YouTube Channel Profile Series: aishaday, Devon Lucier, and 98Watts' Channels

After rushing last night's post due to my flub on the Pop Evil date (apologies again, look for videos from it soon!), here's this month's delayed YouTube Channel Profiles! As the first randomly selected channel this month only had one video, and the second only had one distinct file type sans duplicates, we're going all out to profile three channels today, in order for readers to find out what each has to offer and what to watch on them, and perhaps think about subscribing too! There's a nice varied mix from Sault Ontario today, so read on below for this month's YouTube profiles!
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aishaday's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/aishaday)

Owner: Former local concert promoter and Murder By Romance singer Aisha Day

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 29th, 2006; Only video posted that same day

Channel Summary: Aisha's only video posting is of her brother Jayson Day's old band Devastation of the Heavens (or D.O.T.H.) covering Slayer's "Raining Blood" in a mid-2006 jam session, back when the guys were around 16 years old. Also featuring future Bear Hunters guitarist Mike Vincent (then Ladouceur) and current Theriac drummer Joe Bumbacco alongside Jayson on bass and lead vocals, this may be the only surviving video of D.O.T.H.'s early lineups, with only Mike remaining in the band the following year. This cover admittedly doesn't have a great reception from YouTube commenters, with the performance itself being fairly messy and rushed, but remember that the guys were 11 years younger and less experienced. Joe's work with RedD Monkey and Mike's recent solo material definitely showcase their musical growth since, but this is an interesting look back!


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Devon Lucier (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPG3jM3COCsENznSkWh_eXA)

Owner: Former Crimson Crusade frontman, Dirty Few guitarist, and Pillory bassist Devon Lucier

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 17th, 2013; Videos posted in May & June of 2013

Channel Summary: A rising sight in the local metal scene of the early 2010s, Devon's only postings on his YouTube channel comprise of two separate uploads of his old death metal band Crimson Crusade's only EP "Upon The Eve of War", which came out in June 2013, just five months prior to their final concert. Featuring Devon alongside ex-Pillory bandmate Robert Sartini on guitar, Riley Marshall on bass, and Inhuman Methods alum Robert Crossley on drums, this independently-released EP was uploaded beforehand in May 2013 as 5 separate songs ("Vanquish the Tyrant", "Pillage", their self-titled song, "Left For Dead", and "Consumed"), but featured here is the post-release video featuring all 5 songs. "Upon the Eve of War" could have shown more structural variance, tempo changes, and guitar solos, but it was a solid blast of Death-inspired originals that shows why they were so promising, and hopefully Crimson Crusade re-emerge down the road!


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98Watts' Channel (http://www.youtube.com/98watts)

Owner: YouTube user 98Watts, an unidentified former member of the Chateauguay, Quebec hard rock band Axis

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 2nd, 2006; Videos posted that same day and on October 1st, 2006

Channel Summary: Joining a later live video of Axis playing an original song at a high school event (which isn't bad, but has muddled audio quality), 98Watts' only other upload is of the music video for local/Toronto indie punk veterans Treble Charger's Juno nominated song "American Psycho", which has attracted over 1.2 million views to date, a record for that song on YouTube. The lead single from their platinum selling 2000 CD "Wide Awake Bored', and arguably Treble Charger's most famous song, this features longtime frontman Greig Nori & guitarist Bill Priddle alongside then-bassist Rosie Martin & drummer Trevor McGregor. The video (copied from MuchMusic) features the guys playing on a rooftop, as intercut with footage of crimes, arrests, and seemingly candid everyday happenings, which the band later invades by slapping "American Psycho" stickers on everything, fittingly matching the lyrical themes. This is a fun video that helped introduce fans to Treble Charger's transition to a pop punk sound, and it's well worth checking out, along with the whole album!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, our random selections will take us to Sault Michigan, namely YouTube user MissOutdoors' channel, as she has uploaded 29 videos(!) of Alice Cooper live at The Dreammaker's Theater back in 2014! Look for that on or around March 26th, and stay tuned for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

Three New Local Metal Bands, Hempfest's Relocation, And More!!

We're back with a new news post on this Saturday afternoon, including some assorted recent notes, some disappointing news regarding another local summer concert festival, and in a brief detour from our punk band features, three new metal bands to add to our links, so here's what you need to know!

We have three new metal bands to add to our links today, though all are linked through common members, so what should you know? I came across these pages through recent searching on Reverbnation, and though the biggest of the three has been active since February, it took so long to make it to the SMS because their members currently aren't active on Facebook, and with no pages there, we didn't get to Reverbnation as fast. The lead project is Shadowthrone, whose members include ex-Chronic Demonic/Project Legion frontwoman Sabrina Strange (a.k.a. Ririe Lavoie & Isla Encanto) on guitar, alongside Pillory/Crimson Crusade guitarist Robert Sartini on drums. An instrumental project so far, Shadowthrone have 4 songs posted, and they have early promise with a heavy sound, though we'll have to see how the band progresses, possibly with a fuller lineup! To add to that, both Sabrina & Robert have active solo projects as well, Robert's being a technical death metal solo project named Gorrifier, and Sabrina's being an extension of past solo work that you may have seen on Facebook, as credited under her Isla Encanto moniker.

The Gorrifier original song postings are very reminiscent of Robert's entertaining recent solo guitar videos, and noticeably heavier than his recent band work, while Sabrina's new/old solo material continues to showcase her singing and guitar ability well, and it's nice to see her keeping at it! All three projects are now listed in our active band links, and here's some videos from two of the projects, first from Shadowthrone, as Sabrina posted live demo videos of their originals "Ancient Slaves", "Alien Power", and "Dark Motive" onto her YouTube channel last month! Given the setting, these could be polished a bit, and some of the camera angles aren't perfect, but I like where Shadowthrone are going! See more above, and here's "Alien Power"!



There's no Gorrifier videos on Sabrina's channel (check Robert's above for similar recent covers), but she does also have her short solo keyboard cover of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Mephistopheles" uploaded there, which she plans to add guitar and other elements to. Well performed and dark, though the camera angle might be too close (I like the "fans" on the keyboard though!) Check out her solo performance below, and stay tuned for more from all 3 projects when we hear it!



Next up, we have some bad news for Hempfest fans, as the annual marijuana culture & concert festival is no longer being held in the Sault area. Owner Robert "Willy-Jack" Neron announced on the Hempfest Facebook page last month that the festival can no longer afford to be hosted in nearby Ophir due to higher initial costs there, so to keep the festival alive, Robert has moved Hempfest to his hometown of Moonbeam, which is 20 minutes east of Kapuskasing and 8+ hours north of the Soo. Robert had previously hosted the 2010 Hempfest there on short notice after getting the rights to the event, but had returned the event to Ophir for the past 3 years. This year's Hempfest will still take place from August 24th-31st (closer to it's timeframe in the 2000s), and similarly to last year's tribute band theme, will be based around rap & DJ performers this year, with many regional artists still playing despite the relocation. Given that we already knew the hip-hop theme, this won't be a new loss for the metal/punk calendar, but this is definitely disappointing for area Hempfest fans, especially if you don't find the 8 hour drive to Moonbeam to be feasible.

Regardless of anyone's views on the event, Hempfest was a successful and long running establishment in the area, and in a year where the Rotaryfest Second Stage also isn't occurring, it definitely is a blow to the local summer festival roster. That said, if moving it to Moonbeam can keep Hempfest alive and more financially sustainable, then we wish it the best, and hopefully Hempfest can come back to the Sault area in the future if possible! Check the above links for details on Hempfest in Moonbeam next month!


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:

• Haggith drummer Mike Haggith is working on a remastered version of his 2012 solo CD "Neighbourhood Watch",  which will see a more equalized balance of the instruments and feature some re-recorded vocal tracks, while an instrumental demo will be added to "The Day The Lights Went Out", and the aptly named "Far Too Long" will be slashed in length and re-arranged completely. Look for it's re-release in September, and click here for for full details on the remastering and what to expect from it!
• Local thrash metal band Pillory have reportedly added Devon Lucier to their lineup as their new bassist, replacing Tyler St. Amour and reuniting him with his Crimson Crusade bandmate Robert Sartini. Though not announced on Pillory pages yet, Robert's Shadowthrone bandmate Sabrina Strange confirmed his addition in personal conversations. Sounds like a quality addition, we'll have to see how Devon holds up on bass when Pillory return to the stage!
• Though unannounced on band pages that I've seen, local/Toronto alternative/punk standouts Treble Charger played a set at The Lachie Music Festival in London, Ontario on June 28th, sharing the stage with notable bands like Gob and The Glorious Sons. Hopefully that show went awesome, it looks like it was a great event, and not just because The Trailer Park Boys hosted!

 That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon, plus our first of our defunct punk band "introduction" posts! Thanks everyone!

CASS Cafe Metal Video Showcase (Part 2)

It's time for our second CASS Cafe metal video showcase at the SMS, and leading from our first installment on Friday, we have another selection of metal and hard rock performances from the Desbarats high school's student concert series to share with the world, now that we're covering that area on the site! On Friday, we looked at three bands and one solo performance, but today, we have two collections of young local artists and two solo performers, so read on below to check out this latest video post!

We'll start with two videos with many common links: Both feature four musicians (two from local metal band Crimson Crusade, including guitarist Devon Lucier) covering a known metal song at a CASS Cafe event, as uploaded to ex-Diego Experience/Vendetta guitarist A.J. Biron's YouTube channel, so let's look at these first in chronological order! The first is an instrumental cover of Lamb of God's "Blood of the Scribe" from a CASS Cafe event circa December 2009, featuring Devon and his Crimson Crusade bandmate Riley Marshall alongside For All That Is Lost drummer Kameron Nicholson & former guitarist Allen Piche. The performance is solid, but it is a bit rough around the edges, and vocals would have helped complete the cover. Still, it's a cool look at the guys before their bands took off locally, so check it out below!



The other video of this vein that we're sharing today comes from a CASS Cafe event a few months after the above video, where Devon handled vocals and rhythm guitar on an April 2010 cover of Metallica's "Seek & Destroy"! Here, he was joined by Crimson Crusade bandmate Robert Crossley on drums, alongside this video's uploader A.J. Biron on lead guitar, and Column Ruins alum Travis Garside on bass in this unnamed quartet. This is a respectable cover in it's own right, with decent vocals and nice work on the guitar solo, and they definitely know the song well! The brighter lighting is a plus too, but check out this Metallica cover below!



Lastly for the videos from A.J.'s channel that we're sharing today is this November 2008 drum solo by former CASS student & Bruce Mines native Mike Christie! He'll factor in to some more CASS Cafe videos we're sharing later in the week, but here, he delivers a solid drum solo that factors in some fun audience participation early on, though the camera work is jittery, and a fallen microphone makes the bass a bit hard to hear. Mike's definitely a talented drummer, so check out this solo of his below, and stay tuned for more videos from A.J.'s channel this week!



The final videos today are the oldest hard rock-relevant CASS Cafe videos that I have for you guys, and they come from Thessalon solo musician (and Sault native) Darren MacDonald, who some of you may be familiar with! He fronted local punk bands The Shibby Pharmones & Mayadevi (the latter alongside future Shit Liver bassist Mike Kyle) in the mid-2000s before moving to Thessalon in 2006, where he's played in both solo projects and in Mayadevi successor bands like Ashoka At The Show. His solo work has some bright moments, so give his music a listen at the above links! While attending Central Algoma Secondary School, Darren performed at CASS Cafe events, and some of his 2007-2008 solo sets were filmed by YouTube user Ken Coventry for his YouTube channel. Alongside Mayadevi & Ashoka At The Show videos, and numerous other assorted CASS videos (including a Kim Mitchell cover, two metal videos we're sharing later this week, and more), Ken uploaded four solo acoustic performances by Darren at CASS Cafe gigs, including two Nirvana covers!

Three of the videos come from a December 2007 set where he covered the Nirvana songs "Something In The Way" & "Pennyroyal Tea" along with the Thrice song "Trust", while the latter is a surprising cover of Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time" the following year, so click the above links to check out each video! Darren definitely shows some skill and love for the latter three songs, and he has an effective singing voice, while the Britney Spears cover shows a good sense of humour! These are some nice early glimpses at Darren's musical work, so check out his cover of "Something In The Way" below, and much more from his various projects at the above links!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our third of at least four CASS Cafe metal video showcases later in the week, likely on Wednesday! And yes, we have more news on the horizon, including a preview of TOMORROW'S 3 Inches of Blood concert, so stay tuned for all of that! Thanks everyone!

News From Woods Of Ypres, State Of Misery, Rock 101, And Kid Rock?!

Hey guys, how's everyone doing? I have some more news to share as we inch closer to tonight's Woods of Ypres concert, and they're leading off today's post with some more big news from them! Also, we have some interesting notes concerning State of Misery's lineup, Rock 101, and a recent campaign to get a notable performer to play in Sault Ste. Marie. Now, to the news!

Woods of Ypres are the focus of an article in today's issue of The Sault Star! Entitled "Out of the woods? Band banks on record deal for big things", the article is by Sault Star writer Brian Kelly, and features excerpts of an interview with frontman David Gold! David talks about Woods of Ypres' signing with Earache Records, what took the band so long to sign with a label, the recent press the band has received since signing with Earache, the future, and more! The article mainly deals with Woods of Ypres' label signing, though it does refer to the band's recent history and briefly plugs TONIGHT'S concert at The Roosevelt Hotel. It's a nice article that gives Woods of Ypres some much needed local press, but I noticed a lot of minor errors in terms of grammar and spelling, oddly enough. Apparently, the band includes "Joey Violette" rather than Joel, "The Bearhunters" are opening for Woods tonight (No space between "Bear" & "Hunters"?), and the article even accidentally mislabels David Gold's last name as "Wood" on one occasion. Aside from those, the article is really good, and it concisely details Woods of Ypres' recent news in an effective way!

Check your mailboxes or store shelves for today's issue of The Sault Star to read the article, but if you don't get or read it, you can check out the article online at this location! Good stuff, watch out for them tonight!

I have a bit more on Woods of Ypres to share as well, but I wanted to get this major story in first, as it relates to tonight's concert as well! Local death metal band State of Misery have announced the addition of bassist Devon Overman to the band. As a result, Kevin Dorazio is moving to rhythm guitar, officially making the band a quintet. Devon will make his live debut with State of Misery at tonight's show when they back up Woods of Ypres! My source is the band's Facebook page. This sort of confirms rumours from January that the band were adding a fifth member, though it could just be a coincidence that they actually did two months later, I'm not sure. I don't know much about Devon's musical background, but he did go to Bawating when I was still there, so I know who he is, for what that's worth. He can play guitar too, as pictured here (I couldn't find a shot of him on bass.) I don't know how Kevin will do on guitar either, but State of Misery know exactly what they're doing, and I expect they'll be as good as ever tonight and going forward! Remember, get your glimpse of the new 5 piece State of Misery lineup TONIGHT at The Rosie!

Now back to Woods of Ypres, as we have some new reviews of "Woods IV: The Green Album" to share! One comes from the website of internet radio station BrainGell Radio, where contributor justgotwicked called it "the most depressing album" he's ever owned. That said, he widely praised it for anyone who's open to anything and has went through a lot of emotional pain, and that he was thrilled to have something different in his collection! Not a bad review, click here to check it out! Also, Mat Davies from the metal website This Is Not A Scene gave "Woods IV" 8 stars out of 10, calling it "an organic, introspective pleasure" that was hard to just review without giving it the proper time and space. Shorter but worth checking out, click here to read it! Finally, Atanamar Sunyata from Metal Injection gave "The Green Album" 9.5/10, calling it "a masterpiece to my ears", along with a lot more high praise-filled statements for the band and album! Very nice to see this kind of attention, click here to see that review as well! Also, while I'm at it, remember to check out Woods of Ypres' Tumblr page to see tons of pictures and links from recent days concerning upcoming band events and "Woods IV", including many images relating to the themes and images of "The Green Album" (check page 2.) That's all for Woods news today, but I'll see you all tonight for their concert at The Rosie!

Fourthly today, Rock 101: The Sault's Rock Station have launched a brand new Facebook page! You may have been aware of their old Facebook group, but a page administrator hasn't posted on there since 2009, so it's nice to see a new freshly updated page that we can check out! The page so far features some photos from "Rock 101 Presents" concerts and some plugs for upcoming Rock 101 events, like on-air giveaways and Soo Greyhounds pre-game parties. Not too shabby, and I do want to thank whoever's administering the page for adding the SMS as a favourite page! Hopefully this page is maintained and grows in popularity, as it never hurts to have an updated internet presence or to connect with fans! Remember, not counting internet radio or Mackinac City-area stations, this is the only rock radio station in the twin Saults, so make use of it and get connected by listening on 101.3 FM, online at this location, or on smartphone applications like TuneIn Radio, which I use frequently. So "like" Rock 101 on Facebook today!

Finally, here's a campaign that's been making the local rounds recently to get a notable rock performer to perform in Sault Ontario! This month, many local music fans have been logging onto Eventful to demand that Kid Rock perform here, much like when we demanded that Kiss come here in 2009 through Eventful. Now, I don't think Kid Rock is running a fan-routed tour contest to get tour dates selected, but some local fans are sure giving this their all to get Kid Rock here, even launching a Facebook event page! As of right now, 980 fans have demanded for Kid Rock to play here, presumably at The Essar Center, which is a decent number! Albert Williams, one of the campaign's leaders, was interviewed on SooNews on March 4th before it's shutdown (more on that this weekend), so it's clear this is picking up steam! I'm a bit more skeptical that this would work simply because Kid Rock never guaranteed shows to high demanding cities like Kiss did, but hey, maybe Eventful or Kid Rock will notice! If you want to demand Kid Rock though, click here! I have to say, I'm not a fan of his last few albums, though I did like his earlier rap metal stuff, so at least if he came, there'd be stuff I'd like! This would be a big show if it happened, so keep an eye on it just in case. Remember, the link to demand him is above!

That's all for now, but I will see you guys TONIGHT at The Rosie for Woods of Ypres! Thanks everyone!