Rotaryfest Video Showcase (Part 3!!)

As promised, here is our third Rotaryfest video showcase post, and we're sticking with Stage 1 at Clergue Park today with bands that played on the Friday (with one exception), so let's lead off for a second straight day with Mike Haggith, as his long-awaited full-band concert in the Soo took place on day #2 of the festival! This was live-streamed to his YouTube channel on the 15th, and captures his entire 45 minute set on the main stage, alongside A Dire Setback's Chris Nielsen & Matt Quinn and his old Din bandmate Brandan Glew. Also capturing stage MC Andrew Steutz's introductions and pre-set announcements, the video is shot in front of the stage, so ignore the sharp angle of the thumbnail. In order, Mike's original-heavy set included "If Ever Comes The Day", "MorningStar", a cover of The Barenaked Ladies' "Too Little Too Late", "Twist Of Fate", "Back Away Slowly", a cover of The Foo Fighters' "Times Like These"...

...a cover of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", "I Seen It Before", and "The Nature Of The Times". Covers aside, this was definitely a showcase for Mike's Thompson-era originals (no Din carryovers whatsoever), and while the video quality is washed out, things sound good! I honestly didn't expect to see Mike just singing two songs with no guitar (very odd), but the band mesh together nicely, even if Matt isn't always in frame! Definitely give this a watch to see Mike's newer original material in a fully realized form, but there's more from his set to look at too!

The ever-prolific Christopher Paci was also in attendance for Mike's set on that Friday, filming "Twist of Fate" and, as embedded below, "The Nature of the Times" as part of his eleven videos across both stages on his YouTube channel. I didn't mention this above, but Brandan's old Re:Born bandmate Elly McWatters joined the band for the closer as a backing vocalist, and she does add some good harmonies! Chris' videos of Mike & crew were further away in the seating area, and the sound is tinnier than on Mike's full-set clip, but the extra angles are welcomed, especially to capture Matt in steady frame. Check these out above & below!

Chris also filmed two extra bands on Friday, including closing classic rock band Angry Joe & The Growlers covering Tony Joe White's "Bayou Woman" from a closer angle, but embedded below is a glam metal cover from classic rock veterans and modern day Rotaryfest mainstays Mustang Heart, namely Autograph's "Turn Up The Radio". The location and quality is no different from Chris' videos of Mike's set, but performance-wise, it's solidly handled, and Marci hits all the right notes on vocals, so fans will want to give this one a watch below, and look for Chris' Saturday videos soon!

Finally, let's jump to Saturday the 16th for a video of local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek's Stage 1 set, as attendee Tom Thumb (that can't be his real name) filmed them covering Thriving Ivory's "Angels On The Moon"! Uploaded to the band's Facebook page that night, this was shot from the lawn close to the stage, and it's a solid quality video capturing this smooth cover with nice rich audio quality! Solid work, if not their heaviest cover going, so check it out below!

 

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