They also added  covers of the Violent Femmes’ “Blister In the Sun” and Tom Petty’s “You Don’t know What it’s Like” which featured Kype blowing a harp solo, and a lot more. In addition to sharing vocals, Kype and Gomola also traded off guitar solos, playing the  occasional solo in harmony.

 The event raised $1,200 which will be donated to a relief fund for the victims of the flood.

 I heard the Owl Acoustic Lounge was packed, probably because Biloxi Parish was playing there, Friday, Nov. 23. And it was, but instead, as Biloxi Parish hadn’t started yet, I was pleasantly surprised by  Mark Andrew Spencer, a former University of Lethbridge student, now based in Calgary, who seemed excited to be back among a room full of enthusiastic friends and Biloxi Parish fans.

His tight band  were a good fit for Biloxi Parish as they also played uptempo folk tinged rock and roll with pop sensibilities which reminded me of a young Joel Plaskett.