Sunday, July 8, 2012

CASS Cafe Metal Video Showcase (Part 2)

It's time for our second CASS Cafe metal video showcase at the SMS, and leading from our first installment on Friday, we have another selection of metal and hard rock performances from the Desbarats high school's student concert series to share with the world, now that we're covering that area on the site! On Friday, we looked at three bands and one solo performance, but today, we have two collections of young local artists and two solo performers, so read on below to check out this latest video post!

We'll start with two videos with many common links: Both feature four musicians (two from local metal band Crimson Crusade, including guitarist Devon Lucier) covering a known metal song at a CASS Cafe event, as uploaded to ex-Diego Experience/Vendetta guitarist A.J. Biron's YouTube channel, so let's look at these first in chronological order! The first is an instrumental cover of Lamb of God's "Blood of the Scribe" from a CASS Cafe event circa December 2009, featuring Devon and his Crimson Crusade bandmate Riley Marshall alongside For All That Is Lost drummer Kameron Nicholson & former guitarist Allen Piche. The performance is solid, but it is a bit rough around the edges, and vocals would have helped complete the cover. Still, it's a cool look at the guys before their bands took off locally, so check it out below!



The other video of this vein that we're sharing today comes from a CASS Cafe event a few months after the above video, where Devon handled vocals and rhythm guitar on an April 2010 cover of Metallica's "Seek & Destroy"! Here, he was joined by Crimson Crusade bandmate Robert Crossley on drums, alongside this video's uploader A.J. Biron on lead guitar, and Column Ruins alum Travis Garside on bass in this unnamed quartet. This is a respectable cover in it's own right, with decent vocals and nice work on the guitar solo, and they definitely know the song well! The brighter lighting is a plus too, but check out this Metallica cover below!



Lastly for the videos from A.J.'s channel that we're sharing today is this November 2008 drum solo by former CASS student & Bruce Mines native Mike Christie! He'll factor in to some more CASS Cafe videos we're sharing later in the week, but here, he delivers a solid drum solo that factors in some fun audience participation early on, though the camera work is jittery, and a fallen microphone makes the bass a bit hard to hear. Mike's definitely a talented drummer, so check out this solo of his below, and stay tuned for more videos from A.J.'s channel this week!



The final videos today are the oldest hard rock-relevant CASS Cafe videos that I have for you guys, and they come from Thessalon solo musician (and Sault native) Darren MacDonald, who some of you may be familiar with! He fronted local punk bands The Shibby Pharmones & Mayadevi (the latter alongside future Shit Liver bassist Mike Kyle) in the mid-2000s before moving to Thessalon in 2006, where he's played in both solo projects and in Mayadevi successor bands like Ashoka At The Show. His solo work has some bright moments, so give his music a listen at the above links! While attending Central Algoma Secondary School, Darren performed at CASS Cafe events, and some of his 2007-2008 solo sets were filmed by YouTube user Ken Coventry for his YouTube channel. Alongside Mayadevi & Ashoka At The Show videos, and numerous other assorted CASS videos (including a Kim Mitchell cover, two metal videos we're sharing later this week, and more), Ken uploaded four solo acoustic performances by Darren at CASS Cafe gigs, including two Nirvana covers!

Three of the videos come from a December 2007 set where he covered the Nirvana songs "Something In The Way" & "Pennyroyal Tea" along with the Thrice song "Trust", while the latter is a surprising cover of Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time" the following year, so click the above links to check out each video! Darren definitely shows some skill and love for the latter three songs, and he has an effective singing voice, while the Britney Spears cover shows a good sense of humour! These are some nice early glimpses at Darren's musical work, so check out his cover of "Something In The Way" below, and much more from his various projects at the above links!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our third of at least four CASS Cafe metal video showcases later in the week, likely on Wednesday! And yes, we have more news on the horizon, including a preview of TOMORROW'S 3 Inches of Blood concert, so stay tuned for all of that! Thanks everyone!

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