YouTube Channel Profile Series: Nathan S

After a mild delay due to family commitments, here is this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we're again spotlighting a YouTube channel (randomly selected as ever) whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk bands/concerts, in order to showcase the channel's uploads for current readers! Today's channel takes us back to the mid-2010s for one of the more familiar, if not that long lived, of the timely explosion of 1-2 man bands in Sault Ontario, with a cameo from a timely band reunion, so here's what you should know!

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nathan s (http://youtube.com/channel/UChwG1p_eVz_bQjN2ckXCYVw)

Owner: Former Lion Ride bassist and Fuller/Bad Back drummer Nathan Sauve, a.k.a. "Naythang Sauvege"

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 27th, 2011; Videos uploaded from May 2014 until August 2015

Channel Summary: Despite previously uploading seven videos of his hardcore/grunge duo Bad Back opening for Biipiigwan at The Moose Lodge on his sauvij channel in November 2013, Nathan opted to instead post future Bad Back videos on a separate personal YouTube channel that he created in 2011, which had no videos of its own beforehand. Nathan uploaded 19 videos to this channel, including eleven from live concerts (all but one featuring Bad Back), and seven from jam sessions. Nathan's only upload not related to a local band is a video of his dog.
 
Why You Should Watch: This is a must watch channel if you liked and enjoyed Bad Back during their 2013-2015 local run, and you get a nice cross section of their minimalist punk & grunge originals throughout the different settings! The lone non-Bad Back concert video is also very notable given who's in it, while the video of Nathan's dog will appeal to dog lovers! Remember, this channel doesn't include 2013 content, which was put on Nathan's prior channel before he opted to focus on this one, but new videos continued for about as long as Bad Back was a going concern.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

bad back uncut jam june 17 2014 official video: Nathan's first five uploads here are all jam session recordings from mid-2014, featuring him and singer/guitarist Jamie Vincent (also formerly of Fuller). Two are of them playing their own original songs "Girl, Do You Wanna?" & "Number One Hit Single", but the other three are all 50+ minute off-the-floor videos of them playing original songs and covers intermixed with amusing camaraderie, start-and-stop performances, and in-the-moment live mishaps. The channel's most viewed video of these is this jam from June 17th, 2014. It'd be a fool's errand to link to every single song attempted in the three longform videos, but Nathan loosely notes the songs and bands tackled, with some tantalizingly irreverent captions in between. Strong recording quality and enthusiasm across the board, these are a fun watch to see the guys letting loose (also, gotta love the band poster wall!)

bad back - two tongues at the new a july 15: Three different Bad Back shows were filmed for Nathan's second channel, including a private house party in their jam space via this 36 minute video, but the other two are from public events at downtown nightclubs. One was when they opened for The Archaics at The New American Pub in July 2014, where they were filmed covering NOFX's "Linoleum" and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "American Girl", as well as playing their originals "Shirt Tucker", "Drum My Way Home", and as featured here, "Two Tongues". Despite muffled vocals, Jamie & Nathan deliver strongly with nice audio quality on these hard hitting songs, but the overhead camera angle will not be for all tastes. It has grown on me, but be advised that none of Bad Back's videos on this channel go with a straight-ahead view from the floor.

Detroit Reunion Show December 23rd 2014: While two more jam session videos followed in 2015, Bad Back's last filmed public concert here was when they opened for the one-off reunion of local/Toronto hardcore punk quartet Detroit at The Algonquin Pub in December 2014. Six videos were shot for Nathan's channel that night, including four Bad Back originals & a cover of Hole's "Violet", but featured here is 5½ minutes of Detroit playing the last bit of "Blue Collar", "Lord, Beer Me Strength", "Fortress" (with Destroilet bassist Adam Larocque on guest vocals), and the beginning of "Shithouse Ratt". Remember, Detroit originals were very short, hence why so much was crammed in this one video. Featuring Slumshine/These Magnificent Tentacles frontman Brenton Ellis, ex-Maximum RNR guitarist Curtis Faux, Cross Dog bassist Mark Rand, and Inner City Surfers drummer Mikey Hawdon, this side-stage video captures another unique high angle, and they tore through their fast paced originals with ease! Note that the Bad Back videos from this event were shot on the opposite side.

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, we're looking at multiple channels due to our first randomly selected channel only having one SMS-fitting video, As such, we'll be looking at the YouTube channels of Paul Stanghetta (featuring an Apocalypse Afterparty video) and NassieHysteria (featuring a dozen Treble Charger lyric videos). Look for all of this on or around September 26th, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Re:Born), New Videos, And Much More!!

We haven't had a post on here that wasn't focused around weekend concert previews, a single band, or a single concert on here since March 3rd, so let's remedy that with a new news post today! Along with some assorted news posts and a video from a big recent concert, let's begin with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, plus new videos from it's headliners!

Local power rock quintet Re:Born will play their fourth live show and first of 2019 when they headline a special Soo Blaster concert on Friday, March 29th! Essentially a warm-up gig for the Killer Dwarfs concert at the same venue on April 27th (which Re:Born are opening), this will be the Project 421 successors' first public concert in over five months, and will notably mark their live debut with new frontwoman Elly McWatters, prior guest spots excepted. This should be a solid opportunity to let Elly get warmed up before they open for The Killer Dwarfs next month, so come out at month's end to see how she does! As far as I know, guitarist Frank McGillivray will not be present at this concert due to his ongoing work commitments out of town. The opening act on the 29th will be local acoustic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, in his Soo Blaster debut, and marking a rare support appearance from him at a non-charity/festival gig.

Tym's unplugged and prolific covers should prove to be a fitting support on this night, so if you can't make it to Gliss that evening, you have a second chance! This 19+ concert has a $5 cover charge, and while a start time wasn't announced when Re:Born first plugged the show on their Facebook page yesterday, remember that Tym's Friday matinee concerts tend to end by 10:00 PM. While Soo Blaster isn't a common venue for us yet, Re:Born and Tym Morrison should provide a solid compliment at the Queen Street East sports bar in a few weeks, so definitely visit the above links for more details! While we're on the subject, Re:Born posted two new jam session videos to their Facebook page on Saturday, including their rendition of Black Sabbath's "Children of the Sea" and, as embedded below, their new-ish original "Die Another Day", so how does the new lineup (minus Frank) sound so far?

Laid out more like a concert stage this time out, the songs are strongly performed, and Elly's voice has a nice melody to it that suits the material, but her stage presence is still a little stiff. I'm curious to hear more, but will more videos turn up before March 29th? Stay tuned just in case, but give Re:Born's new video performances a look above & below!



Next up, here's the fifth and final video that Christopher Paci shot at the Joni Radford memorial concert (a.k.a. the Punk Rock Princess Fest) on March 2nd, namely of Algonquin Pub openers Stegadeth covering SNFU's "Painful Reminder"! Filmed on the vertical camera angle, Chris still got a good vantage point, roughly the same as on his Jack Spades video from later that night. Tiffany's hard to hear vocally, but the cover is well done, so give it a look below, and see more from this event via Chris' YouTube channel!



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

• I have moved local black metal/ambient solo project Abhorrent Forest to our inactive band links, as they have not posted a public update to their Facebook page (cover photo update aside) since releasing their "To See Eternity" EP one year ago yesterday. Featuring one half of Dullahan, Abhorrent Forest were primarily known for their three Bandcamp EP releases in 2017 & 2018, never venturing out of the studio or even adding a vocalist. Wyrn had promising material in the locally limited black metal scene, and here's hoping he brings Abhorrent Forest back down the line!
• A local guitarist named Jasper Collins is looking for other musicians (ideally bassists, drummers, and other guitarists) to jam with, though he's not looking for gigs at present, and having room to play is an asset. Other than Jasper citing "rock & metal" as what he likes to play, I don't know anything about his musical background, but if you'd like more details, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from February 23rd!
• On February 26th, local concert promoters Live705 shared the logo for the acclaimed American independent label Metal Blade Records onto their Facebook page, while noting that "2019 is going to be a good year for metal. More details coming soon." This at least heavily implies that Live705 has booked a concert featuring a current Metal Blade artist for later this year, but if true, who, where, and when? Stay tuned if updates come in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Punk Rock Princess Fest Video Showcase!!

Tonight's post is entirely devoted to videos from last week's Joni Radford memorial concert (a.k.a. Punk Rock Princess Fest) at The Algonquin Hotel, as Christopher Paci was on hand to film most bands for his excellent YouTube channel! These were uploaded earlier this week, and Chris got footage of every act except Coral Fang downstairs and Northwest upstairs, which I presume are causalities of the split level format. This was tricky to juggle, so I won't pass judgment on Chris not filming them. To spread things out, I'll hold coverage of Chris' Stegadeth video from The Algonquin Pub half for a future post, but we'll start today with three videos from headlining punk quartet The Cover-Up, who he filmed covering NOFX's "Linoleum", The Supersuckers' "Pretty Fucked Up" (they titled it, not me!), and as embedded below, Social Distortion's "Nickels & Dimes". The audio can be scratchy, but Chris has a good high angle of thi fan favourite (but online page-less) band in action!

The Rockstar Bar crowd's definitely into these covers, judging by the sing-along vocals, and the band has a strong grasp of these punk classics, so fans of The Cover-Up and Dustin and company's back catalog should definitely give these videos a look above & below!



Next up, Chris shot three videos of local hardcore punk veterans Destroilet's return set at The Rockstar Bar, including their original song "Eternal Fire", this song I can't immediately identify (which was shot in the vertical camera angle), and as embedded below, "iBomb". Notably, this song is one of two that night to feature impromptu guest vocals from ex-Detroit/Maximum RNR frontman Brenton Ellis, who is still listed on Destroilet's Facebook biography as their co-vocalist, but didn't participate in the full set like he did for much of 2015. No word if he's still a band member or not, but the dual attack of hardcore punk vocals came through very well here and on "Murderers"! Destroilet's ferocious old school attack was more than welcomed back this past weekend, and the raucous crowd reception made it clear that they were missed locally, and you can see that for yourself via Chris' solid videos above & below!



In a brief detour downstairs to The Algonquin Pub (a.k.a. Spin Nightclub), Chris filmed that floor's headlining punk/metal quintet Jack Spades playing most of their original "Fear Corps" last week, albeit on a vertical camera angle. In spite of that, the video proper is from a nice placement at the corner of the stage, and J.D. Pearce's vocals are clear as day on this well performed rendition! Give it a look below!



We'll close today with the opening band on The Rockstar Bar's lineup, namely funk/hard rock quartet The Elements, who Chris filmed playing their original song "G20". The vantage point here is the furthest of all of his videos, so it's not an optimal view of Rob, Jesse, James, and Jonas in action, but the alternating laid back and faster paced music comes through fine for fans of their ska punk material, so give The Elements' video a look below also!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for Chris' video of Stegadeth last week, and much more, in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Punk Rock Princess Fest Review!! (Algonquin Pub Half)

Hey guys, it's time at last for our review of last night's Joni Radford memorial concerts, a.k.a. Punk Rock Princess Fest! Due to the unique split-venue nature of the event, I'm going to review the bands playing upstairs at The Rockstar Bar in our next post, with this one focusing on the downstairs action and general concert info. Of course, this event was completely devoted to Joni's memory, with pretty much every TV and screen showing a slideshow of pictures of her and inspirational quotes, which was a great touch to allow everyone to remember her life and good times! T-shirts and sweatshirts were on sale, not unlike the ones from the David Gold memorial shows in 2012, and Joni's own Bad Religion canvas poster was raffled off before The Cover-Up's set upstairs. Event co-promoter and Case's Music owner Carrie Suriano spoke before Destroilet's set to thank everyone for making this event possible and give a toast to Joni, though if other teased presentations and speeches occurred, I was on the wrong floor.

Attendance was excellent, especially for the final two bands upstairs, but from about 9:00-11:00 PM, when bands were actively playing on both floors, the attendance was understandably thinned out as people chose their preferred bar and/or band. It may have been a more impressive group for the long-term if everyone was on one floor, but this felt more like a special event the way it was structured. Thank goodness for the wristbands so I could freely hop between floors! As the Algonquin Pub bands straddled with the first two bands upstairs, I didn't see any of their full sets, so if I missed any special performances or Joni tributes, I completely apologize.

A minor band swap resulted in The Algonquin Pub/Spin Nightclub's first band being local punk trio Stegadeth (the only returning band from Joni's benefit show last year), who got a solid crowd early, possibly helped by mostly playing unopposed. Fans gathered saw a solid set of originals like "Kingdom of Ashes" & "The Wire" alongside covers from the likes of GG Allin, The Dead Kennedys, SNFU, and yes, Bad Religion, among others. Musically, Stegadeth were on form, with Tiffany Stocco nailing some solid riffs, and her and bassist Bill Bennett were a nice compliment, but the vocals were often very muffled. My big takeaway is that Tiffany and Bill should work on their stage presences and between-song banter, as things were a bit stiff (especially compared to Johnny Belanger's energy on drums.) Solid blast of punk overall though for Stegadeth!

Post-lineup switch, the second downstairs band was now Stegadeth's side project Coral Fang, a tribute to Los Angeles punk legends The Distillers. Things didn't change dramatically in tone, as Tiffany and Johnny remained on stage, now joined by A Dire Setback's Chris Nielsen and Destroilet's Adam Larcoque. This was Coral Fang's third public show, but the first time I've seen them live, and fans were treated to renditions of such Distillers songs as "Drain The Blood", "Dismantle Me", "City of Angels", and (of course) "Coral Fang". I am not a Distillers scholar, but from what I know of their songs, I can tell that everyone performed well and tackled these songs with energy and enthusiasm! Adam did seem to be standing a little far from everyone else, and Tiffany should project her voice more to match Brody's intensity on the original songs, but overall, this was a natural extension, and here's hoping we hear more from Coral Fang!

Headlining the bottom floor action was local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, completing Tiffany and Johnny's triple-booking on this night (good thing they didn't have to lug all their gear upstairs!) Their set followed a pseudo-Handsome Sandwich jam by Johnny, Jesse Cook, and Jack Spades bassist Rob Speers, but we soon learned that Jesse was filling in for an absent Daniel Horton on guitar for the set proper. No word on why Dan wasn't there, but it was nice to see Jesse back with his old band for at least one night! Returning to the stage for the first time in six months, Jack Spades picked up where they left off with an explosive set of originals like "Breakneck Speed", "Sewer City Radio" (improvised lyrics and all), and "Crossroads", plus some later fan favourite covers. This set gave us more of Jack Spades' intense and hard hitting sound, with J.D. Pearce at his aggressive top form, and Rob Speers' bass lines came through well! Great way to end things at the Algonquin Pub!

Overall, the musical lineup downstairs was entertaining and delivered in their own ways, and huge kudos to Tiffany and Johnny for pulling triple duty in three different bands, not to mention Rob, Jesse, and Adam playing in different bands on each floor! I hope the Algonquin Pub lineup didn't fly under the radar too much, but if you missed out, I did get photos and videos of all three bands, the latter now available on our Facebook page and at this link (both floors are in that album.) As for videos, here's Stegadeth covering The Rebel Spell's "All We Want", Coral Fang covering The Distillers' "Sick Of It All", and Jack Spades playing "Motorwolf"!







That's all for today, but stay tuned for our review of the Rockstar Bar half of Punk Rock Princess Fest in our next post! Thanks everyone!

Joni Radford Memorial Concert Previews, Plus More News & Updates!!

Today's SMS post concludes this weekend's concert previews with a massively extended preview of a big memorial show tomorrow night with a very unique angle, but we also have some assorted shorter stories to close things with, with more to come. For now, here's what you should know!

The highly anticipated benefit/memorial punk concert for the late Joni Radford goes down at The Algonquin Hotel TOMORROW NIGHT! Over a month after her passing, and following her lengthy battle with breast cancer, her friends and fans in the local music scene will gather to honour her memory for "Punk Rock Princess - An Evening in the Memory of Joni Radford", with seven local bands joining forces for a celebration she'd surely appreciate. Alongside the music, a slideshow will be showing pictures of her throughout the night, limited sweaters and t-shirts will be on sale, and there will be some form of guest speakers & presentations as well. All concert proceeds (including the $10 tickets/entrance fee) will go to Sault Area Hospital and the St. John’s Ambulance Pet Therapy Program in her name, which are great and fitting causes! Be sure to visit the Facebook event page for all non-musical details. This event is 19+, and as far as I know, admission covers both floors.

Seven bands are scheduled for tomorrow, but in a surprise announcement that only broke publically this week (following scattered personal Facebook hints), the bands will be playing on both floors of The Algonquin Hotel, with 4 bands playing upstairs at The Rockstar Bar and 3 bands playing downstairs at The Algonquin Pub (a.k.a. Spin Nightclub), and the bands will more or less be playing concurrently! That's definitely a unique idea to have a specific multi-level event like this there, and it presents a challenge if you want to see every band, but I will try my best, and thanks to Destroilet's Christian Foisy for his help in the schedule confirmation and timeslots!

Starting our band previews upstairs, the memorial concert will be headlined by online page-less punk quartet The Cover-Up unopposed at 12:00 AM, and might we hear frontman Dustin Jones' "Punk Rock Princess" tribute song to Joni for the occasion? Hardcore punk veterans Destroilet will finally end their 2+ year concert hiatus when they co-headline at The Rockstar Bar half at 11:00 PM, and I'd fully expect their cover of The Rebel Spell's "Murderers" (which Joni guested on in studio) to turn up! Returning co-vocalist Brent Ellis will not be in the lineup. Indie/punk quintet Northwest will deliver their original attack upstairs at 9:00 PM, while the opening band on this floor will be funk/hard rock quartet The Elements. Very solid & punk-heavy lineup at The Rockstar Bar alone, so keep the upstairs entertainment in mind for tomorrow night! I still don't have a public Cover-Up video for a preview, so in lieu of that, here's Destroilet covering "Murderers" live!

Meanwhile, the three bands playing at The Algonquin Pub all have a common thread, namely guitarist Tiffany Stocco, so while she has a long night ahead, at least she can keep her gear on one floor! The closing band on this floor will be punk/metal quintet Jack Spades at 10:30 PM in their first show in 6 months, so they should provide a solid blast for the occasion, and if you're planning to stay downstairs, they'll end in time to see the last two bands upstairs! Local punk trio Stegadeth will co-headline on the bottom floor at 9:30 PM, while Distillers tribute band Coral Fang will play their third public concert set to lead off the night at 8:30 PM (and they're unopposed until The Elements begin at 9:00, so keep that in mind also.) The lineup at The Algonquin Pub is solid as well, so don't bypass either floor tomorrow, and I will see you guys there to help honour Joni the right way! See above for complete details on this huge memorial show, and here's Jack Spades live!



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

• Local death metal veterans The Bear Hunters quietly unveiled the cover art & final track order for their second studio album "The Dead Testament" on their Facebook page on February 17th! The artwork is surprisingly minimalistic, with the band logo and album name on a black textured background, but maybe simple is best? As of the 17th, the design is complete, and "printing shall commence", but when will see this long awaited CD? Keep tabs for updates!
• Dynowaves/ex-Bizotic trumpet player (Francine) Louise Lamothe is looking to join or launch another local band, but in this case, she indicated that she'd love to sing lead and help organize concerts eventually. A genre range wasn't given, but if you're interested in working with Louise, message her at this link or via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from yesterday!
• This came to our attention on too short of notice to mention here, but the reunited This Is Your Band On Drugs and the debuting Full-Send (p.k.a. PCxFascist?) quietly dropped out of Tuesday night's Rotopsy-promoted grind/death metal concert at The New American Pub, as per updates on the Facebook event page. Reasons for the withdrawals were not announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened in either camp, and remember that Chase did still play as Awokest. Local rapper Mike "Reeder" Reed-Lecuyer was added to replace one/both acts, and hopefully he added a strong element!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next, and much more news soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906) & More Halloween Weekend Concert Previews!!

(Updated at 7:27 PM) The always busy Halloween concert weekend is now the entire focus of today's news post, as due to a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT, I have opted to add it to this post and bump our shorter news item block to our next news post, likely coming by Halloween night. Now, let's dive into previews of the Saturday night Halloween weekend metal and hard rock shows in the Sault area, including one more new show for next month!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Project 906 will end a nearly 2 month public hiatus when they return to Bird's Eye Outfitters (and/or The Superior Cafe) TOMORROW NIGHT for their monthly musicians showcase! Apologies for the short notice, the band only signalled their involvement via their Facebook page earlier today. I'm not sure where Project 906 have been so far this fall, but it's great to see Billy, Dustin, Joe, and Tommy back on stage, let alone in their first gig at Bird's Eye since August, so keep this show in mind! The band will also return there on November 2nd (next Friday) in a presumed solo concert, so if you want to see the solo experience of this fan favourite hard rock band, circle your calendars for that date! TOMORROW'S show will indeed be Halloween themed with drink specials and a costume contest, but I cannot confirm any of the other performing artists at press time. Both of these shows have no announced cover charges or age limits, as usual for this venue.

As for starting times, TOMORROW'S musicians showcase will begin at 6:00 PM, while next Friday's concert will start a little later at 7:00 PM. Hopefully Sault Michigan fans get their Halloween party fill TOMORROW at The Superior Cafe, and don't miss 906's return to the public stage then or next week! For a preview, here they are live this summer!

Next up, the second night of promoter J.D. Pearce's 14th annual Halloween party (alternately named "The Howling" this year) goes down TOMORROW NIGHT at The Algonquin Pub, and it will be toplined by a one-off reunion of local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight! Four years after their concluding their 2009-2014 run at this same event, this fan favourite band will be resurrected for another set full of horror-tinged action, so how about one more "fright night" for old time's sake? No word on how their lineup will be comprised tomorrow, but aside from their drummer, Frightlight's lineup was pretty stable when not counting temporary absences. I can't confirm whether Frighlight will go all-Misfits to play along with the tribute theme, but the opening bands are definitely playing tribute sets, albeit as one-off bands without a publically stated name. Personal Facebook postings have confirmed each band's lineup, so who can you look for tomorrow?

One will be a Tool tribute band featuring former Late Shift bandmates John Barber & Anthony Gagnon alongside Wild Iris guitarist Steve Myers and Skeyes of Seven bassist Alain Fletcher (prior references to HTs bassist Ryan Disano being involved have not been followed up on in recent weeks.) Very talented lineup, and fans may have seen members cover Tool in some of their prior bands already, so they should have a good handle on things tomorrow! The opening band is a tribute to Weezer, and they will be a trio featuring Redundant bandmates Justin Langlois and Rick White, while James' bass spot will be filled for this set by Soundcheck singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe. No word on how Travis' involvement will impact Soundcheck's show at Reggie's West tomorrow night, but he theoretically could head there after the Weezer tribute's opening set and still play most of that show too. Again, this tribute band looks good on paper, but how will they sound tomorrow at The Howling?

And yes, expect lots of Halloween frills tomorrow, as well as a costume contest, so come on down to The Algonquin Pub (not Soo Blaster) if you want some live horror punk, alt-rock, and prog-metal tribute action! Unless you bought a $15 weekend pass for both nights of the Halloween party in advance or at tonight's opening half, admission for tomorrow's 19+ concert will be $10, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. With Halloween being mid-week this year, come out to The Algonquin Pub for some early seasonal rock tribute action tonight and tomorrow, and have your costumes ready! For a preview of tomorrow's concert, here's Frightlight live in 2014!



Lastly for known hard rock and punk concerts in the area this weekend, we'll head to The Harp Pub & Grill for our first concert preview there in over 2½ years (and first non-Tym Morrison preview there since the Madison's Pub era), as local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns will make their debut at the Pine Street bar TOMORROW NIGHT! After years away from booking multiple local music acts on a regular basis, The Harp recently relaunched and has begun hosting more concerts (albeit generally acoustic ones), with the Elements side project being the first of a heavier vein in this new era. Oddly, the venue has not hyped this show up with any Halloween themes or specials, but The Wyld Stallyns' fan friendly blend of covers and audience participation should go over well at this intimate central venue tomorrow! A 9:00 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ event, which has no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, here's The Stallyns live, and The Harp's back in our active venue links!

 

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

Our Halloween Weekend Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

The Halloween weekend is coming quick, but unusually, there isn't a lot of hard rock shows going down this weekend for the occasion compared to past years. That said, there's some big shows going on downtown for fans to partake in and get their costumes ready for, so here's what you should know in rough chronological order!

We'll start this weekend's previews with the talented solo artist whom we started with yesterday, as prolific hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will bring his ongoing weekly concert arrangement back to Gliss Steak & Seafood for three more unplugged matinee gigs TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY to end the month with! No public word on if Tym's shows this weekend will have any Halloween themes, but expect more solid and extensive sets of classic and hard rock covers for patrons and fans alike this weekend, so don't miss out on all of the action at the Quality Inn's house restaurant over the next three evenings! Yes, we will acknowledge Tym's likely November gigs at Gliss next week. As usual for his shows at this downtown locale, expect 6:00 PM start times all three evenings, and there are no announced cover charges or age limits, but mind the locale. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, here's the weekend's main event if you want metal or punk entertainment in the Soo for the Halloween weekend, as local promoter J.D. Pearce (in association with the Northern Superior Brewing Company) is hosting his 13th annual Halloween party concert this weekend! Returning to The Algonquin Pub/Spin Nightclub for the fifth time in six years, he's going even bigger for year #13, with two parties planned for TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT each, so what should you know on both? Toronto groove metal band Decatur (formerly known as Caym) will return to our area with new name in tow as headliners, and they should brutalize fans with the aggressive thrashy sound all over again during their Out of the Sewer Tour! No word on if they'll reprise their "MetalliCaym" set from 2015's local Halloween party, but the opening lineup will handle that side of things, including local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades covering The Misfits under the name "Spinal Remains", which will be right up their alley, so they should hit a home run!

Local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters will tackle Amon Amarth (including the entire "Twilight of the Thunder God" album) tomorrow under the name "Mount Doom", with Jack Spades' Daniel Horton filling in for Josh Stephney in a rare set of theirs with a guest guitarist, so prepare for some face melting from them too! The announced openers are new local Foo Fighters tribute band (and Cherry Crush side project) The Soo Fighters, and it will be interesting to hear them in their second live appearance, so don't be late! This show has an $8 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 9:00 PM start time, so visit the official Facebook event page for details, and here's Decatur live!



As for Saturday night's second half of the Halloween Party, this all-local lineup is more punk-based, and has more of an unpredictable lineup, so who all is on board? The advertised headliners are hard rock quartet Eclipse in a reprise of last year's "SSM of a Down" tribute set, while a (one-off?) Me First and the Gimme Gimmes tribute band named "You First & The Passive Aggressives" will also take the stage prior. A personal Facebook posting indicates that former Caveman Morrison & Winkstinger bassist Ryan Disano will be in their lineup, alongside trumpet player Will Newfeld, but I can't confirm anything else at press time on this band. Former Stereo North frontman Andrew Pucci will be joined by Long Shot alum Adam Dawe and former Gnaeus drummer Brendan Garlick(!) to form the Blink-182 tribute band "Enema of the Soo", while a mystery Nirvana tribute band named "Anavrin" (get it?) are the listed openers, though I know even less on this band.

Note that a planned Sublime tribute set by The Elements under the name "SSMtaria" for Saturday night is still listed on the Facebook event page, but is not on the poster, and the band has not publically acknowledged the party that I have seen, so it appears that they dropped out. If they are still on, we'll let you know! Like with tomorrow's half, Saturday's Halloween party action has a 19+ cover charge, 9:00 PM start time, and despite the all-local lineup, a matching $8 cover, though buy yours online or message J.D. at this link for a discounted full-weekend pass while supplies are available. Also, as this is the Halloween weekend, expect nightly costume contests, with J.D. hinting at Northern Superior Brewing Company gift cards being on hand this weekend, presumably as prizes. Fans dating back to the mid-2000s know the quality & entertainment level of J.D.'s annual Halloween parties, and with double the action this weekend, you won't want to miss out, so get your costumes ready for two nights of tribute metal, punk, and hard rock action! Here's Eclipse covering System of a Down live!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Doors & Fours, Vol., And Tym Morrison), And More!!

Here's another new post for you guys on this rainy Tuesday, so what's new to report before Halloween weekend? Mostly some new LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE), but there's also a new video and a lineup addition to take note of, which you can do below!

In advance of his usual Gliss Steak & Seafood gigs (to be covered with this weekend's concert previews), former Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will return to Mark's Breakfast Plus for a special mid-week matinee concert TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was announced one week ago via it's official Facebook event page, but we didn't have time to slide it into a post before it got too soon to cover it twice. Yes, this is a Wednesday nighter, which may sound odd for his constant stream of solo gigs, but remember that his prior shows at the Market Mall restaurant were on Monday and Tuesday evenings, so non-weekend gigs there appear to be the norm. In any event, if you want some hard rocking music at dinner-time, you have a west end option at the former Kackleberry's TOMORROW, with Gliss shows to follow! This one has a 6:00 PM start time with no announced cover charge or age limit. See above for more details, and here's Tym live a few years back!

Next up, here's a few more newly announced shows with lots of advance notice, starting with the local debut of Hamilton punk/grunge trio Doors & Fours, who will headline at The Algonquin Pub on Saturday, November 11th! If this band rings a bell, it may be from local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades playing with them and past local headliners Big Brother in Hamilton back on July 11th, so prepare for a local encore four months later as Doors & Fours hit the midpoint of the ongoing Canadian tour! These guys have a solid and distorted sound that definitely has that early 90s grunge vibe while still containing heavier stretches, and they should be well received here next month! The aforementioned Jack Spades will return the favour as openers in 2½ weeks for their own exlposive original attack, while at least one more opening band is to be announced. Promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce, a cover charge has yet to be announced for this 19+ show, which takes place at 9:00 PM. Visit the official Facebook event page for details, and stay tuned for updates!

Finally for today's new show announcements, local indie/hard rock quartet Vol. will return to the stage on Friday, November 17th when they are among the openers for the return of Saskatchewan southern rockers Johnny 2 Fingers & The Deformities at LopLops Lounge! This will be Vol.'s first show since next week's Special Ops concert (more on that in the coming days), while it will also be their third with their teased fourth band member, that being keyboardist Mikaela Murtonen, who debuted at this weekend's Dirtfight concert, and was a prior bandmate of bassist Shane Storozuk's in the band Aldous. No media is online of the expanded lineup yet, but it will be interesting to hear how Mikaela fits in with Vol.! As for the rest of the performers, headliners Johnny 2 Fingers & The Deformities will be making their third local concert appearance, after previously playing here twice last fall (once at LopLops), so look for more southern fried boogie rock from them on the 17th! Montreal alt-folk rock quintet The Union Thugs will also hit the Soo for this concert, so prepare for some accordion-infused rock from them!

Local folk solo project Shit Creek Survivor will also open this one next month, and it's nice to see Jacob staying busy in the lead-up to his own album release! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh., this 19+ concert has a 9:00 PM start time, and while there is no advertised cover charge, last year's Deformities show at LopLops had a $5 cover. This should be a fun concert with a nice variance of sounds from the four scheduled acts, so visit the official Facebook event page for current and continuing updates!

To end this post, here's a surprise: A new solo peformance video from former ApocalyptiCDistroyeR frontman Jesse Middaugh! 3½ years removed from his last video upload on his/the band's YouTube channel (and just the second performance video there since 2012), Jesse posted this video of him performing a new original instrumental on Thursday, and while the video is incredibly grainy, it has a good rhythm to it that would be interesting to hear filled out! ApocalyptiCDistroyeR were not cited in the title or description, so I won't consider them active again on the SMS (yet?), but give Jesse's new video a look below, and watch closely for a cameo from a cat!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for Halloween weekend concert previews and more soon! Thanks everyone!

The Rest Of This Weekend's Concert Previews, Plus Din & Mike Haggith Updates!!

As promised, here's the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews (barring any late notice announcements), and this one will be very much centric around one band in particular and their frontman, but it's certainly a big weekend for them, and there is one more unrelated show to take note of! Here's what you should know!

After a successful two year run (beyond if you count their acid jam days), local alternative hard rock trio The Din will amicably disband TOMORROW NIGHT after their "Suburban Sendoff" at LopLops Lounge! Acting as both their farewell show and the CD release party for their second and final CD "Suburban Dream", The Din will make one final stop at the Queen Street East venue to end their local run with a bang, with many songs from their two albums sure to make their set, and perhaps a Hip cover for good measure? The band has teased that just 50 copies of "Suburban Dream" have been pressed for the show, and with a digital release not yet guaranteed, get down to LopLops tomorrow to get your copy before it's too late! Local indie/hard rock quartet Bizotic will open tomorrow night's proceedings with their own creative original sound, so keep them in mind before The Din say goodbye! Doors open at 9:00 PM tomorrow for this 19+ concert, with Bizotic kicking things at around 10:15 PM.

As for admission and album fees, nothing has been firmly stated on the Facebook event page, but for reference, LopLops shows often have $5 cover charges, while The Din's debut CD sold for $10 upon it's release last year. While we're on the subject, this show and The Din's future were both addressed in this new Sault Star article from Jeffrey Ougler, so what should you know on it? The article features interview quotes from frontman Mike Haggith, where he reflects on why they're breaking up, members' future plans, and what to expect from "Suburban Dream", and it's a good in-depth read for fans! In terms of new revelations, Mike elaborated on where he's moving for work, the guys did debate becoming a full touring band before work commitments got in the way, and Mike plans to keep The Din visible with old media postings via their online pages that should sustain things for another two years (after all, the article name is "Inactive, not hushed".)

Also, Mike didn't completely close the door on future Din activity if "Suburban Dream" caught on critically, but it's clear that this weekend's show is the end of this chapter. I'm glad to see that things are ending on a good note and that they'll continue to have an online presence, just as long as there isn't a mass deletion of old pages and media at some point! I hate when bands do that. Don't miss Mike, Tammy, and Brandan's Suburban Sendoff at LopLops tomorrow night, and for a preview, here's The Din live!



Next up, here's one more weekend concert preview, as while The 3 Day Millionaires rock The Rockstar Bar upstairs, The Algonquin Pub (or Spin Nightclub?) will welcome local indie/hard rock band Vol. as they open for St. Catharine's folk/bluegrass band Dirtfight and Hamilton alt-blues duo Frankie & Jimmy on Saturday night! This unique show will see another homecoming from the members of Shit Liver, albeit in their much milder sister band Dirtfight (who last played here last May), while Frankie & Jimmy made fans with their unique hybrid originals at The New A last July, so it's great to see both bands back to cap off their Northern Ontario tour! As for Vol., they'll add a dash of hard rock to the proceedings in their first ever acoustic concert set to open the night, though they teased on their Facebook page on Saturday that they'll have "a little tiny surprise" during their set. Might it be the rumoured fourth band member, or is something else afoot? Be at The Algonquin Pub on Saturday night to find out!

Note that this show is still scheduled for downstairs, despite the planned dance club nights "every Saturday" at The Algonquin Pub/Spin Nightclub, so if there's any public confirmation of a venue conflict, we'll let you know! In any event, the pub has seen recent renovations, likely tied to the Spin Nightclub launch. As it stands, this show has a $8 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 9:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Vol. live & plugged in!



Finally, we'll come full circle with some news from the aformentioned Mike Haggith, as he officially re-activated his solo project last week, via his Facebook page! After a year & a half of public inactivity while focusing on The Din, Mike is bringing his solo project back "after some thought", and he noted that he wants to continue to do his part "to provide all of you with the highs & lows you've come to know and love." In terms of solo album plans, Mike left open the possibility of working on one next, though it's not clear publically if he plans to complete and release "Neighbourhood Watch Revisited", the album he was working on when his solo project initially went inactive last spring. As you may recall, Mike released no less than 47 studio albums in either Windsor or Sault Ste. Marie between 2005 and 2016, and it's great to see that he will continue his music career out in Manitoba, so visit the above links for more details, and Mike's back in our active band links!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Faps & Vol.), Plus Din & Kraken Mara Updates!!

Here's another new news post for your Friday morning, and below, you'll find the latest updates from two local bands in very different stages of their runs, but first, here's two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month!

Local indie/hard rock trio (quartet?) Vol. will play their first ever acoustic concert set on Saturday, October 21st (one week from tomorrow) when they open for St. Catharine's bluegrass/folk quartet Dirtfight and Hamilton alt-blues duo Frankie & Jimmy at The Algonquin Pub! Apologies for the protracted delay in acknowledging this show in full on the site, we were waiting for confirmation on which floor of The Algonquin Hotel this show was taking place on, which only came yesterday on the Facebook event page. If this is accurate, don't go upstairs next weekend! If the touring lineup looks familiar, it's with good reason, as Dirtfight is the much milder side project from members of Shit Liver that fans saw here in May 2016, while Frankie & Jimmy came here two months later for a headlining date of their own, so if you're up for a folksy and jazz-inspired change of pace, don't bypass this one! Vol. will provide a hard rock edge in this rare unplugged set, so don't be late for their set either!

Note that The Algonquin Pub has been (partially?) rebranded as Spin Nightclub for dance club parties "every Saturday" since mid-September, though I don't know if the above concert will postpone next weekend's Spin night or if the show will end up being moved upstairs or off-site. If there's confirmation either way, we'll let you know! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh., this closing date of the touring bands' Northern Ontario Tour has an $8 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 9:00 PM start time. Check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for updates if they come in!

Next up, the aforementioned Six, Two, Oh. are at it again with another newly announced concert just two days later on Monday, October 23rd, as Saskatoon noise/punk duo The Faps will play here once again with a headlining date at The New American Pub! Occurring just under two weeks after they opened for K-Man & The 45s at LopLops, this surprise concert will cap off their "Good Tour" as they return home, and will mark their first stop at The New A since headlining there back in 2014. Whether you saw them on Tuesday and/or three years ago, or are new to The Faps, look for another explosive set of punk and math rock originals in a week and a half! Local openers are being sought, and for reference sake, rappers opened for them in 2014, while Bizotic did the duty on Tuesday, so don't assume a specific genre. We'll let you know when an opener is confirmed! A $5 cover charge (or "pay what you can", oddly) is in effect for this 19+ show, which has an early 8:00 PM start time given the Monday night timing.

Despite the scheduling and relatively quick turnaround for the encore, this should be a fun show for punk fans, so keep it mind if you're able to come out on a Monday night, and visit the Facebook event page for complete details!

Also today, here's the latest from local alternative hard rock trio The Din, who have clarified some lingering details on their upcoming farewell concert and second/final studio album, so what's new on both fronts? In terms of the album, the band has confirmed that it will be titled "Suburban Dream", and also unveiled the track listing and album artwork via their Facebook page yesterday. Alongside the title track (which will close the CD), the album will also feature their originals "Give Me A Reason", "High Park", "Up In The Air", "35's The Limit', "Weekend Delivery", "Missing", "In The Moonlight", and one song that's brand new in online references, "The Price That You Pay". As a result, the album will not feature any Mike Haggith solo covers that you may have heard in concerts, but at least some of those were on their live album. As for their final concert at LopLops Lounge next Saturday, it's now dubbed the "Suburban Sendoff", fittingly enough!

The local openers have finally been confirmed as well, as indie/hard rock quartet Bizotic will kick off the night's events, and they're a fitting selection with talent and originality, so don't be late for their set on October 21st! Finally for new Din news, another new single has been posted from the "Suburban Dream" album to their YouTube channel, that being for their more recent original "Missing", and while I'll still hold comment for our eventual CD review, give the song a listen below, and stay tuned for updates!

Finally for today, here's the latest from local progressive metal project Kraken Mara, so what's new from them? Well, in the latest teaser update on their website (and first there in three months), the guys noted that "the last of our tracks are being mastered as we speak" for their self-titled debut EP, which will be "available for all" when completed. As well, a new playthrough video of one of their songs is being filmed at some point this season, so keep an eye out for that on band pages, including their Instagram page, which isn't just for Dokken concert videos! Brendan and Jake actually posted five videos there last month before that concert, so what's uploaded there so far? This short video showcasing their jam room, this zoom-in clip of bassist Jacob Valois, this clip of Jacob performing in studio (though his shirt is focused on over audible music), and this video of guitarist Brendan Christie declaring that they're recording some tracks.

If you didn't know, Instagram has a one minute limit for video uploads, hence why these don't show a whole lot and are better served as previews, but hey, it's nice to see progress from the Kraken Mara camp! Embedded below is the most substantial video there (musically speaking), which features a recording of a new intro for a planned song being played on a laptop. As such, we're hearing it through laptop speakers, which is far from ideal, but it has an industrial tinge to go with pleasant keyboard work from what I can hear. See more from Kraken Mara above & below, and stay tuned for more from them as it rolls in!

Iñtro idea mark 2 now with piano and strings!! #musicislife #progressivemetal #writing #recording #gettingmyprogon #hardonforprogmõn

A post shared by Kraken Mara (@kraken_maraband) on Sep 3, 2017 at 12:15pm PDT

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on The Sault Metal Scene this weekend! Thanks everyone!

Ripcordz Concert Preview, New Stegadeth Video Finds, And Much More!!

As promised, our Ripcordz concert preview is headlining today's SMS post, but to round things out, we have some new video finds from one of that show's opening bands, and lots of assorted recent shorter stories, so here's what you should know on this Friday afternoon!

TOMORROW NIGHT will see what has become an annual tradition in the Soo, that being a headlining concert from Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz at The Algonquin Pub! As they have done annually from August-October dating back to 2013, Paul Gott and company will roar back through our neck of the woods for another highly anticipated local headlining concert, returning to the site of their April 2013 and October 2015 shows for good measure. A Ripcordz show is always a great time for hardcore punk fans, so prepare for a ferocious night of familiar classics tomorrow! Notably, this will be their first local show since 2007 with drummer Francois Demers back in the fold, replacing Alex Roy. Local support will include punk/metal quintet (and "Fed Up!" split-mates) Jack Spades in their fifth straight time opening for The Ripcordz, as well as local punk trio Stegadeth in their first public concert appearance in almost four months.

The T-Rex Manning successors have spent much of the summer songwriting, and it'll be great to see them back out there on familiar territory! Promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce once again, tomorrow's show is sadly a 19+ event (unlike last year's Canadian Nightclub headliner) with a 9:00 PM start time and $10 cover charge in effect, with advance tickets available online at this link, and possibly through the opening bands and The Algonquin Hotel's front desk. As J.D. said on the Facebook event page, "Ripmas comes but once a year", so don't miss out on all of the action tomorrow night, and here's The Ripcordz live earlier this year!



Next up, here's a pair of new-ish videos from the aforementioned Stegadeth's Facebook page that I'm surprised we've never featured on here! These come from the Guy Thiffault tribute concert upstairs at The Rockstar Bar in December 2016, completely slipping our radar at the time (apologies for that, blame the holidays!) The videos include Stegadeth playing GG Allin's "Bite It You Scum", but due to it's extremely fuzzy video quality, I've instead embedded them covering T-Rex Manning's "She Banged The Mayor" below. The vertical camera angle on each is unfortunate, but it matches the clearer video quality on this one, and they sound pretty good, so give them a look!



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

• Local hardcore punk veterans Destroilet have welcomed back Slumshine's Brenton Ellis as their co-lead singer, as per their Facebook page yesterday! Brent originally came on in late 2014 to share vocal duties with Mike Hull, but left the sextet by the fall of 2015, and did not feature on the "Fed Up!" split. Destroilet have only played twice publically since Brent's departure, so he should fit right back in for more chaotic intensity when they scratch their itch & end their current stage hiatus!
• I have belatedly updated our listing for The Emergency Festival in our listing of Sault Ontario concert festivals, as the event has not been held since 2015. A spiritual successor to the LopLops Lounge-curated version of Rotaryfest's Second Stage, The Emergency Festival launched in 2014 during Stage 2's one year hiatus, and brought more indie, folk, country, and alternative acts from here and abroad to Queen Street East & Rocky DiPietro Field in it's two installments, with no public word surfacing about why it didn't return for a third year. Stay tuned to events at LopLops for more similar high quality live entertainment!
• Local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary has confirmed that his debut EP will be entitled "Weight of the Truth", after a song planned for it that was posted on his Soundcloud page in August. Instrumentally, the song reminds me of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the name works pretty well, so stay tuned for more on the EP via his Facebook page, our original source for the announcement!
• Former Brad Example & The Role Models drummer Phil Greco (Philly Gee on Facebook) is looking for a bass player to songwrite with towards his current band project, which already has a guitarist enlisted, though they're open to a second guitarist also. The band is "more interested in the heavier side of music", so if you're interested in writing and/or jamming with Phil and crew, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday!
• In their latest Facebook post thanking fans for the success of the "Trading Faces" release tour, local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver revealed that thanks to the tour's financial success, the band can now afford to press their second full length album "Hitting The Fan" on vinyl records. No word on if recording sessions for their sophomore effort have even begun yet, or if it will see a CD printing too, but I doubt fans will be opposed to another vinyl throwback, so stay tuned for updates from their camp!
• Though we're still waiting for their new album "Monster", local punk solo project Telephone & Address posted their first new songs of the year onto their Soundcloud page in August! Entitled "So Long" and "Mother & Father", both tracks feature local indie rock musician Jackson Reed on guest drums. Both are mid-tempo numbers that won't set any speed records, but they have a good deliberate sound, and it's nice to hear some electric instruments and a fuller sound on these, so give them a listen above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site over the weekend! Thanks everyone!