LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Destroyer), Northern Film Showcase Preview, And Much More!!

Before we begin today's post, just one more Joni Radford-related note, as her obituary is finally on SooToday, which notes that memorial contributions to the Canadian Cancer Society, ARCH Hospice, or the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society. Also, it's made clear there that yesterday's services were a private family event, which I didn't know when including in our last post, as the spread on social media among contacts made it seem more open. If I erred in mentioning them here, I do sincerely apologize, and our best thoughts remain with the Radford and Morin families.

Now, let's dive into today's post, which includes some assorted recent updates, a new song, a preview of a special event taking place this weekend, and first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as Windsor-based Kiss tribute band Destroyer will return to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday, March 30th at The Canadian Nightclub! This will be Destroyer's fourth local concert appearance in the 2010s, and their first since May 2015 (their July 2017 show at The Rockstar Bar was cancelled on short notice, which slipped us by at the time.) Kiss Army members should definitely keep an eye on this show, as Destroyer's faithful looking and sounding brand of Kiss classics should deliver a solid turnout at The Canadian in March, so don't miss their local return then! In a surprise announcement, the local openers will be reunited hard rock cover quartet Griphook, in their first public concert appearance since Rotaryfest 2017. Griphook had previously opened for Destroyer locally in 2015, so if you loved that show, here's an encore!

It's great to see Griphook finally end their nearly 2 year long hiatus, and they are now back in our active band links, but how will they sound after the layoff? Be at The Canadian in two months to find out! This 19+ concert has a 10:00 PM start time, and while admission fees have not yet been announced, note that Destroyer's 2015 concert had $12 advance tickets and a $16 door charge. This should be a great chance for fans to get their live Kiss fix and welcome Griphook back to the public stage, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, this isn't a concert, but for an event as unique as this, I felt it deserved one more preview on here, as local filmmaker and rock bassist Nathan (Jonna) Bouliane and McBully Productions are hosting their second annual Northern Film Showcase THIS SUNDAY at Shooters Downstairs Lounge (formerly Breakaway Bar & Grill) at 69 Dennis Street, with a theme centered around music videos from local artists! This event is intended to bring local musicians and filmmakers together to make connections, generate exposure, and network for future collaborations, and creators on both sides are encouraged to attend the showcase, which will feature mystery live performances, speeches from local musicians, and a screening of at least 10 music videos. Two are on the heavier spectrum for SMS readers, including The Bear Hunters' "I Fear No God" & Mike Haggith's "The Nature of The Times", though I'm fairly certain neither is performing live.

The other videos come courtesy of Audiosmile, Renee Landry, Kalle Mattson, Mike Mikus, Jackson Reed, Mic Swiff, Britta Wolfert, and at least one publically uncredited performer (one is in the new Facebook cover video for the event, so you might be able to play detective.) Tickets are $10 and can be bought at Shooters or presumably at the door, while this has a special 4:00 PM start time. This is definitely a unique event for this area, but it'll be a great chance for musicians and filmmakers to meet and discuss mutual interests, and local music and film lovers can see some professionally done music videos as well! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Also today, here's some updates regarding the Ozbourne concert at The Canadian Nightclub in March, starting with a date change, as the show has been moved from Friday, March 29th to Saturday, March 23rd, as per updates to the Facebook event page. A reason for the date switch wasn't announced, but it's not often where a concert is moved to an earlier day, so fans will get their Winnipeg-bred Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath tribute action a little sooner! A local opener has also been announced, they being blues rock trio The Paul DellaVedova Band, in a rare non-Rotaryfest support appearance from them. Interesting genre disparity here, but Paul and company can go heavy on occasion, and they should warm the crowd up well in two months! Notably, they replaced acoustic country duo The Bearded Lounge as the openers, with that band originally advertised last week at this link, but a reason for their withdrawal wasn't announced either. See above for updates!

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 column name:

• As per their Facebook page, local indie/punk trio Northwest will try their hand at CBC's annual Searchlight music competition again this year! The guys made the Northern Ontario regional semifinals in this event back in 2015, and with a new EP, now seems like a good time for them to try again in this national search for Canada's best new artist! Full contest details for prospective musicians can be found at the above links, and stay tuned for when voting kicks off!
• In their first proper Facebook page post since it's launch, new local Tool tribute band Parabol thanked everyone for liking them so far (they're already at 255 fans!), and they teased "possibly scheduling a show in March." With Destroyer and Ozbourne already booked for that month, why not one more tribute band concert for good measure? If this gets confirmed, we'll let you know!
• The most recent installment of Ernest Skinner's Rock Talk column on SaultOnline went online on January 12th, where he largely talked about live albums from bands and his opinions & reminiscences on them. Interesting read with a lot of good points, so give it a look at this link! No sign yet of new Rock Talk columns, including some with more teased musician interviews.

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

A New Local Solo Project, Chase Wigmore Updates, And Much More!!

Here's another new post for your Sunday afternoon reading, and it includes some assorted recent updates, the return of the bumped Northern Film Showcase write-up from Friday's post, and the latest from a prolific solo artist, but let's lead off with a new local act that we recently came across!

We have a new local death metal solo project to add to our band links, namely Black Cloud! Publically launching their Facebook page in November, Black Cloud is led by local singer/guitarist Peytan Andreola, who some readers may recognize from musician searches that he conducted in 2015 & 2016. Public details are minimal as of yet for this project, but Peytan has posted four original demo tracks onto Black Cloud's Reverbnation and Soundcloud pages, as well as three videos on their Facebook page, so what can be said on these? The most unique aspect of these songs so far is their inclusion of Shamanic and trance elements, plus what he calls "world drums", so much so that two of his videos are just of him playing skin drums rather than a traditional kit. You'll even here a flute instrument of some kind at times, and "Fade" & "Count The Calling" are the most experimental in the above regard.

The audio quality of the demos isn't pristine, and Peytan should work on the song structures and vocal clarity, but there's enough unique elements here that Black Cloud already stand out on their own merit, and I'm curious to see what he has in store next! Here's Peytan playing Black Cloud's death metal original "Blood Red Hands", and give more a look/listen above!



Next up, here's the latest from local experimental/folk/metal solo artist Chase Wigmore, who posted on his Facebook page on Friday to update fans on his recent studio work. In that post, he admitted that the other four unreleased EPs in the "12 EPs of Christmas" series are complete, but he didn't post them as page likes allegedly dropped while he was posting the first eight, and he apologized to fans who may have been turned off by him posting too much. I can't speak for everyone else, but for someone who covers Sykotyk Rampage and Mike Haggith (two acts who have far more canon albums in their repertoire than Chase), this amount is nothing, and I'm glad to see him pumping out so much new music! Partially thanks to our coverage of the first 8 EPs of Christmas last week (thanks for the positive words!), Chase said that he will get the other four posted, but before that point, he has some teaser material from another EP to share.

As previously hinted, he plans to put out a 27th canon "album" after the 12 EPs series concludes, entitled "Solving The Human Condition", and this (untitled?) teaser track was shared on Friday from it as a Facebook video. The song sounds a little like Chase shredding over top of the sounds of city life and traffic (complete with police sirens), and if nothing else, it's a nice showcase of his guitar skill and soloing! How will the full release turn out? We'll let you know when more goes public, but give Chase's new upload a listen below, and stay tuned for updates, including on the teased Rednecks Saloon show later this week!



Also, here's some information on an upcoming event that has some SMS-relevant content! Prolific local bassist & filmmaker Nathan (Jonna) Bouliane and his local/Ottawa company McBully Productions are hosting their second annual Northern Film Showcase on Sunday, January 27th, and following last year's surreal/fantasy theme event, this year's will be centered around music videos from local artists. The idea is to unite local musicians and filmmakers for networking, collaborations, and exposure therein, and students, filmmakers, and musicians are encouraged to attend. There will be a music video viewing party, live performances to be announced, and some industry experts will speak about the music industry and how filmmaking and video production can play in. The cover video on the Facebook event page confirms that Mike Haggith's video for "The Nature of The Times" will be screened, alongside videos from Mike Mikus, Jackson Reed, Kalle Mattson, and Audiosmile.

No word on if we'll see more videos than these 5, and for reference, Audiosmile are the new EDM/rock project from Anthems vs. Oceans' Dave Hunter. The Northern Film Showcase will be held at Shooters Downstairs Lounge (formerly Breakaway Bar & Grill) at 69 Dennis Street, just down the road from The Oddfellows Hall, and it is a 4:00 PM matinee, with tickets available for $10 at this link & presumably at the door. There are some unknowns yet, but this sounds like an intriguing way to spotlight musicians and video producers alike, and hopefully there's a great turnout in two weeks! Give the full cover video a look below, and see above for more details!



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

• In a post thanking fans for their successful return shows at The Rapids Lounge this weekend, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E noted on their Facebook page this morning that "we'll see you in a month." No word as of yet when or where the presumed show(s) will be, but there are four weekends in February you may want to keep an eye on until a public reveal!
• I have restored Sault Ontario death metal solo project Gorrifier to our inactive band links! As you may recall, this was headed up by Pillory frontman/Id Iota bassist Robert Sartini in 2014, but their initial Reverbnation page was quietly deleted by year's end. Well, Gorrifier quietly launched a new Reverbnation page at some point after Pillory's 2016 reunion, so they're back at last. I don't believe Gorrifier have fresh updates, so they'll remain in our inactive links at the moment, but Rob's six brutal death metal instrumentals are still highly worth checking out at the above links!
• Local/Thompson, Manitoba hard rock solo artist Mike Haggith was interviewed on Thompson adult contemporary station 102.9 CHTM on Friday morning! The interview was conducted by DJ Maxwell Healey, where they discussed "The Nature of the Times" and Mike's upcoming album "Bridges", and his single was also played, marking Mike's debut song appearance on FM radio. No word on if the interview was recorded for posterity, but it's great to see Mike getting more exposure and recognition in Thompson!

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

A New Local Band, SweetKenny's New Albums, And New Facebook Videos!!

Before we dive into this weekend's concert previews, we have a new news post for your Wednesday afternoon, so what's on tap? A pair of new videos from bands you'll be seeing on local stages this weekend, overdue coverage of recent album releases, and leading off, a new addition to our active Sault Ontario band links, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local band to add to our listings on The Sault Metal Scene, and they are Halfway Loaded, a hard rock group from Sault Ontario! Publically launching under a different name in October, their lineup is comprised of musicians I'm largely not familiar with from prior local bands, including singer Justin Grayson, guitarists Shane Biron and Ryan Mazzapica, bassist Jesse Gottwald, and former Mustang Sally drummer Dylan Newman. So far, Halfway Loaded have only publically acknowledged concert sets at private events and at Coch's Corner open mic nights, but they have a surprising amount of videos online to check out already! Their Facebook page features acoustic videos of Justin and Shane covering Thriving Ivory, Slipknot, Oasis, and Lynyrd Skynyrd songs (plus two shorter clips, including one of Shane using a talkbox), while Shane's YouTube channel also features a number of Halfway Loaded clips, and a few solo covers we'll touch on in a future post.

Early jam clips from December 2015 and mid-2016 featured Justin, Shane, and Ryan covering the same Thriving Ivory, Slipknot, and Lynyrd Skynyrd songs (plus Theory of a Deadman & Seether), while newer postings feature renditions of Saving Abel, Seven Mary Three, and as embedded below, Monster Truck's "Don't Tell Me How To Live", though note that virtually all of these videos have at least one band member missing (Ryan in this case.) I can't make a full judgement on their full lineup yet, but they show a lot of promise on these videos so far, with Justin showcasing a solid voice, and Shane's got clear guitar talent too! Check out more from Halfway Loaded above & below, and I hope to hear more soon!

Next up, here's our belated acknowledgement and coverage of the two new solo albums from Dafter, Michigan hard rock guitarist Kenneth "SweetKenny" Sutton! Apologies for the delay in getting a formal write-up on the site outside of our review of the former album late last month. Released on February 28th and May 26th via Waterfall Records and considered his 20th & 21st official solo albums, they are entitled "Epic" & "Music Composed For Film", and as the latter's name would imply, these are intended for use as scores with movies, shows, or video games. Remember, score albums have been SweetKenny's focus in the past two years ("In Your Face" aside), so if you're familiar with his music, this won't be as surprising to know. I reviewed "Epic" last month due to it's heavier material, but neither contain a conceptual theme for one intended work like his prior score albums have tended to contain, and in the case of "Epic", there's even an alternate version of one song and isolated tracks from another, if you're so inclined.

These albums are available for around $10 each on Google Play and iTunes (though curiously not Bandcamp), and can be streamed for free at Ken's website linked above. Personally, I prefer SweetKenny's older thematic score albums to these, which are more varied and experimental, but he's continuing to showcase his musical range and talents with these releases, and hopefully they do get licensed for use in or as scores! Give them a listen and/or buy them at the above links!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with a newly discovered live concert clip from Sault Ontario alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback! Live streamed from Live705's Easter Bash at The Rockstar Bar in April by attendee John MacLean for his personal Facebook page, this was only just shared publically on A.D.S.' Facebook page yesterday. The video features the guys playing their original song "Kicking & Screaming" (well, most of it), and it's filmed from a high and far angle, capturing a somewhat unique angle of the band and fans on the floor with solid audio to boot, so definitely give it a look below, and don't miss them TOMORROW NIGHT with CKY!



Finally, here's a new video from local alternative/hard rock trio The Din's Facebook page to hype up their concert THIS SATURDAY NIGHT with Handsome Sandwich and Eclipse at The Rockstar Bar! The short clip features Mike Haggith parodying Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali's promo video for the now cancelled Machine Shop concert in March (which The Din were to have opened), and while I won't pass judgement on the original video or the protracted issues regarding that intended concert, it is a cute parody, if a little obscure for fans who didn't see Frankie's clip. Give it a look below, and stay tuned for our full preview of this concert tomorrow!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews (including CKY) tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

New Videos, Lopstock Fallout, And Much More!!

Before we get too far, I want to apologize for missing the Division of Sanity set at Relay For Life in Sault Michigan for coverage on the site today, as we were waiting for confirmation about the location and public availability, and we didn't come across it until this morning, too late to get the word out here, so we just shared it on Facebook. Hopefully it was a great event, and hopefully copies of their demo raised some good funds! Today, we have recent festival fallout, some recent assorted notes, and first, some new video finds, so here's what you need to know!

Remember how we didn't have any live videos of local punk supergroup Brad Example & The Role Models to share on here when we rolled them into our coverage earlier this week? Well, we still don't, but frontman/Inner City Surfers bassist Brad "Example" Lacell has a solo YouTube channel featuring a number of solo original songs since November 2012 that may be similar to the band's recent output! Along with solo alternative song postings by former Marshmellow Gun frontman Eric Priest and other assorted clips, Brad has uploaded 11 videos there showcasing original material and select covers (most recently of a Hozier song 5 days ago), including live performances with members of The Rising Tide from last year, among others. Some of these songs (like "Diamonds" & "Thoughts In The Dark") are softer pieces, but there's a punk sensibility on many of these uploads, particularly on his original "Get Out Alive", as seen below set to Walking Dead footage. Nice aggression and a bluesy rhythm too, so check it out below, and hear/see more of Brad's solo work above!



Next up, local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back are the subject of another new video on drummer Nathan Sauve's new YouTube channel, this time playing their original song "Girl, Do You Wanna?" in the same jam room from their prior 51 minute jam clip, albeit at a more normal angle. More of a humorous song than Bad Back is likely known for, there's periods of fast aggression and slower comical lyrical passages, and it's a fun listen, so check out their newest video below!



Also today, here's some fallout from the all ages Lopstock festival at LopLops Lounge on June 30th, which did feature local grunge/alt-rockers The Pixo Control and new post-punk band Gnaeus, so it fits here! Apologies for how delayed this got, I partly held it until after we rolled Gnaeus into our coverage. SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand to cover the event in this article, wherein she called Lopstock "a splendid showcase of young local talent", and praised the organization and attendance, which included lighting and sound from Crank Sound Distribution. Her article also confirmed the added bands that weren't advertised before showtime, those being indie/alt-rock quartet Great Chamberlain (who may have played as a Chris West solo set) and local indie musician Nick "Aldous" Luck, while colour photos of all but one band can be seen at this link and above too, and like usual, Donna got some great shots! The only band that she did not capture for the article was Mashagama, so who were they?

Attendee Jessica Bolduc shared this photo from their set onto the Lopstock Facebook event page during the show, with Mashagama appearing to be either successors to or a renaming of Obviously D'uh and/or The Narwhal Sessions, with keyboardist Jenny Anne a member of all three. Likely not a hard rock or punk band, but it answers extant questions! Looks like Lopstock was a great event, so check the above links for more fallout!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last while! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:

• If you've seen references to local hard rock quartet The Danger Cats playing a show in Goulais River last weekend on their Facebook page, you're not alone, but we can now confirm that the set was at a wedding there and not a public event. Their next public shows will be at The New American with The Archaics on Tuesday, and then at Rotaryfest next Saturday, so don't miss them! 
• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades' debut EP "The First" was reviewed by Leilah Thiel for Bucket List Music Reviews yesterday, where she gave it 9/10, calling it "13 solid minutes of driving punk thrash" and "perfect summer music." Solid review, nice to see the guys getting some wider exposure, so check out the full review at this link, and best of luck at Spiderfest this weekend!
• The first annual Soo Film Festival at The Soo Theatre in Sault Michigan on August 1st & 2nd will be screening two movies with local metal & punk ties, those being Wayne Kozeyah's documentary short about LemmaFest & in a bit of a surprise, Frightlight bassist Mike "Eddie Fright" Gingras' short film "The Kid Who Made The Face"! Nice to see even a tiny border crossover through this screening, so keep everything in mind at the festival early next month!

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