After taking a few personal days off from the SMS (read our post from Sunday for more information), let's try to get back into a normal-ish schedule for posts on the site, or as normal as the ongoing pandemic will allow. Today's post is devoted to recent video uploads, including new solo performance videos, a live concert clip, and leading off, a lengthy look at a prominent metal band's Canadian tour from four years back!
Local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver have resurfaced with their long-belated second concert tour documentary! Entitled "Totally Fucked: The Lost Shit Liver Tour Tapes", this 38 minute video was uploaded to their YouTube channel on Friday, and it documents the happenings of their (and sister bluegrass band Dirtfight's) Number Two Tour that took place from April-June 2016 across all of the non-Atlantic provinces. Given the success of their 2015 tour documentary "A Long & Grinding Road", I'm surprised that the guys never compiled this footage in a similarly timely fashion, but perhaps the pandemic and lockdowns finally afforded them the chance (though the intro and this Facebook trailer imply that "the tapes were lost"). While this was a longer tour, the resulting documentary shorter than 2015's was, but there is still a lot to see! At the beginning, you will see Shit Liver setting up their trailer for the road, drying their new shirts, and clips from their tour kick-off party (with quite an irreverent pinata), and their Sudbury concert.
After some more on-the-road footage (including the return of screaming across bridges), Saultites will want to check out the 5:08 mark to see brief clips from their Oddfellows Hall stop on April 30th when they opened for Calgary hardcore punk band The Motherfuckers (read our review here.) You will get to see performance footage of the reunited Winkstinger and the headliners, plus some post-show content with a dalmatian, and a cameo from Jack Spades drummer Johnny Belanger. After gassing up, the tour heads west, and without spoiling anything, you'll see footage of the guys driving, enjoying the sights on the road, camping, eating, skateboarding, making use of a green-screen of sorts, playing games, setting off fireworks, witnessing a police shutdown in Saskatoon, and experiencing nature, with lots of clips of bands performing at the tour dates along the way. Shit Liver and company head back east for the final 13 minutes, with a lot more of the same content en route, plus vehicle repair issues, ...
...a lot of sandwiches, passing through home in St. Catharine's, and their tour finale in Quebec, before ending with an acoustic song summing up the tour. This is an entertaining look at Shit Liver's second D.I.Y. national tour, and there's certainly a lot of amusing shenanigans to take in, but be warned that actual clips of them performing are minimal (who do you think shot most of the videos?) The YouTube description says that "it is yet to be decided if Shit Liver will ever tour again" (they last played live in May of last year), but hopefully we'll see the guys back in some form or another post-pandemic! Give their new documentary a watch below!
Next up, here's a new video of local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek's concert at Reggie's West this past Saturday! Live-streamed on their Facebook page, this is another rendition of the guys covering Blackberry Smoke's "Like I Am", which was previously seen being covered by Fort Creek in this fan-shot video from the original Reggie's. Musically, this version of "Like I Am" is sound, but the video was shot from the bar, which understandably restricts the view of the stage. At least the Reggievelt was as packed as current regulations allow, and give things a look below!
We'll close today with new videos from former No Arrow drummer Joe Falco's YouTube channel from the past week! One is a tribute video to the late great Eddie Van Halen where Joe shredded a number of Van Halen tunes from memory, and while he admitted to making errors, it was a nice gesture to honour such an influential musician. The other two videos are lengthy, including one where Joe shows his restoration job on a 2000 Ibanez RG350DX guitar, complete with a solid jam session and his commentary and thoughts on the guitar. Embedded below is the newest of these uploads, which just features Joe jamming on the aforementioned Ibanex RG350DX, which serves as fun playthrough for his birthday while also testing some of his patches. Strong and loose performances overall, and it's clear that Joe enjoyed restoring and playing this guitar, so these videos give it a solid platform. Give everything a watch above and below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site later this week! Thanks everyone!
I have been behind on a few news stories as of late, so let's help remedy that with on this Sunday morning! This includes some live concert footage, a film teaser, and much more, so hopefully this will be an assist as we get caught up on the SMS! Here's what you need to know!
Last week, in their first YouTube channel upload in over a year, defunct local alt-hard rock trio The Din uploaded the (almost) full video from their Suburban Sendoff concert at LopLops Lounge from October 2017! Notable as the release party for their "Suburban Dream" CD, the source for the "Suburban Sendoff" live album, and as Mike, Tammy, and Brandan's final concert together as an active band (last year's one-off reunion aside), this video was shot by (ex-?) Id Iota frontman Christian Lemay across multiple cameras for Shaw TV's old OnStage series, and it's great to see that Christian and/or Shaw let The Din post the whole thing! This video doesn't quite capture the entire concert, as camera batteries died before the encore performance of "A Drive Through The Peninsula" (hear it here), but every other song makes it on this 92 minute-long video. In order, the video includes 2+ minutes of setup, then performances of "Give Me A Reason", "High Park", ...
Next up, here's the latest from local punk/indie musician, artist, and filmmaker Christopher Shoust, who is bringing back his solo project Telephone & Address at the Oh!No festival this fall, but that's not what we're here to talk about today. Back in July 2016, we added his defunct local punk band F.F.B. to our band links, and at the time, there had apparently been discussions between Chris and ex-bandmates Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda and Kyle Grawbarger about making a documentary film about their run. Well, public details were exceedingly minimal for a few years, but this teaser video for the documentary was quietly posted to Chris' YouTube channel last month. It features some video clips of live performances from their 1999-2000 run (which lasted either 4 months or 16 months, depending on which source you read), though it's hard to tell what form the final product will take. Sonically, we can at least get a sense for how F.F.B. sounded at last, so how are they in these clips?
Not bad, they had an abrasive noise punk quality, a fitting look, and good attitude that would have helped them stand out in the punk scene of the era, but as I was 10 years old during their run, I can't speak first-hand as to what F.F.B. accomplished at the time. We do know what the band's name stands for at least, though if you're not as tuned for vulgarity, be warned. No word on when and how the finished product will be released, but give F.F.B.'s documentary teaser a look below!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
In a rare Rotaryfest lineup change, country/folk trio The Crossroad Magdalenes have replaced indie rockers Man Feelings on the Stage 2 lineup on Saturday, July 20th, also now at 2:30 PM after most of the bands that day were pushed a half hour earlier. Our source is this new Facebook event page. A reason for Man Feelings' withdrawal wasn't announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened, they're a talented group! Of course, so are The Crossroad Magdalenes, who have impressed audiences since 2017, and hopefully their Rotaryfest debut is a hit in two weeks!
Local punk trio Redundant resurfaced last week to play a private Canada Day party, location undisclosed, as per new photos on their Facebook page. The picture quality is mixed, but it does look like former Scary Uncles bassist Andrew MacDonald at least guested on bass again, though Redundant proper have not confirmed James' replacement publically as of yet. Hopefully the set went well!
Classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's shows at Reggie's West this weekend were alongside guest bassist Cory Valentine due to another Paul Belair absence, as per members Glen Thomas and Terry Eaton's personal Facebook pages. Cory had filled in with Soundcheck last month for another Reggievelt weekend, and hopefully things went even smoother with the guys this time around!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
We can't go three days without a new post on the SMS (it's no rule, I just don't like to), so here's a new news post for your Monday evening! We're mostly focusing on previews of special Wednesday night concerts for your pre-Christmas plans (with Christmas over the weekend this year, these make sense), but we also have a local metal band's long awaited documentary, and first, a new addition to our band links that may be familiar to some readers! Here's what you should know!
We have a new-ish local hard rock band to add to our band links, and they are The Creepy Little Coffee People, an acoustic hard rock quartet from Sault Michigan! A revival of a band that originally launched circa 2000, The Creepy Little Coffee People were apparently "one of the first acoustic acts in the Soo", and played numerous gigs in their heyday at local bars and casinos, even opening for touring bands, but as their run predates most online media, it's hard to know about and research their first run. Their original and revived lineup includes Integrated System of Machines singer Bob Helsten (a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone) and guitarist Art Dietz alongside Retro Troop drummer Troy Earls on guitar & former Clownsack bassist Tony Rogers on the djembe (an African drum), which he formerly played with Electric Motor Fish as well. Listing their varied influences as Alice In Chains, Iced Earth, and Tantric, The C.L.C.P. are described as a "laid back original band" with "cover songs that have inspired us" in a lounge atmosphere.
Alongside pictures of a gig at the former Brewster's Nightclub (which I believe is now Zim's), The Creepy Little Coffee People are planning to unveil new originals, pictures, and shows, though further details are to be announced. Given my age, I'm unfamiliar with this band from their early run, but they have a lot of talent and familiar faces from the local metal scene, and from a city that later gave us acoustic acts like Unleashed & Wild Fate, how could this band not deliver again? Stay tuned for more from The Creepy Little Coffee People when it rolls in!
Next up, here's our preview of a special Wednesday night concert THIS WEDNESDAY, as Six, Two, Oh.'s long awaited second punk rock bingo event will also be a live concert! After the cancellation of planned punk rock bingos over the last two months, this unique event returns (at last) to The New American Pub on Wednesday with live bands in tow, they being local/St. Catherine's grindcore trio Shit Liver and local doom metal favourites AlgomA! This will be Shit Liver's first local concert set since August, and it's good to see their ferocious grime/punk hybrid back over the holidays, while AlgomA are a fitting choice given their ties to the promoters, and they should sludge things up nicely on Wednesday! As for the bingo side of things, ex-Lion Ride bassist Brenton "Buck Norris" Ellis returns as the caller for the games, with irreverent prizes ranging from albums to artwork to food available for winners, so have your dabbers ready for the second local installment of punk rock bingo!
There is NO cover charge for Wednesday's concert/bingo night, but keep in mind that bingo cards will presumably cost an unlisted amount. This is a 19+ event, and everything starts at 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Though one could arguably call this "metal bingo" given the performers, this should be a fun and unique event for your holiday season plans, so be at The New A on Wednesday to enjoy the music and/or play some punk rock bingo! For a preview, here's the previously teased Shit Liver tour documentary, as posted to the band's YouTube channel on Friday! Entitled "A Long Grinding Road", the 57 minute video summarizes their Northern Debauchery Tour from April & May of this year, and there's obviously a lot of ground to cover within, so what should you know? Without spoiling anything, the video outlines the tour from post to post, including testimonials from band members and friends of the band about what happened and was experienced on the road. For reference, the section on Shit Liver's two local shows in April comes 4:30 into the video, features a clip of The Bear Hunters live, and runs for about 6 minutes.
Among things you'll see: Road footage & mishaps, jamming, eating, camping, and relaxing between shows, many odd sights along the way, irreverent jokes & conversations, screaming across bridges, the "Calgary counter", failed Victoria bookings, final thoughts on the tour, and yes, live concert clips, albeit mostly from bands they played with (however, Shit Liver songs are heard multiple times.) Very entertaining overall, with Josh, Mike, and Matt all showing good senses of humour, and you see the struggles & benefits of such a D.I.Y. tour, plus many great sights from western Canada! Definitely check it out below, and don't miss punk rock bingo on Wednesday!
Finally for today, here's another preview for a special concert THIS WEDNESDAY, as local classic metal quintet Project 421 will join forces once again with funk/hard rock quartet The Elements and new local nu-metal outfit Eclipse for an encore of their December 5th concert at The Rockstar Bar! Entitled "We Wish You A Metal Christmas", this replaces the 421 reunion trappings with a seasonal theme, but if you missed the three bands' joint concert from two & a half weeks ago, here's a chance to see everyone again, and fans should know the performers' talents whether you're a metalhead and/or funk fan! And remember, Eclipse (who still don't have an online page) are a side project of Project 421 members, but we do await full public information regarding their lineup, and we'll let you know if something comes out, but see Eclipse for yourselves on Wednesday! There is no announced cover charge for this show (but bring cash just in case), you must be 19 or older to attend, and everything starts at 10:00 PM.
For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This sounds like a very solid concert with a little something for everyone, so don't miss out on Wednesday, and here's Project 421 live last year! (Also, note that a Project 421-hosted New Year's Eve show at The Rockstar Bar, that would have featured them alongside Eclipse and Caroline Divine, was announced via two separate Facebook event pages on Friday, but both were deleted for unannounced reasons. Hopefully nothing bad happened!)
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news, notes, and previews this week! Thanks everyone!
Before we touch on fallout from the Heart concert this past weekend, we have an all-Sault Michigan post on this Tuesday morning, including some fallout and updates from this past weekend's LemmaFest, some assorted recent notes, and first, news on a recent album release, so here's what you need to know!
Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock artist Kenneth Sutton (a.k.a. SweetKenny) released his ninth solo album "This End Up" last week, and our sincere apologies for being late to the party on this one! Self-described as a "heavy rock, beer drinking, bar band, high energy, fun album", this album features 10 songs (including instrumentals and tracks with vocals), with Ken promising freestyle playing and something for everyone to enjoy within! Like on most of his past records, Ken handles all instruments and vocals, with no credited guest input. Copies of "This End Up!" can now be bought on Bandcamp for $12, and while physical copies are likely in the works through CDBaby, he has yet to post sale copies there. In any event, you can stream all 10 tracks at this link, which also includes brief info on the songs' themes. Everything sounds good for this newest album (with SweetKenny's next CD "Amazonian" already in the planning stages), but when can you expect a review of "This End Up!" on the site?
Perhaps as soon as next month if all goes according to plan, as our review of Mike Haggith's newest solo CD is still in the works for this week(end), though I'll note that we have yet to review either "Ink" or "Cracks In The Wall" from his recent repertoire either. The latter is a bit old now for a "new" review, but I plan to listen to both of his 2014 albums to pick the heaviest for our next SweetKenny review, and we'll let you know when that's determined! Pick up "This End Up!" and more SweetKenny albums above!
Next up, here's some early fallout from the fourth annual LemmaFest, which was successfully held this past Saturday outside of the Dondee Lanes! While we await some extra lineup and sound confirmation from Nightmare Grin and Mr. Fister (plus the usual giant photo album), the first known concert video from this year's installment is now online courtesy of local alternative hard rock trio Plastic, so what should you know? Obviously, the tarp over the stage from 2012 didn't make a comeback, but aside from that, the staging was similar to past years. The video below was filmed by attendee Christy Nealen (and publically shared by Plastic yesterday from her personal Facebook page), and it's of their cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song", so how does their new lineup sound? The audio quality could be a bit cleaner from the video, but the guys have a good handle on this classic, with Zac Crook's vocals fitting nicely, and Aaron DePalma fills Paul Burns' shoes well on drums! Check out the full performance below, and hopefully more videos turn up!
Also in the realm of LemmaFest videos, local filmmaker Wayne Kozeyah released his short documentary about LemmaFest and the late Mike Lemma at Saturday's event, but he finally gave the OK for fans unable to attend to check out the final product on YouTube, as per his post on the LemmaFest 2014 event page! Originally uploaded to his YouTube channel in April (albeit in a still unlisted form), this was produced as part of a course project at Lake Superior State University over the past year. Along with host bumpers & narration from Wayne, remarks from Mike Lemma's friends (including LemmaFest founder Scott Green) are included where they remember Mike and their time hanging out with him, their reactions to his sudden passing in 2010, and the inception and organization of LemmaFest the following year and beyond. Assorted clips of some bands from last year's event and scattered other gigs are featured along with numerous event photos, and for reference, Scofflaw's Barney Gravelle contributed a music piece named "Lex" for the film as well.
This documentary short is great to see why LemmaFest is such a well anticipated event, and it does a great job of selling it to prospective attendees, so kudos to Wayne on a job well done! It'd have been nice to get more remarks on Mike or the festival itself from the band members, but that's all I'd have recommended. I urge fans of LemmaFest to give the documentary a look below, and stay tuned for more on this annual event!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
Due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook page in recent months, I've replaced defunct local funk/hard rock band Clownsack's link on the SMS with their still-active MySpace page, which still features songs, videos, and photos of theirs from their mid-late 2000s heyday. They were a unique and entertaining band, hopefully they reunite at some point down the road!
I've deleted defunct Pickford metal band Dust N' Bones from our local band links, as their Reverbnation page has been converted into a repository for the members of Theatre of Night's collective music ideas that aren't guaranteed to make it to official T.O.N. material. This isn't a Dust N' Bones evolution or officially a new band, just an apparent space for stuff they're working on in general, but there's some promising ideas, so give the new Harrison/Giles material a listen via the above link!
Power Slug/Nose Dive drummer Bob Helsten (a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone) has made his long awaited return to metal singing, albeit in a non-local project. The band is Astrogenta (a self-described "internet band" largely based out of the Ukraine), who actually added Orb to their lineup last October, and they're currently working on an album named "Distance Does Not Matter", which you can hear samples of (with vocals) at this link. Hopefully he finds some big success with Astrogenta, so keep an eye on them!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow morning (featuring Heart videos), and I'll see you guys at The Canadian TONIGHT for Anciients, Havok, Wretched, Black Wizard, and The Revolution! ALL AGES, $20, don't miss this awesome metal lineup! Thanks everyone!
