Lots Of Defunct Local Band Link Updates & Deletions!!

Today's news post is a little different, but by no means lacking in information, and it constitutes some long overdue updates to our defunct band links, as a number of past local bands listed on the SMS have seen their primary link deleted, either by band members directly or via the closure of the site that the page was hosted on. I was able to salvage some names, but not all, and you will find information on the first 12 links below in alphabetical order! All are from Sault Ontario unless otherwise stated:

• I have changed the link for mid-2000s local punk band A Fall From Innocence due to the deletion of their page on Bandspace, a music networking service that quietly shut down without any visible warning in early 2017. I now have them listed via their MySpace page, which barely has enough surviving material to warrant a present link. Hopefully everyone's doing well nowadays, and don't miss alumni Wayne Watkins & Marc Santos with their current band Northwest once they can play live again!
• I have changed the link for late 2010s black metal solo project Abhorrent Forest from their  now-deleted Facebook page to their Bandcamp page, which still hosts copies of their three studio albums. As one of the few acts to carry the black metal flag locally, I hope Old Man Wyrn resurfaces with new music of some kind!
• I have removed early 2010s Sault Michigan acoustic hard rock band All The Dirty Words In One from our band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page in the last few years. A.T.D.W.I.O. had some promise, and hopefully Josh, Cody, and Dan are still working on new music in some form!
• I have removed mid-2000s ska punk band Break The Violence from our defunct band links due to the quiet deletion of their Tripod page at some point in the last few years. In this case, this isn't a massive loss, given that most of the band would form the far better regarded As It Stands shortly afterwards, so be sure to check them out!
• I have removed early 2000s Sault Michigan death metal band Bludgeoned's posthumous Reverbnation page from our defunct band links due to it's quiet deletion in the last couple of years. Given their original run was two decades ago, we should be glad this existed at all, but hopefully the guys are still active in music!
• I have changed the link for 2000s-early 2010s metal cover trio Caveman Morrison from their now-closed website to their Facebook group. Tym's Flash-heavy band and solo websites were well made and useful for content, but his musical and personal approaches have evolved so much since then. Look for Tym Morrison's next live-streamed solo concerts on Tuesday & Thursday!
• I have changed the link for mid-2000s noise metal duo Das Skalpell Kampf from their now-deleted Facebook page to their Bandcamp page, which still hosts two original songs and relevant band information. "Fonzy" and "Chachi" had an intriguing thing going with their extreme metal attack, and hopefully the guys have new music in the works in some form, regardless of stage name!
• I have changed the link for late 2000s metal band Despised Eyes from their now-deleted Facebook page to their MySpace page, which still has barely enough material to be a replacement. It would have been nice to see Despised Eyes pick up where D.O.T.H. left off, but hopefully everyone's still musically active!
• I have sadly removed early-mid 2010s classic/hard rock band Havadder from our inactive band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook page in the last couple of years. Other official pages survive, but they have nothing of substance that is publically viewable, alas. Jason and crew had a good 7 year run, and hopefully we hear more music from their wide array of band members!
• I have changed the link for early-mid 2010s progressive metal solo project Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe from their now-deleted Facebook page to their Bandcamp page, which still hosts their 2014 self-titled EP. Project-leader Matt Parr has since moved back to his hometown of London, where he has since joined the alt-rock quartet Czech Hotel, so give them a listen to see what he's been up to!
• I have removed mid-2010s punk supergroup Killer from our defunct band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook page in the last few years, and I don't believe they had a page elsewhere. Non-seasonal successors to the one-off Rude-Offs from Toystock IV, this band had an impressive lineup, but never got off the ground in 2016 as planned. Look for members in Destroilet, Treble Charger, and Bone Yard once the pandemic ends (hopefully!)
• Lastly for now, I have removed 2005 local punk/emo band Murder By Romance due to the deletion of their Tripod (and only surviving online) page at some point in the last few years. An all-female punk band in this era was definitely intriguing in concept, and hopefully their members are still musically active in some form!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Id Iota), AlgomA/Pillory Concert Videos, And More!!

Before we kick off our April Fools prank-free news post, just a heads up that the postponed Quiet Riot concert at The Machine Shop is not taking place on May 25th as originally stated yesterday. SooToday and varying social media postings now state that the show is postponed "until a later date", complete with the deletion of the show's Facebook event page, and refunds are available at point of purchase. I know that a lot of pessimism and sarcasm floating around online either regarding the promoters or Quiet Riot themselves, but hopefully things work themselves out so this concert gets rescheduled in some form down the road!

Now, we have some new concert videos, recent assorted updates, and first, a delayed LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local alternative hard rock quartet Id Iota will rock The New American Pub on Monday, April 17th for an Easter Monday concert where they'll open for Calgary psychedelic pop band Windigo & New Jersey surf rock quartet Dentist! Just a few days removed from opening for K.I.C.K. at LopLops on Good Friday, this talented quartet will continue their upward momentum with another set where you're sure to hear some material from their forthcoming second CD, so keep them in mind! Though the touring acts don't largely fall into our general coverage range, Windigo's alt-pop originals should appeal to genre fans, and Dentist harbour some punk influences on some of their own surf rock material, so don't bypass either on this late stop on their spring tour of Canada! Note that Windigo's concert calendar says this show is being held at The Gore Street Cafe, but I never saw reference to the laundromat elsewhere, so it likely changed before it's local advertising began.

Though the Facebook event page was launched by Id Iota, seemingly implying it's self-promoted, they give "special thanks" to Six, Two, Oh. & Ears and Eyes, so there is at least some assistance from those two agencies. This 19+ concert has a $5 cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time, so check the above links for more details, and if you love indie rock with some heavier tinges, be at The New A on Easter Monday!

Next up, we have some new videos from Thursday night's AlgomA-headlined concert at The New American Pub, courtesy of Christopher Paci's YouTube channel once again, in his first concert video postings since the Pop Evil show in February. Kudos to him for getting some more solid footage, it's always welcomed when he breaks out his camera! Before we touch on AlgomA's video, just a note that the band has finally unveiled their tour schedule for their European debut, which will see them play largely in Germany over a two week span starting on Tuesday, all alongside German sludge punk duo WeedWolf, though Swiss and Dutch gigs are also listed. Obviously, this is a huge opportunity to spread the Northern Ontario doom metal gospel overseas, so hopefully things work our well this month! Chris' video of AlgomA's New A set from Thursday is of their song "Phthisis" from last year's split with Chronobot, and it's a suitably ferocious rendition of one of their shorter songs, so give it a look below, and good luck on tour, show Europe what the Soo can do!



Chris didn't film late-added opener Chase Wigmore, but he did film local death metal trio Pillory playing their original "Wasting" on Thursday night, and while it captures the guys in suitably brutal form, the camera angle is worse. On the AlgomA video, Chris was more or less front & center to film them, but I think he remained at a table for Pillory, and the angle made it so the far left of the video is obscured by a wall, partially cutting frontman Robert Sartini from view early on. Still a quality look at this resurgent local metal band, so give their clip a look below as well!



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:

• I have moved local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison back to our inactive band links, as they have not made a public update since their return show at The Rednecks Saloon's relaunch party one year ago tomorrow. It was great to see the guys back after a 2+ year hiatus, but that now appears to have been a one-off set, especially thanks to frontman Tym Morrison's busy weekly schedule of solo concerts. Don't miss Tym at Gliss and/or the Barrelhouse this year, or James White & Johnny Belanger with Handsome Sandwich and their other separate projects!
• Local punk/metal band Jack Spades' new lineup will hit the road for a return to the annual Spiderfest in Meyersburg on Friday, July 14th, where they'll open for 2013 local concert headliners The Bunchofuckingoofs. Hopefully this continues the band's momentum following June's CKY show, and good luck on the road this summer! For reference, the band teased a staggered reveal of their new lineup on their Facebook page starting last week, but nothing has been posted to confirm new or returning members since then.
• New local power pop/hard rock band The Noochy Lanterns have added Crucify the Whore's Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson to their lineup on guitar, making them a quartet (for now), as per their Facebook page last week. This is a departure from Tyler's usual grindcore & death metal base, but the band indicated that they may be even heavier with him enlisted, and they've also teased a planned addition of a female synth player to their lineup, identity not publically known yet. Don't miss The Noochy Lanterns' public concert debut at The Rockstar Bar on April 15th for Live705's Easter Bash!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

The Rednecks Saloon Relaunch Party Review!!

For the first time since the Fuck The Facts concert in September (due to personal family health matters), we finally have a full new concert review post at The Sault Metal Scene! Thanks to everyone for being so patient in the long term, and (due to the long video upload time) in the short term, it won't be 6+ months for the next review! As you may remember, Saturday night played host to The Rednecks Saloon's relaunch party, and while the former Nicolet Tavern only re-opened in 2013 after their name change, Saturday's event was at least partially to coincide with recent renovations inside the bar, including new brick paneling and artificial fireplace along the band area's walls, the removal of the Christmas lights on the walls (though they survive on the ceiling), and in a move that many musicians will welcome, the removal of the wooden fenced-off area in the far left corner of the stage, giving the stage some well needed extra room! More renovations are apparently to come in the dining/bar area in the back, but so far so good for Rednecks' new look!

The first two sets on Saturday were from solo performers, starting with Blood Shed Productions rapper Mikey Thomas (or Mikey T), in the first time I've seen him since getting his short haircut. He's a strong rapper with a good flow, but he often seemed nervous on stage, rarely introduced any songs by name, and had a few awkward pauses, but the crowd warmed to him by set's end. It's a tough spot when you're such an outlier from the other bands, but Mikey performed to his best, and look for him at future rap events! He was followed by local folk rock solo artist Jacob Quarrell, a.k.a. Shit Creek Survivor, who I was seeing for the first time the other night. Getting a good sound out of his small guitar, Jacob covered acts like Walk the Moon, Ed Sheeran, and City & Colour along with playing his own originals like "1,075", "Starry Nights", and "The Neighbourhood". With a punk-esque vocal tone, Jacob had an ease on stage, is a talented songwriter, and definitely has a good thing going, so keep tabs on Shit Creek Survivor to see where he's headed!

Local alternative/hard rock trio The Din played next in their first set since the VM Radio Battle of the Bands finals, and they delivered a fun set featuring familiar originals like "In Search of the Perfect Moment" and "Flux" with covers of the likes of The Barenaked Ladies, though a bass string break during their version of "Times Like These" led to self-deprecating jokes and Mike Haggith borrowing a 5 string bass to finish the set. Unveiling a new song named "Differences" on Saturday as well, the set served as the launch for their debut live CD "The Din Does Laundry" (which we outlined in this morning's post), and the bass mishap aside, everyone was on form musically! Mike's voice was loud and melodic, Tammy Hill continues to prove that she was an excellent find on guitar, and Brandan Glew kept pace on drums throughout their set! The Din are proving to be a fun and reliable band locally, and it should be interesting to hear what's next from them!

The middle set belonged to the debuting Band Camp Rejects, so who are they, and what do they play? Basically, they're the successors to the short-lived Under the Influence, whose first & last show was at last year's Toystock, with guitarist Mike Muto (ex-Issues) & bassist Ryan Bell returning from that band. In this new project, they've joined forces with recent Havadder guitarist Jamie July and Mourning Wood guitarist/concert co-promoter Steven Flint reprising his old Silver Dream role as The Band Camp Rejects drummer. As for their set proper, they definitely do fit our coverage based on the songs they played, all covers which ranged from acts John Mellencamp to Alter Bridge to Green Day to Poison. Featuring Jamie on lead vocals (though Steven took over for 3 songs), The Band Camp Rejects have the talent and crowd response to go far, but they only rarely bantered between or introduced any songs. This was a solid debut though, so stay tuned for more from The Band Camp Rejects when announced!

They were followed by the reunited metal cover trio Caveman Morrison, who were making their first live concert appearance since December 2013 on Saturday night! The band's 2012-2013 lineup was back in full force, with frontman Tym Morrison joined by bassist James White and drummer Johnny Belanger once again, and despite a delay in getting going, they entertained fans with a 6 song set with covers of the likes of Megadeth, Iron Maiden, and Ozzy Osbourne. Tym was oddly reserved on stage, leaving most of the between-song banter to Johnny, but everyone sounded strong musically, with Tym's electric guitar solos a welcome sight after over 2 years, and James (who was under the weather) didn't seem off during their set! Tym's vocals were quiet in the mix, especially early in their set, but it was great to see Caveman Morrison back, and hopefully they have more in store for 2016!

James stuck around for the co-headlining set with his funk/hard rock quartet The Elements, though with drummer Alex Hagerman unable to play again on Saturday, the band enlisted guitarist Jesse Cook's Winkstinger bandmate Jonas Gasperas to fill in. Jonas was a strong fill-in, and has ready-made chemistry with Jesse already, so fans had nothing to worry about there! Sadly, The Elements didn't play any originals from their forthcoming debut EP, but they entertained fans with covers of everyone from Sublime and Primus to Van Halen and Metallica, getting a strong fan response in the process! Rob Speers' vocals aren't rangy enough for some of their choices, but he was in firm control of the stage, and save for a guitar mishap on "Suck My Kiss", Jesse was on fire with his riffs and solos as you'd expect! It was fun seeing The Elements again, and hopefully their originals return for their next show!

The Rednecks relaunch party closed with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Lucky 13 in a rare set at a multi-band, non-Toystock concert, but they left fans on a high note with their varied and entertaining covers! Making his second appearance with the band since replacing Jeremey Salatuk, new guitarist Robin "Bones" Lee showed his guitar and non-country chops well during renditions of Royal Blood and Refreshments songs, while frontman Ed Vowels has definitely upped his frontman game, singing "Figure It Out" sans guitar with a complete ease and swagger that I wasn't expecting! A fan favourite moment was their hybrid of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" with the lyrics from Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", and while I couldn't stay through set's end, Lucky 13 showed why they're a favourite live band, and hopefully Lucky 13's new lineup keeps at it in the coming months!

Overall, this was a fun concert, and it was great to be a photographer, filmer, and critic for a full concert again! Thanks to Terry & Steven at Twin City Sound for putting this on, and to all of the bands and staff at Rednecks for a solid night, and I'll be back out before you know it! You can check out all of our photos from the concert at this link or at our Facebook page, and as for our videos, here's Mikey Thomas rapping his songs "Sloppy Seconds" & "Belly of the Beast", Shit Creek Survivor covering Atlas Genius' "If So". The Din playing "Out Of My League", The Band Camp Rejects covering The Foo Fighters' "Everlong", Caveman Morrison covering Metallica's "The Four Hoursemen", The Elements covering The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Suck My Kiss", and Lucky 13 covering The Refreshments' "Banditos"!















That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rednecks Relaunch Party, Mourning Wood, And Havadder), And Weekend Concert Previews!!

The first weekend of April is drawing near, so let's start previewing concerts taking place during it today, with this post largely comprised of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Alas, four of these shows were only announced this past weekend, too soon for us to plug them in advance of this coming weekend with, hence why they've been held for our previews, but don't bypass them! We'll touch on this weekend's Tym Morrison, Project 906, and potential further late notice shows in our next post, but for now, here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood will become the first band to play at The Park Grille at 196 Industial Park Cresent when they play there TOMORROW NIGHT, but it's not a trial run, as further Friday nighters are coming on May 6th & May 27th! Apologies for the short notice on TOMORROW'S show, we only heard about it via the official Facebook event page on Sunday. For those unfamiliar, The Park Grille has been open since May 2014, is located behind Soo Mill, and is known for it's "industrial man sized food", so if you live up at this end of town, here's a joint that you might want to check out! Mourning Wood's concert TOMORROW (their first since gigs at Rednecks two weeks ago) is just the start of The Park Grille's band experiment, which will also see blues rock veterans Mojo playing there twice later this month, as well as new hard rock cover quartet The 3 Day Millionaires for four gigs this spring (more on them specifically shortly.) For the time being, at least, all of The Park Grille's concerts are on Fridays only, but Mourning Wood members will be busy on Saturday, which we'll outline in a bit.

There is no announced cover charge or age limit for Mourning Wood's shows TOMORROW, May 6th, or May 27th (but remember that this is a restaurant), and bands will play early sets at 8:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links! With steady bands booked on Fridays through the end of May, it'll be interesting to see how successful The Park Grille's band experiment is, so consider being at Mourning Wood's first show of the venue's concert run TOMORROW, and here they are live!



Next up, local classic/hard rock cover trio Havadder will end their near-three month break with shows at The Rockstar Bar TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, the band also only announced the shows via the official Facebook event page on Sunday. Their first announced shows since the band confirmed guitarist Jamie July's departure (though trio gigs have not been uncommon at this time of year anyway), Havadder have been fairly quiet since early January, though we have seen Travis & Scott with The 3 Day Millionaires in the interim. No word on where Havadder have been lately, but it'll be good to see Jugga and company rocking out at The Rockstar Bar again TOMORROW & SATURDAY, so keep their returns in mind! These shows are 19+ events with 10:30 PM start times, but it came out on The Rockstar Bar's Facebook group earlier this week that the venue has abolished cover charges for local bands, including this weekend's Havadder concerts!

No word on if this solely applies to cover bands playing alone, or if the policy will extend to multi-band events, but given how most band-hosting bars in the Soo don't have an announced regular cover fee anymore, this should be welcomed by fans! For more details on Havadder's return to the stage, see the above links, and here's the guys live last year!

Lastly for late notice concert announcements, The Rednecks Saloon will be hosting a "grand re-opening" concert THIS SATURDAY NIGHT with a stacked lineup of local bands! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced this past Saturday via it's Facebook event page. No word on why they're having this "Redneck Relaunch Party" when they haven't recently closed (has there been renovations lately?), but in any event, 7 local acts will take the stage on SATURDAY, so who all is playing? In descending order from headliners to openers, we have a rare multi-band concert set from hard/alternative rock cover quartet Lucky 13 (in their second gig with new guitarist Robin Lee) at around 1:15 AM, with local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements in a rare Rednecks appearance at around 12:25 AM, though no word on if Alex Hagerman will be back behind the kit or not. At 11:35, we'll actually see the return of local metal/hard rock cover trio Caveman Morrison to the local concert stage!

Last seen on stage at the former Roosevelt Hotel on New Year's Eve in 2013, it's great to see Tym bring back his live local band after a two+ year hiatus, so consider coming to the former Nicolet on Saturday to check them out, and they're back in our active band links too! According to co-promoter Terry Eaton in a Facebook conversation, he believes that bassist James White and drummer Johnny Belanger are back from their last incarnation, but the band hasn't confirmed this yet. A debuting local band named The Band Camp Rejects will take the stage at 10:50 PM, and while members are opting to remain secretive until SATURDAY, I can confirm that their lineup has familiar faces. We'll let you know when something is publically revealed! Local hard rock/alternative trio The Din will play their first set since their VM Radio Battle of the Bands runner-up performance at 10:00 PM on Saturday, while two local solo acts (folk artist Jacob "Shit Creek Survivor" Quarrell and rapper Mikey Thomas) will open the event at 9:30 & 9:00 PM.

Co-promoted by Mourning Wood's Terry Eaton & Steven Flint, and with sound presumably provided by Twin City Sound as a result, there is NO COVER CHARGE for this 19+ concert, so how could you miss out on all of this live music action on SATURDAY NIGHT? Check the above links for more details on the Rednecks Relaunch Party, and here's Lucky 13 live!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our previews of this weekend's Project 906 & Tym Morrison concerts, and any late notice confirmations, next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Tym Morrison

On this Boxing Day, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile (now on the 26th of the month as a schedule balance due to the hiatus of our Out Of Town Profiles), as we once again are looking at 1-3 randomly selected YouTube channels whose content is at least 50% comprised of local metal, hard rock, and/or punk videos! To close the year, we have a channel from a very familiar face in the local music scene, whether you frequent his weekly solo shows and/or enjoyed his band work, so here's this month's YouTube Profile!
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Tym Morrison (http://www.youtube.com/tymmorrison)

Owner: Local solo hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, also well known from band work with acts like Caveman Morrison, Hollow, Metal Militia, and Calgary's Feral Noise

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 30th, 2006; Videos uploaded from August 2007 through June 2014

Channel Summary: Primarily in use as a showcase for Tym Morrison's original solo music, all but 9 of Tym's YouTube uploads are of his own compositions, ranging from regular songs to tributes to parodies. The channel also includes two comedy skits, a live video of his old band Feral Noise, and six live concert videos of his most recent local band Caveman Morrison.

Why Should You Watch: Tym's channel is definitely worth checking out for fans of his prolific music work, and if you're a fan of his original material, this channel is a good source for his later songs! However, note that this channel has no uploads of songs from his "Solo Project" CD, his extensive array of live solo concerts, or his non-Caveman Morrison band work in the Soo. As well, he hasn't visibly used this channel in over a year, in case that affects whether you subscribe or not.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Caveman Morrison playiing Crazy Train.MOV: Tym's only videos filmed at local concerts come from his now inactive hard rock cover trio Caveman Morrison's show at The Roosevelt Hotel (now Reggie's West) on December 10th, 2011, in their second show with their then-lineup uniting Tym with bassist James White (The Elements) & his brother/Redundant bandmate Rick White (a former Caveman Morrison bassist already) on drums. An attendee filmed the band covering Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride & Joy", Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World", Judas Priest's "The Ripper", Foreigner's "Blue Morning, Blue Day", part of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall", and yes, Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train", and while the video quality is mixed and a little dark, this lineup had good chemistry & handled these songs well, and it'd be nice to see Tym revive Caveman Morrison down the road!



layitontheline: Though Tym has yet to release his once-planned second studio album (which you can stream samples of on his website via the "Music" tab), two full copies of songs listed for the album can be checked out on his YouTube channel. They include "Dungeons & Dragons" and "Lay It On The Line", which Tym described as "a power metal song about someone moving on from a failing relationship", and it's a nice showcase of his strong guitar ability and rangy singing that suits the genre! Tym's other solo originals on his channel were not listed for the album, but save for the parodies, all have a message or clear theme, and were recorded similarly to the above songs.



Nadine RIP My Friend: Tym's most popular video is this tribute song to his friend Nadine Dowding, who suddenly passed away in February 2013. Composed not long afterward, you can sense the emotion in Tym's performance here, and while it's not musically heavy, it has a fittingly somber quality that I'm sure touched people when it was originally posted! Some of Tym's other posted songs are about or in tribute to friends, family, and lost loves as well, including this tribute to his dad from last year.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, we'll be looking at 2 channels due to the first randomly selected channel only having one video posted, so we randomly chose one more with just 2 videos to fill it out. As a result, we'll begin 2016 with a look at YouTube user bffcfka's channel (featuring a CASS Cafe performance from 2010) and dormant local doom/death metal band Giwakwa's YouTube channel (featuring a concert video & a jam clip), so look for that on or around January 26th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes as the year winds down! Thanks everyone!

New Concert Videos, An Inactive Band, And Much More!!

Now that I'm back from Detroit (the city), we can get back to normal business on the site, including a new video of Detroit (the band), a recent Kewadin concert video, a band that we're likely moving to our inactive band links in the coming days, and more assorted notes. Read on below for what you should know, and yes, we have some big (and somewhat overdue) feature posts to come before the month & year are out, so keep an eye out!

Did you miss the Detroit reunion concert on Tuesday night at The Algonquin Pub? I sadly did, but if you want a video of the proceedings, Bad Back drummer Nathan Sauve has you covered! He uploaded this video of the local/Toronto hardcore punk quartet (including two of his old Lion Ride bandmates) onto his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve, which is definitely a nice Christmas gift of sorts! Nathan shot Detroit playing their songs "Blue Collar", "Lord, Beer Me Strength", "Fortress" (complete with guest vocals from singer Brent Ellis' Destroilet bandmate Adam Larocque), and "Shithouse Ratt", though the first and last songs are incomplete. Nathan had planned to shoot more of their set but forgot his backup battery, though what we get is a solid sampling, especially if you liked their "Let The Hammers Fly" EP, as all but "Fortress" were on that one! Filmed from a stationary side stage angle, the guys have great energy (and generally longer hair than 5 years ago), but the audio can be muffled.

Very nice overall, and the familiar drum intro is great to hear one more time, so give the new Detroit video a look below, as who knows when/if you'll see Brent, Curtis, Mark, and Mikey back together again? Also, keep an eye out in case more media turns up from Tuesday night!



Next up, we have one more band to likely add to our inactive band links in 2014, that being local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison. While frontman Tym Morrison indicated in June on their Facebook group that there were "not a lot of places to play" for them and he didn't know what the future held, the guys have not played a live public concert since New Year's Eve last year at the former Roosevelt Hotel, so we're approaching a year's inactivity for them. Caveman Morrison had been a fairly frequent sight at numerous local concert venues since reforming locally in 2009, following successful stints here and in Calgary through the mid-2000s. Joined by many different musicians in assorted lineups, Caveman Morrison were best known for cover-only shows, but did play Tym's own original material on special occasions. In the past year, Tym has transitioned to a regular weekly solo concert run at The Harp Bar & Grill, while recent members James White & Johnny Belanger remain active in multiple metal & punk bands each.

The sudden halt in new Caveman Morrison concerts was surprising, but if the venue drought is accurate (plus the continued success of Tym's Harp shows), immediate future plans for Caveman Morrison don't look too promising. Tym and company had a solid sound and knew lots of classic metal & hard rock songs, and given that he plays similar material at his solo dates, a Caveman return likely wouldn't be hard to orchestrate! Until then, best of luck to Tym, James, Johnny, and all of their other past members in the future!

Also today, we have a new video of a hard rock cover from a recent Kewadin Casino concert, once again coming from the Aaron Lewis show at The Dreammaker's Theater in Sault Michigan last month! As you may remember, Aaron is best known as Staind's frontman, but he has been carving a solo career in country music in the early 2010s, which was the main focus of this tour, though he's been covering Staind songs like "It's Been Awhile" and "Outside" in the process! This video is of Aaron tackling another Staind hit, "Right Here", as uploaded by YouTube user Melissa McNamara on her YouTube channel 2 weeks ago (which also has a video from last year's local Shinedown concert.) Though filmed on the vertical cell phone camera angle, Melissa is much closer to the stage than when she saw Shinedown, and the audio quality is nice on this cover, which is familiar to the original song but has a country feel. The visuals can be a bit bright, but it's a solid video, so give it a look!



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

• Sault Michigan nightclub The Back Door is apparently closing early next year, as per posts on their Facebook page this month hyping their New Year's party as their "final" such event. If this is true, a reason for the impending closure has not been posted there. We mention this on here because The Back Door experimented with booking live bands last year (including Banned & Power Slug), and if the club's days are indeed numbered, I know many in the area will be disappointed! We'll keep you posted if anything else is said.
• Local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver will make their Quebec debut (and first live appearance of 2015) when they play a concert in Montreal on January 16th! Awesome news, and hopefully it's a success for them! Click here for more details!
• The Tidal Records Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub in March will have individual awards for the best individual performances and original song, with prizes being provided by event sponsors, as per promoter J.D. Pearce on the Facebook event page last week. Though most recent battles haven't featured individual awards, 2012's Humane Society Battle and the old Case's Music Battles both utilized the idea, and it's a nice idea to give competitors something extra to try for! Stay tuned for more updates on this battle as we hear them!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Danger Cats), Apocalypse Afterparty Updates, And Much More!!

As we clear out more recent news on the site, we have another news post for you guys today, including some assorted recent news items, a video find, the latest from a creative new band, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for one week from today, so here's what you need to know, and check out more recent news and notes in the post below this one!

Local all female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats will return to The Rockstar Bar one week from today when they open for Ottawa rock trio The Red Rails! In case you're not familiar, The Red Rails are the current band featuring drummer and Sault native Steve Brogno (formerly of bands like Driving Dave Home & Turner Up), and these power rockers were last seen locally in September at the same venue. Very modern sound with some bluesy touches, so keep The Red Rails in mind for next weekend, and help welcome Steve back to the Soo! The Danger Cats are a solid choice as openers, and are riding off the success of their Late & Loud farewell gig appearance, so they should be in top form for an entertaining opening set of originals and covers! There will be a higher cover charge of $7 next week's local stop on their "A Living Fiction Tour", you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM-ish start time is likely. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Should be a good concert, and it's nice to see Steve having such success since moving, so remember this show for next week!

Next up, here's the latest from the new local punk/rap duo The Apocalypse Afterparty! While we wait for their public concert debut, X & Z are looking for around 6 local women who can wear costumes and bring and fire off water guns, marshmallows, flyers, confetti, bubbles, and pillows at their gigs (and at Steve Mozarowski's upcoming Soo Band Roulette on August 30th), and they would be called "The Smoking Heroines". This may seem like an off the wall idea, but remember how the guys looked and dressed at Das Bunkerfest (they are definitely not business as usual.) If fleshed out, this could be very fun, so any female readers who want to join the insanity should message above! Two new Facebook videos are now online also, including this 19 second clip of a member jokingly talking about freestyling in a British accent (complete with mask & ski goggles) and the video embedded below, of "songwriter" Paul Stanghetta and recent AA video filmer Amanda Brown rehearsing a rough version of a new original song, so how does it sound?

Played only on drums and piano with rapped vocals, it has a fun lively sound, though obviously not complete from what we'd see live, but fans of The Fury will enjoy it either way! I'm curious to see where things lead with The Apocalypse Afterparty, who have already shown a ton of originality, so keep posted for updates, and here's their newest rehearsal clip!



Also today, I wanted to get up to speed on local classic hard rock cover band Havadder now that they're in our full coverage on the site, so I hope to share some more of Havadder's concert videos on the site when we come across older examples of them! This one comes from their Facebook page, specifically a March 2012 gig at The Nicolet Tavern (now The Rednecks Saloon), where they covered Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike", as featuring their then-lineup of singer/guitarist Jason Roy, guitarists Jason Nisbet & Robert Brown, bassist Travis Sharpe, and drummer Scott McLurg. Strong lineup, and almost identical to their then-sister band Turner Up (for a comparison, it was reminiscent of Gates of Winter & Woods of Ypres' 2008 lineups, which were also near-identical.) As for the video, it's dark and pixellated, but the audio is good, with the guys handling this song well, Travis' backing vocals adding a lot to the proceedings, and they managed the triple-guitar attack nicely on this ballad too! Give this 2012 Havadder video a look 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.

• In a comment reply on the band's Facebook group in June, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison clarified his local metal cover trio's status, saying that he's "not sure what's happening with the band", as there's "not a lot of places for us to play, but you never know what the future holds." Last seen at the old Rosie on New Year's Eve, Caveman Morrison haven't played a regular bar gig outside of there or The Water Tower Pub since 2012, though Tym has been playing solo gigs at The Harp each weekend since December. At least the door's not closed on the band, but we'll keep you posted if we hear more!
• For The Music Inside's photos of Late & Loud's headlining (and possibly last ever) set at The Rockstar Bar on August 1st are finally online, and you can check them out at this link! No major surprises, but things look lively and with a purpose, and they're all well shot like with the openers, so check them out, and best of luck to Brendan & Marisa in Great Britain!
• A young local drummer named Trey Piraino is looking to jam with similar musicians, specifically identifying himself as a "prog-metal" drummer that has practiced with bands like Dream Theater and The Liquid Tension Experiment since he was a kid. High quality stuff to take after, which is promising! If you're interested in jamming with Trey, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on Friday!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new punk band feature soon, more news, and our new poll tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman Morrison & Griphook), A New Band, New Year's Eve Concert Previews, And More!!

In our second-last post of 2013, things are stacked, so what's on tap? Previews of two heavier-leaning New Year's Eve concerts, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the next while, lineup changes for two bands, and leading off, a new local band, so here's what you need to know!

New local metal band Project 421 finally have a Facebook page, so we can now add them to our band links! You may remember that this was the surprise band that debuted at The Algonquin Pub on December 7th during Haggith's farewell show, though according to their Facebook page, they were launched in October. Their lineup features guitarists Blair Burch (who sang at their debut show) and Frank McGillivray alongside Punch's Daniel Horton on bass and former Fitswitch/Frightlight drummer Larry Mousseau, and though I had heard on the 7th that they had a singer who wasn't ready for their debut, a post by Daniel on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Saturday suggests that they are actively looking for a new vocalist. Their record label is PaperClip Productions (naturally), they plan to introduce original material into their 1970s-1980s cover sets, and Daniel indicated that the band already has some 2014 dates booked (though specifics have not been revealed at present.)

Featuring alumni of older local bands like Broken, I was impressed with Project 421's live debut three weeks ago, and hopefully the guys have some big stuff in store for next year, so become a fan and inquire about their singer vacancy at the above links!

Now to the LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, starting with a short notice announcement for TOMORROW NIGHT, as local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison will rock out at The Roosevelt Hotel for New Year's Eve! Apologies for the short notice, the band only just announced this show yesterday. A rare Tuesday night show for them (but it makes sense given the occasion), this will be their first public concert in almost three months, and unless there's more late notice concert announcements to take note of, this is bound to be the heaviest way to ring in the new year in Sault Ontario! The show starts at 10:00 PM, with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit, and for more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I expected a few New Year's Eve concerts despite the Tuesday placement, and a solid evening of classic metal & hard rock hits should be a perfect way to celebrate if you're on this side of the border, so keep it in mind for your partying plans, and for a preview, here's Caveman Morrison covering Ozzy Osbourne's "I Don't Know"!



Also in new concerts, the first confirmed Sault Ontario hard rock shows of 2014 will go down this weekend on January 3rd & 4th, as local hard rock cover quartet Griphook will rock The Roosevelt Hotel in their own right, albeit with a major lineup change. When the shows were announced last night, the band revealed that they have added former 100 Gran frontman Joel Syrette to their lineup as their new singer/guitarist, replacing Jim O'Leary. Apparently, Jim is moving to Ottawa soon "to pursue other musical endeavours", which is disappointing, but Jim's a talented musician (his Flat Stanley work is proof), so we wish him the best of luck for sure! As for Joel, videos I've seen of him with 100 Gran point to a very talented skillset (and really nice vocals that fit the genre well), so this should work out well going forward! I assume he'll also take over Jim's duties in their classic rock sister trio The 7 Year Itch too, but with no online pages for them, I can't verify that right away. The new look Griphook's shows next weekend have 10:30 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and 19+ age limits, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Note as well that a comment reply on December 20th on Griphook's Facebook page implied that they would be playing a date at Searchmont (likely referring to a 7 Year Itch date there this past Saturday) and a "New Year's blowout" at Bossy's Pub N' Grub, but I have no other information on the latter event (including for which band is playing), so it's either private or will get very late public notice. I'm curious to hear and seem more from Griphook with Joel up front, so stay tuned for updates, as well as those 100 Gran videos I alluded to earlier!

Finally for today, we have at least one more New Year's Eve concert preview, as Kinross hard/classic rock trio Banned will return to The Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill in Barbeau, Michigan TOMORROW NIGHT for their own New Year's bash! I say trio as I'm now fairly certain that they've parted ways with guitarist Denny Smith, given the band's removal/privatization of all but one extant video featuring him from their YouTube channel. If true, their current lineup (Alex & Don Traynor and Jim Pentland) is the same as it was late last year, which isn't a bad thing in itself, but hopefully things are amicable, and best of luck to Denny in the future! Tomorrow's New Year's Eve show will be Banned's first date in Barbeau in almost five months, and though a pile of 2014 shows are likely, this should be a fun heavier-leaning way to end the year across the river! This should be a 21+ event with a 9:00 PM start time, and there's no announced cover. For more details, visit the above links!

Banned should put in another fun concert tomorrow night to end 2013, so keep it in mind in your New Year's plans! I still don't know why they privatized and deleted their videos with older lineups from this year, as they were solid performances even if somewhat more varied than in 2011 & 2012. Is there some "old shame" and/or an intended focus on the current lineup? Hopefully they aren't gone forever, but for now, preview TOMORROW'S New Year's show with this Foster The People cover from last year!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our special look back at major events and news in 2013 TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: mlibz, Candianchic29, and Tyler Gibson's Channels

For the first time in 8 months, we're looking at 3 separate YouTube channels in this month's YouTube Channel Profile installment! As the first channel we selected only had 3 similar videos, and the second had one total, it led to this situation, but there's some solid stuff within, so no worries! As usual, this monthly feature post looks at 1-3 YouTube channels (all randomly selected) to profile their content, information, and reasons to subscribe, and this month's profiles cover a lot of bases, so read on below for each of these 3 mini-profiles!
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mlibz's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/mlibz)

Owner: Toast/Galactic Alignment guitarist Mike Libertoski, who's also known from past work in bands like Swayze Train and The Slackjawed Rats, among other projects

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 20th, 2011; Videos uploaded on January 18th, 2012

Channel Summary: The most recent active YouTube channel from this very talented Sault Michigan metal guitarist, this follows an earlier channel that featured a mix of audio & video recordings from the late 2000s. The new account was 100% focused on live performance videos of him playing along with progressive metal songs circa January 2012, including The Faceless' "Legions of the Serpent", a portion of Beneath the Massacre's "Lithium Overdose", and his most popular cover, Animals As Leaders' "The Price of Everything & The Value of Nothing", which is embedded below. I've always found Mike Libertoski to be one of the more talented local metal guitarists of recent memory, and these covers (despite some rough patches) show his skill at progressive metal & more complicated structures! If you like Mike's videos on this channel, check out his Galactic Alignment work, but note that this channel hasn't been actively used since the featured videos were uploaded.


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Canadianchic29's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/canadianchic29)

Owner: YouTube user Canadianchic29 (real name unknown, but she may have been 29 at the time of the channel's creation)

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 3rd, 2006; Only video posted on December 18th, 2009

Channel Summary: Though Canadianchic29 launched this channel almost 7 years ago, she only uploaded one video there, that being of Sault Ontario metal cover trio Caveman Morrison covering Metallica's "Seek & Destroy" at The Rockstar Bar in December 2009. Featuring the band's 2009-2010 lineup (including singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, then-bassist Rick "Styles" White, and his former Frightlight bandmate Jeff "Shrek Ogre" Richards on drums), this is a well played cover with a solid heavy bite & nice melodic chorus vocals, but the video is tilted sideways on three separate occasions, including for most of the video's first minute, and I'm not sure why. That aside, this is a nice quality video from early in Caveman Morrison's local resurgence, and the deep red lighting & Christmas tree help give this a nice Christmas ambiance if you come across it during the holiday season! (Note again though that Canadianchic29 hasn't visibly used this channel since at least 2010.)


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Tyler Gibson (http://www.youtube.com/tyler44gibson)

Owner: Former T.E.N. guitarist/programmer Tyler Gibson

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 17th, 2010; Videos uploaded between May 2011 & May 2013

Channel Summary: Effectively the official YouTube channel for the defunct 2011 comedy metal band T.E.N., Tyler Gibson (who may be a relative of Crucify the Whore's Ringsnaps Gibson) posted three demo original tracks there, two during their run, and one (a solo guitar track named "It's Your Mother, But Better") coming posthumously in May of this year. The included songs (including an unfinished intro named "Yeah") don't retain much of the earlier comedy influences, with only the most popular video "My Movie" (which is embedded below) featuring vocals from singer Eric Welker, but parts of these songs were likely on some demo discs distributed in 2011. There is something to these demos, particularly in terms of Tyler's guitar work, but the unfinished nature of them leaves a lot of questions as to what could have been. Hopefully Tyler revisits his music in the future, and he does still use his YouTube channel, so subscribe just in case!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, we'll return to a single channel model, as through completely random selection, I've chosen former Sue Inside frontman Shane Lipsit-Fraser's YouTube channel for our November 2013 profile! Though all of his videos are from after the band's relocation to Southern Ontario, there's some solid performances within, so watch out for this profile on or around November 22nd, and stay tuned for a packed new news post later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman Morrison & Lucky 13) & This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Today's post is 100% devoted to this weekend's metal & hard rock concert previews in the Sault Ste. Marie area, with a handful of mostly cover bands hitting the scene through Saturday night on both sides of the border. We'll start with some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for Sault Ontario, so read on for the previews for these upcoming shows!

Local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison will return to The Roosevelt Hotel TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT for another weekend of hard rock & metal hits! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only just announced on Tuesday. These will be their first Rosie concerts since July, and come under a month after their most recent gigs at The Water Tower Pub, so if you've missed Tym & company's wide ranging cover tunes, you should take note of this weekend's gigs! Both tomorrow & Saturday's shows have 19+ age limits, no announced cover charge, and a 10:00 PM start time, so for more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Caveman Morrison back for some more gigs, flowing with their recent general trend of playing live one weekend a month, and their metal & hard rock renditions should be as proficient and fun as ever, so be at The Rosie this weekend to catch it all! For a preview, here's Caveman Morrison covering a Neil Young classic at The Roosevelt Hotel!

Also in newer show announcements, local alternative hard rock cover quartet Lucky 13 will head back to The Rockstar Bar for a one night only gig THIS SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only just announced by the venue on Monday. Oddly described as a "rare appearance" on the official Facebook event page despite only last playing live in August (and with their Ray Brown benefit set coming next week), there's no Friday gig due to The Rockstar Bar hosting a Thin Ice concert tomorrow night. Featuring Aftersight, Wishbone, Turner Up, and Gully Yodelers alumni, this talented veteran quartet should be raring to put in another gritty and appealing set of 1990s and newer alternative rock covers, so if you've missed them, you know where to be on Saturday! I'd expect a cover charge of around $5 for this show, along with a 19+ age limit, and everything should start at around 10:00 PM. For more details, check the above links! "Rare" or not, it's nice to see Lucky 13 bringing their unique cover sets back to the stage this Saturday, so keep it in mind, and for a preview, here they are at Toystock last year!

Now to the previously announced regional metal/hard rock concerts in the region (all across the river), starting with the return of Kinross hard rockers Banned to Dondee Lanes in Sault Michigan TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Announced on their Facebook page last month, these are currently this prolific regional band's only announced concerts of the entire month, and will be their first Dondee "jobs" in almost 7 months, but fresh off of their Grand Rapids shows, Alex, Don, and company should be riding high! I will note however that Banned have not posted anything on Facebook since this weekend's shows were announced on September 15th, but I have heard nothing negative relating to anything relating to Banned or this show since, so I wouldn't be too worried. Both tomorrow & Saturday's shows have early start times of 8:00 PM, along with 21+ age limits and no announced cover charges. For more details, visit the above links! This should be another fun weekend of originals and covers from this diverse local band, so head to the Dondee for Banned tomorrow or Saturday, and for a preview, here's the guys live in Charlevoix in August!



Finally for the weekend hard rock concerts (barring any late notice announcements), Sault Michigan modern hard rock cover quintet RamWagon will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT themselves! Though these are among the dates that RamWagon picked up from the now defunct Sir Charge, this newer local band will continue to carve their own path with these latest shows, and with a lineup featuring Monkey's Uncle and Highest of Fives alumni, you know the talent's there! Admission for these shows should be free, a 21+ age limit is likely, and a start time of 9:00 PM should be in effect. For more details, visit the above links! RamWagon should deliver some fun hard rocking times this weekend in St. Ignace, so if you're up for a drive or live in the area, head to the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino this weekend to check them out! For a preview, here's the guys at LemmaFest earlier this year!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman & Tym Morrison), Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

In our first of likely two weekend concert preview posts (Sault Michigan's coming tomorrow), we have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND, along with existing previews, another new show for later this month, and a handful of other assorted topics! With that said, read on below to get caught up!

Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will return to The Road House Bar & Grill on Trunk Road for two more solo acoustic gigs TOMORROW NIGHT & on Friday, September 27th! Apologies for the short notice, tomorrow's show was announced on Monday, and I held it until now to avoid redundantly plugging it twice in a few days time (and my source for the show on the 27th is Tym in a Facebook e-mail, it hasn't had an event page posted yet.) Tym's prolific run of unplugged hard rock cover sets continues well into September, and if you're up for some softer and more intimate takes on some metal classics, head to the East End for Tym's well recieved solo live show tomorrow night! Admission for both of this month's new shows should be free, you must be 19 to attend, 10:00 PM start times are likely, and I don't know yet if he'll be playing any type of show at The Road House next week. For more details, click here! As usual, tomorrow's show should be an entertaining night, so keep it mind, and for a preview, here's Tym covering Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" at what's now Coch's Corner!



In related short notice concert news, Tym's local metal cover band Caveman Morrison will return to the stage THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Water Tower Inn on Great Northern Road! Again, apologies for the short notice, same reasoning as Tym's solo gig tomorrow. Knowing that they're playing live again, this means that their bassist situation is resolved, but who's now their bassist? James White still! Tym confirmed with me on Facebook that James (who had left in advance of plans to move from the area) is instead staying in town and with Caveman Morrison, which is great news, as he fits well with Tym and Johnny! However, I have no word on why a photo featuring ex-bassist Dutch Vanderploeg is on the Facebook event page. Saturday's concert (which was once lined up to be a Tym Morrison solo gig according to The Water Tower Inn's calendar) is their third at this venue, and the guys should be raring to go with a night full of metal & hard rock covers for their fans! There's no announced cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. Check the above links for more details!

Hopefully Caveman Morrison's show on Saturday is a big hit, and with James locked in after his brief departure, they should have some great tunes ready for fans at The Water Tower Inn, so don't miss it! For a preview, here's Caveman Morrison covering Judas Priest's "The Ripper" at The Rosie!



Now to the previously announced show this weekend, as new local hard rock band The Thrill Junkies will make their long awaited local debut TOMORROW NIGHT at The Nicolet Tavern! Following their Rock 'N Roar battle of the bands & festival appearances in Spanish, the quintet featuring singer Travis Sharpe, guitarists Robert Brown & Jason Nisbet, bassist Justin Langlois, and drummer Scott McLurg have a lot of hype and momentum on their side in advance of their September local dates, so be among the first to see this union of Turner Up, Havadder, and Redundant alumni tomorrow night for their range of covers! Admission should be free, you must be 19 to attend, and the show starts at 10:00 PM. For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! If you've missed the members' recent bands (or Travis singing in a permanent local project), you'd be well served to see The Thrill Junkies' local debut tomorrow night or next weekend at The Rosie, so don't miss out, and as soon as media comes out of their material, we'll have it here!

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

• Newer local power metal quartet The Hydra's Teeth have uploaded another original song demo to their Reverbnation page! Entitled "In the Dead of Night", I believe it just features Brendan Christie on vocals & guitar, but it does sound promising (and with stronger vocals!) Check it out above, and don't miss their live debut one week from Friday at The Algonquin Pub!
• Bear Hunters/Suicide Kings guitarist Mitch Sirie is looking for a rhythm guitarist & bassist for a new dark metal project that he's starting. He already has a drummer, they plan to play original material (with covers to start and 6-8 string guitars), and songs would vary from ballads to screaming material. If you're interested in trying out, message Mitch at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last Friday! Note that I'm not sure if this means anything negative for his other bands' statuses, or if this is an expansion of one of his solo projects.
• Veteran local drummer Mike Severin has relocated to Sault Ste. Marie and brought his Toronto-launched recording studio Muzicare Productions North with him! Full information on their local operations aren't public yet, but he has an impressive client list and promises big recordings without a big price, so click here to inquire further in case you wanna record anything there!

That's probably all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for Sault Michigan weekend concert previews! Thanks everyone!

Tym Morrison & 415E Concert Previews, Plus A Couple Of Band Member Searches!!

As promised, today's post covers the rest of our weekend concert previews (namely, ones not featuring bands at this year's Chippewa County Fair), but we also have a pair of Sault Ontario musician searches to check out, so read on below for what you need to know!

We'll start our previews with Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's last show of his weekly August arrangement at The Road House Bar & Grill TONIGHT! Tym's brought his unplugged acoustic show there every Friday this month (save for the week of their Thursday customer appreciation night, which he played instead), and it sounds like things have went well at his favourite recent acoustic venue, so help cap off a fun month of hard rock covers at The Road House tonight on this otherwise slow weekend for heavier Sault Ontario gigs! Like usual, he'll be on tonight at 10:00 PM, there's a 19+ age limit in effect, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I assume Tym has fall solo dates in the works (along with new Caveman Morrison shows), so be sure to stay tuned to the SMS as we hear more, and don't miss his diverse and prolific cover blend at this Trunk Road tavern TONIGHT! For a preview, here's Tym and ex-Half Past singer Luke LeBlanc (we're pulling for you, Luke!) covering Extreme's "More Than Words"!

Also in previously known heavier concerts this weekend, local classic metal quartet 415E are scheduled to return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! I will note that the band hasn't updated their Facebook page in a month, and have no further Kewadin dates listed for the remainder of the year, so your guess is as good as mine if anything's going on concerning their status. I'll let you know if I hear anything! Featuring 2 members each of Splitshot & The Highest of Fives, 415E's Van Halen-inspired blend of originals and covers should be welcomed back to The Rapids Lounge this weekend, so don't miss the action if you're up for it! Admission should be free for these 9:00 PM concerts, and you must be 21 to attend either. For more details, check the above links! Even if this is the last time we see 415E for a while, they've been quite prominent in recent months, so keep tonight & tomorrow's shows in mind, and for a preview, here's 415E playing their self titled song in January!

Moving to some other recent news, starting with a notable band lineup change, as local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison have apparently parted ways with bassist James White for a second time. James revealed the news on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday, and though he didn't cite a reason for his exit, it's definitely under amicable terms. James originally replaced Jacques Marceau in the band in the fall of 2011, and after leaving the following spring, he returned to Caveman Morrison (taking over for his replacement Dutch Vanderploeg) earlier this year. This is disappointing, but at least he's keeping busy filling in with Frightlight, so best of luck to James going forward! With that said, his Musicians Wanted group post is advertising for a bassist search for Caveman Morrison, so what should you know if you're interested? Their sound of course varies from classic to newer metal & hard rock songs (such as ones by Metallica, Megadeth, and Judas Priest), and the band reportedly has at least two gigs planned this fall at The Water Tower Inn, so the sooner the better for a replacement to be secured.

If you're interested in trying out for Caveman Morrison as their new bassist, message band members Tym Morrison or Johnny Belanger on Facebook, and hopefully we hear news on an addition soon, as I don't wanna officially plug their next show until the bassist situation's finalized, just in case that show is changed in some form. Stay tuned for updates!

Finally for today, new local hard rock quartet The Side FX have announced the departure of guitarist Alex Walls, as per their Facebook page on Tuesday. The reasoning is that Alex (who only played live once with the band last month) is apparently moving to Toronto to try work as a studio guitarist, and the split is completely amicable. This is disappointing, especially coming not long after their debut gig, but best of luck to Alex going forward, and I hope he succeeds at whatever's next! As a result, The Side FX are now looking for a new guitarist that is able to learn their setlist and play live A.S.A.P., and they want someone who can have fun and party while playing their songs well, while also being able to play solos on everything from Volbeat to Sublime, among others. If you're interested in joining The Side FX (featuring singer Rob Speers and Papa Fogals Chair alumni Mike Bird & Derek Turner), message the band at the links above, and stay tuned for updates on both the guitarist search and their next work!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a special all-video post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!