Sunday, February 26, 2012

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Mothership

As promised, it's time for our newest Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile, and for the first time in this series, we're looking at a tribute band with a past or present Sault Ste. Marie resident in their lineup! As a result, I don't have as much to say given the similarity of their shows and band history, but this act is still of a very high quality and talent level, so read on below for our newest profile in this monthly feature series at the SMS! (Updated on November 26th, 2014)
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Mothership (Ottawa, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last full lineup in italics)

Richard Fullerton (vocals)
Steve Milley (guitar)
Denis St. Amour (bass)
Roger Verdon (drums)

Official website: http://www.mothershiptribute.ca/
Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/mothershiptribute
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/mothershiptribute

Local Info: Mothership did have some local connections via frontman Richard Fullerton, who you may best remember as the former frontman of local classic hard rock quintet That's Chester! He fronted the band in the mid-2000s before Jim O'Leary & Greg Simpson's tenures, and has guested with them occasionally since departing as well, so he's bound to be familiar to long time That's Chester fans! Though originally from Blind River, I believe he lived in the Sault area full time at least during his That's Chester run, but he would eventually move to Ottawa, and after his run with Mothership, you can now see him live in the classic rock band Trashed Taxi!

Band Bio: Termed "The Ultimate Tribute to Led Zeppelin", Mothership formed in the Ottawa area circa early 2010, and brought a faithful sounding & looking rendition of the Led Zeppelin experience to scattered live concerts in the Ottawa area, along with stops in Toronto and Gatineau, Quebec that steadily continue to this day, save for a 2012-2013 hiatus. Featuring two members of the progressive metal band Widow's Walk in their lineup, Mothership's concerts featured authentic costumes to Led Zeppelin's heyday, along with setlists featuring classics and more obscure numbers from their back catalog, and their talents have attracted notable praise from Southern Ontario press. Mothership deliver a great Led Zeppelin show to their fans at live concerts, with the  look down really well, and the talent to pull off this material, and from the videos I've seen, they don't diverge too far from what worked originally! Richard's singing fits well & had the right tone, though his range at times can't hit the same high notes. That's very minor though, as this package of musicians can pull off the Led Zeppelin classics & ambiance, and in a tribute band, that would absolutely please fans old and new!

Being a tribute band, Mothership's online media is mostly based around live videos, though their 2013 return did coincide with plans to release a documentary about themselves (preview video here.) YouTube user TheScorpionLady has two nice quality live videos on her channel, while both the band's official YouTube channel & Richard Fullerton's own channel have some short band promo videos featuring brief live video clips and photos. However, because it's a full song (and consistently good quality), I've posted TheScorpionLady's video of Mothership playing "Black Dog" below, so give it a look, and see much more from this talented Led Zeppelin tribute at the above links!


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I hope you guys enjoyed this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month, we'll be taking a look at the inactive Windsor hardcore band Constructed Apocalypse, who once featured local musician and concert booker Jeremy Hannah as their frontman! You may remember them from some late 2000s local concerts, and they're getting an overdue feature in this series on or around March 26th, so keep an eye out! That's all for now, but stay tuned for much more news and notes to come, along with our review of Sykotyk Rampage's "Karrs" album on Wednesday! Thanks everyone!

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