Here's another new post on this Saturday morning, which is mostly devoted to recent concert videos from a major concert last month, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month!
Winnipeg punk quartet Shit Happens will make their local concert debut on Monday, March 25th when they headline at The Distraction!
While not the first touring act booked at the East Street
barbershop-turned-concert venue, I believe Shit Happens (not to be
confused with the Soo's own Shit Liver) are the first full metal or punk
band from out of town to play there, as opposed to a solo project, so
this will be neat! Shit Happens are touring Eastern Canada and a select
few U.S. cities this month, with the local show being the final date
before they head back to Manitoba. Expect an upbeat and in your face
brand of punk originals from this female fronted group two weeks from
Monday! Local support will come by way of metal trio The BAG
in their Distraction debut and second show of 2024, and while not a
clean genre match to Shit Happens, the energy should be hopping for
their hard hitting originals and covers later this month!
Despite
the touring headline band, this show is standard for protocol with The
Distraction's all-local events, including no age limit, a 7:00 PM start
time, and a "$5 or pay what you can" entry model. While an early night
with no 19+ limit hanging overhead, the Monday scheduling and relative
short notice may give some pause, but if you like explosive modern punk
rock, don't miss out on the action on the 25th! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this concert!
Next up, we finally have some videos to feature from last month's Saint Asonia concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! After a near two week delay, prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci uploaded videos from the show to his excellent YouTube channel, and he spoiled us this time, filming eighteenvideos across the three bands that night! Half of his videos come from the headliners, with Chris filming multiple originals and covers from the Toronto hard rock quartet. In terms of covers, you can see Saint Asonia covering frontman Adam Gontier's old band Three Days Grace's "Never Too Late", "I Hate Everything About You", and "Riot", while they also tackled Apocalyptica's "I Don't Care" (which Adam guested on originally). The rest of the filmed songs began with Saint Asonia, aside from their own recent cover of The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights".
The originals filmed here are "Better Place", "Wolf", "Let Me Live My Life", and as embedded below, their set opener "Above It All". Chris had a nice spot in the center section with good zoom usage and a relatively clear view of the stage (fans' heads in front of him acknowledged), and Saint Asonia sound great, with Adam's vocals crystal clear in the mix! I recall that he was more muffled when Three Days Grace came here last, but of course, arena acoustics could have been a factor. Check out Saint Asonia's local concert videos for yourselves above & below!
Finally, Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin were filmed for three of Chris' videos, specifically their songs "Insidious", "The Way I Say Goodbye", and as embedded below, "House On Fire". Hopefully these guys continue on their upward trajectory, as their melodic and soaring originals seemed to play well with local attendees last month, and they definitely seem like a band we'll hear more from on the radio in the coming months! Check out Any Given Sin's local videos above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!
As promised, let's round out this weekend's hard rock concert previews today via the two Sault Michigan/E.U.P. hard rock concerts that we didn't preview in yesterday's post! To round things out, I do have some new videos of a prominent local band, so here's what you should know!
We'll start with this weekend's main event for hard rock fans, as Toronto hard rock quartet Saint Asonia will make their first ever local concert appearance TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! As well promoted on Rock 101 in recent months, Saint Asonia's debut will mark frontman Adam Gontier's first time on a local stage since he and his old band Three Days Grace last played here in 2009. Along with a few 3DG hits and select covers, look for Saint Asonia's own hard hitting originals like "Better Place", "The Hunted", and "Devastate" during what should be an explosive set! Note that Saint Asonia's usual guitarist (Staind's Mike Mushok) is not part of this tour. Also playing tomorrow is Kentucky southern hard rock band Black Stone Cherry, in their first local concert appearance since 2006 (when they opened for Staind, incidentally), so they've been a very long time coming!
With rock radio hits like "In My Blood", "Again", and "White Trash Millionaire" in the eighteen years since , familiarity with B.S.C. will be much greater for this set, so hopefully they get a really strong reaction for their southern tinged rock & roll! Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin will open the proceedings with their high energy, Shinedown-reminiscent brand of original material, so don't be late for their set tomorrow! This is the first major concert of 2024 from Allstar Promotions, and you can see brief promotional videos on their Facebook page featuring both Adam Gontier and Black Stone Cherry guitarist Ben Wells hyping up the show/ticket availability, which are definitely welcomed to get the word out, especially as both pronounced Sault Ste. Marie correctly! Tomorrow's all ages concert has an 8:00 PM start time, and third row tickets are still on sale in the left & right sections!
Center section tickets are all sold out in the first thirteen rows. Tickets run for $39.50 in rows C-J (left and right sections) and row N (center section only), while anything else left costs just $29.50. Buy your tickets at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office. I hope this show does well, as I greatly prefer Saint Asonia to modern Three Days Grace, and Black Stone Cherry have multiple catchy songs of their own, so definitely consider heading to Kewadin Casino for all of tomorrow night's action! Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Saint Asonia live!
Lastly for known hard rock concerts in the Sault area this weekend, we'll take the 20 minute drive south to Kincheloe, where local classic metal/hard rock trio Tarnished will return to The Fraternal Order Of Orioles Nest TOMORROW NIGHT! This atypical venue brought in Tarnished for their New Year's Eve party last year, so clearly that went well for Alex, Parker, and Josh to get a call back for a standard concert less than two months later! Regardless of how normal the venue is for Tarnished fans, you can expect the same hard hitting and fan friendly covers and originals in Kincheloe tomorrow, so consider hitting the road for the Orioles Nest tomorrow for all of the action! This show takes place at Nest 311 (at 4916 West Curtis Street) at 8:00 PM, it has a 21+ age limit, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tarnished live!
Finally for today, here's some new videos of local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906, but not how you may expect to see them. Fans may recall that, when drummer Jason VanLuven had to miss a few shows last summer due to conflicts with his other band Fake Chow, they enlisted Paradise Excuse alum Brian Duford to fill in behind the kit. Well, that wasn't it for Brian playing with Project 906, as he has guested with the band since on shows that Jason was there for, albeit with Brian playing hand drums instead! Three videos from recent 906 shows have been uploaded to his YouTube channel, all ostensibly intended to focus on his performances moreso than the whole band. This one (likely from their Brimley VFW concert in November) has Brian and Project 906 playing an extended instrumental for their soundcheck, while this vertical clip is of his drum solo at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman this past Saturday.
The latter clip is shot from the crowd, but the other two are drum-cam videos, including the one embedded below, which is the only one of everyone playing a proper cover song. In this video, also from The Strongs Tavern on Saturday, Project 906 and Brian covered The Who's "Eminence Front", albeit extended with some more jamming in the middle. Rare to see a Kenney Jones-era Who song covered locally, so kudos there! The venue lighting can impair the view sometimes, but this is certainly a unique concert video, and everyone performs well, including Brian, and he does add a looser vibe to Project 906 shows from what I've seen! Give Brian's videos a watch above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new Sault Ontario-centric news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Alright, let's finally start clearing out our backlog of topics and news from the last while (joys of the holidays), and we'll start with some unfinished business from a recent charity concert, some assorted updates, and leading off, a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for early next year!
Here's the big show announced earlier this week, as Toronto hard rock quartet Saint Asonia will make their local debut on Saturday, February 24th when they headline at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Saint Asonia is the current band from former Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier and (when available) Staind guitarist Mike Mushok, and while they haven't had the continued rock radio success/airplay as modern 3DG have gotten, I personally greatly prefer Saint Asonia's originals like "Better Place" and "The Hunted". Adam does still tackle Three Days Grace songs live, and select other covers, so if you've missed that band since their last Sault Ontario date fourteen years ago, don't miss out! Kentucky-based southern hard rock band Black Stone Cherry will make their long awaited return to the Soo as openers, last seen at The Dreammakers Theater opening for Staind way back in 2006!
Since we last saw B.S.C. in town seventeen long years ago, they bettered their early Billboard rock chart success with songs like "White Trash Millionaire" and "In My Blood", and they're a very skilled group in their own right with a fun energy, so don't miss them either! Opening this show and tour are rising Maryland hard rock quartet Any Given Sin, whose technical and heavy brand of melodic hard rock will definitely set a good tone in a couple of months, so don't be late for their set! Promoted by Allstar Promotions in their 2024 debut and presented by Rock 101, tickets run for $29.50 (row 15 and back in the center section, row 11 and back in the left and right sections, and standing room only), $39.50 (closer seating), and $139.50 (first 8 rows in the center plus a full VIP package including priority access, show memorabilia, and a meet & greet with Saint Asonia.)
Tickets are on sale for this all ages & 8:00 PM concert at this link, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. This feels like such a throwback to the 2000s via the returns of Adam, Mike, and Black Stone Cherry a decade+ after last performing in Sault Ste. Marie, and I hope this show does well, especially given that we lucked into this being a Saturday nighter! I do highly recommend Saint Asonia to fans of old school Three Days Grace too, they deserve way more success on the charts. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this big show early next year!
Next up, let's move north to Sault Ontario for some clarification on three bands that played at this year's tenth annual Toystock at The Grand Gardens on November 26th! First off, the debuting online page-less band Headrush was a new classic rock quintet featuring veteran local bassist John Amendola (Cherry Crush, Tripod the Dog, etc.) and singer John Anderson, though I couldn't immediately identify the other band members. A video is floating around on personal Facebook accounts of Headrush covering Foreigner's "Hot Blooded", and it sounds good, but it is incomplete. Give it a look if you're friends with anyone connected to the band! Earlier in the program, new local rock quartet Skinbox played at Toystock, and they have since revealed via promotion for their shows at Jay's this weekend that they play "90s/2000s alt rock",
with The Arctic Monkeys cited as a band that they cover. Not overly heavy on the surface, but their familiar lineup is definitely capable of it!
Lastly from Toystock's mystery/cryptic band array, new local rock band Kickstart is a new trio featuring ex-Suicide Kings guitarist Steven Flint alongside ex-Sneaky Pete bandmates Sean Berlinguette & Mike Oakley (I am unsure who sings here). If any of these three bands lean to what we cover on the SMS, it'd likely be Kickstart, but at press time, they don't have an online page that I am aware of. We'll let you know when/if anything else comes out, but hopefully these bands and the known commodites had a great time for Christmas Cheer on the 26th!
Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
In his newest post on his Facebook page on November 22nd, local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary revealed that he is working on a soundtrack for a novel being written by a local author, which will be instrumental in line with his recent solo output. There's no timeline or details to spill yet, as Mike's keeping things close to his vest until he and the author are happy with the results, but he has wrote at least two songs for it. We'll keep you posted when more details come out, but this is certainly unique locally!
Local indie/punk quintet The Northwest were featured in the November 26th episode of The Music Jerks Radio Show on Canadian internet radio station Alt Rock Radio, where hosts Kristen Goetz & Nolan Jodes played one of their original songs along with ten other tracks. I don't believe that the episode is hearable on demand, but hopefully The Northwest made some new fans two weeks ago, and don't miss them at LopLops in two weeks!
Just to clarify more details on another new online page-less local band's identity, The Psychic Spies (who, as far as I know, share members with Skinbox) are indeed a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band, so inferring that based on "Psychic spies" being the first words sung in "Californication" was prescient. The Chili Peppers' career doesn't lean heavier anymore, but fans should take to The Psychic Spies, who are playing with Skinbox at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this weekend, so visit the Facebook event page for details!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Today's post mostly collects some assorted news and notes, including new videos from a pair of local bands who have shared drummers, but we're kicking things off with a likely inactive band. Here's what you should know!
We'll start with info on a band that we'll likely be adding to our inactive band links soon due to a year's inactivity, that being local punk trio The Northern Tragedy. Nothing regarding their status has been publically announced, but the guys last updated their Facebook page on January 23rd of last year, and they haven't played live since March 2014. Active since late 2012, The Northern Tragedy were one of the most notable punk bands of recent years in the Soo, opening for bands like The Golers, Warsenal, and Skynet during their run, along with playing at 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands, and releasing two demo EPs. However, updates slowed down in 2014, and we've more recently seen singer/drummer Terrence Gomes in the alternative duo Infinity Grinder (who have been dormant as of late themselves.) Though their stage presences were often stiff, The Northern Tragedy had a fun modern punk sound and a lot of promise, and hopefully they re-emerge at some point! Best of luck to Terrence, Mike, and Corry in the future!
Next up, here's a new video from local hard rock quartet Skeyes of Seven, who have been busy working in studio with Deluca Sound Productions as of late! Though unlisted on YouTube, studio head Korey Deluca (Mannapool) shared it on the studio's Facebook page yesterday, so it's publically viewable through there. It's of frontman Cory Murchison tracking a verse, and while window glare gets in the way, everything sounds solid at this stage, so check it out below! For what it's worth, drummer John Mignacca moved to Sudbury last year, and it's yet to be established how that will affect Skeyes of Seven's future plans, if at all, but we'll keep you posted if something is announced!
Also today, here's some new heavier covers from a recent jam session by local pop rock veterans Cherry Crush! The band is featured in nine new videos uploaded to their YouTube channel on Thursday, and while they include covers from their usual wheelhouse (including songs by The Weeknd, The Swedish House Mafia, KC & The Sunshine Band, Wild Cherry, and Awolnation), four covers do fit what the site, including of Theory of a Deadman's "Bad Girlfriend", The Foo Fighters' "Everlong", Royal Blood's "Out Of The Black", and as embedded below, Volbeat's "Still Counting"! In the videos, Cherry Crush are represented by guitarist Jules Cote, bassist John Amendola, and his son Jonny (returning to replace Rico Calvano) on drums, with Jules on vocals for the most part (Taryn Bugyra recently left the band, so they have been looking for a new singer.) The audio is somewhat muffled on these videos, but Cherry Crush handle heavier tunes well, and it's nice to see them break them out on occasion!
Now, it's worth mentioning that Jonny's drum head (still?) displays the logo of his old band Skeyes of Seven. Has he just not updated his drum head yet, or has he returned to that band? If we get any public clarification, we'll let you know, but it's nice to see him back with Cherry Crush in any event! Give their new videos a look below, and hopefully they find a new singer in due course!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or website name:
New local metal band Debt To The Heirless have changed their name to Kaepora Gaebora, referencing the wise owl character from the Legend of Zelda video game series, as per their Facebook page yesterday. A reason for the name change wasn't announced, other than to say that the decision came as a result of their sound development & establishment of the band. The new name is somewhat out of left field, but with members of Bring The Fallen/Misery and Them in their lineup, don't bypass Kaepora Gaebora when they finally debut on stage!
This doesn't bear directly on local metal, hard rock, and punk news, but local news website SooToday launched a new layout and design today, which you may have already sampled on their sister sites in other cities. It'll take some getting used to, but it has a cleaner and more modern look, and things seem easy to find (including for entertainment updates), so give the new SooToday a look!
In a surprise find, unmastered rough mixes of the first three songs from Woods of Ypres' third album "The Deepest Roots & Darkest Blues" can be streamed on their page on the goth culture social networking site VampireFreaks! Though the page hasn't been regularly maintained by the defunct black metal band since at least 2007, the songs ("The Northern Cold", "Iron Grudge", and "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground") still work perfectly, and it's interesting to hear these songs in their early unpolished form! Give them a listen above!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
I hope everyone had a good few days off! We're keeping at it on the SMS, and for today's new post, we're touching on some new and recent videos from a few different (and widely varying) local bands, but leading off, here's a new local band to take note of featuring many familiar faces!
We have a new local band to add to our links, and they are Killer, an apparent full continuation of the one-off Rude-Offs from last month's Toystock event! If things maintain from last month's show, Killer should be a punk band of some description, but they should prove to be a more mainstream side project from members of Destroilet, with all but singer Mike Hull a part of this band, including guitarists John Conway (a guest last month) & Christian Foisy, bassist Adam Larocque, and drummer Matt Waples. They'll be fronted by Treble Chargerfrontman Greig Nori and Stiffler's Mom/Bone Yard singer Greg Simpson once again, and this created a very intriguing band just from membership alone! Other details on Killer have yet to be established, including specific genres, if they'll be covers only or will have originals, and when we'll see them live and where, but if you liked/missed The Rude-Offs last month, be sure to like Killer's Facebook page for more details!
Next up, here's a new video from Tidal Records' skate team's year end party/concert at The Rockstar Bar from December 18th! Uploaded to the skate team's YouTube channel last week, this captures moments from most of the involved acts, plus
the screening of a new compilation video of Tidal Records'
skateboarders, and it's well filmed to capture many different angles of
the night's proceedings, including some with a fish eye lens! The video
starts with DJ Seith & Conika's joint set,
including solo Seith mixes and additional guest appearances (Gnaeus
drummer Brendan Garlick, for one, jumps in at 1:29 of the video), before
showing portions of the live video screening.
The final product looks well edited, bur this version was apparently
exclusive to the party (however, samples are on the channel proper.)
Fans of post-punk and alternative hard rock will look forward to the
video-ending clips from Gnaeus' set, though curiously, the filmer did not include footage of headliners The Pixo Control's set (I wonder why?)
It
looks like this was a hit concert to celebrate Tidal Records' skate
team's one year anniversary, and I wish I could have been there to see
everyone in action! I'm sure Tidal Records have a lot more in store for
2016, from both their music and skateboarding arms, so stay tuned for
all of that, and give their video from the party a look below!
Also, here's some new video finds from a mildly unexpected source, that being local pop rock cover band Cherry Crush! Though arguably best known for their covers of pop and dance hits, these local favourites do indeed cover heavier material at times, and three videos uploaded to their Facebook group in March show that! Joining a cover of Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk" (the only one filmed at this jam featuring singer/ex-Foggy Notions owner Taryn Bugyra), the videos are of Cherry Crush covering AC/DC's "TNT" and "Whole Lotta Rosie", and as embedded below, Black Sabbath's "War Pigs", all with new drummer Rico Calvano (ex-Fusion) on vocals. Also featuring guitarist Jules Cote & bassist John Amendola, these are well performed by three talented local veterans (Taryn's a great singer too), and while songs of this style don't make up most of Cherry Crush's live repertoire, they do give a glimmer of their wide ranging set! Give these (and more) a look above & below!
Finally for today, here's the latest from Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night, so what's been going on with them lately? Largely working in (and on) their studio during the latter months of 2015, T.O.N. have shared a few samples of recent studio work on their Facebook page as of late, including this classical sample (apparently shot pointing to a screensaver) that keyboardist Craig Harrison shared in November. Their most recent clips include this short video of guitarist Steve Giles jamming to a Britny Fox song, and most recently, this short sample clip of a new original song named "Uhura's Ghost" (meaning the Star Trek character?!) It has an ethereal quality to it, and it sounds promising, but we of course await fuller details on Theatre of Night's recent studio work, which has seemed to be leading to a new album for a while now. We'll keep you posted, but check out their new videos above & below, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more as the year winds down! Thanks everyone!
It's time for our latest Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile, and this month, we focus on a band that may be lesser known, but are worth giving a look to! Remember, this series is devoted to bands that, though not locally based, feature at least one local member, so you guys can find out about them and how you can check them out! Let's begin this month's profile, and if you have any edits, corrections, or additions, please tell me! (Updated: November 26th, 2014)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Buster Cherry (St. Thomas, Ontario)
Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics. The instruments that the members played may be incorrect. If you can correct anything or add a missing element, let me know at robertfigures@outlook.com)
Steve Bendis (vocals?) Terry Eaton (guitar) Cory Valentine (bass?) Vinnie Milosevich (drums)
Official Reverbnation page: http://www.reverbnation.com/bustercherry69 Local Info:Two Saultites found their way into Buster Cherry, those being guitarist Terry Eaton and drummer Vinnie Milosevich, who should be familiar for their work in some older area metal bands! Terry and Vinnie were longtime bandmates of prolific local bassist Dan Beaupre (currently of Griphook) in a few of his old metal bands, like Hollow, Carbon Black, and Metal Militia, though these bands predate internet pages and profiles. At some point (I assume the early 2000s), Terry and Vinnie moved to Southern Ontario, where they commenced work on Buster Cherry, though Terry moved back to the Soo in 2011, where he's played primarily in bands like Asylum Country, Mourning Wood, and Two Buck Beers since, while Vinnie has played recently with bands like Knee Deep & Curse The Witch.
Band Bio:I honestly can't tell you much about Buster Cherry by themselves. They don't appear to have been active for too long judging by the amount of activity on their Reverbnation page, but the page does include material from one of Terry & Cory Valentine's older bands named Blynd Image that predated Buster Cherry. No photos of the band exist either, but the guitar on their page's sole image is Terry Eaton's, as proven at this link. Buster Cherry were based out of St. Thomas, Ontario, which is roughly a half hour south of London. I don't know much about the background of Steve Bendis or Cory Valentine either, but a "Steven Bendis" still works in London as a homebrew music producer. Their page features four songs, including an unfinished track named "Believe", "Digging Yourself A Hole", and two Blynd Image-era tracks, "I'll Be Waiting" & "It's Not Love". The Blynd Image songs are more reserved and seem to take cues from 1980s mainstream hair metal, while the newer Buster Cherry songs are more straightforward hard rock, more similar to Terry and Vinnie's past local work.
Of the four songs Buster Cherry posted, I definitely don't enjoy the Blynd Image songs as much, though the singing's a lot better, with the singer making great use of his range! I just find them too soft and reserved, like they were intentionally trying to write a radio single both times, especially with "I'll Be Waiting". "Believe" has loads of promise, and it reminds me of a few hard rock bands I've seen locally, but there's no finished version. "Digging Yourself A Hole" is slower but still heavy, with nice riffing and excellent bass work! The songs don't take a lot of risks, and they need more guitar solos, but Buster Cherry did have promise! I'd love to hear a full version of "Believe" especially. My biggest complaint for the material as it's presented is the lack of a second guitarist, which would fill their sound out more, but Buster Cherry are still a good hard rock band that deserve some posthumous attention! I hope these guys are still doing some stuff musically in some form!
Again, Buster Cherry only have one internet page, and the 4 songs mentioned above are there to stream, so click here to check them out! As such, there are no videos of the band in action, so I uploaded the only full "Buster Cherry" song to The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel for you guys to check out! So here's Buster Cherry's song "Digging Yourself A Hole"!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! I know they didn't have the most information to fill out the post, but I did what I could, similar to when I profiled Hellhitch. So, what band is profiled next month in this series? Well, I've decided to take a long overdue look at one of the bands featuring Ash Richtig, a prolific drummer originally from Sault Ontario who now plays in the Windsor area! So next month, we're profiling his "junk rock" quartet The Heatseeking Moisture Missiles! Look out for this profile between April 9th and 15th!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more local metal news and notes very soon, including weekend concert previews! Thanks everyone!
