The Dodge This Concert Preview, Headf1rst Updates, And More News & Notes!!

Here's a surprise news post on this Saturday evening! This came together quickly because of a show that completely slipped me by for this weekend's hard rock concert previews despite covering it when first announced on here, so rounding things out, we have new updates from a prominent local band, and lots of shorter updates. Let's get things rolling before the hockey game!

My apologies for the delay in this preview making the SMS, but local acoustic hard rock duo Dodge This will hit the stage TONIGHT at The Dive Gastro Pub! We had covered these shows when first announced by the venue on April 3rd, but they completely slipped me by among other posts and previews this weekend, not helped by the fact that they haven't updated their Facebook page this month at all. At least I got to it with time to spare, and apologies again for the late preview! This will be Dodge This' first publically advertised concert since they rocked The Water Tower Pub just over a month ago, and comes three weeks after they dropped out of their planned April 5th date in "The Naughty Corner" (Tym Morrison replaced them on short notice), though singer/guitarist Jason Taillefer did play a solo date at The Dive in the interim. Good to see Dodge This back, and hopefully Jay & Jamie deliver lots of fun rocking covers!

Note that The Dive did not reference occasional percussionist Jeff July (Jamie's brother) in their newest Facebook plug for tonight's event, which has a 9:30 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Dodge This live!

Next up, here's the latest from local hard rock quintet Headf1rst, which isn't a typo, as they have officially replaced the letter I with a number 1 in their name! This goes along with their official logo anyway, but the name change appears to be similar to that of Bone Yard 225: Keep the existing branding but make it more unique to distinguish themselves from similarly named groups elsewhere. Works well enough for me, but when will Facebook update the band name? Yesterday, Headf1rst released the first single from next month's sophomore album "Road Trippin'" to major streaming services, with the song in question being "Slay The Dragon", which is "a passion filled, action-packed joy ride" conceived by bassist Claire Jeffrey. This was produced by Treble Charger's Bill Priddle (who guests on additional guitar) and was recorded at Unsalted Audio with mixing by Dustin Goodall, who has also been working with Convergence in recent weeks.

Another teaser clip for the album, song to be clarified, can be heard in this Facebook "Reel"  hyping a "listening party" to be live streamed on Vintage Games N' Junque's Facebook page on Tuesday featuring select material from "Road Trippin'" and the bands opening for Headf1rst at the release party/Steel City Collector Con pre-party on May 3rd, plus an interview with Headf1rst. That should be interesting, so stay tuned for more on that next week! The cover art for "Road Trippin'" can be seen above in Facebook advertising for a raffle at the Soo Blaster-hosted concert, where winners will win all three acts' newest albums. Exciting times for Headf1rst, so see above for more details, and here's "Slay The Dragon"!

Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:

 

• I have removed local punk band F.F.B. from our inactive band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook page, which was their only known social media account. A revival of a 1999-2000 band featuring Telephone & Address' Christopher Shoust and Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda, F.F.B. had reunited in 2016 to release a film about the band's original 1999-2000 run and put out their unreleased studio material, but there was little follow-up on these plans. Hopefully we hear more from Chris, Damjan, and Kyle in time!
• In their first Facebook post in over a month, local southern hard rock quartet Fort Creek revealed yesterday that they are "currently plugging away at what will be our second release", namely an original song named "Sweet Rosie" that will serve as their first "full band song", as opposed to the acoustic "One For The Road". Good to hear that the guys are busy behind the scenes, and we'll let you know when more on this song and/or their long-gestating debut album come out! Also, is "Sweet Rosie" a reference to the former Roosevelt Hotel? We'll know for sure soon!
• This year's Fringe North Festival has been postponed due to "unexpectedly diminshed leadership capacity and reduced funding", as per the festival's Facebook page. While not a SMS-amenable haven, occasional punk acts have performed the diverse & multicultural arts festival, which had been held in August at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum post-pandemic (with punk solo act Slumshine being most prominent in our coverage there). In its stead, Fringe North will instead host a "New Works Series" in conjunction with the Museum, and we await details on what this will entail, let alone if the Fringe North of old will return in 2026. Hopefully things work out regardless!
• As of April 6th, new local industrial metal solo act The Realignment Project had finished recording their second EP "The Frustration Sessions", as per updates to their Facebook page, and as of April 18th, project leader Matt Hicks was "waiting for the EP to hit streaming services" while also working on lyric videos for YouTube for its songs. A sample for the lyric video of the song "Static" was shared in this Facebook "Reel" (unembeddable as always), but I'll hold comment pending the EP's eventual release. Things can come together very fast for a one man band like this, so stay tuned for more on The Realignment Project's sophomore release!
• At the Room 206-headlined reunion concert at Soo Blaster earlier this month, they were indeed represented by their classic lineup (Mike Yorke, Brad "Example" Lacell, and Allan Watson) alongside guitarist Dave Bahun, who wasn't on "2 Innies & An Outie" but performed with them in later concerts and material, and also joined Brad in The Inner City Surfers that night. Our source is photos from SooToday's Donna Hopper's Facebook photo album from the concert, featuring 54 shots from the night's punk festivities, albeit all black & white. Great pictures as always from Donna, and stay tuned for more from this huge reunion show next week!
• Last week, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 shared a "Reel" of them covering Poison's "Nothing But A Good Time" at Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s Tap Room on April 12th onto their Facebook page! The short, vertical, and unembeddable trappings of "Reels" aside, Silent 9 sound good in this brief clip while it lasts, and you get a nice view of the unique staging at they have at the downtown craft brewery here, so give it a watch above, and don't miss Silent 9 at The Esquire Club in two weeks!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next, for sure! Thanks everyone!

Tidal Records' "Junk In The Trunk" Compilation CD Review!!

It's now time for our 190th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and with nothing brand new on sale this month from heavier or punk acts from the area, let's take a dip into the archives for an album that I've surprisingly never talked about in great detail here. In honour of this month's Room 206 reunion concert at Soo Blaster, this review is of "Junk In The Trunk", a December 2003 compilation album put out by the original punk-centric version of Tidal Records, the indie label led by Inner City Surfers frontman/Bookclub bassist Dustin Jones. The first CD release from Tidal, this was produced and engineered by Dustin and his long-time bandmate Dave "soanso" Bahun, with mixing by Eric Harry and mastering done at Umbrella Sound Studios in Toronto. This punk-leaning compilation features songs from five bands featuring local talent (one being Room 206), each contributing 1-3 songs apiece, as well as a title track featuring multiple musicians and a bonus track.

Unfortunately, the liner notes for the CD do not list complete performer credits on each song, just who wrote them, but Dave and fellow Surfers mainstay Mikey Hawdon (on drums) are credited for "guest appearances on various tracks". I won't assume who is/isn't on given songs unless I'm very certain, but expect commonalities from local punk musicians of the late 1990s and early 2000s. "Junk In The Trunk" has been out of print for over 20 years, but the CD cost $15 at the time. A YouTube copy has been online for three years, but it has bare bones information, two songs mistakenly cut off, and no bonus track, so I have re-posted the whole thing on the SMS' YouTube channel, and songs below are linked to the copies in that upload. No copyright infringement is intended whatsoever, all credit goes to the original musicians! With eleven songs running for about 36 minutes, let's take a long overdue look at the junk in Tidal Records 1.0's trunk! 

Apologies in advance for any errors on band particulars, I wasn't following local bands yet in 2003. This album is opened by Brad Example & The Role Models, the band led by Surfers bassist Brad "Example" Lacell, which was sporadically active from at least 2003-2014 before his move out of town. Mel Radke and Brad's Love & Rehab bandmate Alexis Mantello are credited for providing backing vocals on their lone offering on this CD, namely "365", which was once re-recorded for MySpace in 2006. If you're familiar with the grittier, bluesier songs on Surfers albums with Brad singing, you'll be right at home on this song, which has a country ambiance to the guitar work while still having a punk edge, plus well suited lyrics. The backing vocals do somewhat clutter the sound when implemented, but it's a tight number that fans of Brad's solo material will get a kick out of, and it's nice to hear a Role Models studio track again!

Brad returns next for the first of three offerings by his Toronto punk band Love & Rehab, who (at the time) also featured singer/guitarist Mike Theriault and drummer Alexis Mantello, all originally from the Soo. Modern readers may recall Love & Rehab for their reunion set at The Inner City Surfers' own reunion concert at LopLops in August 2019, and from a PositiveSoo article at the time. Mike & Alexis wrote their contributions to "Junk In The Trunk", with the first being "Moonshiner", which is a somewhat laid back power pop number with a catchy guitar riff. I'd have really boosted Mike's vocals in the mix, as his vocals are not very prominent beneath the instruments, but this is a fun track for what it is, and the talent is definitely on display to write a song that sticks in your head with strong melodies! If only Mike's singing was louder. Third up on the CD is Dustin Jones' Toronto-based punk band Sideblinder, who had a more prominent run in the GTA from 2008-2013 that did receive some light attention in SMS posts.

While Sideblinder featured Salads alumni in their lineup during that later run, I don't 100% know who joined Dustin in this band as of 2003. Their first of two songs here is "Banished", and there will be obvious Inner City Surfers comparisons here with Dustin at the mic, but this is more of a direct punk number without their folksy influences, so if you like the punk sides of the Surfers, don't bypass this one. Again, guitar melodies shine here, and it's a well written number that calls to mind Dustin's prolific local band work while standing on its own, and the percussion is solid while it lasts too! Fourth up are The Varsity Street Kids, a rock band led by former Bombed Squad/Big Kahunas guitarist Pat Suriano, who is the only credited writer for their two offerings on this album, and also designed the album artwork. No other 100% confirmed band member credits are given, but Dustin is definitely helping on backing vocals, at the very least.

Their first song here is also the longest on "Junk In The Trunk", namely the 6+ minutes-long "On The Cusp". Tidal compared Pat's music here to that of Dinosaur Jr. at the time, and you do get some of that on this laid back, deliberately paced alt-rock with some of the easiest lyrics yet to actually pay attention to. Pat's downbeat but pointed lead vocals suit the song's pacing, and while not at the pace and energy of earlier punk-leaning songs, but the chorus is really overdone, and I don't think this song really needed to be as long as it is, as it does get repetitive. Nice change of pace though, and it's have been interesting to hear this band more had they lived into The Sault Metal Scene's inception! We hit the halfway point next with the return of Love & Rehab, whose second song here is named "Change". A rollicking and way more punk-inspired number than "Moonshiner" was, this again suffers in the mix, but not just vocally, as the instrumentation is really muddled.

It's not a bad song at all though, and for my musical tastes, it's more of an intense, in-your-face track from Love & Rehab with effective guitar moments and strong drumming! I just wish the parts came together more individually and that it was easier to really pick out Mike's vocals, which haven't been problems with the other bands on offer. The last of the five unique bands here is next, namely local punk staples Room 206, whose only song here ("Last Stance") was their first new song release in about eight years, but I don't believe this particular reunion lasted very long. Singer/guitarist Mike Yorke and bassist Brad Lacell are your credited writers here, while guitarist Dave Bahun and drummer Allan Watson likely rounded things out in terms of their lineup. By far the most intense punk song on offer, fans of skate punk will be right at home with Mike's melodic yet edged vocals, chugging bass, and quick paced verses, so Room 206 fans will have no worries!

Dave gets the best chance to shine yet on "Last Stance" via one of his trademark guitar solos, something that punk needs more of in general. Definitely a highlight for me on "Junk In The Trunk", and yes, we will have video footage from their reunion concert earlier this month in an upcoming news post! The next three songs are all from returnees from the album's first half, starting with Sideblinder's second song "Split End", which is a much more reserved track than "Banished" that does call to mind softer Surfers and Rising Tide songs, but with more of an alternative rock bent, almost like it was written with rock radio in mind. The louder and fuller chorus does feel more distinct from his bigger bands in particular, and the drumming is really good throughout! A solid change of pace if you wanted to hear a Dustin-fronted band with less of an emphasis on folk or punk, so don't bypass it on this stacked compilation disc!

The Varsity Street Kids' second song is next, namely "Deep Breaths", and this is a much faster and shorter song than "On The Cusp", but still harbours Pat's somewhat maudlin and low singing. There is definitely more of a punk influence here (I was kinda reminded of Husker Du a bit), and the song definitely feels more at home with its discmates than the previous, complete with a brief guitar solo, but the vocals will be an acquired taste compared to the music. Good stuff though! The last song on this CD from a credited band is Love & Rehab's third and final song, namely "The Ruiner", which takes a lot more cues from Brad's solo music than their first two, with a country-inspired guitar riff and pacing. While not ideal for my musical preferences, this song has by far Mike's clearest vocals, so that counts for a lot! At the same time, his higher vocal range is not a clean fit on a classic country/blues number.

"The Ruiner" is just aching for Brad's gravelly delivery, and I wouldn't be against hearing him do a solo version of it nowadays. Not a bad song for genre fans, but aside from the better vocal mix, it's not really for me. The last credited song is the album's title track "Junk In The Trunk", which was recorded by a supergroup of then-Tidal Records artists who appear elsewhere on this CD. The three credited writers are Dustin Jones, Mike Theriault, and Al Watson, but the credited performers are simply given as "Many". Gauging this against the nine full-band songs is pointless because this is an extremely loose and carefree acoustic jam with performers simultaneously singing on this casual acoustic jam. This would play well as a night-ending song to have a beer or two with, and you really have to take it for what it is, so it's fun in that way! Lots of cross-talk and background discussion too, but the song does probably run a minute or two too long, as it kind of loses its way late.

Still, this is a pleasant closer that fans and friends of the original Tidal Records and Surfers-adjacent bands will definitely enjoy at base level! A 63 seconds-long bonus track rounds out the CD and is not advertised on the physical copies. It has an answering machine message of what sounds like a sped up song played by an ice cream truck while someone interjects with brief dialogue, saying what sounds like "You won't" a few times, and ending with "That's right". I really don't know what to make of this, and I assume I'm missing some type of inside joke from 2003, but look for the bonus track at the end of the disc!

So, what are my final thoughts on "Junk In The Trunk"? I liked it for the most part, and it captures a window in time into what The Inner City Surfers were up to in other bands and projects during their early run! The original Tidal Records didn't last very long (they first fell inactive in 2005 before Dustin relaunched the label with a less punk-centric focus in 2013), but they had a strong core talent roster at the time, with all five included bands offering up entertaining original music for this compilation. Room 206's skate punk song was my favourite, while Sideblinder will definitely be a fun listen for fans of Dustin's bands, Brad & The Role Models kept things familiar for fans of Brad's modern Atikokan-era solo music, Love & Rehab showed good diversity on their three cuts, and The Varsity Street Kids put Pat's unique vocals to good use on two very different songs, so there's a lot to like from these five bands!

The title track is a fun little farewell/summative number for fans of this era/rotation of bands too, but don't rate it 100% against the preceding cuts. In terms of issues... the vocal mix on Love & Rehab's first two songs was far from ideal, "On The Cusp" was way too long, I really didn't get the bonus track at all, and I'd have tried to have more of an even split of bands on the final copy (as in, have everyone perform two songs, or give one of Love & Rehab's slots to Room 206 or The Role Models). At the same time, a Surfers song may have helped the retrospective awareness of "Junk In The Trunk", but the focus was put on newer and reunited bands, and it was a good idea (even if the liner notes don't have full credits). This now-rare compilation is a strong album of cuts from the early days of Tidal Records, so definitely give it a listen at the above links, and I hope you liked this month's CD review!

Next month, we will we will return back to 2025 for a brand new album review, as we'll next look at HeadFirst's second album "Road Trippin'", which comes out at its release party on May 3rd! Look for that next month, and for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Generations & Bookclub) Plus The Robbie G/Apocalypse Afterparty Preview!!

Let's finish up this weekend's hard rock concert previews on this rainy Friday, but leading off, we do have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE, so here's what you should know!

Local alt-punk bands The Northwest and BookcluB will join forces TOMORROW at the Downtown Plaza for the Elbows Up celebration! Apologies for the short notice, I only heard anything about local music involvement yesterday via Facebook plugs, but the event proper has been advertised in local news media for a few weeks now. TOMORROW's event is one of many "Elbows Up" events designed to promote Canadian sovereignty and national pride in the wake of the current political climate/trade war with the United States. The event is intended to be family friendly, non-political, and positive, and as such, expect t-shirt sales (red & white clothing is encouraged), celebrations and gatherings, and local indigenous dancers and drum groups in the afternoon. Timeslots aren't given, but the bands (including the reunited funk/jam rock band Big Wheel & The Spokes) were described on Facebook as playing the "after party", so don't expect them early.

Good to see The Northwest and BookcluB back out there after their relatively quiet starts to 2025! MCed by Spokes frontman Jay Case, TOMORROW'S Elbows Up celebration is a free and all ages event, and coincides with a similar Bridging Our Friendship event in Sault Michigan near the International Bridge tomorrow to show support to Sault Ontario amidst the trade war and strained relations (this is also simultaneously happening in Detroit and Port Huron). I hope both events are peaceful shows of support for both Canada and our relationship with Sault Michigan, as none of what's going on now is either Soo's fault! Weather-wise, we're looking at 7-9° weather TOMORROW afternoon with clouds disappearing by the evening, and no chance of rain. Visit the above links and SooToday for more details, and here's BookcluB live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to the stage with concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday, May 16th and Saturday, May 17th! Yes, these shows fall on the Victoria Day ("May 2-4") long weekend, and will be joined by the band (sans singer Valerie Powley) hosting the Thursday jam night on the 15th as well. Remember that we don't cover jam/open mic nights as "concerts" due to their unpredictability. These will be Generations' first concerts after taking this month off from the stage, so it will be good to see the Jus' Chillin successors back at it with their fan favourite classic and hard rock covers next month! These remain 9:30 PM gigs with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Beyond that, drummer Tony Santoro also announced on their Facebook group that Generations have been tapped as this year's headliners for The Roberta Bondar Pavilion's Canada Day festivities on Tuesday, July 1st, which could be their biggest show of the year!

Details are forthcoming on the day's complete itinerary, but last year, the stage under the big tent hosted live entertainment (not all musicians) from 2:00 PM onward, with The Way Backs doing the closing honours last year. Click here to see what 2024's schedule looked like. The Canada Day show will be FREE & ALL AGES, with Generations playing at around 8:00 PM, give or take when fireworks occur. Huge news for Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre, and hopefully they deliver a solid evening of covers (ideally with lots of Cancon) for the occasion! Visit the above links for more details on Generations' impending dates, and we'll let you know if we hear more!

Finally for this post, let's wrap up this weekend's concert previews with a big mixed-genre show on SUNDAY NIGHT at Soo Blaster, as local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will again serve as outliers on an otherwise rap bill, once again opening for Guelph rapper Robbie G! This will be the fifth time that the Stanghettas & Mikhal have set up shop as the lone rock outpost at a Soo Blaster hip-hop event, previously doing so at shows headlined by Tech N9ne, Madchild, Afroman, and the aforementioned Robbie G, who last graced the Soo Blaster stage at the end of 2023. Clearly, these rap shows are giving The A.A. some strong positive notices, so hopefully there's more of the same for their guitar devoid & double bassed attack! DJ Bizick will be at the controls on Sunday, while other rappers performing on Sunday include No Filter Records representatives, Bold Noize, 1Don, Strangers, Q-Bone, and new confirmation KG Tha Sungod, who was confirmed on Eventbrite.

I'm not a hip-hop scholar, but there's a lot of talent among Sunday's roster, and it is great to see Bold Noise performing again, so don't miss out on all of this rap action then, with a dash of rock! Tickets are $20 in advance at Soo Blaster for general admission (it is all ages), while there are higher priced V.I.P. packages if you wanted merchandise, a chance to meet Robbie G, and perhaps more. Click here for full details on online tickets and V.I.P. passes, though there will be taxes and processing fees that way. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Half Past) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

For this last concert weekend of April 2025, things are just busy enough to spill our hard rock weekend concert previews into a second post, so Sunday's Robbie G-headlined rap show (featuring The Apocalypse Afterparty as openers) will be previewed in tomorrow's post. Otherwise, here's what you should know for Saturday (nothing heavier tomorrow, oddly), starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT at a new-ish locale!

Local hard rock quartet Half Past will hit the stage for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT at... Beck's Bar? Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the band's Facebook page yesterday, but there is a good reason for the show to be on late notice, as Beck's only opens its doors tonight! Beck's Bar (named for owner Becky Sawyer) is located at 232 Goulais Avenue beside/below the Polish Canadian Hall, which SMS readers will best know from its run as The Vibe Lounge from 2010-2011 (and previously as the Stir Pub in the mid-2000s). It is neat to see someone give another kick at making this west end venue a thing again, and Becky seems to have big plans in mind for the nightclub! Like at Shooters Downstairs Lounge, bands are only scheduled at Beck's on Saturday nights, with Fridays devoted to DJ nights, though they will also be hosting acoustic matinee performers on Saturdays and Sundays.

Visit Beck's Bar's Facebook page for details on the launch and more particulars about this new-ish local nightclub! Surprisingly, this will be Half Past's first show of 2025, last having played at Soo Blaster in October, so hopefully the guys rock the stage well on SATURDAY in 232 Goulais' return to hosting live rock bands after fourteen years! Enjoy their hard rocking covers on SATURDAY NIGHT at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on the show and Beck's Bar, and for a preview, here's Half Past live!

Next up, here's three more shows on SATURDAY that did have advance notice, and we'll start with that day's matinee gig from local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who will be rocking Misty's Fifties that day! While we're on the subject, it appears that Tym has cancelled his planned May 3rd matinee at The Fraternal Order Of Eagles Club, as per its quiet removal from the batch Facebook event page for his spring shows there. A reason for the cancellation wasn't announced, but he will be back at the Wellington Street West venue for another matinee on May 17th, and if you really can't wait, why not come to Misty's in two days' time? Tym's unplugged rock cover attack will return to Second Line West at least twice more next month, but Saturday's show should deliver the classics and hard rock favourites in the short term! This is a 19+ event with no cover charge and a 4:00 PM matinee start time.

Visit the Misty's show's official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a new revision of an old original song for his YouTube channel! Tym had originally posted his song "His Sacrifice" on YouTube back in 2012, but I didn't offer my thoughts then because he was (at the time) working on his still-unreleased second album again. Lyrically about Jesus Christ (Tym's faith has been very important to him since) and featuring another video full of AI and stock footage content, this is a full-on classic metal song with catchy galloping riffs and a quality guitar solo, so fans of Tym's metal originals will be right at home here! Give it a listen below!

Also in early concert action on SATURDAY, let's head to Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard, where local hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun will take the stage for a rare matinee concert of their own! For reasons unknown to me, the former Joe's Bar will be hosting the Fake Chow successors in the 4:00-8:00 PM matinee timeslot, and while a double booking with a separate group on Saturday night would be the most logical explanation, the venue hasn't advertised a nighttime concert then on social media. In any event, this appears to be a one-off matinee booking for Unfortunate Sun, as their Huck's stops in July and November will be in the normal 9:00 PM timeslot. Early or not, Unfortunate Sun should rock the stage with their hard hitting covers, so don't miss out on all of the action in Rudyard! This is a 21+ show with no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Unfortunate Sun live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head back to Sault Ontario for one of the two big concerts with touring acts at Soo Blaster this weekend, as Sudbury-based Def Leppard tribute band Just Leppard will return to town THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Hair and glam metal fans will have seen this talented tribute thrice here from 2019-2022, but in the interim, the Kuthy brothers instead brought their Rush tribute band Rust here for a gig last year, while a planned double bill between them and Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band Saturday Night Special in 2023 was cancelled outright. While I'm not a massive Def Leppard fan, Just Leppard pay strong homage to their 1980s hits, and if you're one to listen to The Hair Scare on Saturday nights, there's no better show to attend this weekend! This "80's Rock Party" has an 8:00 PM start time, no age limit, and tickets running for $25 at Soo Blaster and at this link (plus processing fees and taxes there).

This show is cheaper than the cancelled 2023 show would have been, though this time, there's only Just Leppard advertised. If you wait to pay admission at the door, the price will jump to $35. Just Leppard's entertaining and faithful take on Def Leppard should get another strong attraction in their fourth Soo date, so see above for more details, and here they are live!

That's all for today, but look for our Robbie G/Apocalypse Afterparty preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Spades GT Updates From March-April 2025!!

It's been almost a month, so let's take another gander into what local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT have been up to as of late! When we last left off with them, we were noting the fallout from their set at the Steve Edwin McLeod tribute concert at The Rockpile in Toronto on March 14th, and if you want something much longer, more horizontal, and less restrictive than a "Reel", then good news! Attendee Jake Disman (who has filmed Spades GT at multiple concerts since 2023) was on hand to film bands across the whole night for his YouTube channel, and while he curiously mixed up the bands for individual staggered uploads rather than posting them in performance order, five videos of the former Jack Spades can be seen there, capturing all seven of their songs. Our first full, raw, and unedited looks at the band with new bassist Sean MacNab, the videos on Jake's channel include "Final Girl", their new song "United", ...

..."Cenobites", "Sewer City Radio", and as embedded below, their three openers "They Live", "Rise", and "Succubus" in one upload. Jake did note in the videos' descriptions that bands playing this concert donated their time for the occasion, and a dog rescue charity got all of the proceeds from it, so kudos to Spades and all involved for paying tribute to Steve in the best way they could!  The videos were all filmed from a high stationary vantage point, and while the audio can be somewhat muffled, we get a great view of the stage throughout Spades' and other bands' videos. Everyone sounds good, Sean fits in well, and Matthew's stage presence is great, so give these brand new videos a watch above & below!

Now, Spades GT did post a separate edit of "Succubus" from this night to their Facebook page on April 1st (definitely not a prank), combining Jake's footage with that of ZigSeven's Dave Galante, who also filmed the guys at Walterstock in January. While well edited with cool post-production effects, I'm actually not going to embed that video here because Dave again included his raw footage from this concert in its own lengthy YouTube video, as he did at Walterstock. If you want to jump straight to J.D., Dan, Tyler, Matt, and Sean in action, you'll want to head to the 1:04:19 mark of this 2 hours & 43 minutes long video, and their complete 20 minute set was included in order, so what did Dave capture last month? He is literally walking to the stage as Spades' set begins, and in order, you'll see them playing "They Live", "Rise", "Succubus", "Final Girl", "United", "Cenobites", and "Sewer City Radio". The closer mobility of Dave & his camera leads to some solid angles!

Seeing these in unedited performance order does emphasize the fact that Spades GT were playing on a packed lineup with relatively strict set times, and while they crammed seven songs into their timeslot, you can tell that they were rushing somewhat (J.D.'s between-song banter and introductions can be very hard to hear due to how fast he's talking). Still good stuff, let alone of the night's other bands, so see what you missed in Toronto last month below, with Spades' set coming on 64 minutes in!

After picking fans' brains as to what cities they should play at next and what bands they should share the stage with, Spades GT revealed on Facebook on March 28th that "we have been rocking to the new mixes of the new album & it's fire", while "big things are happening with the new record, and announcements are inbound soon". On April 14th, the guys announced their next concert date, which will see them and two other bands open for drummer Tyler Reiner's old Toronto melodic death metal band Selias at The Queens Nightclub in their current Barrie homebase on Wednesday, June 11th. Readers may recall Selias from headlining locally at Soo Blaster twice in the past year, and it will be neat to see them share the stage with Spades GT this summer, albeit from 6 hours away! Also newly confirmed is their set at Rye Fest 5, a big multi-band concert taking place outside of Rye Field Studios in Brantford, on Saturday, August 9th.

Spades GT fans may recall seeing the guys play at Rye Field for the studio's YouTube channel back in late 2023, as well as taking part in an interview and other video content, and you can see all of that at this link. As far as I can tell, bands playing at Rye Fest are past favourites from Rye Field's social media uploads. Should be a good time, so keep it in mind for later this summer if you'll be in Southern Ontario! Nothing major has turned up from the guys since, with their newest Facebook postings being part of a series of "100 days of thanks", where they thank a person a day for their support, coverage, input, or collaborations with/of the band. If they don't skip any days or give up on the conceit outright, this will run until July 27th, and while that could mean nothing, the band did note that their new album is slated for release in July in the caption of their recap "Reel" from the Toronto show last month.

Could the "100 days of thanks" be a covert countdown for the album release, or just coincidental good will? We'll know in due course, but keep July in mind for the new Spades GT record, and visit the above links for more from their camp, and stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

New Videos From & Prior To Recent Concerts, Plus Upcoming Event Details!!

I hope everyone had a good Easter long weekend! We're back with a full news post on this Easter Monday, including pre-concert teaser videos from a recent extreme metal show, new live footage, and leading off, new details on an upcoming charity event, so here's what you should know!

When we first covered local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225's spring concert calendar on the site last month, I noted that one announced date was a "promo party" for this year's Dragonfly Run motorcycle rally for the Algoma Regional Community Hospice, to take place at the Downtown Plaza on Saturday, May 24th. I listed it in our calendar despite the lack of information, but we can rectify that now, as a Facebook event page has been launched for the event, entitled "Hearts & Horsepower"! This pre-party will see Bone Yard take the stage at the plaza at 12:00 PM, along with a motorcycle show and on-site donations for ARCH, helping set the stage for and promote the Dragonfly Run proper in August, as it enters its tenth year, third as the Dragonfly Run, and second at The Grand Gardens. Weather permitting (covered stage for bands acknowledged), hopefully this is a great time to help get the word out for the rally!

Hearts & Horsepower has a 10:00 AM-2:00 PM timeframe, no age limit, and no cover charge, though if you want information as to how to display/enter your bike into the event, contact Bone Yard 225 and/or frontman Greg Simpson on Facebook for details. This should be a fun event for motorcycle and/or rock fans alike, and hopefully ARCH gets some much needed donations before the big event takes place later this summer, so visit the above links for more details on this Dragonfly Run pre-party!

Next up, here's some videos of two bands from Friday night's The Pit metal concert at Soo Blaster, albeit not of the actual show itself (yet). We'll start with headlining death/thrash metal trio Pillory, who posted one more rehearsal/jam session video to their Facebook page on Saturday as "a nugget for everyone until we get some edits of the show up". The video sees Robert, Blair, and Bret playing an instrumental take of their newer original song "A Drop Of Shame In An Ocean of Guilt". While filmed in the same place as their "Specimen Of Egotism" video from the 14th, this was clearly shot at night, but this new video is both better and worse visually. The lighting is cooler for a metal performance, and nicely accentuates Bret's kit, and we're not staring at Blair's back for the duration here, albeit because he's sitting for the duration. Still not ideal placement, especially as Robert doesn't step into frame of the camera at all. He's definitely there, so why not move the camera?

This song is suitably brutal and heavy for fans of Pillory's, and it does have a fittingly dark quality to it to go along with the lighting, but will we see it in their teased official video content from Soo Blaster on Friday? We should find out soon, but check out this new rehearsal clip below!

Also, here's the rest of the pre-debut hype "Reels" from local progressive/djent metal quartet Convergence's Facebook page in the lead-up to The Pit on Friday! In their pre-concert "Reel" from April 12th, things start with the guys having fun during rehearsals (including new singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio standing "like Elliot", a reference lost on me), before we see screenshots of band members' conversations, leading into guitarist Jake Valois acknowledging curveballs on their road to their debut gig. While they were able to run through the whole set together with vocals, band members were also falling ill so it was tough to get everyone in the same room. Jake felt good about everything by the end, though! The last two "Reels" were posted after The Pit came and went, starting with this one featuring the guys (minus Jake) rehearsing for the show on Wednesday, which is a light watch without major scoops.

The last "Reel" (which I'd embed here if I was able to embed "Reels" externally) features Convergence  hanging out at Soo Blaster in preparation for their set. Mostly very light for content but there are some brief glimpses of familiar faces not in Convergence, including a couple of split second views of Pillory's headlining set, strongly hinting that someone in or affiliated with Convergence filmed the bands proper on Friday. Drummer David Peredun did acknowledge how well ticket sales went, which is good to see! We'll have more from The Pit and/or Convergence's debut set on the SMS soon, but give these "Reels" a watch for yourselves above!

We'll close today with a brand new video from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down's Facebook page... well, publically shared from drummer Ric Datson's personal Facebook page! This 16 minutes-long video heavily edits together bits of songs played at Jay's Piston Broke Pub over the April 4th-5th weekend (the specific day was not given), but over two dozen songs are excerpted in this montage captured at three camera angles. One is in front of the band, one is an overhead angle like previously seen in their A Flock Of Seagulls cover, and one is a drumcam video of Ric performing. He implied that filming may have been curtailed due to leaving extra camera batteries at home, so keep that in mind. Of course, I'd prefer to see full songs, but at least these are professionally edited (and horizontal) videos, and if you're curious to sample Double Down's current sets with Dan on bass, this is a good way to do it in a relatively short time!

Double Down are currently next slated to rock The Water Tower Pub on Friday, May 2nd (if they have a short notice gig or two this weekend, we'll let you know), so this video will give a taste of the diverse covers and surprise picks to hear from the Syrettes, Dan, and Ric in concert, so give it a watch for yourselves below, and stay tuned for more from their camp!

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

Early Lineup Information For This Year's Northern Vibe Festival!!

The tentative lineup for this year's Northern Vibe Festival has been announced on the festival's Facebook page! Yes, this annual festival on Poplardale Road in nearby Ophir (on the old Hempfest grounds) will indeed return for its tenth annual installment from Friday, August 22nd to Sunday, August 24th, despite hinting last year that 2024 would be its finale, so hopefully there's a strong turnout for year #10! While specifics on Northern Vibe X are to be confirmed, you can get preliminary details at this link, and there will once again be two music stages, including the Roost River Stage for DJs and electronica artists, and the Forest Stage for live bands and musicians of multiple genres (Crank Sound Distribution will return to make everyone on the Forest Stage sound as good as possible). Organizers have emphasized that the lineups for both stages are tentative, but they historically don't mention the daily band schedules right away.

If announced at all, organizers wait until the week of the festival, but remember that bands previously have not played on the Sunday, which was more of a camping/pack-up day. As best as I can tell, Spades GT frontman J.D. Pearce is putting on his old concert promotion hat once again to curate the Forest Stage for a fifth straight year, but who is currently scheduled for this end-of-summer bash? After last year's 10 band program, the tentative lineup actually has 15 bands, including three touring acts, all returnees from prior Northern Vibe lineups. One is Cornwall speed metal group Hellrager (featuring former Spades GT guitarist Jay Sarrazin), who came north for the festival in 2023 before quietly dropping out of last year's event. Fellow Cornwall hard rock band Don't Tell Sarah will make their way to Ophir for a second straight year, and Niagara Falls prog/improv rock trio The Road Waves will also return.

The Road Waves previously played at the festival in 2017-2018 and again in 2022, so it will be good to see their soul/funk-influenced tunes back in our neck of the woods, while more recent fans will enjoy Hellrager & Don't Tell Sarah's hard rock attacks! Two tribute bands are currently scheduled for Northern Vibe X, who will be playing Pink Floyd and Tool songs. The former are 100% Dark Side Of The Soo (the Bourbon Blue side project that played at last year's ARCH Run), as per personal Facebook posts, but I don't know if the Tool tribute is a reunion of Parabol, a different local group, or a touring act. We'll let you know when/if we get clarification! In terms of known local acts, five are returnees from 2024, including alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich (in their fifth straight Northern Vibe), local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his Big Finish Band in their third appearance, and folk/bluegrass band The Golden Scoundrels for their second year.

The other returning band is the rap collective Soundsxvad, who played last year under the name Fvksxvad, and this year, they'll be joined by a separate hip hop outfit named The CSWS Crew. I admit that I don't follow the local rap scene ardently, but I've never heard of The CSWS Crew, so this will be something else that I'll get back to you guys on when public details on them surface! As well, former(?) Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers will return to Northern Vibe after (from my understanding) going solo there last year despite event advertising always crediting The Wyld Stallyns, who have not issued a public update since May of last year. CSWS Crew & tribute bands aside, this year's debuting bands include hard rock quintet HeadFirst (whose new album "Road Trippin'" comes out next month), the possibly one-off Josh Norling Psycho Jazz Infusion (led by the Bookclub/Wyld Stallyns saxophonist), and an acoustic set by a musician named Benny.

At press time, I have no idea which Ben/Benjamin/Benny is being referenced in the advertising, and the most recent ones mentioned on the SMS don't seem like obvious fits, but we'll let you know when/if we hear more! As well, magician Ryan McFarling (a Forest Stage performer in 2023) will be back to perform separately on the main grounds. Conspicuous by their (current?) absences are local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback (who haven't missed a Northern Vibe yet post-pandemic) and any of J.D. Pearce's bands, though he last fronted a band officially there when Spades GT played in 2022. Stay tuned for any potential lineup additions or removals! Northern Vibe X remains a 19+ event taking place rain or shine over the August 23rd weekend, and you can buy tickets at this link for $125 via the Tier 2 weekend pass (there are no single day options). Tier 1 referred to the early bird passes that went on sale before any of the bands were revealed.

Between the hour's drive, off-the-grid nature, and weather/nature-related concerns, the Northern Vibe Festival won't be the most accessible event to attend for many readers, but if this weekend full of live rock music, DJs, and camping piques your interest, do click here for full ground rules and recommendations. If you make it to Ophir in August, you should have a blast, so visit the above links for more details on this year, and we'll let you know (likely on short notice) who's playing on what day! Thanks everyone!