LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Telephone & Address And Fluid 5ive), A New Local Band, Concert Previews, And More!!

As promised, our 3 Day Millionaires previews are in this post, but we've loaded it with some more big news, including a handful of unfortunate deletions from our band links, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one involving a debuting group, and the other involving a touring band from afar and a local band's new lineup addition! Here's what you should know!

We have a new-ish classic/hard rock cover quintet to add to our active band links, and they are Fluid 5ive! This band actually publically launched via their Facebook page back in September 2016, and while they have yet to play their first live concert, that will be rectified soon, as their public debut will be with a one-nighter on Saturday, February 24th at The Rockstar Bar! Fluid 5ive's current lineup features a few familiar faces for long-time fans of local rock bands, including former Five Below Zero singer Colin Nelson (who even plays saxophone occasionally), guitarist Joe Miller, bassist Pierre Anthony, former Route 69/Swamped drummer Jeff Pennett, and Rob Irving on the keyboard. As well, ex-Flat Stanley bassist Mark Brandow was in their original lineup before departing by last summer, but that's as publically "fluid" as their lineup has gotten. As of their launch, Fluid 5ive teased covers of everyone from AC/DC and Aerosmith to Van Halen and ZZ Top, and even acts like Blackfoot and Henry Lee Summer.

This band aims to primarily play "select cover tunes not usually played in bars" and if that holds true, fans should get a unique spread of music when they hit The Rockstar Bar in just under one month's time! Expect no cover charge for this 19+ show, and while there is an advertised start time of 8:00 PM, I'd gamble on closer to 10:00 PM that night. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this show, and the above links for more on Fluid 5ive, and hopefully some media of them performing turns up soon!

Next up, here's another new show announcement for later this year, as local post-punk/acoustic project Telephone & Address will hit the stage for the first time in 2018 with a set at The New American Pub on Sunday, March 18th! Though they're the advertised headliners, touring Louisiana acoustic punk trio Layden & The Lion will take the middle slot for this concert in their local debut, and their indie-influenced yet gritty originals should be a fine compliment, so be sure to check them out in advance! This will be Telephone & Address' first announced live set since August, and first since expanding to a duo, as Chris has enlisted local folk musician Jackson Reed to become their permanent drummer. Jackson had guested with Telephone & Address for their new songs that same month, but confirmation that he's now an official member didn't hit the wires until Tuesday on their Facebook page. Hopefully the guys maintain a similarly solid chemistry live!

No word yet though on what this means for Telephone & Address' yet-released album "Monster", which was recorded before Jackson joined. Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan will deliver some entertaining acoustic renditions as an opening act for this concert, promoted by Jackson's own agency Ears & Eyes in association with Six, Two, Oh.. An early 8:00 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ event, which has a $5 cover charge. Fans of acoustic rock and punk should definitely check this one out on March 18th, so check out more details at the official Facebook event page, and stay tuned for potential updates on this concert if they roll in!

Also today, here's our previews of TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT's concerts from local classic/hard rock cover veterans The 3 Day Millionaires at The Rockstar Bar! Unusual as a double header at this venue for The Millionaires rather than a one nighter, this will be just the second concert weekend of the year for this band, so if you missed them at the Reggievelt two weeks ago, here's your next best bet! The 3 Day Millionaires lineup is well tested and very skilled, so look for some entertaining cover action tonight and/or tomorrow! As usual for their Rockstar Bar trips, there are 19+ age limits and no announced cover charges in effect, and while the Facebook event page lists an 8:00 PM start time, the poster pictured here confirms that they'll be starting at 10:00 PM both nights, so don't come down too early. See the above links for more details, and here's The 3 Day Millionaires live at this very location last year!



Finally for today here's three assorted shorter news items, all relating to deletions from our inactive Sault Michigan band links due to Facebook pages being taken down. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• I have deleted Pickford hard rock quintet Beyond the Surface from our band links due to the closure of their Facebook (and only online) page at some point in the past year or so. Featuring ex-Unleashed frontman Eli Reilly, Beyond The Surface ran from 2010-2011, primarily playing at Pickford High School events and regional talent shows. The guys were talented for their ages, and hopefully everyone is staying active in music in some form!
• I have also removed defunct local hard rock band The Bottom Line from our band links due to the deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page at some point in the past year. A union of Highest of Fives and future Ten Kings bandmates, The Bottom Line only played a handful of community events in mid-2014 before going their separate ways, and while I hate seeing another band page vanish, they admittedly weren't around for very long. Don't miss guitarist Joe Jenkins with Project 906!
• Lastly, I have removed local metal solo project East Branch from our band links once again, as their Facebook (and only online) page was taken down once again. The page had initially been de-activated in 2014 before being resurrected last year, but no new public updates followed, and the page was gone again at press time. Hopefully J.R. returns with new music down the road!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next, plus this month's CD review in short order as well! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Traces & The Bottom Half

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Yes, our monthly look at one or two defunct/inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk bands is back, and like usual, bands are randomly chosen! This month, we're looking at two bands due to our first selection only having minimal surviving info, but there's talent from both sides of the border to take in this month, so here's what you should know!
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Traces

Genre: Progressive Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Tyler Tidwell (Clownsack, Swayze Train), guitar/synth/programming
Nathan Switzer (Highway 63, Monkey's Uncle, RamWagon), guitar
Cody Tidwell (Analog Deficiency), guitar

Info/Analysis: Launched in April 2010 as The Gaia Syndrome, Traces started as a progressive metal solo project for local musician Tyler Tidwell (a.k.a. final Clownsack drummer Skronko), who planned to release an EP and play live when a band was obtained. After the name change, their lineup was expanded via recent Analog Deficiency bandmates Nathan Switzer and Cody Tidwell, but surviving info from their Traces run is minimal at best due to their Facebook page's deletion and MySpace's layout changes, and they quietly disbanded in 2011. Four instrumental songs survive from The Gaia Syndrome days on both their Soundclick and MySpace pages, which showcased a promising Meshuggah-influenced sound with nice usage of different time signatures, but the production was inconsistent, and Tyler oddly used a drum machine here rather than actually drum on the tracks. Check out Traces above, and hopefully members stay active in music!
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The Bottom Half

Genre: Pop Punk

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Lucas Castellani, vocals
Mark Rand (Cross Dog, Lion Ride, Bondar), guitar
Mitch Fryia, guitar
Mike Smykacz (Northwest, The Small Town Rivals), bass
James Moss (Young Running), drums

Info/Analysis: The Bottom Half were a short lived pop punk band that played locally from 2004-2005. Surviving information is extremely minimal on The Bottom Half's run, but they played at least one concert at The Oddfellows Hall, and guitarist Mark Rand told me that they mainly played pop punk as it was popular at the time. Four original songs from a planned album named "Beginnings Change" ("Open Up", "How Far", "Friday Night", and "Mistakes") can be heard at their MySpace page, which showcase a fun and upbeat pop punk sound that Mark may have undersold a bit to me, as members' talents and enthusiasm come through here, especially Lucas' fitting vocals! However, compared to the recent band work that members have had, it's clear that they've matured and grown a great deal in the past decade. Give The Bottom Half a listen above, and be sure to check out Mark, Mike, and James' recent band work as well to see what the guys have been up to!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Next month in this series, we've randomly chosen defunct local classic metal quartet Late & Loud for our next profile in this series, so Loudmouths should keep an eye on the SMS on July 10th! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Bear Hunters & Apocalypse Afterparty Album Previews, Emergency Festival Fallout, And More!!

While we wait for Jackyl concert fallout, here's a new news post on this Sunday morning, as we have big updates regarding two upcoming albums, some long overdue fallout from a local summer festival, and more assorted shorter updates! Now, here's what you need to know!

Local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters have finally released a full track from their forthcoming debut album "Eternal Hibernation"! Posted onto their YouTube channel on Friday to coincide with what would have been late guitarist Andres Duchesne's 25th birthday, the band chose "Bloodthirst" as the first public demo from the album as it was the first song that Andres and The Bear Hunters' original lineup wrote together. The song is "mostly mixed" and "not fully refined", but it's nice to hear the full track! The cover artwork for the CD can also be seen on your right and below, as designed by singer Nik Deubel's Chronic Demonic bandmate Kevin Powe, though it remains to be seen whether The Bear Hunters' logo and/or the album's name will be added. I find it evokes more of a black metal essence, but Kevin did strong work as always on the design! As I expect to be reviewing "Eternal Hibernation" on the site soon after it's release (and no, a firm date for it hasn't been announced yet), I won't comment yet on the song, but check out the unfinished studio version of "Bloodthirst" below, and stay tuned for more updates!



Next up, here's some long awaited fallout from the first annual Emergency Festival that took place at the old Rotaryfest Second Stage's stomping grounds two weeks ago! SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand to cover the festival and take photos of some of the bands, though of the three acts with an SMS-fitting sound, only The Pixo Control (complete with animal facepaint) are included in the album. Strong photos either way, and it looks like the festival was well attended, so click here for the full article and photos! The album also confirms that Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook was on hand to MC the main stage, which is pretty cool also! For The Music Inside were also on hand for their own coverage, though aside from this photo of Gnaeus, their Facebook photos largely focused on acts and fans at the main Emergency stage. Nicely taken in their own right too, it's good to see F.T.M.I. showing up to get media at more concerts! Moving back to Village Media properties, Local2 have been teasing The Emergency for their next episode of Tuned, but before that, this video on the festival is now online, so what's within?

Along with performances by main stage artists Kalle Mattson, Lindi Ortega, and The Treasures, the video features an interview by the aforementioned Donna Hopper with Emergency organizer/LopLops Lounge owner Stephen Alexander about why the festival was launched, their artist selection, and the biggest surprise about the festival. No acts from other stages are featured here, but maybe more will turn up in the forthcoming Tuned episode, and we'll let you know when it is posted! See above for more on The Emergency!

Also today, here' the latest from new local metal/rap duo The Apocalypse Afterparty, including the revelation that they're apparently already working on a debut EP! As revealed on their Facebook page on Thursday, they were apparently beginning recordings for the first track on Friday with producer Jamie Vincent (AlgomA, Bad Back), and they're planning to work with "another great local talent" on the second song, with a third also to be included. The guys are hyping this as being "disgustingly raw & tight", so we'll have to see where things lead! Optimistic news for sure, especially seeing as X & Z haven't played a public concert yet, but some readers may have attended a private house party show that they played at last night (along with Bad Back and some Blood Shed Productions artists), so media from that might be forthcoming. Lastly relating to this new band's EP sessions, this Facebook video was posted yesterday that features a sneak peek of their song "The Crowd", so how do things sound?

Again, I hope to review a finished EP down the road, so I'll hold my thoughts for now, but the recording sounds good in this form (straight from the computer), and look for some cameos from band associates! Remember, "The Crowd" is very similar in structure to (if not the same as) a song from Paul Stanghetta's old(?) band The Fury, so if it sounds familiar, that may be why. Interesting stuff is on the horizon, so see more above & below from The Apocalypse Afterparty!



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

• This is just a late addendum to our piece on defunct local punk band The Bottom Half, as I recently came across their old MySpace page! It has improvements on their PureVolume page via this band photo from the former Sault Music Scene, and 4 songs ("Open Up", "How Far", "Friday Night", and "Mistakes") from their planned "Beginnings Change" album. Like before, they have an energetic pop punk sound, though one could argue that members' later work has matured considerably. Check out more from The Bottom Half above though, and their link on our listings is now from MySpace!
• A local musician named Rob Charlebois is looking to find a drummer for a rock band that he's currently with, though he didn't specify a genre beyond just "rock", and jam sessions would take place once or twice a week. If you're interested in trying out (especially if it leans to hard rock or punk), message Rob at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from two weeks ago!
• Local/Toronto indie punk veterans Treble Charger will be playing a free acoustic concert this Thursday at Speakeasy 21 in Toronto! As it's an acoustic gig, I assume just Greig & Bill will be playing a'la their older acoustic shows since their reunion, but I can't 100% verify that. Sounds like a good way to end the summer, keep it in mind if you're in the Toronto area this week! Our source is the band's Facebook page.

That's all for today, but stay tuned  for more news and features this week! Thanks everyone!

Meet The (Inactive) Local Punk Bands!! Part 5

(Updated at 11:42 PM) We're finally back with another introductory post to defunct and inactive local punk bands, in order to formally roll them into our band links on The Sault Metal Scene! Today, we're mainly dipping into PureVolume for bands, but we're starting our MySpace searching by including a punk band on there from somewhere you may not expect. Now, here's what you need to know on these four new old punk bands, and huge thanks to prolific local musician Mark Rand for helping fill in many of the gaps below!

We'll start with a defunct local punk band named The Bottom Half who have extremely minimal surviving information via their PureVolume page, but still have some material to check out! A pop punk quintet, the members were only credited by first names on PureVolume, but I can confirm that their complete lineup featured singer Lucas Castellani, guitarists Mark Rand (now of Peterborough's Cross Dog) and local MMA fighter Mitch Fryia, current Northwest bassist Mike Smykacz, and drummer James Moss (now of the Toronto folk band Young Running). Mark told me that The Bottom Half were a cover band that later morphed to a pop punk sound to follow what was in at the time, but they didn't last too long (only visibly from 2004-2005). Two songs of theirs are listed on the audio player on their PureVolume page, which were apparently planned for an album named "Beginnings Change", and while "Open Up" doesn't work, "Mistakes" does, so how does it sound? It's a little simplistic, but it's got a catchy modern pop punk sound that would please fans of Blink-182, and Luc's vocals fit the song perfectly! Give The Bottom Line a listen above!

Next up, here's arguably the biggest of today's featured bands, that being defunct local indie/punk trio Fuller! Constantly featuring Jamie Vincent (Bad Back, AlgomA) on vocals & guitar, their most identifiable lineup also featured Jamie's current Bad Back bandmate Nathan Sauve on drums, and the aforementioned Mark Rand on bass, while their original lineups featured future Burn The Past bassist Dan Fagan (who founded Fuller with Jamie as an acoustic duo) & drummers Jamie Kersley (a recent stand-up comedian) and Marc Santos (later of A Fall From Innocence). Also active from roughly 2004-2005, Fuller played concerts everywhere from The Oddfellows Hall to one of the last major metal/punk shows at the Club Princess in January 2005 (and even some out of town shows), opening for the likes of Moneen & Choke along the way. Fuller disbanded by 2006, with Mark joining Bondar later that year, and later joining Nathan in Lion Ride's original lineup. You can best hear Fuller today via some live concert videos on Nathan's original YouTube channel, so how do they sound?

The audio could be clearer on these videos, but there's a good poppy enthusiasm and some mature lyrics to go around, and Jamie's clean singing is a solid fit for this style! Bad Back & Lion Ride fans should be warned that Fuller are not overly similar to either, rather taking on an indie punk sound with jazz influences. Very good chemistry though, but it'd be nice to get more of a bead on the crowd reception. I imagine Fuller had a solid local following, but give them a look & listen below and via the above links to see for yourself, and here they are playing their song "Love Is Always"1

We'll take a detour for both source website and nationality for this next band, as here's an honest rarity: A recent punk band from the Sault Michigan area! We don't hear of too many straight punk bands across the river (apart from some formed through the Guitar Studio rock camps), but The Pick-Me-Ups are one of the few, so I thought we'd touch on them first from bands whose main surviving band page is on MySpace! Active from roughly 2008-2010, their lineup featured singer/guitarist Matt LaPointe (who also has some solo work), bassist Trevor Yake, and ex-Elements of Madness drummer Landon Mattson. Many of The Pick-Me-Ups' concerts related to or were held at Malcolm High School, including the school's Musicfest in May 2009 at The Big Bear Arena, while a 10 song demo was distributed at their gigs around that time, though the band is believed to have quietly disbanded the following year. Six original songs can be streamed on their MySpace page, and therein, you'll get a fun ska-punk sound that fans of the reggae-influenced subgenre will definitely take to!

On songs like "Eureka Street" and"Grape Kool-Aid", you get a solid sense of Matt's guitar ability, and Landon's drumming fit in very well also! It'd be awesome to see more punk bands in the E.U.P., but you can get more of a glimpse at The Pick-Me-Ups via their YouTube channel, which has a pile of videos from the aforementioned Malcolm High Musicfest as well as assorted other jam and recording footage. Mixed quality, but a good punk spirit and underrated talents are still present, so give The Pick-Me-Ups a look above, and here they are playing their song "What It's Like"!



Finally, here's a defunct screamo & alternative quartet Stripped Of His Wings (later known as Camorra), who were also around locally circa 2004-2005. Well known from assorted Oddfellows Hall gigs during their run, Stripped Of His Wings' lineups featured no less than 5 different drummers, but Mark told me that S.O.H.W.'s main lineup featured singer Matt Parent, guitarists Patrick Lethbridge & Wayne Haskell, and Bottom Half alums Mike Smykacz & James Moss on bass & drums, while Matt left the band prior to their name change to Camorra, with Pat taking over lead vocals. Surviving material on the band under either name isn't in high supply, but their Soundclick page describes them as "melodiously strident", and mentions Boys Night Out and Poison The Well among their influences. As Camorra, the band had planned to reform after members relocated to Waterloo in the mid-2000s (presumably for college), and Mark told me that they toned down the screamo influences, but it's not clear how much they accomplished there, if anything, before falling inactive.

Soundclick features four songs that the band played under both names, so how do they sound? Largely live concert recordings, I'll concede now that we probably should have had Stripped Of His Wings on the site before our punk merger due to their sound basically being an upbeat hardcore style that fans of As It Stands would have definitely taken to! I wonder how they slipped under the radar for this long? Sounds energetic and moshable, but the recording quality isn't great, with their songs being too muffled to really gauge everything. However, this black & white Oddfellows show video from The 705 Video Magazine has a better glimpse of their hardcore & screamo sounds, and they mostly have a good lively stage presence here! Give Stripped Of His Wings/Camorra a look below!



I hope you guys liked this newest defunct punk band introductory post, and thanks again to Mark for the added information! Our last features to roll in older punk bands to our links will (barring a missed band on other social media sites) be based around bands whose primary surviving online page is on MySpace, which will be a challenge due to their massive layout overhauls, much of which stripped "local" references on them. Look out for Part 6 soon, and stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Sunday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Full Throttle), A New Local Hard Rock Band, And More Concert Previews!!

As promised, we're touching on Sault Michigan-area weekend concert previews today, but be sure to check out this weekend's Sault Ontario hard rock show previews (including a new confirmation) in the post below this one! There's live metal bands in both the Soo and St. Ignace this weekend, but first, here's some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS tied to a brand new local band with a familiar name!

Remember how Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Bottom Line have been teasing a breakup in recent weeks due to bassist Jack Slater heading out of town again for college? Well, it's been confirmed, as their Music & Art Dockside Festival set last weekend in Hessel was indeed their last show. That said, remaining members Ryan Kitzmiller, Joe Jenkins, and Will Storey aren't stopping there, as they've formed a new successor band named Full Throttle.....wait a minute, wasn't there already a local band named Full Throttle? Yes, but it's a complicated story. Ryan had originally joined a local hard rock cover band named Full Throttle in late 2012, but early last year, there was a major split in their lineup, with Ryan, guitarist Nathan Switzer, and bassist George Belleau leaving to form the short lived RamWagon, while remaining members Jason Lamoreaux & Mark Gillotte maintained Full Throttle with a new lineup (now including Donny Newell, Steve Pevarnic, and Chris Gurnoe) through last August, when they issued their last public update.

Fast forward to almost a year later, and the remaining local members of The Bottom Line have decided to re-purpose the Full Throttle name for their new band, with Ryan's former bandmate George Belleau replacing Jack on bass, so it seems likely that the old Full Throttle are defunct now, and/or allowed Ryan & George to use the name again. Somewhat confusing timeline, but it will be very interesting to see how the current Full Throttle does in the area! No word on how they sound yet, but you can get your first taste TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, as the new Full Throttle will make their live debuts this weekend at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! They'll also be playing there next weekend (August 1st & 2nd), and again on September 26th & 27th, and it should be noted that these shows (which Kewadin's entertainment page has yet to confirm) all appear to have previously been London Gentlemen gigs, with next weekend's bookings once belonging to RamWagon earlier this year.

And yes, apologies for the short notice, especially as they were all announced two weeks ago, but they got lost in the shuffle until now. All six shows have 21+ age limits, 19+ age limits, and no announced cover charge, so check the above links and each weekend's Facebook event page (here, here, and here) for more details! The Bottom Line recieved a positive reception from what I remember, and if the new Full Throttle can build on that, they should do just fine in the area! Don't miss them at The Rapids Lounge THIS WEEKEND, so stay tuned for more as we hear it, and best of luck to members of the old Full Throttle in the future!

Also this weekend, Charlevoix classic metal trio Peril will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT for another weekend of hard hitting covers! Last seen in St. Ignace two months ago (though they've played at the Soo Kewadin since), Peril are local favourites from their frequent trips up north, and while Jeff Hudson's other projects have been making inroads to our area lately as well, a good old Peril weekend never hurt anybody, and if you're up for some classic metal action, a trip to St. Ignace would satisfy that nicely! As usual for their Kewadin dates, there's no announced cover charge, you must be 21 to attend, and a 9:00 PM start time each night is likely. For more details, check the above links! If you can't wait until October to take in some U.P. Peril intensity, be at The Northern Pines Lounge this weekend, and for a preview, here are the guys live in Vanderbilt!



Finally for this weekend's known previews, Munising metal quartet Infathom will play a rare solo gig in Sault Michigan THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Savoy Bar & Nightclub! Last seen headlining at LemmaFest last month, this show is likely the penultimate in The Savoy's Summerfest outdoor concert series, which has seen bands like Power Slug, No Decision, and Ricochet playing shows outside in the West Portage Avenue bar's parking lot over a 6 week period, with Plastic closing the series next weekend. No word on why Infathom (featuring ex-Half A Man singer Dillion Semasky) aren't playing tomorrow night too, but keep in mind, they are from out of town. It's not often where we see Infathom play in our area without other bands joining them, but their modern metal covers are explosive and skilled, and you can catch them this Saturday at around 10:00 PM! You must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here they are covering Godsmack in Brimley last fall!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and features this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Infathom & The Danger Cats), The Bottom Line Concert Preview, And More!!

For today at the SMS, we're covering some new LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next weekend, and some more assorted recent notes, and yes, our preview of a Sunday festival featuring a hard rock band is part of this post too! Now, here's what you need to know!

Sault Ontario all-female hard rockers The Danger Cats will enter unfamiliar territory for the SMS this coming weekend, as they'll make their debuts at The Esquire Club this coming Friday & Saturday! You read that right, we're seeing a rare hard rock show at this popular and long lasting bar at 103 Second Line West (down the road from the Market Mall), which is largely known for hosting classic rock and country bands, so it will be very interesting to see how the girls do in this setting on the 24th & 25th! Fresh off of TODAY'S set at Rotaryfest, their Esquire Club shows will be 9:00 PM and 19+ affairs, but I have no idea on if they generally have cover charges. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Regardless of location, The Danger Cats have an exciting and diverse sound, so keep these gigs in mind for next weekend when making your concert plans, especially if you're in the west end of town already!

Also for new concert announcements, Munising, Michigan metal quartet Infathom will make their long awaited return to Sault Michigan next weekend themselves when they play at (or more likely, outside of) The Savoy Bar & Nightclub, presumably as part of their ongoing Summerfest concert series! The show was announced on their Facebook page yesterday. If among the outdoor bands in the parking lot of The Savoy, Infathom will be second last of this run (preceding Plastic's shows in early August), and come just after local rock cover quartet No Decision's shows this weekend, so it's nice to see the series keeping on! No word on the band for July 11th-12th, or why Infathom aren't playing on Friday, but remember that they are from out of town. Last seen at LemmaFest last month, it's great to see Dillion and company back so soon, so give them a warm reception again next week for their high energy metal! No announced cover charge, 21+ age limits, and a likely 10:00 PM start time are in effect, and stay tuned for updates at the above links!

Now to our likely last of the weekend's hard rock concert previews, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Bottom Line will hit nearby Hessel, Michigan TOMORROW as part of the entertainment at this year's Music & Art Dockside Festival! An annual family event featuring an arts & crafts fair, live music, refreshments, and children's entertainment, this is an area favourite for art fans and families alike, so definitely keep it in mind whether you're shopping, browsing, or spending time with loved ones! Though not previously an event with a high heavier presence, The Bottom Line (who will be playing with new singer Ryan Kitzmiller for the first time following Mitch Goetz's departure) will be on at the Hessel Marina tomorrow at 2:30 PM as the event's de facto headliners, with acoustic solo artist Charlie Reager and classic rocker Gary Van Alstine opening at 1:00 PM & 11:00 AM respectively, as sourced here, so keep the full musical lineup in mind!

This FREE & ALL AGES event may also serve as one of The Bottom Line's last shows due to bassist Jack Slater's college commitments, so head to Hessel to check out the new lineup before it's too late, as they have a promising sound and lineup! No videos are known to publically exist of The Bottom Line, but if we find any, we'll share them on here!

Finally for today, here's three assorted stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or company name:

• On June 17th, recently dormant Sault Michigan concert promoters Allstar Promotions were gauging interest in bringing The Stone Temple Pilots to the area for a concert, presumably at The Dreammaker's Theater. Lots of solid interest so far, but to speak your mind, comment or like the post on their Facebook page A.S.A.P.!
• Leading from the recent cancellation of their announced Rednecks Saloon show this Friday, local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue (the former Suicide Kings) have cancelled the planned Saturday show this coming weekend too, due to prior commitments for some band members, and a band will be replacing them to be announced. Disappointing, but hopefully their Rotaryfest set went well last night! My source is bassist Mitch Sirie on the Facebook event page for The Bear Hunters' show, which basically replaced Beaumont Avenue's Friday gig there.
• We're likely overdue on this, but Sault Michigan radio station Rock 101's overhauled website is now online at this link, and it's definitely a better looking and more modern layout now! It also features an updated page for station personalities, finally listing their newest nighttime DJ "Nikki at Night", but she curiously doesn't have a bio or photo yet. Check everything out above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our next defunct punk band "introduction" post next, in all likelihood! Thanks everyone!

A New Demo Release, Bottom Line Updates, And Much More!!

After devoting our last two posts to rolling in the remaining active punk bands on the site, we're gonna touch on some backlogged news for a bit before adding defunct and inactive punk bands to our links, but I guarantee that they're coming soon! Today, we have some new jam session videos, assorted stories, and updates from a Sault Michigan band, but first, here's details on a recent demo release for you grindcore and death metal fans!

We'll start with the latest from local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore, who quietly released their new full length demo "Welcome To Earth" last Tuesday! A 33 minute release with 15 songs, the front & back cover are both up on their Facebook page, but I won't embed the cover art here due to imagery that some may find offensive. Frontman Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson distributed some advance copies at his Touch of Death Festival appearance in Cochrane last month, though unless C.T.W. are playing somewhere before next month's Archspire show, you can only buy a hard copy directly through Tyler at the moment. A full YouTube upload is expected for the coming weeks, but as a preview, Tyler did upload the ninth song "Gobbledeegook" onto label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel on Monday, which is over half spoken word and samples before getting to usual goregrind and death metal action, and fans of existing C.T.W. originals will like this one also!

In honour of the release, Crucify The Whore also played a private release party with Tyler's duo project Rotopsy and local rapper Phat Boii last week, and a video from their set also made it to the Blood Shed YouTube channel two days later, which captures both an intense original song with Mike Kyle-esque screaming mixed in, and the unique sight of a pool noodle fight among attendees! The video quality's medium, but fans of the goregrind will want to watch this, so give it a look below, and contact Tyler above to buy a copy of "Welcome To Earth"!

Next up, here's the latest from Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Bottom Line, as they've added former RamWagon/Full Throttle frontman Ryan Kitzmiller to their lineup, replacing Mitch Goetz, as per their Facebook page on Monday. The band cited having to "go in a different direction" for Mitch's exit, and while there was no bad blood, "it's just part of the business", leaving the reasons for the switch to be vague otherwise. Ryan's a solid addition, as fans will have seen from his prior local cover hard rock bands, but Mitch has always shown talent in his other bands (The Highest of Fives still among them), and best of luck to him for sure! Ryan will debut with The Bottom Line at the Music & Arts Dockside Festival in Hessel on July 20th at 2:30 PM, but there might not be much longer for them after that, as a related comment on Facebook said that they "will most likely be playing our last show in just over a month" due to bassist Jack Slater's out of town college commitments, and they want to send him out on the right note, though details on that set have yet to be revealed.

Though disappointing if true, it's not all that unexpected, as Jack's return to college also contributed to 415E's break last fall. Things look like they've been going well for the band despite what's came out recently, so stay tuned for updates on what's next (or left?) from The Bottom Line!

Also today, we have some new videos from Sault Ontario hardcore/grunge duo Bad Back to share on here! Courtesy of drummer Nathan Sauve's new YouTube channel (not his old "suavij" one), he's uploaded two videos there in the past month, including this jam session clip of the band playing their original "Number 1 Single" and improvisations afterward, though the camera is pointed only at Nathan without singer/guitarist Jamie Vincent caught in frame. Solid quality otherwise, but embedded below is a 51 minute jam session clip from last month, so what should you know on this? Nathan actually listed the track order (including short jammed and solo asides) on the video's description, so click here for the full order, but you can see Bad Back playing originals like "Lung Bucket", "Two Tongues", and "Party Bus" along with cover jams ranging from Blink-182 to Limp Bizkit, and even their old local band Fuller!

Shot at a better angle to catch both guys, the video captures Bad Back in a looser and more carefree setting, and while it's not as polished as a formal concert, the high video quality helps, and it's fun to see a lot of new footage of Bad Back (I also like the concert poster collection on the wall!) Check out Nathan's new Bad Back videos above and below, and don't miss them opening for The Archaics at The New A next week!




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

• Thunder Bay grindcore trio Grindcorchestra have been added as co-headliners of the Archspire concert at The Oddfellows Hall on August 3rd, as per promoters Heavy North Entertainment on the Facebook event page on Monday, with the $10 admission price remaining unchanged. Solid addition, as Grindcorchestra's eclectic blend of death metal and jazz/progressive influences should lend themselves well to this all ages show! Hear more from them above!
• Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger is working on a new punk band project, which will cover bands like Guttermouth, NOFX, Rancid, and The Alkaline Trio. Unlike his recent solo punk sets, he will be drumming in this band, and he's looking for a singer and/or lead guitarist to round out their lineup. Sounds cool, it'd be nice to get some more punk bands in the area, so message him at this link or at his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last week for info!
• Leading from our story on The Bottom Line, I regrettably have to delete inactive local hard rock cover band RamWagon from our band links due to the recent deletion of their Facebook page, which was also their only online page. The band (which splintered off from Full Throttle for assorted Kewadin gigs & last year's LemmaFest) were essentially replaced by new local classic rock/country band Highway 63 in March, with the new band originally sharing 3 RamWagon members. I wish bands wouldn't delete pages, but best of luck to everyone in what comes next!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews, this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, and some new local bands in the next few days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned) & The LemmaFest 2014 Concert Preview!!

We'll close up this weekend's metal & hard rock concert previews with a well anticipated annual event in Sault Michigan today, including some extra info on some of the "mystery" bands, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this August, with a related apology for a missed show from them!

Kinross hard rock trio Banned will return to The Runway Bar in nearby Hessel, Michigan for a one-night-only gig on Saturday, August 9th! Announced on the band's Facebook page on May 27th, this will be their first Hessel appearance in 6 months, and their first non-Kewadin bar gig within our coverage range since drummer Don Traynor's surgery in the spring, so it's great to see the guys playing more like normal again! In fact, this was one of numerous new events confirmed last month, including shows outside of our coverage range this summer in Gould City & Engadine and a handful of private gigs, though we regrettably did miss one local public gig announced then, as Banned headlined a community dance in Pickford this past Saturday as part of S.P.E.A.K.S. Education's Summer Festival. Not sure how that slipped by our radar, but our deepest apologies for missing it! Hopefully it was a great event, it sounded like it was for an awesome cause! As for Banned's Hessel show on August 9th, that has no announced cover charge, a 9:00 PM start time, and a 21+ age limit. Check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more from Banned!

Next up, here's our extended preview of the fourth annual LemmaFest, as the annual Sault Michigan concert festival will return for another highly anticipated installment outside of Dondee Lanes TOMORROW! The first year that LemmaFest falls on the third weekend of June rather than the fourth,  this year's event will honour both the late Mike Lemma as usual, but also fellow Sault resident Jon Hackworth (a.k.a. Hot Tub Johnny), who suddenly passed away in January, and festival proceeds will go towards his family & related expenses, which is an awesome gesture! Like previous years, there will be a pig roast, prize and cash draws, drink & bowling specials, and t-shirt & mug sales, while local filmmaker Wayne Kozeyah will be distributing final copies of his LemmaFest documentary short that he made at Lake Superior State over the past year, and hopefully an online copy turns up online soon as well! The band lineup this year features just 8 acts, with only 3 or 4 bands returning from past years, and with regular bands like Half A Man and 3 time LemmaFest veterans Scofflaw not back this year, but there's still some known faces!

A full timeslot schedule hasn't been announced, but the descending order on the above poster looks reasonable for when bands are playing, so we'll go up from the bottom! If accurate, this year's headliners are Munising metal quartet Infathom (featuring area resident Dillion Semasky on vocals) in their third LemmaFest appearance, and their modern metal attack should be welcomed once again tomorrow night! A new (and maybe one-off?) band named Nightmare Grin are scheduled right before them, and while I can't confirm their sound yet, their lineup does include former I.S.O.M. drummer Bart Rennels and RedStone Riot/ex-Elipzis bassist Ryan Harrison, so they have some solid talent that we haven't seen in the Soo in way too long! Newer local rock quartet Division of Sanity (who have teased metal material in online postings) are also scheduled for around 7:00 PM in what should be their biggest local concert yet, so we'll have to see how they sound live, as they have talent on the acoustic demos that I've heard!

The fourth-last band will be local alternative hard rock trio Plastic (who debuted at last year's LemmaFest) in their first show of the year and first live set with new drummer Aaron DePalma (replacing the departed Paul Burns), so look for them at around 5:30 PM! 2012 LemmaFest performer Caitlin LeBlanc will play a set of acoustic pop/folk songs right before them tomorrow, while a band named Mr. Fister are advertised for the third slot tomorrow, so who exactly are they? It looks like they're essentially the current version of the band previously known as Bucksaw and Dirtbag In A Dress that played at each of the last 3 LemmaFests, though it's unclear whether they're a renamed version or a separate successor band. According to personal Facebook posts, their lineup includes Bucksaw alumni Bill Ogston on guitar, Barney Gravelle (also of Scofflaw) on bass, and Jason VanLuven (returning to replace Mikey Bishop) on drums, with singer/guitarist Ryan Franklin not recently mentioned. Though there's some uncertainties on Mr. Fister's (current?) form, it's nice to see lots of ties to all of the past three LemmaFests via their involvement!

The opening two performers will be new local hard rock quartet The Bottom Line (featuring Highest of Fives bandmates Mitch Goetz and Jack Slater), while a local solo musician named Mike Kowalski (genre unknown) will kick off the day's events at noon or shortly after. This ALL AGES event goes down tomorrow from 12:00 PM until the evening, with a $10 admission, so visit the Facebook event page and the above links for more details! This should be another great installment of LemmaFest, and hopefully the Lemma and Hackworth families are given lots of rememberances and financial help respectively at this great annual event! LemmaFest is one of the most notable annual concert festivals across the river, so don't miss out TOMORROW at the Dondee, and for a preview, here's Infathom covering Papa Roach live last year!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, plus this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Bottom Line), The Pixo Control Concert Preview, And More!!

We're still in our current upswing of Sault Michigan-centric news and notes, so this post includes a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for July in the E.U.P., related new video finds, and some more assorted notes, but we do have a Sault Ontario concert preview as well! With that said, here's what you need to know on this Sunday morning!

New local hard rock quartet The Bottom Line will play their second announced concert set on Sunday, July 20th when they'll be among the performers at the annual Music & Art Dockside festival in nearby Hessel, Michigan that day! My source is the band's Facebook page on May 5th, as organizers have not announced a performer lineup yet that I know of. Though The Bottom Line didn't detail the festival when they announced their involvement, the Music & Art Dockside festival will be held at the Hessel Marina grounds & gazebo, and if past years are any indication, there will be live music, arts & crafts, and regional shopping and merchants to take in at this annual event, which hasn't previously been a spot for heavier local bands. Times for the festival will likely be from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, this is an all ages event, and there's no announced admission costs. For more details, check the above links and the event page for last year's festival, and stay tuned in case we get confirmation of other performers!

We'll get back to more from The Bottom Line in a second, but first, here's a new Sault Ontario topic (I haven't forgotten this side of the border!), as local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control will play a special Monday night show TOMORROW when they make their way down to Cafe Natura! A healthy foods cafe and natural medicine store at 75 Elgin Street that largely attracts acoustic and folk performers, Cafe Natura has found success with it's target audiences since opening, so keep it in mind for this special show! Also, The Pixo Control teased a guest performer for this show on their Facebook page yesterday, possibly cellist Emma N-K (heard here), so keep an eye out! They will be the local openers for Halifax folk/alternative musician Jon McKiel (who The Pixo Control have covered live) and Nova Scotia indie/experimental duo Construction & Destruction, both of whom have a talented sound in their genres, so be sure to check both out via the above links!

The first Cafe Natura show we've fully covered on here, this ALL AGES event has an 8:00 PM start time and $10 cover charge, so visit the official Facebook event page for full details! It'll be interesting to hear how this show does, but folk and indie fans would be best served to come for Jon McKiel's unique originals alone, and the openers (Pixo Control included) should set the tone well also! Keep it in mind for tomorrow night, and here's The Pixo Control live at The Oddfellows Hall!



Next up, here's one last note relating to The Bottom Line, as guitarist Joe Jenkins has a YouTube channel featuring solo guitar performances of his in the past couple of months! These mostly are of jamming and riff ideas, though two videos are of titled songs ("That Wicked Side" and "Pitch Black", which is embedded below), and it's unclear yet whether these are/will become Bottom Line originals. A mixture of harder riffs and softer compositions are on Joe's channel, but the heavier ones sound like good candidates for band expansion, and while guitar solos aren't a high presence, Joe has clear ability and can definitely produce some heavy material, so check out "Pitch Black" below, and click here for more!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and fitting our recent topic trends, all relate to bands or events outside of Canada! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or station name:

• Sault Ontario goregrind label Blood Shed Productions have surprisingly announced the addition of a British one man goregrind project named Peppermint Green to their artist roster, making them obviously the first non-regional band with the Blood Shed. Their first song together can be streamed at this link, and label loyalists and grind fans will enjoy it, so give it a look if you want, and we'll see how the Blood Shed continues to spread in the coming months!
• Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook announced on their Facebook page yesterday that he'll be interviewing shock rock legend Alice Cooper on the air at around 9:30 AM tomorrow morning during "Scott & Brian in the Morning", obviously in advance of Alice's Kewadin Casino show on June 27th. Awesome news, so be sure to listen in if you can at 101.3 FM, as Alice is a legend who's been very good for local appearances! Tickets are still available!
• Courtesy of his upcoming solo album "This End Up!", Dafter solo artist Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton has posted a new track named "Rain" onto his Reverbnation page to stream, so give it a listen via the provided link! I won't give thoughts about it yet due to a likely review of the album this summer, but fans won't be disappointed!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and such this week! Thanks everyone!