Lethbridge Portrait & Wedding Photography & Design by Tanya Plonka

Earlier this month Wide Mouth Mason finally came back to Lethbridge. You may have forgotten about them, since they haven’t put out any new albums in a while… but they are still around, and working on a new one! I always love seeing this band live; all three members put so much soul into the music they make. Front man Shaun Verreault is both one of my favorite Canadian guitarists and overall favorite singers.

My group of friends and I thought we’d miss this show since it was billed as a “private show,” but luckily we found out it was open, and free. Sadly, there was hardly anyone there as a result, but we had a good time ;)

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Last night Lethbridge was graced by one of my favorite bands, Twilight Hotel who hail from Winnipeg. They put on a stunning show at Slice Bar and Grill, and as usual I was completely captivated by them through the entire performance. If you haven’t already heard this Juno nominated band, please check them out; you won’t be disappointed!

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Earlier this year when I swung by Henotic to shoot the photos for their website, I brought along a CD I was particularly fond of at the time, O My Heart by Mother Mother. Though these guys have been making huge waves, they’re not a “top 40″ band and I thought owners Jason and Adam would dig the music (which they did). Imagine my delight when a couple months later, they book Mother Mother to play at Henotic! (The moral of this story is that if you find good music, don’t keep it to yourself!)

Lethbridge does not get enough big “small” shows, so this was a fantastic experience – and it proved we can fill a venue when exceptional indie bands come though. The guys at Henotic really rose to the occasion and the show ran flawlessly; the restaurant proved to be the perfect venue.

I feel so lucky to have seen Mother Mother live as they are keeping a pretty strong hold on being one of my favorite bands, and they put on the best show I’ve seen this year. So impressive! Check them out on MySpace

They also made a great choice in having Said the Whale open up for them. I’ve seen these guys more times than I can count because they love us in Lethbridge, and it’s been wonderful to see how they are growing as a band (and I was even really impressed with them the first time I saw them!) :)

Photos follow after the jump:
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These photos are going a ways back… and by that I mean they were taken in February! I’ve been in bed this week with pneumonia, and just couldn’t wait until the wedding this weekend to post photos, but since going and shooting for fun this week wasn’t an option, I’m starting to dig through personal photos I’ve been neglecting.

This show was at Slice, and local goodies Bears in Human Suits opened up, followed by The Luna Riot. The Luna Riot is one of many bands my friend Patrick (the bass player, in this case) has been in, and it’s always a treat having him come up from Vancouver to play here.

Excuse the graininess :)

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I had a great time taking pictures of Texas Flood, not only because Dino is in the band now… and not only because Paul brought some extra lights to spruce up Slice’s otherwise drab lighting… but mostly because they are such a fun band to watch, and Paul makes the best “guitar faces.” (okay, the lights and Dino help out a lot :P ) Shawna and Karen were a delightful addition on the few songs they sang for too!

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One of my favorite bands to see live, Big John Bates and the Voodoo Dollz, were back in town this Thursday to rock our socks off. I can never understand why so many guys there would rather mosh (ie, slam their bodies into other men) when there are women burlesque dancing right in front of them they could be watching instead. What's the deal with that??

I also got some props after :)
From their blog:

Our Lethbridge show last night was a hoot, so they’re keeping the bar pretty consistent for us. We had a rockabilly-feeling band open the show with a fun swinging set, I saw the tallest man in town, Johnny Smalls (that’s his really-real name… no lie) and didn’t see if the talented photographer Tanya was there. Hopefully she was, and I just missed saying hello to her and her camera.”

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