blue black
drums wires
solid stripes
Korg Roland
black blue
top plaid
dread,locks
veil,bangs
hair,hiding
beautiful
eyes
4 young women
21,22,22,23
Nixie
electro
dance
band

from
Kelowna,
BC

“excuse me,
while i kick
the shit out
of my band.”
Shauna says,

The Voice
front,center
of,her,band.

her hands waving.
fingers gesticulating.
her dreads jumping.
her dreads leaping.
she’s on her toes.
playing it. feeling it.

truth is,
Nixie
kicks
the shit
out
of us.

Sarah on drums,
veils.
of. Hair.
i Love the way you play.
i Love the way you bang
the drum. your beat.
your tempo. your
cannon fire resonates.

Kerri on bass
more veils of.
sneaking a look-see,
do you like us?
your eyes ask.

Bronwynn on keys.
Shauna on synth.
they’re the dreads.

nervous energy.

the more and more
you play,
the more and more
damage
you’ll do to us,
The Audience.

i want to be
seriously
damaged
by you,

Nixie.

break,me,down.

take the audience
one by one by one
and seriously
damage us.

the songs are,
in no order

Art Official
Citizen Warning
Awake
Nitewood
Electrolux
Discoteque
Hot Knife
Robotic Aquatic
Countdown

i Loved the Live
sound and show
and fury of the
movement of
Nixie’s music.

“are there a lot of dance bands
in Kelowna?” says me to Shauna,

“there are a lot of bands.
just not dance bands,”
says she.

i’m writing frantically
at the bar
Keli from The Details
walks over, says,
“they’re good.”

“yeah!”
TNT
dynamite.
watch me
explode.

Yes
Nixie
are
Good.
Live.

they’re young.
so young.
passionate.
so passionate.
on fire.
so on fire,
when they play.
and touring,
in a small way.

Tour Big.
Tour Hard.
go for it.
give it
all
you have.

no regrets.

this is a band
to see and feel
Live. and dance.
dance for Nixie.

the music,
B52s
Holy Fuck
Stereo Total.
the dreads
the bangs
the hair
the veils,
reminds me of
The Nils
The Gruesomes
The Ramones
that fear
that battle with nerves,
when you have something
to say
to sing
to play
to resonate.

www.myspace.com/nixiemix

The Ripperz.

Travis, Chris and Mark.

i’ve written so much
(recently)
about one of my
favorite Winnipeg
bands.

to see them
Live
in Winnipeg.

at The Zoo
The Albert
or,
Saturday night
(after another great show, AC/DC)
at the Lo Pub,

with their friends singing
every word
of every song.

it’s a beautiful experience,

always.

(this beautiful experience)

no one
should ever dare
to take
The Ripperz
for granted.

these guys play hard
sing hard
every time.
they play.

there were broken strings.
there were broken notes
as everything was left
open for us to feel,
raw,
power.

that’s rock n roll.
broken strings and breaking notes.
sweat flying.
drum sticks
beating
into our flesh
and rattling
our breaking
bones.

always, i’m shattered
and completely spent
(and utterly thankful)
after The Ripperz
finish one of their
hometown
passionate
sets.

more and more
and more and
more
passion
(that’s what they give)
and receive
to and from
their audience
their friends.

it moves constantly
feeding and growing
back and forth

www.myspace.com/theripperz

home sweet home
born fighting
on my way
eyes
baby let’s go out

some of the songs.
in their 60 minutes.
then, the new songs.

I Loved Those
New Songs.

they don’t have titles.
one was played the night
before in Regina. Another
one was first timed for us
and another’s been played
a few times.

broken strings
singing friends
an old guy
dancing
up front.
a recent convert.

this isn’t The Grateful Dead
this isn’t a cult
this is just what it is
rock n roll
3 musicians
in a band called
The Ripperz
and their loving
friends.

what a wonderful way
to
end a beautiful Saturday night.

Garbage Hill
The Stadium.
People everywhere.
for AC/DC.
Lo Pub.
Nixie.
Ripperz.
their friends.
August 22.