LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 6), Mike Haggith's New Cover, And Last Month's Poll Results!!

Here's a new news post for your Monday, including last month's poll results, a new cover video, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for in a couple of days! Here's what you should know!

Traverse City, Michigan acoustic hard rock trio Project 6 will (as far as I know) make their local concert debut THIS WEDNESDAY when they play a special afternoon set at the Blarney Castle EZ Mart convenience store in nearby Kincheloe! Apologies for the short notice, this concert was previously announced on Project 6 and related bands' concert schedules, but with it's atypical venue and timing, it fell through the cracks. Not to be confused with local hard rockers Project 906, Project 6 is the (typically) unplugged side project from the members of Kewadin Casino lounge regulars Scarkazm, and while they will reportedly be playing with electric instruments on WEDNESDAY (as they have on prior EZ Mart gigs), they will still be playing as Project 6 with that band's setlist. I can't find any reference to Project 6 playing in the Upper Peninsula before, but I'd have never guessed their E.U.P. debut would be in Kincheloe, let alone at a convenience store!

This is part of the ongoing Thank You Party tour of customer appreciation events at EZ Mart locations in Northern Michigan, with free hot dogs and pop for attending customers and fans, among other frills, and this should be a fun mid-week attraction on WEDNESDAY! Note that Saginaw-based Elvis Presley tribute artist Jake Slater is the musical attraction at numerous stops on the EZ Mart tour, including Thursday's in Cedarville, but not in Kincheloe. WEDNESDAY'S concert at 4440 West M-80 is a FREE & ALL AGES event, with Project 6 on at 12:00 PM. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, here's their Facebook promotional video!



Next up, here's the first new solo performance video on local/Manitoba solo hard rock artist Mike Haggith's Facebook page in over two months, namely a cover of Daniel Johnston's "Some Things Last A Long Time"! Thematically inspired by Lana Del Ray's later cover, this is a well performed cover with Mike nicely using his emotional higher register vocal style, so fans of Mike's softer output should get a kick out of this cover1 Give it a look below, and stay tuned for updates on his next solo album!

 

Finally, here's the results for last month's poll on the SMS, where we posed this question to you guys: What was your favourite metal, hard rock, or punk concert in the first half of 2018? Despite including fewer shows, vote totals were unfortunately decreased to match, with only four votes being cast. The results do have a clear winner, so thanks to the four of you who did vote, and here's the final tally as of yesterday's closure!

I Mother Earth at The Machine Shop on April 18th (2 votes, 50%)

Archelon and Doors & Fours at The Rockstar Bar on March 10th (1 vote, 25%)

Big Wreck at The Machine Shop on February 13th (1 vote, 25%)

Joni Radford Benefit at The Canadian on January 13th (0 votes)

Punk Covers Night at LopLops Lounge on March 3rd (0 votes)

Jesse Merineau & The Tide at The Speak Easy on March 22nd (0 votes)

Shit Liver & Stegadeth at The Rednecks Saloon on April 6th (0 votes)

Who Made Who at The Rockstar Bar on April 6th (0 votes)

The Steves & A Dire Setback at LopLops Lounge on May 2nd (0 votes)

Id Iota & Pointless at LopLops Lounge on May 19th (0 votes)

All The Wasted Years at The Rockstar Bar on June 1st (0 votes)

Jesse Stewart & Jack Spades at Low & Slow on June 8th (0 votes)

The Cover-Up at LopLops Lounge on June 15th (0 votes)

The Elements at The Rockstar Bar on June 16th (0 votes)

Go Skateboarding Day at Queen Elizabeth Park on June 21st (0 votes)

Other (0 votes)

What do you guys think? Well, it's clear that, as far as the voters in this poll went, concerts with mutiple out of town headliners won the day here, with all but one going for one of the major Machine Shop hard rock concerts earlier in 2018. Both the Big Wreck and I Mother Earth concerts were well attended major events, so I'm not surprised they did so well, while i was nice to see someone throw a bone to the Archelon concert in March! Given the hype an attendance, I'm particularly surprised that the Jesse Merineau, Shit Liver, and Jesse Stewart shows, plus Go Skateboarding Day, didn't get more attention in the poll, but alas, it's all in who votes. With the massive return of both I Mother Earth and Finger Eleven on the same night in April, I am not surprised at all to see it win this poll, and the three did get a vote will return in our poll on your favourite concerts in all of 2018 early next year. Thanks again to those of you who did vote, and stay tuned for more news and updates this week!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: hmm & TantrymTyme

It's time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, though with a slight change. I'd originally selected the first channel we're looking at today for a one-channel profile, but since I last visited this channel, a number of videos were deleted for unannounced reasons, leaving just 3 videos of 2 distinct types, which is too small to fill a post now. Rather than stretch it too far, I randomly chose a YouTube channel with just one local metal video to fill it out, so for the 4th straight month, we're looking at 2 channels' videos, information, and reasons for subscribing! Without any further adieu, read on below for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! (Edited on October 16th, 2013)
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hmm (http://www.youtube.com/spt2112)

Owner: Former Amethyst/Meatplow drummer Phil Temporao, a.k.a. Sebastien Phily Temporao & Phily S. Tempo

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 31st, 2009; Videos posted between March & May 2011

Channel Summary: Prolific veteran local musucian Phil Temperao maintained this channel in recent years to feature media of his recent local metal projects, including the band originally known as Meatplow and a later solo project named Sebastien 6. Sadly, all of his Meatplow videos have either been deleted or privatized, including some very solid industrial metal jamming and a cover of Judas Priest's "Grinder" that all shown off Phil's uniquely gritty vocals, but now it just features solo performances under the "Sebastien 6" banner from the spring of 2011, including a drum solo and two studio original songs. All were recorded or filmed at his home studio Greentown Digital Studios.

Why Should You Watch: I'd give Phil's YouTube channel a look to see his recent solo material, which is definitely much different from his Amethyst days, but still well performed, and I hope he revisits his music again in the future! That said, I honestly preferred the Meaplow videos, as they were more aggressive and had a unique electronic angle, and hopefully Phil makes them available again down the road! As well, note that I don't think Phil's used this channel in over a year, in case that changes your mind on subscribing.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

drumzsolo.wmv: The earliest of Phil's surviving videos is also his only surviving live video, and it's a drum solo filmed circa March 2011 which appears to be a studio cut named titled "drum grooves/warmupz". Uploaded in a old movie-style sepia filter, it's just over a minute of Phil executing a very nice drum solo, if not blisteringly paced, and it shows his talent nicely! Note though that many of his deleted videos featured him on an electronic drum kit, rather than the more standard one in this video.



SEBASTIEN 6,,,RAIN: Phil's other surviving videos are studio recordings from his Sebastien 6 solo project, including songs named "Evil Drivin'" and (as embedded below) "Rain", which his his most viewed upload of the three. Compared to his Meatplow work, these songs (though heavy) are much softer and more varied in tone, with clean vocals and a bit more repetition in the song structures. I leaned more towards the Meatplow material, but Phil's musical range is at work here, and he can sing cleanly well (though the style used on "evil Drivin'" didn't gel to me.) Each features photo slideshows of Phil, musical instruments, and photos relating to the songs' lyrics, with plenty of effects, while "Rain" also features Phil's brother (and fellow Amethyst alum) Jose "Wales" Temperao on guest guitar, which he impresses on!


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TantrymTyme (http://www.youtube.com/user/tantrumzone)

Owner: A member of Sault Michigan metal band Tantrym Tyme from during their brief tenure as Tantrum following their name change from Abstract (identity otherwise unclear)

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 4th, 2012; Only video posted that same day

Channel Summary: This is/was the official YouTube channel for Tantrum/Tantrym Tyme, but since they updated the page to reflect their current name, there's been no major updates. As such, the channel's only video is of Tantrum playing at a talent show at Sault Area Middle School circa the spring of 2012, seemingly filmed in the school gym from the bleachers, and it has them covering The Kinks' "You Really Got Me", Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know", and Megadeth's "Sweating Bullets"! Featuring singer/guitarist Jacob Hotlen, bassist Mike East, and drummer Ethan Twardy (guitarist Quinton Jacobson hadn't joined yet), the guys' talents for their young ages are on full display (though Jacob's singing is very quiet compared to the heavy covers), and it bridges somewhat from the Abstract era to their slightly heavier current work! Having the sound guy behind the band seems odd though. Note that for more recent & updated Tantrym Tyme videos, check out Jacob's YouTube channel!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, and I apologize again for the late addition this month, I literally only found out about the spt2112 deletions yesterday. So, what's coming up in this series next month? Well, the first channel I randomly selected didn't have three distinct local metal videos, but for the first time since July, we'll be looking at 3 different channels, as the second one we picked didn't have 2! The chosen channels for next month are Woods of Ypres' official VEVO YouTube channel (featuring their last music video), reneepaigefecteau's channel (featuring a Three Days Grace concert video from 2008), and ex-Sense of Truth drummer Ryan Haryett's channel (featuring an S.O.T. video from 2009), so watch out for this on or around February 22nd!  That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news shortly, including lots of videos from the Sebastian Bach concert on Sunday! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

It's new video day at The Sault Metal Scene! I knew I promised new concerts, but I'm waiting for additional confirmation on one scheduled for later this week before I report anything. I have four new videos to share today though, so that's today's top news! We have a new live demo, new solo material, a new song with topical relevance, and this week's classic video, so let's get things rolling!

Brimley hard rockers Half A Man have posted a new jam session video on their YouTube channel, where they play a new original song named "Die In Disgrace"! Audio's great quality, and the song also succeeds! Slower pace, though a bit higher tempo than "Slow Rock 75". Very heavy though, especially the solo break, Denny Breslin sets the song on fire there! This song will go over very well in concert, it fits Half A Man really well, and it's very heavy! The video quality isn't as good as it could be though. I'm not against the black and white setting, but the angle is strange, filming from an angle where you can't really see Gary Croad or Mikey Bishop with any clarity. Good stuff though, Half A Man continue to impress, and check out the new Half A Man video below!



Next up, how'd you guys like an anti-Osama Bin Laden song? I'm sure you're well aware that the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks has been killed by American forces, and to commemorate this major news, Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids epic metal band End of Existence have recorded a new song entitled "Blood On My Hands (Fuck Bin Laden)"! Even without hearing it, you've gotta give them credit for making a song about this news story so soon after it happened! Uploaded onto their YouTube channel yesterday, this song sounds similar to End of Existence's earlier songs, lyrical content aside, which is a good thing! Very heavy with great growling and clean choruses from Orb Hearthstone, and some effective use of news footage at the beginning of the song helps set the intended tone! If you liked End of Existence's older songs, you'll enjoy this song as well, and if you hated Osama Bin Laden, there's extra incentive to check out "Blood On My Hands" below!



Also in new videos, veteran local musician Phil Temperao (ex-Amethyst & Meatplow) has posted a couple new videos onto his YouTube channel! One is a 13 second clip of a song named "Smile", but it doesn't have a lot of details relating to the project performing it. It's also extremely short, and only sounds like the start of "Smile", so I can't offer much about it. The more substantial of the new videos is from his "Sebastien 6" solo project, and it's of a new song named "Evil Driving"! Though a fast paced and hard rocking track, this is more in the mold of his song "Rain" in that it's more melodic and accessible than the harder-edged full band material that we've seen. It feels like a driving song, but Phil's vocals have more of a dreamlike quality, which is an odd contrast. Solid song, I'm interested to see what he has in store next! Check out the song and some nice visual effects and photos right below!



And finally, here is this week's classic video! Once again, I've posted a video of Sault Michigan hard rockers Monkey's Uncle in honour of their upcoming concerts this weekend, so here's what you should know! Again, this video is from the Jager days, from a December 2007 concert somewhere in the U.P. (the venue was uncredited), and it's of the band covering Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer"! I'm more for classic Finger Eleven, but Monkey's Uncle/Jager covered this song nicely! This features the same lineup as on the Nazareth cover I uploaded in February, but I'm not entirely sure of who's who (save for frontman Henry Switzer), but let me know if you can confirm the members. Uploaded onto their MySpace page in January 2008, you can check out the original link for this video at http://myspace.com/video/vid/25528977. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! I want to share Monkey's Uncle with a wider audience like they deserve, as they could use extra exposure and press! Good performance too, check it out below!



To close, I want to say something. Since I started the SMS in 2007, I've had great feedback, but somtimes, I'll get a comment from someone who may criticize or undermine me and/or the SMS. That said, I mean well. I mean well for the scene, fans, bands, musicians, promoters, and everyone else who's read the SMS over the years. Sure, I may may err, forget, misstate, or misjudge certain parts of the local metal scene here & there, but I'm human. I'm not perfect, no one is. I'm doing my best to get the news out there and present factual & interesting info, while remaining as respectful & impartial as I can. I do appreciate constructive criticism & mistake corrections, it's the only way I'll learn, just don't be rude or mad about it. I never would be to you. Remember that whatever you think of me, the SMS, or metal/hard rock music, remember that I mean well, the SMS means well, and that will never change. Thanks to each and every one of you for the continued support over the years, and stay tuned for a new news post very soon!