In this post, we're wrapping up this weekend's concert previews with a special event featuring a band reunion, but the rest of this post references one of the performers' current group, so here's what you should know!
Here's one more weekend concert preview for TONIGHT, as a bunch of familiar faces will join forces at The Dive Gastro Pub! Advertised by the venue as the "jam night for Joy" (the Facebook event page treats it as a normal concert), this special event is the culmination of today's celebration of life for Joy MacMillan, the late mother of Spades GT/ex-Haggith guitarist Daniel Horton, whose support was clear and instrumental throughout her son's local band work in the 2010s, as his friends and bandmates will be well aware of. Joy passed away in late November, but after a GoFundMe campaign, her celebration of life proper takes place today at the Holiday Inn Express (the former Days Inn) from 2:00-6:00 PM, but the concert portion takes place at around 9:00 PM with an advertised reunion of Mike Haggith & The Din, albeit their 2013-2014 acid jam/improv incarnation featuring Daniel alongside Mike & Curtis McKenzie.
It will be nice to see 3/4ths of the core Haggith lineup back for a night, albeit under sad circumstances, and hopefully they recapture early Din sets well in Joy's memory! Curt will also play a solo set tonight (presaging his full solo gig there next week), while Dan's former Jack Spades bandmate Rob Speers will also bring his acoustic solo act there tonight, fresh off playing at The Dive on Thursday. This special 19+ concert has no advertised cover charge, as well as refreshments and a cash bar, though seating will be limited. Visit the above links for more on what should be a special night for Daniel and his family, here's the original Din live, and R.I.P. Joy!
Next up, let's pivot to Daniel's current work in Spades GT, so what are the local/Barrie crossover thrash band up to this year/month so far? You can find out some of that info here, as drummer Tyler Reiner took part in with the Niagara Falls-based music promotion company Sofa City Sounds on January 2nd! This was streamed on Sofa City Sounds' Facebook page, and ignore that the video description says that the interview was with Black Absinthe, they labelled the wrong group. If Sofa City sounds familiar, it's because Tyler and frontman J.D. Pearce were interviewed by owner/host Amanda Schilz (and her son!) back in December 2023, and you can watch that 48 minute video at this link. A year+ later, Tyler flew solo for this remote interview, which starts with Amanda reminiscing on the first time that she saw Spades live and other related topics. We next get hype for Spades GT's first concert of 2025, which saw them play at Walterstock III.
Two days after this interview was posted, Spades joined twenty-three other bands to pay tribute to beloved GTA metalhead Walter Froebrich at The Rockpile in Toronto once again, and this discussion leads to some good personal discussion about connectivity and personal interactions among the metal community there, plus coming and going into music and awareness of it, and having the drive and passion to get your name out there and also support other local-to-you bands. Eventually, Tyler does bring up the band's eventful 2024 and plans to return to the studio next month to record their next studio album, as well as plugging some of the band's radio airplay in Southern Ontario last year, while also opening the floodgates to promoters to book them in 2025, especially in markets that they haven't played at before. Following some more Walterstock promotion, Tyler plugs what they have for sale and what they hope to have to sell soon, especially the new CD.
The band's lineup is credited about 52 minutes into the interview, with the bassist search still ongoing at the time, and J.D. was supposed to take part in this year's Sofa City Sounds interview too but couldn't due to commitments with his day job. Most of the rest of the interview is casual conversation and reiterating 2025 plans for Spades GT, but Tyler does reference how he's not the first drummer of the band, crediting their beginnings in the Soo as Jack Spades in the 2010s, and how appreciative he is to be brought into the fold. While Amanda's son didn't help in the interview this time (though pets stopped by on both ends), this was another fun interview for Spades fans! Most of it was admittedly just Tyler and Amanda talking about the scene at large and personal experiences, and not a lot of ground is covered that fans didn't already know from 2024 postings and interviews, but it's a solid and laid back watch that you can check out below!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!
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