LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Brains), New SweetKenny Songs, And Much More!!

With weekend concert previews now taken care of, we can touch on some recent news and notes today, including a pile of shorter items, new media from a regional guitarist, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you need to know!

Montreal psychobilly quartet The Brains will return to the Soo for a belated Halloween weekend concert on Sunday, November 2nd at The Rockstar Bar! Coming almost a year after their most recent local stop at the same venue, The Brains are fairly frequent sights as out of town bands go, and their unique blend of horror punk and rockabilly should go over well once again in November, so keep this show in mind to end the Halloween season with! Besides, how often will you see a punk band this year with a stand-up bass? Joining them at this show will be fellow Montreal punk rockers Boids, who have more of a traditional punk sound, but will impress with their varied influences and catchy melodies, so don't miss them on November 2nd either! A local opening band is to be announced, and it should be noted that promoter J.D. Pearce was looking for bands different from ones playing the Gob and Halloween Party shows a few days prior that he's also promoting, so we'll have to see who gets added! This will be a 19+ concert, a $10 admission fee is in place (no word on advance tickets yet), and everything is slated to begin at 9:00 PM.

For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! With Gob, The Brains, and Frightlight's farewell now confirmed for J.D.'s Halloween concert slate at The Algonquin Hotel's bars, he's definitely stacking the deck for the season, so be sure not to miss out on this late October spree of great concerts! Stay tuned for updates on all 3 as we hear them!

Next up, we have some new original songs from Dafter, Michigan solo rocker Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton, courtesy of his YouTube channel and a new online page of his! In recent days, Ken has been posting songs on Spreaker, a music networking site that specializes in podcasts and radio shows, but can also host individual music too. New tracks named "Mustang", "Crud", and (as embedded below) "Can It Be (Guitar Confusion)" can now be streamed there or on linked YouTube video uploads, and while it is presumed that they'll be on SweetKenny's upcoming album "Amazonian", this isn't explictly stated. As we hope to review a new SweetKenny album early next year, we'll hold on comments on these songs for the time being, but long time fans should check these songs out for more classic-tinged hard rock! Check out "Can It Be" below, and hear more at the above links!



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

• Habitat Shuffle/ex-Free Beer guitarist Dustin Goodall is looking to join or form a band that would play old hardcore and indie music inspired by the likes of Fugazi, Refused, and Brand New. As he described it, such a band would have "eclectic taste that, despite being badass, is completely unmarketable." Interesting plans, but if you're up to jam with Dustin, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!
• Local pop punk/screamo project For July have posted a new song named "The Truth" onto their Soundcloud page! Self-described as a "work in progress", it has the upbeat energy of many of their older songs, and some catchier hooks, so give it a look above, and stay tuned for more updates on For July!
• Local punk (but don't call them that) trio The Fury are officially defunct again, as confirmed in a recent personal conversation with frontman Paul Stanghetta. He commented on musical differences with new members as part of the reason, but you could consider The Apocalypse Afterparty as successors, given that they cover Fury songs live, and that Steve Mozarowski was briefly The Fury's drummer this year. Fans will best remember their high octane bass & drum sets from 2009-2011 compared to their barely launched 2014 reunion, but give them a listen all the same, and best of luck to all former members!
• A drummer named Phil Grecks (possibly a nickname for former Role Models drummer Phil Greco) is looking to form a new original local band that would play heavy, melodic, and sometimes fast songs, citing Nonpoint, Starset, and Nothing More as possible influences. Sounds intriguing, but if you're interested in trying out or getting more info, message Phil at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!
• Local crust/death metal trio Shit Liver are staying busy in their new home of St. Catharines, having played a gig there on Tuesday opening for Killitorous, and being scheduled for another show there on October 3rd where they'll open for Life Problems in a fundraiser for a beloved dog's surgery. Good to see the guys playing often, and hopefully we'll see them back north in short order too!
• This year's sixth annual Soo Zombie Walk will return to being scheduled the week before Halloween on Saturday, October 25th, though it will still be based at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for a second straight year, as per this year's Facebook event page. What we don't know is whether the expanded afternoon band lineup at the museum will return, or if the afterparty will regain it's prior non-acoustic format in it's place, but when we hear more regarding the band situation this year, we will let you guys know!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, if all goes according to plan! Thanks everyone!

Meet The Local Punk Bands!! Part 3

This morning marks our third and final post to "introduce" active local (non-hardcore) punk bands to our expanded coverage, and check out our feature on Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide, Gnaeus, Northwest, and the now-defunct Fist Fighting Stephen Hawking in the post below this one! Also, for clarity, I have not included the yet-to-debut Habitat Shuffle and the secretive ska-punk duo Them in these posts due to a lack of information and public appearances, but if either rectify that, they'll be on here! Now, for our last of the active punk bands, we have one that recently came back, one with out of town ties, and two with Inner City Surfers & Lion Ride alumni, so here's what you should know!

We'll start this feature with a band that, much like Northwest, don't have a known online page, and they are local punk quartet Brad Example & The Role Models! Active off and on since opening for The Revue at the former Foggy Notions in December 2006 (and possibly before), you may best remember this band from a string of 2011 appearances where they opened twice for The Saigon Hookers at The Rockstar Bar and played at the Tailfeathers Music Festival that fall, before falling dormant until last month's Public Animal concert, but I won't rehash that show's unfortunate ending. Similarly to Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide, The Role Models merge two members of The Inner City Surfers with known local artists, in this case featuring singer/bassist Brad "Example" Lacell and guitarist Dave Bahun alongside former Lion Ride bandmates Marco Pedalino (most recently of Glitch) and Marc Muto on guitar and drums, while the prolific Phil Greco was their former drummer, and I may be missing other ex-members.

I don't recall a public video existing from one of Brad and The Role Models' concerts, but Brad did recently tell me that they've been working on original material, so I don't believe last month's show was a one-off. Hopefully we see more of the guys soon, as I remember this band having a solid punk sound with occasional metal covers, effective vocals for the style, and clear on-stage chemistry! If you miss the Surfers, follow both The Role Models and The Rising Tide for their members' current collaborative work, and hopefully some online pages and media from the former turn up soon!

Next up is a band that entertained at many shows at the turn of the 2010s, and are coming back, them being The Fury! Led & fronted by former Smeltzer bassist Paul Stanghetta (last seen with the never-launched Keep It Lit), you may remember The Fury best as the band with two bassists and no guitarists, and though they hated being classified into a genre, punk was an obvious match to their early sound, at least back then. Two time battle of the bands runners-up in 2009 and 2010, The Fury's old incarnation featured RedD Monkey's Joe Bumbacco on drums, while their second bassist was originally Josh McNally (ex-The Crossed) and later Tony Briglio (now of Sykotyk Rampage.) Writing original material and opening for the likes of Upheaval of an Exorcist, Blind Witness, and Broadcast Zero during their first run, The Fury originally disbanded in mid-2011, but after a three year breakup, Paul's working on a comeback, and was looking for a new drummer to join the new Fury (now with a DJ too) as of June 4th, so click here for more information!

It's hard to know how the new Fury will sound (Paul's hinted that they'll be "super heavy, fast, and fresh"), but in their original 2009-2011 run, they had an original yet familiar sound that fans of intense modern punk would have loved, even if they hated being classified as such! Paul's vocals were also a great fit when singing or even pseudo-rapping at times, and after a while, you forgot there wasn't a guitarist on stage with them! We'll let you know when their new lineup debuts or properly launches, but check out old material at their MySpace page, and here they are playing their song "Rebel Scum" at Foggy's in late 2010!

Also in new punk band additions are The Small Town Rivals, a partly local pop punk/alternative quartet that you may recognize as being either the predecessors to or the sister band of the all-local Northwest! Launched in 2010 as a studio project by frontman Wayne Watkins and Whistler, B.C. guitarist Jesse Nelson, The Small Town Rivals (who have also been billed from Toronto) released their debut (and only?) EP named "East Vs. West" in the fall of 2012, which you can buy at this link. Similarly to the partly local progressive rock band iT, The Small Town Rivals had separate lineups in two separate homebases, with Scott Phillips & Liam Murray playing bass and drums outside of the area, and Wayne's Northwest bandmates Mike Smykacz & Clint Wilson handling those roles in the Soo, while Wayne has played solo gigs under this band name as well. Opening for the likes of The Penske File & The Snips here and away, this band has not been visibly active since November 2013 plugs for a Hockey Night In Canada song contest, and Northwest may have replaced them since.

Fans of Wayne's local band projects should like The Small Town Rivals, who take on a lively pop punk sound with well composed original songs, nice vocal harmonies between Wayne & Jesse, and a fun melody, and if you like Northwest, you'll be at home with this band as well! Check out more from The Small Town Rivals on Facebook, Twitter, CBC Music, and Bandcamp, and here's a preview video for their song "Heartbreaks & Fairy Tales"!

Finally for our active punk band features is The Wing-Its, a somewhat newer punk quartet signed to Tidal Records! Though they don't have a proper online page that I've seen, their profile on Tidal Records' website says that they're a "straight forward power pop/punk band" with a "no holds barred... kind of rock 'n roll" that's full of energy and soaked in hooks. Their lineup is comprised of label co-owners Dustin Jones (also The Rising Tide's frontman) on vocals & guitar and Dan Nystedt (also a local filmmaker) on drums, alongside Role Models guitarist Marco Pedalino and former Spigots frontman Trevor Harding (another partner in Tidal Records) on bass. From what I've seen, The Wing-Its don't play live that often, but they debuted at The Rockstar Bar last February, and they were among the bands at Tidal Records' kick-off show at the same venue last November. Live concert footage isn't plentiful online, but Marco did upload three videos of a Wing-Its jam session to his YouTube channel in October, so how do the guys sound here?

Curiously uploaded upside down (with Dan completely out of frame), the songs are either all originals or I can't discern the songs well. The three songs don't strike me as having a lot of the hinted indie rock influences, but the talent is present on these well filmed videos, and there's a familiarity for fans of the members' older bands! Nice solid punk rock, so give the videos a look at the above links and below (though note that "tune 3" has a camera mishap late), and hopefully we hear more on The Wing-Its soon!



I hope you guys liked our recent look at active local punk bands! When we pick things up on local punk features, we'll be looking at defunct and inactive ones in the coming days, so stay tuned for them soon, and look out for much more on our current active punk bands, no matter the subgenre, in the coming months and beyond! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Mini-Series: Downtown Showdown

It's time to end the initial run of our Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series, and one week off from the first Sault Ontario battle of the bands in almost two years, we're looking at the most recent one today! As we've done over the past six weeks, we're looking at the circumstances, bands, results, happenings, and aftermath of this local battle, and I apologize for the lack of photos of the placing bands (Bring The Fallen aside.) Though only 4 bands competed, a lot went down, so read on below for what you need to know, and check out previews of this weekend's metal/hard rock concerts and some cancellation notes in the post below this one! (Updated on January 28th, 2015)
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Downtown Showdown (May 28th, 2010)

Background: On May 28th, 2010, the Sault Youth Association (in cooperation with the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre) held the Downtown Showdown battle of the bands at The Oddfellows Hall as a non-profit promotional event to help give bands and local youths a better understanding of entrepreneurship and self-employment in the local arts & entertainment sectors. Four bands were chosen to compete, and each performed three songs for the attendees, after which judges picked the top 3 bands to receive varying prizes. To compete in Downtown Showdown, each band had to have an average of age of 25 or less for it's members, in keeping with the Sault Youth Association's target demographic.

Prizes: The winning band would receive a cover story in The Sault Youth Association's free quarterly newspaper The Fresh Magazine and a photo shoot to go along with it, as well as recording time at a local studio. The second place act received a $100 Music Depot gift certificate and a professional photo shoot, while the third place band also received a photography session of their own. Each placing band also won various gift cards, including ones from Future Shop, although details on those prizes weren't elaborated on prior to the battle.

Competitors: Four young local bands from widely varying genres signed up to compete at Downtown Showdown, including death metal quintet Bring The Fallen, drum & bass/punk trio The Fury, experimental hard rockers SBD, and indie rock quintet The Tenagens.

Results: Bring The Fallen won their third battle of the bands in a 14 month span by claiming top spot at Downtown Showdown, with The Fury finishing in second place for a second straight battle. The Tenagens ended up in the third position, while SBD finished in fourth overall.

Aftermath: Bring The Fallen continued to sporadically play live concerts, including many of the early Roosevelt Hotel metal nights, until their disbandment in April 2011 following numerous breakup rumours, though they reunited for a one-off gig in July 2013. The Fury weren't far behind, going inactive in their own right by the summer of 2011, though they did briefly reunite in 2014. The Tenagens would be a frequent sight at many concerts through mid-2011, though aside from a brief mid-2012 return, they've largely been inactive. SBD would re-release their debut CD "Sonic Experiments" later that year and would play at scattered live dates through 2010, though activity drastically slowed in 2011, and they're now defunct.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock in italics):
The Apocalypse Afterparty (Paul Stanghetta from The Fury)
The Bear Hunters (Josh Stephney* from Bring The Fallen)
Five Oceans (Patrick Dal Cin from The Tenagens; Based out of London)
Giwakwa (Josh Stephney* from Bring The Fallen)
Infinity Grinder (Brad Griffith from SBD)
No Arrow (Dann Pichette from SBD)
Paterson Hall (Josh White, Jesse Harding, and Patrick Bonne from The Tenagens; Based out of Ottawa)
RedD Monkey (Joe Bumbacco from The Fury)
Shit Liver (Mike Kyle from Bring The Fallen' lineup that night)
Sykotyk Rampage (Tony Briglio from The Fury)

Trivia:

• The judges for Downtown Showdown included then-Turner Up guitarist and long-time Rad Zone staple Len Ward, local artist & Economy Studs member Robbie Adamson, and Emma Piirtoniemi from the local Youth Advisory Committee. Len would later return to battle judging at the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands in April 2013.
• Keeping with the youth-friendly nature of this battle, organizers offered free admission for all ages, refreshment sales, and prize draws at Downtown Showdown, with unsold pizza being freely distributed to attendees after the winners were announced.
• Bring The Fallen won their third & final battle of the bands out of four tries at Downtown Showdown, dating back to their YMCA Battle win in their March 2009 live debut. Similarly to that battle, Bring The Fallen performed at Downtown Showdown without a band member, as bassist Nolan Rainville was out of town. Filling in for him was former OBCD bassist Mike Kyle, who would later become a prominent sight at local metal concerts for his work in the death metal trio Shit Liver.
• Results repeated themselves in the upper half of this battle, as just like at the Algoma University Battle in December 2010, Bring The Fallen & The Fury finished in first & second place each. In another ironic twist, both groups had different bassists the second time around, with Mike Kyle filling in for Nolan Rainville, and Tony Briglio playing for The Fury as a replacement for the departed Josh McNally.
• Bring The Fallen's interview in The Fresh Magazine would be part of their fall 2010 issue, where the interviewed band member(s) discussed their battle of the bands success, what they were looking for out of record labels, the local metal scene & it's future, their unreleased EP, and local concert venues, among other topics. Despite earlier implications, they weren't on the cover for that issue, but a photo from their shoot was included with the article, which you can read at this link. No word ever came out on if Bring The Fallen used the recording time they won at this battle.
• This would be the last battle of the bands to take place in Sault Ontario until the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th, 2012, a break of almost two years after seeing at least 9 battle of the bands take place in Sault Ontario between 2007 & 2010. Only one performer from Downtown Showdown (Bring The Fallen frontman Josh Stephney) performed at this battle, as The Bear Hunters' then-rhythm guitarist, but they fell just a point short of a third place tie.
• Bring The Fallen's then-guest bassist Mike Kyle almost got a second crack at a local battle of the bands in June 2012, as he was originally lined up to play the Battle For The Blood with his current band Shit Liver at The Roosevelt Hotel that month. However, they quietly dropped out of the event for unknown reasons around the time of the battle's date change to June 19th.
• Two performers from this battle (Bring The Fallen's Josh Stephney & The Fury's Tony Briglio) returned to compete at The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands' last 3 band-semifinal on April 17th, 2013, with Tony playing bass for Sykotyk Rampage, and Josh playing guitar for The Bear Hunters & fronting Giwakwa. The Bear Hunters won and made the finals (where they finished 5th overall), with second place Giwakwa and third place Sykotyk Rampage falling short of making the finals themselves.
• The Fury frontman Paul Stanghetta almost competed at Viva La Battle at The Canadian Nightclub on November 13th, 2013 with then-band Keep It Lit, but they dropped out on short notice due to a member breaking their arm, and quietly dissolved the following year without ever playing live. Though The Bear Hunters won the battle, the aforementioned Josh Stephney did not compete with them due to moving to Brampton a few months prior, but he did join them to take part in their first place prize: an opening slot for Bam Margera's Fuckface Unstoppable the following month.
• SBD bassist Brad Griffith returned to battles of the bands when he competed in March 2015's Speak Easy Battle with his recent alternative hard rock duo Infinity Grinder, but they did not place in that event.
• The Fury bassist Paul Stanghetta at last competed in another battle of the bands when his current band The Apocalypse Afterparty made the finals of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub in March 2015, where they finished in fourth place, and covered old Fury originals in their set. The Bear Hunters finished in second in the same battle (and in third place at the Speak Easy battle as well), but Josh Stephney was out of town for both.

Videos:
Bring The Fallen playing their original "Stand Before"
SBD playing their instrumental "Ess"



Sources/More Info:
Downtown Showdown's Facebook event page
The Sault Youth Association's press release on Downtown Showdown
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And so ends our first run of this series! I'll continue to update the entries on these 7 local battles as things are discovered, corrected, or change, so I'll of course update you guys as I do that to ensure they're 100% accurate. Barring the obtainment of sufficient info to warrant an older battle addition (i.e. a Bon Soo battle, the other Case's Music battles, any in Sault Michigan, etc.), our next entry to this series won't be until April 2013, when we look back at next week's Sault Humane Society battle, but until then, go see it at The Grand Theater this coming Friday! I hope you guys enjoyed our looks back at these battles of the bands, and stay tuned for a new news post either tonight or early tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Mini-Series: The Algoma University Battle Of The Bands

As promised, here's our fifth of seven entries in our Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series, and we're entering the home stretch of this series' initial run! The final three profiles are all of four-band battles in a 6 month span from 2009-2010, but all had big moments and lots of talent, so don't let these slip by! Now, before we launch this one, I want to apologize for a lack of photos or videos from the battle itself, as I wasn't there for it and I haven't found much media verifiably from this battle itself, so I went with close facsimiles from late 2009/early 2010 to make it accurate to the period, if nothing else. If you have any corrections or additions (be they for facts, information, or media), e-mail me at robertfigures@outlook.com! For now though, let's travel back to the end of 2009 for this latest battle in this series, and look at all the facts, fallout, results, and more from it! (Updated on January 24th, 2016)
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The Algoma University Battle of the Bands (December 1st, 2009)

Background: The Algoma University Student Union and The United Way of Sault Ste. Marie (in cooperation with local punk standouts The Inner City Surfers) joined forces to hold a battle of the bands at The Speak Easy at Algoma University on December 1st, 2009, with all proceeds from admission going to local United Way charities. Five bands were confirmed to play four songs each, after which judges would award prizes to the top three bands, though judging criteria was not announced prior to the event. Despite running concurrently with the second day of the Kiss Battle of the Bands, a good response resulted from this battle and it's small but talented lineup of competitors.

Prizes: The first place band would receive $300 cash, a $100 Joey Calzone’s gift card, a $25 Case’s Music gift card, 4 hours of studio time, and the right to open for The Inner City Surfers at their Christmas Bash at The Speak Easy on December 22nd. Second place received $200 and a $50 Boston Pizza gift card, while 3rd place would receive half of that: $100 and a $25 Boston Pizza gift card. The second place band would also get first dibs at replacing the winning act at the Inner City Surfers show if they couldn't make it.

Competitors: Though five bands were initially confirmed, only four competed, with punk-inspired music dominating the event. The participating bands included local death metal quintet Bring The Fallen, ska punk quartet Creedon & The Animal Detectives (previously better known as Good Morning Gorilla), local drum & bass/punk trio The Fury, and then-Toronto based hardcore punk/cello trio RedD Monkey.

Results: When all was said and done, Bring The Fallen claimed victory at this battle, marking their second straight 1st place finish in a local battle of the bands. The Fury finished second, while RedD Monkey took home third place, and Creedon & The Animal Detectives rounded out the band order.

Aftermath: Bring The Fallen quickly made it to The Canadian Nightclub following their performance at this battle, to perform a two song set at that night's Kiss Battle of the Bands, although the success wouldn't repeat itself, as they did not advance to that battle's finals. Undeterred, Bring The Fallen continued their local success levels with a number of high profile gigs, including a further battle of the bands victory at May 2010's Downtown Showdown event, before dissolving in April 2011 (though they held a one-off reunion in July 2013.) The Fury remained a popular sight at local concerts of varying genre types until they went inactive in mid-2011 (however, a 2014 reunion never got off the ground), while RedD Monkey released three studio albums and headlined many notable concerts locally and in Southern Ontario before they went on hiatus in 2014, though they did play a Toronto reunion gig and posthumously release their final album last year. Finally, Creedon & The Animal Detectives did not see the same success levels that they experienced as Good Morning Gorilla, and they quietly disbanded in 2010.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/punk in italics, ex-members noted with an *):
The Apocalypse Afterparty (Paul Stanghetta from The Fury & Steve Mozarowski* from RedD Monkey)
The Bear Hunters (Josh Stephney from Bring The Fallen)
Changing Waves (Terrence Gomes from Creedon & The Animal Detectives)
Deter (Josh McNally from The Fury)
Infinity Grinder (Terrence Gomes from Creedon & The Animal Detectives)
Kaepora Gaebora (Dan Souliere from Bring The Fallen)
March Into Regression (Josh Stephney, Dan Souliere, and Travis St. Amour from Bring The Fallen)
The Moves (Josh McNally from The Fury)
The Northern Tragedy (Terrence Gomes from Creedon & The Animal Detectives)
Theriac (Joe Bumbacco from The Fury; Based out of Toronto)

Trivia:

• The planned fifth band to have taken part at this battle would have been local punk quartet The Scary Uncles, who notably finished in second place at the Skid Row Battle of the Bands at The Speak Easy the previous year. However, they had to pull out prior to the event due to scheduling conflicts, though they were later added as an additional opener for the Inner City Surfers concert on December 22nd anyway.
• This was Bring The Fallen's only local battle of the bands victory to feature their entire lineup for their performance. Then-drummer Joey Graham was absent for their YMCA battle set as The Undead Warriors that March, while bassist Nolan Rainville was absent from their Downtown Showdown appearance the following year.
• Despite winning this battle of the bands, Bring The Fallen would later drop out of the Inner City Surfers concert for unannounced reasons a couple of days before it happened. Though contest rules said that the second place band would open if the winners couldn't perform, no evidence online suggests that The Fury were able to play in Bring The Fallen's place. It's also not known if anything became of Bring The Fallen's recording time that they won at this event.
• This battle of the bands was severely overshadowed by the Kiss Battle of the Bands, whose second night took place on the same day as this battle. As a result, only 65 fans showed up to cheer on the participating bands, which was a 70% drop in attendance from the Skid Row battle at The Speak Easy the previous year. All was not lost though, as $576 was raised for charity at the event.
• Judges for this battle included former Algoma University Student Union president Vanessa Gastaldo and member Cristina Guzzo, along with an unidentified United Way representative. Gsis Murphy drummer Anthony Fabiano & Inner City Surfers frontman Dustin Jones were also slated to judge this battle, but they both had to pull out due to other commitments (Anthony was playing with Gsis Murphy at the Kiss battle that night, and Dustin was touring in Southern Ontario with his band Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide over that time period.)
• This marked the first of two four-band battles of the bands in Sault Ontario to feature Bring The Fallen winning first place and The Fury claiming second place. This same order happened again at the Downtown Showdown battle in May 2010, which ironically saw both bands employ different bassists than they had at the Algoma battle.
• Already linked by sharing former Smeltzer members, unique genres, and creative instrument arrangements, The Fury and RedD Monkey were further linked in mid-2010 after The Fury's Joe Bumbacco replaced Kevin Overton as RedD Monkey's drummer on a temporary (and later permanent) basis. Joe remained a member of both bands until The Fury went inactive in mid-2011.
• Planned judges Anthony Fabiano & Dustin Jones would both later be involved in battles of the bands in differing roles. Anthony competed in April 2013's Rock 'N Roar Battle of the Bands in Spanish with his hard rock band Griphook (though they did not place in that event), while Dustin would finally serve as a battle judge at the VM Radio Battle of the Bands in March 2015, as well as a sponsor with his label Tidal Records.
• Bring The Fallen frontman Josh Stephney would also compete at the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th, 2012, and the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands in April 2013, both as guitarist in the local death metal band The Bear Hunters. They finished in 6th & 5th respectively at each, making the final round of the latter. Josh & B.T.F. bandmate Nolan Rainville also competed at the Rockstar Bar Battle in the newer death metal band Giwakwa, though they finished 2nd to The Bear Hunters in the third semifinal night, and missed the final round.
• Creedon & The Animal Detectives drummer Terrence Gomes also competed in the aforementioned Humane Society & Rockstar Bar battles as bassist for Changing Waves and as singer/drummer in The Northern Tragedy respectively. Changing Waves didn't place at the Humane Society Battle in April 2012, while The Northern Tragedy finished third in their Rockstar Bar Battle semifinal the following year, missing the finals.
• The Fury's Josh McNally was also once scheduled to compete with his most recent band The Moves in the Humane Society Battle of the Bands, but they pulled out of the event due to external commitments.
• Though Josh Stephney missed The Bear Hunters' Viva La Battle win at The Canadian Nightclub in November 2013 due to moving out of town, he came back home to take part in their first place prize, an opening set for Bam Margera's Fuckface Unstoppable at The Canadian the following month. The Fury frontman Paul Stanghetta was scheduled to play at this battle as well with his then-band Keep It Lit, but they dropped out due to a band member breaking their arm, and never ended up playing live afterward.
• After The Northern Tragedy went on hiatus, Terrence Gomes returned to The Speak Easy to play in March 2015's Speak Easy Battle of the Battle of the Bands with his recent alternative hard rock duo Infinity Grinder, though they did not place in that event. The Bear Hunters finished in third place in that same battle, though Josh Stephney was out of town and unable to attend.
• The Fury & RedD Monkey frontmen Paul Stanghetta & Steve Mozarowski (or, Z and X) made the finals of March 2015's VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub in their rap/metal quartet The Apocalypse Afterparty (with Steve on drums), eventually finishing in fourth place, and playing some old Fury originals in the process. The Bear Hunters also finished in second place at this battle as well, losing by just two points, but again, Josh Stephney could not attend the event.

Videos:
None known (general videos of this battle's top 3 bands can be seen below)




Sources/More Info:
The official Facebook event page
Post-battle fallout from The United Way
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I hope you guys liked this look back at one of many recent local battles of the bands! Sure, this one wasn't well attended, but it was out of their hands, and a lot of great music and charity fundraising was had! Next Friday, we'll profile the Sault College/Scotties Tournament of Hearts battle from February 2010, featuring a rematch of three bands from the Kiss battle. What went down at that battle? Find out next week, and stay tuned for my review of "Woods V" TOMORROW, along with more news to come! Thanks everyone!