In case you couldn’t tell, I was pretty stoked for this gig.  Never thought I’d see Witch Mountain in my neck of the woods, so when I first found out they were coming, I etched it in stone on my calendar.  (Hell, I mighta spent a couple more days in Seattle were it not for this event.)  And hey, the opening bands weren’t too bad, either.  Female-fronted doom FTW!

I actually caught Castle’s first-ever gig at the Smiling Buddha last summer.  Though they’re based on the West Coast, they’ve got Toronto roots that bring them back here every so often.  I will say they’ve come a long way in a year in terms of stage presence–and that new record‘s pretty decent, too!

Blood Ceremony put on another outstanding performance.  I can’t say I’ve ever seen ‘em play a bad gig, come to think of it…

Look out–it’s the ghost of Sean Kennedy!!!

Man, Witch Mountain’s guitarist, Rob Wrong, is practically a dead ringer for Ken Baluke from Sons of OTIS.  Same look (although Ken has a slightly better tan), same stage moves, and they even share a penchant for Fender guitars and vintage effects pedals.  If you were to put them in the same room, it would be sorta like a stoner doom version of this scene (from 0:25 to 0:45) in American Psycho.  See for yourself:

And here’s one of Ken, for comparison’s sake:

Mr. Wrong says he once saw OTIS in Portland 10 years ago, though he claims he did not immediately pattern himself after Ken following said concert–which makes this just one uncanny cosmic coincidence, I suppose.  As for celebrity lookalikes, I couldn’t help noticing a resemblance between frontwoman Uta Plotkin and a young Jessica Paré–think Lost and Delirious more than Stardom or Posers.  This is especially evident in the stunning photo on the lyric booklet inside their new album, Cauldron of the Wild, moreso than when she’s in road-warrior mode, unshaven pits ‘n all, but I still see somewhat of a resemblance here.

Oh yeah, the band also has a bassist and a drummer, too.

Here’s a few more choice shots…

I was a little disappointed that they only played one song offa South of Salem, opting instead to play their new album in its entirety, but y’know what, that new record is pretty amazing in its own right–as seen last night.