The Din - "Technically Live" Album Review!!

It's now time for our 154th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at defunct local alternative/hard rock trio The Din's third live album "Technically Live"! Released on December 26th of last year (but only being looked at now due to our 6 month anti-bias buffer period since our last Din review), "Technically Live" is the much belated end result of their CD release party for their debut studio album "Give In To The Din", which took place on August 12th, 2016 at The W.W. Baldwin Auditorium at The Tech. Recorded live at the show by producer Daniel Schmidt of Pretoria Hill Productions, the tracks were remastered by frontman Mike Haggith for this posthumous release five+ years later. Mike is on vocals & bass here alongside guitarist Tammy Hill (ex-Steeletown Girls/Leaked) and drummer/backing vocalist Brandan Glew (ex-Revolution/Re:Born), who all also featured on the studio album itself.

"Technically Live" is on sale for $10 on CD at this link, while you can buy digital copies of it on a "name your price" model on their Bandcamp page, and/or stream it for free there, but consider buying it to support The Din's work, if belatedly! Now, similarly to our review of The Din's prior CD release party live album "Suburban Sendoff", I will not be re-reviewing the original songs here, as I have already done so in prior Din studio album reviews (not to mention what was carried over from Mike's prior projects), but I will compare them as live cuts and to The Din's studio versions. Also, I was in attendance for this show back in 2016, you can read my review of both The Din's & openers Gnaeus' sets at this link. Be advised that Mike did chop out a lot of the between song banter (and an original song outright), but you can hear much of that via Shaw TV's footage of their set.

With 15 songs running for about 58 minutes in length, let's kick this review off with both it's & the concert's opening spoken word track "Leamington, Ontario"! This did not make the cut for "Give In To The Din", but was previously released on their 2016 live acoustic album "The Din Does Laundry". The album-low 97 seconds long piece is the traditional lead-in to the next song, which definitely comes across deeply in the live element with Mike self-deprecating the band's setup. The extra oomph and passion in Mike's dialogue is welcomed, but I've never thought this stood on its own as its own track and should ideally be included as part of the song proper, "75", which was track #5 on the album, so they definitely did not play it in release order. Live, the song is faithful to the studio version aside from the intro being absorbed by "Leamington, Ontario", Brandan's more prominent backing vocals, and the usual concert asides and variances.

"75" remains a solid hard rocker as in its prior studio appearances, and it was a wise choice to lead off with! Next up that night was "Alleyways & Apartments", which is again played pretty faithfully, but the live spontaneity does lead to a livelier and faster rendition that I think suits it! The song proper is a mid-tempo alt-rocker with good melodies, so it's good to see that they're not already tinkering with the then-new songs! Mike does leave in credit to recording the song with Dustin Jones afterwards. Track #4 is the title track of "Give In To The Din", namely "In Search Of The Perfect Moment", and I honestly prefer the live take because I always found Mike's vocal register drop in the chorus suited the song better than in studio, where he sung at the higher register for all of it. The song is otherwise accurate to the studio version, but rougher around the edges as you might expect.

Had this led off the show instead, it also would have worked fine with it's up-tempo energy and forward momentum, and everyone performs well on it! The first of four covers (excepting former Haggith band/Mike solo holdovers) is next, specifically a rendition of The Foo Fighters' classic song "Learn To Fly". Fun to hear The Din's rendition again, but Mike does overdo with the chorus vocals a bit with that echo he does, and I do think the song would benefit from having two guitarists (Tammy's solid as ever but a rhythm track would help). Lively and familiar all the same, and Brandan gets some room to let loose! We return to the studio album tracks next with "Out Of My League", which is again, played very similarly to what you heard on "Give In To The Din", but looser and rawer given the live setting. Not a whole lot new to add, it's an entertaining melodic sing-along track that translates well live, as you might recall from their pre-pandemic gigs!

Next is "Remember", which was the acoustic ballad of sorts for "Give In To The Din", and while it is played similarly on "Technically Live", it has a fuller sound with more instrumental heft, and also includes an extended call-and-response section where Mike encourages fans to sing along with the "set me free" part near the end. I think the campfire vibes of "Remember" worked better in studio, as the expanded fuller version doesn't feel as cohesive, but your mileage may vary. After linking it to The Din's former "Cover of the Month" video series, we next get another outside cover, this time of The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment", which you may have previously heard in unplugged format on the physical run of "The Din Does Laundry". The Din always had this song down cold in concert, and while not as heavy, Mike's deep vocals and their ear for melodies keep it going!

I won't spend a lot of time on this, but the very next song at the CD release concert was not included on "Technically Live", namely "Of Cars & Criminals", despite previously appearing on Mike's then-newest solo record "The Warinside" and unplugged on "The Din Does Laundry". You can see/hear "Of Cars & Criminals" from that night via Shaw TV's OnStage episode at this link. No point reviewing it when it wasn't on the live album proper, but I don't hear any grievous errors to explain it being cut, so it may just have been a casualty of not being a studio track on any release of "Give In To The Din" & summarily being out of place in hindsight.

As you could see from Shaw TV's footage, "Of Cars & Criminals" bled right into the next song that did make the cut, namely "Flux". The live rendition is played a little faster and does sound a fair amount rougher than in studio, partly because Mike & Brandan's harmony vocals don't mesh the same, but the drum solo bridge is actually better live to me. This song remains a fun & melodic number in any event, and fans were receptive at The Tech! Next is another Foo Fighters cover, this time of "Times Like These", which also previously appeared in unplugged form on the physical release of "The Din Does Laundry". This version is immediately better than how they played it at The Gore Street Cafe, as Mike's singing the song at a normal register, unlike the deeper, slower way he handled it for that show/CD. The freewheeling nature helps make this a fun diversion, but again, rhythm guitar would help add to the melody and layering of this cover.

Another original is next, namely the fan favourite "Potato (Should've Known Better)", which is about identical to the studio version in arrangement and pacing. The big difference is the lack of effects on Mike's vocals for the chorus, and the rawer, straightforward vocals there are actually an improvement to me. Strong up-tempo hard rock number that fans of The Din and Mike's heavier local-era solo work should easily take to live or in studio! The final outside cover played at the release party is next, namely The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends", which also appeared on the physical copies of "The Din Does Laundry". In fact, both of those live albums have the same outside covers, save for City & Colour's "Fragile Bird" instead of "Learn To Fly" on the acoustic one. This Beatles rendition sticks to melodic formula but is more raucous and has more rock-befitting mannerisms and banter throughout.

Again, I don't find that the vocal harmonies are 100% spot on, but this is a fun cover all the same, and takes less liberties than the acoustic version did! Originals comprise the three remaining slots of this album/setlist, starting with "The Rose", a true deep cut that was rarely played live by The Din afterwards. This rendition is rawer and harder-edged, so I do prefer it for energy's sake to the studio version, while the ending is abbreviated. Not my favourite song on "Give In...", but well written! Despite appearances, the abrupt ending is because it led straight into the penultimate song and final from the original studio album release, "A Drive Through The Peninsula", which is an album-long 8+ minutes on both CDs! This meandering song is the biggest surviving remnant of The Din's early-mid 2010s run as an acid jam collective, which works extra well live.

The core song is about the same aside from Mike singing the chorus in a more upbeat way at times, but you do get a false song ending early and a different flavour to the extended instrumental jam in the back half, which gives Tammy lots of room to shine in particular! The last 30 seconds of the track is applause and calls for an encore, leading to the live album & setlist's closer, "Differences", which was not on "Give In..." initially but a demo recording of it came out on last year's "Deluxe Edition". The then-new song had nothing to compare to at the time, but against the studio demo, this is much faster and heavier, almost punk-esque in how its approached! In my review of the deluxe edition, I conceded that maybe dropping "Differences" from "Give In..." was a good idea, but not if they'd recorded it in the same aggressive way that they played it here!

Band shoutouts and plugs break it up in between, so you can't cleanly substitute one for the other, but the much more raucous pacing and fuller live audio quality definitely end the show and live album on a high note, and if you wanted more out of "Differences", here you go!

So, what are my final thoughts on "Technically Live"? I'd say that it's an entertaining release that captures The Din at their local height, and the work Mike did to fix up the recordings for public consumption was worth the time and effort! While there was more editing done compared to their other electric live album "Suburban Sendoff, the final product does feel more like an album intended for retail, so you take the bad with the good. Given that this was a release party for a studio album, you would expect The Din to faithfully play each song, and they did just that with only minor variances for the most part. Mike's vocal & bass work, Tammy's lead guitar shreddery (is that a word?), and Brandan's drumming were all on point, and where there were big changes, they were usually to the song's benefit!

What would I have fixed? Well, Mike & Brandan's vocal harmonies often didn't jive that well, I'd still cram "Leamington, Ontario" & "75" together, I did miss "Of Cars & Criminals", and some of the live performances were a little rough compared to the studio copies, but in the latter case, that comes with the territory, and spontaneity and unpredictability arw something The Din always handled nicely in concert! This is well worth your time for fans of The Din & Mike's extensive solo catalog, so buy or stream "Technically Live" above, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! In May 2021, our busy concert review calendar will continue as I look at the new self-titled demo EP from young local punk quartet Vanity (First), so stay tuned for that in the weeks ahead, and for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Peril, Spun, and Fyrbird) & A New-ish Sault Michigan Solo Project!!

In our final news post of the month (this month's CD review is tomorrow!), we're staying in Sault Michigan and area for a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS over the next two months! Before then, we have a new-ish metal solo project to add to our active band links, so let's start there!

The new addition to our band links today is the solo project from Buddy Repperton & The Camaros frontman David Waite, who launched a solo Facebook page for his own material back in April 2020! Apologies for the two year delay in this making the site, but thanks to David (or "Uncle Deadly") himself for letting me know about this! Now, David's solo project is inactive, as he last posted brand new content that November, so it looks like his current band work overtook any of his solo pursuits, but at the time of launch, he was hoping to use this Facebook page to post & share new music and videos he was working on, and break up recent monotony (remember, this page launched in the middle of the first pandemic lockdown). He also planned to promote other metal musicians he liked, connect with other musicians & fans, and even launch a podcast, but most updates relate to his music.

Despite a relatively brief time uploading videos here, there's almost two dozen videos of David on guitar, plus some extra bonuses like him finding Yooperlites and some shoutouts, so there's a lot to see whether you're new to David's music or if you recall his recordings before he moved out of state & back. You do get a solid sense of both his musical talents and his personality throughout, and he's not one to just play the music in his uploads. As a pure metal guitarist, David has the chops, with solid brutal riffs a given, as you can see below and at his other uploads linked on Facebook, but stay tuned for more from Buddy & The Camaros soon!

Next up, let's get into those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as Kewadin Casino's entertainment pages for The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie and The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace have been updates for shows taking place through the end of June! With only two months of dates to address, there are some absences of recently prominent hard rock acts like Scarkazm, Tarnished, 415E, and Rhythm & Brews, but there are some heavier touring attractions hitting the lounges ahead, starting with Manistique hard rock duo Fyrbird, who will hit The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace for the first times this year on Friday, May 6th & Saturday, May 7th! Last seen in the E.U.P. when they rocked the Soo Kewadin in January, these are far from their only remaining local concert bookings of 2022, as their Facebook group lists scheduled dates through the end of the year in a post from March 20th!

According to the band, they'll also be at the St. Ignace Kewadin on July 29th-30th and December 23rd-24th (yes, Christmas Eve), and they'll be back at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo for just one weekend ahead, specifically on November 4th-5th. All four of these concert weekends have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. Lots of opportunities ahead for Fyrbird's minimalist but heavy and to-the-point onslaught, so see above for more details!

Also next month, Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge in the Soo for concerts on May 13th & 14th, followed by Northern Pines Lounge gigs in St. Ignace on June 3rd & 4th! Like Fyrbird, next month's shows will be Peril's first E.U.P. concert weekend since January (in their case however, also at the same venue), and all four dates should prove to successful weekends for this fan favourite touring attraction and their wide array of classic and hard rock covers! Again, no shows from their sister band Scarkazm in the May-June 2022 timeframe at either Kewadin lounge, but Peril should do the trick for fans! Like with Fyrbird, the upcoming Peril shows are 21+ affairs with no cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details!

Finally, Marquette hard rock quartet Spun will return to The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace for concerts on Friday, May 27th & Saturday, May 28th! These shows will be the Nudge. successors' first shows at this Kewadin branch in 2022, following Sault Ste. Marie dates earlier this month, and these should provide an ample opportunity for Mackinac County fans to hear Spun's own diverse range of hard rock and fan favourite covers, especially over the Memorial Day long weekend! As usual for Spun's Kewadin stops, these shows have 21+ age limits, 9:00 PM start times, and no cover charges, and given that this is a holiday weekend, make sure to be sensible for both drinking and keeping the pandemic at bay. Visit the above links and the official Facebook event page for more details!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we get into this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that former Startlefish bassist and Taxi Passenger Revue host Mike Robillard's obituary is now up on SooToday at this link. There, it confirms that he passed away at Sault Area Hospital on Monday at just 51 years of age, and he survived by his mother, three siblings, and numerous nephews and nieces, among other extended family. His funeral services will take place at the Arthur Funeral Home's Barton & Kiteley Chapel at 492 Wellington Street East on Friday, May 6th at 1:00 PM, with visitation preceding from 10:30 AM on, and interment will be at Greenwood Cemetery. Memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by his family. Just a shame all around, but hopefully his family & friends keep the good memories close at this difficult time. R.I.P. Mike!

Now, today's post is otherwise devoted to hard rock & punk concert previews on this relatively quieter weekend in the Twin Saults, and we'll start with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's West for traditional concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via the official Facebook event page yesterday, though note that while Soundcheck themselves only listed the Friday nighter, the venue's Facebook page confirms they're be there both nights. Technically three, as their usual weekly jam night at the Reggievelt also goes down tonight, but historically, we don't cover jam nights as "concerts" on the SMS due to their unpredictable nature. Thursday jamming aside, these will be Soundcheck's first normal concerts at this venue in over a month, but fans have seen them elsewhere since.

Hopefully Terry, Cameron, Paul and/or Rob, and Glen have a strong weekend of fan friendly and often heavy covers once again, so don't miss out TOMORROW or SATURDAY despite the late notice! These shows and tonight's jam night will have 8:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, as recently usual. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live a few weeks back!

Today's other previews are of shows that had ample advance notice, and we'll next head south to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, where Traverse City hard rock trio Scarkazm will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Despite saying "it's been WAY too long" when promoting these shows on Facebook, St. Ignace fans will have just seen Scarkazm at that Kewadin Casino branch in early March, with a weekend at the Kewadin branch in the Soo in between, so it may just seem like it's been too long. Regardless, this fan favourite touring act should deliver more hard rocking originals and covers to Mackinac County fans this weekend, so don't miss out! For the record, Scarkazm are not advertised to return to either Kewadin branch through June, but we will address hard rock bands that are soon.

Scarkazm are on at 9:00 PM tomorrow & Saturday night as usual for their Kewadin jaunts, and these shows are 21+ affairs with no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!

Finally, let's head north to Sault Ontario for the local concert debut of Vancouver alternative punk band The Midnight Echo, who will be rocking out at The Rockstar Bar THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Fans of upbeat indie-tinged pop punk will take to The Midnight Echo's distinct original sound, complete with some sweeping synth elements and a good ear for catchy melodies, so definitely consider a trip to The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs venue on Saturday to see what they have in store! Remember, touring bands from out of town is still something of a novelty as we're (hopefully) coming out of the pandemic, so try and make this show worth the band's and the venue's while by coming out if they pique your musical interest! This stop on The Midnight Echo's Whatever Happens, Happens Tour was originally scheduled for Soo Blaster's spring 2022 concert series before being moved to The Rockstar Bar for unannounced reasons.

No word on an opening band, for the record. Everything goes down on Saturday night at 8:30 PM with a 19+ age limit, and while a cover charge was not announced on the Facebook event page, bring money just in case, especially given the trek that The Midnight Echo are on for this tour. Visit the above links for more details, and here are the headliners live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for either a new news post or this month's CD review tomorrow! Both will hit the site by week's end, for the record. Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

News and content is piling up quick as of late, so let's try and remedy the backlog with an all-video post on this Wednesday afternoon before we get into weekend concert previews tomorrow! Let's start with the first performance video with actual live audio from local/Barrie punk/metal quartet Spades GT, as uploaded to their Facebook page last week! Filmed at a jam session, the video features J.D., the Daniels, and Tyler playing the old Jack Spades standby "Crossroads" on a stationary camera, albeit with occasional jumps to a closer zoom (often to Odie's benefit). This rendition sounds solid and familiar for fans of the band as an entirely local enterprise, but with new material teased to be in the works, how will Spades GT sound there? For now, give this jam video a watch below, and stay tuned for more from their camp when it rolls in!

Next up, here's the latest updates from relaunched local death metal band Exploring Detritus, who have rapidly been making up for four years of lost time with more new videos and updates on their current activity at a rate they never saw in the Kaepora Gaebora days! First, it looks like guitarist Dan Souliere is the only band member from 2017-2018 to return, based on this photo from earlier this week and the lack of a vocalist or bassist in their recent media, so Joey Graham and Jeph Brown do not appear to be back for unannounced reasons. Remember, it has been four years, a lot happened in that time! Updates have mostly revolved around media postings, but Exploring Detritus can now be found on their official Instagram and TikTok pages, and they have teased plans to work on a full length album. A bunch of videos of Exploring Detritus version 2.0 can be seen on Facebook and TikTok, so what is on offer?

The videos on both sites primarily feature Dan, Ryan, and Anthony working individually (and promisingly) on original songs, but there is a separate 2+ minute jam session video on each platform, and I've embedded the Facebook one here as TikTok videos never work here when I try to embed them. Alas, the Facebook one appeared to have been filmed after the camera fell over, as you only see Dan from above and a moving cymbal, so I'd have put the TikTok one here if I had the choice. I like where Exploring Detritus are going with a nice heavy death metal sound, but there's things to add and build on for sure. Give everything a look above & below!

We'll head south to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. to end the post, starting with some new videos from local classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel! The band uploaded three "Shorts" (re: YouTube's answer to TikTok videos) recently, including a short keyboard performance of "Silent Night" (remember their Christmas album & tours), plus two videos from album recording sessions! Now, if you're a long-time follower of Theatre of Night, you'll know that they have sporadically teased plans to record a new studio album not tied to their holiday touring, but nothing has came out since "Guntower Democracy" had an extremely quiet release on Reverbnation in 2018. As per the "Shorts" videos, the album will be called "Lysbringer" and will be a viking metal release. Two clips relating to that planned album can be seen, both in portrait orientation, so what's here?

One video features guitarist Steve Giles working on a new song in studio with a solid galloping riff, but embedded below is a clip of keyboardist Craig Harrison tracking vocals for a song named "Vanquish The Damned". Honestly, his harsh vocals here sound more like black metal than the death metal you tend to associate with vikings in this genre, but it's very neat to hear Theatre of Night going heavier like this, which goes along with some of their other prior album teasers that didn't lead to anything substantial... at least, not yet. Get more from Theatre of Night above & below!

Finally, here's a new video from St. Ignace progressive metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown's YouTube channel, specifically a playthrough (singthrough?) video with frontman Brandon West singing along with their existing original "Dead Teeth"! The very Virtual Boy-esque video sees Brandon twice in frame, performing lead, backing, and/or clean vocals as the song warrants, though on the left, it appears that he's wearing a duck mask, presumably referencing their mascot. Just as strong and heavy as the song was on their full length album from last year accentuated with the dark red/black visuals, so give it a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Buddy Repperton & The Camaros

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel prpfile, where we're again looking at the posted content and videos from a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk artists or concerts! This month, we drew a single channel from a newly prominent original metal band from the E.U.P. that just made their first live appearance earlier this month, so here's what you should know!

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Buddy Repperton & The Camaros (http://youtube.com/channel/UCfc9PjC1D0pV1oLYxdYzHOQ) 

Owner: Buddy Repperton & The Camaros singer/guitarist David Waite, previously known from projects like From The Ashes Of Angels

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 22nd, 2020; Videos uploaded from March-November of last year

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for the new-ish Sault Michigan groove/thrash metal band, it features nineteen video uploads, all featuring Buddy & The Camaros playing either their own original songs (some clearly labelled as demos) or cover songs, sometimes of bands you wouldn't expect. A few select early clips have David performing alone, and ten of the first fourteen uploads were converted to grayscale in post-production.
 
Why You Should Watch: This is absolutely a must watch for fans of The Camaros, especially if you've missed seeing an aggressive pure metal band in the E.U.P., as opposed to classic/hard rock crossover acts, and while it's all jam and rehearsal footage, hopefully they have more uploads ahead! As of this writing, the channel does not include content from the band's live debut at Three One Three on Ashmun this past weekend.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Buddy Repperton and The Camaros: The Bones of Babydolls cover Acid Bath: Two of Buddy Repperton & The Camaros' first three videos are solo joints with David alone working on material, including a clip of him performing an original demo, but this cover of sludge metal icons Acid Bath's "The Bones of Baby Dolls" is the most fully realized, and features a cover of a band you typically don't even see Sault Ontario bands tackle. Very slow and doomy, so it's not representative of their full bore metal songs in membership or style, but it's an interesting window into what David had in mind for this band last year!

Sacred Reich INDEPENDENT cover/demo Buddy Repperton and The Camaros: If you follow the video upload dates on The Camaros' channel, you can see when band members were added and departed the group, and this cover of Sacred Reich's "Independent" from May 2021 is notable for featuring David alongside drummer Jason VanLuven (ex-Bucksaw/Paradise Excuse) and original bassist Brett Blackwood (415E/ex-Clownsack), who left the band not too long afterwards. I love Sacred Reich, so it's awesome to see a local band tackling them, even if this cover is without vocals and a second guitarist, and the audio quality holds up well despite some mild muffling! Check out their four-piece lineup covering the song at this link.

Say Their Names (BRC Original): The most watched video on Buddy & The Camaros' channel features the band's current lineup playing their original song "Say Their Names" as part of a block of four jam session uploads in November, also including originals "Total Annihilation" & "One More Round". Featuring David & Jason alongside (then-?) rhythm guitarist Doug Reed (ex-Tarnished/Project 906) and bassist Dennis Rudis, this brutal original features a very Crowbar-esque sound with some strong harsh vocals and a nice crunchy guitar tone, and everyone performs well, but the light beside the drumkit is very distracting. This seems like a good harbinger of The Camaros' live debut to come, and definitely give more of them a look!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, our completly random selection will keep us in Sault Michigan for a look at Tarnished frontman Alex Traynor's YouTube channel, featuring five varied videos from his dormant solo project! Stay tuned for that on or around May 26th, and for a new post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Clusterfolk Music Festival Fallout, A Local Solo Musician's Return, And More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran local bassist and Borderline radio host Mike Robillard, who just passed away after a battle with cancer at the age of 51. While not a hard rock musician, Mike will be familiar from his work performing with bands like Startlefish, The 4 Really Nice Guys, Spiderback, and Scissors For Erica over the years. More recently, he hosted The Taxi Passenger Revue on The Borderline in early 2020, which played off of his day job to interview local musicians like Tym Morrison, DJ Seith, and Colin Nelson before the pandemic complicated things. As revealed in this GoFundMe campaign, Mike was diagnosed with clear cell renal sarcoma (a form of kidney cancer) in December, and had been fighting it ever since. Having lost my mother to cancer at around the same age in 2020, I sadly know all too well what Mike's family has went through.

A lot of Mike's major musical work either predates social media or didn't produce a widespread album, but he did record with Startlefish (notably on 2005's "Regretfully Yours"), so don't bypass him if you have access to his recordings, as he was a very capable musician, not to mention a kind and funny man by all accounts. I don't know if The Borderline will repost episodes of The Taxi Passenger Revue in his memory (oddly, they had all been taken down), but it'd be nice to see them resurface in his memory. Follow local news media for details on arrangements when appropriate, and R.I.P. Mike! Today's post otherwise looks at updates from a recent concert and a local musician's return, so here's what you should know!

Here's some belated updates from the returning Clusterfolk Music Festival at The Rockstar Bar from this past Saturday night! While not held there, Gore Street arts venue 180 Projects co-organized the event, and it looks like they did the brunt of the Facebook promotion for the concert proper (I don't believe promoter Jackson Reed is on Facebook nowadays). I profusely apologize for missing this, but there were lineup variances not reported on the Facebook event page (launched by The Rockstar Bar), most notably that headlining classic/hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley did not play at Clusterfolk after all, which 180 Projects only announced the morning of the show. They cited "unforeseen circumstances" for their withdrawal, but did not go into further details. This would have been a big platform for them, hopefully nothing bad happened! As well, the planned slot from a Sudbury artist completely fell through, so what should you know there?

Original advertising had folk musician Will Powers playing on Saturday, but he was quietly replaced for unannounced reasons last week by fellow Sudbury folk duo The Bad Actors (who were not among the eight artists to get Clusterfolk music videos), only for them to also drop out for "unforeseen circumstances" on Saturday morning. Local acoustic folk duo Sainte Marie (also not filmed for Clusterfolk) were brought on as a last minute fill-in for both withdrawn bands, with guitarist Jacob Quarrell's other band Jupiter Marvelous promoted to headliners. Hopefully everything went well on Saturday, and stay tuned for more Clusterfolk coverage soon!

Finally, here's a surprise return, as local hard rock solo artist Mike McCleary has resumed working on new music! Over three years after deactivating his Facebook page (intentionally or otherwise), Mike brought it back last summer and quietly posted a "revised" version of his 2018 solo album "Weight of the Truth" to various online music platforms in August, as accessible via this DistroKid page. The revised version re-arranges the song order and includes two brand new songs ("Superstition" & "Solstice"), plus four songs were either rewritten & renamed or dropped outright. Mike is one to de-list past albums of his and re-record or rewrite them to better reflect his musical intent, talents, and messages, so I can't go back and tell you what's what, but "Wannabees" & "Be The One" are reworkings of two of these songs: "Clarity", "Snakes & Ladders", "Disease", and "Overkill", with the other two seemingly being scrapped.

Regardless of changes, "Weight of the Truth" remains a deeply personal album reflecting on Mike's mental health struggles, so it's good to see him addressing his story like this and perfecting it, as only he fully understands what he has went through! You can (re-)buy "Weight of the Truth" for $5.99 at this link or on a "name your price" model on Bandcamp. As I noted above for Mike delisting old albums, only the reworking of "Weight of the Truth" and a new version of the title track from his (former?) EP "Hourglass" are currently posted, and while I have no idea if albums like "In Ruins" and "Hourglass" will ever return in a recognizable form, he has taken to his Facebook page to reveal that he is working on a new album, specifically an instrumental album inspired by his creative pursuits outside of music. He acknowledged that this is a departure from the "controversial material" he's previously released

If you didn't know, many of Mike's prior songs reflected on his left-leaning political views and opinions therein, but such content is not (currently?) available to stream or buy on official channels. Mike does sound like he's having more fun working on his new music, but he didn't specify if he's recording or still songwriting at present. It's good to have Mike back at long last though, he's a talented hard rock musician and songwriter with interesting viewpoints and lyrics, so give his posted material and updates a look above! At press time, Facebook embed codes for videos aren't working on Blogger, but teaser clips from "Weight of the Truth" can be seen there.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next, wth more news to follow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Obsession), Their Belated Addition To Our Band Links, And More!!

Every so often, I'll re-evaluate what bands do/don't fit our criteria for full coverage on the SMS, hence why bands like Stiffler's Mom, Havadder, The Crossed, and RedD Monkey weren't instantly covered upon our/their inception. Today's post is devoted to one such instance on the classic/hard rock cover spectrum that I've been thinking about adding for a while now, and with concerts starting to ramp up in bookings, let's finally give them more of the coverage they deserve (and expect LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!) To cap things off, we have a new video of a familiar local guitarist in a somewhat unlikely setting, so here's what you should know!

Today's belated addition is veteran local classic/hard rock quartet Obsession, who have been a mainstay of the live circuit since debuting back in 2005! Their current lineup has been intact since 2017, and it features ex-Patches/Domina singer Valerie Powley, former That's Chester/Agave Blue guitarist Gabe Tessaro, ex-Shades of Blue/Rumours bassist/vocalist Jim Michaud (the only remaining original member), and ex-Whiskey River/Redline drummer Steve Porco. Surviving public details on the band's first decade are in short supply nowadays, partly due to their long-time Facebook group being taken down, but former band members at least include singer Lorrie Bolduc (Lorrie Lynn & The Sinners), guitarist Alex Trecroce, and drummer Rich Trevisanut (Bud Shamble). Readers may primarily be familiar from Obsession's ample appearances at nightclubs on weekends, but they have played at multiple major festivals and community events as well!

Notably, Obsession have played at Rotaryfest eleven times, a mark that only three other bands have topped since 2001, with Obsession rocking the main stage each year since 2008 except 2012, 2018, and (obviously) 2020. Their website features lots of band photos, individual member biographies, links to many videos of them live (even a Facebook video interview with SaultOnline's Andy Martens), and an extensive setlist of their covers, which include many heavier cuts from the likes of AC/DC, Joan Jett, Poison, Trooper, The Black Crowes, and numerous other bands (expect Janis Joplin covers too, which goes without saying given Valerie's vocal talents!) In a change of pace from some of their classic rock cover cohorts, Obsession list concert dates on their website's schedule through June.... of 2023, so when can you see Valerie, Gabe, Jim, and Steve live next?

Their next advertised gig is at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Saturday, May 7th at 8:00 PM, followed by appearances in The Esquire Club's Saturday matinee series on May 28th & June 11th, both being 3:00 PM affairs (they just played there yesterday too, FYI). Their next scheduled non-private gigs after that are way ahead in the timeline, as Obsession are booked at The Esquire Club almost monthly from October through next summer, notably all currently scheduled as full weekend sets with 9:30 PM start times, pandemic willing, of course. While I'll hold on listing 2023 gigs in our calendar for now, Obsession are booked at the Second Line East nightclub on October 28th & 29th and then on December 16th & 17th. All of the above shows have no announced cover charges, and all are 19+, but keep an eye out for all ages festival appearances this summer.

While I can't speak for Lorrie-era Obsession, their work with Valerie has consistently been entertaining and impressive, with strong musicianship, an easy rapport with live audiences, and diverse setlist that will appeal to hard rock fans! Plus, having a female lead singer helps them stand out, let alone with Valerie's impressive singing abilities, so don't bypass them for quality live music if you get the chance! See and hear much more from Obsession above, including via their Facebook page & YouTube channel, where this video comes from, featuring them and frequent Rotaryfest guest guitarist Dan Belanger covering Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" last July!

Finally for today, here's a surprise video of a familiar local guitarist in action in a more professional setting than you may expect! As you may know, former Jack Spades/Stegadeth guitarist Tiffany Stocco moved to the Sudbury area in 2019, and while I don't normally discuss musicians' day jobs unless it directly comes up in their interviews or musical career, it does in this case. Tiffany currently works at the Long & McQuade music store in Sudbury, who had the chain before the Northland/Thomas Walls merger ever happened in the Soo, and the Sudbury branch recently began a "Staff Licks" video series on their Facebook page, featuring short clips of employees playing music in the store proper to show off in-stock gear and their own talents,. This video has Tiffany covering the riff for Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" on (fittingly) a Tony Iommi Signature "Monkey" SG Special guitar, before busting out a much faster original riff of her own.

It's a short clip, and not framed ideally for the sake of her performance, but you get a nice sampling of Tiffany's guitar skill and the tone of this guitar, so the video serves a dual purpose! Give it a watch below, and hopefully we hear more music from Tiffany soon!

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

New Videos, The Return Of Exploring Detritus, And More Recent News!!

News has been piling up as of late, so let's clear some of that backlog on this Saturday afternoon, including a surprise band reunion, a few new videos, and teasers of a local band's upcoming plans here & in their new hometown. Here's what you should know!

Did you miss local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's local return gig on Tuesday night at the Mane St. Cafe? Never fear, as Mike live-streamed the whole thing to his YouTube channel! The 2+ hour video features Mike playing every single song from his two Thompson-era studio albums front to back (except for "This Page Intentionally Left Blank", which he did not actually play on), and he helpfully tagged each song by it's start point in the video at this link if you want to jump to a specific one! During the intermission (fittingly after his play-through of "If Ever Comes The Day"), Mike does talk directly to live-stream viewers and features a cameo from Bizotic/No Arrow alum Brad Griffth (a.k.a. Gortium85), while his encore featured two new songs for his next planned album, namely "I've Seen It Before" & "To Be With You". Of course, expect lots of casual and jokey banter between songs too!

The video proper is filmed from a side-stage angle, primarily just focusing on Mike, but the audience sounds receptive in the cafe, and long-time fans of Mike's local music in the 2010s will definitely have been happy to see him back on stage after a 2+ year pandemic-assisted break, if unplugged! Also, this did not replace his monthly live-streamed concert on Facebook, that will actually take place on Wednesday with guest Southern Ontario musician Nick Powell, his first interview guest who's not from the Soo. Tune in at 7:00 PM then, and check out Mike's local return concert below!

Next up, here's a band reunion I did not see coming, as local death metal group Exploring Detritus have reunited! Better previously known as Kaepora Gaebora, readers may be familiar with them from their mid-2010s run which saw them play at a handful of live gigs in 2016, notably opening for Foam at The New A, and also featuring at Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger's birthday show at The Oddfellows Hall. After changing their name to Exploring Detritus that December, band updates drastically slowed down in 2017, and they fell inactive in 2018, hence why I didn't expect that they'd suddenly return like this! Assuming the same members from their original run have stuck around, Exploring Detritus likely still feature ex-Undead Warriors drummer Joey Graham on vocals, former Bring The Fallen guitarist Dan Soiliere, and bassist Jeph Brown, but they have confirmed two changes.

Joining Exploring Detritus 2.0 is new second guitarist Ryan St. Pierre (replacing the already departed Daeson Lesage), while former Them drummer Anthony Boudreau has rejoined the group to replace Kevin Overton, after being this band's original drummer when they launched as Debt To The Heirless in 2015. A reason for Kevin's exit wasn't announced, but again, it's been 4+ years. After announcing their return & plans to write new original music on their Facebook page on Thursday, they shared this video of Anthony working on a song of theirs. What we hear sounds promising, if isolated, so stay tuned for much more on Exploring Detritus' surprise reunion when it comes out!

Also today, here's some more recent updates from local/Barrie crossover thrash quartet Spades GT! A press release about the band went to the website Rock & Roll Canada yesterday, which does acknowledge that they used to be known as Jack Spades, but aside from listing Frightlight as another band of J.D.'s, there's no mention of the Soo here. According to the press release, Spades GT have new songs in their setlist that are planned for inclusion in a full length album coming "later this year", but they have yet to confirm if recording sessions have begun or not. Upcoming shows are also listed, and while they were mostly already known, Spades GT did reveal that they'll be "co-headlining" the Northern Vibe Festival in nearby Ophir this year! Of course, J.D. curated the lineup for last year's River Stage, where Frightlight played as a featured band after their own lengthy hiatus, so this all lines up pretty well!

No word on performance dates yet (be advised that organizers never released a full schedule for the bands last year), but this year's installment takes place from August 26th-28th, and last year, Frightlight headlined on the Friday. Regardless of day, this will be (Jack) Spades' first local concert in almost three years, so fans won't wanna miss out, and stay tuned for Northern Vibe updates when they roll in!

Finally for today, remember how local indie/punk quintet The Northwest's new original song "Long Hair (Longer Nights)" was recently used as bumper music on Hockey Night In Canada? Well, it kinda happened again during the Toronto Maple Leafs' home game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, as the song was played over the public address system during a play stoppage late in the second period! If you were watching the game on TSN4, you may have recognized the song, and a band member (I assume) filmed the moment for this video, exclusively uploaded to their Twitter page. At the time that The Northwest came on the P.A., Toronto led the game 2-1, and they eventually won 5-2. More solid provincial exposure for The Northwest, and if you want info as to getting your own music considered for similarly related usage, contact them for details, as they got on somehow. Give their latest NHL TV appearance a watch below!

Hey @MapleLeafs you know why you won tonight eh? It’s because you played our song Long Hair (Longer Nights) during the second period. I mean I’m not saying it’s a good luck charm buuuttt… @Sportsnet @hockeynight #longhairlongernights #thepackisrunning #thewolvesarehowling pic.twitter.com/squDkVPFzb

— The Northwest (@thenorthwest705) April 20, 2022

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Wyld Stallyns), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we begin this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that the oft-postponed Glambition fundraiser concert at the Bushplane Museum (featuring The Apocalypse Afterparty & other local artists) has been delayed once again from tomorrow night to Saturday, June 4th, as per the Facebook event page. Pandemic issues are largely to blame for the many date changes, but hopefully things hold at last this time around! As for this weekend's Sault Ontario concert previews, they are below, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local acoustic funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns will return to The Whisky Barrel on Gore Street for one night only TONIGHT! I apologize for the short notice, the show was only announced on the band's Facebook page this afternoon, and the venue's own advertising also only began today. The Elements' side project-turned-successors have played a show at this popular downtown pub in each of the past two months, so them coming back this month isn't entirely unexpected, but regardless, their brand of fan friendly covers and often heavy cuts should entertain fans & regulars alike TONIGHT! Note that the picture shared from singer Christina Speers' personal Facebook page does not feature a bassist, seemingly confirming Ben Garcia's departure, especially given Jesse & Jonas' Musicians Wanted group search for a bassist late last year. Granted, their Whiskey Barrel shows are acoustic, so nothing will seem different from most of their gigs.

If true, a reason for Ben's exit was never given online publically, but hopefully all was amicable and that he turns up musically again soon! As for TONIGHT's show (which will reportedly feature a surprise guest performer), expect a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and an 8:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details on TONIGHT's funk and rock cover action, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live at the same venue!

Next up, let's look at a pair of concerts that had advance notice, starting with the relaunched Clusterfolk Music Festival taking place TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! Previously seen in 2010 & 2011 as a folk-leaning music/arts festival at outdoor locales, Clusterfolk is back this month as a multimedia event with 180 Projects, the NORDIK Institute, folk musician/promoter Jackson Reed, and various grants uniting to help give young regional musicians some big exposure and creative opportunities. The concert is part of it, but throughout April, music videos from eight young musical acts have been regularly posted on the Clusterfolk page on 180 Projects' website, all as filmed by Curtis Carriere of Bad Taste Cinema with engineering & mixing by veteran local alt-rock musician Dustin Goodall at Unsalted Audio. All eight videos can now be seen on Bad Taste Cinema's YouTube channel, though Distich's was re-uploaded out of premiere order.

The Clusterfolk concert proper will feature half of the acts filmed for the series, including headliners The Uncanny Valley in their first concert appearance of 2022! Their 1970s-inspired original hard rock attack will be the only heavier aspect for attendees tomorrow at The Rockstar Bar, but remember that Clusterfolk 1.0 was not exclusively for folk acts either. It'll be great to see this rising young quartet back at last, especially with a big headlining platform! Tomorrow's opening acts include local indie/pop rock band Jupiter Marvelous, Sudbury indie rock singer/guitarist Will Powers, and indie/folk sibling duo Distich, all of whom show clear talent in their Clusterfolk videos, so check them and the rest out! It is worth noting also that Adrian Vilaca interviewed Jackson Reed about Clusterfolk for the Smart As Trees Podcast on The Borderline, you can listen to that here, and I'll check it out in the near future. 

Clusterfolk is a 19+ event with an 8:30 PM start time and $10 cover charge. This feels like a spiritual successor (if sans a charitable cause) to the former Sky's The Limit shows at The Tech, and hopefully it has a strong turnout tomorrow for this very promising slate of young local talent! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's The Uncanny Valley's Clusterfolk music video for their original "Stuck In Rotation"! Despite thumbnails, these are in colour. The video sees The Valley jamming in what looks like a garage with proper concert lighting, and the song sounds really good with nice constant camera motion! Give it a look below, and don't miss Clusterfolk tomorrow!

Finally for currently known and advertised hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults this weekend, let's head further downtown to Shooters Downstairs Lounge, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! While not currently advertised on Soundcheck's own Facebook page (itself not shocking given when they often announce shows online), the venue confirmed this event last month as part of their increased wave of cover rock bands on Saturday nights in 2022. From what I've gathered, the live music series at the Dennis Street nightclub has went well, and hopefully Soundcheck have a great night of hard rocking covers tomorrow night! Just for clarification, personal Facebook posts regarding Soundcheck's Thursday nighter at Reggie's West last week indicated that it was a jam night after all, not a standard concert.

Apparently, they were going to play a shorthanded normal concert that night due to singer/guitarist Terry Eaton having to miss out, but when Terry ended up being available, the usual Thursday jam night was restored, albeit without being plugged as such on their own Facebook page. Hopefully things went well as usual! Tomorrow's Shooters concert has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!