LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Id Iota), A New Local Punk Project, The Castle Concert Preview, And More!!

On this Tuesday afternoon, we have a stacked new post for you guys, so what all lies within? A handful of assorted recent notes, a preview of a well advertised metal concert going down tomorrow night, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this fall, and to kick things off, a new solo project, so here's what you need to know!

We have a new local punk project to add to our band links, and it is Likekissingbricks, which is led by Winkstinger bassist Andrew "Scary" MacDonald! Recorded via 4-track tapes last week, Andrew has already launched a Bandcamp page to host four demo songs of his own, including "Rainy Days", "@skankhunter42", "Rain is God's Piss", and an untitled track. On these, Andrew plays bass and drums, with no shred of vocals or guitar input yet, so as a result, it's hard to pin these down to a specific genre, but "@skankhunter42" has hardcore punk overtones, and the songs do seem to have a DIY punk attitude about them! For reference, Andrew has played with the likes of Fitswitch, The Scary Uncles, and Glunk! in the past. On the demos, you get a sense of Andrew's already-proven bass skills, and he's a fine drummer at this stage of Likekissingbricks, but we'll have to see what happens when he enlists additional musicians to round out a full lineup. Check the above links for more on Likekissingbricks, and stay tuned for more from Andrew's local projects!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local alternative hard rock quartet Id Iota will open for former Pixo Control frontman Mike Mikus in the live debut of his solo relaunch on Saturday, November 26th at LopLops Lounge! Note that this show was originally scheduled to close their upcoming Ontario tour on Saturday, October 22nd (it's still advertised for that day on Mike's website), but I have not found a public reason for the 5 week postponement. This will be Id Iota's first local concert appearance since Rotaryfest, while it will be local fans' first opportunity to see Michael's poppier solo sound and material, and first public concert from him of any type since The Pixo Control's acoustic farewell in May at The Tech. Will his new solo band resemble the "Drowning Crown" video, perhaps with the eclectic street party vibe? Also, hopefully no one gets punched in the nose!

An oddly early 8:00 PM start time is listed for this concert, and while one assumes it will be 19+, admission fees are not announced yet (it's not yet on LopLops' event page either.) For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an intriguing concert, both for those curious about Mike's new "cock & soul" sound, and for fans of Id Iota's established punk-flavoured originals, so see above for more info, and stay tuned for more from Id Iota soon!

Also today, here's a special mid-week concert preview, as San Francisco doom metal trio Castle will rock 180 Projects TOMORROW NIGHT in their local debut! Featuring a 2/3rds Canadian lineup, some fans may best recognize Castle as one of the bands who lost the Juno Award for Best Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year to Woods of Ypres in 2013, but their doom/psychedelic hybrid sound stands on it's own, and don't miss this dark and powerful trio at the Gore Street venue tomorrow as they wind down their Canadian tour! Local doom/sludge trio AlgomA will open with their own sludgy brand of doom metal in their first local gig since the Iskra show in July, while new local hard rock/punk jam band Gianni Gagoots will kick things off in their second announced concert set, so if you missed their debut, come see what they have in store! This concert was originally scheduled for The New American Pub before quietly being moved to 180 Projects, though The New A is still hosting events from promoters Six, Two, Oh., and don't forget about the multimedia possibilities of that venue (remember the Skynet show?)

Promoted by Six, Two, Oh., admission for this 19+ show is $5 in advance or $8 at the door, with advance tickets available at The Rad Zone, Case's Music, and at Big Guns Barbershop on East Street, though planned Gore Street Cafe availability is no longer advertised. Doors open at 8:00 PM for what should be a great night of doom metal action, so don't miss out tomorrow, visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Castle live!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or program name:

• I'm surprised that we neglected to mention this on the site at the time (our apologies), but Rock 101 has a new syndicated radio show on Sunday evenings! Entitled The Core, it's a 2 hour program focused on 1990s rock music, and it's hosted by longtime Detroit radio personality Meltdown, so you could call this a weekly sample of WRIF, if you're familiar with that station. Rock 101 has aired it since May, and it's a nice nostalgic listen with a generally heavy & alternative rotation, so listen to it Sundays at 7:00 PM on 101.3 FM before Eddie Trunk Rocks!
• The Deathsticks-headlined concert at The New American Pub on October 15th has had two quiet lineup additions via it's Facebook event page, with the debuting Dark Garfunkel (unidentified members of AlgomA playing drone music) replacing the AlgomA/Winkstinger cover union The Eighties. A reason for the switch wasn't announced, though I believe at least one AlgomA member is/was in both bands. As well, a separate act named Sleeping Together was also added, whose sound is "ambient rolling tape loops & sounds", though I know nothing more than that. How will ambient drone music do at a metal concert? Be there to find out!
• Local punk/grunge solo project Telephone & Address have posted two more songs from their upcoming albums onto their Soundcloud page! One is "He", the planned second song from "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...", while "I Can Bleed" is planned to close the following release "Monster". I won't comment on them yet, as a review is one is likely, but check them out above! For reference, a demo called "Ignore the Platitudes" went up there last year under the artist name "Are You Now? or Have You Ever?", which was Chris Shoust & Sam Decter's short-lived side project's name, before being reworked as an album title.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: SykTheMan & paulmichaelbastards's Channels

It's now time for our last monthly feature post of September 2016, as we have this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This regular series looks at 1-3 randomly selected YouTube channels whose posted content at least has a 50% count of local metal, hard rock, or punk videos, relevant to artists from or shows held here, in order to spotlight them and hopefully garner some attention for the channels! This month's choices cover some familiar faces from concerts around the turn of the 2010s, and while they're not frequently seen nowadays, still have solid followings! Here's what you should know!
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SykTheMan's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/syktheman)

Owner: Former State of Misery singer Steve Errington-Rhodes, also known from his past work with bands like The Valentine's Day Massacre, D3athcharg3r, Bring the Misery, and Saints & Serpents, and currently with the London metal band Skylines

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 2nd, 2012; Videos posted that November and in December 2013

Channel Summary: A personal use channel launched late in his run as a local metal singer, Steve posted two videos there from his last two local bands, including a live performance and a studio demo.

Why You Should Watch: Fans of Steve's local music run should check out this channel to hear some of his latter material before focusing on London-based bands! Though he still uses this channel occasionally for personal use (notably liking videos of his current band Skylines earlier this year), Steve hasn't posted anything there in over 2 years, and the channel never included archival videos of either his pre-2012 bands or D3athcharg3r, though other channels will have you covered for specific footage of them.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out

The Valentines Day Massacre - Lovecraft Cthulhu (jam demo): Steve's first and most popular video is a jam session demo of his former local metal band The Valentine's Day Massacre's late original "Lovecraft Cthulhu", shortly after the band relocated to London in mid-2012. Represented here by Steve alongside ex-Sativa Rose bandmates Andrew Angelic (now of London's Rattlesnake Hotel) and Adam Veale on bass & drums, and ex-Chillum drummer Kyle Umgeher, the demo showcases their death /hardcore hybrid sound nicely, as fans of the former View to a Kill will recall! However, vocals can be a little high in the mix.



Saints and Serpents- Vampiric- Live Clip: In 2013, The V.D.M. quietly dissolved and were succeeded by the similar Saints & Serpents, just with Ian Timmermans (now of the London punk/metal band LandSwimmer) on drums in place of Kyle Umgeher, who had moved back to the Soo. Their first of just two announced concerts (both in London) was on Friday, December 13th at The Richmond Tavern, with an attendee filming the new band playing The V.D.M.'s old original "Vampiric". Solid sound quality on this live video, whose dark shadowy lighting actually accentuates the performance, so fans will want to check this out, especially if you've missed the guys since the big move, but follow D3athcharg3r, Skylines, and Rattlesnake Hotel for Steve & Andrew's work in London since!


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paulmichaelbastard's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/paulmichaelbastard)

Owner: Billy Bastards guitarist Paul Michael Stos, also well known from past local band work with groups like Proposition 86, Fallout, Source Code, and Deathoccasion

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 7th, 2012; Videos posted from that day until January 13th

Channel Summary: Paul's YouTube channel features just six videos, all from his local punk/country quintet The Billy Bastards' headlining concert at The Rockstar Bar on December 28th, 2011, including renditions of their songs "Back in the Bottle", "Bathe in Whiskey", "Mile 58" (popularly covered by Destroilet), "Liquor to Lick Her", "No Roads Here", and featured below, "Lonesome, On'ry, and Mean", which is the channel's most popular video. Featuring Paul alongside frontman Aaron Gibbs (ex-Harsh Heads), guitarist Greg Beharriel, bassist John Conway (Destroilet), and drummer Charlie Yanni, these are quality videos of The Billys' hybrid sound with a great turnout, though some songs are definitely more country-flavoured than others, and the stationary camera's side-stage angle isn't optimal. Given how infrequently The Billys play live (let alone with Paul taking part), don't take these for granted, as they're some of their best currently available videos!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, our latest random selection will take us to Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins' YouTube channel, which has lots of guitar performance videos, gear demonstrations, and more to more than sustain a solo profile! Look for that on or around October 26th, and stay tuned for more news and previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

The Gnar-BQ Concert Review!!

It's time for our latest concert review at the SMS, as I went to yesterday's Gnar-BQ outdoor concert/skateboarding event at the Queen Elizabeth Park skatepark! In terms of the event itself, it was basically a half-sequel to Tidal Records' Go Skateboarding Day event in June, with a similar lineup and presentation to that event, just slightly pared down. Hot dogs & water were available on donation, Tidal Records and the bands had merchandise on sale, and there was a good (if up & down) turnout of skaters, bikers, scooter riders, and more taking in the skatepark, and everyone looked like they had fun! You may have even seen a few familiar musicians hit the ramps as well, if you kept an eye out. Before the bands fully began, members of The Din and K.I.C.K. joined forces during the tuning and set-up for an impromptu cover of Gnaeus' "Lovers", and it didn't sound too bad! It'd be nice to see bands cover other local bands more often, and Mike handled the vocals well!

The first band up yesterday was local indie rock quartet K.I.C.K., who showed why they won this year's VM Radio Battle of the Bands with a strong set of original material! Playing a series of original songs like "Highway 17", "Stranded", and "Burning Desire", complete with their fan favourite cover of The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face", the Keep it Cool Kids had a solid set that lived up to their past reputations, with Simon Shearsby's melodic vocals and Tyson Letang's strong guitar work matching up well! Very nice chemistry with the guys, and they kept the stage banter up well (complete with full song introductions) but they could have been a little more animated on stage, and I will say that, at times, their music didn't seem like the typical "skateboarding music". K.I.C.K. are definitely continuing their local rise, and hopefully they maintain their skilled material!

Second up was local alternative/hard rock trio The Din, who preceded their set with a surprise rendition of The Tragically Hip's "Blow at High Dough", which was a nice surprise, as you don't often see local non-cover bands tackle The Hip! Otherwise, fans saw The Din play basically their entire debut studio album "Give In To The Din", whose release concert was actually their last live appearance before The Gnar-BQ. If you're familiar with Mike, Tammy, and Brandan, then you'll know that they delivered a fun and high energy set yesterday, with strong grasps on their familiar material, and Mike and Brandan had some funny banter, Tammy laid down some solid guitar solos, and everyone had fun with the extended jam at the end of "A Drive Through the Peninsula". Quality set, and hopefully The Din delivered similarly at LopLops last night too!

Rather than play briefly between each band, Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson took the stage for a full hour-long set after The Din wrapped up, and kept the music flowing with lots of vinyl mixing and spinning for the occasion! The theme appeared to be "weird" music, with DJ Seith indicating that many of the songs being spun were weird finds of his from vinyl record purchases, and as a result, I didn't know most of the sampled material (though Run DMC came up late though during a rap section, and at least one band was an act Seith had seen at LopLops.) Given the nature of DJ Seith's live performances, you can't entirely be sure what you'll hear, as he can mix any two songs together, but he knows what he's doing and makes them work into some fun mixes, and attendees seemed to enjoy his set! Don't bypass DJ Seith for some creative turntable action!

After the removal of the tent atop the ramp (I wonder why?), local post-punk quartet Gnaeus hit the stage as headliners, bookending this show with each VM Radio Battle winner!  Playing a mixture of original songs from their debut album "Meditations" like "Fire", "The Edge", and "Circles", Gnaeus also broke out their new original "Electricity" and what appeared to be a cover of The Gorillaz' "Tomorrow Comes Today" (nice to see them tackle some new covers!) Gnaeus were on form from past shows, with Matt Fronzi a solid presence on bass, Aaron Alessandrini reliably good on vocals and guitar, and Alex Proulx continuing to come into his own on drums! I think the guys have been more energetic and loose in concert than they were last night, but Gnaeus delivered their usual punk/arage hybrid effectively, and here's hoping we see more from them soon!

Overall, this was a fun concert for both music fans and skateboarders alike, and while I wish more of the former had turned out, it was a good time! Despite what the bright sunny day and my mildly sunburnt face would tell you, the weather was fine and not hot at all, and against fears of the sun + tented stage causing my pictures and videos to be too dark, they turned out fine once I saw them without sun glare. You can check out our photos at this link or at our Facebook page, and as for videos, here's K.I.C.K. playing "Drift", The Din playing "Alleyways & Apartments", 4 early minutes of DJ Seith's set, and Gnaeus playing "Electricity"!









I hope you guys liked this concert review, and if all goes well, our next one will be for THIS WEDNESDAY'S Castle concert, a preview of which will likely be in our next news post! That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Mourning Wood), More Weekend Concert Previews, And New Video Finds!!

As promised, here's our last weekend concert preview post for this weekend, tackling Saturday night shows including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! To round things out, we have some archive video discoveries for you punk fans, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood will rock The Rednecks Saloon TOMORROW NIGHT as an afterparty for the well-advertised Garth Brooks tribute show that they're involved in! Apologies for the short notice, the Rednecks show was only announced via it's official Facebook event page earlier this week (though it at least got a public announcement, unlike last week's Reggie's Place shows.) Rocking the former Nicolet for the second time in three weeks, TOMORROW'S show is basically an epilogue to local country musician Mark Tarantini's anticipated Garth Brooks tribute concert at The Tech tomorrow, in which the members of Mourning Wood will perform backing music, though the tribute show itself is not advertised as a Mourning Wood concert. For full details on that event, visit this link, especially if you love country music! Afterwards, Mark will rejoin Mourning Wood as a guest performer for some jamming at Rednecks, so keep this in mind!

While this will likely be similar to the band's country-themed Rotaryfest set last year that Mark guested on, I imagine it won't be wall to wall Garth Brooks like at The Tech, but what exactly will they play? Be at Rednecks TOMORROW to find out! This is a 19+ event with no announced cover charge and a 10:00 PM start time. Check the above links for more details, and here's Mourning Wood (and Mark) live last year!



Next up, here's the last currently advertised hard rock concert going down this weekend in the area, as local alternative hard rock trio The Din will return to LopLops Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT to open for local/Toronto indie rock musician Jesse Merineau! The second of two shows tomorrow from this fast-rising band (joining their afternoon Gnar-BQ skatepark set), The Din will rock LopLops for the first time since May's Sulfur City concert, and will be reunited with Jesse for an unofficial rematch of this year's Speak Easy Battle of the Bands, where Jesse and The Din finished first and second respectively. Though not a metal artist, Jesse is a skilled singer/songwriter, and don't bypass him tomorrow, especially as this is both his first headlining concert and his last announced show before hitting the studio to record his debut CD! His personal Facebook page notes that he'll be playing with a full band, with Caroline Divine bandmates Brendan Fitzgerald and Devin Williamson tagged in the post alongside guitarist Mitchell Nielsen, so I imagine they're filling things out a'la the Speak Easy Battle.

For what it's worth, Caroline Divine frontman Anthony Marcello apparently moved to Ottawa for college this summer, hence his absence from this show, but as of this writing, I can't confirm if Caroline Divine are still a functioning band outside of backing Jesse up, and if so, if Mitchell replaced him. We'll let you know if we hear anything, but good luck to Anthony at school! Tomorrow's LopLops show (promoted by Jackson Reed at Ears & Eyes) is a 19+ event at 9:00 PM with a $5 cover charge. This should be a fun show for genre fans & those who have gave in to The Din, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Din live!



Finally for today, here's some new archive video finds from inactive local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers! These come courtesy of YouTube user kierpaso, who appears to be based out of Prince Edward Island, as his videos are mostly from the province, with around 10 videos coming from Surfers performances there during their 2007-2008 tours. Half are from shows at the former Brennan's Pub in Charlottetown, but the other five are post-show, middle-of-the-night jam sessions that frontman Dustin Jones & bassist Brad "Example" Lacell (on acoustic guitar) held at kierpaso's kitchen, a.k.a. "Beater One". The jam videos are mostly of John Prine covers ("Souvenirs" x 2, here & here, "All The Best", and "In Spite of Ourselves") while one is of Bill Houston's folk song "The King of White Otter Lake". Though you get a sense that the guys are tired (Dustin in particular), these are well done covers, and it must have been cool to get to see them play all to yourself! Check out those covers above, especially if you love John Prine!

kierpaso's other five videos are from the concerts proper, but be warned that these are all black & white clips (or more accurately, black & bluish-gray.) Two come from October 2008 in what was apparently the last show ever at Brennan's Pub, where The Inner City Surfers covered The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and The Ramones "I Wanna Be Sedated", both notably with drummer Mikey Hawdon trading places to sing lead vocals. Fun covers with a nicely packed crowd, and the guys make The Stones work for them in particular, so don't bypass them, particularly if you love Lion Ride, The Fairmounts, et al! The other three come from their April 2007 concert in Charlottetown, P.E.I. (the same show that preceded the 4:00 AM jam clips), where The Surfers covered "Satisfaction" with Mikey singing too, Poison's "Fallen Angel", and as embedded below, their original song "Here's To The Days".

Though I'm not sure why it took me this long to find kierpaso's channel and share his videos here, these are a nice window into The Inner City Surfers' touring heyday, and despite the lack of colour, they have solid sound and nice close angles of the band in action! If only he'd filmed more of their originals... check out "Here's To The Days" below, and stay tuned for more!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next week, and we might just see you guys TOMORROW at the Gnar-BQ! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Gnar-BQ & Tym Morrison) And Most Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

It's now time for the first of this weekend's concert previews, on what is a busier weekend than we have seen so far this season for hard rock bands! As a result, we're holding two Saturday-only shows (namely, The Din at LopLops and the late notice Mourning Wood show at Rednecks) for tomorrow's post, which will notably be the first time we'll have had posts on three straight days since the Labour Day weekend. Things are picking up, thankfully! Now, let's dive into concert previews on both sides of the border, starting with some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on the Ontario side!

Alongside his usual Gliss Steak & Seafood matinee concerts TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY, prolific local solo hard rock musician Tym Morrison will debut at The HD Sports Grill (formerly Docks Riverfront Grill) TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT as well! Apologies for the short notice on the latter gigs, Tym only publically announced them via their Facebook event page earlier this week. While his usual trifecta of evening shows at Gliss are continuing unabated for another week, the Caveman Morrison frontman will bring his acoustic brand of hard rocking covers to the 89 Foster Drive venue that became a full fledged sports bar over the summer. You'll likely best remember it as Docks Riverfront Grill, which frequently hosted local cover bands before being purchased and reformatted as Waterfront Legend & The River Cookhouse for brief stints starting in late 2014.

Hopefully the HD Sports Grill attains greater success and longevity than before, and Tym is a solid choice to play there! He was to have debuted at the former Docks back in June 2013, but those shows were ultimately cancelled, so here's your 3+ year makeup dates! His Gliss shows tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday are 6:00 PM shows with no announced cover charges or age limits (but remember where they're being held), while TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S HD Grill gigs are more typical 10:00 PM night shows with no cover and 19+ age limits. See above and this link for more details on Tym's five shows this weekend, and here he is live!



Next up, here's another late announcement for this weekend, as Tidal Records are hosting an outdoor skateboarding promotional event and concert called The Gnar-BQ THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON at the skatepark outside of The John Rhodes Community Center! Again, apologies for the short notice, this event was only announced earlier this week via it's Facebook event page. Essentially a half-sequel to Tidal's annual Go Skateboarding Day festivities, The Gnar-BQ is formatted very similarly, but with a barbecue/back to school theme, so look for free hot dogs along with skateboarding demonstrations, games, lessons, and more if you are so inclined! Musical entertainment will largely be a reprise of June's Go Skate Day lineup (sans Jack Spades and Conika), and it will include local post-punk quartet Gnaeus, indie rockers K.I.C.K., and alternative hard rock trio The Din, with DJ Seith spinning tunes in between once again.

This is a solid lineup featuring standout bands from recent battles, so don't miss them THIS SATURDAY! The Gnar-BQ is a FREE & ALL AGES event at Queen Elizabeth Park, and it takes place from 12:00-5:00 PM. Though I wish these skateboarding outdoor concerts were announced with more notice (all three only had a public announcement the week of), Tidal Records have put on a great show for music and skate fans alike the past 2 years, and with a cooler fall climate and free hot dogs, it may entice a few people who missed out in June! See above for more details, stay tuned for our preview of The Din's Saturday night show tomorrow, and here's Gnaeus live!



Moving to previously announced concerts, let's head south to Michigan, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Just one week after Jeff & Adam rocked St. Ignace with their harder-edged side project Scarkazm, this veteran band will return to The Rapids Lounge for the first time since March with a full weekend of their classic hard rock and metal hits, and if you're familiar with them from their numerous local gigs in recent years, you can expect a good time! Peril haven't been playing as frequently this year as they usually do, but if you can't make it tomorrow or Saturday, they will be playing St. Ignace in November. Peril's shows this weekend are 21+ affairs with no announced cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details, and here's Peril live!

Finally for today's preview post, we'll move to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 are advertised to return for headlining shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Though not newly advertised on their Facebook page (recent concert promotion there has been infrequent at best), the shows were acknowledged by the band earlier this year, and are listed on Kewadin's entertainment page, as part of their (generally) monthly gigs at both regional Kewadin branches. The Monkey's Uncle successors should be in fine form to rock out for St. Ignace fans this weekend, so keep their return in mind for tomorrow and/or Saturday night! As usual for their Kewadin gigs, there are 9:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and 21+ age limits. See the above links for more details, and here's Highway 63 live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews and updates tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Project 906 & Telephone And Address Updates, New Archive Videos, And More!!

I know things have been slow on the site lately, but we are back with a new news post on this Wednesday morning, which features some new archive video finds, details on upcoming albums, and more, but first, we have some big updates from a prominent local cover band!

Here's the latest from Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906! On Sunday, the band announced via their Facebook page that they're "taking a short break" from live concerts, as half of the band are either expecting or new fathers. They didn't publically note who the new dads specifically are, but congratulations all around to them! This somewhat mirrors the baby-related break that guitarist Joe Jenkins' old band Exiled took in late 2014, but unlike then, hopefully Project 906 do actually come back as planned! With the above post, Project 906 also put up this new compilation video (made using the WeVideo mobile application) that includes clips of their early Van Halen, ZZ Top, and Stevie Wonder cover videos, and the end of their Van Halen cover from their Brimley concert debut over the St. Patrick's Day weekend in March.

There's nothing pressingly new here, and the videos aren't optimal looks at the guys in action (Billy Bernier isn't in frame at all on most clips, the Pickles video is only the song's tail end), but it's a nice extra to help tide fans over to start Project 906's break, especially as they only cited "the time being" for it's length. Hopefully we see them back in the new year at some point, and check out their new compilation video below!

Next up, we have some long awaited album updates from Sault Ontario grunge/punk solo project Telephone & Address! In his first Facebook page posting in over three months, project mainman Chris Shoust revealed that their fourth "official" album" is "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...", confirming the earlier announcement from former collaborator Sam Decter, who mentioned that the album would be released through his BGP Tapes label on cassette. Chris didn't acknowledge that, possibly due to Sam moving out of town, but he noted that it's "being pressed as we speak", implying that it will be available on CD. This also seemingly confirms that "The Rotten EP", "Need Not Apply", and "Rust Orchid" are the first three "official" Telephone & Address albums, indicating that anything pre-2013 isn't in this canon, not that they were publically available anyway. Chris also noted that the previously announced album "Monster" is on track to be pressed in November, and he blamed money issues for the delays on both.

This picture went up today along with the album news, but it's unclear if it's a planned album cover, or one of Chris' own art pieces (for reference, physical copies of Telephone & Address albums have tended to come out in minimalist cardboard cases with stamped artwork.) The planned last song from "A.Y.N.O.H.Y.E.B.", entitled "You Say", can be streamed at the project's Soundcloud page as well, and while I won't review the track yet pending a possible review of one of these albums, "You Say" bears musical resemblances to the 2014 album "Need Not Apply". It's great to hear more from Telephone & Address, so stay tuned for more on their next albums!

Also today, here's some new archive videos of defunct local metal band Hollow that were posted on YouTube on Monday! Courtesy of drummer Vinnie Milosevich's YouTube channel, these both come from concerts at the former Eastgate Hotel in the early 1990s, including this 1992 cover of Collective Soul's "Shine", and as embedded below, Pantera's "Cemetery Gates" circa 1993 when they opened for Wild T & The Spirit. As per Vinnie's personal Facebook page, the band's lineup on the "Cemetery Gates" cover features Bob Cook (a.k.a. Schloppy from Sault Michigan's Clownsack) on vocals, guitarists Terry Eaton (Mourning Wood) and Tym Morrison, bassist Matt Miller (ex-Tripod the Dog), and Vinnie (now of the Kitchener rock band Knee Deep) on drums. I can't confirm if the "Shine" cover has the exact same lineup, especially as only Terry & Vinnie were in each of their various incarnations, but I believe they're mostly similar. The video quality is mixed (the joys of VHS camcorders), but you get a sense of Hollow's talents on each!

Bob has a nice vocal range that wasn't always as evident in the Clownsack days, Terry & Tym are solid guitarists as ever, and they do get a good crowd response (look at the turnout on the "Shine" cover!) That said, if you're more familiar with their late 1990s incarnations with Gigi, Dan, Adam, and the like, you may not appreciate these as much. Check out Vinnie's newest Hollow videos above & below, and visit his channel for more old Hollow clips!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Local alternative/hard rock quartet Id Iota will open for ex-Pixo Control frontman Mike Mikus during his first ever solo tour next month! Running from October 7th-16th, the tour run will see run through Southern Ontario & Sudbury, but it's not clear if there will be a Sault Ste. Marie stop during it or afterwards. Sounds like a good way to introduce Mike's new solo sound and material to the masses, and Id Iota should bring some heaviness as openers, so click here for details! For reference, the Sudbury show listed at "The Speakeasy" is not a typo for a local gig, Sudbury does indeed have a concert venue with that name also.
• Former Bring the Misery bassist Kyle Derasp has issued an open call via the Musicians Wanted Facebook group for local artists to come by a jam session at 124 Anna Street (the site of a few Blood Shed-affiliated house party concerts) this Sunday! No times were given, but if you're interested in attending, bring your amplifiers, chords, and perhaps beer. Keep this in mind if you want to jam with other musicians this weekend!
• Tidal Records is hosting a songwriters competition at LopLops Lounge on Saturday, October 15th, where aspiring singer/songwriters can showcase their original material for the chance to win recording time at Mission Control Studios and a digital release package for their song. Entry is $25 for competitors and $5 for attendees. No word yet on who's performing, or if there will be any semblance of hard rock or punk musicians taking part, but this isn't a traditional "battle of the bands", it's geared to solo artists. Just in case, visit the official Facebook event page for full details!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

Last Month's Poll Results, Plus Lots Of Assorted Updates!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for missing Mourning Wood's latest Reggie's Place shows on Thursday, Friday, and yesterday for coverage on the SMS this weekend, as they were announced on late notice after our weekend concert preview post, but before we had time for a new post. I wish they'd plug Reggie's shows publically more often, but we did plug the latter two on our Facebook page, and hopefully they were a blast!

Now, today's lead story is the results of last month's poll, which asked this question: "When attending a concert that doesn't solely feature bands, what kinds of entertainers would you most want to see?" The poll sadly only got 4 voters, and only 1 chose to vote for two options (we tried a multiple choice method last month), and the only choice to win 2 votes was solo musicians and/or rappers. One vote each went to open mic/jam performers, stand-up comedians, and "I just want to see live bands", while no one chose DJs/turntablists, spoken word/poetry, performance art, bingo/live audience games, "Indifferent/no opinion", or "Other". Obviously, with such a low voter turnout, it's hard to gauge this as a representative sample of readers, but you do most often see solo artists alongside bands over the other choices, and while their sound is usually more reserved (C.T.W. aside), their talents often speak for themselves. This all adds to a nice variety at local concerts, but thanks to everyone that voted!

With that said, I am reluctantly putting our regular monthly polls on hiatus due to increasingly low voter turnout. I 100% intend on continuing with our "favourite ____ of 2015" polls, but regular monthly polls aren't attracting the attention that they once were, and admittedly, there have been times where I struggled to come up with a new topic that we hadn't previously tackled. As a result, I'll likely shift our Defunct Local Band Profile to the 14th of each month just for balance, but might our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile return in the near future? Time will tell, but look for our year-end polls in a few months, and who knows, regular polls may come back down the road!

To close this Sunday morning post, here's six assorted shorter stories from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or show name:

• If you had noticed that the short-lived 7L arts/music podcast had re-emerged via the restoration of it's Soundcloud page, that appears to have been temporary or reversed, as the page is down again. That said, host Teddy Syrette has since moved to Southern Ontario (no word on if that is a direct reason for 7L's apparent end or not), and the 7L Facebook page is being used to promote a reading he's doing in Toronto at the "Salon 203" event next weekend, notably at ex-Gore Street Cafe owner Sam Decter's new place. Sounds like a good time, hopefully it goes well!
• Local alternative/hard rock trio (and debut 7L podcast guests) The Din have posted three studio songs from their debut CD "Give In To The Din" to their Bandcamp page! Though The Din have opted not to post a full downloadable copy of the album there yet, fans can stream "In Search of The Perfect Moment", "Alleyways & Apartments", and "Potato" there to their hearts content in the meantime, so don't bypass it! This was briefly mentioned in our review of the album proper, but not in a news post, in case you're wondering why it's being covered twice.
• In a minor update to our "Other Local Metal Links", we have switched the link for local event promoters Maxx Entertainment from their website (which is down) to their Facebook page. Also, a planned amalgamation of their graphic design wing Maxx Graphix into the entertainment page under the "Choose Maxx" name won't affect our links unless the Maxx Graphix page is closed, though new customers would want to do their business on the combined page. Stay tuned for more from them, particularly regarding Toystock!
• We have removed local hardcore punk band Programmed To Fail (formerly The Transjenners) from our band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook and Soundcloud pages in recent months. The band didn't expand far beyond a pair of demo recordings and their name change, but they seemed to have some potential. Hopefully we hear more from Craig & Justin in the future!
• The eighth annual Soo Zombie Walk will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on Saturday, October 22nd for a fourth year at the downtown museum, and bands will be a part of the pre-walk entertainment again at 4:00 PM! No word yet on who to look for, or if there will be an afterparty, but visit the official Facebook event page for details when they come in! For reference, last year's entertainment at both the walk & afterparty were an unplugged Sykotyk Rampage, Sudbury's Aggressive Acoustic, and Greg Callaghan.
• Speaking of Sykotyk Rampage, the veteran alternative/blues rock quartet have posted a new free "album" to their Reverbnation page! Entitled "50 Amazing Tales", it'a a greatest hits re-recordings package that would be 4 CDs in length if released in that format, split among a faux-live album, drinking songs, "blue Chinese" songs, and "metal crash punk" songs. This is a fun release that all Sykotyk diehards should check out, especially if you want to hear studio recordings of older songs with Tony Briglio on bass! However, note that it loads very slowly due to it's size.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!