LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (BookcluB), Without Compromise Updates, And Much More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family & friends of veteran local musician Paul Leclair, who passed away yesterday of complications from cancer at the age of 74, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. While not a hard rock or metal musician, Paul will be familiar to many from his work as singer/guitarist in local bands like Midway, Moonshadow, and (most recently) Dorian Grey, who played classic rock at local venues for over a decade and were gigging as recently as last summer. For many years, Paul was the secretary-treasurer and vice president of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 276, and was a key asset in helping local musicians of many stripes to work through business, contract, and insurance dealings, as well as to get work visas put together to be able to perform/tour in the United States. He was occasionally referenced in SMS posts via his union work.

While I never had the honour of meeting Paul, we were briefly slated to judge a battle of the bands together alongside Soundcheck's Terry Eaton at the former Rednecks Saloon (Nicolet Tavern) way back in February 2015, but it was cancelled when the larger VM Radio Battle of the Bands was scheduled to begin less than two weeks later. He was a good and very knowledgeable person who helped so many local artists over the years through the union, and he will definitely be missed. R.I.P. Paul!

Today's post otherwise catches us up on some recent news, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local alternative/punk cover band BookcluB will rock The Machine Shop TOMORROW NIGHT when they open for online page-less local Tragically Hip cover band The Luxury as part of the Bon Soo Winter Carnival! Apologies for the short notice, we first learned of this show late last week via Bon Soo social media advertising. Modern day concerts outside of the opening ceremonies at Bon Soo rarely cross our radar, but this is an exception, and this special mid-week concert is reportedly being held "to show our appreciation" to Bon Soo supporters. This will be BookcluB's second publically advertised gig of 2026 (last seen at The Kiln last month), but you may have seen frontman Mikey Hawdon and bassist Dustin Jones playing outside of The Machine Shop as Dos Amigos this past weekend!

Alas, I only heard about this outdoor gig via a Facebook "story" (one of the posts that vanish from that strip on your news feed after being viewed once or twice), so here we are. I wish bands wouldn't rely on "Stories" (a couple have been posting new videos as "Stories" that are impossible for me to link to in posts), but I do apologize for missing that here. You can see the full BookcluB experience with their fan friendly and unique range of covers TOMORROW NIGHT! Note that the picture attached to the band's Facebook post plugging TOMORROW'S show includes guitarist Brandon Ruch, who moved out of town last fall, so I don't 100% know if they just used an old band photo or if he is actually returning to the Soo for this gig. As for The Luxury (featuring Tripod The Dog, Billy Bastards, Redefined, Sidekicks, and Late Shift alumni) they deliver a faithful and talented take on Hip classics from the 1980s and 1990s, so don't bypass them!

While tickets were reportedly briefly on sale early, TOMORROW'S indoor show will be FREE with a Bon Soo button ($12) or jacket tag ($8), and if you don't have one yet, they will be on sale at Mill Square if you come out. This is an all ages show at 8:00 PM. Should be a fun mix of covers (especially for Tragically Hip fans) TOMORROW at Bon Soo, so visit the above links for more details, and here's BookcluB live!

Finally for today, here's a band we haven't talked about in way too long on here, namely local rap metal project Without Compromise! I admittedly slacked in covering them for months on end, and I apologize for that, but it didn't help that project leader (and former Winkstinger guitarist) Jason Ladouceur quietly left Facebook last year. However, Jason is still working on Without Compromise, and has continued uploading music for the former Less Than Zero to its Bandlab page and YouTube channel! A lot of his newer music and art has been along the lines of the evolution of intelligence and consciousness, and he has seemed to embrace AI as tech, so keep that in mind. In listening to Jason's newest material, the music is getting more varied, with metal songs mixed in symphonic and electronic elements, and while his vocals are still a work in progress (and sometimes buried in production), he is applying them in different roles and methods of singing.

 

I won't pretend to understand the artistic ethos of Without Compromise in the past year, but there is definitely talent on display, and Jason can still shred when the song calls for it! He has seemed to play down the rap aspect (at least for his own vocals) in his newest songs, but note that his song "Todayz" seems to include an AI model of Eminem rapping. There's promising music to check out here, so dig through their Bandlab and YouTube content above to see what he's been up to, and here's one of Without Compromise's newer uploaded songs, "In The Darkness"!

 

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for much more on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Bands Looking To Play Here, Bear Hunters Related News, And Our Musicans Union!

One more post for you guys before I head to The Oddfellows Hall TONIGHT, full of some notable updates! We have three bands who have tentative dates in Sault Ontario that I'll go over, an update on our local musicians union, and first, here's some Bear Hunters-related updates, including a schedule change for tonight's concert!

WinkStinger are now the co-headliners for tonight's Icy Metal For Aborted Therapy concert at The Oddfellows Hall due to prior work commitments for at least one band member. This means that both The Bear Hunters (pictured) and State of Misery will be pushed back in the band order, though Sativa Rose & Bring The Fallen's slots are unchanged. Also, the concert has been pushed back an hour so it will now start at 6:00 PM with the doors opening at 5:30 PM. Nothing else has changed, but make note of these so you don't show up early or miss a certain band! Thanks to Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie for these updates, as sent to attendees in a Facebook e-mail. While we're on the subject of The Bear Hunters, they've talked about a lot of intriguing things for their future, including plans for both an EP and a full length album this year, with the EP to include a DVD in the package, and a planned tribute to the Big Four thrash metal bands for future shows! I probably won't cover any Bear Hunters albums here until recording officially starts, but keep all this in mind, as they have big hopes for this year! Check out their official Facebook page for more!

Now for three tentative local metal concerts, two of which need a venue, the other of which needs openers! We'll go in chronological order, and firstly, an out of town metal band looks to be the headliners at an upcoming Roosevelt Hotel metal night! Rosie owner Chad LaRoue was inquiring yesterday on the Metal Nights at The Rosie Facebook page as to local openers for a band named Skepsis on February 17th, which is a Thursday and two weeks after the next metal night on the 3rd. So I looked up Skepsis to see who they were, and believe it or not, there's at least THREE Canadian bands with this name, maybe more! None have definite dates listed for February in town though, and the only one that is hinting towards February shows doesn't even describe themselves as metal. I'm not comfortable enough to assume which Skepsis it is, but if you wanna open for them at the presumed February 17th metal night, get a hold of Chad at this location! When I hear more, especialy concerning which Skepsis this is, I'll let you guys know!

Now to shows without venues, and we'll start with a band we saw here last year! Toronto instrumental progressive trio The Isosceles Project are tentatively planning a return show in Sault Ontario on May 23rd! You may remember when they came here last August one night after the Kiss concert as one of the openers for Skull Fist at The Canadian Nightclub, or maybe you saw them on Disband on MuchMusic! A venue, additional bands, or any specific details aren't known yet for this show, so I take it nothing's finalized. Bassist Scott Tessier had told me that they are playing a longer set than they had last year, so that's a good sign! I take it the band doesn't have a finalized booking yet though, so if you're interested in booking or promoting The Isosceles Project for a local concert on May 23rd, message the band at their official MySpace page! I hope this gets finalized, as I was VERY impressed with The Isosceles Project last year, and their progressive instrumental attack will surely leave you guys wanting more as well! Stay tuned for updates if I hear them!

The other possible new concert has no specific date in mind, but maybe you can help secure one? When I was browsing the 705 Video Magazine forum recently, I came across a topic about a band's efforts to secure a local booking in May or June. The band is Vancouver progressive metal quintet Unleash The Archers, and singer/guitarist Brayden Dycszkowski posted there in the hopes of securing a booking for the band in that timeframe for their upcoming tour cycle in support of their new album. I like their sound, it's a creative mix of extreme death metal and melodic female-fronted metal, and they're pretty heavy to boot! The band has no real contacts in town, so I'll do what I can to help get them a booking in town this year! If you're interested in helping set up an Unleash The Archers concert in town later this year, contact the above links to show your interest! I'd like to see them here, how about you guys?

And finally for today, this is a new find for me, but we have mentioned this group on here before. In May, you may remember us talking about Sault Ste. Marie's own musicians union, The American Federation of Musicians, Local 276. When browsing links the other day, I found out that they actually have an official website! It mentions that one of the bands who is members of Local 276 is Woods of Ypres, though it doesn't name drop any other metal bands as members. The site is descirptive in talking about Local 276's history, why you should join, and all the benefits that becoming unionized can offer. This can go from playing in the United States to recording to even helping fill in for other musicians, there are many benefits to getting your band into the AFM! Definitely consider joining this union if you're in a local band, it could pay off in the future! Click here for details on how to join! Also, note that one of the executive board members is veteran local musician Ric Datson, now best known as the drummer for That's Chester!

That's all for today, but I'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Oddfellows Hall! Thanks everyone!b

A New Local Music Webzine, Our Local Musicians Union, And More Assorted News!

Greetings everyone, another quick post to tide you local metalheads over with! We have a newly started local music webzine to plug, along with a story you musicians might be interested in from it, and more smaller assorted stories from the last while to run through. Let us begin!

Prolific local rock drummer Glen Thomas (most notable from his recent work in Flat Stanley) has been a constant source of music and divisive opinion for many years, and now, his newest music venture is "The Barking Eye: The Sault's Music News Blog", a new local music-based magazine! It's a new creation that Glen launched on Tuesday, where he looks to talk about more local music, past and present! Do NOT write it off as an SMS copycat, it has many differences! It looks to be more expansive to other genres, and Glen appears to be talking more about older stuff as well, and he injects some cool personal opinion and reflection into his stories, largely from his diverse history in the local scene. Also, individual posts are just one story each, and he put his graphic design skills to great use, I love the look! There's lots of room to grow this, I just hope he keeps it up! Click here to check it out, and remember, websites need readers to grow, so follow it and read the stories! Also, thanks to Glen for adding the SMS as a link, I have returned the favour!

So many local music blogs/sites/magazines/et cetera have died from a lack of dedication or support, so I really hope Glen keeps this up! After all, he's managed to keep his forum Freq's Music Planet going strong for years, and message boards are very hard to start and keep alive (I know that from experience), so hopefully this will succeed! Plus, as I tell people all the time, I wish other people would do exactly what I'm doing for their own musical preferences or viewpoints. Maybe this will help open the floodgates? We cover metal and hard rock, and hopefully Glen covers even more genres to give them even more coverage!

Now, seeing as this is a local music news source, no matter how recent it is, I've already found a new story there that will be worth your while, particularly to band members. Did you know that there actually is a local musicians union? Yes, you and your band can be unionized, by becoming members of The American Federation of Musicians, Local 276! Don't be fooled by the name either, the AFM is based out of Toronto. I'll give you guys info on how to join in a second, but are you wondering why joining a union would help you and your band? Glen points out that one major benefit to joining the AFM is that they will help you figure out how to work through red tape to play shows outside of Canada, particularly across the river. I'm not a musician or legal expert, but rest assured, it's not just a "grab your gear and go" situation. The AFM can help you figure out any legal issues your band may need to worry about, so you can focus on your music. This also includes contract issues and copyright-related stuff, so you and your band can get back to music and not worry too much about legal crap. There are many benefits to joining, and their website will fill you in on anything else you may want to know. Also, read Glen's piece on the AFM, Local 276, at this location!

The AFM is a legit union, it's been around since 1896 (our chapter was born in 1918), and has 90,000 members across Canada and the United States. This could be very beneficial to bands out there who hope to make it big, rather than just play local bar shows on weekends. So what else should you know? If you join, your annual membership dues are $125, $75 if you want to pay semi-annually, with initiation fees of $10 (local) and $65 (national). If you want more information from the AFM, Local 276, e-mail afm276@soonet.ca or dragonslayer52ca@yahoo.ca, or call 254-2210. Click here for their full mailing address, fax number, key personnel, and more information! At least consider joining this, guys, this could benefit your music career going forward! And if you Sault Michiganders are wondering if you have a local AFM chapter, you do not. There isn't even one in the Upper Peninsula. If you want to be unionized, you'll either have to join Local 276 (whether Americans can join a Canadian chapter, I can't say), or you'll have to try the nearest American chapter, which is Local 57 out of Saginaw. If you're at all interested in joining Saginaw's AFM branch, click here, but try for the Sault Ontario one first, one must be open to letting you guys in!

Now, three more assorted news stories for today, still clearing those out! I have more to come, but those will be in my next major news post. These are, once again, in alphabetical order by band or event name:

• If you're a fan of Vancouver death metal band Doom Cannon, you're probably aware of the still-pending show they may or may not be headlining at The Oddfellows Hall on...Tuesday. With 4 days left until then and no official announcements confirming it from the promoters, what is it's status? Unclear. While the event page still has no new updates, Doom Cannon's new tour poster DOES list a "Saulte Ste Marie" show for May 18th, spelling as printed. Honestly, I doubt the show's on, especially with such little time to promote and advertise, but if I hear otherwise, you'll of course hear it here!
• The Downtown Showdown battle of the bands on May 28th at The Oddfellows Hall is still looking for local bands interested in competing! But is that upper age limit of 25 still in your way? Well, this might help. Organizer Tiffy Thompson confirmed in a post on the 705 Video Magazine forums that 25 can be the maximum AVERAGE age for your band too! So if you have someone 26 or older, but your combined average age is 25, you can still enter! Contact info at the links above if your band wants in! So if your band has people 22, 24, 26, and 28 years old, you're good to go!
• Sault Michigan solo artist/Grooves Music instructor Mike Libertoski posted an update to MySpace friends of his inactive death metal band Slackjawed Rats that he has a new solo song posted on his MySpace page! It's called "By Rights", and it's a slower jazzier number. Not bad, but if it's not your thing, he has heavier recent songs up too, my favourite being "A Lifelong Burden"! Great stuff he's putting out, still like to get a hold of his albums though. Check his solo work out!

Finally for today, have you been following my CD review schedule closely? Probably not, but I've deliberately not been reminding you guys just to see if you'd remember what I have coming up! And yes, tomorrow, I WILL be posting my re-review of Garden of Bedlam's debut EP! I originally gave it a review upon my purchase of it last April, but since I started monthly reviews, my style has grown and honestly, I really don't like my initial review of it. Not nearly as in-depth as I'd like. So that's tomorrow at some point, stay tuned for it! As for my June album review? I'm actually gonna keep my choice secret for now. Two reasons: A. I don't know if any local bands will have a release for June, as there could be a new release of note next month. And B. I want my review next month to connect to something, rather than just be a random selection from the library of local albums I have. Remember when I reviewed Fitswitch's E.P. in October to coincide with Frightlight's debut show? Yeah, same deal. So as shows pop up for June, keep in mind albums that those musicians might have played on, cause a review of that album could very well be in store! As for a timeframe, look for it to be between June 16th and 22nd, unless a link to a certain day or an album release is too good of a day to pass up.

That's all for today, my next news post will likely be Sunday or Monday, and my next post of any type will be TOMORROW with my revisit of Garden of Bedlam's debut E.P.! Also keep an eye out for a post on Tuesday, where we close down our current poll on Kiss' upcoming concert, share the results, and get down to business with a brand new poll! Busy stretch coming up, so stay tuned!