LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Cory Marks), A New Addition To Our Band Links, And More Updates!!

Let's catch up on some Sault Ontario odds and ends on this Tuesday night, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, promotion for another upcoming show, and some other updates, but leading off, here's a long overdue addition to our band links & full coverage!

We have a new-ish band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are the no-longer-online-pageless The Spaceship Opening! Despite debuting on stage in September 2024, they only launched a social media presence (their new Facebook page) over the weekend. Described in promotion for past gigs as "east end rock & roll" and "space rock", The Spaceship Opening are a two-man-band featuring former Redundant/Fitswitch bassist Andrew MacDonald alongside A.S.D.P. drummer Ralph Barber, and in videos publically shared so far, neither sings at all. Over the past 18 months, you may recall seeing The Spaceship Opening sharing the stage with touring acts like The Space Wizards and Greg Rekus & The Inside Job, while they also opened for Mike Haggith's "Under A Moonlit Sky" show last fall, and most recently played at the "Not A Leap Year Party" concert in "Mellow D's Basement" on Saturday, alongside other public and private events.

Two videos are on their Facebook page, one being this short and black-and-white clip from an unspecified venue, while embedded below is four minutes of them playing at the still-closed Distraction last year, and while this one is in colour, it was shot vertically. Unless you've seen them live already, their early descriptors didn't give their sound away, and they have way more of an AlgomA-esque sludge/doom essence than I would have assumed. If you were expecting The Spaceship Opening to be similar to Andrew's past local bands, you may be surprised! Distorted and low (if not all that spacey), I can see why they've attracted fans with their minimalist rock compositions so far, so check things out from them above and below!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Thursday, June 11th! The fourth time in as many years that Cory has performed a local date, this appears to be a full band show with a proper promotional push, unlike his most recent local gig (also at the Bushplane Museum), when he headlined the Hope Air Day charity event this past June with a solo acoustic performance that we didn't hear about until it was short notice. The Bushplane Museum is hyping this up by saying that "for the first time ever, we’re turning the hangar into a full-blown concert venue", and while multiple shows have taken place there in the past, they've tended to be all-local or supplemental to other events. Hopefully this show is a huge hit for Cory and the venue alike, so that more similarly scaled concerts can be considered!

No word on possible openers, but Silent 9 opened at Cory's Machine Shop shows in 2023 and 2024, and Matthew James opened last year's unplugged Hope Air Day concert. Doors open for this "hangar party" at 5:00 PM, there is no announced age limit, and tickets run for $40 (up fro $35 from Cory's last full-band show here) at this link, and $100 VIP passes are also available. Cory's hard rock and country crossover sound continues to garner fans and chart success, and fingers crossed that his fourth local concert is a smash this summer! Visit the above links for more details!

Also today, here's the first Facebook update from local progressive metal band Convergence in almost three months! Well, that's discounting "Stories", you may have seen one where "Johnny Cash" endorsed them, but they did not opt to separately upload that "Story" as its own video. The video below from Sunday features guitarist Jake Valois hyping their first show of the year, when they will be among the openers for Nashville death metal band Demon King and other touring groups at Soo Blaster on March 24th (three weeks from today!). Amusingly, Jake puts footage of the mobile video game Subway Surfers in an inset picture-in-picture window to try and discourage people from scrolling away, assuming you're watching the video on a vertical cell phone orientation, which may explain the captions. As the show is all ages, Jake suggests that the whole family come out to "Soo Blasters", even your grandma!

Tickets are on sale through the band for $15, and if you message him to get yours, he will make sure he gets it to you, so how simple is that? It's good to see some new shareable content from Convergence, and with their planned new album still in the works, hopefully 2026 proves to be a stacked year for them! Check out the new video below, and stay tuned for more from them!

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

 

• We don't cover open mic/jam nights as "concerts" here due to their in-built unpredictability, and even if the host crosses our radar, there's no guarantee that they'll perform if it's busy. That said, I did at least want to mention that local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty are actually hosting Piecing It Together Shows' weekly jam night tonight at their seasonal pop-up locale at 331-A Wellington Street West, as per their Facebook page. The former Dryer Fire haven't booked formal concerts with SMS-amenable acts over their winter season, but hopefully Paul, Amanda, and Mikhal have a good turnout for tonight's open mic night!
• Winnipeg folk punk musician Greg Rekus (who fronted The Inside Job here twice in the past two years) has been added as a surprise opener for The BAG's album release party at Soo Blaster on April 18th, as per Underground Events SSM's Facebook page last week. This may seem odd for a metal concert with a local headliner, but promoter Mikhal Muto is an ardent folk punk fan, so I assume this was just good timing to get Greg a local booking when he'd be coming through on a spring tour run. Plus, this show already has a diverse lineup, as Mikhal's new ska punk band A.S.D.P. are also opening. Hopefully Greg sets things off on the right foot next month!
• In their own poster for new local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow's concert there on March 27th, Soo Blaster alternately list the venue name for the show as "SooBlaster / Blaster Power" and "Blaster Power House". I don't know if this is portending anything about a name change for the building/stage, but the Queen Street East entertainment complex has recently opened bowling lanes, laser tag, and arcade upgrades. Of course, the concert stage there had been branded as the Soo Lounge since opening in 2019, but if anything is clarified further, we'll let you know!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS in due course! Thanks everyone!

Lo-Fi Video Fanzine No. 1 Review!!

Merry Christmas to all readers who celebrate! I hope everyone is having a pleasant holiday and got lots of presents! On this holiday, I wanted to open a present of sorts, namely a disc that I found at Value Village a few weeks ago called "Lo-Fi Video Fanzine No. 1", credited on the spine as "a lo-fi film by Christopher Shoust". Long-time readers may recognize Chris Shoust as the frontman of the inactive indie/punk solo project Telephone & Address, from his work in bands like The Red & Black and Orange, and from his artistic pursuits as a painter and filmmaker, but I had no idea that he once worked on a video magazine project! Two DIY installments of this zine were made up in late 2012 (the first one is dated to September of that year), but I couldn't tell you how they were distributed at the time, as I don't remember him or performers openly plugging this on social media at all.

Interestingly, the disc is not a DVD, rather a data disc containing the 30 minutes of video in one file, so if you have either disc, your mileage will vary on if it will even play on certain devices. Given that I have only seen one of these in the wild in the past 11 years, I'd hazard a guess that their print runs were quite limited, but never fear, as Chris quietly uploaded both Lo-Fi Video Fanzines to his YouTube channel in April of last year. We'll focus on the first one today, which was largely shot across two dates in August & September 2012 inside the old Royal Canadian Legion building on Great Northern Road, aside from one performer, who was partially filmed playing on Queen Street East outside of Reggie's Place. It is worth noting that Chris said that the video is "deliberately low quality" to focus on documenting what happened rather than making the footage "look pretty". I don't necessarily agree, as our eyes see better than the camera was set up to, but Chris always liked lo-fi recordings.

I have no clue whether the Legion performances here were taken from public concerts or private events intended specifically for the zine, but if I had heard about them being public events, I would have at least covered them on the SMS at the time. The 30 minute video opens with defunct local hard rock duo Sounds From The Green Room, an online page-less precursor to singer/guitarist Brad Griffith & drummer B.J. Swire's later band Bizotic. S.F.T.G.R. even played a show in Ottawa in 2011, but their public dates in the Soo were very limited, and I didn't know they were still playing anywhere in 2012! Their song (which ended their set at the fuller Legion concert) was introduced by name, but I couldn't make out the title due to the lo-fi recording quality, though it sounded like Brad said "Fudgel". Very Sykotyk Rampage-esque sound to this song, but with more traditional melodic vocals, and it's definitely heavier than Bizotic were!

Second on the zine are two spoken word poems by Denis Robillard, though only the second ("Many Phones Sleep Here, Under The Earth") has its title introduced on camera. I'd have left in the applause after he finished, but Denis did write good thematic poems here! Next is the first appearance of fan favourite local pianist & street performer Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda, who performs some original music for 3 minutes or so, and his skill on the keys is as prevalent as ever! More spoken word follows when Cody Rydall reads a well written poem named "Like Flight", while his brother Jake (who we have covered here via the old Swampstravaganza open mic block) gets an almost six minute stretch of the zine next, where he does two original songs on vocals & acoustic guitar. Neither one has its title given on camera, but they may be called "Eye To Eye" and "Broken Guitar Strings".

Jake sings well here and has a knack for good compositions! As the second half of the zine begins, we leave the Legion for the first time to catch Spider Fingerz playing outside on Queen Street (at 3:00 AM, no less!). One wonders what nighthawks must have thought of this, but as always, Damjan's abilities as a pianist are clear as day even if the video isn't! Cody Rydall returns for a second poem next, which isn't titled on camera but only runs for about 30 seconds. Once you're done snapping your fingers to it, you can check out the return of Sounds From The Green Room's Brad Griffith, who is otherwise best known on bass with No Arrow and SBD, and for his more recent solo pursuits under the Gortium85 handle. Brad's solo section is the longest in the zine, and the only one to feature two distinct camera angles. As seen here, Brad is sticking closer to his grunge/hard rock work of the 2000s and early 2010s than what we saw later from him.

His two songs include one possibly named "Black Shadow", but I couldn't catch a candidate name for the second song, which has a livelier classic rock flair, and was filmed beside Brad rather than in front of him. Strong stuff for fans of Brad's pre-Bizotic music in particular, especially his first song! Denis Robillard returns for one more poem next, whose title sounds "Woke Flow Aerodrome" but I may be slightly incorrect with it. That ends the Legion content of the zine, and after a break with Damjan skateboarding downtown, we end with him and Chris joining forces like they did in The Red & Black, but here, it is specifically credited as an improvised joint performance between Telephone & Address and Spider Fingerz. Also filmed outside of Reggie's in the middle of the night, this is basically what happens if you let two guys play piano simultaneously, with Chris playing the high keys and Damjan handling the low keys.

Rather than play side by side, Damjan is playing from behind the keyboard while standing up, and they do pair well together to create music that one pianist shouldn't be able to do alone! While I would have filmed these with better quality cameras/settings, this was a fun watch to capture this chunk of the local music scene from a bygone era, with some good poetry to break it up, and it's a shame that this didn't have a wider release or publicity at the time, as I'd have happily covered it 11 years ago! Give Lo-Fi Video Fanzine No. 1 a watch below, and click here to watch No. 2, which is more focused on the local arts community and does not feature hard rock or punk-leaning musical acts. Thanks everyone, and Merry Christmas!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Wyld Stallyns) & The Soo's Got Talent 2022 Finals Recap (Part 2!!)

Two topic post today, including the continuation of our coverage of a major local competition (that'll need a third post to complete), but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for (literally) the end of the year!

Local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns will open for fan favourite Toronto funk/dance collective My Son The Hurricane when they return to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday, December 31st at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! The Wyld Stallyns confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page yesterday, and are listed on this promotional image. A rare appearance for The Stallyns in a support slot for a touring act in city limits, one has to assume that Josh Norling will be present to match M.S.T.H.'s horn section-laden brand of "brasshop", so look for The Wyld Stallyns to set the tone well with their lively and fan friendly brand of covers at year's end! Still featuring former Rising Tide/Redefined drummer Danno O'Shea in their ranks, this will be My Son The Hurricane's third local date of the year, after previously rocking the Bushplane Museum in April and LopLops Lounge in September, following numerous prior gigs here.

Hopefully there won't be a need for the fire department to be called down again like that one time (you had to be there), and that any smoke and heat comes the natural way from their set! I am unsure if LopLops are promoting this one too (they did for the first two 2022 dates), but tickets run for $64.67 at this link, and there is an 8:00 PM start time. No word on in-person availability and a possible age limit, let alone any New Year's Eve frills, but the Saturday timing for that holiday is quite fitting. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a fun & funky way to end the year!

Next up, let's finally continue our look at The Soo's Got Talent's final round coverage from October 21st at Soo Blaster! For our coverage of each finalist's first song and the guest performances, click here or scroll down to our post from Sunday. All six finalists performed a second song for the judges' evaluation that night in the exact same performance order, with the twist being that they sung with Handsome Sandwich (minus Taylor) backing them up! It's not clear from the videos (again filmed by Passion Video Productions) if the songs were limited to things that the band knew already or if they learned them for the finals, and/or if these happened to be judges' picks like in prior years, but props to Jesse, Mitch, Rafael, and Johnny for giving some live instrumental heft! The first full-band performance had Nanette Garcia & Handsome Sandwich covering Patti Smith's classic rock staple "Because The Night".

Nanette does come off a little unsteady here, perhaps not as familiar with this song as others she did in the competiton, but she carries it well, so give her second final round song a watch below!

Next on the 21st was singer/guitarist Colin Gasparelli, who did play acoustic guitar for his song here (as a result, Jesse Cook sat this one out). The theory that the finalists were limited to songs that Handsome Sandwich knew already may be accurate here, as Colin goes way off board for his second song, a cover of "When A Hero Cries" by German power metal band Edguy. The song is slightly re-arranged, but still, very unexpected! "When A Hero Cries" is a ballad, so it better fits Colin's wheelhouse than most Edguy songs, and while I don't think it's the right fit for his vocal range, he puts his all into it and you can tell. Check out Colin & Handsome Sandwich below!

We'll close this post with the third performer in the finals, namely Xavier Pelletier LeBoeuf, who joined Handsome Sandwich (with Jesse back) for a cover of Pink's "Raise Your Glass". Xavier even gave each judge a glass before the song began for them to raise, so points for thinking outside the box! Of the first half of the finalists, Xavier fit in the best with Handsome Sandwich for cover choice and on-stage comfort, and while she did have some shakiness on the choruses, you could be believed if you thought she was their singer for a second. Give their cover a look below!

We'll tackle Ali, Amanda, and M.J.'s final performances with Handsome Sandwich (plus the final results) in an upcoming post, but with weekend concert previews and this month's Defunct Local Band Profile ahead, we may not finish everything off until the weekend. Stay tuned in any event, and weekend concert previews are next! Thanks everyone!

Glambition Festival/Concert Preview, Plus New Videos!!

As promised, our weekend concert previews conclude today with an extended look at a very intriguing (if somewhat cryptic) community festival tomorrow, plus some new videos of relatively new band lineups to round things out with. Here's what you should know!

Local party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will play their first public concert set of the year TOMORROW NIGHT when they take part in the oft-delayed Glambition fundraiser festival at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre! Readers and interested parties may recall hearing about this event dating back to its original date on November 20th of last year, but pandemic capacity restrictions, COVID-19 case count rises, and unforeseen circumstances forced it to be postponed to December 18th, January 30th, April 23rd, and ultimately, tomorrow. Glambition is a benefit event for local youth homeless shelter Pauline's Place and in support of community togetherness, a very important idea as we start Pride Month, so the right intentions are present throughout, and kudos to the organizers for sticking with Glambition for six & a half months rather than just giving up on the idea! 

This is presented as multi-cultural community festival with musicians, singers, dancers, fashion shows, stand-up comedy, food/drink vendors, and a raffle of some kind, but organizers have surprisingly not listed a performance schedule on Facebook, let alone a list of the scheduled artists. Pauline's Place fundraising manager Karam Singh was quoted hyping Glambition in this SooToday article by new reporter Alex Flood, while Karam was also interviewed on ONNtv's First Local on Monday about Glambition, again without citing performers by name. Apocalypse Afterparty frontman Paul Stanghetta did tell me in a Facebook conversation that a young local jazz band was performing too, but unfortunately, that's all I've got. The A.A. have been hyping their involvement in Glambition right along though, and hopefully Paul & Amanda make some more fans at this diverse family-friendly festival tomorrow!

A 6:00 PM start time is in effect for this all ages event, and tickets run for $11.34 at this link. Door entry is presumably an option of capacity allows, but Glambition will reportedly be capped at 300 attendees, so get yours A.S.A.P. just in case. Despite the cryptic nature of the performer lineup, it is awesome to finally see Glambition going forward tomorrow night (assuming there's no sudden postponement again), and helping Pauline's Place is a wonderful idea, so don't miss out at the Bushplane Museum tomorrow! Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!

Next up, here's some new videos from both of Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie's newest local band projects, starting with the first publically posted clip of the expanded five-piece These Magnificent Tentacles lineup! Shot by Dryer Fire's Nicole Dyble at their Wilson Street open house last month (apologies again for missing that in our weekend concert previews at the time) and shared to the company's Facebook page on May 23rd, it was joined by a video of fellow performers The Dynowaves that same day, plus a short video of vendors at the open house. As for the T.M.T. video, it was uploaded in square dimensions, and it sees The Tentacles playing an instrumental piece for one minute, all looking very determined and serious in the moment (except maybe Brad, who's largely obscured by Steve at this angle). As such, this may not be an ideal look at the new lineup, but what we hear sounds promising enough!

Surprisingly doomy but still melodic piece that deviates well from their punk-leaning base of old, and it will be interesting to see how the guys progress throughout mid-late 2022! Give it a look below, and see more from Dryer Fire's open house above, and also keep tabs on their summer concert series, which is largely hard rock-devoid, but certainly not lacking in musical talent! Give Nicole some support and check them out!

Finally, here's two new jam session clips of local death metal band Exploring Detritus, as posted to their Facebook page on Wednesday and earlier today, though neither features Mitch, who hasn't been seen in any of their videos since he was announced as their singer/guitarist last month. Busy personal schedule, or have they not reported his exit yet? Click here to watch the former Kaepora Gaebora playing for a minute, but I'm actually embedding the shorter 30 second clip below, as guitarist/founder Dan Souliere is handling lead vocals in it, and he sounds suitably brutal while it lasts! We'll let you know if there's any clarification about their frontman status, but give these four-piece jam videos a watch above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's delayed "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rhythm And Brews & The Wyld Stallyns), The Tym Morrison Concert Preview, And More!!

After a break for my 33rd birthday, we're back in business at the SMS with a new news post to kick off June 2022! Alongside a preview of a special Wednesday night concert tonight and some new live videos from just last week, we're kicking things off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on both sides of the border, so here's what you should know!

Local acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns will be among the musical entertainment at a "Come As You Are Gala" for downtown charity grocery store Grocer 4 Good on Saturday, June 11th at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center! This special community event is in support of the Gore Street establishment that helps provide groceries to downtown residents while also giving employment opportunities those with employment issues and developmental disabilities, so they definitely are grocers for good! The event proper is designed to celebrate and recognize staff, volunteers, and supporters of the store, and will feature catering and meals from local restaurants, a silent auction table, and a cash bar, so definitely visit the ticket page on Eventbrite for full non-musical details! The Wyld Stallyns and a country & western band led by Daryl Seabrook will supply musical entertainment that night, while singer and 2019 Soo's Got Talent runner-up Juliana Regan will perform during the dinner portion of the evening. 

A 6:00 PM start time is in effect for this all ages gala, which has tickets running for $40 (remember what all this includes and what cause it's supporting), and table reservations for 8 people cost $300. The Wyld Stallyns' set will definitely be in the back half of the gala once dinner wraps up, so don't expect them or Daryl & crew until at least 9:00 PM. This may seem very out of left field for The Stallyns, but they have played at the Bushplane Museum before (remember the Entomica fundraiser last summer?), and their sound is diverse enough to appeal to a wide array of fans, so look for more unplugged hard and classic rock covers next weekend, and see the above links for more on the gala!

Next up, let's head to the E.U.P., as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, July 8th & Saturday, July 9th! These are the only completely new hard rock concert announcements at the two local Kewadin Casino branch lounges through their most recent schedule extension through the end of July, with anything else SMS-friendly  already being announced by the bands in question. These will be the 415E sister band's first shows at the St. Ignace Kewadin since February, with Brandon, Chris, Brett, and Ron last being seen together in April at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo. While still very scant for public media of their shows, this supergroup of Nixxon Dixxon, Clownsack, and Monkey's Uncle alumni should have lots of solid covers in store next month! Expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover, and 21+ age limits, and see above for more details! 

Now let's head back to Sault Ontario for a special Wednesday evening concert preview, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play his first Mike Case Memorial Stage concert of the season TONIGHT outside of The Trading Post! Given the days Tym usually plays on (even factoring in his weekly Thursday shows at Gliss pre-pandemic), the mid-week scheduling is odd, especially when today nor tomorrow is a holiday, but this could be a simple as The Trading Post wanting to start the summer months off on the right foot with live music at the start of June. If so, good sign for Tym and his extensive setlist of familiar covers to be called in right away, and if things remain steady (pandemic willing), we could be seeing much more of him at 1332 Great Northern Road through September! For now, tonight's show has a 7:00 PM start time (ending at 9:00), no age limit, and no cover charge.

As for the weather, 9&10 News is projecting things to be sunny with temperatures of 11-12°, and assuming the show isn't delayed past 9:25 PM, it will end before sunset, so conditions are very favourable (and much less humid than yesterday!) Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live in 2020!

Finally for today, here's five new cover songs from local classic/hard rock cover band Soundcheck's between-guest songs during last week's jam night that they host at Reggie's West on Thursdays! Like with many of his prior Reggievelt jam gig videos on drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel, these were as a trio without singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver, while frequent fill-in bassist Rob Gilmar was also present in place of Paul Belair, both for unannounced reasons (at least online). The videos are covers of ZZ Top's "Tush", Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife", The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", David Wilcox's "My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble", and as embedded below, Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive". With Cameron absent, Terry Eaton naturally handles lead vocals here... except the Bon Jovi cover, with Rob singing lead instead, and he gets the job done well, especially compared to the real Bon Jovi in 2022!

Note that Glen again filmed these with a mounted aerial camera, and while these were apparently filmed for the benefit of a drum student of his, he was asked to post them publically. This may explain the heavy post-production lens flare in two corners of the screen, perhaps to direct visual focus onto the drumming, but I can't 100% say if that was the intent. Still solid covers for fans of Terry and Glen's extensive local music work, so give these videos a look for yourself above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our proper weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

New COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions In Ontario, A Local Band's Return, And Much More!!

Here's our first proper news post of 2022, where we're diving into big updates on a local band's surprise reemergence, a bunch of recent shorter stories, and leading off, big details on an unwelcome return to days of pandemic's past for local music fans in Ontario. Here's what you should know!

Concerts in the province of Ontario as we know them are on hold again, as the provincial government has rolled back many of the loosened restrictions to fight the dramatically increasing number of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks due to the omicron variant, starting tomorrow. While we're not being fully locked down again (yet?), Ontario is returning to a modified version of the "Stage 2" of re-opening following the end of lockdown #3 in June 2020, which means that indoor gatherings are being restricted to five or fewer people again and indoor dining is also cancelled. Measures are in effect until at least January 26th, and for more on the new/restored restrictions, visit this SooToday article. Michigan has not followed suit with similar announcements, we'll keep you posted if they do. No previously announced local hard rock concerts were cancelled as a direct result of the restrictions, but be advised that the rescheduled Glambition fundraiser is only four days after the current end date.

This is all disappointing to hear, especially given how many Ontarians got vaccinated last year (I got the booster last month myself), but the omicron variant is getting to overwhelming numbers and is clearly very contagious even if you have had three shots. I don't want things rolled back, and I certainly don't want a fourth lockdown, but I also don't want people to get sick or worse. It is what it is, and I just hope that the new provincial measures do lead to a decline in COVID-19 case rates so that things can somewhat get back to normal sooner rather than later.

However, one immediate casualty is the apparently permanent closure of Pim Street hotel, restaurant, and concert venue The Canuck (née The Canadian Motor Hotel), as per their Facebook page yesterday. This news comes just seven months after Jim Brogno bought The Canadian from the Marrelli family and announced big plans for upgrades to the building, While this may seem like a rash decision for what we hope will be just three weeks of capacity limits and no indoor dining, I have no way of knowing how their books look, and maybe staff assumes things will be limited past the 26th. In any event, The Canuck did not resume hosting hard rock concerts last year, with the downstairs Canadian Nightclub not being used as a concert venue, and bands of other genres only played upstairs at The Upper Deck Bar & Grill. I'm not getting into any of the divisive reports about un-vaccinated gatherings there on the SMS.

I hope The Canuck/Canadian isn't closed forever, and that at least the Brognos sell to new owners, as it's a long established and well liked central spot for a meal, a drink, a room, and/or live music, and The Canadian Nightclub was the locale of many big concerts over the years, including my first 19+ show in 2008. Hopefully this isn't the absolute end, but best of luck to the staff as they make their next moves, and we'll keep you guys posted as more comes out on the Ontario restrictions!

Next up, let's move to some more positive topics, starting with the apparent rebirth of local metal/punk band Jack Spades, albeit in a new home! After 15 months of public silence, the band posted this picture on their Facebook page of a modified version of the classic Skates logo, coinciding with a name change to Spades GT. The band confirmed in November that they've relaunched out of frontman J.D. Pearce's current Barrie homebase (he moved out of town for work reasons in 2020) so does GT mean "Greater Toronto"? Inevitably, lineup alterations have followed, with the band enlisting Adaptive Reaction bassist Steve Lorenz and former Caym drummer Tyler Reiner (the son of Anvil's Robb Reiner) to replace Rob Speers & Johnny Belanger, both of whom are still in the Soo. As best as I can tell, guitarist Daniel Horton is still/back in the band, having moved to Barrie himself already.

Whether the band is moving forward as a four piece or keeping/replacing Tiffany isn't clear, but note that while she also moved out of town, it wasn't to Southern Ontario. In the November Facebook post, Spades GT revealed that there are "new tracks incoming", and their live debut under that name would be next month at Queens Hometown Pub in Barrie, but given the omicron variant, new restrictions, and uncertainty therein, I'd say that date is hopeful at best right now. Still, it's great to see (Jack) Spades continue on down south, and hopefully we hear lots of good stuff from them to come, with perhaps a return show up here when the time is right?

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:

 

• Tribute shirts for late local rock drummer Chris Thompson are in the works by his Frightlight bandmates J.D. Pearce & Kevin Powe, and pre-orders for them took place last month! Available as t-shirts for $20 or pull-over hoodies for $45, the artwork features a black & white image of Chris in his Frightlight outfit, as well as the names of his major local bands (the image shared on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on December 10th was preliminary & does not have the final band listing). Proceeds from the sales go to the Thompson family, and e-transfer the money to johnnypints@gmail.com with name and size if you want one!
• The next Mike Haggith live-streamed concert will take place on Tuesday, January 25th at 7:30 PM on his Facebook page, and for a second straight episode, he'll be interviewing a local musician he hasn't played in a band with, namely Bad Chug guitarist and folk solo musician Jacob Quarrell! Mike has produced material of Jacob's, and he was tapped to be in Mike's solo band for his cancelled "If Ever Comes The Day" release concert in 2020, so there is definitely a mutual respect there. Make sure to tune in to the live-stream on Facebook in three weeks' time, especially as Mike's covering two share contest winner picks!
• SooToday contributor and veteran local musician Chris Belsito covered the vinyl re-release of defunct local punk band Room 206's album "2 Innies & 1 Outie" for this article last week! Though it incorrectly gives 1993 as the original tape's release year, the article does give a little more background info into Room 206's active run, and includes some photos, including one of Soolebrity Records head & bonus song performer Mikey Hawdon holding two copies at The Rad Zone. Give everything a look if you want above!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Wyld Stallyns), Surprise New Album Announcements, And More!!

Bit of a surprise new post on this Friday, but if I wanted to cover a new LOCAL CONCERT ALERT before we were a week and under until it occurred, I had to get this out today. Along with this new event, we have the surprise announcement of new albums from an inactive group, and some assorted recent updates, so here's what you should know!

Local funk/hard rock cover quintet The Wyld Stallyns will headline a special fundraiser concert for the Entomica Insectarium at their current homebase at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Saturday, August 21st! Surprisingly only just announced on Wednesday given the scope and unique aspects of it, this is the first Bushplane Museum concert we've covered on the site since in over two years, but being attached to the Entomica bug lab is a new one for us. Entomica do great work in educating everyone about insects, and hopefully this "Let's 'Mis-Bee-Hive', Come Out & Jive" social will help the cause and entertain a local audience at this late(?) stage of the pandemic! The Wyld Stallyns (plural) will close the night at 11:00 PM as the only hard rock-leaning band on offer, but the lineup does have a mini-Rotaryfest feel to it, plus lots of food/drink vendors and kids entertainment, but who else can you expect next Saturday?

Veteran local entertainer Tim Murphy will do a host segment at 10:30 PM, heavily implied to be doing so in drag as Ms. Beehive (get it, "misbehave"?), which fits along with many of his other live stage and hosting work, so expect some humour here! Classic rock veterans Mustang Heart (who do cover hard rock on occasion) will take the stage at 9:30 PM, while local country musician Jeffrey Wright will hit the stage at 8:30 PM. If you're not familiar with Jeffrey, he only just launched his Facebook page last month, but he is a talented multimedia artist! The opening two acts get extended 90 minute timeslots, including Rotaryfest veterans The Northern Jazz Ensemble at 6:45 PM and the confusingly named Josh Norling Jazz Ensemble (led by the prolific Blues Harvest saxophonist) kicking things off at 5:00 PM. This is an all ages event with admission by a $5 minimum donation.

And as usual with the pandemic, please respect and follow any social distancing and public health guidelines being enforced at the Bushplane Museum/Entomica to ensure everyone's safety. Now that we're finally seeing some multi-band concerts in Sault Ontario at a scale reminiscent of what we saw locally before the pandemic, hopefully the "Let's 'Mis-Bee-Hive', Come Out & Jive" social fundraiser is a hit for all parties, and stay tuned for more in our next weekend concert previews! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, including on all of the vendors!

Next up, have you been waiting for details on Mike Haggith's next solo album release and new original material? Well, here's a swerve, as his defunct local power pop/hard rock trio The Din have announced a couple of posthumous album releases for later this year! After a series of surprise teasers on Thursday (the fifth anniversary of it's release), the band announced on their Facebook page that they will be re-releasing their debut mainline album "Give In To The Din" in a deluxe edition with eighteen tracks! For reference, the original 2016 release only had nine songs, so are these all rough demos of what made the cut, or are these properly unreleased, perhaps including songs only heard in live recordings? Time will tell! The second album will be called "Technically Live", and it will comprise their full set from the "Give In To The Din" CD release party at the auditorium at The Tech (the former St. Mary's/Lakeway Collegiate site) from August 12th, 2016!

Now, the latter isn't completely unheard material, as Shaw TV filmed The Din's set that night for the premiere episode of their OnStage series, where they played the entire "Give In To The Din" album, plus two non-album tracks (Mike's solo song "Of Cars & Criminals" & their unreleased original "Differences"), but a smattering of outside covers were not included in Shaw's broadcast. Will those be present on "Technically Live", and will the audio be proper soundboard recordings, or come from Shaw's cameras? Follow The Din on Facebook to get further updates as they roll in, and it's great to see Mike, Tammy, and Brandan have some more fuel in the tank!

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:

• In their first Facebook page posting in 17 months, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E shared a photo on July 20th of a drumkit & speakers with the caption "Time to jam". Them returning to activity at this stage of the pandemic makes sense, but guitarist Chris Hubbard & bassist Brett Blackwood debuted their very similar new band Rhythm & Brews at The Rapids Lounge earlier that same month, and that band hasn't posted online since July 3rd. Have Rhythm & Brews thrown in the towel already & reverted to the 415E name, or will both bands continue forward? Time will tell, but 415E are back in our active band links!
• Following my decision to drop the planned Defunct Local Band Profile on them earlier this week, I have removed mid-2000s all-female hard rock trio Apocrytha from our inactive band links due to a complete and utter lack of surviving public information on their official online accounts (re: just their MySpace page, whose photos all no longer work). Follow members' later bands like The Freshwater Sirens and The Danger Cats to hear what the ladies have been up to!
• Almost a year & a half after his prior search on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, local guitarist, singer, and drummer Jayrald Micky is looking to join something and is "dying to jam and get back out there". He did note that he has stage experience, but I'm not familiar with public band work of his. Message him at this link or via his group post from Wednesday for more details!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and note on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

The Future Of The Canadian Motor Hotel, LSSU's Internet Radio Reboot, And New Videos!!

At last, here's our first proper news post of June 2021, and there's definitely some stuff to talk about here! Half of this post is devoted to Sault Michigan topics, including a local internet radio station's big changes from earlier this year, and some new videos from a prominent local band, but let's start in Sault Ontario for some big updates on the future of a popular local venue!

The Canadian Motor Hotel has been sold to new ownership, and big changes are underway at the property. As per this SooToday article by Darren Taylor yesterday, The Canadian was sold by the Marrelli family in April (following the death of owner Carmen Marrelli in November) to developer Jim Brogno from Realty Executives Castle Alliance. Jim has renamed the hotel to The Canuck, and he has big expansion plans in progress, including new signage, adding a second story of hotel rooms, expanding The Upper Deck Bar & Grill (which may be renamed), a new chef, take-out pizza, and more Molson beer offerings. As for the downstairs Canadian Nightclub, the article heavily implies that Jim isn't planning to maintain it as a separate bar and concert venue, and is quoted there "I’m thinking a gym club would actually be a great fit." Jim hopes to re-open The Canuck in mid-June once this lockdown ends.

If this is the end for The Canadian Nightclub as a concert venue, it's definitely very disappointing, as it was a centrally located spot for mid-sized concerts, sometimes even all ages, and many shows there had a strong level of buzz, most recently the cancelled First Jason show there from last year. Personally, The Canadian was my first 19+ concert venue back in 2008, and it's where I judged a couple of major battles of the bands, so I'll always have a soft spot for it. That said, I understand that if the main difference between the upstairs and downstairs floors is a concert stage, and the pandemic has thrown live music into total disarray, I do understand that turning the nightclub into a gym or something else that can generate revenue short term is a better move financially. Besides, maybe The Upper Deck's expansion would lead to more live music (they did host acoustic acts already.)

In any event, it is great to see that The Canuck still has committed local ownership with a strong plan for the future, and I do wish Jim and the old/new staff the best of luck in growing the property into the 2020s! Of course, if we hear anything there regarding the future of live music on any floor of The Canuck, we will let you know!

Next up, Lake Superior State University's campus internet radio station has had another big overhaul! After five years of operation on the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System's Student Radio Network via Backbone Radio, the former WLSO 90.1 FM moved it's internet radio operations over to a brand new station in March, as announced on Instagram. Officially renamed Laker Radio rather than The 46th Parallel (or Superior) Radio, this new station was launched via Live365, and airs a completely different rotation than they had through Backbone, with much more of a focus on a mainstream music variety comparable in range to The Moose FM in Elliot Lake. As I was writing this, The Offspring and Blink-182 songs played in succession, which was a definite surprise, but the rotation is clearly on autoplay right now (albeit with student bumpers) and those songs were bookended by tracks from The Lumineers, Chuck Ragan, The Doors, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. 

Musically, I did prefer their station on Backbone Radio, which favoured independent & underground music, and had more of a music discovery element, whereas the Live365 rotation is mostly artists I already know & usually don't like. Hearing a couple of punk songs in succession was neat, and maybe LSSU will invest in proper programs again in the fall semester, as they do need something to help the station stand out. They're not on FM anymore, and the competition in internet radio is VAST. At least the Live365 player is more reliable & nicer looking, and it doesn't crash on station identifications, but hear Laker Radio for yourselves at this link or above!

We'll close today by staying in Sault Michigan for a pair of new videos from local classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel, both as uploaded on Tuesday! Like their preceding "Military Theme Song Medley" video last week, one was made up clearly as a tie-in to Memorial Day (if posted a day late), and it features another cut from their 2012 CD "The Dawn's Early Light" set to suitably patriotic video clips & photos. In this case, it's for "Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier", and the somber yet uplifting imagery is a fitting match as you'd expect! Embedded below is the other video from that day, which is not from any of their released albums, and it features their song "Sword Of Odin". This is supposed to be themed around a fictional story inspired by Viking lore, but the track as uploaded is instrumental. Like their other recent videos, this features assorted clips that match the theme.

In this case, you'll mostly see nature footage, but it also includes a few alluding to vikings and bonfires. "Sword Of Odin" is by no means a traditional "viking metal" song (don't go into it expecting Amon Amarth), but it has an ominous & atmospheric quality that would befit the story it's intended to score. if only there were vocals! Give Theatre of Night's new videos a watch above & below, and stay tuned for more from their camp!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post of some kind by Tuesday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), An Inactive Band Note, And A Full Concert Video From 2006!!

Three posts in five days, things are definitely starting to get a little busier around here, which can't be a coincidence given that the second Ontario lockdown is officially over! Fingers crossed that there won't be a third. Today's post features a nice long look a a full local concert set from 14 years ago, a note on a likely inactive local band, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT?! Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished (well, frontman Alex Traynor & bassist Josh Fair) will play a special acoustic matinee concert at Crooked Music at 539 Ashmun Street TOMORROW! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced on their Facebook event page yesterday, in conjunction with a show there yesterday as well. That was announced on only 90 minutes notice, which isn't ideal, but it's great to see Tarnished playing live again! Apologies again, I would have plugged yesterday's show here had it had more reasonable notice! That was Tarnished's first publically advertised concert since the Rock The Block event at the same venue in July (blame the pandemic on the delay), but yesterday's & TOMORROW's shows are two-man acoustic jams with no drummer or Nathan in sight, a'la their live-streamed concerts from last year. If you can't make it out, Tarnished have promised that videos from these gigs are forthcoming.

These bookings make me wonder if last week's "Crooked Jam" video (embedded as a preview below) was either an unadvertised first gig here in their return to live performances or just a private warm-up, but given the absence of any kind of audience, I'd assume it's more the latter. TOMORROW'S show (as was yesterday's) has a 12:30 PM start time, no age limits, and no cover charge, but be respectful of Crooked Music's capacity, social distancing, and mask-wearing regulations. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more from Tarnished soon!

Next up, I will likely (and reluctantly) be moving Sault Ontario funk/hard rock quartet The Elements to our inactive band links tomorrow due to a year's inactivity. The band has not issued a public update since quietly posting a studio track from their unreleased debut album on their Facebook page one year ago tomorrow, and while the ongoing pandemic could be a huge factor as to their lack of activity, their sister band The Wyld Stallyns have updated social media & played a couple of live-streamed concerts in the interim. Debuting at the former Roosevelt Hotel back in February 2014, The Elements would become a steady fan favourite sight at concerts over the ensuing six years, including the occasional headlining gig, a few turns as tribute acts with themed sets & fake names, appearances at Rotaryfest, Hempfest, and Toystock, and sets opening for the likes of Saving Abel, Random Killing, and K-Man & The 45s.

I wouldn't be shocked at all if The Elements return when normal concerts get the go-ahead, but if this is it, they had a solid run with a fun live presence, never taking themselves too seriously despite proficient covers and strong original material! They could easily fit in with metal and punk shows with their diverse yet aggressive set, and most of the band have honed their unplugged chops with The Wyld Stallyns in recent years. Best of luck to Rob, Jesse, James, Jonas, and Alex in the future!

Finally, here's a surprise find, as a 14 year old video of Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Thunderstruck live at The Canadian Nightclub was posted on YouTube two weeks ago! This was uploaded onto bassist Pete Dove's YouTube channel as part of a recent spree of full concert videos he's uploaded from this and various other bands of this, but this is the only Soo date, which took place at The Canadian (back when it's host hotel was still The Knights Inn) on December 27th, 2006. AC/DC fans will be more familiar with fellow tribute bands Who Made Who and Hells Bells from their more frequent local dates since, but Thunderstruck remained active through at least the fall of 2019, pandemic acknowledged. Pete gave some insights into this video in the description, noting that it was his second concert with Thunderstruck, their first in a four date swing of Northern Ontario, and his first proper full-concert video that he had filmed of one of his bands.

If you want blood, you've definitely got it here, as Pete's video runs for over two hours, so what AC/DC classics did Thunderstruck tackle on this night? In the first set, they covered "Live Wire", "If You Want Blood (You Got It)", "Shoot To Thrill", "Shot Down In Flames", "Rock 'N Roll Damnation", "Sink The Pink", "Sin City", "Givin' The Dog A Bone", "Dog Eat Dog" (which is not credited in the description's setlist), "T.N.T.", "Rock 'N Roll Ain't Noise Pollution", and "Whole Lotta Rosie", before taking their break, which Pete did abbreviate here. The second set features renditions of "Hells Bells", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Who Made Who", "Jailbreak", "Back In Black", "It's A Long Way To The Top ("If You Wanna Rock 'N Roll)", "Girls Got Rhythm", "Have A Drink On Me", "Highway To Hell", and "You Shook Me All Night Long"...

...before returning with their namesake song "Thunderstruck" as an encore. Intriguingly, the last seven minutes of the video features the band hanging out in their rooms at the former Knights Inn after the concert, and seeing this VCR camcorder video of them watching a CRT TV makes it feel even older than it actually is! Very solid set of AC/DC classics from a band with the requisite chops, especially with Blair Briceland & a very energetic Rich Trevor nicely channeling Brian and Angus respectively, and the audio quality holds up well after 14 years! Give Thunderstruck in the Soo a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll on the site on Thursday, and with the recent uptick in news, we shouldn't be waiting until Sunday for a traditional post! Thanks everyone!

The Latest From A Dire Setback & Tarnished, And More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Canadian Motor Hotel founder Carmen Marrelli, who passed away on Monday at the age of 85. You can read his SooToday obituary at this link, and he is survived by his wife Yolanda, sons Albert, Joe, and Rick, three sisters, four granchildren, and many others in his extended family. An emigrant from Italy, Carmen's resume as a local business owner is extensive, but many will be most familiar with him for his original ownership and familiar presence at The Canadian Motor Hotel and it's related businesses (such as the downstairs nightclub), and many friends and past employees have shared their remembrances of him this week. Public services will take place tomorrow at 10:00 AM at Northwood Funeral Home, albeit with COVID-19 restrictions, and a tribute is planned in The Canadian's parking lot at 2:00 PM during the procession. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the Kidney Foundation.

I have never met Carmen, but I have heard many great things about him as a businessman, boss, and person, and he deserves much credit for founding The Canadian and helping grow it into a successful hotel, nightclub, restaurant, and concert venue (in spite of the occasional flood or pandemic), and his son Albert has followed nicely in his footsteps there. R.I.P. Carmen!

Now, this is our first proper news post of November 2020, as news remains exceedingly slow at this relatively late stage of the pandemic. As such, our overall post count remains low as of late, and that is why Facebook is starting to remind me to update our Facebook page! If there's not much to say or report on by Saturday, I may bump this month's Defunct Local Band Profile up a few days, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We'll start with the latest from Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished, including an apology, as they played an admittedly late notice gig this past Friday (Halloween night) at the Pickford Township Park! It came out afterwards that the show was tied in with a wedding, but it was publically announced just minutes before the set began. Apologies for missing it, but hopefully the show was a blast for the happy couple and attendees alike! Beyond that, Tarnished have been staying busy making their first ever music video!

The guys have been working with Jay London Photography on the video for their song "Metalyn", which will star Malia Lefebre in an acting role (pictured with Alex, Josh, and Gary above). This teaser video was shared on their Facebook page yesterday featuring clips of the band setting up for a performance on a rooftop which will be featured in the video, and while it doesn't show us much about how the actual video will look, we will allegedly see the final product "by mid-December." Unfortunately, the teaser video cannot be embedded here due to it's privacy settings, but give it a look at this link or above, and stay tuned for more from Tarnished's camp!

Next up, here's an 11 minutes-long new video from Sault Ontario punk trio A Dire Setback's Facebook page, so what can be seen and heard there? Shot by bassist Matt Quinn at a bonfire this past Friday, he tells viewers that they are about to record and release "some stuff" now that they can work together safely again, and they will "do something together on the internet", while also acknowledging that they're putting their family's health and safety ahead of playing concerts where available. Matt ended by teasing other big news, perhaps a new band member, but a lot of the reveals here were teasers that didn't give a lot away. More of the video is spent observing the bonfire while Matt talks abou a variety of colourful subjects with others present, including bandmates and their family members. Nice to get some updates from A Dire Setback's camp, and hopefully their plans hold up in the near term, but check the video out for yourself below! 

 

 

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:

• The Buckcherry-headlined concert at Soo Blaster has finally been rescheduled, and it will now take place on Tuesday, May 11th, which is six months to the day of the original date, which was obviously cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No changes are listed on the Facebook event page re: local openers or ticket prices, but I presume anything bought for the November 11th date will be usable in May or refundable at point of purchase. There's a long ways to go before May 11th, but hopefully things level out by then!
• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades are indeed featured on Toronto independent label Cursed Blessings Records' new double-length compilation album "Reinventing The Safety Pin", as released on Friday! Despite the label's advertising that the album is made up of "previously unreleased songs", Jack Spades' contribution ("Motorwolf") was released on the 2015 split "Fed Up!" with The Ripcordz (who are also on this compilation) and fellow locals Destroilet (who are not). Maybe the label meant the songs were previously unreleased by them? Either way, buy or stream "Reinventing The Safety Pin" above for loads of entertaining Canadian punk rock from dozens of talented bands!
• This probably goes without saying now, but I have removed the rescheduled Mike Haggith CD release concert at LopLops Lounge on Friday from our concert calendar. Mike hasn't verbally called the show off at press time, but LopLops is not among the few local nightclubs hosting concerts right now, and the odds this one will magically happen in two days are extremely slight. Hopefully Mike returns to the Soo next year, assuming the climate improves!
  

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new post of some kind by Saturday! Thanks everyone!