Jodie Ponto Photography

Here are a few photos from once upon two nights ago at the Ironwood in Calgary when our old pal Luke Thomson shared the stage with us (and by “us” I mean Miss Quincy & The Showdown).

From L-R: Melissa McWilliams, Keith Rodger, Luke Thomson, Cathy Billington, Wayne “The Professor” Garrett.

Once upon the first Saturday of the 2012 Calgary Stampede we found ourselves on Mike Slater’s Kensington balcony for our third annual Stampede kick-off street party. Just like every year, the block was blocked off, Mike mixed vats of caipirinhas with his cricket bat, the crowd danced up a free-flowing keg frenzy, and after a set by Miss Quincy & The Showdown, Victoria’s The Party on High Street set the lawn a-boogie until the cops shut the party down.

To see photos from the 2011 party click here, to see photos from 2010 party click here.

Bird’s eye view.

Suburban dance circle, part 1.

Suburban dance circle, part 2.

Miss Quincy flying fancy free without her customary hat.

Going to Calgary usually feels as much like a homecoming as going back to my own hometown, and Miss Quincy & The Showdown‘s near sold out Like The Devil Does album release bash at the Ironwood Stage & Grill was no exception.  The photos below feature Miss Quincy & Tim Williams (who produced the album) on guitar, Shari Rae on upright bass, and Holly Magnus on drums.

Miss Quincy gets ready backstage with a brand spankin’ new tattoo under wraps.

Miss Q reveals her brand spankin’ new tattoo for the first time.

Last weekend I hit the road with C.R. Avery & The Madison 22 Revue’s 12 man East Van caravan of poets, rock n’ rollers, and burlesque dancers.

The photos below are from 2 sold out shows at The Ironwood in Calgary, AB and The Royal in Nelson, BC … Featuring Cherry OnTop, Voracious V, Velvet Von Doff, and Kitty Kitty Bang Bang on the sass and The Broken Mirrors on kicking fuckin’ ass.

To see more photos of C.R. Avery & The Madison 22 Revue click here.

So long warm winter beach days in Vancouver.
Hello frostbite & snowblindness in Calgary.

Click on the blizzardorama for a closer look.

Once upon the first day of the 2011 Calgary Stampede we found ourselves on Mike Slater’s Kensington balcony for our second annual Stampede kick-off street party. The block was blocked off, the keg was free & flowing, Mike was mixing caipirinhas with his cricket bat, and after a set by Miss Quincy, Victoria’s The Party on High Street set the lawn a-boogie until the cops shut us down. To see photos from last year click here.

While testing the stage light at a show at Mikey’s Juke Joint last night I accidentally captured a particularly intense moment going on behind the microphone between Miss Quincy & her left-hand man Tyler Toews. I’ve spent the entire day trying to come up with an oh-so-clever caption to express just what the hell they’re thinking to each other, but I’ve since decided to leave it up to you folks … in contest form!

So, get creative and leave your caption as a comment at the bottom of this post. Whoever comes up with the best caption for the photo wins a wee prize. Seeing as I’m going to Euroland in a few days and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy receiving good ol’ fashioned mail, I’ve decided to reward the Master Captioner (determined by myself and the rest of the Quincy crew) by sending him/her a postcard from somewhere along our Euro adventure.

Without further ado, here is the photo to be captioned:

Mikey’s Juke Joint has joined the ranks of pub loves in my life. It’s the sort of small, friendly, and lived-in place I long to be a regular at, and if I lived in Calgary I would spend most winter evenings there getting my nightcap and blues on.

The photos below are from last night’s packed & rollicking show by Miss Quincy & co.

Why yes that is the legendary Tim Williams making an impromptu appearance on stage!

Friday, July 9th. It’s the first day of the 2010 Calgary Stampede. We’re being trampled by sweltering cement and cowboy chaos but it’s okay because the Quincy crew is set to play an intimate house concert in a heritage house in the lovely Kensington area … or at least that’s what we thought until our host Mike says, “How do you guys feel about playing on the balcony and turning this into a street party?”.

Slightly skeptical, the band set up on the balcony only to realize that one should never be skeptical of the suggestions of a dapper English chap who muddles street party sized pots full of caipirinhas (Brazil’s national drink) with a cricket bat. That said, both neighbours and random passerbyers began rolling by and Miss Quincy and co. rocked and rolled and folked and wanked on that balcony until the cops shut them down at 2am. The photos below are from the absolute beginning of the evening.