Ontario COVID-19 Restriction Update, New Videos, And More Assorted News & Notes!!

We're back with a new news post on this chilly Sunday afternoon, and it includes a new live concert video, some assorted updates, and more local hard rock musician exposure in a popular YouTube series! Before we get to topics about music, here's what you should know about a major news story and what it means for live music in Ontario in the short term.

We might as well start today with the province of Ontario's re-opening plans following the roll-back of restrictions on January 5th due to the highly contagious omicron wave of COVID-19, which put concerts to a screeching halt once again. In a news conference on Thursday, Premier Doug Ford revealed that the current modified Stage 2 restrictions will remain in place until this coming Friday. Starting then, the re-imposed restrictions will be incrementally scaled back at three week intervals, but specifically regarding concerts, venues & nightclubs can re-open with 50% capacity as of Friday, and will be lifted outright on February 21st (Family Day). All remaining capacity and gathering limits will be removed on March 14th, bringing us back to where we were to end 2021, though these are all subject to change if COVID case counts warrant a reversal. Vaccine passports and indoor masking requirements remain mandatory until further notice.

Read more about the provincial re-opening plans at this link or via your favourite provincial news outlet. As we learned following the end of the three full lockdowns in June 2020, February 2021, and June 2021, there are some musicians and venues who will eagerly book shows with capacity limits, so we should start to see limited concert announcements perhaps in time for Saturday the 29th, but we'll keep you guys posted no matter what. Fingers crossed that case counts and vaccination rates allow for no more COVID restrictions in Ontario, and stay safe out there!

Next up, here's a new live video of Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 live at The Strongs Tavern in November, as uploaded to their Facebook page at the time! Notable as their first publically posted video featuring new drummer Odin Osogwin, the guys are playing their new original "Girls That Bleed" here. Between the side-stage camera angle, overly bright stage lighting, muffled vocals, and placement of the band members (you can barely see Dustin), this isn't an optimal look at the band, but the song does have a harder edge and good melody, so fans will definitely wanna check out the new Project 906 video below, and don't miss them in Hulbert next month!

Also today, here's some more recent appearances on the YouTube series You Rock! with Thomas Christ, which Sault Ontario/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith got good mileage & exposure out of in episodes #11-#15, but he was not in episode #16 from December 22nd. However, former No Arrow frontman Dann Pichette was (no doubt encouraged by his old bandmate Brad "Gortium85" Griffith), submitting his 2012 solo track "Swass" for a live review! You can check it out at the 2:26:48 mark (this episode is over 4 hours long). Beforehand, Thomas reads remarks from Dann about the inspiration of "Swass", and yeah, it's quite a description! Thomas compared the song to something he'd record under the influence, but he called it a fun track and said it was interesting, and you can tell that it intrigued him! Embedded below is episode #17 from December 29th.

Here, Dann submitted "Trial & Error" from No Arrow's unreleased album "Souls For Sale" (1:46:14), while the 3 hour episode ends with Mike Haggith's live cover of Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain" from his virtual CD release party in 2020. Thomas liked the lo-fi four track recording quality and punk energy of "Trial & Error", calling it "kick ass", while the "Purple Rain" cover was also praised for it's production values and professionalism. I have a feeling more local talent will get looked at by Thomas in 2022 episodes, but give his last two from 2021 a watch above & below!

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

 

• I have moved local hard rock band The Bridge Heads to our inactive band links, having not made a public post since new band photos appeared on their Facebook page in September 2020. Effectively the successors to Eclipse, this band launched in January of that year, and played just two concerts before the pandemic began. They did plan to press on as a trio after guitarist Daniel Horton moved out of town, but nothing really came of that. It's a shame The Bridge Heads didn't do more, but best of luck to Curtis, Daniel, and Caleb in their next moves, and R.I.P. Chris!
• Former Winkstinger guitarist Jason Ladouceur has moved back to the Soo and is looking for "someone to jam with" towards forming a heavy metal/rock band, specifically mentioning a drummer. It'd be great to see Jason back playing live again in the Soo, so message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last night for more details!
• Vanity guitarist Mikhal Muto posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday himself, looking for a "serious bassist to join a punk/alternative rock band" that plays originals and covers. The description heavily implies that he's looking for a new bassist for Vanity, and while they have not publically confirmed if Nick McClelland left the group, note that Vanity's Facebook page has not been updated in almost two months. We'll keep you guys posted when more comes out on Vanity, but message Mikhal at this link for more details on the bassist search!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and features on the site this week! Thanks everyone!