Band Together To Rock Cancer Video Showcase!!

On September 20th, four local cover rock bands joined forces at The Tarentorus Sports Club at 56 Avery Road for Band Together To Rock Cancer, a fundraiser concert to help support Mustang Heart guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri through his ongoing cancer battle. Based on what I've seen and heard from the event, it sounds like it was a huge hit, but don't take my word for it, as we have videos from that night to show today! Attendee Audrey Marshall (a frequent sight at local cover rock concerts) was present, and she filmed three songs from each band for this batch post that was publically shared by both Mustang Heart and Generations on their respective Facebook pages after the fact. Audrey also got a handful of pictures throughout the event, and we'll start with the band of the hour, classic rock cover veterans Mustang Heart in their first show of the year! Lorenzo himself was unable to attend physically, but they made sure that he could still be there!

A monitor was set up to the right of the stage so he could watch the show/talk to attendees over a video call, moved as needed to change what he could see. Very nice idea to involve the man of the hour! In his place, former Mustang Heart guitarist Adam King returned to fill in as a special guest, while Lorenzo's Stages bandmate Sam Spadafora guested on keyboard, meaning that he and Vito Tassone both played keyboard at the same time during this set. Shades of modern day Guns N' Roses doing that, but it's great to see Sam showing his support! Audrey filmed Mustang Heart covering three songs on the 20th, including Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's "Pride & Joy", John Mellencamp's "Hurts So Good", and as embedded below, Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind Of Wonderful". It is good to see Mustang Heart back on stage, if under these circumstances, but they sound good on these familiar covers, with hard rock fans benefitting via the Grand Funk one!

Crank Sound Distribution was on hand to make all four band sound as good as possible, and everyone performs well in the three filmed videos on what had to be an emotional night, with a lively crowd response and good energy, so check out all three Mustang Heart videos above & below!

Next up, Adam's old band Double Down took the stage beforehand, with Audrey filming the classic/hard rock cover quartet covering three songs featuring three different singers! Embedded below is their cover of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Let It Ride" with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals, but she also got videos of their covers of The Cars' "Just What I Needed" (with guitarist Beej Syrette singing) and The Temptations' "Shakey Ground" (with bassist Brad Stephen on vocals). Nice little cross-section of Double Down's vocal capabilities here, let alone a very surprising cover choice for Brad's song, and fans of their hard rocking shows should enjoy these clips, so check them out above & below as well!

Audrey also filmed three songs by fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations, but with guitarist Tony Kajnar unable to attend for unannounced reasons, they called in Muckrakers frontman Mike McDonald (one of their 2023 fill-in guitarists before Tony joined full time) to return for the evening. Their videos filmed at The Tarentorus Club include covers of The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" (with bassist Pierre Anthony on vocals), Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet" filmed in two chunks (here and here), and as embedded below, The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There". Solid and casual yet well played across the board, so give Generations and Mike's videos a watch above & below!

Finally, classic rock cover quartet RPM were also in attendance for Band Together To Rock Cancer, with Audrey filming them covering The Romantics' "What I Like About You", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lookin' Out My Back Door", and as embedded below, Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife". Some of the vocals aren't a complete tonal match for the songs in question, but they're a talented group for classic rock fans, and it's great to see them showing their support for Lorenzo here, so check out their videos too!

That's all for now, but I'm very glad to see that the concert was a success, and of course, our continued best thoughts and wishes are with Lorenzo and his family and friends as he continues his battle! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest 2023 Fallout & Videos (Part 2)!!

Let's continue our fallout from this year's Rotaryfest in today's post, and with public videos and coverage of the two closing bands on Stage 1 (so far) dealt with yesterday, we'll start today with the third-to-last band on Saturday, namely classic rock veterans Mustang Heart! Their third straight and eighteenth overall appearance on Stage 1 (a record for the post-2000 festival format), these videos come courtesy of keyboardist Vito Tassone's solo Facebook page, which he uses to plug Mustang Heart and his own adult contemporary solo music. Five public videos of their set can be seen here, three being shared from relative Connie Tassone Mazzuca's personal Facebook page, where she (vertically) filmed covers of Honeymoon Suite's "What Does It Take", Journey's "Stone In Love", and Styx's "Babe". These aren't badly shot, and the audio holds up, but the vertical angle from this far away isn't ideal.

Vito's other two videos are posted directly to his page, and were filmed by an uncredited attendee from a closer, more central vantage point (and shot horizontally!), with the covers being of "What Does It Take" again and, as embedded below, Mustang Heart's apparent set opening cover of Van Halen's "Jump" (complete with the "1984" instrumental beforehand), which features guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri on lead vocals. While not as hard rock-focused as some of their local cohorts, Mustang Heart deliver a fun time when they take the local stage, and there's a reason why they've only missed Rotaryfest once since 2004, so classic rock fans will enjoy their lively covers linked above & below!

 

Right before Mustang Heart's set on Saturday evening, fans saw the Stage 1 debut of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations, but while we're on the subject, we have two news items to note from them. Firstly, you may recall that they also played at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday in a one-nighter, but the entire band wasn't idle on Saturday night. Instead, their predecessors Jus' Chillin returned to play that night in their first show since February! This implies that singer Valerie Powley was unavailable for one reason or another that night, so the guys decided to make due and bring their old guise back for a one-off (Tex Riviera from local country cover veterans The Ride was credited as a guest musician for this show too). Hopefully that went well for all involved! Remember, Jus' Chillin were not a hard rock-focused band, Generations (who took over their Facebook group) developed more of that since adding Valerie.

The other big news is that Generations have parted ways with guitarist Brandon Ruch, as announced by drummer Tony Santoro on their Facebook group on Monday. Brandon's exit is 100% amicable and was prompted by "a busy summer schedule and prior commitments", but Tony praised Brandon's work with Generations and noted that he hoped to jam with him again in the future. Brandon had been Jus' Chillin's final guitarist in their last concerts earlier this year, but had sat out Generations gigs in the past, as seen above with Smokehouse's Michael Yurich filling in on guitar at The Esquire Club in April. Michael did the same at Rotaryfest on Saturday (I'm unsure about the Jay's show on Friday), and you can see him with Generations on Stage 1 via three videos shared to their Facebook group courtesy of attendee Angela Wilcott's personal Facebook page!

Her videos include this song with Michael on vocals (I couldn't match the lyrics to anything... maybe it's an original of his?), Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" with Valerie on vocals, and as embedded below, The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" with bassist Pierre Anthony on vocals. Angela had a nice and close spot to capture Generations and Michael rocking out, and everyone performs strongly, though I'd never have expected to see Valerie sing Miley Cyrus. Give these a watch above & below, and look for a late notice show from Generations in this weekend's concert previews!

 

The only other public videos that I know of from Saturday's Stage 1 program are from party rock cover quintet Encore's lead-off set, and you can head to their Facebook page to see their covers of Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" and The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up" (an oddly popular cover choice among local bands). Nothing heavy here, but Encore (featuring ex-Tripod The Dog bassist John Amendola and ex-Obsession drummer Rich Trevisanut) have loads of talent in their ranks! Dipping back to night #2 on Stage 1 on Friday, newer local classic rock cover band The Way Backs posted two videos on their Facebook page of them covering Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and the spiritual song "Down By The Riverside". Definite change of pace, but seeing as this band originated from the local production of the musical Million Dollar Quartet, you know that it wouldn't be quite on par with other bands that day.

 

We'll close by noting that the uncredited Sault Star photographer got pictures of both Stage 1 band Bookclub and Stage 2 headliner Rusty McCarthy on Friday that you can check out at this link. Solid shots as usual, but it is still kinda odd seeing members of The Inner City Surfers on the main stage (not because they don't deserve it, just for its long-time covers focus). We'll have more from Rotaryfest in the days ahead, but stay tuned for a non-Rotaryfest news post next! Thanks everyone!

Mid-Week Concert Previews, Plus The Last Hard Rock Videos From Rotaryfest 2022!!

To kick off another work/school week, here's a new news post on this Monday night, which is divided into two halves. In a bit, we'll have the last of the videos of hard rock bands/covers at Rotaryfest last month, but first, here's a couple of mid-week concert previews for the days ahead!

We'll start at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion TOMORROW, as local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns will hit there for a special Tuesday evening gig as part of the City of Sault Ste. Marie's Summer Concert Series! This will be their first show under the big tent downtown since their hybrid gig on Canada Day, with Mitch & Johnny from Handsome Sandwich joining the Speers' and Jesse (also of Handsome Sandwich) for a Stallyns covers set. The band only updates their Facebook page sporadically, but this should prove to see their full current lineup in place, including Al & Derek on bass and drums. Look for a fun night of hard rocking and fan friendly covers from The Wyld Stallyns downtown tomorrow evening, and at least it'll end early on a school/work night! While the show will be covered, 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather tomorrow with temperatures from 23-24°.

This is a FREE & ALL AGES event as usual for this series, a 7:00 PM start time is in effect, and if you're wondering, we'll preview Thursday evening's Uncanny Valley show there later this week. Visit the above links for more on tonight's Wyld Stallyns show at The Pavilion, and here they are live!

Next up, here's another mid-week concert preview, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison is expected to return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post for another gig THIS WEDNESDAY! While there is no Facebook event page yet to promote this show, the vast majority of Wednesdays in this seasonal weekly arrangement have got one, so follow Tym's Facebook group and personal Facebook page for updates if you're at all concerned. Tym's deep setlist of classic and hard rock covers, coupled with his own vocal and guitar talents, should prove to be another entertaining combo, so don't miss out if you're able on Wednesday! This show has no cover charge or age limit, and it again starts at 7:00 PM. 9&10 News is calling for similarly sunny weather, but with cooler 18-19° temperatures. See above for details, and here's Tym live!

Let's close today's post by finally concluding our Rotaryfest video coverage, as we're down to footage from the last two outstanding bands, and while I've covered 2022 videos from both, not these videos! We'll start with local classic rock quintet Mustang Heart, as keyboardist Vito Tassone uploaded six videos from their Friday night set on Stage 1 at Clergue Park to his YouTube channel just last week! Vito has posted more there from other events, but as far as Rotaryfest went, his videos include covers of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", Harlequin's "Innocence", Autograph's "Turn Up The Radio", Honeymoon Suite's "What Does It Take", and two Bon Jovi covers, namely "It's My Life" and, as embedded below, "Born To Be My Baby". Unfortunately, only the Autograph cover is filmed horizontally, but the videos have good sound quality, and zoom is used to help show more of the stage and fans dancing.

Of note, the "Born To Be My Baby" cover features guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri on lead vocals with usual frontwoman Marci Chindamo on backing vocals. He gets the job done on this Bon Jovi classic, but if you want to hear Marci singing up front, other videos on Vito's channel will have you covered. Strong performances from the modern Rotaryfest's most frequently seen band, so give these videos a watch above & below!

At long last, let's finally wrap up our Rotaryfest hard rock video coverage in a fitting way, with the last band who played Stage 1 this year, namely local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard, who had a video filmed by the ever-prolific Christopher Paci for his YouTube channel! During their festival-closing set, Chris filmed them covering The Eagles' "Life In The Fast Lane", and while I admittely am not an Eagles fan, Greg does add some welcomed energy and exuberance into the vocals and drumming, so that should help for anyone who isn't into the original band! Solid crowd up front & nighttime ambiance, so check out Bone Yard at Rotaryfest one more time below!

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

Rotaryfest Video Showcase (Part 3!!)

As promised, here is our third Rotaryfest video showcase post, and we're sticking with Stage 1 at Clergue Park today with bands that played on the Friday (with one exception), so let's lead off for a second straight day with Mike Haggith, as his long-awaited full-band concert in the Soo took place on day #2 of the festival! This was live-streamed to his YouTube channel on the 15th, and captures his entire 45 minute set on the main stage, alongside A Dire Setback's Chris Nielsen & Matt Quinn and his old Din bandmate Brandan Glew. Also capturing stage MC Andrew Steutz's introductions and pre-set announcements, the video is shot in front of the stage, so ignore the sharp angle of the thumbnail. In order, Mike's original-heavy set included "If Ever Comes The Day", "MorningStar", a cover of The Barenaked Ladies' "Too Little Too Late", "Twist Of Fate", "Back Away Slowly", a cover of The Foo Fighters' "Times Like These"...

...a cover of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", "I Seen It Before", and "The Nature Of The Times". Covers aside, this was definitely a showcase for Mike's Thompson-era originals (no Din carryovers whatsoever), and while the video quality is washed out, things sound good! I honestly didn't expect to see Mike just singing two songs with no guitar (very odd), but the band mesh together nicely, even if Matt isn't always in frame! Definitely give this a watch to see Mike's newer original material in a fully realized form, but there's more from his set to look at too!

The ever-prolific Christopher Paci was also in attendance for Mike's set on that Friday, filming "Twist of Fate" and, as embedded below, "The Nature of the Times" as part of his eleven videos across both stages on his YouTube channel. I didn't mention this above, but Brandan's old Re:Born bandmate Elly McWatters joined the band for the closer as a backing vocalist, and she does add some good harmonies! Chris' videos of Mike & crew were further away in the seating area, and the sound is tinnier than on Mike's full-set clip, but the extra angles are welcomed, especially to capture Matt in steady frame. Check these out above & below!

Chris also filmed two extra bands on Friday, including closing classic rock band Angry Joe & The Growlers covering Tony Joe White's "Bayou Woman" from a closer angle, but embedded below is a glam metal cover from classic rock veterans and modern day Rotaryfest mainstays Mustang Heart, namely Autograph's "Turn Up The Radio". The location and quality is no different from Chris' videos of Mike's set, but performance-wise, it's solidly handled, and Marci hits all the right notes on vocals, so fans will want to give this one a watch below, and look for Chris' Saturday videos soon!

Finally, let's jump to Saturday the 16th for a video of local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek's Stage 1 set, as attendee Tom Thumb (that can't be his real name) filmed them covering Thriving Ivory's "Angels On The Moon"! Uploaded to the band's Facebook page that night, this was shot from the lawn close to the stage, and it's a solid quality video capturing this smooth cover with nice rich audio quality! Solid work, if not their heaviest cover going, so check it out below!

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

A Full Rundown Of The Virtual Rotaryfest Concert!!

As you likely know by now, this summer's annual Rotaryfest was cancelled as we knew it due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers made due this past Saturday by hosting a delayed "Virtual Rotaryfest", a 2+ hour at-home concert that was posted onto SooToday's YouTube channel! While there are extra segments related to usual festival tropes and personnel, the music is the key focus, with involved artists performing two songs (save for the headliner, who gets a full half hour to close). I guess it's up to you if this officially counts as equal canon with actual Rotaryfest lineups at Clergue Park. but it is certainly better than nothing! Now, none of the performers selected for the Virtual Rotaryfest are hard rock-based, but a few SMS-friendly covers made the cut, and there are lots of familiar faces to be seen, so I want to give this a rundown! As tradition, the usual town criers open Rotaryfest, even in this virtual sense.

Co-hosted by Andrew Steutz and Rotary Club President Megan Wigmore, they introduce the festivities by discussing how everyone wanted to keep Rotaryfest going in a tough year, discussing the history of the festival since 1922, introducing a highlight reel of what the Rotary Club does in the community, and introducing this year's Take Your Pick draw. After Andrew runs through the lineup, he introduced the first act, local country singer Tyson Hanes, who allegedly would have reunited with Asylum Country had the normal Rotaryfest went forward in July. Recorded on location in Alberta, Tyson played two original songs, namely "Watch This" and "Other Than That". Next we get two originals from local folk/indie musician Jackson Reed and his band The Tweeds (ex-Pillory frontman Robert Sartini and Aldous/Vol. alum Shane Storozuk). Performing at Unsalted Audio, the guys played two originals, "Back To Me" & "Go".

After showing classic cars at Border Town Classics (in place of the Wheels on the Water car show), a plug for the Take Your Pick draw, and some remarks by stage managers Shaun Antler & Valerie Pluss, we get our first cover act of the evening, namely classic rock quintet Mustang Heart, who were annual mainstays of Stage 1 for over a decade before skipping 2019. Their at-home set sees them cover The Eagles' "Love Will Keep Us Alive" and, in a welcome bone for hard rock fans, Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O Mine"! This multi-camera video is well shot, and while the cover is slowed down, it's well handled by these local staples, especially with Marci's more than capable vocals! After discussing the annual ribs vendor competition and checking in with Billy Bones BBQ (a frequent prize winner at Rotaryfest), we get a performance from Algo Rhythms member & solo singer/guitarist Kelly McGillivray, who covers Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" ...
 
...and Miley Cyrus' "The Climb", followed by another Take Your Pick plug and a statement about the Rotary Club's goals. Next, we get a joint set from local/Pembroke musicians KT Antler & Kyle McKey, who you'll recognize from bands like Turner Up, Hat Trik, The Pocket, and various other acts separately. Their at-home set sees them cover Miranda Lambert's "Bluebird" and Halsey's "Without Me", preceding a check-in with Silver Bullet BBQ, a thank you message for supporting Rotary, another history moment on the first community parade, another video from Border Town Classics, and another draw reminder. The next set (filmed outdoors, even) is courtesy of prolific local folk musicians Jay Case & Frank Deresti, who play two songs from Jay's new solo album "Foundation", including "Beautiful You" & "Intend To Be". After outlining more of what the Rotary Club offers locally and plugging the draw again, we get the last opening act of the evening.

That band is country rock cover quartet Bone Yard, whose set was filmed on stage at Reggie's West with some semblance of a live audience, so this one truly has the full concert feel more than any other act! Their two songs are covers of The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" and "New Orleans Is Sinking", and while not representative of their country side, Hip fans will certainly approve! After one last plug for the Take Your Pick draw and an introduction from OLG Municipal & Community Relations Director Jake Pastore, we get our half-hour headline set from Juno Award winning local/Wiikwemkoong country/blues singer Crystal Shawanda, accompanied by her husband Dewayne Strobel on guitar, and their daughter amusingly pops up often as well. Crystal's at-home set features "Hey Love", "Church House Blues", Hank Williams Sr.'s "Your Cheatin' Heart", Patsy Cline's "Crazy" & "Walking After Midnight", "You Can Let Go", ...

...and finally, her own bluesy take on The Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking". Of course, kudos to every musician and sponsor for stepping up and keeping Rotaryfest going in 2020, despite unprecedented challenges! Everyone did a solid job musically in their genres, and while I'd have liked to have seen some more heavy acts (or at least a "Stage 1" & "Stage 2" again), this was well put together! I will nitpick that Megan & Andrew did come across a little stiff in their hosting, especially reading off of notes when cue cards would have been ideal given the circumstances. Give the 2020 Virtual Rotaryfest a watch below, and stay tuned for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

A New-ish Local Hard Rock Band, More COVID-19 Concert Updates, And A New Song!!

Here's another news post to check out on this Friday morning, and it includes a new original song and the latest wave of coronavirus-related cancellations and postponements on the local hard rock concert calendar. Leading off though, here's a new (kind of) local band to take note of this year!

We have a new-ish band to add to our active Sault Ontario band links, and they are Bad Chug, a hard rock trio that originally launched back in... May 2016?! As best as I can tell, I missed out on this band upon their initial launch because they were originally based out of Ottawa, but since returning just last month, they have permanently moved back home, so we're not that out of the loop. Bad Chug were originally active in mid-late 2016, and they were surprisingly busy during that time, including playing a handful of live dates, posting eleven videos on their YouTube channel (including live concert & jam session clips), and even releasing their original "Primal" on Bandcamp, though that song (album?) has since been taken down. Over three years after falling inactive, Bad Chug resurfaced locally last month with plenty of new studio material teasers, plus revealing that they will be the second local openers for the Buckcherry concert at Soo Blaster (more on that in a bit.)

Lineup-wise, Bad Chug features singer/guitarist Aaron Desmoulin and drummer Matt D'Ettore, neither of whom I'm familiar with from prior local bands. While in Ottawa, their bassist and co-vocalist was Kyle Dubé, who is not visibly part of Bad Chug 2.0, and they have yet to announce who has replaced him. Self-described as playing "old school hard rock", the best place to start checking Bad Chug out with is the video embedded below, featuring their 20 minute set at a June 2016 private house party concert in Ottawa. In order, the guys played their eponymous song, "Should Never Be", "Rockin' Hard Place", "Primal", and a cover of Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone" with guest guitarist Kevin Hallarn. It's hard to say yet how Matt & Aaron have grown as musicians in the past three years, but from the material on offer, they had a strong hard rock base with a carefree attitude, and there is some real songwriting ability on display!

Much like Late & Loud, an achilles heel with Bad Chug is the vocals, as (at least in 2016) Aaron's singing didn't project too far, and Kyle overdid the aggression a bit, but we have yet to hear Bad Chug in 2020 to compare. For what it's worth, band biographies say that Matt sings too. I like where Bad Chug are going so far, and check out much more above & below!

 

As noted above, Bad Chug were quietly named as the final opening band for the Buckcherry concert in Sault Ontario, which would be a huge platform for their local concert debut, but that'll have to wait 26 weeks, as promoters have postponed the show from Wednesday, May 13th to Wednesday, November 11th due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Very unfortunate, but given that the news isn't getting better in the near future, it was the safest move. Yes, already bought tickets will be accepted for the new date, but you can also get refunds at point of purchase, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details. While we're on the subject, the last two hard rock concert holdouts over the April 10th weekend have also been cancelled, namely the Sandman concert at The Canadian on the 10th (as per the band's Facebook page) and the Just Heart concert at The Rockstar Bar on the 11th, as per it's Facebook event page. Of course, if you bought tickets and want a refund in the short term, contact the venues online for details, especially as promoters have not indicated that they were postponed.

The last domino standing on the April hard rock/punk concert calendar is the First Jason show at The Canadian on April 26th, which has not (yet) been cancelled as of this writing, but stay tuned for updates on it's status, increasingly negative it may be. With concerts in May starting to be affected, the big ones to watch in May include Mike Haggith's CD release party and shows from touring headliners The Anti-Queens, Numbing, and Peril. As of this writing, all are still scheduled for their original dates, but we will keep you posted if anything changes for these and other May concerts.

Let's end today's post on a happy note, namely a new original song from local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's YouTube channel! Though his regular concerts at Gliss & elsewhere are on pause due to the coronavirus-related restaurant & nightclub closures, Tym has kept busy writing new music, like this song named "Down With The Devil". While very reflective of his increased observance of Christianity, this is still a heavy track with a solid guitar solo and in-your-face impact (Stryper, this ain't!) However, starting with the chorus is a little surprising, and the processing on the vocals there is overdone to me. Give Tym's new song a listen below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review and more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Just Heart, The Elements, And Tripod The Dog), And More!!

We got crushed with a lot of new LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on social media today, so let's tackle the non-late notice ones in tonight's post! Look for the rest on Thursday in our weekend concert previews. I also have some assorted notes to wrap things up, but for now, here's what you should know for these concerts in chronological order!

Local ska-punk/hard rock trio Tripod The Dog will play their first publically advertised show of 2020 (that I know of) when they headline at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday, January 25th! After a successful first year back as an active live band in 2019, Mark and the Amendolas should be raring to go with another set full of high energy covers, allegedly by popular demand, so if you missed their gigs last year, don't sleep on this one! Yes, this is advertised as a one-night-only event, though if it's due to a conflicting booking on Friday the 24th, I have not heard about it at press time. As usual for The Rockstar Bar's one local band-only events, this is a 19+ concert with no cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time (though doors open at 8:00.) Whether you recall Tripod the Dog's original run in the late 1990s and early 2000s, or are new to the party, their set always delivers a good time, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details when/if they roll in!

Next up, we're not done at The Rockstar Bar, as local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements will play their own first show of 2020 on Friday, January 31st there! While arguably better known as a support act on multi-band events, The Elements are no strangers to being solo headliners on the weekend nightclub circuit, but there is a frill to note at month's end, as this concert coincides with frontman Rob Speers' birthday. Sounds like a fun way to celebrate the occasion, and hopefully he, Jesse, James, and Jonas deliver lots of hard rocking covers and originals for assembled fans in three weeks' time! For the record, I have not heard who's playing at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday, February 1st (if anyone) as of this writing. Like with the Tripod the Dog show, expect a 9:00 PM start time, no cover, and a 21+ age limit. Visit the official Facebook event page for more information, and stay tuned for more updates from The Elements and/or The Wyld Stallyns!

Lastly for today's new concert announcements (also at The Rockstar Bar), Toronto-based Heart tribute band Just Heart will make their local concert debut here on Saturday, April 11th! Almost six years after the real Heart rocked the future GFL Memorial Gardens, this tribute will hit Sault Ste. Marie with a faithfully attired and choreographed stage show, and from what I have seen and heard, Just Heart should deliver the goods for fans of Ann & Nancy Wilson and company and their long career of classic hits! Potential local openers have not been announced. Once again, this is a 19+ concert with a presumed 9:00 PM start time, though admission will be $20 via advance ticket purchases at The Algonquin Hotel's front desk (it is not clear if the price will jump at the door or not.) Classic hard rock fans won't want to miss this action, so visit the Facebook event page for more details!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, all courtesy of recent postings on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• On Sunday, drummer Craig Koziar (who recently moved to the Soo) posted here looking to start a new project, citing progressive music and bands ranging from Animals As Leaders & Gojira to Fleetwood Mac & Radiohead as influences. Assuming it's the same Craig, he previously played in Toronto and Halifax-area bands like Forgetting All I Know, Iduna, and Writers Strike, among others. He's a talented drummer from what I have seen, and message Craig at this link or above if you're interested in working with him!
• Jack Spades guitarist Daniel Horton is looking to start a new local band (he is flexible on the genre), citing recent inactivity for his two active bands as a reason for the search. One has "a broken drummer", and the other apparently "doesn't make time to jam", though I'll let you speculate on which is Jack Spades or the mystery newer band of his. If you're interested in working with Dan in a new project, message him at this link or via yesterday's group post!
• Local guitarist Rainey Rancourt is looking for a drummer (aged 13-19 years old) for his current band project, who play "metal/punk." This follows a search he posted here in November for a singer, though it's not clear how far along the band is other than that. Message Rainey at this link or via his group post yesterday for more information on the drummer opening!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Local Concert Video Showcase!!

Today's post is 100% devoted to new videos from SaultOnline reporter Mike Caruso's YouTube channel in the past week, as his frequent uploads of videos from local bar cover bands continue with welcome regularity! Of course, there's a lot more than this to see from many different groups, but we'll focus on heavier bands and/or covers as usual, and we'll start with Mike's video of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck at Reggie's West on Friday night, but with a surprise, as former Haggith/Project 421/et al. lead singer Curtis McKenzie joined in as a guest vocalist! We have heard very little from Curt musically since his most recent band Eclipse (and his then-solo project) dissolved in late 2017, so it's great to see him back on stage after 2 years away! The title just says that Curtis is a guest, but Soundcheck's Facebook page's biography was quietly updated last week to confirm the departure of singer/guitarist Travis Sharpe from the band for unannounced reasons.

Travis had previously missed Soundcheck's Water Tower Pub shows earlier this month, as well a date there in September, though I have no word how related those absences were. Travis had been a member of Soundcheck since their 2016 launch, and it's very surprising to see him leave, but hopefully he turns up in a new band soon! As for Mike's video, it's of Soundcheck and Curtis covering Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" and Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box", and the band sound solid, though Curt's voice is a far better fit on the latter cover, and Paul is again obscured by that post on the stage. Solid overall, so give Mike's Soundcheck video a look below

Next up, here's a video of local classic/hard rock quintet Fluid 5ive at The New American Pub on November 8th, where they covered two songs, namely Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Refugee" & David Bowie's "Heroes". It's worth noting that the on-screen captions indicate a quiet lineup change, as Tom Millette is featured on second guitar, with no sign of guitarist/keyboardist Rob Irving. If Rob has left the 5ive permanently, then a reason for his departure hasn't been publically announced, though note that the band's Facebook page (which still lists Rob in the fold) hasn't been updated in over 2 months. I'm unfamiliar with Tom musically, but he fits right in with Fluid 5ive on these well-filmed covers, and hopefully all's well with Rob going forward! And yes, bassist Pierre Vaillancourt is one and the same as Pierre Anthony, highlighting the familial connection with Liam on lead guitar.

The backing vocals are iffy, but these songs are well-handled with good energy, so if you haven't seen Fluid 5ive before, this multi-camera footage will give you a solid preview of what they bring to the table. Give Fluid 5ive's 1ive video a look below, and don't miss them at Toystock!



Also, here's Mike's new video of local acoustic country duo (and Bone Yard side project) The Bearded Lounge covering Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee" and a surprise slowed down version of Kiss' "Rock and Roll All Nite" at Reggie's West! I believe this was filmed at their matinee show there on November 9th. Of course, Greg and Alex have great chemistry and country chops from their full band work together and vast local experience, as evidenced nicely on the former cover, but the Kiss cover will take some acclimating if you're not a fan of classic country. Nice to see the guys spreading their wings here, so give their Reggievelt video a look also!



Finally, here's local classic rock mainstays Mustang Heart playing three covers during one of their Esquire Club concerts over the November 8th weekend. Here, you can see them cover Heart's "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You", Bon Jovi's "Bed of Roses" (featuring various pictures of couples added in post), and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode". Frontwoman Marci Chindamo sings lead on the first and last songs,  but guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri handles them on Bed of Roses." The audio quality is mixed here, especially with the riffing almost sounding warped on the Heart cover, but Mustang Heart acquit themselves well here, so give them a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Offspring/Sum 41 preview and more on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Halloween Party), A New Local Band, And Much More!!

We're back with a new news post on this Sunday afternoon, and it includes some new video footage from a recent concert, a preview of a special Tuesday nighter downtown, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for an annual holiday tradition, but first, here's info on a new band playing that event!

We have a new local metal band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are The Guitar Gangsters, who just so happen to be the Volbeat cover band playing at J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween Party on Friday, November 1st! Taking their name from Volbeat's 2008 album and song "Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood", this is a local supergroup if their ever was one, notably featuring ex-Garden of Bedlam bandmates Erik "Buzz" Boissineau and Derek Turner on vocals and drums. Buzz's involvement is a massive surprise, given that I believe he still lives in Southern Ontario (where he fronts Midnight Traffic), but it'll be great to see him and Derek together on stage again after over 4 years away, and remember that Garden of Bedlam covered Volbeat a fair amount, including "Guitar Gangsters..."! Derek's Stanley Hill/Papa Fogals Chair bandmate Mike Bird will also be in this band on bass, as will the twin guitar attack of Jesse Cook (The Elements, Winkstinger, etc.) and his old Jack Spades bandmate Tiffany Stocco.

Tiffany's involvement is also logical given her past work in the T-Rex Manning side project Pools of Booze (who also covered Volbeat frequently), but she did reveal on her personal Facebook page recently that she was moving out of town, though she would come home to at least play with Jack Spades. What this means for Stegadeth and her now three local cover bands isn't clear, but it'd be great to see The Guitar Gangsters thrive while working around Buzz and Tiffany not living here full time, as this is a stacked lineup who should have a great handle on Volbeat hits!

There's not a lot up yet on The Guitar Gangsters beyond the lineup and their first two show dates, including a surprise Sudbury road trip on November 2nd, but their Facebook page's "About" section reveals that The Halloween Party will take place at The Rockstar Bar, seemingly confirming the venue which still isn't listed on that show's Facebook event page. As such, consider this a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! If accurate, this will be the seventh time in 8 years that J.D.'s annual Halloween concert(s) took place on a floor of The Algonquin Hotel, only excepting 2013. This 15th annual installment will harbour a fifth straight year of an all-cover band format, albeit on one night only this time, with costumes and a requisite contest encouraged as always. The Guitar Gangsters will be joined by reunited Foo Fighters tribute band The Soo Fighters & their new lineup, though we await a reveal of the third band, who will cover White Zombie & Rob Zombie.

For what it's worth, J.D. himself typically fronts a band at this event, so will he portray Rob Zombie for the evening, or could we be surprised further? We'll let you know! Expect a 19+ age limit, $10 cover charge, and likely 9:00 PM start time on November 1st. This should be a great bash as usual, and with The Guitar Gangsters' very intriguing debut, that just adds to the excitement! Visit the above links for more on them and this concert!

Next up, here's our preview of a special matinee concert THIS TUESDAY, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will rock The Roberta Bondar Pavilion as part of this year's Summer Concert Series under the big tent! This will be the fourth show in a six day span for Soundcheck, following their Esquire Club concerts this weekend, as well as a set at another charity car show outside of the newer A&W on Thursday. I profusely apologize for missing it in our last weekend concert previews, but Soundcheck didn't plug it on their Facebook page until 5:13 PM that day, after their first set began. Had they given this event any kind of advance notice, we'd have covered it, but hopefully it was a great turnout once again! Luckily, if you want FREE outdoor cover action with prior notice, Soundcheck will have plenty of that on Tuesday, so look for Travis, Terry, Paul, and Glen's hard rocking classics then! This is a special 7:00 PM matinee with no age limits or cover charges. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Finally for today, we'll stick with concert action at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, as let's finally close out our look at videos from last week's Fringe North/Up The Arts Festival concerts there, courtesy of the Arts Council's Facebook page! Of course, Sunday's performers (primarily acoustic ones and buskers) are up too, as are eight videos of Crystal Shawanda's headlining set on Saturday, but if you're looking for hard rock covers, four clips of local classic rock cover veterans Mustang Heart's opening set were streamed that Saturday! I would normally share a hard rock cover here, as they did tackle one or two that were filmed, but the video qualities are wildly inconsistent. One video is of Mustang Heart covering The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman", and Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel", but the distant vertical camera angle and distorted audio don't help matters.

Also filmed vertically was their covers of Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O Mine" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", but the GNR video was taken from even further away, and while the Journey cover was shot much closer, both of these live-streams are choppy, so if you watch them and wonder why the video is stuttering and stopping, it is not your fault! Embedded here is the only video with decent audio & video quality combined, which is this slower and horizontally shot cover that I can't immediately identify. If you can look past the angles and the two choppy clips, Mustang Heart sound good here, so give their Fringe North videos a look above & below!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Beaumont Avenue & Late Shift), Plus New Video Finds!!

Kicking off a new week at the site, let's cover some recent news and notes today, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming month, more videos from a major recent concert, and a cool punk video to share on here, so here's what you need to know!

Local hard rock cover quartet Late Shift will return to the stage THIS FRIDAY for a solo headlining gig at The Rednecks Saloon! This will likely be the first appearance by this internet page-less band at the former Nicolet Tavern, and if we haven't missed any in the interim, their first public concert appearance since playing at LopLops Lounge in May. Featuring alumni of Fingerbone, Redefined, Northwest, and The Groove Committee, you may also recognize Late Shift from the Amy Ellis benefit show at The Canadian last fall, and if that and their scattered early 2014 gigs (public & private alike) are any indication, they should have a solid cover set in store! No word on why they're not playing on Saturday though, but there might be a prior booking that day. Regardless, there's no announced cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and there's a 10:00 PM start time in effect. For more details, visit the Facebook event page, and stay tuned for updates if we get them!

Speaking of new shows at The Rednecks Saloon, local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue (formerly The Suicide Kings) will return to the old Nic for a full weekend on Friday, July 25th & Saturday, July 26th! Oddly, these shows were only just announced on Friday via the new cover photo on their Facebook page, which still bears their old name as of this writing. Following their second appearance at Rotaryfest in a couple of weeks, these will be their first shows at this venue since May, so if you're up for a weekend full of hard rock originals and covers (especially as you won't see the originals at Rotaryfest), be at 304 Albert Street West on the last weekend of the month! Like this Friday's Late Shift show, expect 19+ age limits, no announced cover, and 10:00 PM start times. For more details, visit the above links, and don't miss the newly renamed Beaumont Avenue then or at Rotaryfest!

We'll close this post with new videos, including what's likely our last fallout from last month's Heart/Jason Bonham concert at The Essar Centre! As you may know, crew from SooToday and Local2 were on hand for the show, filming footage among their other articles, and some of their material made it in the newest episode of their ongoing video series Tuned with Donna Hopper, which went online on Wednesday! The main articles of the episode include Donna's interviews with Southern Ontario rockers The Weber Brothers (the first band she ever interviewed in 2006) and local folk band The Faraway Neighbours (with performance footage of each), while the concert calendar segment plugs The Archaics' show at The New American on July 15th. The last chunk devoted to more Local2 footage of the Heart show, including clips of Heart & Jason playing "Barracuda", "What About Love", and Led Zeppelin covers, some of which were seen before, but they're solid all the same! Click here for the full episode, as Local2 videos doesn't allow external embedding.

And as for embeddable videos, YouTube user hbogie123 uploaded six more videos from the show onto their YouTube channel last week, joining the 13 existing videos that we covered on here! All from the Led Zeppelin cover portion, these videos (generally incomplete again) include Heart & Jason playing "The Ocean", "Immigrant Song", "Kashmir", "The Rain Song", a 13 second clip of "The Battle of Evermore", and as embedded below, their show-stopping rendition of "Stairway To Heaven", which fans will definitely want to check out! Solid quality with a good angle as before, so give hbogie123's last videos a look above & below!

Finally for today, I wanted to slowly begin sharing some local punk videos on the site, and to reserve certain ones for our YouTube Channel Profile Series, we'll feature some from channels without a 50% majority of SMS-fitting videos on the site just to give them some solid attention! This one was originally a Shaw TV Sault Ste. Marie news piece by ex-Free Beer frontman Christian Lemay that aired on Channel 10 last January, and it's focused on the Searchmont Resort fundraiser that month at The Water Tower Inn that featured a concert set by local punk/alternative standouts Treble Charger! While largely focused on the fundraiser and it's impact on the resort from staff, the latter half of the video features footage of Treble Charger's set (their first with a full quartet lineup in the Soo since 2003), and it's nice to see clips of them in town! As I remember, this fundraiser had expensive tickets, but it was for a good cause, and it looked like a successful event! It'd have been interesting to see Greig or Bill interviewed on camera though. Check out the full report below, and see more Shaw TV pieces at their YouTube channel!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and band features this week! Thanks everyone!

More Heart Concert Fallout, A Band Breakup, And Much More!!

Before we get too deep into this post, I'll send a special good luck to the guys in AlgomA, Bad Back, The Bear Hunters, Crucify The Whore, and Shit Liver as they all rock the Touch of Death Metal & Punk Festival in Cochrane this weekend! Knock it out of the park, and make the Soo proud! Today, we have new local ties from a recent local news article, a band breakup to note, and a new interview featuring a prolific local artist, but first, here's some more fallout from a major recent hard rock show!

We'll begin with some more fallout from last weekend's Heart/Jason Bonham concert at The Essar Center, including an interview with The Sault Star's Jeffery Ougler that was published on their website (and presumably in the newspaper proper) last Wednesday! Apologies for being so late with this, I only just found the article the other day. Entitled "Straight From The Heart", the interview is with Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson, and while it's largely based around the contents of Nancy and sister/lead singer Ann Wilson's new autobiography "Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul and Rock & Roll", she does talk about the current tour and working with Jason Bonham too. Solid read, if not too focused on the local date, so read it at this link or in last week's paper (though note that you'll have to watch a 15 second advertisement for access to it online, which is new to me for Sault Star articles.) Lastly for the known Heart fallout are some new concert videos, so what should you know on them?

These are 9 new Heart videos from YouTube user hbogie123, who only had 4 up on their Youtube channel when our original post was written up (it was auto-posted during the Anciients show, and the last of these videos went up yesterday.) All incomplete, the new videos include Heart playing their originals "These Dreams", "Alone", "Magic Man" (in parts linked here & here), and "Crazy On You" (also in 2 parts, here & here), plus covers of Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" & "Four Sticks", but embedded below is one of the longer videos, of Heart covering "No Quarter". Like before, these videos have a good quality and angle from close to the stage, so check out hbogie123's new videos above & below!



Next up, Haggith drummer & local solo musician Mike Haggith received some cool promotion the other day as the featured artist on Betty on the Go, an online music webseries from XEAYZ.TV out of his Windsor hometown. As originally streamed on Thursday evening, it's now posted to watch on YouTube, so what should you know? After introductions, host Betty Gudel and Mike talk about numerous topics in this half hour video, including his recent work towards becoming a licensed pilot & what that could mean for his music career, his songwriting inspirations, his musical beginnings & preferences, his work with Paperclip Productions and the band Haggith, among other subjects. This runs for about 20 minutes before Betty does some local advertisements (with Mike providing some running thoughts), and after a brief clip of a local summer theater camp, Mike sings his original song "This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device" from his newest EP "A Place Of Our Own", which you can jump straight to at this link if you're interested.

There isn't a lot in terms of breaking news for future shows & such, but Mike did elaborate on the formats of his earliest out-of-print albums, and detailed the story of how he joined what became Haggith in the interview. While I'm a little surprised that Mike didn't go into details about his Windsor-era band work with bands like S.C.A.R., this was a solid interview, and way more extensive than I'd have guessed going in! The webstream video quality is what it is, but Mike sings well at the end, and it's nice to see him get this kind of a feature, so check out the full interview below!

Also, I have deleted local hard rock duo Re-Born (formerly the original Brutaly Fatal) from our band links due to the closure of their Facebook (and only online) page in recent weeks, which was likely related to the band's recent breakup. A reason for either has not been announced, but there was a falling out between members & Blood Shed Productions co-founders Tyler Gibson & Austin McCrea after Austin and the second version of Brutaly Fatal (now The Revolution) left the label last month. Out of respect to both parties, I won't go into further details on the split, but it didn't sound amicable. The original Brutaly Fatal (which was largely Austin's solo project) were one of the launch acts for Blood Shed Productions in late 2012, releasing a handful of demo CDs and playing a few live sets through last fall. In early 2014, Tyler joined on drums, and they changed their name to Re-Born, along with drifting to hard rock & punk covers, but their activity was limited to scattered video posts & some unannounced gigs, last making an online update in February.

While their original solo death metal style was an acquired taste (and I never understood the missing L from "brutally"), Austin always had bass talent and growling ability, and if he can shore up his stage presence, he should go far with The Revolution! Re-Born might always be one of those "what if?" projects due to the minimal online media and lack of announced shows, but hopefully things aren't as bad as they appeared late last month. Tyler's also got a good thing going with his current grind projects, so look for more from both this year, and best of luck all around!

Finally for today, remember how Toronto hard rock quartet Public Animal headlined at The Rockstar Bar yesterday? Well, there were more local ties beyond The Role Models' opening set and the C'Mon show two years ago, as Public Animal drummer Ryan Gassi is actually from Sault Ste. Marie! As outlined in a new SooToday article from Donna Hopper,  Ryan drummed for notable local bands like blues rockers The Rhythm Rats and punk notables The Kite-Eating Maples before moving to Toronto, where played in bands like The Lying Cheats & Memory Bank. In the article, Ryan discussed how he was almost going to quit drumming in bands before frontman Ian Blurton asked if he wanted to join his new band Public Animal, who are heavier than Ryan's past bands. I'm not sure how I didn't connect the dots before on Ryan's local past when researching Public Animal, but it's great to see him still playing and coming back home for a show! In fact, Public Animal will be the next band profiled in our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile Series next month, so look out for that, and hopefully Public Animal come back to the Soo down the road!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news soon, plus our review of Mike Haggith's new EP by Monday! Thanks everyone!