LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), One More Concert Preview, And More Recent Updates!!

Well, how does one more weekend concert preview post sound for the Canada Day long weekend? Along with some new live videos and assorted updates, we have one more show accidentally omitted from our existing previews and a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know on this Saturday afternoon!

Local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will reportedly play at The Dive Gastro Pub THIS MONDAY NIGHT for a special Canada Day matinee concert! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced by the venue's Facebook event page this morning. This will be Tym's second show at The Dive in a five day span, following his "Think It Over Thursday" date inside the former Low & Slow, of course bookending yesterday's Mike Case Memorial Stage gig and today's Misty's Fifties matinee. However, MONDAY'S concert will be a "Patio Play" event on The Dive's outdoor patio, much like their Saturday bookings. Hopefully Tym provides an entertaining soundtrack of classic and hard rock hits for fans at the Queen Street East nightclub on MONDAY EVENING! This show has a 5:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover.

Weather-wise, The Dive indicated on the event page that "it looks like the weather will be on point", and while it's too soon to see an hourly forecast for MONDAY EVENING, 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather with no chance of rain and a high temperature of 22°. If that holds, "on point" would be accurate for most, especially given that rain is likely on Tuesday in the current forecast! Visit the above links for more on Tym's holiday weekend capper on MONDAY, and here he is live!

Next up, here's one more weekend concert preview that I neglected to include when we covered this band's Water Tower Pub show last night, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will hit the road for nearby Echo Bay (just outside of town) TONIGHT! This concert will see Terry, Cameron, Jim, and Glen serve as musical entertainment for this year's Elks Bay Days Slo-Pitch Tournament, with the Soundcheck concert being inside The Elks Lodge at 96 Church Street as the musical entertainment after day #2 of this year's Elks Bay Days Slo-Pitch Tournament! Despite the trappings of being linked to a baseball tournament, this is publically attendable, so if you're in Echo Bay/just east of the Soo, you may want to head to The Elks Lodge to enjoy their hard rocking classic and country covers tonight! Unless registered for the tournament, this is free with a 9:00 PM start time and no stated age limit. 

Be advised that Soundcheck had teased playing at a Cruisin' The Dub car show at the newer A&W on Great Northern Road tomorrow afternoon as well, but I have not found any public advertising or references to it on social media beyond what the band said on their Facebook page over a week ago. That doesn't mean that there won't be a car show with Soundcheck playing (they haven't always had high online advertising), but I'm erring on the side of caution by not including it here given the lack of promotion. Stay tuned in case something is confirmed, but to preview their Echo Bay gig tonight, here they are live!

Also, we have some new videos of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations to share! A day after we previewed their late notice gigs at Jay's Piston Broke Pub yesterday and TONIGHT on the SMS, frontwoman Valerie Powley posted four videos of the band at a recent private stag & doe booking to their Facebook group on Friday, so what can you see here? The videos include Generations covering Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Refugee", Sheryl Crow's "If It Makes You Happy", The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" (with bassist Pierre Anthony on lead vocals), and as embedded below, Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker". Unfortunately, these videos do suffer from a vertical orientation, a tight side-stage angle that completely cuts drummer Tony Santoro out of frame, and Pierre and Tony K. often being out of frame or blocked from view. Also, aside from the Sheryl Crow cover, these are all under a minute long.

However, the audio quality from the filmer's camera is really strong, and Valerie's powerful vocals are put to good display on the three songs that she sings lead on, none of which are frequently filmed from what I know, and it's nice to see things a little heavier as such! Check out all four of Generations' stag & doe videos above and below, and don't miss them all back at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TONIGHT!

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

 

• I have sadly removed local death metal band Kaepora Gaebora (a.k.a. Exploring Detritus) from our inactive band links due to the deletion of their Facebook page (their only formal social media page) at some point in the past three months. The subject of our Defunct Local Band Profile from March, Kaepora Gaebora (led by ex-Bring The Fallen guitarist Dan Souliere) peaked as a live band in early 2016 but struggled to otherwise get off the ground, including in their 2022 relaunch. I wish they'd have left the Facebook page up, but hopefully we hear more from ex-members soon, and don't miss drummer Anthony Boudreau in HeadFirst!
• Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 have quietly dropped out of Giovanni's Italian Festival at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on July 27th, as per their exclusion from the full performer lineup and the band's removal of the gig from their website's calendar. A reason for their withdrawal was not announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened, and they are still playing at a Giovanni's sponsored event next month, namely the COPPA Soccer Tournament next Saturday! Veteran classic rock quartet RPM have replaced Silent 9 in the 4:00 PM timeslot at the Italian Festial.
• For the first time, Rotaryfest will feature a Stage 3 in 2024! Nicknamed "Wild Beats", the third stage will take place at the Downtown Plaza on Friday, July 19th only, and will feature three EDM artists/DJs, perhaps taking inspiration from The Northern Vibe Festival's hosting of separate Forest and River Stages for bands and DJs (two of the three performers are indeed playing in Ophir in August). Obviously, this doesn't cross the SMS' music genre radar, but it'll be interesting to see how Stage 3 does, as opposed to prior attempts to counter-program the festival (remember The Bottoms Up Lounge's old "Secret Stage"?)
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: id iota & kaepora gaebora

A day early for a change, here are this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Continuing our monthly spotlighting of YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musicians/concerts, this month's first randomly selected channel only had two videos period, so I had to pick another with a single video to round things out. Both take us to contemporary local bands of the mid-2010s, so here's what you should know on each of this month's channels!

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id iota (http://youtube.com/@idiota9153)

Owner: A member of 2015-2019 local alternative hard rock quartet Id Iota, exact identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 30th, 2016; Videos uploaded in January and May 2017

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for Id Iota, it features just two videos, namely an upload of their sole EP and a teaser video for an upcoming concert.

Why You Should Watch: There's not a lot here in hindsight (they used their Facebook page far more for video uploads, before and after early 2017), but their EP will draw fans from their original run, and the teaser video was amusing! Fans of theirs would be best served to check out their Facebook uploads and supplement the EP alongside, but hopefully we haven't heard the absolute last from Id Iota!

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

id iota - Maudlin Fair (Full EP): Nine months after its release in April 2016, Id Iota posted a free YouTube copy of their debut and only EP "Maudlin Fair", which was recorded at guitarist Dustin Goodall's own Unsalted Audio and mixed by Joao Carvalho Mastering in Toronto. Featuring Dustin alongside singer Christian Lemay and drummer/studio bassist Blair St. John (this was recorded between a bassist change), the four included songs are "California Wasted", "Permanence In Pencil", "One Cent Vaudeville", and "Bitter Tea". This was a solid EP featuring laid back and grungier material in about equal measure, and while this free copy is handy, consider buying it on Bandcamp to support their work, if eight years later!

May 12th!: Cross-posted to their Facebook page, Id Iota's final video on YouTube was this promotional clip for their set at Soo Art Rocks, a mash-up event of live musicians and visual artists held by Live705 at the former Canadian Nightclub in May 2017 (read our review at this link). The 46 seconds-long clip sees Dustin calling his bandmates (including then-bassist Dan Linklater) and Sell This!/ex-RedD Monkey cellist Pete Mozarowski (who guested with them at Soo Art Rocks) to remind them about/summon them to the show, in a very dramatic fashion, while the recipients are in varying degrees of unreadiness for the call. Amusing hype for their headlining set, and Dustin's announcer voice is strong! The clip ends with a few seconds of the guys (and Pete) performing at The New American Pub in April 2017, but as far as I know, that video was never separately posted in full.

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kaepora gaebora (http://youtube.com/@kaeporagaebora8159)

Owner: A member of 2015-2017 & 2022 local death metal band Kaepora Gaebora (later known as Exploring Detritus), exact identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 8th, 2016; Only video posted that same day

Channel Summary: Kaepora Gaeboara (who, as the caption notes, still thought they were a band) posted a sampler jam session video to their brand new YouTube channel, in what would be their only substantive act there. Labelled as "day 210" (possibly hinting at the time since they formed), the band at the time featured singer Joey Graham, his old Undead Warriors bandmate Dan Souliere and Bring The Misery alum Daeson Lesage on guitar, Jeph Brown on bass, and ex-Gates of Winter/RedD Monkey drummer Kevin Overton. This isn't very long, and the audio quality can be a little harsh, but this group of local metal veterans delivered the extreme goods on this clip, and it's a shame that Dan could never get this project that far off of the ground!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around July 26th when we look at a single randomly selected YouTube channel, and it's another official channel of a local band, namely active(?) death metal quartet The Bear Hunters' channel WeAreTheBearHunters! Look for that then and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Kaepora Gaebora

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as we again give a look at a local metal, hard rock, or punk band from the past, as randomly selected from our band links! This month's selection is a recent-ish extreme metal group featuring many familiar faces in their lineups that never got that far off the ground despite their promise on paper, so here's what you should know on them!

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Kaepora Gaebora (previously known as Debt To The Heirless and later renamed to Exploring Detritus)

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Death Metal

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)

Dan Souliere (Bring The Fallen), vocals/guitar
Mitch Sirie (The Bear Hunters) vocals/guitar
Ryan St. Pierre, guitar
Justin Lam (The Bear Hunters, Jack Spades), bass
Anthony Boudreau (HeadFirst, Them), drums

Joey Graham (Ashoka At The Show, The Undead Warriors), vocals
Daeson Lesage (Bring The Misery), guitar
Jeph Brown, bass
Kevin Overton (Gates Of Winter, RedD Monkey), drums

Audio/Video: During their original run, Kaepora Gaebora wrote original songs with names like "Evolution By Force", "Misinterpreting The Deity", and "ABCDEFG", but I can only find two surviving videos from that era, including this 43 seconds-long jam session clip featuring their main 2016 lineup. For their 2022 relaunch, the since-renamed Exploring Detritus posted a bunch of jam session and rehearsal videos to their Facebook page, and even posted some (largely identical) content on TikTok and Instagram, but nothing advanced to a public reveal of a song name, let alone new concerts. Here's the then-Kaepora Gaebora playing their original "Death Spins" at The Oddfellows Hall in 2016!

Info/Analysis: Publically launching in the fall of 2015 as Debt To The Heirless, this new death metal band united veterans of the late 2000s and early 2010s local metal scene, taking their Kaepora Gaebora moniker in January from the wise owl in the Legend of Zelda video game series. Debuting at a house party in April 2016, the band's eventual permanent lineup (Joey, Dan, Daeson, Jeph, and Kevin) would play twice that spring at The Oddfellows Hall, opening for The Motherfuckers and at Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger's birthday concert. Last seen opening for Foam at The New American Pub in June, the band went silent on social media until changing their name to Exploring Detritus that December, but updates slowed again and ceased in mid-2017. After some false starts, Dan Souliere relaunched Exploring Detritus in April 2022 with a brand new lineup.

Despite bringing back original drummer Anthony Boudreau and adding Bear Hunters alumni Justin Lam & (briefly) Mitch Sirie to their lineup, the revived Exploring Detritus only advanced as far as jam session videos, and last posted to Facebook that July. Regardless of name, Kaepora Gaebora were a promisingly heavy group that helped give a nostalgic comeback to some regulars in the scene, with a solidly heavy base and a welcomed focus on original material, and it's a shame that they didn't last longer either in the mid-2010s or in 2022. Follow the reunited Bear Hunters and HeadFirst to hear what most of their last lineup is up to nowadays, and hopefully Dan tries to launch another metal band in the future!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This series will return on or around April 10th when we profile another randomly selected defunct local band, and this time, it will 2013-2015 all-female hard rock band The Danger Cats! Look for that profile then, and for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Updates To Our Band Links, Plus Chase James Wigmore Updates!!

Let's do some catch-up in today's post via long overdue updates from a talented local solo musician, and leading off, house cleaning notes on our active band links, so here's what you should know!

We have two bands to remove from our active local metal/punk band links today, the first being local death metal band Exploring Detritus, who have been returned to our inactive band links due to over a year's inactivity. Four years after the former Kaepora Gaebora fell inactive, guitarist Dan Souliere and original drummer Anthony Boudreau surprisingly brought the group back in April of last year, but Exploring Detritus never progressed past jam session videos despite some very promising lineups, last posting on their Facebook page in July 2022. Extreme metal hasn't been super prominent among local bands post-pandemic, but hopefully we hear more from Dan, Ryan, Justin, and Anthony soon, and don't miss brief frontman Mitch Sirie in his array of current projects, including his and Justin's recent Bear Hunters revival! As their only live gigs were under the Kaepora Gaebora name, they are listed on the SMS under that name anew.

Next up, local pop punk project Forever Will Be have sadly been deleted outright from our band links, as they no longer have a formal social media page centric to the band. As it was, their now-deleted Facebook page was scarcely updated, with project leader Ryan McLaughlin primarily posting Forever Will Be updates on his/their label Relentless Audio's Facebook page. That said, Forever Will Be proper are likely still active, with Relentless Audio last posting about the project in December, so even without a proper band page, hopefully we hear more from Forever Will Be soon! Note that Relentless Audio did post two Facebook videos in February to demonstrate what Ryan can do with his computer programs to make songs sound better, including this clip of him improving the quality of "Acolyte" by the inactive Cambridge, Ontario metalcore band The Intake Of Glass, but the other video didn't produce a song match on Shazam.

We'll close today with some the latest media and updates from prolific local extreme metal/folk punk musician Chase Wigmore! We haven't posted much about him since the winter, the Darsombra show aside, but back in February, he posted the second part of his trilogy of "The Pit" songs under the project name Manitou, as uploaded to his "Jason Walker" YouTube channel. Part 3 was belatedly uploaded in April, and while not extreme metal, these marry his guitar prowess and alternate influences fairly well, with part 2 dipping into Black Lodge Masters-esque techno stylings, and part 3 even had clean singing layered into the track. Effectively done and accentuated with trippy visuals, so don't bypass them (or part 1!). On April 5th, Chase noted that he'd been practicing and playing a few open mic nights, but had largely been "chilling out on music" in recent months.

His long-gestating and allegedly "last" solo album "The Chaotic Rite" is 75% complete, and Chase noted that it will only run 25-30 minutes (a big drop from the prior rock opera teasers for the former "Story About A Kid Named Todd"), but his aim here is to focus on quality over quantity. His planned book on the guitar "Ars Cithara" is "mostly done" but was then on a break, still needed to be edited & restructured, and could be split up into a trilogy. Basically, Chase wanted to take time to "step back and become a human being again" rather than "focusing 95% of my time in music", but he hopes to release both by year's end. Fingers crossed! Four new non-Manitou videos have been posted online in mid-2023, including this trippy animated piece on his Facebook page set to ominous techno music (is this AI art?), plus a new original song named "From Beyond The Clouds" featuring dark but cleanly sung vocals.

While not extreme metal, it's certainly an intense and well layered song with some eerie background effects that are accentuated by the images of forests and bad weather, so give it a listen above! The others have Chase performing unplugged on camera, including his older original drinking song named "Running Out Of Beer" and, as embedded below, him playing his song "The Guilt & Shame Of Being" from his most recent album, last fall's "We Are All Going To Die". This one is heavily filtered in monochrome and layered with dark imagery, but both songs play into Chase's live free-wheeling intensity and passion, and it's good to see him rocking out, so check everything out for yourselves above & below!

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

New Additions & Removals To Our Band Links, Plus More Assorted Updates!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this weekend's concert previews, as local acoustic hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns returned to The Whisky Barrel on Gore Street last night. The band did not announce this date on their Facebook page in advance, but the venue did announce the show last Sunday when revealing their full slate of live entertainment on weekends this month (The Stallyns are not advertised as playing the rest of the month there, FYI). I profusely apologize again, I'd have covered this had I checked the venue page or if the band had plugged it publically, but hopefully the show was a hit!

Now, today's post features some new videos, a few assorted updates, and new additions and removals to our band links, and we'll start positively with the new band, namely Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Nameless! As our E.U.P. readers may recall, The Nameless debuted at Three One Three on Ashmun in April to open for the also-debuting Buddy Repperton & The Camaros, but their Facebook page presence has always been somewhat cryptic, still not even revealing their full lineup. I can confirm two band members (singer/guitarist Joshua LaCoursiere and ex-Tantrym Tyme bassist Michael McLeod), but their second guitarist and drummer haven't even been named on personal Facebook posts that I've located (the drummer isn't even in most pictures!) We'll let you know if we hear anything, but the band definitely crosses the hard rock line, and we now know that via their first proper video, so what can we see there?

Visually, not a lot, due to the dark stage lighting and placement of the band members, with the second guitarist not in frame whatsoever. Good thing Joshua was in white! Their near-hour long, all-covers set features many songs familiar to FM rock radio listeners, including (in order) Three Doors Down's "Kryptonite", Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy", System of a Down's "Lonely Day", The Offspring's "The Kids Aren't Alright", Chevelle's "The Red", The Animals' "The House Of The Rising Sun", Collective Soul's "December", 30 Seconds To Mars' "The Kill (Bury Me)", Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue On Black", and Seven Mary Three's "Cumbersome", before closing with an instrumental that sounded kinda familiar. The guys didn't really introduce themselves or banter with the crowd between songs aside from encouraging fans to get on the floor once or twice, but Camaros frontman David Waite did take to the mic afterwards to thank them for the set.

If you believe David, he named them The Nameless in reference to their then-lack of a name! As for The Nameless as a band, they're quite promising and I like the diversity of their set while still injecting a heavy flavour, including a surprisingly high amount of screamed backing vocals on songs that didn't have them! The lighting and tight camera angle don't help this as something to watch, but there is something here, and hopefully The Nameless can make a real name for themselves in the E.U.P. as 2022 continues! Give their full Three One Three video at this link! I can't embed it here due to Facebook flagging it for copyrighted content, likely the Theory of a Deadman song played over the venue's P.A. at the very beginning.

Next up, here's the band that I have reluctantly moved to our inactive Sault Ontario band links, namely local acoustic punk solo project Slumshine. They have not issued any public updates or played an announced concert date since releasing their newest EP "Slumlord" in May of last year, perhaps not uncoincidentally the same week as when project leader Brenton Ellis launched his current band project These Magnificent Tentacles. Active off & on from 2017-2021, Brent donned a pink knit ski mask and employed plural pronouns with Slumshine, a folk-inspired punk project who opened for touring bands like Dany Laj & The Looks, The Faps, and The River Jacks in the late 2010s, while also appearing at the third Oh!No festival in Leeburn, and releasing their demo EP "SLMSHN" exclusively on cassette tapes in July 2019. After launching their Facebook page that January, Slumshine's 2020 plans were decimated by the pandemic.

Brent did resurface in the spring of 2021 with new studio material, but a teased second cassette tape release never occurred, and it looks like Brent has switched focus to These Magnificent Tentacles since. Slumshine definitely had a unique presence that was adaptable well to unplugged-friendly venues and electric punk shows alike, and the DIY nature influenced by Brent's own visual artwork also helped set them apart. Hopefully Slumshine resurface down the road, but follow These Magnificent Tentacles to see what Brent and crew are up to nowadays!

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

• The tenth annual Algoma Ride For Autism will take place on Saturday, June 18th with The Esquire Club as a home base, and local classic rock veterans Angry Joe & The Growlers as this year's featured band. The autism awareness/support motorcycle rally was never cancelled outright during the pandemic, but this year's looks to be a complete return to 2010s form after post-lockdown adjustments the last two years, and while there's no hard rock band this year, the charitable cause is obviously most important. Click here for full details on how to attend as a supporter or rider!
• Former Project 421/Re:Born guitarist Blair Burch is looking to get back into the live music scene, specifically via "an outlet" that doesn't require distortion or growled death metal vocals. Blair is accustomed to classic hard rock, hair metal, and power metal, and he'd be most comfortable in a band with a second guitarist. He also emphasized wanting to actually play music, not in a band where that's seemingly secondary to drinking alcohol. Given Blair's experience and talents, it should be easy to find a new band or at least someone to jam with, but message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted group post from Wednesday if you want more details on Blair's return to the scene!
  
• As it turns out, singer/guitarist Mitch Sirie did leave revived local death metal band Exploring Detritus, a fact he confirmed with me in a Facebook conversation yesterday. Mitch said that he left due to his own busy personal schedule, which lines up given his ongoing work in Handsome Sandwich, These Magnificent Tentacles, and the teased new metal band he was looking for members for, not to mention The Bear Hunters if they resurface. No word on when Exploring Detritus will confirm their vocalist status, but guitarist Dan Souliere has been providing vocals in their recent jam session clips. We'll keep you posted when more comes out!
  

 

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

Glambition Festival/Concert Preview, Plus New Videos!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

After a busy slate of weekend concert previews, let's dive into some recent videos from local metal acts, including a jam session clip, a solo performance, and a video explanation of a recent original song's recording progress, but leading off, here's some lineup updates and teasers!

Let's start in St. Ignace, Michigan for the latest from local progressive metalcore quartet Heavy Lies The Crown, who played their first concert since the pandemic began, and with their new lineup, on Thursday! Unfortunately, it was in Saginaw, continuing their run of non-local dates, but hopefully they melted many a face in the Lower Peninsula in their return show! Joining Brandon and Ted in their new lineup are bassist Christian Thanasiu (replacing Danny Tucker) and drummer Jaxon Massaway (replacing Cale Krist), who is credited as "The Kid" in the Facebook teaser video embedded below for the Saginaw concert. Just as a reminder, H.L.T.C. have not immediately replaced Nathan Switzer on rhythm guitar. I am not familiar with Christian or Jaxon from prior local bands, but crucially, both currently live in St. Ignace, so any distance hang-ups will be precluded, and maybe this will lead to more E.U.P. dates?

Over the past month, Heavy Lies The Crown have updated their Facebook page primarily to promote the Rock Rebel Show show in Saginaw, including this teaser clip focused on their duck mascot mask, and this short video featuring our best look yet at the new lineup jamming together, albeit without live audio. Frontman Brandon West had also entered a Michigan Metal Vocal Competition that they were promoting, and Belgian online host Evy Wisse reviewed them in her Twitch series highlighting underground rock musicians, a'la Your Music Live or You Rock. Good to see things falling into place for the new look Heavy Lies The Crown, so get all of their current updates above & below, and stay tuned for more!

Next up, here is a new teaser clip of revived Sault Ontario death metal quartet Exploring Detritus jamming, courtesy of their Facebook page on Thursday! This is not quite a full look at the band's current five-piece lineup, as new frontman Mitch Sirie is not visibly present, but we do get to see his (ex-?) Bear Hunters bandmate Justin Lam with the former Kaepora Gaebora for the first time. The 31 second clip doesn't tell us much, and Dan is unfortunately behind a pole (and glare) for most of it, but it sounds promisingly brutal while it lasts, so give it a look for yourself below!

Also, here's a new video of prolific local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore in action, though not on his Facebook page, rather his on-and-off label Blood Shed Productions' Facebook page. Uploaded on Tuesday, the caption-free video sees Chase playing more of a funk rock song, while impressively singing with a cigarette in his mouth! Very Primus-y vibes with this performance, but the audio quality is somewhat scratchy, and the foreground lighting is much darker than the background lighting. Check it out for yourself below!

Finally, here's a new video from local/Toronto progressive metal band PROV3RB5's Facebook page on Thursday, where guitarist Benjamin Roswell explains how the songwriting and concept of their third released single "Particles" came to be, notably with how he, Bryan, and the guest American musicians all came to the same theory about the song's meaning, while also thanking viewers of their virtual release party for the single. If you missed out, you missed a chance to win prizes, even! Ben does come off a little dry here, but he explains everything nicely and gives some solid insight into "Particles", so give it a watch , and look for more from PROV3RB5 soon!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Tripod The Dog), Plus Exploring Detritus Updates!!

Another news post here on this Saturday morning, including big updates from a resurgent local death metal band, but let's lead off with two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the Victoria Day long weekend! Yes, one of these shows was moved out of yesterday's post due to last night's ultra short notice Wyld Stallyns concert, so let's pick up where we left off!

Local hard rock/ska trio Tripod The Dog will return to The Esquire Club as part of their Saturday matinee series on May 21st! This show was confirmed via the venue's Facebook page on Thursday, though note that the modern day Tripod The Dog do not have a known social media page to promote their shows with (their 2007-2008 Facebook group was not primarily administrated by any current members). This will be Tripod The Dog's third and final date in the Second Line West nightclub's four month series of Saturday matinee concerts, following shows on March 26th & April 16th, which I again apologize for missing for coverage at the time. Also known as Buckets, Bands, and Birds to tie into buffalo wing & drink specials on Saturdays, the series ends in June before The Esquire Club takes a summer break from live bands in advance of a projected return to Friday & Saturday night concerts in the fall, pandemic willing.

As with other shows in their Buckets, Bands, and Birds series, Tripod are on at 3:00 PM on May 21st, there is no announced cover charge, and while the timing may not immediately scream 19+, remember the locale. Hopefully Mark and company have another fun night of rock tunes in store for fans in the west end in two weeks' time, and visit the above links for more details!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will also be in live concert action on Saturday, May 21st, specifically when they return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge! The band has not confirmed this date on their own Facebook page at press time, but Shooters did the honours via this Facebook event page on Wednesday as part of a slate of Saturday-only show announcements through early June. One of the first bands to play at Shooters in their 2022 expansion into live music bookings, Soundcheck's shows at the Dennis Street nightclub in March and last month were well received, and while I don't know if there's a firm agreement for them to play there once a month, keep their imminent return in mind, especially over the long weekend! This one-nighter has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and don't miss Soundcheck at Reggie's TONIGHT!

Finally, here's the latest from relaunched local death metal band Exploring Detritus, who have expanded to a quintet by adding some very familiar faces! First, the band announced on April 27th that they had enlisted Bear Hunters guitarist/Handsome Sandwich bassist Mitch Sirie as their new frontman, replacing the already departed Joey Graham. While Mitch is best known as an instrumentalist, his backing work with The Bear Hunters and his legendary vocals on "Squirrel Buddy" are well established, not to mention his singing from his defunct solo projects, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles things as a full time death metal vocalist! In the above statement, the band indicated that Mitch would handle bass with founder Dan Souliere moving back to guitar after temporarily covering bass in their post-reunion materials (Jeph Brown had also previously left), but that's not all!

The band announced yesterday that Mitch's Bear Hunters bandmate Justin Lam had also joined on bass! Mitch will thusly move to guitar, giving the band three guitarists, not unlike The Northwest. Ultra fitting choice given Mitch & Justin's band history together and his own bass skills, so it'll be very interesting to see what becomes of Exploring Detritus 2.0! Now, the presence of half of The Bear Hunters in a different death metal band may give readers some concern as to the future of that band, but I'm not going to rush to call them inactive. Remember, most of their run has seen members doubled up in other projects like Handsome Sandwich, Jack Spades, The Suicide Kings, and Chronic Demonic, and while their activity has definitely slowed down in the 2020s, the pandemic is surely a factor. Unless there's a negative public statement about their status, they'll remain in our active band links until October, one year following their most recent concert.

Lastly from Exploring Detritus' Facebook page, they did post a new video not long after their final lineup update, but it doesn't feature Mitch, Justin, or even Dan. Instead, you'll see guitarist Ryan St. Pierre and drummer Anthony Boudreau jamming an original song for 46 seconds. Sounds promisingly heavy, if from a very tight camera angle, and while the guys are somewhat stiff while we see them, hopefully they'll loosen up more as things naturally progress. Check it out for yourself below, and get more updates from Exploring Detritus at the above links!

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