All video post on this Tuesday evening, including some recent concert videos from both the Soo and out of town, along with an apology for a recent missed show, but let's lead off with videos from two different bands at the same major venue in recent weeks!
Chris was not in the closest seating section, but he had a good central view of the stage and fans ahead of him, which especially works to the benefit of "Amigo" with all of the clapping in time with the song mid-way through! The audio on heavier stretches can be scratchy, which is nothing new, but softer parts come through nicely, and fans of The Glorious Sons should take to all of these videos, which you can watch above & below!
Next up, here's the latest from young local hard rock quartet Raincourt, and first off, I do have to apologize for missing a concert of theirs, as they played a publically attendable concert at the aforementioned Sault Community Theatre Centre this past Wednesday! The humongous venue is explained by it being on the campus of White Pines Collegiate & Vocational School (which Raincourt's members currently attend), and White Pines has been hosting a Coffee House concert series there during the 2021-22 school year, with last week's being their semester-closing event, including a show for students only at 1:00 PM and a show open to everyone at 7:00 PM. The main attractions were The White Pines Concert Band and their Mustang Sally-esque school group The Pine Tones (who feature all of the guys from Raincourt), but other student artists performed, including Raincourt proper. I profusely apologize for missing this show, hopefully it was a huge hit!
If you missed this event, never fear, as a video of Raincourt (sans face masks!) covering The Beatles' "Come Together" was uploaded to their Facebook page on Friday. Solid cover from a nice and close angle, with Elijah showing some nice grit & swagger with his vocals and stage presence, and everyone has a strong handle on this classic rock favourite! Give it a watch below, and apologies again for missing the White Pines Coffee House show last week on here!
Note that in the song introductions, J.D. first calls the band "Jack Spades" still (old habits die hard?), but later acknowledges that they used to be "Jack Spades SSM" before relocating. This set will be very familiar for local Jack Spades fans, as nothing here wasn't seen in their local sets in 2019, only the venue and two new faces will be different. Great video quality with multiple camera angles and a nice crooked angle of the stage and front row fans, and Daniel Rodbard & Tyler Reiner compliment J.D. & Daniel nicely here and on the new Toronto clip! More videos are teased to be forthcoming, but give all of these a look above & below!
Finally, here are three videos of new local acoustic hard rock duo Short & Sweet's opening set for Parabol at Soo Blaster this past weekend! Uploaded to frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel yesterday, these feature him and bandmate/fellow Skeyes of Seven alum Kyle Sweet covering Breaking Benjamin's "Forget It", Slipknot's "Vermilion Pt. 2", and as embedded below, a stripped down version of his old Sense of Truth song "Anything At All". Despite some jittery camera work, the videos are nicely angled and capture Cory and Kyle in a good element with some strong vocal & guitar work, and they'd definitely be added to our links if they got a Facebook page or something! Give these a watch above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Before we get into this weekend's remaining concert previews, just a heads up that Fort Creek will have opening acts for both of their shows at Reggie's Place this weekend, as per their Facebook page yesterday, including Short & Sweet/ex-Sense of Truth frontman Cory Murchison (credited as "Cory Daniel") tonight and the ever-prolific Tym Morrison tomorrow, fresh off of his Trading Post show tonight. Nice to see Fort Creek spread the wealth some more, and hopefully Cory & Tym set thing off on the right foot this weekend! Now, here's what you should know about two more big concerts this weekend, both with late updates to their lineups!
Local alternative hard rock/punk quartet Handsome Sandwich and newly confirmed alt-punk quintetThese Magnificent Tentacles will be among the performers at the second mixed-genre benefit concert for late Manitoulin Island rapper/artist Zachary "$onny Vybe$" Cywink TOMORROW at The Rockstar Bar! A sequel to a very similar event held in October of last year that also featured Handsome Sandwich (who thankfully have been promoting tomorrow's show, unlike then), this event is again in memory of Zach, a talented MC and painter who lost a battle with drug addiction last summer, and while not from the Soo, had performed here and developed strong friendships in the local hip-hop community. Similarly to October, proceeds from tomorrow's concert will be split up between the Ontario Addictions Treatment Centre's local clinic and the Ngwaagan Gamig Recovery Centre in Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island, so your attendance will help some extremely worthy causes!
While organizers Sooicide Records had published the performer lineup last year, I have not found anything to that effect from the same source this year, but this will be Handsome Sandwich's first gig in three weeks, and they definitely won't be alone in the non-rap contingent this year, as These Magnificent Tentacles confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page on May 18th. This will be the Tentacles' second show since publically confirming their expansion to a quintet on May 15th, in advance of their gig at a Dryer Fire open house last week, which I do profusely apologize for forgetting to include in last week's concert previews. We did cover it when first announced, at least, but hopefully they and The Dynowaves rocked the temp venue on Wilson Street to the maximum! As such, Brent Ellis & Steve Edwards appear to now be permanently focusing on guitar, with Brent still on lead vocals.
Now joining Brent & Steve in the band are Handsome Sandwich bassist Mitch Sirie (also of Exploring Detritus and, if still active, The Bear Hunters), as well as former Gnaeus bandmates Brad Irwin on the synthesizer and Brendan Garlick (nice to see him back in town) on drums. Fans of the original Gnaeus lineup should be amped for this half reunion alone, and hopefully this diverse quintet will prove a hit with the mostly rap crowd tomorrow at The Rockstar Bar, as I hope they did at Dryer Fire on the 21st (apologies again!) While a full performer lineup isn't out, Mitch (who's pulling double duty tomorrow) confirmed on his personal Facebook page on the 18th that rappers Conika, Ronin705, Bold Noize, and Fvksxvad would all be performing (only Conika was absent in October), while Comniption is credited as a co-host on the Facebook event page. Stay tuned to relevant sources for late lineup details!
The (second) $onny Vybe$ Charity Show has a 19+ age limit, 9:00 PM start time, and $8 advance tickets, which can be bought at this link for $8 (the door price jumps to $10), and Sooicide Records are asking attendees to also bring canned good donations for the St. Vincent Place Food Bank, though this isn't a mandatory appendage to admission fees. This should be a fun concert for some great causes, and if you like rap and rock, you'll get a nice sampling of both from this diverse lineup that will hopefully do Zachary and his family proud once again! Visit the above links for current & continuing details, and here's Handsome Sandwich jamming last year!
Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend, let's head to The Sault Community Theatre Centre at White Pines Collegiate & Vocational School, as Kingston southern hard rock quintet The Glorious Sons will be headlining there THIS SUNDAY NIGHT! The third stop on The Glorious Sons' Unfinished Business Tour, this will be the two time Rock Album of the Year Juno Award winners' first headlining show of this scope in the Soo, though they reportedly played a local gig early in their run that I couldn't effectively source. As featured in this new Sault Star article by Brian Kelly featuring interview remarks by frontman Brett Emmons, The Sons will be familiar for their radio rock hits like "S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun)", "Panic Attack", "Kill The Lights", and their newest "Hold Steady", but don't flee to Setlist.fm looking for their verbatim set on Sunday. They've been making a point of changing things up show-to-show for the past six years, so deep cuts are a given, which should please diehard fans of theirs!
Despite earlier advertising hinting that she'd only be missing the US dates on this tour, it has since been confirmed that Kitchener rock musician J.J. Wilde will not be playing on the May stops, the Soo included, and no replacement openers have been announced. Co-presented by LopLops Lounge, Music Tourism, and Lisa Zed Productions, this show is sponsored by local top 40/adult contemporary station Kiss 100.5 and Sudbury's 92.7 Rock, who have been running advertising and contests for listeners both there and on the online stream. Hopefully efforts to strike a meaningful Soo connection on the former Q92 are paying off! This all ages concert has an 8:00 PM start time, and while tickets run for $85 in the floor seating or $79 in the balcony, definitely consider coming out for this one to encourage more name Canadian rock bands to stop in the Soo rather than keep on driving!
Luckily, tickets have been selling well for The Glorious Sons, with nothing left closer than the ninth row, which is a great sign, especially at these prices! Get yours at this link or at the in-person Station Mall box office. While I admittedly trend to slightly more aggressive rock bands, The Glorious Sons do have their heavy moments with their soulful, rootsy brand of original Canadian rock, and their ample familiar radio hits (including in the States) should provide lots of familiarity tomorrow, even despite their ever changing set! Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's The Glorious Sons live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and this month's YouTube Channel Profile in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
This post is coming a day later than I anticipated due to replacing my primary computer, but we're back in business with that big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT from last week for our Sault Ontario readers! Some new videos from a local solo artist cap things off, so here's what you should know!
Juno Award-nominated Kingston southern hard rock quintet The Glorious Sons will headline at The Sault Community Theatre Centre on Sunday, May 29th! While they have reportedly played in the Soo before (I admittedly could not source the date), this will definitely be The Sons' first show of this scope here, having become one of the most prominent domestic rock bands since the mid-2010s with hits like "S.O.S. "Sawed Off Shotgun" and "Panic Attack", which hit #1 on both the Canadian and American mainstream rock charts! With two gold albums and a lot of familiar songs if you listen to Canadian rock radio (more on that in a bit), fans of The Glorious Sons won't wanna miss their heartland-inspired brand of original rock & roll in under three months' time! While not listed with local advertising, Kitchener rock musician J.J. Wilde is opening throughout The Glorious Sons' Unfinished Business Tour this year, so I'd expect her here too.
Making her own local debut, J.J. won the Juno for Rock Album of the Year in 2021, and her skilled & diverse brand of rock music should be a fine compliment on this tour! A co-presentation of LopLops Lounge, Music Tourism, and Lisa Zed Productions, this is the second hard rock show at the former Kiwanis Theatre of May 2022, following the long delayed Queen: It's A Kinda Magic tribute one week prior. Intriguingly, the radio sponsors of this show (both owned by Rogers Media) are Kiss 100.5 (Sault Ontario's top 40/adult contemporary station) and Sudbury's 92.7 Rock (née Q92). One doesn't play The Glorious Sons from what I can tell, and the other isn't in the Soo, though 92.7 Rock is our closest Canadian FM rock station. From what I understand, this is largely an effort to try and expand Q92's audience via promoting a regional concert, and note that The Glorious Sons are not playing in Sudbury on this tour.
Given that Rock 101 in Sault Michigan doesn't really play The Glorious Sons from what I've heard, this would at least be a way to get the word out to a Northern Ontario audience via a station that does play them regularly, and seeing as Rogers owns two stations in the Soo, could this be an early toe in the water towards seeing if a Sault Ontario rock station on FM is viable as a third? I have tuned in to 92.7 Rock on trips a fair amount (it starts to come in around Spanish if you're driving east on Highway 17), and it is an entertaining station with lots of Canadian content and specialty programming that would definitely be a welcome local compliment! The same playlist and branding is used simultaneously for Timmins and North Bay's rock stations, FYI. If you want to tune in to 92.7 Rock without driving 3-4 hours east, 92.7 Rock has free streams on their website and TuneIn.
As for the concert proper, it has an 8:00 PM start time, no age limit, and tickets (on sale here) run for either $85 in the floor seating or $79 in the balcony. This may seem expensive, but support this show if you can to encourage more major touring bands to come here, as Canadian rock bands without substantial American radio airplay are sadly not guaranteed draws in this market. As of right now, face masks and proof of double vaccination are required to attend, but check back with the SCTC's website in case this changes for better or for worse. Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details on what should be a huge concert!
Finally for today, here's some new videos from prolific local extreme metal/folk punk musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page in the past week! None are tied to one of his various teased albums in the works (at least, not by name), but it's good to see that he has been keeping busy so far in March! One video from the 1st features Chase showcasing what happens when a single piano note is played in increasingly fast succession, to the point where it reaches "ludicrous speed" (unfortunately, Chase didn't let us see the note get to plaid!) On Friday, he uploaded a solo cover of Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", which definitely owes more to the original than the Nirvana cover. The low framerate webcam quality and dark lighting are unfortunate, but Chase gives this blues standard a nice grit! Embedded below is a new original song-in-progress named "The Chaotic Rite", so what should you know here?
A twelve minute+ video uploaded in black & white, this is an acoustic performance, but rather than hewing to his folk punk work, Chase is in full-on finger style, fast-as-hell mode here, so if you want to see Chase's pure guitar talent at work without any extreme genre trappings, this would be a good (if long) way to do it! Check out "The Chaotic Rite" for yourself below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
