LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225 & CO2!!)

This post is a bit of a southern fried one given the bands in question, as there's some notable LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE) to take in, so here's what you should know!

The thought-to-be one off hard rock/country cover band C02 will play their second and presumably final concert TONIGHT at Jay's Piston Broke Pub! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page yesterday. As has been long teased for months, former Soundcheck singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver is moving to Nashville, Tennessee this fall to further pursue his solo country music career, and before he heads across the border, he is rocking Jay's all weekend long, starting with a show there last night from his similar but more country-focused short term band Mile 38 (who you may have seen at Rotaryfest Stage 1 last month). TONIGHT'S show will see Cameron back with his more rock-focused band CO2 (who debuted at Jay's in June), and assuming no lineup changes, he should be joined by Handsome Sandwich guitarist Jesse Cook, who also performed with Cameron in Mile 38.

Drifters/ex-Re:Born bandmates Elly McWatters (backing vocals/guitar) and Brandan Glew (drums) should also return, as will veteran local cover band bassist Rob Gilmar, who was a frequent fill-in performer with Soundcheck. Cameron will cap off the weekend at Jay's with an acoustic country matinee gig there tomorrow as well. Hopefully this weekend's shows prove to be a fitting send-off for Cameron, a good and talented guy who is destined for big things, and best of luck to him in Nashville for sure! TONIGHT's C02 show has a 9:30 PM start time, no cover, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and alas, no public preview videos of CO2.

Next up, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have announced their fall concert schedule through late October via their website's calendar, and after a summer full of charity events, tour dates, and private bookings taking priority, fans of "the dirty three" will have more chances to see them live in bars ahead! We'll save their run of shows next weekend for our next round of weekend concert previews due to the now-short notice, but their next shows afterward will be back at Reggie's Place for a full weekend on September 12th & 13th before returning two weeks later on the 26th & 27th! The guys are rocking Reggie's tonight as well, but keep their impending dates in mind for more southern fried hard rock covers and originals next month! One more Cruisin' The Dub car show for the Algoma Regional Community Hospice will follow on Sunday, September 21st outside of the newer A&W at 659 Great Northern Road.

Your local 225 are no strangers to supporting ARCH across multiple charitable events involving cars and bikes, so keep this one in mind in three weeks! Expect vendors, family activities, and lots of classic cars, though weather will be worth keeping an eye on closer to. While we await a fall concert calendar posting from The Esquire Club as they prepare to resume hosting live bands, Bone Yard will return to the Second Line West bar for the Thanksgiving long weekend on October 10th & 11th, so if you've missed Greg, Alex, and Warren there since the spring, there's your next chances! One week later, the guys will set up shop for another split weekend at Beck's Bar, where they'll play a traditional plugged-in concert on Saturday the 18th before going "uncorked" for the acoustic matinee there on Sunday the 19th. They will also be doing thusly next week, but more on those next week.

Lastly for this wave of concert announcements, Bone Yard 225 will return to The Water Tower Pub for a one-nighter on Saturday, October 25th, and as usual for their gigs at the Great Northern Road staple, this will be an "uncorked" event, so fans of their acoustic covers (or The Bearded Lounge) will want to keep that one in mind! We'll address next week's show there next week. For reference, Halloween this year is on a Friday, but if Bone Yard have big plans for October 31st, they haven't gotten that far in the calendar yet. With the exception of the A&W car show, all of these are 19+ nightclub dates, and none have an announced cover charge. Start times are 2:00 PM at the car show, 3:00 PM for the Beck's Sunday matinee, 8:00 PM at The Water Tower Pub, 9:00 PM for the Saturday nighter at Beck's, and 9:30 PM for Reggie's and The Esquire Club. Visit the above links for more on Bone Yard 225's busy fall calendar so far, and look for more soon!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone! 

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (BookcluB, Curtis McKenzie, And Tym Morrison) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

For this final concert weekend of August (also the Labour Day long weekend), we have an eventful but not overly busy weekend in store for hard rock fans in Sault Ontario, mostly including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, plus a quiet cancellation. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison's acoustic solo act will set up shop once again at The Dive Gastro Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was first announced via Tym's Facebook event page on Sunday, with the venue following suit on their Facebook page not too long ago today. The Dive hosting live music on Fridays is not common based on prior months with a calendar, but Friday nighters have happened once in a while, and TOMORROW'S show is likely so booked given that it's the long weekend and the arguable final weekend of the summer season. After we missed Tym's Think It Over Thursday show there last week, good thing we didn't miss TOMORROW's return! Note that, while his Facebook event page still says that he is playing a matinee show there on Saturday, we can confirm that Tym is not performing at Misty's Fifties that day.

Country veteran Allan Mooney has confirmed that he is playing there instead, as per this new plug for the booking, and note that Tym was also once scheduled to play at Misty's last week but that show wasn't even covered on the SMS (he was playing at The Eagles Club that night and there was never fresh promotion for Misty's). A reason for the cancellation of tomorrow's (and last week's) Misty's gigs was never announced, but hopefully his show there next Saturday is still on!  TOMORROW'S 19+ and free show at The Dive is on the patio once again rather than "the naughty corner", with 9&10 News calling for clear skies and cool temperatures hovering around 13°. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!

Next up, local alternative/punk cover sextet BookcluB and their unplugged sister duo Dos Amigos will take part in BookcluB guitarist Brandon Ruch's local farewell concert at The Whisky Barrel TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the show was only announced via its Facebook event page on Monday. Dubbed "Branstock: A Ruch & Roll Event And Moving Away Party", TOMORROW'S concert is the final one for Brandon before his impending move to Barrie, following a prolific three year run in active live bands after graduating from Algoma University's music program. The former Generations & Handsome Sandwich guitarist will pull double duty TOMORROW, as he will be headlining with his folk/country band The Golden Scoundrels, while the lineup will be rounded out by indie rock quartet Lucy's Diner (formerly The Hollow Heads), so there's a little something for many tastes at Branstock!

While this will presumably be Brandon's farewell with Bookclub after over a year & half with them, he is not leaving The Golden Scoundrels, who have been ramping up their touring schedule as of late anyway. This 19+ concert has no cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time. Brandon will be missed locally for his prolific multi-genre talents, so help send him off the right way TOMORROW, especially given how this package of bands will be rocking an unusually small and acoustic-leaning venue for the occasion! Visit the above links for details on Branstock, best of luck to Brandon in Barrie, and for a preview, here's BookcluB live!

Next up, former Haggith/Project 421 frontman Curtis McKenzie will bring his solo acoustic show back to Beck's Bar for one night only on SATURDAY! Apologies again for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Wednesday when they announced this weekend's live music schedule. In his last post on Facebook before this week, he thanked fans for going to see him at Beck's on August 2nd before noting that he wouldn't be able to perform live for 4-6 weeks due to recovery from dental surgery. SATURDAY is exactly four weeks since, to the timeline lines up, and hopefully he is fully healed to sing his hard and alternative rock covers in the west end once again! On SATURDAY, Curtis is in the 3:00 PM matinee timeslot, and the band playing the 9:00 PM nightcap there are new local country cover band Elly McWatters & The Drifters.

Remember, Curt isn't "opening" for Elly, he and her band both have four hour timeslots spaced two hours apart, but there's no cover charge if you want to hang out to see both on SATURDAY! Regardless, there's a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Curt live!

Finally for this weekend's known heavier shows, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will end their summer slate with regular concerts at Reggie's Place TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen at the Dragonfly Run this past weekend, these will be their first traditional nightclub concerts in three weeks, and cap off a busy month of shows on the road and at charitable motorcycle events. With Greg, Alex, and Warren also working on their long gestating debut album this month, they should be in fine spirits to rock Reggie's for fans looking for live rock and roll over the long weekend! Note that a live-streamed video from the Dragonfly Run was shared to the band's Facebook page, but new 30 day time limit or not, the video just features attendees and riders before the bike rally proper began, and does not feature any live music performances. Tomorrow & Saturday's concerts have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges.

Also, your local 225 will have fresh stock of official band merchandise on sale this weekend, and they are now taking pre-orders for official band hoodies, so if all of that interests you, have cash on hand at Reggie's! Visit the above links for more details, and here's "the dirty three" live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Trixter & Woodhawk) Plus A New Sole Aggressors Concert Video!!

Here's a new news post on this rainy Wednesday evening, featuring two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the fall and a lengthy new concert video, so here's what you should know!

Calgary stoner hard rock quartet Woodhawk will make their long-delayed local concert debut on Wednesday, September 10th at Soo Blaster! If the name sounds familiar, it may be because this isn't the first time that Woodhawk have attempted a local booking. The former Oh!No Collective planned to host them at LopLops Lounge in April 2020, only for that show and its associated tour to be cancelled due to the first pandemic lockdown. Like then, Woodhawk are touring in support of their latest album (in this case, "Love Finds A Way"), and their classic rock-influenced brand of stoner originals with strong guitar riffs should find a welcome audience next month, even with the mid-week scheduling! After Oh!No planned for a genre hybrid lineup in 2020 (the tabbed local openers then were A Dire Setback and DJ Seith), this concert will stick closer in genre spirit, including hard rock quintet HeadF1rst in their first show since the Northern Vibe Festival.

As well, online page-less metal quintet The Sault Side Squad will play their first show of the fall as the opening band, and given their stacked lineup, you won't want to miss them! This concert begins at 7:00 PM two weeks from now with a $15 cover (up from $10 in 2020) and no announced age limit. It's still rare to see touring bands reschedule local dates cancelled back in 2020, so keep that angle in mind, let alone Woodhawk's distinct doomy hard rock attack, in two weeks' time at Soo Blaster!

Next up, if you're a fan of The Hair Scare on Saturday nights on Rock 101, how does a live version sound? I don't know if the radio show will be linked in any official capacity, but if you love hair and glam metal, you'll want to stop by The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Saturday, October 25th! Your headliners in two months are New Jersey hair metal veterans Trixter in their local debut, though bassist P.J. Farley backed up Mr. Big's Eric Martin's acoustic show here in February 2020. Fans will know Trixter from hits like "Give It to Me Good" and "One In A Million". Co-headliners here are Illinois glam metal quartet Enuff Z'Nuff in a local stop seventeen years in the making, as they were supposed to open for Skid Row in Sault Ontario at the cancelled Runway Park outdoor concert in June 2008. If only L.A. Guns had also rescheduled up here before they broke up!

Enuff Z'Nuff will be best known for classics like "New Thing" & "Fly High Michelle". Also coming to the Soo in October are two Hollywood-based glam bands, including Pretty Boy Floyd (who hit the scene with songs like "Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set The Night On Fire)" and "I Wanna Be With You"), and the more modern hair revival band Permacrush. There's a lot of talent, glam rock, and vintage sleaze to take in from this package of bands, so don't miss out in late October! This concert will be the first in over a year from local promoters Allstar Promotions, who last brought Ratt's Stephen Pearcy to The Dreammakers Theater this past September. Tickets (including fees) run for $33 in the center section and $28 everywhere else, and there's loads of good available seats available at this link, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. This show starts at 7:00 PM and it has no advertised age limit. 

It's hard to believe that, in all of the successful hair metal shows to take place at Kewadin, none of these bands have played at Kewadin before, so if you're up for a night of old school late 1980s-early 1990s hard rock, you know where to be in two months! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on what should be a fun night of hair metal action!

We'll close today with a topic that straddles both of the twin Saults, as the now-defunct Sault Michigan punk trio The Sole Aggressors posted a video of their set at The Distraction in Sault Ontario in January onto their YouTube channel at the time! Apologies again for the delay in their full-set videos from the past year being so late to get covered here. This was at an all-locals show headlined by Hails, and marked The Sole Aggressors' debut in Sault Ontario, one of a handful of Canadian dates of theirs this year. That was and still is very encouraging to see. In order, their all original set saw them play "Tale Of An American Hero", "Kill A Celebrity", "False Hope", "Kill Thy Neighbour", "Heil Artificiality", "Time To Commercialize!", "Reject", "Melted Plastic", "Teenage Guide", "State Of The World", "Fool", "Hypocrite", "Fast Punk For Fast Food", "Down By The Bay", and "Ventilation".

The set ended with two new songs that weren't played in prior concert videos, namely "Burning Down" and "Humans Aren't Ordinary Monkeys". The lighting in the basement on this night was very blue, so be advised of that going in, but Calvin, Brett, and Isaac are on form here with a nicely varied sound with solid lyrics and punk attitude to spare, so give this full set video a watch below, and there's two more to come!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: SYKOTYK RAMPAGE - Topic

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile! In our last monthly feature post of the summer months, we have another spotlight of a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk music/concerts. This month's selection is a YouTube Music channel for a prominent local band, if not as comprehensive as you may expect, so here's what you should know on it!

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SYKOTYK RAMPAGE - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UCrjvSyO3DGjK1fVMyvgT3kw)

Owner:  If anyone, Sykotyk Rampage guitarist/singer Dirk Becker, though the channel is auto-generated to facilitate the band's catalogue being available on YouTube Music

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 19th, 2022; Videos posted that day and on March 19th, 2024

Channel Summary: Four different YouTube channels exist to host parts of the back catalogue of local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage on YouTube Music, with this particular channel hosting two albums of theirs from 2013, incidentally both part of concept chronologies. 32 songs are hosted between the two albums.

Why You Should Watch: Given how fragmented (and incomplete) Sykotyk Rampage's discography is represented on YouTube Music, this channel is really only for band completionists who regularly consume streaming music via YouTube. Their complete 70+ album discography is available on their Bandcamp page, which should be stop #1 for fans of the masters of the crash, but if you had a particular affinity for these two albums, note their YouTube presence!

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

GATES: The earlier of the two Sykotyk Rampage albums on this channel is "Yamaraja" from August 2013 (its sequel followed two years later), which notably uses one word titles for all songs on offer except the self-titled closing number. Notable for being one of their first albums with bassist Tony Briglio (joining Dirk, singer/drummer Paul Becker, and guitarist Shane Kokis), "Yamaraja" is an album that I have yet to review on the SMS (with how many Sykotyk Rampage have, who knows when I will!), but as good a place to start as any here is the opening song "Gates", which will appeal to fans of their Paul-sung crash rock originals, complete with background chanting to go along with the loose theme around Hindu gods. There's more where that came from on the full album!

Intro to Revenge: The longer and more popular album of the two here is October 2013's lengthily titled "Adventures Of Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy 2: Revenge Of Professor OCD & The Crimson Nipple" (the first album in this series immediately preceded it and the third "Adventures Of..." album came out in 2014). Another concept album ("Chastity Boy" is Tony's band nickname) featuring "story" tracks peppered in between the songs, the most popular upload on this particular channel is the opener "Intro To Revenge". This one features Tony setting up the storyline for the album and where things picked up from the first album in this series. Not a song in itself beyond the backing music, the story being set up is definitely sykotyk and it'd be a fool's errand to sum it up here (especially when I don't know when I'll be reviewing Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy's adventures here), but it'll start you on book #2 of this epic story!

American Dreamer: Of the actual songs on "Adventures Of Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy 2", I most want to highlight "American Dreamer" for its near-7 minute length and the fact that, as of this writing, it has zero hits on YouTube. I know Sykotyk Rampage have dozens of albums to comb through, but no one has played this song there? Starting with a solid bass solo, this is a showcase for Dirk's distinctive punk snarl on lead vocals, which don't get deployed enough on their albums, and the freewheeling nature of their improvised hybrid rock attack comes through well without seeming overlong despite the length! Give this and much more a listen above!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around September 26th for another randomly selected channel, and this time, it's via Vern03, who filmed six videos at the Heaven & Hell/Megadeth concert here in 2007! Look for that on or around September 26th, and for more news and notes on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Northern Vibe Festival Fallout, Realignment Project Updates, And A New Silent 9 Video!!

Today's post covers some recent ground from a major summer festival, a band whose album was just reviewed on here, and another summer festival performance, so here's what you should know!

Starting on Saturday afternoon, a slow trickle of updates starting coming in from attendees of the Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir that pointed to major changes to the Forest Stage schedule this past weekend, so what exactly happened? Organizers have not posted an official public statement on their Facebook page, so some of this comes from personal accounts, but props to Spun Out frontman Dean Duguay and Big Finish Band bassist Matt Fronzi for what they shared on social media. As you may recall, this was a rainy weekend, particularly late Friday night and into Saturday morning (granted, a lot of the doom & gloom forecasts on Sunday didn't pan out as badly as projected), but points east of the Soo got hit particularly hard. While the Roost River Stage for EDM performers survived the onslaught from what I am aware, the band-centric Forest Stage was reportedly decimated in that night's rainstorm and was unusable for the Saturday program.

The intense storm hit late in the Friday program and particularly impaired Sudbury-based Tool tribute band Avessel's headlining set, with the band referencing that the night had "an unfortunate end due to the extreme weather" but praised the venue, artists, and vendors. You can see in the video embedded below (of them covering Tool's "Sober" from their Instagram page) that stage equipment was covered in garbage bags, but kudos to them for powering through and still pulling off the Tool sound so well! Hopefully they get an encore in the Soo soon (or at Northern Vibe next year!). With the damage to the stage and sound equipment, folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels salvaged the Forest Stage by using their own gear and an impromptu plywood floor "stage" to perform for attendees, and they were joined by three other local acts scheduled on Saturday, including drummer Johnny Belanger's alt-hard rock band Handsome Sandwich, maintaining their five year streak.

Rob Speers' new "party band" The Barbarians (featuring half of Handsome Sandwich) and Mike Haggith & The Big Finish Band reportedly filled out the heavily curtailed bill, with the touring bands, Dark Side Of The Soo, Spun Out, the two rap groups, and Benny's Acoustic Thing all dropping out. Not ideal, especially for Crank Sound Distribution's gear, but thankfully no one was hurt, and props to the Golden Scoundrels for salvaging what they could for fans expecting to hear live bands on Saturday! Fingers crossed that organizers come back stronger than ever for Northern Vibe XI next year, but check out Avessel's Friday night video below, and see above for more on what went down on Poplardale Road this past weekend, good and bad!

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Next up, here's the latest from local industrial metal solo act The Realignment Project, who we haven't had talked about much in recent months beyond our "Frustration Sessions" EP review on Saturday, so what has Matt been up to since that came out in April? Unlike with their debut "Afterthought", every song from the new EP has finally gotten the lyric video treatment for the project's YouTube channel, with the last holdout ("Medicated (A Spade Is A Spade)") being embedded below. Matt was already writing new material as of May 17th, and after posting two promotional "Reels" for their first two EPs in the following days, he revealed on their Facebook page on June 2nd that their next EP will be called "War Songs". You can see him tracking some material on a computer from the sessions in this "Reel" posted two days later. On June 16th, Matt indicated that he was trying to write lyrics that day, and a June 18th "Reel" featured a song-in-progress named "Bones And Dust", but I'll hold comment until the full song is released.

Matt was tracking vocals for this EP on July 1st, and he revealed the track listing in the above image on July 7th. Mixing was underway as of July 10th (the day that he wrote the first song for T.R.P.'s fourth EP), and tracking 100% wrapped up on July 13th, but we await further details on the EP. Given the quick turnaround between EP releases (though we've been waiting longer for "War Times" than we had to for "The Frustration Sessions"), this could drop on major streaming services at any point, though due to our 6 month anti-bias buffer period, we won't be reviewing the new EP until February 2026 at the earliest. Stay tuned for updates from The Realignment Project, and here's the "Medicated" lyric video!

Finally, here's an overdue highlight video of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's set at Rotaryfest Stage 1 on the Friday last month! Uploaded to their Facebook page, this video combines footage shot from multiple filmers (not all vertical but shoved into the vertical dimensions regardless) during their set, and you can see them covering clips of No Doubt's "Spiderwebs", Michael Jackson's "Beat It", Van Halen's "Panama", and Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk". We don't see substantial footage of any one song here (especially not "Panama"), but Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve put in a lively and energetic performance in their Rotaryfest return, so check everything out below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

The Realignment Project - "The Frustration Sessions" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 194th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and as our current backlog of new local metal/hard rock albums plods into a new month, we're actually jumping a couple months back in the timeline to look at local industrial metal solo act The Realignment Project's sophomore EP "The Frustration Sessions"! Independently released to major streaming services on April 28th, the four month delay for our review was due to it coming out just three months after their debut EP "Afterthought", which we reviewed in February. I have long had a self-imposed buffer period of six months between album reviews from the same project (to avoid showing a bias), hence why we didn't look at this EP in the spring. The Realignment Project is still led by former Dirty Virgin drummer/Riverin frontman Matt Hicks without extra credited performers. You can buy this EP on mp3 format on Bandcamp on a "name your price" model or on iTunes for $5.94.

Meanwhile, it can be streamed on Bandcamp, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, and KKBox, but consider buying it to support Matt's work! Song titles are linked to their Bandcamp copies. With six songs running for about 25 minutes, let's begin our look at "The Frustration Sessions"!

The EP leads off with "Rocketship", which is about taking off on a rocket to live on a new world after humanity stripped Earth of its resources. This song definitely leans way more to industrial than metal, with a steady percussion beat, synth instrumentation, and a melancholy pace that rarely deviates from the initial trajectory. Matt's low melancholy singing does get across the bleakness of the song's message, but it's just not that varied and lively for my preferences, and definitely not a rocker. Interesting change of pace to start though! Next up is "Minor Outburst", which contrasts kinda dance rock verses with intense hardcore screaming on the choruses, at a level of aggression that I don't remember "Afterthought" having! The pointed lyrics feel like this might as well be the title track for the EP given the varying frustrations on display, but the techno beat on the verses is too much of a contrast, and the whispered bridge was hard to discern words in.

Still a big improvement for metal content, and it'd be neat to hear Matt scream like this more in T.R.P. originals! Third here is "Static",  with the title referencing static in outside pressures, hatred, and distractions in life. A little more aggressive and pointed then the opener, but this is definitely more reserved and ominous as a constant whole than on "Minor Outburst". Not a bad composition, and it has an eerie ambiance a little more vocal diversity, but the lyrics are very repetitive, especially given its runtime. I didn't mind it though!  The second half of the EP begins with "Fireside", which has more pointed commentary and anger to it, with screamed choruses and more of a traditional rock song structure while still having an electronic ambience. Again, this song has repetitive lyrics, but I like the pacing, the bass line, and intensity that contrasts well with the industrial effects, so it's a welcome diversion for fans of the project's heavier side!

The longest song on offer is the penultimate cut, namely the 6+ minutes long "Stupid", which is basically about how humanity is stupid for letting corporations and personal jealousy and greed get in the way of improving our world. In tonal structure, this feels like "Rocketship" with the choruses of "Minor Outburst" for the first half, but there is an extended bridge that feels very Rage Against The Machiney, albeit with industrial instrumentation laid in. While a little too long, the verses are more substantial here, and there's good aggression where needed here, so this is a late highlight! The final song is its shortest, the 2+ minute "Medicated (A Spade Is A Spade)", which calls out the perceived over-medication, brainwashing, and control over the populace. This is basically one lengthy extended verse with lots of rhyming before the subtitle is invoked when shouting the chorus over and over. I appreciate the direct messaging, but this song doesn't feel finished.

Making this basically a poetic rant didn't leave a lot of room to make a standalone song beyond having a dark industrial essence, but it fits in line with other Realignment Project offerings on this EP, and it was well put together despite being so cramped! So, how is Matt's second solo outing? Similarly inconsistent for my preferences, but the songs have definitely evolved, and you do get a sense that Matt was in a different place when writing these songs, with a darker feeling and more social commentary about society's ills, as opposed to the more personal material on "Afterthought". While the songs are not uniformly heavy, he puts aggressive screamed vocals to more effect on choruses here, and is making more of an effort to sing on verses. Everything is well composed, and Matt has a good ear for techno and industrial effects, so fans of his solo work dating back to the Riverin days will like how things are coming out!

Is it better than "Afterthought"? I think that EP was a little more lively as music, and had less repetitive lyrics, but Matt did expand his range as a singer here, and it is heavier at its peaks (especially on "Minor Outburst" and "Fireside"). I think I like it a smidge more, but industrial fans should be eager to check both out at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's album review, and we get back to our chronological timeframe for new reviews next month when we look at local emo/folk punk solo project Agnosticism's June 2025 EP "Atticcore Fornication". Watch for that in September, and for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Nameless), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we begin this weekend's non-Northern Vibe Festival weekend concert previews, we have cancellations to take note of, as Sault Michigan hard rock band Exit 808 are not playing at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino tonight and tomorrow night. The band revealed on their Facebook page earlier today that they made the decision to drop out due to the Soo Kewadin not allowing bassist Blaze Beairl into the bar due to being underage (he's only entering grade 10). Blaze wasn't a permanent member of Exit 808 when they last played there in January, and the band said that "we're just not feeling comfortable stepping onto the stage" without a full lineup, so this may have been a short notice decision once the casino realized that a teenager was in the band. Exit 808 have played shows without Blaze this year, including at Musicians Unite in March, but if this was a late call, it'd be tough to get a guest fill-in for this weekend anyway.

Based on the photo shared with the announcement, ex-guitarist Nathan Webber is pictured, but I don't know if that's a giveaway that he'd have played this weekend or not. Also, the band did note that the St. Ignace Kewadin and Bay Mills have exempted Blaze for concerts at their lounges despite being casinos, but keep all this in mind, as if The Rapids Lounge don't budge, we might not see Exit 808 back there with Blaze in tow until 2031! I don't know if a late replacement band was signed or not. Stay tuned for more from Exit 808, but let's start our previews with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, with a missed concert apology to follow!

Local hard rock quartet The Nameless will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was first announced via the band's Facebook page yesterday, and true to form, The Merch's Facebook page has not acknowledged the gig whatsoever. Fresh off of their tent-protected outdoor show in Goetzville this past Saturday, this will be their first public date in Sault Ste. Marie proper since rocking The Merch at the end of May. According to their Facebook page, TOMORROW'S show will be The Nameless' last before "we take a little break to focus in a bit and spice up the setlist", so if you're a fan of Joshua, Michael, Mike, and Jamie's hard rocking covers, come down to The Merch, as I don't know how little this break will be! The Nameless are up TOMORROW at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here they are live!

Now to Sault Ontario, where local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will hit the stage for another solo acoustic concert at The Fraternal Order of Eagles Club TOMORROW NIGHT, but sadly, we missed a show of his last night. Much to my surprise, I saw this brand new photo on Facebook this morning of him performing at The Dive Gastro Pub yesterday for their latest "Think It Over Thursday" concert (of note, he was playing outdoors on their patio rather than in the "Naughty Corner", presumably a summer bonus when weather cooperates). Alas, Tym only announced the booking via a Facebook event page yesterday morning, with The Dive following suit an hour later (they didn't post an August calendar on Facebook either), so the late notice combined with yesterday's Northern Vibe focus didn't help at all. I profusely apologize for missing yesterday's Dive concert, but hopefully Tym and attendees had a blast, and I'd have covered it had I known!

If you want an encore or make-up date, head to Steelton tomorrow for a show that had lots of notice! Tym's latest Eagles Club show (and last one until November) takes place at 8:00 PM with no cover charge and a presumed 19+ age limit. Visit the Eagles Club concert's Facebook event page for more on tomorrow's acoustic hard rock cover action on Wellington Street West, apologies again for missing his Dive show yesterday, and here's Tym live!

Finally for this preview post, the tenth annual Dragonfly Run goes down on SUNDAY NIGHT with live music in tow! For the third year since the former Ride For ARCH rebranded, this annual charity event will see a motorcycle rally through town to support the Algoma Regional Community Hospice, and the homebase returns to The Grand Gardens North for a second straight year, so attendees can take in local vendors, family friendly entertainment, bike games, prize tables, caricatures, tattoos, food & drinks, and more, so be sure to visit the official Facebook event page for full non-musical details! While the Facebook event page says that there will be "live bands all afternoon", only two are playing on Sunday, including returning southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 (who have spearheaded this event right along), and in a mild surprise that is on physical posters but not well marketed on social media, local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith & his Big Finish Band in their second show of the weekend!

Good to see Mike & crew back in the Soo proper (and one day after their Northern Vibe set tomorrow), so don't miss out on their set! According to Mike's Facebook page, they're on at 3:00 PM with your local 225 headlining on Sunday evening. The Dragonfly Run proper begins at 10:00 AM, it is absolutely all ages, and it is a FREE event, though donations to ARCH are definitely encouraged. While The Grand Gardens hosts bands indoors for Toystock, the bands are slated to perform outside in the parking lot, so be advised that 9&10 News is calling for a 70% chance of thunderstorms from Sunday morning onwards. The run will go on rain or shine, but I don't know if they have provisions to move the bands indoors if need be, so keep tabs with event organizers for updates on that front. Whether riding in the rally or enjoying the Grand Gardens festivities, the Dragonfly Run is a great event for a great cause!

Visit the above links for complete details on what to expect at the Dragonfly Run (especially depending on what Mother Nature has planned), but come out to enjoy the fun if you can, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard 225 live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's CD review on the site next! Thanks everyone!