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!