Ripcordz Concert Preview, New Stegadeth Video Finds, And Much More!!

As promised, our Ripcordz concert preview is headlining today's SMS post, but to round things out, we have some new video finds from one of that show's opening bands, and lots of assorted recent shorter stories, so here's what you should know on this Friday afternoon!

TOMORROW NIGHT will see what has become an annual tradition in the Soo, that being a headlining concert from Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz at The Algonquin Pub! As they have done annually from August-October dating back to 2013, Paul Gott and company will roar back through our neck of the woods for another highly anticipated local headlining concert, returning to the site of their April 2013 and October 2015 shows for good measure. A Ripcordz show is always a great time for hardcore punk fans, so prepare for a ferocious night of familiar classics tomorrow! Notably, this will be their first local show since 2007 with drummer Francois Demers back in the fold, replacing Alex Roy. Local support will include punk/metal quintet (and "Fed Up!" split-mates) Jack Spades in their fifth straight time opening for The Ripcordz, as well as local punk trio Stegadeth in their first public concert appearance in almost four months.

The T-Rex Manning successors have spent much of the summer songwriting, and it'll be great to see them back out there on familiar territory! Promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce once again, tomorrow's show is sadly a 19+ event (unlike last year's Canadian Nightclub headliner) with a 9:00 PM start time and $10 cover charge in effect, with advance tickets available online at this link, and possibly through the opening bands and The Algonquin Hotel's front desk. As J.D. said on the Facebook event page, "Ripmas comes but once a year", so don't miss out on all of the action tomorrow night, and here's The Ripcordz live earlier this year!



Next up, here's a pair of new-ish videos from the aforementioned Stegadeth's Facebook page that I'm surprised we've never featured on here! These come from the Guy Thiffault tribute concert upstairs at The Rockstar Bar in December 2016, completely slipping our radar at the time (apologies for that, blame the holidays!) The videos include Stegadeth playing GG Allin's "Bite It You Scum", but due to it's extremely fuzzy video quality, I've instead embedded them covering T-Rex Manning's "She Banged The Mayor" below. The vertical camera angle on each is unfortunate, but it matches the clearer video quality on this one, and they sound pretty good, so give them a look!



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

• Local hardcore punk veterans Destroilet have welcomed back Slumshine's Brenton Ellis as their co-lead singer, as per their Facebook page yesterday! Brent originally came on in late 2014 to share vocal duties with Mike Hull, but left the sextet by the fall of 2015, and did not feature on the "Fed Up!" split. Destroilet have only played twice publically since Brent's departure, so he should fit right back in for more chaotic intensity when they scratch their itch & end their current stage hiatus!
• I have belatedly updated our listing for The Emergency Festival in our listing of Sault Ontario concert festivals, as the event has not been held since 2015. A spiritual successor to the LopLops Lounge-curated version of Rotaryfest's Second Stage, The Emergency Festival launched in 2014 during Stage 2's one year hiatus, and brought more indie, folk, country, and alternative acts from here and abroad to Queen Street East & Rocky DiPietro Field in it's two installments, with no public word surfacing about why it didn't return for a third year. Stay tuned to events at LopLops for more similar high quality live entertainment!
• Local hard rock solo musician Mike McCleary has confirmed that his debut EP will be entitled "Weight of the Truth", after a song planned for it that was posted on his Soundcloud page in August. Instrumentally, the song reminds me of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the name works pretty well, so stay tuned for more on the EP via his Facebook page, our original source for the announcement!
• Former Brad Example & The Role Models drummer Phil Greco (Philly Gee on Facebook) is looking for a bass player to songwrite with towards his current band project, which already has a guitarist enlisted, though they're open to a second guitarist also. The band is "more interested in the heavier side of music", so if you're interested in writing and/or jamming with Phil and crew, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday!
• In their latest Facebook post thanking fans for the success of the "Trading Faces" release tour, local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver revealed that thanks to the tour's financial success, the band can now afford to press their second full length album "Hitting The Fan" on vinyl records. No word on if recording sessions for their sophomore effort have even begun yet, or if it will see a CD printing too, but I doubt fans will be opposed to another vinyl throwback, so stay tuned for updates from their camp!
• Though we're still waiting for their new album "Monster", local punk solo project Telephone & Address posted their first new songs of the year onto their Soundcloud page in August! Entitled "So Long" and "Mother & Father", both tracks feature local indie rock musician Jackson Reed on guest drums. Both are mid-tempo numbers that won't set any speed records, but they have a good deliberate sound, and it's nice to hear some electric instruments and a fuller sound on these, so give them a listen above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site over the weekend! Thanks everyone!

Emergency Festival Fallout, Sykotyk Rampage & Tantrym Tyme Updates, And More!!

Let's tackle most of our backlogged news on the site today, including some assorted recent notes, bug updates and news from prominent bands on each side of the border, and first, some extra fallout from a recent local concert festival, so here's what you should know!

Here's some more notes relating to last weekend's second annual Emergency Festival, including the anticipated new episode of Local2's music webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper! In this episode, Donna (who also MCed the festival) talks with festival founder/LopLops owner Stephen Alexander after the conclusion of the festival about how the festival went overall, how Stephen decided on the lineup, and what plans they're looking at for 2016's installment. He didn't address the Downtown Association issues and related move to Rocky DiPietro Field in the interview other than to say that this was the first year that they ticketed the event, but he expressed hope that the festival will get more local sponsor support next year and allow them to get even bigger acts from out of town (no word though on if it will move back downtown next year.) I did find it interesting that Stephen noted that the local bands were partly chosen as they hadn't had a chance to play the festival last year, even though all but Northwest did (maybe he meant the main stage?)

As for footage from the festival, there is some unique footage in the Tuned episode not previously seen in the prior Local2 video from the event, including clips of headliners The Fast Romantics at the start, and every band sans Gnaeus at the end (though muted Gnaeus clips can be seen during the interview), so if you were hoping to see footage of The Pixo Control, Northwest (well, just Marc Santos), and The Poor Young Things, here you go! Quality episode, especially if you attended the successful sophomore installment of The Emergency, so give it a look above! Remember, we can't embed Local2's videos here.

Next up, here's the first video that we've found from Friday night's first annual Superior Festival at The Savoy Bar & Nightclub, though surprisingly, it's not of one of the out of town headliners. This is actually of young Sault Michigan metal band Tantrym Tyme covering Black Stone Cherry's "Lonely Train" and Alter Bridge's "Metalingus" at the end of their set, as per their Facebook page yesterday, but the video appears to unveil the band's new lineup, as they've finally found a replacement for the already departed Quinton Jacobson. Though their sporadically updated Facebook page doesn't confirm his identity yet, personal Facebook postings confirm that the new guitarist is Grooves Music instructor Michael McLeod, giving the band a quartet lineup and a long haired member once again. I'm not familiar with Michael from other local bands, but as he is a guitar instructor, you know he has the chops, and he sounds pretty good from what I can tell in the video!

As for the video itself, it's filmed on the vertical cell phone camera angle, close to the corner of the stage. The guys are on form, handling the songs with relative ease, and the double guitar attack helps fill out their sound again! Also, singer/guitarist Jacob Hotlen is sounding more and more like Ten Kings' Brandon Carr as his voice develops! Give this new Tantrym Tyme video a look below, and stay tuned for more from the guys when posted!

Also, here's the latest from the original crash band, "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage! First, the veteran rockers will return to the stage for the first time in four months (and only the second time this year) on Monday, September 21st when they will join The Bear Hunters as openers for Mexican death metal band Evilheart at The Algonquin Pub! While not yet confirmed by promoters, they'll reportedly replace The Apocalypse Afterparty on the lineup for unannounced reasons (though note that they still haven't publically clarified their new lineup either.) Nice to see Sykotyk Rampage hopping on the Gonqshow train, and don't miss their creative crash rock next month! Also, Sykotyk Rampage have posted two new "albums" onto their Reverbnation page in the past month, those being "Kalos Kagathos" (an ancient Greek term for a military ideal of personal conduct) and "Soaked To The Nipple" (they titled it, don't shoot the messenger!), bringing their official discography to 54 albums.

Though the band no longer releases sale copies of their albums (these and other recent "albums" are all available as free streams), the fun, improvised, and irreverent nature of Sykotyk Rampage's albums come through as usual on these albums and other recent works, so if you like puppies snoring and stars decaying, give Sykotyk Rampage's newest material a listen above, and see them next month at The Gonq!

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

• After some prior uncertainty about it's status, local music instrument/lessons store Music Depot has apparently closed it's doors permanently. While the sign in the door of the Gore Street business still says "Closed until further notice" (as it has since December), it's Facebook page was quietly deleted this year, and Google Maps lists it as "permanently closed", joining Colosimo's Music Store & Sault Michigan's Steve's Music Center in local music store closures in the last two years. Disappointing for fans, but at least we still have four other regional music store options!
• Local classic metal quintet Project 421 have launched an official YouTube channel, and they've already stocked it with lots of videos from their concerts! Created by bassist Daniel Horton, I believe we've featured or acknowledged every video on the channel on the SMS in the past, so there's nothing brand new there yet, but it's a nice convenient spot for their videos, so check it all out above!
• Ex-StrykerGC frontman Troy Isaac Kulka is looking to join or start a new local band project, as per his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Tuesday. He sings and plays guitar, is in a place where he can focus more on music, and while he shared the StrykerGC Reverbnation page as a sample of his work, he described it as "a home recording project" that "was just a learning experience", and he's not requiring the songs to be played in his next work. Troy's a talented music veteran, so give him a shout above or at this link if you want to jam with him!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more news and updates this week! Thanks everyone!

Project 421 Jam Session Recap, Emergency Festival Fallout, And More!!

Before we get too far into this post, we have a very late lineup change for TONIGHT'S Ballot Burner-headlined concert at The New American Pub, as local rapper Mikey Thomas has replaced grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back on the lineup, as per the Facebook event page yesterday morning. A reason for Bad Back's exit hasn't been announced, but seeing as frontman Jamie Vincent is still promoting the show, an external commitment for Nathan Sauve would make sense. Hopefully we see the guys back soon, and don't miss Mikey Thomas TONIGHT! Now, today's post features Emergency Festival fallout, some assorted updates, and first, a surprise jam session recap!

Due to personal family health matters, I haven't had a whole lot of time or opportunities to attend concerts recently, but that was partly remedied yesterday afternoon, as Project 421 guitarist Blair Burch invited me to check out their latest jam session! I don't live far from where they jam, which made things extra convenient! The roughly 2 hour jam was the first time that I've seen the guys with new drummer Chris Thompson, though guitarist Frank McGillivray couldn't make the jam due to personal commitments. As a result, the guys didn't play all of their regular songs, and some sounded empty without Frank's parts, but I got a first hand look at 4/5ths of Project 421 tackling classics from bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and Dio, along with their newer original "Into The Darkness"! You can't judge a jam session on the same level of a concert, as a lot of it is meant for practicing and getting everything down for a show, but the guys sounded really good, and it's nice to hear Curtis McKenzie's impressive vocals back with the band!

Me and Blair chatted for a while after everyone left, and it was a nice break from the hectic personal stuff I've been dealing with lately! I also saw and heard some intriguing things concerning future plans, but we'll wait for official public word before saying anything here. I got a handful of photos from the jam that you can see at this link or via our Facebook page, and here's Project 421 (minus Frank) jamming their song "Into The Darkness"!

Next up, here's some fallout from yesterday's second annual Emergency Festival at Rocky DiPietro Field, which appeared to be a hit (despite the hot weather) according to early social media reports! First, there was an act that dropped out of the festival, that being Saskatoon country artist Zachary Lucky due to bronchitis, as per his Facebook page on Friday, though he hopes to play here again later this year. Disappointing for fans, but at least he let everyone know beforehand! As for the festival itself, it was MCed by SooToday's Donna Hopper, and of course, she got lots of great (and colour) photos from the show that you can check out at this article! They include 5 photos of headliners The Fast Romantics, 4 photos each of Gnaeus, Northwest, and The Poor Young Things, 3 each of The Pixo Control, Tasman Jude, and The Sunparlour Players, 5 of concert attendees, and 4 of art vendors on site. Excellent work as usual, and I like how nightfall made the closing set seem like it was at a different venue entirely!

A likely Tuned episode is forthcoming, but Local2 cameras were on site for this (unembeddable) video from The Emergency, which features abbreviated video footage from The Fast Romantics, The Sunparlour Players, Tasman Jude, and Gnaeus' sets (I wonder why The Poor Young Things and the other locals didn't make the cut?) Strong footage, and nice to see fans dancing up front for The Fast Romantics, so give this video a look above!

Lastly for current festival fallout, here's the latest from local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control, as we can finally confirm that their new drummer (replacing the departed Keeghan Rosso) is named Matthew Thibert, who made his public debut with the band on Sunday. The band has yet to confirm this on their Facebook page, but photos from the show confirm his identity. I'm not familiar with Matthew from past local bands, though he did once play with the defunct Bawating Collegiate jazz band Reverse Fozmosis shortly before the school's 2010 closure, alongside The Boatload Killers' Liam Seymour and others. I'm curious to see how he does live with Michael & Steve in The Pixo Control, so stay tuned for more on the new lineup! And we were holding this for when we mentioned their new drummer, as the cover art for the band's upcoming debut CD "Probably Not" is now posted on Facebook!

Similarly to the defunct Habitat Shuffle's EP, it's of a picture hanging on a wall, but this picture of mushrooms will be familiar for Pixo Control fans, as a framed copy of it has sat on stage for the band's recent concerts. I'm unsure of the symbolism, or if it connects to the name "Probably Not" at all, but it's recognizable and to the point! Stay tuned for more from the guys this week!

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:

• Just as a general site updated regarding our sidebar links, I've finally added The Emergency Festival and The Northern Vibe Festival to our links concerning concert festivals in the Sault Ontario area, while amending information on venues and dates for existing festivals, mainly concerning events impacted by this year's Downtown Association debate and cancellation of Queen Street East outdoor events. Hopefully things are updated there now!
• Sault Michigan bar/concert venue Golanka's Bar (commonly known as The Bird) has closed at some point in the last two years, though their (now-deleted) Facebook page wasn't updated frequently enough to post a statement on why that I've seen. According to London Gentlemen guitarist Mike Libertoski in a Facebook conversation, the East Portage Avenue building was bought by new owners who are turning it into an outdoor retail store of some kind. The Bird hadn't hosted a hard rock concert that we'd heard of since early 2013, but it's sad to see it go, and hopefully Yoopers have good memories of The Bird!
• Sault Ontario alternative hard rock duo Infinity Grinder have posted seven new demo recordings on their Soundcloud page in the past 3 weeks, which confirm that they play improvised jams as well as original songs, Brad & Terrence both handle drums and guitar parts in studio, and that they formed last year. The songs are solid, often hard-edged, and nicely varied, but only "A Few Weeks" has vocals. Give them a listen above, and don't miss Infinity Grinder's New A debut TONIGHT!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our newest poll tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

The Emergency Festival Preview, Plus The Downtown Association's Fate!!

Let's get our extended preview of a major returning local concert festival up on the site today, but we'll cap things off with news on the resolution in a long debate that forced said festival's move for this year, so here's what you should know on this Friday morning!

The second annual Emergency Festival goes down TOMORROW! As you may remember, this sophomore music & arts festival is brought to you by LopLops Lounge, effectively replacing their version of the Rotaryfest Second Stage before it's hiatus last year, but due to the Downtown Association's fight for survival (more on that in a bit), the festival has been relocated from Queen Street East to Rocky DiPietro Field near The John Rhodes Centre at 260 Elizabeth Street for at least this year. With the new locale, the event has been somewhat downsized, with the multiple stage format (including bands on the main stage, in LopLops, and at two outdoor sidewalk "clinic" stages) shaved down to one 8 act-stage combining local & out of town talent, but there will still be an Art In The Park installation, refreshments, on-site games, and more for all ages! Bandwise, you might be interested to know that all but two bands are new to The Emergency Festival, while still featuring many familiar faces, but who all's playing, and when?

The set times for the festival were finally announced last week, and it will see Calgary indie rock quintet The Fast Romantics headlining at 9:00 PM, with Toronto alt-country band The Sunparlour Players (who headlined Rotaryfest's Second Stage in 2009) back for The Emergency at 8:00 PM. A couple more recent notables from LopLops events will take the stage in the evening, including Alberta reggae band Tasman Jude at 7:00 PM and Thunder Bay rock quintet The Poor Young Things playing at 6:00 PM. A trio of local punk/alternative bands precede them, including local alt-grunge trio The Pixo Control, who will debut their mystery new drummer in the 5:00 PM slot, will have this very poster available for sale, and have also teased a "special announcement" of some kind. Be there to get all of the news first! Local indie/punk quintet Northwest will play live for the first time this summer at 4:00 PM, while rising post-punk quartet Gnaeus (who played with The Pixo Control at last year's "Shock Stage" of the festival) will themselves hit the stage at 3:00 PM.

The Emergency Festival's music lineup will be opened by Saskatoon country artist Zachary Lucky, and while no other acts are listed, note that early festival advertising did imply there'd be more artists to be announced. With the changes this year, the festival is sadly not universally free like last year, so admission will be $35 for adults (there were discount rates in earlier months) or $20 for students with valid student ID cards, though kids under 14 years old do get in free. Tickets can also be bought at LopLops and through their website, at Case's Music, or at DISH Espresso Bar & Cafe, all conveniently located on Queen Street. For complete Emergency Festival details, visit the official Facebook event page and the above links! Despite all of the debating about the Downtown Association and so forth (coming in one second), it's great to see Stephen and everyone at LopLops keeping things going for year 2! I've heard a lot of good optimism and buzz, so if you're a fan of indie rock and local punk & alternative bands, be at Rocky DiPietro Field TOMORROW, gates open at 12:00 PM! For a preview, here's The Pixo Control live at Rotaryfest last month!



Lastly, we finally have a resolution in the ongoing fight to save and/or abolish the Sault Ste. Marie Downtown Association, so what's the verdict? .....It has been saved! Yes, the business improvement area that was instrumental in numerous outdoor events, concerts, and parties on Queen Street East will live on, as only 67 of 153 eligible downtown businesses voted to abolish the S.D.A., 10 short of the necessary majority, but you can read more details on the specifics about the vote and fallout on local news sites (including these three SooToday articles, here, here, and here.) In a message to association members from new president Duane Moleni, he said that "the numbers are not lost on us", and they know that there are "concerns and displeasure" concerning their work, but they know that business owners have seen that they are working to change and restructure how they do things, and look forward to working towards proving the S.D.A.'s worth and benefits to the downtown sector.

It's way too early to know what this means for concert events that did or might take place on Queen Street, and if ones that were cancelled or relocated will return in 2016, but hopefully this debate will give the Downtown Association a chance to answer critics and make changes while still helping the arts sector and provide special events again! Visit local news media for full coverage of today's decision, and hopefully Queen Street's hopping again next year!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Emergency Festival), Gatgas Concert Preview, And More!!

Barring a late notice Saturday nighter or extremely late notice show tonight, we're closing out this weekend's concert previews today with a big hardcore punk show tomorrow night, but joining it today are updates for a major upcoming Sault Michigan show, a new video from a rising young band, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for August! Read on below for what you should know, and check out this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile in the post below this one!

Here's some long awaited venue confirmation on this year's second annual Emergency Festival on Saturday, August 15th, so where's the LopLops Lounge-promoted music & arts festival being held? Well, how does Rocky DiPietro Field at The John Rhodes Community Centre sound? Due to the ongoing debate over the future of The Sault Downtown Association and postponement of their outdoor Queen Street events this summer, The Emergency Festival will move to the football field at 260 Elizabeth Street (not far from the skatepark) for it's second year, which sounds like a good location to keep this successful sophomore event going after another "emergency" affecting the summer concert calendar! No word yet on the band setup, including on if there will be multiple stages as was previously intended, but we'll keep you posted. As previously announced, The Emergency Festival will welcome local punk/alternative bands The Pixo Control, Gnaeus, and Northwest alongside a large out-of-town roster of primarily folk, roots, and indie rock artists, so click here for full current lineup details!

Also scheduled to have a special Art In The Park exhibition, The Emergency will again be an ALL AGES event at 12:00 PM on August 15th, with tickets going on sale at LopLops, Case's Music, and Dish Espresso Bar & Cafe at 740 Queen Street East tomorrow. Oddly, tickets will be $25 until July 2nd, then they'll jump $5 a month until August, so there's incentive to get yours early! Students with school ID will get in for $20, and kids under 14 are admitted FREE. Amidst all of the downtown association struggles, it's great to see Stephen and everyone at LopLops keeping The Emergency going, so check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for updates as they come in!

Next up, here's our preview of the fifth installment of Tidal Records & J.D. Pearce's Gonqshow summer concert series, as London hardcore punk quartet Gatgas will headline at The Algonquin Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Featuring Saultites Bob Bromley Jr. & Garry Ingram in their lineup, fans may remember their memorable local debut at last fall's Hardcore Homecoming concert upstairs at The Rockstar Bar, but now they're headlining downstairs and should be up to their usual old school hardcore tricks! Local support will come via two of the local openers from last fall, those being local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades and local hardcore/punk sextet Destroilet (in just their third show with two singers), and given the presence of both Gatgas & Destroilet, might we see another Fistmagnet reunion of sorts like we saw at Hardcore Homecoming? It was a crowd pleaser, hopefully there's a reprise of it! Note that the Gonqshow event page still lists newer local metal trio Faceityoureametalband as opening, but they have since been removed from the concert's event page, and are not listed on the show's poster.

A reason for their exit hasn't been announced, but frontman Steve Mozarowski went on a trip to British Columbia this week as per personal Facebook postings, so that could be related. Hopefully we hear from his new band again soon though! Note also that I'm not sure if the presented band order on the poster is accurate (which would see Gatgas sandwiched between the local bands) or if they will indeed be last. This 19+ concert has a $10 cover charge and a 10:00 PM start time, so for more details, visit the above links! It's great to have Gatgas back (and Bob & Garry back home), so keep this show in mind for TOMORROW, and here's Gatgas live earlier this month!



Also today, here's some news concerning the P.O.D./Hoobastank/Fuel concert at The Dreammaker's Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this coming Friday, including news of a late addition to the lineup, them being Rochester, New York post-hardcore band Lights Out Paris! Our source is co-promoter John Yeubanks on the Facebook event page on Monday. Currently slotted as the third of now six bands, Lights Out Paris have an intense modern hardcore sound that almost sounds like it'd better fit an Oddfellows Hall show, so don't miss them amidst the hard rock action next week! Also, in terms of the returning Integrated System of Machines (who will reunite after a 5 year breakup for this show), their teased new album is reportedly finished mixing, and sounds close to being done entirely according to frontman Orb Hearthstone's personal Facebook page! Remember, I.S.O.M. don't have a new updated online page as of this writing, we'll let you know if one turns up in the future.

Also, a separate personal posting confirms that I.S.O.M.'s new lineup will be a five-piece, with Orb, Chris Leask, Art Dietz, and Bart Rennels joined by a musician with the first name Jon, though I can't confirm a last name or instrument role yet (though process of elimination points to either the guitar or keyboard.) It is great to have Integrated System of Machines back, and hopefully we hear much more from them soon! Stay tuned for details on this huge concert, and get your tickets A.S.A.P. at this link!

Finally for today, here'a a light new video from the aforementioned Gnaeus, courtesy of their YouTube channel on Tuesday! It's of the local post-punk quartet watching their Lopstock II YouTube video on TV via a Playstation 3, so we're literally watching the guys watch themselves, though there is a temporary break late when bassist Matt Fronzi arrives with McDonald's food. Light and amusing, so check out Gnaeus' new video below, and don't miss drummer Brendan Garlick filling in with Long Shot TONIGHT at The Rockstar Bar, as per personal Facebook postings!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more this weekend! Thanks everyone!

Emergency Festival Lineup News, Plus Some New Videos!!

Before we get this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile up on the site, let's touch on some news so we don't fall too behind. Today's news post features some new video finds from each side of the border, but first, some early lineup announcements for a returning summer concert festival, so here's what you should know!

The first lineup announcements have been made for the second annual Emergency Festival on Saturday, August 15th! The LopLops Lounge-promoted concert & arts festival (that more or less replaced Rotaryfest's Second Stage) will once again welcome numerous local and out of town artists back downtown for another year, so who all is playing so far? Punk and hard rock fans will notice alt-rock trio The Pixo Control & post-punk quartet Gnaeus (both from last year's Shock stage) and local indie/punk quintet Northwest among the announced bands, and it's nice to have them all on board! The out of town lineup is completely different (so far) from last year, including Toronto folk duo The Sunparlour Players, Alberta reggae band Tasman Jude, Toronto/Calgary indie rockers The Fast Romantics, Thunder Bay rock quintet The Poor Young Things, and Saskatoon country musician Zachary Lucky, many of which will be familiar from past local concerts. Though nothing "heavy", there's lots of talent to go around!

More artists are to be announced, as are performance venues, hence why we aren't calling The Emergency as a concert on here yet. For reference, last year's event featured three outdoor stages on Queen Street (the main stage for headlining bands, and two mainly for solo performers), and the indoor "Shock" stage in LopLops Lounge for local rock bands, so the same might apply here. For reference, a planned stage name this year is "Triage", which is being booked by Ears & Eyes Online's Jackson Reed, but again, we're waiting for official word on stage locations and lineups. Also expected like last year to have local arts vendors, beer tents, and FREE & ALL AGES admission, this will likely begin again in the late morning with music and entertainment all day, so be sure to stay tuned at The Emergency's Facebook page for full and future details as they come in!

It's great to see The Emergency Festival back for year 2, and after the positive response to last year's event, hopefully everyone at LopLops sees an even bigger turnout and reception for the sequel! Stay tuned as we hear more on where bands are playing, and for future lineup announcements!

We'll close today with new videos, including footage of Sault Michigan cover rock band The London Gentlemen covering some familiar songs at a wedding last year! Though this popular area band does cover the occasional heavy tune, posted media mostly points to general and indie rock covers, but given that their lineup includes Nixxon Dixxon alums Kyle Beaumont & Jake Lalonde, plus the extremely talented Mike Libertoski on guitar, you know the talent's there no matter what sound! Fronted by Fallen Heroes alum Mike Russo, 40 minutes of video from a wedding that The London Gentlemen played at in January 2014 at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino can be seen at the band's YouTube channel, and while I can't make out every song due to the audio quality and vocal levels, the first video includes covers of The Marshall Tucker Band, The Black Keys, and Blind Melon, among others.

Embedded below is the second video from their wedding show, including covers of Imagine Dragons and Foster the People, but punk fans will especially want to check out their solid cover of Sublime's "Santeria" about 7 minutes in! None of the songs here are badly done, but the video quality is mixed at best, and the camera is oddly distant from the stage (also, it's too bad more people weren't dancing, given that this was a wedding gig.) Check out these London Gentlemen videos above & below, and stay tuned in case we find more hard rock or punk covers from them!

Finally, here's the latest videos from ex-Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy's personal YouTube channel! One is from February (apologies for the delay on this making the site) and it's a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Never Going Back Again" alongside guest singer Jon Scott, who had also featured on Alex's Kodaline cover from last year. Solid performance of this softer number, and both guys handle their parts well! Alex's newest video (embedded below) is a cover of Dustin Lynch's "Hell of a Night", which is uniquely staged as a music video with Alex playing and singing in outdoor locales, including a beach. A country cover is a little unique considering Alex's usual cover range, but he handles this one well with an improving vocal range and nice guitar work! Check out Alex's newest videos above and below, and stay tuned for more videos from him when posted!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison), More Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

For our second of this busy weekend's concert preview posts, we're generally looking at Saturday nighters, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for TOMORROW and all month, but we also have some assorted updates at post's end! If you're wondering, we are previewing tomorrow night's fifth annual Swampstravaganza in a second post later today to spread it out and give it more emphasis, so don't worry, it's coming! Now, here's what you need to know for this weekend!

Local hard rock solo singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's weekly concert arrangement at The Harp Bar & Grill will indeed continue TOMORROW NIGHT, so we'll add May dates to our concert schedule! Apologies for the short notice, we were waiting for Tym to announced new dates online before confirming them here. Though his listed dates on his website's calendar ended last Friday, and there weren't new updates to it at the time of this writing, his Harp run hasn't ended yet, so we'll add dates for May 15th & 16th, 22nd, and 29th & 30th) to our listings, with Saturday, May 23rd absent here due to The Harp's likely broadcast of UFC 187 that night. For reference, Tym is not visbily playing there tonight, presumably due to an outside booking, but we haven't heard what that is yet. Again, we're taking his Harp bookings a month at a time due to their uncertain length, but his acoustic hard rock covers are more than welcome any time of the year!

TOMORROW'S show (and the rest this month) have a 10:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 19+ age limit, so for more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Tym's lengthy and successful run at the former Madison's Pub continue on past it's cutoff on his calendar, and hopefully there's lots more shows to come there! For a preview, here's Tym live in 2013!

Moving to previously announced concerts, local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! Last seen in March, the former Suicide Kings will be playing at The Rockstar Bar for the first time in over 4 months, and tomorrow's one-nighter (Havadder are playing there tonight) should be a great time for fans of this popular and talented band! However, like in March, Beaumont Avenue will feature bassist Mitch Sirie's Bear Hunters bandmate Johnny Belanger on guest drums in place of Ben Boudreau due to his out of town commitments in Hamilton, but he will likely be back behind the kit during summer gigs. Also, note that Beaumont Avenue's planned Rockstar Bar shows on June 19th and July 18th appear to have been cancelled, as per to the quiet recent deletion of their Facebook event pages.

A reason for the apparent cancellations hasn't been announced, but we will keep you posted if either is rescheduled! As for tomorrow, Beaumont Avenue are scheduled to rock The Rockstar Bar at 10:00 PM, there's no announced cover (but bring cash just in case), and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, don't miss Beaumont Avenue's return TOMORROW NIGHT, and here's the guys live last summer!

Also announced for this weekend is a rare Rednecks Saloon appearance by local party/hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom TOMORROW NIGHT! As announced via frontman Greg Simpson's promotional company Maxx Entertainment's website, this is the first instance that we can find of Stiffler's Mom playing at the former Nicolet Tavern among past shows listed online, but whether this would be their debut there or not, this has been a long time coming! For the sake of clarity, I will note that Stiffler's Mom have not confirmed this show outside Maxx Entertainment's wesbite, which also lists a Bone Yard concert there for tonight, but that presumably has been cancelled (the Redneck Rock 4 band show takes place there tonight.) If anything is stated to the contrary regarding the Stiffler's Mom concert, we'll let you guys know, but for now, we'll treat it as on.

A 10:00 PM start time is likely for tomorrow, you must be 19 to attend, and there is no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the above links, don't miss Stiffler's Mom at The Rednecks Saloon TOMORROW unless we hear otherwise, and here's the guys at The Canadian!



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

• The Emergency Festival is indeed coming back for a second year! The LopLops Lounge-produced summer concert festival (which arguably replaced Rotaryfest's Second Stage) will return downtown on Saturday, August 15th, and will presumably again feature concerts, performers, and vendors both outside on Queen Street and in LopLops all day, but performers and a schedule are to be announced. Stay tuned as more comes in, and click here for info!
• Local goregrind duo Rotopsy have added a new date to their summer tour plans, which will take place at "Crawford" on Saturday, June 20th. This presumably alludes to Blood Shed rapper Phat Boii's residence, as he referenced adding a house party gig there to the calendar, but details on the address (and if it's even a public event) are forthcoming. Stay tuned!
• Newer local grind/thrash trio Them have been named as the presumed final openers for the Caym-headinined concert at The Oddfellows Hall next Friday, as per a quiet recent update to the Facebook event page. Given Heavy North Entertainment's promotional involvement, their addition makes sense, so look for them alongside Caym, Jack Spades, and The Bear Hunters next Friday night, and keep posted for updates!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Swampstravaganza preview and more later today! Thanks everyone!

Bear Hunters & Apocalypse Afterparty Album Previews, Emergency Festival Fallout, And More!!

While we wait for Jackyl concert fallout, here's a new news post on this Sunday morning, as we have big updates regarding two upcoming albums, some long overdue fallout from a local summer festival, and more assorted shorter updates! Now, here's what you need to know!

Local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters have finally released a full track from their forthcoming debut album "Eternal Hibernation"! Posted onto their YouTube channel on Friday to coincide with what would have been late guitarist Andres Duchesne's 25th birthday, the band chose "Bloodthirst" as the first public demo from the album as it was the first song that Andres and The Bear Hunters' original lineup wrote together. The song is "mostly mixed" and "not fully refined", but it's nice to hear the full track! The cover artwork for the CD can also be seen on your right and below, as designed by singer Nik Deubel's Chronic Demonic bandmate Kevin Powe, though it remains to be seen whether The Bear Hunters' logo and/or the album's name will be added. I find it evokes more of a black metal essence, but Kevin did strong work as always on the design! As I expect to be reviewing "Eternal Hibernation" on the site soon after it's release (and no, a firm date for it hasn't been announced yet), I won't comment yet on the song, but check out the unfinished studio version of "Bloodthirst" below, and stay tuned for more updates!



Next up, here's some long awaited fallout from the first annual Emergency Festival that took place at the old Rotaryfest Second Stage's stomping grounds two weeks ago! SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand to cover the festival and take photos of some of the bands, though of the three acts with an SMS-fitting sound, only The Pixo Control (complete with animal facepaint) are included in the album. Strong photos either way, and it looks like the festival was well attended, so click here for the full article and photos! The album also confirms that Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook was on hand to MC the main stage, which is pretty cool also! For The Music Inside were also on hand for their own coverage, though aside from this photo of Gnaeus, their Facebook photos largely focused on acts and fans at the main Emergency stage. Nicely taken in their own right too, it's good to see F.T.M.I. showing up to get media at more concerts! Moving back to Village Media properties, Local2 have been teasing The Emergency for their next episode of Tuned, but before that, this video on the festival is now online, so what's within?

Along with performances by main stage artists Kalle Mattson, Lindi Ortega, and The Treasures, the video features an interview by the aforementioned Donna Hopper with Emergency organizer/LopLops Lounge owner Stephen Alexander about why the festival was launched, their artist selection, and the biggest surprise about the festival. No acts from other stages are featured here, but maybe more will turn up in the forthcoming Tuned episode, and we'll let you know when it is posted! See above for more on The Emergency!

Also today, here' the latest from new local metal/rap duo The Apocalypse Afterparty, including the revelation that they're apparently already working on a debut EP! As revealed on their Facebook page on Thursday, they were apparently beginning recordings for the first track on Friday with producer Jamie Vincent (AlgomA, Bad Back), and they're planning to work with "another great local talent" on the second song, with a third also to be included. The guys are hyping this as being "disgustingly raw & tight", so we'll have to see where things lead! Optimistic news for sure, especially seeing as X & Z haven't played a public concert yet, but some readers may have attended a private house party show that they played at last night (along with Bad Back and some Blood Shed Productions artists), so media from that might be forthcoming. Lastly relating to this new band's EP sessions, this Facebook video was posted yesterday that features a sneak peek of their song "The Crowd", so how do things sound?

Again, I hope to review a finished EP down the road, so I'll hold my thoughts for now, but the recording sounds good in this form (straight from the computer), and look for some cameos from band associates! Remember, "The Crowd" is very similar in structure to (if not the same as) a song from Paul Stanghetta's old(?) band The Fury, so if it sounds familiar, that may be why. Interesting stuff is on the horizon, so see more above & below from The Apocalypse Afterparty!



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

• This is just a late addendum to our piece on defunct local punk band The Bottom Half, as I recently came across their old MySpace page! It has improvements on their PureVolume page via this band photo from the former Sault Music Scene, and 4 songs ("Open Up", "How Far", "Friday Night", and "Mistakes") from their planned "Beginnings Change" album. Like before, they have an energetic pop punk sound, though one could argue that members' later work has matured considerably. Check out more from The Bottom Half above though, and their link on our listings is now from MySpace!
• A local musician named Rob Charlebois is looking to find a drummer for a rock band that he's currently with, though he didn't specify a genre beyond just "rock", and jam sessions would take place once or twice a week. If you're interested in trying out (especially if it leans to hard rock or punk), message Rob at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from two weeks ago!
• Local/Toronto indie punk veterans Treble Charger will be playing a free acoustic concert this Thursday at Speakeasy 21 in Toronto! As it's an acoustic gig, I assume just Greig & Bill will be playing a'la their older acoustic shows since their reunion, but I can't 100% verify that. Sounds like a good way to end the summer, keep it in mind if you're in the Toronto area this week! Our source is the band's Facebook page.

That's all for today, but stay tuned  for more news and features this week! Thanks everyone!

The Emergency Festival & Tym Morrison Concert Previews!!

For our first of two concert preview posts this weekend, we're looking at the latest of an ongoing regular arrangement at a central venue this weekend, and the debut of a new (but familiar) concert festival on Saturday! If you're curious, Sault Michigan hard rock previews, anything short notice, and an acknowledgement of this weekend's private Das Bunkerfest will come in our next full news post, and yes, I am aware of some big recent concert announcements (they're coming too!) Now, here's what you need to know for the first of the weekend's heavier events!

We'll start with Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's ongoing weekly concert arrangement, which will continue TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT for his 36th straight week at The Harp Bar & Grill! After another one week spell where he only played one show, this prolific local hard rock & metal artist will return to his usual hosted jam night tomorrow and a regular solo acoustic gig on Saturday, so whichever you prefer, Tym will be delivering the hard rock cover goods at the former Madison's Pub! Like usual for his Harp shows, there's no announced cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and 10:00 PM start times are likely. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Tym's definitely doing something right for his run at The Harp to continue for so long, so whether you're an established fan of his current shows, or new to the party, keep this weekend's events in mind for some unplugged live entertainment! For a preview, here's Tym live at the former Smack Daddy's covering Metallica!



Next up, a new local concert festival makes it's debut THIS SATURDAY as LopLops Lounge hosts the first ever Emergency Festival! Sponsored by SooToday parent company Village Media and Tenaris Algoma Tubes, this event is in response to the "state of emergency" from the loss of many recent local concert festivals, and can be seen as a spiritual successor in particular to the on-hiatus Rotaryfest Second Stage, which shared a similar folk & roots performer lineup to The Emergency, and also featured LopLops and Tenaris among it's driving forces. However, The Emergency Festival will differ by featuring four different stages of music on Saturday, all taking place on Queen Street between East & Brock Street, with businesses open as usual, pop-up patios featuring craft beer along the block, as well as artisans, craftsmen, a farmer's market, and other family entertainment, so check the above links, SooToday's article on the event, The Sault Star's article and interview with promoter Stephen Alexander, and The Emergency's Facebook page for more details on the non-musical events taking place on Saturday! So, with four stages of music going down on Saturday, what can you see then?

Aside from the main stage, the three alternative "clinic" stages will run simultaneously from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and it's there you'll find the only performers this year that would fit on the SMS. The fourth "Pulse" stage will run outside of The Pita Pit on Saturday, and will feature DJ Seith, Yukon folk project Old Cabin, and local solo performers Chloe Moore, Chris West (as Great Chamberlain), Nick Luck (as Aldous), and Kylie Precepa, so click here for full details on that stage! The second "Acute" stage will be held outside of Case's Music, and it will feature Role Models frontman (and Inner City Surfers alum) Brad "Example" Lacell in a rare solo concert set, so look for some entertaining punk rock renditions from him at The Emergency on Saturday! His set will be at 12:00 PM, preceding headlining sets by country artist Lorrie Bolduc at 2:00 PM and Sault native Mark Kulmala at 1:00 PM, while Ryan Seabrook will open the "Acute" stage at 11:00 AM. Like the other stages at The Emergency, this is FREE & ALL AGES, so click here and check the above links for more details on this stage!

Interesting to see sort of "themed" stages, but it does allow for choice, and while it would be nice to see more of a metal or punk angle, Brad will deliver some of that on Saturday at noon, so don't miss his set if you're at The Emergency! For a preview, here's Brad Example covering a Hozier song!

Before touching on the other stage with "heavier" bands, let's acknowledge the main stage, which will be held in a similar location to the old Rotaryfest Second Stage just past The Grand Theatre. Mostly featuring Toronto-area bands, the "Emergency" stage will feature roots rockers The Treasures, country singer Lindi Ortega, local/Ottawa folk favourite Kalle Mattson, country rockers The Order of Good Cheer (featuring Saultite Frank Guidoccio), indie rockers Jane's Party, country artist Whitney Rose, and local blues rockers The Frasiers, so click here for full details on the main stage, which goes down from 3:00-10:00 PM after the clinic stages wrap up! As for the remaining stage, that's the third "Shock" stage, which is the only Emergency location to be hosted indoors, more specifically, inside LopLops Lounge proper. Basically, this stage is a partial reprise of last month's well received Lopstock all ages event, and it will be headlined by local post-punk quartet Gnaeus at 2:00 PM and alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control at 1:00 PM! Nice to see both of these rising young bands back at it, so don't miss them either!

The opening bands at LopLops/the "Shock" stage will be newer local band Mashagama (likely successors to The Narwhal Sessions and Obviously D'uh) and local acoustic rock trio K.I.C.K. at 12:00 PM & 11:00 AM respectively. Though indoors, the FREE & ALL AGES statuses stand for the "Shock" stage, so check the above links for more details! While the main stage will appeal to past Second Stage fans, LopLops regulars, and country lovers, the "Shock" stage will be right up the alleys of Ears & Eyes followers and fans of some of the rising younger talent in the area, and it's your best bet for some heavier action during The Emergency! Don't miss it if you're downtown this weekend, and here's The Pixo Control covering Nirvana at Gusto's!



Very ambitious, especially for a first year festival, but it does fill what would have been Buskerfest's weekend on the calendar, and if you love past Second Stages, you'll love The Emergency! Hopefully this is a success to help repair some of the wounds to 2014's local festival calendar, and maybe we'll get a larger punk and/or metal element in 2015 if all goes well! Don't miss The Emergency on Saturday, and stay tuned for more previews and big concert announcements soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Emergency), The Danger Cats On Shaw TV, And More!!

Keeping the news coming so we can beat the next rainfall, we have an intriguing LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month for those of you who missed The Second Stage, and some new videos featuring some known female hard rock talent in Sault Ontario, so here's what you need to know, and check out this month's YouTube Channel Profile in the post below this one!

At least three acts that fit the SMS' coverage range will be taking part in LopLops Lounge's new concert festival The Emergency, which will be taking place on Saturday, August 9th both in LopLops and outdoors on Queen Street East! Possibly a successor or replacement for the Rotaryfest Second Stage (which LopLops had co-organized before it's 2014 hiatus), this all ages downtown festival will see bands playing all day at three outdoor locations, along with a stage set up inside LopLops itself. This adds up to four stages in  all, named respectively "The Emergency Stage", "Acute", "Shock", and "Pulse", so click each name for each respective Facebook event page! As it currently stands, the fourth Pulse stage has no announced performers, and the first Emergency stage (which features local bands like Kalle Mattson and out of town headliners like The Treasures) has nothing visibly heavy, but how about the other stages?

On the second "Acute" stage, fans will be able to see Role Models frontman/Inner City Surfers alum Brad "Example" Lacell in a likely acoustic punk solo set, which should be entertaining among the early stages of The Emergency! This stage is solely comprised of solo artists, with Lorrie Bolduc & Mark Kulmala headlining at 2:00 & 1:00 PM respectively, while Greg MacLachlan will open at 11:00 AM. As for the third "Shock" stage, it's essentially a reprise of Lopstock from earlier this month, with alternative hard rockers The Pixo Control and post-punk rockers Gnaeus returning for sets at 2:00 & 12:00 PM respectively, and both should be riding high off of their recent successes! That stage will be headlined by acoustic trio K.I.C.K. at 3:00 PM, with newer band Mashagama returning in the 1:00 PM slot, and remember, this is the only Emergency stage advertised to take place indoors. Along with the musical entertainment, promoters are advertising farmer's markets, artisans, and patios to take in as well for the event, with the Emergency expected to wrap up at 10:00 PM after The Treasures' first stage set.

For more details, visit the above links! The Emergency sounds ambitious on the surface, but with LopLops past relationship with the Second Stage, I'm not worried about how this is ran. Fans of the Second Stage (whether it comes back next year or not) will be right at home with The Emergency, which retains a very similar band lineup with a focus on indie & roots rock, plus select out of town bands, and it's nice to see some of the younger Ears & Eyes-affiliated bands get a showcase too! I'm curious to see how the Pulse stage fills out, and especially, to see if this is a success, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

We'll close today with new videos, including a long teased feature on Shaw TV Sault Ste. Marie featuring local all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats! If you're not a Shaw customer and can't turn your dials to channel 10 for the rolling hourly airing of the piece, then never fear, as the girls posted the video onto their YouTube channel last night, so what should you know? Hosted by veteran local bassist Nathan Bouliane with camera work by Free Beer's Christian Lemay, I believe this is part of the new Boardwalk Sessions series that Nathan's been working on with Shaw TV. The interview features an interview with the band (minus drummer Calico Katie), while bassist Jamie Jaguar doesn't feature in the outdoor performance clips, which are of two acoustic guitar original songs, parts of which are shot in black & white. Oddly, Nathan doesn't feature on camera interviewing the girls, with questions shown in Clerks-esque title cards, but what's in the interview?

The video features Kate Kougar, Paula Panther, and Jamie talking about how they met, the inspiration for the band's name, why Kate wanted to form an all-girl band, their musical backgrounds, their view on the local scene, their upcoming plans for 2014, and where you can find them online. In terms of new items, the band did reveal that they want to have proper songwriting sessions this year towards a CD, which would be cool to see happen! Solid interview, though the girls did seem a bit shy on camera, but Danger Cats fans will definitely enjoy it! Check out the full video below (or hourly this week on channel 10), and stay tuned for more videos from them soon!



Finally, here's two new solo performance video from Shadowthrone guitarist and solo metal singer Sabrina Strange (a.k.a. Isla Encanto), as uploaded to her YouTube channel on Sunday! Both are solo vocal & keyboard covers of Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box", with the shorter first take viewable here, and a longer version embedded below. These are just practice renditions and not intended to be refined final copies, but she does take this grunge classic and make it darker and more symphonic, and it's interesting to hear! For reference, some fans may have heard that Shadowthrone will be playing (I think) their first live concert in Garden River next month as part of an AlgomA-hosted event named Das Bunkerfest, alongside Pillory's first set since the winter, and numerous other bands, but that's an invite-only house party, hence why we haven't plugged it on here as a public show. If you've received an invite, keep it in mind, and give Sabrina's newest videos a look above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews soon, along with Rotaryfest videos and more updates! Thanks everyone!