Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Half Past

It's now time for our last Defunct Local Band Profile of the year, as we once again look at a randomly chosen defunct or inactive metal, hard rock, or punk band from the Sault Ste. Marie area, in order to spotlight them, their activity, their material, and more from their local run! We're ending 2014 with a prominent Sault Ontario band from the turn of the 2010s, but I will just note as a reminder that we will not mention the recent legal issues of one of this band's ex-members here, as it's irrelevant to our focus on local bands and music on the site, not to mention this profile. Now, here's what you should know on this former local band!
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Half Past

Genre: Hard Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics)

Jordan Rains (NAClamation), vocals

Alain Fletcher (Skeyes of Seven), lead guitar

Arthur "Chicky" Lacasse, bass/ex-rhythm guitar

Chris Thompson (Giwakwa, Frightlight, Fitswitch), drums

John Barber (Late Shift, Redefined), vocals
Luke LeBlanc, vocals
Charles Gibson (The Pisstanks), bass
Harley Syrette (No Arrow, Quite Frankly), bass
Ryan Disano (Caveman Morrison, Winkstinger), bass

Audio/Video: While Half Past were working on a debut CD in 2010, it was never completed, and it's preview video featuring original samples has since been pulled from public view. However, a decent amount of videos currently exist online, including a number of videos with different lineups at drummer Chris Thompson's YouTube channel, three covers from their classic lineup's last set together in February 2011 at this link, and a handful of live videos from assorted events on our YouTube channel, though note that Fingerbone-era videos aren't known to exist publically. Here's Half Past playing one of their best original songs "War Inside My Head" at The Canadian Nightclub in April 2010!



Info/Analysis: Active from 2008-2012, Half Past launched under the name Fingerbone, with their original quintet lineup debuting at Coch's Corner in the fall of 2008, though they only played a handful of gigs before a number of lineup changes & departures through 2009. After changing their name to Half Past, the band's classic quartet lineup debuted at that year's Coch's Corner Halloween Party, and followed it up with assorted headlining gigs and a set at Garden of Bedlam's website launch party during their early 2010 peak. After another hiatus partly due to bassist Arthur Lacasse's original departure, the band returned to headline at The Rockstar Bar in February 2011, but parted ways with then-singer Luke LeBlanc shortly afterwards. After acquiring new vocalist Jordan Rains, Half Past played sets at that year's Hempfest and returned for one more abbreviated set that October, but the band wouldn't take the stage again, and quietly dissolved in early 2012.

I enjoyed Half Past with all three of their singers, and it really seemed like they were going to do some big things, but they never had a sustained run of full activity under any incarnation. Al Fletcher's guitar stood out throughout, their singers all held their own, and Half Past's original songs from 2010 were entertaining, though it is disappointing that we never saw the release of their planned CD. Hopefully the guys stay active in music, and for the closest active matches to Half Past's sound, check out Al's current band Skeyes of Seven, and Fingerbone singer John Barber's band Late Shift!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Now, what's in store for this series to kick off 2015 via random band selection? Well, we'll start the year in Sault Michigan with the defunct young hard rock band Intrepid (featuring The Highest Of Fives' Mitch Goetz), but with only one substantial surviving online page and no currently public videos, I'll likely add a Sault Ontario band in a similar situation to fill things out. That band is The Joe Falco Experience, the former solo project from ex-No Arrow drummer Joe Falco, but if Intrepid's profile proves to be large enough to stand alone, Joe will lead off a split profile in February. Look for our next Defunct Profile(s) on or around January 10th, and stay tuned for more news and previews soon! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, Two Newly Broken Up Bands, And This Week's Classic Video!!

Yes, my review of last night's Mares of Thrace concert is coming, but the videos I shot are giving me a lot of grief. The timing's off on a few of the videos so the music doesn't line up, and these are large files to convert and upload as it is. They're coming though, stay tuned to our Facebook page today for the new videos and photos as they get uploaded!

We have a new local band today, and it's a new Sault Ontario metal project named The Dead Kings! The band features 3/4s of the now broken up Skull After Betrayl (more on that in a second), with guitarist Mike Vincent, drummer Anthony D'Agostini, and bassist Adam Brett joining this new group. However, Adam will switch from bass to vocals in this new band, which should be interesting! I've found his bass skills needed a lot of work, so hopefully he can make his mark singing with The Dead Kings! Joining this new band on bass is Willis Tholberg (Mike and Adam's old bandmate in Despised Eyes), while Jacob Cere has also joined as their second guitarist. Will's a good pickup, but I admit not being familiar with Jacob as a guitarist, though me & him did both attend Bawating around the same time. How will The Dead Kings sound? Not sure yet, but their Facebook page hyped a death metal and hardcore sound, with influences seeming similar to those that influenced the members' older bands. With a new singer and lineup though, The Dead Kings will be interesting to hear once they debut, so stay tuned for updates, and become a fan while we wait for material at this location!

With that said, it's basically clear that Mike, Adam, and Anthony's old band Skull After Betrayal has broken up. Though no statement was officially made concerning their demise, their old Facebook page was quietly deleted recently, and The Dead Kings' Facebook page refers to SAB as one of their members' "past bands". I can say that the breakup did follow their split with guitarist Justin Polutanovich in late July, but rather than replace him, the guys opted to start a brand new band out of respect to Justin. This ends a five month run of public activity for Skull After Betrayal, which included a few high profile sets like opening for The Dayglo Abortions & Titans Eve at The Roosevelt Hotel, and being one of 11 local bands on the massive Sewer Swampstravaganja all ages concert in April. It's disappointing to see Skull After Betrayal end so suddenly, as they were definitely improving with each show they played, but I have a feeling that ending the band to move on to The Dead Kings will work out better with the new lineup and likely sound. We'll be watching, and of course, best of luck to Justin in whatever he moves to next musically, as he is a talented guitarist that would be a worthy addition to another local band!

The other newly broken up band is Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Elipzis, with an announcement posted on their Facebook page late last night. The breakup is due to the formation of a new Muskegon-based hard rock band named RedStone Riot that features Elipzis frontwoman Rachel Kiger, bassist Ryan Harrison, and drummer Wally David in their lineup. Guitarist Chris Webster is not taking part in the new band, despite his own Muskegon connections, with RedStone Riot enlisting two guitarists: Wally's old One Past Mars bandmate Tony Hulings, and a former guitarist in the Muskegon band Tracing Yesterday, though band pages have yet to confirm his name. Rumours had been flying on band pages concerning future Elipzis developments since Rachel and Ryan moved to Muskegon full time a few months ago, but now we know what the big news is. I have faith that RedStone Riot will be a successful and high impact hard rock band, but it is disappointing to see Elipzis end after such a promising run last year and this year, including TV appearances in the Muskegon area and a high profile appearance at least year's Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Festival.

When I saw Elipzis in Warren, Michigan in December, they put on a great show, and the guys were all class acts! That will surely be the same for RedStone Riot, and I have a feeling that even though they're not locally based, we'll be mentioning them on here again before you know it! Check the above links for more on RedStone Riot, and also, best of luck to Chris too in the future, he's very talented and we'd love to see him back out there in a new band!

And finally for today, here's this week's classic video! With Hempfest's local return coming fast, I knew this week's video had to connect to a band playing this year, and it was an easy choice, as the band we picked is Half Past! They're returning too after a six month hiatus while they found their new singer (Jordan Rains), and with that in mind, I found a video of theirs not previously on YouTube! This comes from former singer Luke LeBlanc, and it's of a June 2009 jam session where Half Past (then known as Fingerbone) covered "Hypnotize" by System of a Down! Though credited as a "drunken version", the band do a good job, though Luke definitely handles Serj's vocals better than Daron's when you compare to the original song. The video quality's good, but you only really see bassist Arthur Lacasse in frame, with Luke and guitarist Alain Fletcher only visible minimally on the sides, and drummer Chris Thompson isn't in frame at all. Good cover though, but remember, this is an old lineup, so go see Half Past 2.0 THIS WEEKEND at Hempfest, they'll be sure to impress!

Posted onto Luke's personal Facebook page in July 2009, you can view the original video at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1045003220450. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! All credit goes to Half Past for this video, they did all the hard work! Good stuff, so check out Half Past's cover of "Hypnotize" below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned hopefully tonight for my Mares of Thrace concert review, and my Defunct Local Band Profile on State of Misery tomorrow! Thanks everyone!