Sunday, August 7, 2022

Rotaryfest Video Showcase (Part 4!!)

I profusely apologize for the two week delay (life and other SMS posts got in the way), but here is our fourth all-video post from last month's Rotaryfest, as there are even more videos from hard rock acts/covers to address! We'll start with, at long last, videos from the returning Stage 2 beside the Art Gallery of Algoma at Clergue Park, where prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci was on hand to film just one act for his YouTube channel, namely local genre-hating (but functionally punk/alternative) quartet Handsome Sandwich! He filmed them playing an original song (possibly named "I'll Be Fine") from a good central location, and if the stage looks familiar despite the two year hiatus for the Second Stage, remember that Rotaryfest used it at Lowe's Plaza for the condensed drive-thru stage last year. Presuming that this song will be on their forthcoming album "Lettuce", I'll hold comment on it for the time being.

That said, the Sandwich have a fun & lively performance to check out, and the bright sunny conditions sure do help the ambiance, so give Chris' video of Handsome Sandwich's Rotaryfest debut a watch below!

Unfortunately, the Second Stage was not filmed nearly as much as Stage 1 (more performers & a Thursday lineup acknowledged), but there are a couple more known videos out there. Local hard rock solo guitarist Mike Cliffe did film this video of young pop rock band Jupiter Marvelous on Stage 2, but as far as heavier or punk acts go, the only others I'm aware of feature classic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley, who played Rotaryfest for the second straight year last month, but first with this stage officially being used as Stage 2. The band's own YouTube channel posted this video of them playing a cover (ironically given the stage) of Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction", as filmed by attendee Brian Sequeira, which may have been their set opener. Fun rendition of this song by the psychedelic garage rock veterans, and Brian had a good angle with zoom used where needed, so check it out below!


The other known video of The Uncanny Valley actually comes from a festival highlights video by attendee Pushpendra Singh, whose YouTube channel has a lot of informational and recap content to spotlight events, attractions, and perks of living in/visiting Sault Ontario, especially to Indian immigrants. The video is all-encompassing for Saturday events at the festival, so you'll often hear music where you can't see it, but Pushpendra does get lots of panning shots of  the festival grounds, concert attendees, and more, so it's a good excuse to see everything in a brief span! Clips of The Uncanny Valley can be seen in the first couple of minutes and especially for a minute+ at the very end, but he also filmed featured Stage 1 performers Queen Flash for about 90 seconds of clips in the middle. Pushpendra isn't always easy to hear, but his video is excellent, and I'd love to see more of the footage! Give it a look below!


We'll close today with more videos of the Montreal-based Queen tribute band that was this year's featured touring band, and we're coming full circle via returning to the aforementioned Chris Paci's YouTube channel to show them! Chris filmed five videos of Queen Flash on Stage 1, including them playing both "We Will Rock You" & "We Are The Champions", "Another One Bites The Dust", "Radio Ga Ga", "I Want It All", and as embedded below, "Bohemian Rhapsody". It is worth noting that Queen Flash actually perform the entirety of "Bohemian Rhapsody" live rather than do what the real Queen does, omitting the acapella intro and using a recording of the operatic "Scaramouche" bridge, so it's up to you if you want to scrutinize extra. Regardless, it's a tough and complex song, and Queen Flash do an admirable job! Very solid work by Johnny Zatylny and crew on these six classic songs, so give them a look!

We are still not done with Rotaryfest videos, so Bone Yard and Mustang Heart fans, do not worry, but that's all for today, and stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

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