NEWS:

Posted June 20, 2021

If you were around for the very early days of punk in Ottawa – Rotters, the Paradise Room, Mic’s – you may remember a regular fixture in the scene: Sheila Boyd. Sheila passed away last June but I only just heard about it recently so here’s my late tribute to her:

I first met Sheila around 1980–81, I couldn’t tell you the circumstances but it probably involved a show or a party. We became friends and a regular pre-show ritual was for her and sometimes others to gather at my place on Laurier, have some drinks, then head to the venue. In June of ’82 she took over David McCaig’s spot with No Cause for Concern? and became an invaluable contributor and I swear, without her help, the 'zine would probably have folded long before it eventually did.

Sheila was a solid friend, loved having fun, took no bullshit… and had my back on more than one occasion. We lost touch in the ’90s but I did see her again around 2010 at a reunion show and she was still the same Sheila.

Posted June 15, 2013

I'd originally posted a link to a festival that seems to be getting lot of bad press right now for making the lesser known local bands 'pay to play'. Fuck that shit. Here are two links to articles on the situation: The Ottawa Citizen, and vakarme.org. It's a real shame bands like Flag, the Descendants and Social Distortion would be okay with that. Hopefully they just weren't aware of the situation.

Posted June 8, 2013

Everyone knows who Flag is right? And that they're touring? Do I even need to say they'll be playing [some shitty festival] in Montebello on Saturday June 15, 2013? Because they are. (They're also playing NXNE the Friday.)

Posted January 28, 2013

There isn't anything coming up relating to the 1982–1985 time of this 'zine but coming pretty close is the 3-day "OTTAWA SUCKS" fest in April with Doom ('80s "Punk, noise, crust, thrash, hardcore") and a whole slew of other local and out-of-town bands including: Pissheads (Richmond, Virginia), Proxy (Montreal), Napalm Raid (Halifax), Prengnacy Scares (Ottawa) and Asile (Ottawa) among them.

"3 Days of Hardcore Punk" April 12-14. Facebook event here.

Posted Dec 28, 2012

Maximum RocknRoll recently interviewed former NCFC contributer Julia for a retrospective article on a compilation tape she and Colleen Howe put out back in 1985.

The compilation tape, "Matrax" was a collection of female-only, or mostly female bands including three Ottawa bands. The article (including all the tracks on the tape) can be found here.

Posted Dec 13, 2012

The Normals will be playing at Zaphod's December 29th with Plunt and four-stroke. Facebook event here.

Killing Joke will be playing 2 eastern Canada gigs (but skipping Ottawa) in April, 2013. They're hitting Montreal's Cafe Campus on April 23rd and Toronto's Lee's Palace on April 24th.

Posted Oct 5, 2012

Toronto. Oct - "Perfect Youth: The Birth of Canadian Punk" by Sam Southerland is finally available. There's a book launch party taking place in Toronto at the Horseshoe Tavery on Wednesday October 10th (facebook event here).

From the promo: "Perfect Youth is the story of the birth of Canadian punk, a transformative cultural force that reared its head across the country at the end of the 1970s. Bands like D.O.A., the Subhumans, the Viletones, and Teenage Head — alongside lesser-known regional acts from all over Canada — reshaped a dull musical landscape, injecting new energy and new sounds into halls, bars, and record stores from Victoria to St. John’s."

I'm thinking ANYONE remotely interested in Canadian punk history should read this book.

Posted Aug 19, 2012

Ottawa. Aug - The scanning has begun on Greg (Vig) Foisie's huge donation to No Cause for Concern's archive. Over 150 items (including posters, fanzines and press kits) have been scanned so far and plenty more to get through.

Posted Aug 7, 2012

Ottawa. Aug - "Vigelance de la Liberté" (aka 'Vig' or Greg), a major force in Ottawa's early punk scene, recently sent out this message:

Wanted - Good home for valuable (? one person's treasure is another person's trash ), 30-year-old punk flyers, punk posters, punk 'zines, etc. There is a lot of this stuff - ten years worth (late '70 to mid '80s) No recordings are available. [1st dibs to No Cause for Concern and Ottawa '70s-80s bands] - most of the material is from Ottawa, but there are also Quebec and Ontario flyers/posters etc. Some U.S. bands did gigs in Ottawa.

Especially looking for academics, authors, historians, scholars (sociologists, anthropologists) who might be studying or writing about this stuff in a good way, and museum curators interested in developing displays open to the public. Please have them send me an .

We hope to have a gathering in Ottawa the second weekend in August to give out this stuff.

(Also posted here on Maximum RNR's facebook page.)

With NCFC currently getting the lion's share, these items can be made available to anyone who wants access. (Just email . Anyone interested in the get together can do the same.)

Posted July 2, 2012

Ottawa. Aug - "Finish What You Started Fest" is a weekend of ALL AGES punk and hardcore in Ottawa, August 16 to August 19, 2012. One of the bands of particular interest to this old archive: the NILS, from Montreal. Get your info here.

Posted July 2, 2012

GUELPH. July - Some crazy Guelph punks are throwing a punk reunion party on Saturday July 14, 2012, at the Riverside Park Bandshell in Guelph, Ontario, with GWAR, TEENAGE HEAD, THE ASEXUALS, and TAKE DRUGS plus more bands and an afterparty. More info can be found on the facebook event page here, and the group's page here.

Posted March 31, 2012

Ottawa - 2012's installment of "OTTAWA EXPLOSION" is going to be happening this year from June 13 to 17 with at least 25 bands on the list so far. They have a website here, and a facebook page here.

Posted Feb 22, 2012

Montreal - 2012's installment of Montreal's premier punk festival Pouzzafest has finally posted this year's schedule and there are tons of excellent bands in the line-up. The Meatmen, Poison Idea, Naked Raygun, Kevin Seconds, The Nils and the Dwarves are on the list, and Porcelain Forehead is set to make another appearance. Other long-time bands will be joining the fun, like Less Than Jake, Lagwagon and Bouncing Souls. In total over 160 bands with be there tearing it up over the long weekend. (May 18, 19 and 20, 2012)

Posted January 8, 2012

The Nils will be playing at The Montgomery Legion (330 Kent St.) Saturday, January 28th. Facebook event here.

2012's installment of Montreal's premier punk festival Pouzzafest is shaping up to have some pretty interesting bands in the line-up. The Meatmen, Less Than Jake, Poison Idea, and the Dwarves are on the list, and Porcelain Forehead is also set to make another appearance.

2011

Posted August 16, 2011

Former Raw Sewage guitarist Dave Coulson and former Angry Raisins/Target21/Raw Sewage drummer Drew Hedrick will be at O'Heaphys' Irish Pub, 27 Clothier Street East Kemptville, with their new band King Shit Ontario, on Saturday September 3rd.

 

Posted August 11, 2011

Interview installment #3: Jo Capitalicide of Germ Attak. (Germ Attak will be playing their final gig Friday, August 13, 2011, at the Montgomery Legion (330 Kent Street, Ottawa, ON).

 

Posted July, 2011

D.O.A. is touring - again! Or is that "still"? Either way, they'll be hitting Ottawa on October 14th, at Mavericks (more info here).

New York hardcore band Agnostioc Front will be making its way to this part of the continent later in October, hitting Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and London. Ottawa show info here.

Past headlines:

Posted June 12, 2011

PouzzaFEST in Montreal May 20, 21 and 22, was a huge success. A few bands from 'back in the day' played: Zero Boys, Channel 3, The Queers, Porcelain Forehead, The Unruled, The Action... along with a whole load of current bands. For a review (in French) and a bunch of pics, check out this blog.

Posted January 31, 2011

Installment #2 of the new N.C.F.C. interviews:

Dave "Tufty" Clough + Vess Ruhtenberg of Zero Boys (scheduled to play Pouzzafest in Montreal May 20, 2011). They were interviewed October 10, 2010, in Chicago before their set at Riot Fest.

2010

Posted December 19, 2010

Steve Gelling, guitar player and founding member of the Restless Virgins, was found dead in his apartment. Steve's parents are planning a visitation (no ceremony), likely this Thursday, December 23, 2010, at Mount Pleasant in Toronto. His ashes will then be brought home to Ottawa for internment. Details for the visitation will be published in the Sun, the Star and the Ottawa Citizen this week.

Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications on Facebook did a 'facebook interview' with Jeb Bond, former bandmate of Steve's, December 20th, 2010. You can (hopefully) read it here. Below the post with the interview, there's a thread with a lot of nice comments about Steve. Worth reading.

Posted December 7, 2010

Installment #1 of the new N.C.F.C. interviews:

John Stabb of Government Issue (1980–1989).

John Stabb was interviewed by N.C.F.C. in December 1983 [read it here] and it seemed appropriate to talk to him again nearly 27 years later on the eve of his band's reunion taking place December 11 in D.C.

Posted September 19, 2010

D.O.A. will be hitting Ottawa October 9th at Maverick's. Opening will be the Action, It's Asshole Time, and ??? If you've never seen D.O.A., you gotta. It's just a given.

Posted September 11,, 2010

Ottawa's Suppositories played their final show downstairs at Ritual last night (Sept 10) Fucking awesome. Check out this amazing Ottawa blog by Andrew Carver: natcaprock.blogspot.com and check out the pix on his flickr page.

Posted August 15, 2010

The Asexuals, a Montreal punk band from the '80s, are planning a reunion show in Montreal October 1, 2010, at the Caberet Juste Pour Rire along with the 222s. I also hear the Asexuals will be playing a show in Ottawa but no details yet.
[Update: The Asexuals show in MTL was packed, and got excellent reviews. There's been no more talk of an Ottawa show.]

Posted August 7, 2010

One of my favourite bands, Articles of Faith is planning a reunion show in Chicago in October as part of Riot Fest along with a slew of other great bands including Jello Biafra and the GSM, Circle Jerks, Bad Religion, the Zero Boys, and the Meatmen. If you're anywhere in the vicinity, GO!

Posted September 11, 2010

Canada's Subhumans will be playing in Ottawa at Maverick's on September 17th as well as some other Canadian cities.

Posted August 7, 2010

The Unruled, a reunited Montreal hardcore band from the '80s, will be playing at the Avant Garde bar (135 Besserer, Ottawa) on September 18th, 9 p.m.

Posted August 7, 2010

N.C.F.C. has a MySpace page.

Posted May 20, 2010

GBH - "CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF GLORIOUS PUNK ROCKING" - will be playing at Mavercks on Friday July 16th, 2010. (fb event here). Also on the bill are Outer National, The Class Assassins, Andy Snap and the Loose Cannons, and The Rookers.

Posted May 20, 2010

Porcelain Forehead is playing a show at the upcoming NXNE festival in Toronto at the El Mocambo, Saturday June 19th. Check their site for info (MySpace, Facebook).

Posted May 20, 2010

Royal Ottawa (with some former members of Bugs Harvey Oswald) will be playing a show at the Elmdale Saturday, 12 June, 2010, along with Sister Hyde and the Sin Sisters.

Posted May 8, 2010

PUNK ROCK COVER NIGHT vol 4 is happening at Mavericks on Saturday, May 8th, 2010.

The Vibrators are touring again and will be hitting Ottawa (May 11th at Mavericks) and plenty of other Canadian cities.

Posted March 26, 2010

Lineup UPDATE - JELLO BIAFRA and the Guantanamo School Of Medicine – with the CLOVEN HOOFS and PORCELAIN FOREHEAD. Saturday April 3 @ Mavericks, 221 Rideau Street, Ottawa. Jello and his band will be playing new songs as well as Dead Kennedys classics.

Posted March 26, 2010

Porcelain Forehead will also be opening for Jello Biafra & the GSM in Toronto at the Operal House Sunday April 4th, along with the DELINQUINTS. For more info on that show, click here.

Posted March 9, 2010

Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School Of Medicine – Saturday April 3 @ Mavericks, 221 Rideau Street, Ottawa. This one needs no explaining at all.

Posted January 15, 2010

PORCELAIN FOREHEAD reunion show!!!
With the amazing Suppositories.
Saturday, March 20th at the Dominion Tavern, 33 York Street in the Market. (show flyer)

[mini review: the show was fantastic. A full house and plenty of people there coming from far far away! Ottawa was definitely due for a punk reunion. The bands kicked ass and there are pix on the PF Facebook page.

2009

Posted November 30, 2009

December 19, 2009

Rotter's Club reunion show at the Elmdale Tavern w/ The Action, Target 21 and Destroyer Scene.
10$ at the door.

[mini review: Target 21 were great. Marty Drew and Scotty brought it back with style. Destroyer Scene played an amazing set of current punk that went mostly unappreciated by the older geezers members of the crowd. The Action... quite the spectacle, but man do they ever sound like a Stones cover band. Punk? I'm thinkin'... uhh... nope.] [Want to see a better review? ]

August 13, 09

The Action's shows at the Dominion Tavern have been rescheduled: November 28 and 29. Saturday's evening performance will feature local act White Wires. Sunday's afternoon show opener is TBA, possibly the Suppositories?

August 7, 09

Youth Brigade, formed in 1980 and one of North America's punk pioneers and founder of B.Y.O. will be playing in Ottawa on September 24, 2009, at the Ritual with The Bouncing Souls.

Jully 11, 09

The Action, a local (Ottawa) band from the late '70s, and probably Ottawa's first punk band, will be playing two nights at the Dominion (33 York Street, Ottawa), October 3rd and 4th. Something about a reissue of their recordings too... don't know any details.

June 25, 09

The absolutely fabulous newly redesigned N.C.F.C. web site finally goes live. Tell me you love it.

Posted June 18, 09

July 2 - Subhumans UK @ Mavericks - AA/19+, $15 adv

Posted June 18, 09

June 27 - The Business @ Mavericks - 19+, $13 adv

The Vibrators (UK punk!) - Saturday, June 20, at Mavericks // they were fantastic. They did a great set and there were some pretty good opening bands. Not liking the no-seating situation at Mavericks though.

May 18, 09

Screaming Bamboo have set up a MySpace page (link).

May 12, 09

N.C.F.C. finally has a Facebook Group.

March 25, 09

Or maybe this is more a rumour: Porcelain Forehead members are talking reunion gig!
Check back for details.

April 23, 09

NoMeansNo, were excellnt.

"A fantastic show."

 

– nocauseforconcern.com

April 18, 09

NoMeansNo, at the Babylon Club, Ottawa, Tuesday April 21.

"NOMEANSNO define post-modernist hardcore...intelligent, articulate, studied, thoughtful, violent, passionate, intense, and playful. Acclaimed by peers and adored by fans, this musically adept trio has consistently thrilled sweaty crowds around the world."

– melaniekayepr.com

March 25, 09

"What We Do Is Secret" - DVD contest winners:

Congrats to DrewH, GregM and TereseH.

Oct. 25, 08

"What We Do Is Secret" - a biopic chronicling the life and death of legendary Germs front man Darby Crash - available on DVD November 4th, 2008.

whatwedoissecretthemovie.com * movie poster

[Contest now closed]

 

2001–2008

Misc headlines not worth reposting here on the new version of this site.

???, 2001

NoCauseForConcern.com first goes on-line.

1982–1984

No Cause For Concern fanzine published.