LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Wyld Stallyns), Easter Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Despite this being Easter weekend, there's still lots of live hard rock and punk action to take in over the coming days, if mostly of the unplugged variety! Yes, this includes Good Friday, surprisingly busier for bands we actively cover than Saturday will be. Due to the amount of content in this post, I have opted to hold our preview of Friday & Saturday night's Soundcheck concerts for our next post, but don't worry, they are coming! Now, let's begin this post with some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly on SHORT NOTICE!

Local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns have a busy holiday weekend ahead with their apparent debuts at two downtown venues, namely at LopLops Lounge TONIGHT and at The Whiskey Barrel at 113 Gore Street TOMORROW, with a return to the latter pub also taking place on Tuesday, April 30th! Apologies for the short notice on the prior two shows, they were only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday. While we have seen The Elements at LopLops in the past, TOMORROW'S show is the first on record for The Wyld Stallyns' unplugged cover-centric live attack, though they're not the sole attraction, as they're playing during the return of LopLops' "Bad Idea Thursday" and it's related pint & a pizza deal. Keep that in mind if you're up for some supper and craft beer with your music! As for TOMORROW'S show, this is the first hard rock-leaning concert we've ever covered at The Whiskey Barrel, so what should you know about it?

Opening last November in the old Konoba Tapas & Vino location, The Whiskey Barrel is a Scottish-themed restaurant and nightclub that has sporadically hosted concerts and open mic nights in recent months, and they're definitely serious about the Scottish theme, as the Tuesday, April 30th gig is during "Kilt Night", where attendees wearing kilts will get drink and food discounts! Both of The Wyld Stallyns' shows there this month are part of a larger array of live musicians this month, all playing matinee sets unless they're on Saturday nights. It's great to see a new concert venue open on Gore Street, and with an intriguing theme that should appeal to Saulties with Scottish heritage, so visit the above links for more on The Whiskey Barrel! TONIGHT's LopLops show is at 7:00 PM, TOMORROW'S and April 30th's Wyld Stallyns shows are at 6:00 PM, and none have advertised start times, but remember, these are dinner-time/evening concerts, and the atmosphere for these nights & events should reflect that.

The Wyld Stallyns and their easily-adaptable live set can fit well at many familiar and unfamiliar venues, and they should deliver solid sets at LopLops TONIGHT and The Whiskey Barrel TOMORROW, and at month's end, so see above for more details, and here they are live!



Moving to previously announced concerts, here's another Thursday nighter TOMORROW NIGHT, as Hamilton outsider folk/punk solo musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie as the headline act at The New American Pub! Making his second live appearance here following a Cafe Natura show in 2015 (apologies for missing that), you may have seen James Hopkin's interview with B.A. on SooToday from last week, an given it's wildly varying and self-deprecating tone, you know you're in for a unique night tomorrow! B.A.'s irreverent, comedic, and unpredictable acoustic originals are hard enough to describe, but give him a listen and see what you think! Sault Michigan folk musician Magnet Moslov (from the Downtown Street Party in September) will open this concert, as per the official Facebook event page yesterday, and he should attract some fans in his own right at The New A! This concert is a presentation of Girl Friday Productions.

A $10 cover charge is in effect for this 19+ show, which is slated to begin at 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's a long overdue look at the episode of the defunct SooToday webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper that spotlighted B.A.'s last local show! Featuring live clips from Cafe Natura, you'll see Donna interviewing B.A. about his stand-up comedy prospects, his creativity, what take-aways he wants fans to get from his shows, and his then-new album, among other topics. This is an amusing yet detailed cross section of what you might expect tomorrow, but who knows what will happen? Be there to find out!

Finally for today's concert previews, let's round things out with one more acoustic performer, namely local hard rock singer guitarist Tym Morrison, who is slated to return to Gliss Restaurant on Spring Street for two more matinee shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY, while he will also have a traditional nighttime concert at Room 21 TOMORROW NIGHT sandwiched in between them! Fans of Tym's unplugged hard and classic rock hits should have a very good Friday tomorrow with two shows at two popular downtown venues, with Saturday patrons sure to get more of the same, so don't miss the former Caveman Morrison frontman's extensive live sets at any of these three gigs! Both of his Gliss shows have 6:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and no age limits (but mind the locale), while tomorrow's Room 21 show is at 10:00 PM and is 19+. Visit the Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Tym live in concert at Room 21!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Soundcheck preview and more tomorrow, plus last month's poll results also! Thanks everyone!

Oh!No 2018 Video Showcase & Fallout, Part 1!

Here's our first of at least 2 (maybe 3) fallout/video posts from this past Saturday's Oh!No concert festival at Robbie Adamson's old church in nearby Leeburn, Ontario, and believe me, there's a lot to touch on! Co-promoter/AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent gave a nice long thank you on the Facebook event page to everyone who made this year's festival possible (even Oosik Records were on site), so definitely give that a look! Jamie's write-up confirms a late lineup change, as drone/noise trio Pointless (featuring Oh!No sound engineers Bill Priddle and Dustin Goodall) did play a proper set after all, despite their prior removal from the schedule. Though they were bumped to the evening, they appear to have replaced Mister Tahti's advertised kickoff set, despite his attendance as a vendor on Saturday. Hopefully all's well across the board! Though curiously not part of a SooToday article (yet?), Donna Hopper was on hand for Oh!No II, posting 139 photos from the festival onto her photography Facebook page, so what should you know there?

Without breaking down individual totals (the shots are in order), Donna was on hand for the three final local bands (Planet Rock, Pointless, and The Dynowaves) and every out of town act except closing rapper Garbageface, with each band getting at least 8 or 9 photos. As expected, Donna's photos are superb, and she got a lot of photos of the crowd enjoying the festival and the bands, so if you were there, see if you're featured! Though the lion's share of her photos are in black and white, they contrast well with the ending bonfire shots, which she left in colour, so the old organ burning is preserved as you saw it on Saturday! In the realm of public videos, we are far more blessed than we were for year 1, particularly because Christopher Paci was on hand for the majority of the day's events, filming at least one video of every out of town band and the same local bands that Donna photographed, plus Jack Spades and Mik & Steve. If you missed or want to relive the latter stages of Oh!No II, visit Chris' YouTube channel!

We'll go in descending order for Chris' twenty videos from last week, which capped off with a video of the aforementioned organ bonfire, which is a good watch to see the spectacle in motion, let alone in a rare portrait orientation video of his! Chris' last music clips were three videos of Peterborough doom rapper Garbageface performing his songs "Mouths", "Like The Goddamn Fucking Challenger Explosion" (he titled it, not me!), and "Mental Alchemy". The lighting's not ideal on these clips, but his communal and intense presence comes through as well as it did locally last year, and this looks like a fun way to end the festival! Fellow Peterborough talents Cross Dog preceded him, with the hardcore punk trio filmed twice by Chris, though I admittedly haven't had a lot of luck identifying them based on their studio albums. The stage lighting is dark compared to the surrounding church walls, but you get a nice central view of Cross Dog's ferocious live attack here!

Tracy's vocals are sometimes muffled, but the raucous fan response is clear, and it's great to see Mark and company bring Cross Dog back to the Algoma District after 5 years away! Give Chris' videos of theirs a look at this link and below, and hopefully we're not waiting another 5 years for the next one!

We'll close our first Oh!No fallout post with a video of Sudbury "party violence" quintet The Therapists, and their video is of their original song "Shotgun Anus". Again, they titled it, don't shoot the messenger! If you can't see them well with the lighting, photographer Mimi Abitbol got colour shots of them at the festival, which you can check out on the band's Facebook page. I guarantee this will be the only band you see locally this year featuring both an astronaut and... Jesus Christ?! Also, nice touch by singer Patrick Sauve to wear a vest covered in Shit Liver patches, given that they replaced Shit Liver on the Oh!No bill. If I had to describe The Therapists' sound, I'd go with hardcore punk, but that's definitely a generalization, they have more to say than just that stylistically, and they definitely have a good sense of humour. Again, the audio's somewhat muffled here, but The Therapists look like a fun live band, and hopefully they come out west again in the future, so give Chris' video a look below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more Oh!No concert fallout in the coming days, possibly tomorrow, as we'll look at the remaining out of town bands then! Thanks everyone!

NLFB Meltdown & Handsome Sandwich Videos, Plus Much More Recent News & Notes!!

May is here, so let's kick things off with a busy news post, largely to clear out a lot of shorter recent stories that we couldn't get to over the weekend! However, we're leading off with some new videos, one of a new local band, the other of a recent concert event, so here's what you need to know!

After previously featuring winner M.D. Dunn in an episode two weeks ago, SooToday's music webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper returned with a new episode on Friday featuring more of a look at last month's NLFB Meltdown audition/battle of the bands at LopLops Lounge in full! The episode features Donna's interview with Northern Lights Festival Boreal director Max Merrifield (who MCed and helped judge the event), as they talked about the annual Sudbury music festival, why they're trying to make more of a Northern Ontario outreach to other communities like the Soo, future plans for the festival and Meltdown auditions, and the calibre of local talent on display. Good interview that definitely leaves the door open for a return Meltdown audition in 2018, and hopefully next year's is even bigger and has more advance lineup notice! Performance clips are scattered within the video of M.D. Dunn, The Din, Id Iota, Jackson Reed, and Mike Mikus, though oddly enough, there's no sign of The Autumn Roots. They had a good set, I wonder why they didn't make the cut?

It's great to see a new Tuned episode so soon after the previous (we had been waiting two months for a new one prior to M.D. Dunn's), and it helps sum up and promote the battle and the festival pretty well, so give it a look below, and best of luck to M.D. in Sudbury in July!



Next up, here's the first posted video on new local alternative/punk trio Handsome Sandwich's Facebook page, though sadly, it is not of a full band performance. It's actually of singer/drummer Johnny Belanger wrapping a custom label around a Bic lighter, then writing a somewhat obvious message on it afterwards, while Jesse Cook (I presume) plays backing guitar. There are numerous lighters on the table, so if I had to guess, are they giving out or selling lighters at their shows as sort of a band trademark? If that's the case, it's unique! Check out this new Handsome Sandwich video below, and don't miss them TONIGHT opening for The Gutter Demons at The New American Pub, perhaps with lighters in tow?



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

• Tickets for the April Wine/Lita Ford show outside of the Kewadin Shores Casino in St. Ignace will go on sale this Friday for $18 or $28, and they'll be available at all of the usual Kewadin outlets, plus the gift shop at the St. Ignace branch. Our source is the show's official press release (as seen on SooToday), which also confirms that there will be two more outdoor shows to be announced in this concert series, and the stage will be along Horseshoe Bay on Lake Huron, which makes sense geographically. Sounds good overall, and get your tickets starting on Friday!
• We have changed the link on the SMS for Sault Ontario music promotion/photography company For The Music Inside from their website (which is currently down) to their Facebook page. F.T.M.I. are still active, but most (if not all) of their recent activity has related to concerts in Southern Ontario, where founders Joseph Kargiannakis and Sean Matthews appear to have lived in recent years. Give For The Music Inside a look though to see what they've been up to musically of late!
• Local progressive metal project Kraken Mara (featuring Late & Loud's Brendan Christie) unveiled the cover artwork for their upcoming debut EP on their Facebook page on March 31st, and it's a re-working of their prior photo of clouds over a highway with ominous red triangles. That same day, their website noted that their debut single would be released "very soon", and a Facebook post implied that their posted songs have had "recent edits", but no updates followed in April. Everything sounds promising and djent-laden, so stay tuned for more from Kraken Mara!
• New local private concert venue Mellow D's Underground is taking a hiatus while they move to a new location due to "a plethora of offers and a snowballing reputation", and once everyone knows about the cool spot, "it's just not cool anymore." Our source is power pop quintet The Noochin Lanterns' Facebook page (whose members run the venue) on Friday. The new location is presumably still private, but in the interim, The Lanterns did tease appearances at Harmony Beach and Bellevue Park, and a return of The Apocalyspe Afterparty, though whether these will be public or not isn't known. Stay tuned for more related news when it rolls in!
• After lengthy delays for the lineup reveal, CSA International broke their silence on Friday regarding June 18th's planned Rock The Border Music Fest at The Machine Shop, saying that they were "waiting on approval on various pieces of art work", as per the Facebook event page on Friday. The lineup (expanded to five bands) will now apparently be announced this Friday, with early bird tickets going for $45, general admission for $55-$60, and VIP packages also available. There's been a lot of pessimism in the past two weeks, and I admittedly don't know why artwork approval would delay the lineup, but fingers crossed things work out for Friday!
• Kelowna, British Columbia southern hard rock quartet The Wild have been added as co-headliners for the CKY concert at The Canadian Nightclub on June 8th, as per promoter J.D. Pearce on the Facebook event page on Friday, with The Wild also now joining CKY for their entire Canadian tour tun next month. Reminding me a bit of bands like Jackyl, The Wild should deliver a fun set of hard rocking originals next month on this now five band-concert, so don't miss out, and limited tickets are still available!

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

New SooToday Videos, Plus More Recent Video Uploads!!

The last few days have been relatively quiet on the SMS, but I have an unwritten rule to try and ensure that we don't go three days on the site without a new post, so let's keep that up before I tackle my 27th birthday celebrations! Today's post is devoted to recent video postings from and featuring local artists, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with a pair of (sadly unembeddable) videos from local news website SooToday with metal & punk relevance, starting with the newest episode of Tuned with Donna Hopper, as posted online on Sunday! The second straight episode taken from last month's Motherfuckers-headlined show at The Oddfellows Hall, this one focuses on the Calgary hardcore punk headliners, with Donna interviewing frontman Dan Izzo and bassist Sean Hunter outside of the venue about Calgary's punk scene, their influence on Canadian punk music, their newest material, and what they know about Sault Ste. Marie, as interspersed with performance clips from their set. Not a bad interview, and the guys keep things light before their ferocious set, so give it a look above! The other new SMS-relevant SooToday video covers Darren Emond's Iron Maiden comic book launch at The Rad Zone earlier this month, so what should you know on it?

Darren is interviewed by an uncredited & unheard SooToday reporter about how he got on board with the Iron Maiden comic, his background and artistic endeavours, the reception of the comic so far, and his positive experiences in working with a band he loves, doing what he loves. Featuring some shots of his artwork in between, this gives Darren some nice press, so give it a look above, and pick up your copy of the Iron Maiden comic book A.S.A.P.!

Next up, here's some updates from local alternative/hard rock trio The Din's Facebook page, including reveals that they now have buttons for sale (check out their next concerts to see if they're available), they're now on Snapchat, and yes, that they have new Facebook videos to check out! One video was uploaded on May 17th (apologies for the two week delay) where The Din noted that they, at the time, were close to hitting 300 likes on Facebook. In it, they try and hit 300 likes on their own with a real foot race between band members, and without spoiling who won, they came to the conclusion that they needed our help to hit the milestone. The campaign worked, as they surpassed 300 just 12 hours later, and currently sit at 320! Another video followed last week where guitarist Tammy Hill jokingly came up with an idea for the band's merchandising plans that involves bobbleheads. I'll let you watch it to see what it entails!

Embedded below though is The Din's newest Facebook video, this time just previewing the studio version of "This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device" from their forthcoming debut studio album "Give In To The Din", with Tammy manning the controls at the computer. This should serve as a nice teaser as the album sessions slowly march along, so give it a look below, and see much more from The Din above!



Also, here's a video from Boot Hill Crooners/ex-Inner City Surfers guitarist Dave Bahun as part of a big contest that he's entered! A cover of Randy Bachman's new song "Heavy Blues", this comes from a Vintage Guitar Magazine contest where guitarists are challenged to supply guitar tracks in place of Peter Frampton's on the song in a YouTube video. Randy himself will choose the winner on Friday, who will receive a $4,000+ D’Angelico guitar & Supro amplifier, a pre-video endorsement from Randy, and a trip to rock out with him in New York City. If you know Dave's talents, you'll know he handles this blues rocker well, so be sure to check it out below, and best of luck!



Finally for today, dormant local metal quartet Garden of Bedlam are the source of background audio in this new skateboarding demonstration video from local music/skate shop The Rad Zone! Uploaded to their YouTube channel on Sunday, the video showcases three young local skateboarders (among them, Garden of Bedlam drummer Derek Turner's son Dylan), as set to their studio track "New Rain". Solid footage of the kids delivering some quality tricks, and while this doesn't directly indicate new activity from Garden of Bedlam, it's nice to see them featured here! Give it a look below!



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

Iron Maiden Comic Book Review, New Videos From Grindcore Acts, And More!!

Before we dive into our last weekend concert previews of the month, here's a new news post for your Wednesday, including some assorted recent notes, a new concert video, and some recent coverage of a popular local band, but first, here's a first for the SMS: A comic book review!

As you may remember, local artist Darren Emond launched the Iron Maiden comic book that he did the pencil artwork for at The Rad Zone on Saturday, and I absolutely came to get an autographed copy (this is a scan of mine), so I thought it was fitting to give it a review on here! One of a series of recent comic books from the Rock & Roll Biographies series from Acme Ink, the comic book is basically the Cliffs Notes version of Iron Maiden's band history, from the late 1970s through to the modern day, as nicely illustrated by Darren to a story by Paul Birch that covers most ground from their history. As well, the comic also explores a side-storyline on the band's mascot Eddie The Head and his efforts to protect the band and the titular Iron Maiden herself from evil forces out of the real world. The comic is solely in black & white, but the art pops, especially in the Eddie panels, and while some eras of the band are glossed over a bit in the story (the 1990s, in particular), the comic book is a fun way to explore Iron Maiden's history!

Note as well that Darren's last name is given as "Emmonds" in the credits, but everything else is well done and nicely laid out, with a tribute to late Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister even included. Overall, the Iron Maiden comic book is worth buying for $5 at The Rad Zone (if you can find it in the States, it's $3.50 there), so if you love Iron Maiden and/or comic books, pick up a copy A.S.A.P., and kudos to Darren on a job well done!

Next up, here's the latest from local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver, starting with an overdue note from their SooToday article from May 2nd, which bypassed us in our original write-up on it (my apologies), as Josh, Mike, and Matt will be performing in a Live at Six, Two, Oh. episode on Sunday! This occurs as Shit Liver return east from this latest Canadian tour, but unless there's a late notice show announcement, I don't believe they'll have a local concert this weekend. This should be a fun episode of the local recording studio's video series, so look for it on Sunday or later! Also from Shit Liver, their long awaited episode of Tuned with Donna Hopper went up on SooToday on Saturday, so what should you know on it? Filmed during the Motherfuckers-headlined concert last month, the episode features Donna interviewing all three guys about their move to St. Catharine's, what keeps them going, their work in the bluegrass band Dirtfight, and how they marry their bands' two genres, as set to video footage from both bands' tour dates last month.

Though the episode treads some of the same ground as the original article, it's a solid episode with some brutal clips from the Oddfellows Hall show, but the interview portion is badly drowned out when clips from Dirtfight's Gore Street Cafe show are featured (also, "Shitliver" is spelled without a space in the opening bug.) Still, this is some solid press for Shit Liver, so give the full Tuned episode a look above, and note that SooToday's video host still doesn't permit external video embedding.

Also today, here's some new concert footage from local goregrind solo project Crucify the Whore, as per the Blood Shed Productions YouTube channel yesterday! A 12 minute video with clips from C.T.W.'s set at the Metal Massacre 2 house party show on May 7th, the video captures some ferocious jamming from Tyler, with a receptive audience, but the video is compromised by being letterboxed when it doesn't have to be (it was already widescreen, why not upload it as such?) Give it a look below!



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

• After brief turns as Waterfront Legend & The River Cookhouse, the former Docks Riverfront Grill has again changed names & formats to the HD Sports Grill, as per this SooToday article plugging a recent job fair to hire new employees. Imee Yeun still owns the restaurant and former local concert venue, and it's unclear when the Foster Drive location re-opens, but part of the grill will include a golf simulator. Hopefully this theme and name takes for the long term at the former Docks, and we'll let you know if live bands return with it!
• Local musician Mario Gionet is looking for a singer for his new metal band that he's launched, as per his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last week. No word on what he's playing in the band (I'm unfamiliar with him), but message Mario at this link or above for more details!
• In this SooToday article from Donna Hopper last week, downtown concert venue The Machine Shop is spotlighted to reflect on it's recent full launch as a public events site, it's upcoming restaurant, and the hiring of LopLops Lounge owner Stephen Alexander as the venue's events promoter (don't worry, he's still bringing bands to LopLops!) The article also serves to avoid confusion with St. Mary's Paper site locations from their development, as the Mill Square owners sold it in January, and it's not The Yard or The Tech either. Informative article, so get more above, and The Machine Shop's new website is now linked in our venue listings!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

Shit Liver's Documentary Teaser, And Much More Recent Updates!!

For our last post of this month (our slowest month on the SMS in almost three years), we're covering some recent news items, including a local band's long awaited first song, a new Tuned episode, and a trailer for a band's new online tour documentary, but we also have an acknowledgement of a stay of operations for one of our recurring series' at post's end. Now, here's what you should know!

Local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver are planning to release a 3 part documentary of their Western Canada tour from part one of their Homeland Debauchery Tour this spring onto their YouTube channel next month, and a trailer from it is was posted there on Friday! Set to the studio version of their song "You're Scared", it features assorted footage from the full videos to come, showcasing concert footage, antics on the road, in cities on tour, and before & after their shows for the first half, before showcasing a brief clip of "a pretty good party", before closing with a 20 second clip from frontman Josh Penno encouraging fans to subscribe to their channel and watch their other videos (somewhat unique to see that from a local band's channel!) This is a very effective teaser, especially by withholding the actual audio so we're not spoiled as to the full content, so give it a look below, and stay tuned for part 1 of the full documentary in the near future!

Next up, the newest episode of Local2's music webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper went up on Saturday, and it's actually focused around an interview with local concert promoters/recording studio Six, Two, Oh! Filmed at the K'Man & The 45s concert at The New American Pub three weeks ago (click here for the episode revolving around the headliners), this features Donna interviewing Six, Two, Oh heads (and AlgomA bandmates) Boyd Rendell & Jamie Vincent on what they do as Six, Two, Oh, their work producing local albums, thoughts on that night's concert and how they got it booked, and their ideal bands to bring to Sault Ste. Marie, with footage from the show scattered throughout. I'm surprised they didn't mention punk rock bingo at all, but this is a fun (if short) interview that captures the former Oh! Right Arm's local work in a concise, informative way!  As we can't embed Local2 videos here, give this newest Tuned episode a look at this link!

Also, do you remember Troubled Mind, the newer metal project from ex-Skull After Betrayl bandmates Adam Brett & Mike Vincent? Well, it took nine months, but they finally have a video of them in action so we can check them out! On Saturday, the band uploaded this jam session video to their Facebook page of Adam & Mike playing an original song with the curious title "Richie, Why Are You Being So Fucking Bitchy?", which Mike noted might not be the best quality, may be weird, and won't sound like all of their future material. Featuring Mike on drums & Adam on vocals and guitar, Mike seemed defiant against potential criticism in the video's description, but it's hard to get a bead on Troubled Mind from the scratchy audio quality & lack of video footage after the first 4 seconds. Adam's vocals sound diverse, but I'd want to hear/see higher quality video before really judging. Still, it's nice to see the guys finally back, so give Troubled Mind's first recording a listen below!

Finally for today, I wanted to acknowledge our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile Series and the lack of our usual November post to update past entries in it. I've made the decision to put the series on hiatus for a while, mainly as I'm running low on known bands from outside of the area that feature Saultites in their lineup, and a break is be ideal to gather links and restock our future reserves. I guarantee that the series will return in 2016, but when it does, it may not be a monthly feature like it was, depending on how many non-profiled bands come to our attention by that point. To keep things spread out, I plan to move our YouTube Channel Profiles to the 26th of each month until the out of town profiles return. As for our annual post that outlines changes and updates to past profiles in this series, that's coming, but it's been delayed for two reasons: it's ever-increasing length, and my own personal commitments relating to family health matters

I will have that the update post up in due course, I promise, so keep an eye out for that, and thanks for your understanding! I always try to be forthcoming and honest on here, and the series will return! That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more in the coming week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Mourning Wood), Northern Vibe Festival Coverage, And More!!

Before this month's Defunct Local Band Profile makes the SMS, here's a new news post, as we have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to touch on for this weekend! To round things out, we have the first details on an ambitious event for next month,  and some long awaited fallout from a debuting festival last month, so let's get things started! (Updated at 9:08 PM)

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood will rock The Rednecks Saloon for the second weekend in the past three TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, we only heard about the shows via drummer Glen Thomas on his personal Facebook page last night. Three weeks removed from their new lineup's debut, things will look a little different for this weekend's shows, as Glen indicated that they'll be playing as a trio this weekend due to a member absence, and Glen himself can't make tomorrow's show, so they will have a fill-in drummer that night that has yet to be identified. While not 100% confirmed online, process of elimination via personal plugs of the shows suggest that new bassist Paul Belair will be absent for unannounced reasons, presumably with Steven Flint back in his old role this weekend. If we get confirmation as to who's drumming Saturday, we'll be sure to let you guys know!

There's no cover charge for this weekend's shows at the former Nicolet Tavern, which both have 10:00 PM start times, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Mourning Wood live!



Next up, an intriguing concert event has been announced for next month from the debuting Spotlight Canada, so what should you know about it? Promoted by North Shore/ex-Lorax frontman Jeremy Hannah (in his return to local concert promotion), the event will be a showcase of local musicians of any genre, while also "engaging the youth in the importance of voting", with a targeted weekend date between October 9th & 17th to fall before the election, though a host venue has yet to be announced. There are also hopes for lots of media coverage and vendors on-site, with discount youth tickets and free admission for kids under 15. As far as I can tell, this is not a battle of the bands, but the event is definitely geared to promoting rising artists. This event is planned to be the first of an annual series, and is among the ambitious though still somewhat vague plans for Spotlight Canada, who want to book tours using a promoter & venue database, promote musicians, and grow beyond the Soo so they can create an efficient and effective promotion network to benefit musicians and help them succeed in the future.

There's a lot of unanswered questions & vague notes regarding Spotlight Canada so far (for both the concert & the big picture), but Jeremy has shared lofty goals like this with me in personal conversations before, so it's nice to see something finite coming together at last! There is a lot of interest already in performing or being involved, but if you want in or if you want more details, visit the above link, Spotlight Canada's Facebook page, or Jeremy's post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from last week, or message him on Facebook at this link, and Spotlight Canada's now in our "Other Local Metal Links" on the lower left of the SMS!

Finally for today, here's the long awaited Village Media coverage from last month's first annual Northern Vibe Festival in Hempfest's old Ophir stomping grounds! On August 31st, SooToday's Donna Hopper posted this recap article from the Saturday portion of the festival featuring 33 excellent photos from the "Forest Stage" bands that day, though she did not capture openers Spider Fingerz & Kylie Precepa or out of town headliners Drew Leith & The Foundation, nor any of the DJs from the "Beach Stage". Punk/country veterans The Billy Bastards were captured in 5 photos, with other photos including 4 of Changing Lanes, 3 each of Frank Deresti & The Lake Effect and Al Wood & The Woodsmen, 2 of The Hustle Brothers, and 1 each of festival host Adam Hayward & beatboxer Robert "Killabeatz" Drolet, who I believe played an impromptu guest set midway through, not unlike at Toystock last year (the rest of the photos were of attendees & vendors on the Saturday.)

Donna also interviewed Adam Hayward for the newest episode of the webseries Tuned on Local2 (which finally went online yesterday), where she asked him about why they launched the festival, challenges in hosting the festival, the double stage layout, the appeal of some fans just hanging out in the bush, and future plans for The Northern Vibe Festival. Informative if grainy-looking interview that definitely paints the first year festival in a good light, and hopefully next year's even bigger! I will note that a picture of the set times for the Forest Stage included one surprise addition that wasn't advertised online: Ottawa indie rock trio The Red Rails (featuring Sault native Steve Brogno on drums), who were listed there as the Friday night opening band. They were already in town that weekend for a Rockstar Bar headlining show the next night, and while it's odd that neither the band or festival advertised their set online, it's nice to see them rocking out in Ophir too!

In terms of video footage from the event, there are scattered muted clips during the interview (including of Drew Leith & The Foundation), while there are clips with sound of The Billy Bastards and Killabeatz after the interview wraps up. What we hear sounds good, and it's nice to have The Billys back, so give the full Tuned episode a look at the above links, and here's to a bigger & better Northern Vibe Festival in 2016!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for, at last, this month's Defunct Local Band Profile later today! Thanks everyone!

The Return Of The Halloween Party, New Treble Charger Videos, And More Rotaryfest Fallout!!

Here's another packed news post for your Tuesday afternoon at the SMS! Along with long overdue coverage of some Rotaryfest videos, and new footage from a prominent local band's recent our of town gigs, let's kick things off with an upcoming fall concert that, while lacking a venue as of this writing, should be a great time like usual, so here's what you should know!

Local concert promoter J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween Party will return on Saturday, October 31st! Listed as his 11th annual Halloween show (though 2005's wasn't officially branded in the series until last year), this will be the first to be presented through Tidal Records since J.D. began working with the local record label, and will return to it's usual Saturday night placement after being on Friday last year so it could (like this year) fall on Halloween night. This year's lineup is a bit of a throwback to 2008, as all three bands will be tribute bands, or at least bands adopting that theme for one night, so who all's playing? The listed headliners appear to be Toronto extreme metal quartet Caym in their second show of the year, and if all goes according to plan, they'll play a Metallica tribute set, which should be interesting! Also, this will mark the third time in four years that an out of town band is headlining this annual Halloween party, so keep that in mind as well.

The presumably local openers are listed as Misfits and Rancid/NOFX tribute bands, and while we can assume that J.D. will front the former like he did in 2008, will they be one-off tributes or renamed versions of existing local bands (like Redundant's 2012 turn as The Brews?) We'll keep you posted if there's confirmation! Notably, a venue is to be confirmed for this year's event, but for reference, two of the last three were at The Algonquin Pub,. This year's party will be a 19+ event with a $10 cover charge and 10:00 PM start time, and a costume contest is likely also, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more info on the venue, bands, and more as it all rolls in!

Next up, here's some new videos from local/Toronto indie punk quartet Treble Charger, courtesy of recent out of town gigs that they've played! Apologies for not acknowledging them on the site, they slipped us by when announced, but remember, priority for the SMS is on local events. Two come from YouTube user Mike Maracle's channel, courtesy of (I believe) their show in Belleville on July 9th when they headlined this year's Canadian Independent Music Festival. One video is a summary video of clips from their set as set to the studio version of "American Psycho", which is well put together, but embedded below is a formal concert video of the songs from their encore. Featuring their memorable tracks "Red" & "American Psycho", I like the angle and stage lighting for this performance, but the audio is very staticy, and Mike did apologize for the shakiness of the actual video. Still, give these new Treble Charger clips a look above & below!



The other video comes from Treble Charger's outdoor set on Canada Day in Kitchener, also of the guys playing their early hit "Red". On one hand, this video (from YouTube user Angela Uttley's channel) is very clear, stable, and easy to watch, but on the other hand, it's only 20 seconds long. Still, nice to see Greig, Bill, and company rocking out again, and hopefully they're back home for more shows in the near future! Give this one a look below too!

Finally for today, here's, at last, our final major Rotaryfest stage coverage from local news media, courtesy of videos from Local2! Remember, Local2's video host doesn't allow external embedding. One of the videos (posted on July 20th) is a summary video of Rotaryfest events set to pleasant background music and featuring remarks from Sault Ste. Marie Rotary Club president Rod Stone, and it features brief clips of Second Stage performers Gnaeus, The Pixo Control, and Caroline Divine (sans their own audio.) Also, the returning Stage 2 was the focus of the newest episode of Tuned with Donna Hopper, as posted on Saturday, so what should you know about that? Focused on an interview with new Second Stage director Chelsie Parayko, she talks about the return of the all-original stage, the response to this year's installment, why it was moved from Queen Street to Clergue Park, the chances that it will be back for 2016, and how bands were chosen.

In terms of specific info, Chelsie cited an attempt to get more young people to Rotaryfest as a reason for Stage 2's return, and specifically acknowledged redirecting the stage to Clergue Park to get it closer to the rest of the festival, without addressing the Downtown Association debate that would have forced the move anyway (also, nothing she said implied this was a temporary change.) The band selection process she outlined was interesting too, I wonder if that will recur next year? Informative video, albeit without much audio of the bands, so give it and more a look at the above links!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and concert previews in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Ten Kings Updates, A Newer Tuned Episode, And New Video Finds!!

Before we kick off today's post, just an apology for yet another missed Mourning Wood concert, as the local classic/hard rock trio played at Reggie's West last night. The show wasn't plugged on their Facebook page, and frontman Terry Eaton's mention of it on his personal Facebook page came too late for us to post about it here (if they played Friday too, there was no visible mention of it.) Apologies again, we'd have plugged it if there was advance word! Now, today's post features some new video finds, some assorted updates, and first, big updates for an upcoming Sault Michigan show, so here's what you should know!

Local hard rock quartet Ten Kings have reportedly been added as late local openers for THIS FRIDAY'S Theory of a Deadman/Shaman's Harvest concert at The Dreammaker's Theatre at The Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! While promoters Allstar Promotions have yet to confirm their involvement that I've seen, the band revealed that they'd be opening the show on their Facebook page on Thursday. This will be the band's biggest concert stage by far since their debut, but it won't be with their full lineup, as bassist Barney Gravelle will be out of town this coming weekend, and will be forced to miss the show. Unfortunate timing, but Ten Kings have a familiar replacement, as 415E guitarist Chris Hubbard will be filling in for Barney on Friday, which will reunite Chris with his former Nixxon Dixxon bandmate Brandon Carr! If you've missed Nixxon Dixxon in the past 5 years, this will be a nice treat, especially with their own past Dreammaker's Theatre experience!

There are tickets still available for this Friday's show from the third row & back for $36.50, so click here, call 1-800-KEWADIN, or visit the in person box office to get hooked up, and visit Allstar Promotions' Facebook page for details on how to enter to win backstage passes or a guitar from Theory of a Deadman! Stay tuned for our preview of this show later this week!

Next up, here's some info on one of the latest episodes of Local2's music webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper! Remember, Local2's video host doesn't allow external embedding, so I can't embed it below. Posted on June 25th, this episode is from last month's Lopstock II at LopLops Lounge (albeit separate from the previous Id Iota episode), and it is uniquely based around an audio recording of Donna interviewing Lopstock promoter/Gnaeus drummer Brendan Garlick, as set to still photos of Aldous, Id Iota, and Caroline Divine's sets, plus the poster and venue, with no substantial audio from the actual concert. In the interview, Brendan talks about why he created the event, what Lopstock brings to the table, why they broke the event into two distinct blocks with a break in between, and what he's hoping for future installments. It's a solid & informative listen, and it's well edited, but why only audio? Give the new Tuned episode a look above, and stay tuned for info on the next episode this week!

Also, while we wait for videos from Friday night's P.O.D. concert at the aforementioned Soo Kewadin, here's some videos of Traverse City metal trio Peril live at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! Uploaded to drummer/Bad Side alum Brooks Elliott's YouTube channel in March, these are the first Peril videos that I've seen from one of their Eastern U.P. gigs, and they include covers of Kid Rock's "So Hott", Loverboy's "Working For The Weekend", Winger's "Easy Come Easy Go", and as embedded below, Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People" (which Brooks uploaded twice.) Filmed by an uncredited attendee, the videos aren't bad, with Peril generally handling the covers well, but it is somewhat unexpected to hear a band cover both Marilyn Manson AND Loverboy in the same night! The videos are a little shaky, but Peril are on their game, and it's nice to finally see videos from a local concert! Give these Peril videos a look!



Finally for today's post, here's a new video from local hard rock/alternative trio The Pixo Control! A short video uploaded to their Instagram page last week, the video was apparently posted to mark the conclusion of the recording sessions for their debut album, with the video featuring bassist Steve Edwards' resemblance that day to AC/DC's Angus Young, and recording of hand claps for the album to be released. Great to see, so stay tuned for updates, and don't miss The Pixo Control in their Rotaryfest Second Stage debut in a few weeks!

A video posted by The Pixo Control (@thepixocontrol) on Jun 28, 2015 at 5:47pm PDT

That's all for today, but stay tuned for P.O.D. concert fallout and more this week! Thanks everyone!

Lopstock II Video Showcase, Plus Our First Look At Two New Bands!!

Before we head off to TODAY'S Go Skateboarding Day concert at the skatepark at the John Rhodes Centre, here's an all-video post now that this weekend's concert previews are cleared out, all courtesy of the Lopstock II "bohemian conclave" concert on June 6th at LopLops Lounge! With one unembeddable exception, these are courtesy of promoter and Gnaeus drummer Brendan Garlick's YouTube channel in recent days, but unlike his single song videos from last year's Lopstock, he filmed full sets of every performer, save for Id Iota for unannounced reasons, but we do have a video of them to touch on in a bit. Brendan's videos include footage of the full sets of Burlington folk rock artist Kirby, Guelph blues rockers The Galacticats, local folk/garage quintet Honest Job, acoustic rock trio K.I.C.K., and indie rock solo project Aldous, so click their names to see their videos! The audio quality is very good on these videos, but the strong attendance in front of the staationary camera limits our viewpoint on most of them.

First from Brendan's channel is headlining local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control, whose hour-long set can be seen below, or more accurately, heard below, given the crowd of fans in front of the camera, and the often blurry view of the band itself given that the camera focuses on what's closer. The (I believe) 13 song set had it's titles mostly unannounced by the band, but familiar tracks like "Sixty Extra Chances Called Minutes", "Quick Little Quarter", and "Tall Ships" can be heard, plus their set-ending "Twist & Shout" cover. You can't see much, but The Pixo Control sound great, so give their Lopstock II video a look below!



Next up, here's Brendan's own band Gnaeus, who headlined the afternoon portion of Lopstock II before the unusual three hour break. The 45 minute set from the rising post-punk quartet can be seen below, and while it is easier to see the guys, an attendee's head is near constantly right in front of the camera. Songs like "Fire", "The Edge", and a cover of The Cold War Kids' "Hang Me Up To Dry" can be seen, and Gnaeus demonstrated their considerable talent once again throughout their Lopstock II set, so give their video a look below as well!



The last of Brendan's Lopstock II videos is of new local glam rock/power pop trio Caroline Divine (successors to The Frasiers), which gives us our first look at their sound, so what can be detected from their 40 minute set? Musically, they remind me a little bit of what would happen if Dirty Virgin and Gnaeus were blended together, thanks to their mix of 1980s glam rock with indie punk, and while I won't get a chance to see them live until tomorrow afternoon, I do prefer them to The Frasiers musically! Don't miss them and The Pixo Control tomorrow at Tidal Records' Go Skateboarding Day, and here's their Lopstock set!



Finally, we'll touch on the opening band at Lopstock II, new local rock band Id Iota, as while Brendan didn't apparently film them, Local2 did for the newest episode of Tuned with Donna Hopper! Focusing entirely on Id Iota's set, we get our first video look at the new band from Free Beer and Dirty Few alumni, and if you were curious about their sound, I can confirm that Id Iota more or less carry on the sound that 3/4ths of the band played in their short lived predecessor band Habitat Shuffle, so they play alternative rock with a punk/grunge tinge, rather than the ska-punk of the Free Beer days. Frontman Christian Lemay and guitarist Dustin Goodall are interviewed by Donna in the video concerning topics like how they formed and their upcoming plans, so what kinds of new info do we get? The guys revealed that the Id Iota name is inspired by Freudian psychology, the two of them share vocals live, and they've been doing behind-the-scenes work at Tidal Records beyond recording material.

I'm sure there's more from Id Iota to come, but this is a nice introduction to this new yet familiar band, and Christian & Dustin also give some nice compliments and props to how the local music scene is developing and some of the newer and younger talent! Check out Id Iota's new Tuned episode at this link, and remember that we can't embed Local2 videos here, as their video host doesn't allow external embedding. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more this week, and we'll see you guys at the skatepark this afternoon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Destroyer), New Punk Videos, And Much More!!

Before we head off to The Canadian Nightclub for TONIGHT'S fifth annual Sewer Swampstravaganza, here's a new news post for your Saturday afternoon featuring big updates from a local news website, new videos from two popular punk bands, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, so here's what you need to know!

Kiss fans should pay attention, as Destroyer, Canada's premier Kiss tribute band, are coming back to Sault Ontario on Friday, May 29th for a concert at The Rockstar Bar! Making their (at least) third appearance in the Soo, this will be Destroyer's first local stop since rocking the same venue in July 2013, and it will come amidst their 20th anniversary tour, which is a great milestone! If you're in the Kiss Army, you won't want to miss this one at month's end, but in an uncommon occurence for a local tribute band show, there will be a local opening band, as local hard rock cover quartet Griphook are listed as openers! Though the band has yet to confirm this, their set would be their first in almost two months, and their first Rockstar Bar appearance of the new year. Griphook haven't played all that often in recent months, so if you've missed them in the last while, write this show on your calendar!

This concert has a listed start time of 10:30 PM, it is a 19+ event, and tickets are $12 in advance at The Algonquin Hotel's front desk or $16 at the door. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Destroyer have the Kiss sound and look down pat, as videos of their shows will attest to (not to mention fans who saw them locally in the past), so if you want the best, you'll get the next best thing on the 29th! Stay tuned for possible updates!

Next up, here's some new videos, starting with the newest episode of Local2's stripped down performance webseries Bare, which features members of local Celtic/punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide! Specifically featuring singer/guitarist Dustin Jones and stand-up bassist Marshall Jaaskelainen for this performance, the video is of them playing their song "Sticky Situation" from their newest album "Dancing Our Demons Away". Played in an acoustic form, it's well done and puts an interesting new spin on this recent original, so fans of The Rising Tide should get a kick out of this! For reference, the end-of-video credits do not list a drummer among their current lineup, which seemingly confirms that Mikey Hawdon isn't their full time drummer anymore (though to be fair, they've largely played with guest drummers for the past year or so.)

Check out the new Bare episode below, and be sure to check out all 12 episodes (including locals and out of town bands alike from various genres) at the official Bare YouTube channel, which is now in our "Other Local Metal Links" on the SMS! Strong work all around, and hopefully we see some more punk or hard rock bands on there!



Also, here's a new video from VM Radio Battle of the Bands winners Gnaeus, before they headline TONIGHT'S fifth annual Swampstravaganza at The Canadian! Uploaded to their YouTube channel on Thursday, this is seemingly from a jam session, and it's of the guys playing a new(?) original named "Fire". Shot from a low camera angle with dark purple lighting, this captures the post-punk quartet channeling more of their garage rock sound (is it wrong to get a Killers vibe from this?), but it's well done oversall, and the lighting actually helps set the mood fairly well! Check it out below!



Finally, here's some overdue updates from local news/video website Local2, who overhauled their official website on May 1st to emphasize and focus 100% on video content, severing it's last traditional news ties from the old SooNews.ca days. As outlined in this SooToday article from their sister website, the new site features a new layout that's easier to navigate to find and watch video content, including new webcams, categories for different content, and pages for individual webseries like Bare and Tuned with Donna Hopper, the latter of which we can also now add to our "Other Local Metal Links" section as a result! Note however that the player for videos on Local2 still doesn't permit external video embedding. Speaking of Tuned, three new episodes have been posted online of that popular music webseries, so what lies within that has a hard rock or punk element?

The April 23rd episode spotlights local DJ Shane Erickson (a.k.a. DJ Seith), and includes brief footage of his live collaboration with The Elements at The Rockstar Bar in February, though the episode is largely about DJ Seith's general live work and crossovers with various local projects like Honest Job & Conika. The other new episodes are on recent concerts with out of town bands My Son The Hurricane (featuring the Soo's own Danno O'Shea) and B.A. Johnston, and all are similarly well done, so givem all a look at the above links! The new Local2 layout is much more user friendly, so give their videos a look and see what you've missed!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our newest Defunct Local Band Profile TOMORROW, and we'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Canadian for the fifth annual Swampstravaganza! Thanks everyone!

VM Radio Launch & Availability Information, Plus The New Tuned Episode!!

Today's post is very much focused on recent postings and launches from one major local company, but all of it is of note for local rock fans, including the contents of the newest episode of Tuned and the formal launch of a new online radio network, so here's what you need to know!

SooToday parent company Village Media officially launched all 5 feeds of their new internet radio network VM Radio on Thursday! After a successful pilot launch earlier this week, the full website and player are up along with each station's full current rotation, with the launch and related notes outlined in this SooToday news release. Joining the existing website player, there are now Apple iOS and Android/Google Play applications to stream the stations with, while all 5 are now among the internet radio stations listed on iTunes' own internet radio service and through the Apple TV digital media player. There are also widgets on both SooToday and Local2's home pages that list what's playing on all 5 feeds at the time of page visit (from my experience, they don't refresh unless you refresh the whole page), but it's great for extra convenience to listen! VM Radio also announced that they're now the exclusive music provider for the Mill Market and the Soo's Downtown Association, among future establishments to be announced.

VM Radio has also indicated that they want to expand into additional Northern Ontario markets with "increased specialty programming & content", though they didn't elaborate on that or potential on-air shows and genre blocks. They are definitely still looking for local CDs and music to add to the rotation on their five stations (VM Rocks for rock subgenres, VM Bounce for pop & rap, VM Indie for indie/alternative, VM Roots for roots/blues, and VM Y'All for country), so if you're interested in helping the cause, message the stations at radio@villagemedia.ca A.S.A.P.! In terms of my experience listening to the stations, I do like the full final look to the player and website, with all I'd change being maybe putting album covers up, or listing what's next to play on each station. Just since I started this post, I've heard a wide array on VM Rocks including Woods of Ypres, The Drive By Truckers, Green Day, The Police, and Led Zeppelin, and like in the pilot launch, you have a lot of Canadian content to take in, with few ads!

The online player works fine for me with no hang-ups that it started, but if you're hoping for a review of the mobile applications, I can't help you yet. The Android application isn't compatible with my tablet, and every time I tried to open VM Radio with my iPod Touch, it crashed (but to be fair, it's 5 years old now, so my iPod might be too old in general.) The above SooToday press release did note that "more listening options" will follow, so if the stations turn up on TuneIn Radio or something similar, then I can comment on the mobile experience! So far, I do give VM Radio (and VM Rocks in particular) a solid thumbs up, and it's nice to have the extra diversity in the local radio market! I will note that there was some online comment concerning both Energy Rock Radio and Mike Cliffe's Audiofumes preceding VM Radio in this area for Sault Ontario online radio, and while I like both a lot, E.R.R. moved to British Columbia in 2011, and Audiofumes is a podcast rather than a 24/7 radio station.

Be sure to listen to VM Radio's five online stations at the above links or through your Apple and Android devices, like VM Radio on Facebook, and when we have updates concerning the stations, their programming, or future availability, we'll let you know!

We'll close today's post with one more Village Media note, as the newest episode of Local2's music video profile web-series Tuned With Donna Hopper went online on Tuesday, and at last, this is the episode featuring last month's Rad Zone 30th anniversary concert featuring The Ripcordz at The Rockstar Bar! I wonder what took so long to get this episode online? The 18 minute+ episode features Donna's introductory segments hosted in The Rad Zone (naturally), while the concert footage begins with 4 minutes of video from The Ripcordz' set (including Jack Spades' J.D. Pearce joining in on "X"), before transitioning to interview clips with Ripcordz frontman Paul Gott and Rad Zone owner Paul "Monk" Muncaster. When interviewing Paul Gott, he talks about his views on being a "rockstar", how he got into punk music, what should change in the industry to help rising punk bands, and where to find new Ripcordz CDs, while the interview with Monk includes his surprising music past, and the impact of vinyl records and his connections with the music & this format.

Later elaborating on how The Rad Zone has grown in the past 30 years, his planned retirement in 10 years, the continued impact he gets from people who discover new music at the store, and his advice for vinyl collectors, Monk's interview is very nice, and you can tell how much he loves the music and what's he able to do and provide for our area (and Paul Gott's interview is also an informative listen!) After a brief concert calendar segment, the episode concludes with some more nicely shot video footage from last month's Gob concert at the same venue, and bloopers during the credits, though there's no footage of the opening bands at either show. Still, this is a great and extensive episode of Tuned with lots of quality concert & interview footage, so give it a look at this link! Remember, Local2's video host doesn't allow external embedding. That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes over the coming week! Thanks everyone!