A New Local Hard Rock Band, Plus New LemmaFest Videos!!

In the last post of our sixth year of existence, we're 100% in Sault Michigan for tonight, as we have a "new" band to profile and add to our full coverage, plus lots of videos at their most recent show from them and other bands, so read on below for what you need to know, and check out this weekend's concert previews (including some late notice gigs and a band name change) in the post below this one!

We have a new area hard rock band to add to our active band links, and they are the Sault Michigan trio Division of Sanity! Active since the spring of 2012, it took us so long to add them on here partly because most of their posted material was acoustic, and I was looking for some more evidence that they'd play hard rock either in studio or live, and we got that via their set at LemmaFest at the Dondee last month, but we'll touch on that in a bit! Division of Sanity's current lineup features singer/guitarist Caine VanderMolen (a recent local solo musician), guitarist/bassist Myke Young, and drummer Gabe Nunez, while a drummer named Nick Morgan played with the band in 2012, and Power Slug drummer Bob Helsten guested on some of their demos in 2013. A $3 demo CD is available through the band (and presumably at their live shows too), but it's contents aren't clear online. Caine's solo gigs aside, Division of Sanity's first show (I think) was at the Soo's annual Arts & Music Festival last August, but they only began regular area concert sets this summer.

We'll cover some of their announced upcoming gigs next week, but how about Division of Sanity's sound? As you may have seen at LemmaFest, Division of Sanity's live form is a hard/modern rock, possibly most distinctive by Caine's deep raspy singing voice, which reminds me of John Mayer at times, though everything is softer and lighter on the band's older acoustic demos. It will be interesting to see how Division of Sanity progress, including on if some more of their hinted metal ties come to the forefront! Older demos of theirs can be streamed at the band's YouTube channel, their BandPage on Facebook, and on Caine's SoundCloud page (the latter of which featuring select covers), and while their sound varies, there's talent present throughout! Their YouTube channel also features some interesting vlogs from Caine from last year, as well as some other content we'll share in the coming weeks, but now, to the LemmaFest videos!

Filmed by Wayne Kozeyah and uploaded to the D.O.S. YouTube channel yesterday, the videos include their originals "Seasons", "Isn't What I Said", and (as embedded below) their self titled song, and while the guys could be a bit livelier on stage, these showcase what I assume is their optimal live sound, so check everything out above and below, and stay tuned for more on Division of Sanity in the near future!

Also from Wayne Kozeyah, he uploaded this video onto his YouTube channel on Tuesday, which features video footage of 4 of the bands at LemmaFest last month! Nothing was included here from Infathom, The Bottom Line, Caitlin LeBlanc, or Mike Kowalski's sets, but the other bands are all featured, so what's present? In order, the video starts with two covers that we've already seen from Wayne's camera(s), those being alt-rock trio Plastic covering Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual" and The Misfits' "Return of the Fly" (as previously seen on their channel.) After Mr. Fister's cover of Black Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots" (also first seen here), we get a new cover from the Bucksaw successors' set, that being of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" that to me actually outshines the Sabbath cover, and sounds tighter overall! The third portion features Division of Sanity's self-titled song featured above, but here, it features an overhead camera angle to capture more of the crowd than Mr. Fister's did, which is a double edged sword as it highlights how few fans were close to the stage.

The second Division of Sanity song that Wayne included here actually isn't linked above, rather a different original named "Glare", which has a faster edge to it than the other videos that Wayne shot of their set, so give that song a look too if you're new to this band! The video closes with footage of Nightmare Grin (complete with the same camera angles) covering Guns N' Roses' "You Could Be Mine" & Ugly Kid Joe's "Everything About You", complete with a highlighted fan dancing near the end. Nice to get higher quality footage of Ryan, Bart, and company here, and while the GNR cover is slightly out of Ryan's vocal range, there's a great spirit and energy on both covers, and it will be interesting to see what this band has in store next if they're not a one-off project! If this encompasses all of the bands that Wayne shot at LemmaFest, then he did a bang-up job with an awesome camera, and hopefully he keeps up the great filming work in the future, perhaps at LemmaFest 5? Check out the full 29 minute video below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for something big tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Two More Band Breakups, Plus New Sault Michigan Videos!!

Happy Canada Day to all of our Canadian readers! Ironically, things fell into place where today's post is 100% dedicated to Sault Michigan-area updates, but don't worry, there's some big Canadian stuff to come in July! Today, we have a podcast episode find that you might want to see, our first glimpse at one of the surprise bands from LemmaFest, and like yesterday, we're leading off with two more bands that we're adding to our inactive links, so here's what you need to know!

One of the bands that we're now considering as inactive is Brimley metal trio Half A Man, as they have not issued a new Facebook page update concerning the band since June 28th of last year (when they shared an SMS post referencing their 2013 LemmaFest set), while later updates have been strictly to promote open mic nights that frontman Erik Rintamaki put on. Of course, if I'm wrong on Half A Man being inactive, we'll correct this! Launched in late 2009, Half A Man quickly became one of the most prominent original metal bands in the Sault Michigan area, featuring alumni of known bands like Lower S.E.S., Bludgeoned, Bent Rollercoaster, Drayton Fever, and Infathom in their various lineups. Fans may remember them from a number of prominent early 2010s headlining dates and festival appearances, as well as circulating a demo CD, undertaking some notable studio sessions, and even appearing live on Rock 101! However, band activity slowed in 2012 & 2013, and Half A Man were only seen live at those years' LemmaFests.

If they are done, it's definitely disappointing, as Half A Man's gritty Black Label Society-esque sound was a welcome addition to the local scene in the last few years, and their live shows and original material lived up to their talents and experience! You can still see Erik occasionally with Train Wreck, but hopefully everyone else stays active musically. Best of luck to Erik, Gary, Mikey, and other former members in the future, and fingers crossed they come back down the road!

The other band that we're now listing as inactive is Sault Michigan hard rock trio Scofflaw, as they too have not issued an online update in over a year, and have also not played a known live concert since last year's LemmaFest. While there hasn't been a public announcement concerning their status, frontman Jeff Barnes remarked on a photo comment on his personal Facebook page last month that arthritis in his hands was a factor in Scofflaw not playing this year's installment, while the photo itself was captioned in part: "One last look. Scofflaw was your best entertainment value." Also featuring Mr. Fister bassist Barney Gravelle and ex-Blind Baby drummer Ivan Schliska, Scofflaw developed a loyal fanbase during their run, which saw them play a number of memorable concerts since the late 2000s, including at The Soo Theatre's Rock Starz event in 2008, each of the first 3 LemmaFests, and assorted other gigs at venues like The Merchant's Bar during their peak.

Scofflaw were a unique and entertaining trio that fans of Sykotyk Rampage and grunge/alternative fans should really take to, with raspy vocals, punk rhythms, and lots of reckless abandon! Hopefully this isn't the absolute end for Scofflaw, but hopefully everyone keeps at some music work, and best of luck to Jeff, Barney, and Ivan in the future! For reference, I've also changed their link on here to their MySpace page, as it now has more information than their Facebook page due to MySpace's photo & video restorations there.

We'll close today with new videos, including our long awaited first glimpse at a band that did play at LemmaFest outside of Dondee Lanes last month, that being Nightmare Grin! While we knew two members going in (RedStone Riot's Ryan Harrison and ex-I.S.O.M. drummer Bart Rennels), there were still some unanswered questions, but attendee Joe Harrison (a relation of Ryan's presumably) was on hand to film two videos of their set for Facebook, which he shared on the LemmaFest Facebook page over the weekend! So, are they a heavier band? Looks like it, as the videos are covers of Ugly Kid Joe's "Everything About You" and, as embedded below, Grand Funk Railroad's "We're An American Band", so check them out above & below! In terms of the lineup, Ryan (who's grown an impressive beard since we last saw him) appears to have returned to his old Riot! By Night role as singer for Nightmare Grin, though I am yet unable to determine the identities of the guitarist and bassist, who weren't tagged on Facebook with Ryan & Bart when these went up, but we'll let you know if we hear anything.

It's yet unclear too whether Nightmare Grin were a one-off band or will continue for more gigs, but they have a good sound on these videos, with a hard rock grit and a solid stage presence, and everyone has talent on display, with Ryan a nice fit on vocals! Hopefully we learn more on Nightmare Grin in the coming weeks, but check out their Grand Funk Railroad cover below, and see more above! (Also, note that comments on shares of these videos imply that Wayne Kozeyah filmed bands all day for an upcoming project, we'll have to see what comes of that!)



Finally for today, here's a video podcast from New Year's Eve in December that I'm surprised we haven't featured on the site until now! Uploaded to the aforementioned Wayne Kozeyah's YouTube channel, this is from a local series called Muckleash's Podcast, that was active through at least January, though not visibly since. This episode features host Malcolm Sutton (and I believe Wayne from off-camera) interviewing Scofflaw bassist Barney Gravelle, and it's an interesting watch! The 16 minute clip features Barney talking largely about his guitar playing & work with that instrument, including his early experiences with guitar, the first songs that he learned, and teaching music to his niece and nephew, before ending with a solo acoustic guitar composition. Perhaps most surprising about this interview is that Barney barely even talks about his recent local band work (I didn't even catch a mention of Scofflaw), though he did allude to early battle of the bands experience. Solid listen though, and it'd be nice to see Malcolm revive his podcasts, so check out this installment below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned) & The LemmaFest 2014 Concert Preview!!

We'll close up this weekend's metal & hard rock concert previews with a well anticipated annual event in Sault Michigan today, including some extra info on some of the "mystery" bands, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this August, with a related apology for a missed show from them!

Kinross hard rock trio Banned will return to The Runway Bar in nearby Hessel, Michigan for a one-night-only gig on Saturday, August 9th! Announced on the band's Facebook page on May 27th, this will be their first Hessel appearance in 6 months, and their first non-Kewadin bar gig within our coverage range since drummer Don Traynor's surgery in the spring, so it's great to see the guys playing more like normal again! In fact, this was one of numerous new events confirmed last month, including shows outside of our coverage range this summer in Gould City & Engadine and a handful of private gigs, though we regrettably did miss one local public gig announced then, as Banned headlined a community dance in Pickford this past Saturday as part of S.P.E.A.K.S. Education's Summer Festival. Not sure how that slipped by our radar, but our deepest apologies for missing it! Hopefully it was a great event, it sounded like it was for an awesome cause! As for Banned's Hessel show on August 9th, that has no announced cover charge, a 9:00 PM start time, and a 21+ age limit. Check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more from Banned!

Next up, here's our extended preview of the fourth annual LemmaFest, as the annual Sault Michigan concert festival will return for another highly anticipated installment outside of Dondee Lanes TOMORROW! The first year that LemmaFest falls on the third weekend of June rather than the fourth,  this year's event will honour both the late Mike Lemma as usual, but also fellow Sault resident Jon Hackworth (a.k.a. Hot Tub Johnny), who suddenly passed away in January, and festival proceeds will go towards his family & related expenses, which is an awesome gesture! Like previous years, there will be a pig roast, prize and cash draws, drink & bowling specials, and t-shirt & mug sales, while local filmmaker Wayne Kozeyah will be distributing final copies of his LemmaFest documentary short that he made at Lake Superior State over the past year, and hopefully an online copy turns up online soon as well! The band lineup this year features just 8 acts, with only 3 or 4 bands returning from past years, and with regular bands like Half A Man and 3 time LemmaFest veterans Scofflaw not back this year, but there's still some known faces!

A full timeslot schedule hasn't been announced, but the descending order on the above poster looks reasonable for when bands are playing, so we'll go up from the bottom! If accurate, this year's headliners are Munising metal quartet Infathom (featuring area resident Dillion Semasky on vocals) in their third LemmaFest appearance, and their modern metal attack should be welcomed once again tomorrow night! A new (and maybe one-off?) band named Nightmare Grin are scheduled right before them, and while I can't confirm their sound yet, their lineup does include former I.S.O.M. drummer Bart Rennels and RedStone Riot/ex-Elipzis bassist Ryan Harrison, so they have some solid talent that we haven't seen in the Soo in way too long! Newer local rock quartet Division of Sanity (who have teased metal material in online postings) are also scheduled for around 7:00 PM in what should be their biggest local concert yet, so we'll have to see how they sound live, as they have talent on the acoustic demos that I've heard!

The fourth-last band will be local alternative hard rock trio Plastic (who debuted at last year's LemmaFest) in their first show of the year and first live set with new drummer Aaron DePalma (replacing the departed Paul Burns), so look for them at around 5:30 PM! 2012 LemmaFest performer Caitlin LeBlanc will play a set of acoustic pop/folk songs right before them tomorrow, while a band named Mr. Fister are advertised for the third slot tomorrow, so who exactly are they? It looks like they're essentially the current version of the band previously known as Bucksaw and Dirtbag In A Dress that played at each of the last 3 LemmaFests, though it's unclear whether they're a renamed version or a separate successor band. According to personal Facebook posts, their lineup includes Bucksaw alumni Bill Ogston on guitar, Barney Gravelle (also of Scofflaw) on bass, and Jason VanLuven (returning to replace Mikey Bishop) on drums, with singer/guitarist Ryan Franklin not recently mentioned. Though there's some uncertainties on Mr. Fister's (current?) form, it's nice to see lots of ties to all of the past three LemmaFests via their involvement!

The opening two performers will be new local hard rock quartet The Bottom Line (featuring Highest of Fives bandmates Mitch Goetz and Jack Slater), while a local solo musician named Mike Kowalski (genre unknown) will kick off the day's events at noon or shortly after. This ALL AGES event goes down tomorrow from 12:00 PM until the evening, with a $10 admission, so visit the Facebook event page and the above links for more details! This should be another great installment of LemmaFest, and hopefully the Lemma and Hackworth families are given lots of rememberances and financial help respectively at this great annual event! LemmaFest is one of the most notable annual concert festivals across the river, so don't miss out TOMORROW at the Dondee, and for a preview, here's Infathom covering Papa Roach live last year!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, plus this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Thanks everyone!