Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Today's post covers some recent video finds from a pair of local concerts this year, so let's begin with a belated soundcheck performance by Oshawa hair metal legends The Killer Dwarfs before their Soo Blaster concert in April! This was live-streamed to the band's Facebook page that same night, and I apologize for missing it at the time, it's not every day where a big name touring headline act like this posts their own soundcheck footage from their Sault gigs. The video features The Dwarfs playing their classic song "Hard Luck Town" on the Soo Lounge stage, and it gives 48 seconds of solid sounding action! Of course, they weren't in full performance mode yet, but this was a nice appetizer for anyone who saw this in person or in the original live-stream, so give it a look below, and hopefully we see The Killer Dwarfs back in Sault Ste. Marie sooner or later!

Next up, here's videos of the three closing bands from the free Friday night concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion earlier this month as part of this year's Fringe North/Up The Arts Festival! These come from Christopher Paci's excellent YouTube channel once again, and kudos to him for getting all of this solid footage! Chris didn't film Unorganized Township or Mister Tahti, but you can see videos of theirs on The Arts Council of Algoma's Facebook page, as well as the bands he did get videos of. We'll start with blues rock cover trio trio The Dell Brothers (p.k.a. The Paul DellaVedova Band), who Chris shot covering Led Zeppelin's "Good Times, Bad Times." Another hard rock cover, I'll have to see if they have more than this and Bad Company/Free out there! Chris isn't close to the stage, so he zooms in for much of the video, which is welcome, but the quality is fuzzier as a result. Audio qulaity holds up nicely overall, so give his Dell Brothers video a look!



Chris also filmed two videos of local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, including this clip of "Fear Corps", and as embedded below, their two opening songs "They Live" & "Rise". On these videos, Chris got closer to the stage, but he didn't zoom either, so you may or may not think these are improvements. Sonically, Jack Spades are at their usual heavy best in this outdoor setting, so give these videos a look above and below!



Finally, Chris got two videos of headlining funk/hard rock quartet The Elements on this night, filming them covering Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" (as also filmed by The Arts Council), and as embedded below, playing their original "G20." It's a shame that there's not more people at this point, but The Elements come through well in these videos, though the lighting and angle don't leave a lot of room for finer details visually. Give these clips a look above and below as well, and thanks again, Chris!



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

Fringe North/Up The Arts Festival Video Showcase!!

Today's post is 100% devoted to Facebook videos from this past weekend's Fringe North/Up The Arts Festival concerts at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, as live-streamed from The Arts Council of Algoma's Facebook page! There is more than this to share regarding hard rock performances, but let's focus on artists that played on Friday, which included new local jam rock quartet Unorganized Township (seen here covering Stick Figure's "World on Fire") and former Honest Job fronman Mister Tahti (who was filmed covering Donovan's "Season of the Witch" with guest Jeff Hinich.) Both are solid videos for acoustic fans, and while neither cover is heavy, they're both well performed! The first video we'll embed here is of local blues rock trio The Dell Brothers (née The Paul DellaVedova Band) covering Free's "All Right Now", a standard cover of theirs if you've seen them live. The Brothers handle this 1970s hard rock cover as well as ever, and the vocals are particularly strong!

The vertical camera angle isn't optimal, and while the audio quality is a big drawback here, fans who've seen bands under the big tent know that acoustics can be an issue there, so that may be to blame more than the camera. Give The Dell Brothers' video a look below!



Next up, here's The Arts Council's video of local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, who played their original song "Crossroads" in this clip from their co-headlining set. A much warmer set for them compared to their last Pavilion gig at Bon Soo's Marquee back in 2014, this is a strong performance of this live staple, and the horizontal camera angle is nice to see, but fuzzy visuals don't help matters. Give their video a look as well!



The Friday headliners were local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements (featuring Jack Spades guitarist Rob Speers on vocals), who are seen here covering Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher." Probably the best video quality yet of the heavier performances, this cover is more aggressive and gritty than the original, but it suits The Elements' style well, and James is definitely in prime concert mode in particular! Muffled audio does recur here, though. Check this clip out below, and see more from Friday above!



Finally, let's look at one band from Saturday's lineup, namely Elements side project The Wyld Stallyns, who expanded their acoustic trio setup to a full quintet by enlisting Rob & Jesse's Elements bandmates James White and Jonas Gasperas for the occasion! You could call this an Elements acoustic show with Christina on guest vocals, but of course, it's the other way around. This cover of Heart's "Magic Man" is a nice showcase for her singing, and the guys handle the music effectively alongside, so give this video a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the coming days, including more videos from Up The Arts on Saturday! Thanks everyone!