Metal for breakfast

Sunday morning. 7AM. Two heavy metal bands. And pancakes.

That’s what cultural instigator and owner of The Princess Cafe, Marc Lecompte, was serving up at his Heavy Breakfast this past weekend as part of the Uncross Your Arms Fest. Above is the band Total Bummer, with volume cranked to 11.

If you don’t know Marc, and his two great restaurants Princess Cafe and Cheeses Murphy, then you probably are also unaware of how much he’s weaving into the cultural tapestry of Waterloo Region. Marc got on my radar four years back from this Waterloo Chronicle article, and Marc’s DIYDAY event last year highlighted his deep background in the music scene and on-going commitment to the broader ecosystem.

The point of this post was to respond to the oft-uttered “there’s nothing going on here” and not an in-depth look at Marc, but I can’t just post the photos without recognizing that this kind of cool shit doesn’t happen by magic, people! It takes a belief that cultural investment pays back and a willingness to do the work. Are you too busy? Marc’s got two kids under the age of 5 and two restaurants on the go. Kind of makes me feel like I’m slackin’.

If you’re wondering how you can get more involved in the community, I’ll again offer this unsolicited advice: just show up. It’s a good start. Here endeth the sermon, now on to the semi-unreasonable number of photos from the jam…

This is my go-to place for meeting people in Uptown Waterloo. Great food, great staff, great energy.

I had the Bacon Jamcakes.

I don’t often photograph food, but when I do…

Marc probably made it. Hey, there’s painter extraordinaire Melanie Sarazin. In addition to paintings, she does up some kickass posters for music gigs. Very distinctive and cool.

Setting up…

at 7AM. These dudes are the other band, Weak People.

A complete breakfast.

Weak People drummer.

Mel.

Weak People.

Marc.

This strap-on mic is pretty awesome.

I usually go to these things alone. Photographers generally make terrible company because they’re always hopping around shooting photos. Of course, when you do enough cultural wandering you end up running into people you know. That was the case on Sunday when I ran into Matt Charters who I used to work with at BlackBerry a very long time ago. I pulled up a chair with Matt and then his buddy…

Milosz Sikora (buying coffee), dropped in.

Total Bummer setting up.

Morning Milosz.

Matt at left, with the definitely advisable hearing protection installed. And well well, look what the wind blew in, Mr. Jon Johnson of Bearface Design. Jon does an insane amount of cool design around town, everything from posters for Starlight to t-shirts to beer bottle labels. Oh yeah, and those #bikekitchener banners on King Street. He’s everywhere.

The crowd expanded by 8am.

Meta.

Meta.

Quick fix.

I’d like to thank every musician that helps me make more interesting photos by jumping up on furniture. So good.

Marc.

Full-on.

Meta-Marc.

This dude shot a lot. I’m always curious where all these event photos go. It would be helpful if SkyNet could pull these all together so I could see how they turned out.

A preponderance of Cons.

More Meta-Marc.

Sunday 8:52AM. A puzzled passer-by.

Impromptu breakfast friend meetup.

Well done, Marc and The Princess Cafe. Meeting for a coffee chat here Tuesday morning, so save me a seat. Oh yeah, and thanks to the bands for the music and for getting up early or not going to bed at all.

DW