I'm battling a major cold, so let's get this news post up now before things get worse. Today's post is half devoted to new videos from each side of the border, but we're leading off with our review of what became of a major recent concert, so here's what you should know!
As you know by know, Friday night's Michale Graves concert at The Canadian Nightclub was cancelled due to the heavy winds stopping him and the other touring openers at the Mackinac Bridge. However, credit to promoter J.D. Pearce, who decided that the show must go on, and it did, courtesy of an all local jam night with no cover charge! Given the show-as-promoted being postponed, the attendance took a massive hit, but it was nice to see a bunch of familiar faces regardless, including the couple that drove in from North Bay who decided to stick around and make the most of their evening! After a 90 minute delay, planned local openers Jack Spades took the stage for an extended set of basically their entire live repertoire, ranging from songs like "Rise" & "Breakneck Speed" to newer tracks like "Cenobites" & "Sewer City Radio", plus select covers. In spite of the evening's changes, Jack Spades delivered a reliable set with energy and life, with Tiffany Stocco and Daniel Horton shining on guitar, and Rob Speers' bass work flowing well!
Given the circumstances, fans can't complain too much about Jack Spades' punk/metal attack, but I will note that their lone Misfits cover on Friday was the Danzig-era "Hybrid Moments", despite J.D.'s known Graves-era Misfits fandom and prior covers with Fitswitch and Frightlight. It'd have been ultra fitting to deliver a bit of what we missed that night, but who'd have predicted that Mother Nature didn't like horror punk? As I was developing a cold, I didn't stay until the bitter end of Friday night's concert, but Jack Spades were followed by what amounted to an impromptu Handsome Sandwich set, but with bassist James White absent, guests filled in, including singer/drummer Johnny Belanger's Jack Spades bandmate Daniel Horton for much of the early set. Fans were treated to covers of bands like The Commodores, Blink-182, and Thin Lizzy, among other typically diverse acts, and it was fun to see familiar faces jump in to jam or even sing at points! Hopefully this entertainment helped make the night worthwhile after all of the earlier news!
This concert served as my trial run/debut with my new digital camera, and you can check out our photos at this link or at our Facebook page. I'm happy with the quality for the most part, but I apologize for any issues in consistency or amount, I am still working out the kinks. I should have things worked out in time for Ten Foot Pole! Unfortunately, an SD card error has left my videos (of "Crossroads" & "Dancing Queen") unreadable, and I had to use a file recovery program to save the photos as it was. If there's any way I can retrieve the videos, I will let you know, but if such a catastrophe had to happen, as least it wasn't during the Michale Graves concert!
Next up, here's some new videos from Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night's Facebook page as they continue work on their second Christmas tour! All three feature the instrumental performers from last year's tour, including founding keyboardist Craig Harrison & guitarist Steve Giles, alongside bassist Scott Andringa & drummer Erik Sales, so fans of their December tour dates will see familiar faces! Craig filmed these videos during a jam session yesterday, with this one showcasing some freeform jamming on a normal landscape orientation. The other two are clearly of Christmas carols, namely "Away In A Manger" and, as embedded below, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." The latter two are on a vertical portrait angle, but Craig frames it well to showcase the guys fine-tuning these seasonal adaptations, and overall, things look like they're coming together well towards the tour! Give these videos a look!
Finally for today, here's a rare live video from Sault Ontario acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns' Facebook page, courtesy of their set at yesterday's Downtown Street Party on Queen Street East! The video features them covering the end of Weezer's "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To", which sounds good from what we hear, and Chase from Paw Patrol's clearly into it! Give it a look below, and don't miss The Wyld Stallyns hosting open mic night at the M.S. Norgoma on Tuesday!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Today's news post at the SMS is mostly devoted to SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (and how) concerning a big community event taking place.... in a few minutes! However, we do have some details on a very recent cancellation to take note of as well, so here's what you should know!
A couple of local hard rock cover bands will perform at TODAY'S third and final Downtown Street Party of 2018, starting with local
acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns, who will open "Stage 2" near Soo Blaster TODAY (as in, at 12:30 PM!) Profuse apologies for the short notice, The Wyld Stallyns never publically
confirmed their participation, though they were
confirmed by festival organizers on the Facebook event page 2 weeks ago. In what could be a
tune-up before their open mic night on the Norgoma on Tuesday, this
should be a prime chance to see their fan-friendly blend of covers, but you've gotta act fast, as they're playing at 12:30 PM, which isn't far away! A DJ from Soo Blaster will headline TODAY at 5:30 PM, while the remaining lineup (with aide from Dryer Fire and ex-Gore Street Cafe owner Nicole Dyble) will see Waterloo folk musician Richard Garvey at 4:30 PM, Wild Iris side project Stone Orchid at 3:30 PM, indie pop singer/guitarist Shae Tull at 2:30 PM, and Sault Michigan solo artist Magnet Moslov at 1:30 PM.
Solid lineup that definitely feels like a "Stage 2", so don't miss this varied roster outside of Soo Blaster TODAY, with The Wyld Stallyns beginning within the hour! For a preview, here's The Wyld Stallyns live!
Next up, that's not all for SMS-covered bands at the last Downtown Street Party of the year, as local classic/hard rock quartet Soundcheck will play outside of GFL Memorial Gardens as part of "Stage 1" entertainment! Again, massive
apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the set on their Facebook page this morning, though event organizers had also confirmed their involved on the same Facebook event page two weeks ago. This will be Soundcheck's first public concert appearance since the retirement of drummer Scott McLurg, and while the band hasn't announced a permanent replacement yet, Peace Vibe/Flat Stanley drummer Glen Thomas will reportedly fill in TODAY, reuniting him with former Mourning Wood bandmate Terry Eaton. Solid choice, Glen should fit in fine here! Other acts playing outside of the former Essar Center THIS AFTERNOON will include a DJ from Ace Studios at 4:30 PM, country/rockabilly veterans The Steeltown Playboys at 3:30 PM, ...
...new local acoustic rock quintet Chunks of Manh at 2:30 PM, and country duo The Crossroad Magdalenes opening at 12:30 PM, while Soundcheck's set is after them at 1:30 PM. Of course, this is a FREE and ALL AGES event courtesy of the Downtown Association, as the prior 2 Downtown Street Parties were, and fans can expect local vendors, food and drinks, all-day shopping, games, and prizes from Elgin to Dennis, so be sure to visit the above links for complete non-musical details! Sounds like a diverse lineup with a dash of hard rock for good measure, so head down to Queen Street East TODAY (as in, very shortly) for all of the action! For a preview, we have a new public video of Soundcheck to feature here, courtesy of a share onto the event page from Scott McLurg's wife Monique's personal Facebook page, so what should you know on it? Filmed at a rare out of town concert of theirs, this was filmed when Soundcheck played a drag racing event in Wawa last month.
The video features their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", though I do hear more of an Aerosmith glimmer here. Solid performance and well filmed overall, and it's nice to find a new public video of theirs, so give it a look below, and don't miss Soundcheck (and Glen) TODAY at 1:30 PM!
To close today's post, I wanted to acknowledge what happened to last night's Michale Graves-headlined concert at The Canadian Nightclub. As you likely know by now, the concert was cancelled shortly before doors were to have opened, as all three touring bands were stopped in Mackinaw City due to yesterday's severe wind forcing the closure of the Mackinac Bridge. The same closure also cancelled yesterday's Soo Greyhounds home opener, so this was definitely a serious weather hazard. Promoter J.D. Pearce confirmed to attendees last night and Facebook contacts that he will be making a statement next week regarding refunds and a planned rescheduling of the Michale Graves concert, so keep tabs on that for details on what looks like a new date. In any event, J.D. has confirmed that tickets bought for yesterday's concert can be used for the rescheduled concert, or carried over towards next month's Ten Foot Pole concert at The Harp, or his annual Halloween parties at The Algonquin Pub.
In place of last night's expected concert, planned local openers Jack Spades played alongside friends and special guests for a free all-local jam, which we will be reviewing in our next news post. Alas, Mother Nature had other plans for the horror punk extravaganza last night, but what can you do about that sort of cancellation? This was out of everyone's hands. Hopefully Michale and company can make it here in the future for a second try, as I know how eagerly many fans were awaiting this concert! Stay tuned for more details, and for our review of last night's fill-in show soon! Thanks everyone!
(Updated on Friday at 1:00 AM) Before we begin this weekend concert preview post, we have a pair of concert cancellations to take note of, as Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril will not be playing at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino tomorrow & Saturday night. Don't worry, there's no "different direction" excuse, Peril cited a scheduling conflict as the reason on their Facebook page, and the shows have been postponed to an unspecified future date. Disappointing, but stay tuned for word on the shows' new dates! Now, let's dive into a this weekend's concert previews, plus some other stories, and starting with a SHORT NOICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!
Prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison is staying busy with a return to La Terrazza Franzisi in Richards Landing THIS SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced late on Thursday, after this post originally went online, so I opted to add it while we still could. At least this show has slightly more notice than his previous L.T.F. concert from this past Sunday! This will be the fifth weekend out of seven where Tym has played at least one weekend matinee at the waterfront restaurant on St. Joseph Island, and with the Gliss re-opening date still a mystery, it's nice to see Tym getting some relatively consistent bookings in the interim! Fans in Richards Landing and area can see Tym's skilled blend of hard and classic rock covers on SATURDAY evening at 5:00 PM, and while there is no age limit or cover charge, remember that this is a formal sit-down restaurant. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!
Next up, one of the biggest Sault Ontario punk concerts of the year will finally go down TOMORROW NIGHT, when former Misfits frontman Michale Graves will make his local concert debut as the headliner at The Canadian Nightclub! Though his solo output far outnumbers his Misfits run from the 1990s, Michale's work with that band lives on locally from such fan favourite songs as "Saturday Night", "Helena", and "American Psycho", and his brand of metal-tinged horror punk should get a huge audience at The Canadian tomorrow! It may not be the "secret show", but this one will more than suffice! Michale will be joined tomorrow (as on his Course of Empire tour) by West Virginia "horror death" outfit Argyle Goolsby & The Roving Midnight and Vancouver horror punk artist Nim Vind, and from the former's dark-yet-melodic originals to the latter's hard-edged "electric music", genre fans will find lots to love from this three headed monster! Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades will provide local support in a massive no-brainer.
Given promoter/frontman J.D. Pearce's frequent covers of 1990s Misfits songs in his various bands, who better to open up for Michale himself?! Despite the Facebook event page still advertising "another act TBA", none have been publically confirmed. This 19+ concert has an early 7:30 PM start time listed, and advance tickets are now $20 at this link, The Canadian, and The Rad Zone (the price did drop from $25, but that may still be the door charge.) With 6 months of hype, this concert should be a huge hit for late-period Misfits fans and horror punk aficionados alike, so see the above links for complete details, here's Michale live, and don't miss this one!
Also, we'll head downtown to LopLops Lounge, where Toronto-based Ramones tribute band The Gabba Heys will make their local concert debut THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Fronted by veteran local punk musician Mikey Hawdon, this will be his first local appearance as a band frontman in almost 2 years, and the first time he's channeled his inner Joey Ramone locally since bringing his prior Ramones tribute The Merves here for the fifth and final time in 2015. Mikey's Ramones fandom is well known, and his effective, fan favourite tribute experience should go over as well on Saturday with The Gabba Heys as it did with The Merves, so don't miss out! Mikey's long-time bandmate Dustin Jones will open with his (online page-less) punk cover quartet The Cover-Up, which is a fitting choice, but may fans get a mini-Surfers or Rising Tide reunion on Saturday? The advertised opener is Mikey's former Merves bandmate Amy "Gabba" Zucchetto with a Joan Jett tribute set, but I have read conflicting reports regarding whether she's opening or playing during The Gabba Heys' set.
If we have any Sudbury readers, keep in mind that all of these performers will be playing there tomorrow at The Townehouse Tavern, so click here for details on that concert. As for Saturday's local show (a presentation of Tidal Records), this is a 19+ event with a 9:00 PM start time and a $10 cover charge. Misfits one night, and Ramones the next, punk fans are definitely blessed with some classic songs this weekend, and with some familiar faces from the past two decades of local punk music, fans won't want to miss out on all of Saturday's action at LopLops! For a preview, here's The Gabba Heys with Amy Gabba live in Toronto last year!
Finally for today here's six assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
New local grindcore solo project Awokest quietly dropped out of Tuesday night's Truth of All Death concert at The New American Pub, as per promoter Chase Wigmore on the Facebook event page. Other than to say Awokest's exit was "at the last second", a reason for their removal wasn't announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened in their camp! Chase himself filled in with a solo set, which should have went over well for assembled fans!
Local solo metal musician and ex-Bear Hunters guitarist Mike Vincent is looking for other musicians to jam with. Mike says that he's up to play "any genre... literally", and he has a guitar, keyboard, and electric drums. If you're interested in jamming with Mike and seeing where things go, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post yesterday!
The Soo Zombie Walk will not take place next month, as per organizers on their Facebook page on Tuesday. Despite meetings and plans for the event's 10th installment, funding issues have led the organizing committee to postpone the annual walk until 2019. This popular Halloween season event didn't feature live music last year as it was, but this is definitely an unfortunate announcement, as I know how fun the Zombie Walk was for attendees of all ages. Hopefully they can regroup in time for next year!
The teased acoustic performers have been announced for the #TeamBear benefit concert at The Sault Theatre Workshop on October 6th, namely Machines Dream frontman Craig West, ex-Blackberries frontman Norm Rosteck, folk singer/guitarist M.D. Dunn, and a mystery act named The Cheesemakers (we'll let you know if we can confirm their identity.) Solid choices overall, so look for some proficient tunes at this event to help Pirie Kaufman through his cancer battle, and click here for more details! As well, local drag queen performer Paris Gore will also have a live performance of some kind that day.
If you missed the Weekend Warrior Fest concert at The Marconi Club earlier this month, than you can relive the event via this SooToday article from James Hopkin from September 9th. The beer launch is given precedence over the concert aspect, but Northwest frontman Wayne Watkins is interviewed for the piece, given that he works as a sales account manager for Rogers Radio's stations here, including Weekend Warrior Fest sponsors Country 104.3. Hopefully the event was a big hit for craft beer fans and music lovers alike!
Local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns will host the weekly open mic night at the M.S. Norgoma museum ship at 91 Foster Drive this coming Tuesday, as per it's official Facebook event page.
We don't treat open mic nights as "concerts" for our coverage on the
SMS due to the uncertain nature of the lineups and format, but Rob,
Jesse, and Christina should prove to be solid hosts with their fan
friendly live sets! Ex-Gore Street Cafe owner Nicole Dyble has been
hosting open mic nights and night markets at the Norgoma in recent
months, and hopefully Tuesday's helps towards keeping the Norgoma
downtown long-term!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin this news post, I want to apologize for a missed concert, as Tym Morrison played a short notice concert at La Terrazza Franzisi in Richards Landing on Sunday, which Tym only posted the Facebook event page for that afternoon. As such, we didn't hear about it until it was far too late to cover on the SMS. Profuse apologies, we'd have covered it had it even had a day's notice, but hopefully it was a solid concert! Now, we have some assorted recent updates, new videos from each side of the border, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you should know!
Saskatchewan noise-punk duo The Faps will return to Sault Ontario for a headlining concert on Wednesday, October 3rd at LopLops Lounge! This will be The Faps' fourth local appearance, after headlining at The New A in 2014, before playing here twice last October, including one show at LopLops, so Blair and Skyler's brand of "post-gar(b)age-punk" is not foreign to Sault audiences. Expect another hard hitting night of minimalist noise rock originals from this entertaining live outfit in just over two weeks' time, whether you've seen them locally before or not! Local rapper Conika will open in a rare LopLops appearance, and while she may seem like an atypical choice to open for a punk headliner, Conika actually opened for The Faps in their 2014 show here, so this is nothing new, and she should put in a solid performance! No other openers have been announced at press time, but past Faps shows here have always had at least three bands, and like those concerts, this is a presentation of Six, Two, Oh..
This stop on The Faps' Grimelda Goes East Tour has a $5 cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and an advertised 9:00 PM start time. The Wednesday scheduling is unfortunate for many potential attendees with work or school in the morning, but if you can swing a LopLops trip on October 3rd, you'll get a solid night of post-punk action with some local rap for good measure, so visit the official Facebook event page for current details!
Next up, are you still wanting some details on Awokest, the mystery band playing TONIGHT'S Truth Of All Death concert at The New American Pub? Well, we know a little more now, as concert promoter Chase Wigmore plugged Awokest in his newest Facebook page posting, so what can be said on them now? Well, Chase said that they're a one-man grindcore band led by a musician with the stage name "Dick Jerkins" (I'll ignore the obvious innuendo there.) I can't confirm his identity otherwise, but that name is also used for his personal Facebook page and YouTube channel. On the latter, Dick posted a free EP named "The Tweakening", which features six (often short) songs with titles like "War Machine" and "The Great White Flail", among other more provocative names. While there's no public ties to that label, the music on display here is definitely Blood Shed-esque, but Awokest stand on their own with a bass-heavy, techno-tinged attack and black metal-styled vocals.
It'll be interesting to see how they do TONIGHT at The New A, and hopefully glean some more information on Awokest and/or Dick afterward, but give "The Tweakening" a listen below, and click here for more details on TONIGHT'S concert! (For the record, Awokest don't have a known public online page outside of YouTube, but if one surfaces, we would add them to our band links. Stay tuned in case they expand their online presence!)
Also today, here's some new videos from Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night's Facebook page, as live-streamed there yesterday morning! Aside from an intro from keyboardist Craig Harrison on the first video, these primarily feature guitarist Luke Bernard (who you may recognize from guest spots in a few Theatre of Night Facebook uploads back in May) alongside pre-recorded orchestral tracks, with Luke even playing his acoustic guitar on his lap in the second clip. While not heavy songs, they're well done for fans of Theatre of Night's classical side, and is Luke joining their Christmas tour? Give these clips a look above and below!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
Kinross classic/hard rock trio Banned's remaining 2018 concerts at the Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace Kewadin Casinos have all been cancelled, as per a post on the band's Facebook page yesterday. According to Banned, Kewadin told them that they are "going in a different direction", a reason that I honestly never liked, as it tells you precisely nothing. Regardless, only four publically announced E.U.P. Kewadin gigs (September 28th & 29th and December 14th-15th, all in the Soo) have to be removed from our concert calendar. This is disappointing, but hopefully Banned can be a part of the "different direction" down the line!
J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween Party concerts (a.k.a. The Howling) have quietly been moved back to The Algonquin Pub in Sault Ontario, after original event advertising listed the shows as being held at Soo Blaster. A reason for the relocation wasn't announced, but given that the post-Coch's Halloween parties (2013 aside) have all been held on a floor of The Algonquin Hotel, this just makes things more familiar for long-time attendees. See above for more details on this year's parties, including a new event poster from Frightlight guitarist Kevin "St. Mayhem" Powe!
Local/Thompson hard rock solo artist Mike Haggith announced the track listing for his new solo album "Bridges" via this photo on his Facebook page on Thursday. The album will feature 10 songs, including all of the Manitoba-era original tracks he's publically shared or previewed (except "If Only You Could Hear Me"), as well as two newly revealed titles, namely "The Catalyst" and "Blue Highway". It sounds like things are going well on the mixing and editing front too, so keep tabs at the above links for continued updates on "Bridges"!
That's all for today, but stay tune for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Before we round out our Oh!No festival fallout, we have a post completely devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS today, one on SHORT NOTICE, so here's what you should know for your fall concert plans!
Local alt-folk musician Chase Wigmore is returning to the concert promotion game with a special New American Pub show THIS TUESDAY NIGHT, to be headlined by Toronto grindcore band The Truth Of All Death! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced last Tuesday, too soon to fully cover the show without this preview being a rehash. The Truth Of All Death should pique the interest of Blood Shed Productions loyalists with their minimalist grind/noise onslaught, short songs, and provocative subject matter, so if this is up your alley, give The T.O.A.D. a listen above in advance of their local debut on TUESDAY! Blood Shed's flagship solo grindcore project Crucify the Whore will open in a rare New A set, while the only other advertised act is Awokest, who I have no information on whatsoever. The chance exists that this is a new project of Chase's, given that he's not advertised with a solo set, but that's purely conjecture on my part. We'll let you know if public details on Awokest come out, or if potential added acts are confirmed!
Though the venue is not directly cited on the Facebook event page, The New A's Facebook page confirms that they're playing host. A $5 cover charge is in effect for TUESDAY'S 19+ concert, which has an advertised 8:00 PM start time, though that may just be the door opening time. If you've missed grindcore concerts locally, this should whet your appetite for the subgenre, so keep this concert in mind for TUESDAY NIGHT, especially if Chase's talk of bi-weekly concerts comes to fruition! Here's The Truth Of All Death live!
Next up, here's some Halloween season concerts with lots of advance notice, starting with local promoter J.D. Pearce's 14th straight year of Halloween party concerts, as he's back with a second straight double header on Friday, October 27th & Saturday, October 28th at... Soo Blaster?! After spending 5 of the past 6 years at The Algonquin Hotel, J.D.'s Halloween party (alternately known as "The Howling") will move to Soo Blaster for 2018, marking our first ever punk/metal concerts covered at the new restaurant, arcade, and live events venue at 345 Queen Street East, which was previously home to Woolco and the RMH/NCO call center. Soo Blaster has made waves in the past year with hip hop concerts and stand up comedians, but how will it handle aggressive live bands? This year's roster will be tribute-focused for a fourth straight year, with the Friday the 27th lineup featuring unidentified tributes to The Red Hot Chili Peppers, H.I.M., and The Distillers.
I can't confirm complete identities for the three bands at present, but personal Facebook postings indicate that Jack Spades/Stegadeth guitarist Tiffany Stocco will be performing in the H.I.M. and Distillers tributes. Will one/both of her bands take on either guise, or will these be one-off supergroups? Time will tell! Both are relatively unique bands for covers here, but the Chili Peppers aren't as shocking. Will this band share any relation to the late 2000s local tribute Sikamikanico? The lineup on Saturday the 28th will feature tributes to Tool and Weezer, and while HTs bassist Ryan Disano & Redundant frontman Justin Langlois signalled their involvement in each tribute via personal Facebook postings, I again don't know whether the tribute bands will be reskinned existing bands or one-offs. However, we do know the Saturday headliners by name, as defunct local horror punk quintet Frightlight will hit the stage for the first time in four years that night! How's that for a spooky surprise? Will they focus on Misfits covers to go with the theme?
Frightlight were a steady fan favourite band in their original 2009-2014 run, and while I can't confirm the makeup of their 2018 reunion lineup, look for the guys to deliver one more high impact fright night next month! Sponsored by Northern Superior Breweries, this year's Halloween party concerts are 19+ affairs with 10:00 PM start times, and each night's admission is $10, but there will be a $15 weekend pass for both nights. Things are shaping up for a great weekend of live music action at a new-ish locale next month, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and we'll let you know when we hear more on the band identities and ticket availability!
Finally, here's one more seasonal concert for late next month, as the aforementioned Chase Wigmore is bringing live metal music back to The Oddfellows Hall after well over a year away, with a Devil's Night concert planned for Tuesday, October 30th! After the abrupt relocation of his last try at an Oddfellows concert, things have a lot more advance word this time, so hopefully there's no hang-ups next month! A spiritual successor to Blood Shed Productions' Devil's Night concerts at the same venue in 2013 & 2014 (Chase played both), he is hyping up the "mash-up" nature of the lineup, with a variety of metal and folk acts on display next month, so who all is playing? As per the Facebook event page, we'll be blessed with a Haggith-less reunion of 2013-2014 funk metal band The Strange Coyotes as the apparent headliners! Nice to see Chase & James back together after far too long, though no word yet on if this will be a one-off, or if they'll have a drummer present. The remaining performers are all solo acts, though more bands could be added.
Alongside the aforementioned Crucify the Whore, fans can check out Chase's own solo project (with an apparent "folk punk rock opera" in store), creative local pianist Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda, and new local alt-folk musician Wes Armstrong (not Anderson), who you may have seen at Chase's Rednecks show earlier this month. This ALL AGES concert has a presumably incorrect start time of 3:52 PM (I'd guess it'd be later), while admission fees have not yet been confirmed. Nice mixture of Blood Shed collaborators coming back for another Devil's Night, plus some new sounds, so visit the above links for current and continuing details as they roll in!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Hey everyone, here's our second showcase post of videos from last week's Oh!No concert festival at Robbie's Church in nearby Leeburn, Ontario, with all videos courtesy of Christopher Paci's excellent YouTube channel once again! For our rundown of videos from the closing three acts, the bonfire, professional photography, and assorted household cleaning notes, visit yesterday's post below this one. Continuing in descending order, Chris filmed Thunder Bay psychedelic/desert punk quintet The Franquilizers next, capturing them performing the last half of a song which I cant 100% identify by name (maybe it's new?) The dark nighttime lighting doesn't help visibility here, but this song has a laid back feel while also harbouring some hardcore punk-tinged vocals. Not an optimal view, but The Franquilizers' got a solid reception last week, as they did last year, so give Chris' video of their set a look below!
Next up, here's some more Northern Ontario punk action from last week, courtesy of Sudbury trio Lightmares, who are seen here playing their original song "Soup". More of a modern indie rock-tinged sound here, but there's enough punk energy and swagger to go around with this solid performance, and the lighting is a little better on stage! Strong performance, if a little muffled in the video, so give Lightmares' video from Leeburn a look below!
Also performing last week (during the sunset, even) were Barrie punk quartet Beaver Slap, as this fan favourite, all-female group can be seen here performing three songs, though they were performing sans singer Midge Beaver for reasons unannounced in an online form. While they played some songs as a three-piece (including the Chris-filmed "Don't Bleed"), they also jammed an open mic selection for attendees to join in on. As seen in both Donna Hopper's and Mimi Abitbol's photos from the festival (the latter on the band's Facebook page), you can spot the likes of C.T.W.'s Tyler Gibson, festival co-promoter/ex-Fuller frontman Jamie Vincent, and even a young girl (as in, elementary age) taking over lead vocal duties for short turns. Chris did film two videos featuring guest singers, including one with Bear Hunters singer Nik Deubel channeling his inner Rick Astley by covering "Never Gonna Give You Up"?! I don't believe that's what Beaver Slap are actually playing, but beggars can't be choosers!
Nik reminds me a bit of Glenn Danzig with his cleans before unleashing his usual growl, but I want to hear him in higher quality before fully judging. The other video (embedded below) features Winkstinger frontman Josh Amendola singing a song I can't easily identify, and while he still faces the side of the stage too often when singing, his harsh vocals shred through the music well! Beaver Slap adapted nicely to being short-handed with a crowd friendly backup plan, and the girls sound good throughout the clips, so give their videos a look above and below as well!
Finally for our second Oh!No fallout/video post, let's tackle the remaining out of town bands from last week's festivities! The day's first touring attraction was Toronto indie rock quartet Forest City Aurora, who Chris filmed for this video, though I can't identify the song by name. Garbageface aside, F.C.A. were the only touring non-punk/metal band on the bill, but their melodic and easy flowing sound comes through really well on this video, so genre fans should get a kick out of them! As well, visit Forest City Aurora's Facebook page for one more video of their set courtesy of a band colleague. We'll close today with the second out of town band last week, as F.C.A. were immediately followed by London post-grindcore trio Fat Cop, who Chris filmed two videos of, partially because the first video's lighting is too bright thanks to the sun (the second video with better lighting is embedded below.) That said, this barely sounds like the same band as on their studio recordings, in some respects!
From what I've heard of Fat Cop on Bandcamp, I expected a lo-fi instrumental noise rock attack, but in these videos, they have more vocals and more of a punk influence. New sound, or just how things translate live compared to the studio? In any event, their aggressive sound looks like it got a positive response from attendees near the mid-point of Oh!No II, so give their videos a look above and below!
We'll likely close our Oh!No festival fallout and videos in the coming days by looking at the local openers, plus any odds and ends I missed regarding the event and out of town bands, so look for those and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
Here's our first of at least 2 (maybe 3) fallout/video posts from this past Saturday's Oh!No concert festival at Robbie Adamson's old church in nearby Leeburn, Ontario, and believe me, there's a lot to touch on! Co-promoter/AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent gave a nice long thank you on the Facebook event page to everyone who made this year's festival possible (even Oosik Records were on site), so definitely give that a look! Jamie's write-up confirms a late lineup change, as drone/noise trio Pointless (featuring Oh!No sound engineers Bill Priddle and Dustin Goodall) did play a proper set after all, despite their prior removal from the schedule. Though they were bumped to the evening, they appear to have replaced Mister Tahti's advertised kickoff set, despite his attendance as a vendor on Saturday. Hopefully all's well across the board! Though curiously not part of a SooToday article (yet?), Donna Hopper was on hand for Oh!No II, posting 139 photos from the festival onto her photography Facebook page, so what should you know there?
Without breaking down individual totals (the shots are in order), Donna was on hand for the three final local bands (Planet Rock, Pointless, and The Dynowaves) and every out of town act except closing rapper Garbageface, with each band getting at least 8 or 9 photos. As expected, Donna's photos are superb, and she got a lot of photos of the crowd enjoying the festival and the bands, so if you were there, see if you're featured! Though the lion's share of her photos are in black and white, they contrast well with the ending bonfire shots, which she left in colour, so the old organ burning is preserved as you saw it on Saturday! In the realm of public videos, we are far more blessed than we were for year 1, particularly because Christopher Paci was on hand for the majority of the day's events, filming at least one video of every out of town band and the same local bands that Donna photographed, plus Jack Spades and Mik & Steve. If you missed or want to relive the latter stages of Oh!No II, visit Chris' YouTube channel!
We'll go in descending order for Chris' twenty videos from last week, which capped off with a video of the aforementioned organ bonfire, which is a good watch to see the spectacle in motion, let alone in a rare portrait orientation video of his! Chris' last music clips were three videos of Peterborough doom rapper Garbageface performing his songs "Mouths", "Like The Goddamn Fucking Challenger Explosion" (he titled it, not me!), and "Mental Alchemy". The lighting's not ideal on these clips, but his communal and intense presence comes through as well as it did locally last year, and this looks like a fun way to end the festival! Fellow Peterborough talents Cross Dog preceded him, with the hardcore punk trio filmed twice by Chris, though I admittedly haven't had a lot of luck identifying them based on their studio albums. The stage lighting is dark compared to the surrounding church walls, but you get a nice central view of Cross Dog's ferocious live attack here!
Tracy's vocals are sometimes muffled, but the raucous fan response is clear, and it's great to see Mark and company bring Cross Dog back to the Algoma District after 5 years away! Give Chris' videos of theirs a look at this link and below, and hopefully we're not waiting another 5 years for the next one!
We'll close our first Oh!No fallout post with a video of Sudbury "party violence" quintet The Therapists, and their video is of their original song "Shotgun Anus". Again, they titled it, don't shoot the messenger! If you can't see them well with the lighting, photographer Mimi Abitbol got colour shots of them at the festival, which you can check out on the band's Facebook page. I guarantee this will be the only band you see locally this year featuring both an astronaut and... Jesus Christ?! Also, nice touch by singer Patrick Sauve to wear a vest covered in Shit Liver patches, given that they replaced Shit Liver on the Oh!No bill. If I had to describe The Therapists' sound, I'd go with hardcore punk, but that's definitely a generalization, they have more to say than just that stylistically, and they definitely have a good sense of humour. Again, the audio's somewhat muffled here, but The Therapists look like a fun live band, and hopefully they come out west again in the future, so give Chris' video a look below!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more Oh!No concert fallout in the coming days, possibly tomorrow, as we'll look at the remaining out of town bands then! Thanks everyone!
Next up, here's some new videos from Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night's Facebook page as they continue work on their second Christmas tour! All three feature the instrumental performers from last year's tour, including founding keyboardist Craig Harrison & guitarist Steve Giles, alongside bassist Scott Andringa & drummer Erik Sales, so fans of their December tour dates will see familiar faces! Craig filmed these videos during a jam session yesterday, with this one showcasing some freeform jamming on a normal landscape orientation. The other two are clearly of Christmas carols, namely "Away In A Manger" and, as embedded below, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." The latter two are on a vertical portrait angle, but Craig frames it well to showcase the guys fine-tuning these seasonal adaptations, and overall, things look like they're coming together well towards the tour! Give these videos a look!
