YouTube Channel Profile Series: Vern03's Channel

For our last monthly feature post of September 2025, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, and for our latest spotlight on a YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and punk artists/concerts, we're heading back almost two decades to one of the biggest metal concerts to hit Sault Ontario. Here's what you should know!

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Vern03's Channel (http://youtube.com/Vern03)

Owner:  YouTube user Vern03, a.k.a. j.vernz, but I don't 100% know his full identity

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 11th, 2006; Videos uploaded on March 21st & 22nd, 2007

Channel Summary: Intended as a channel to host videos from both concerts that he attended and his then-band, Vern03 only ever uploaded six videos here, all from the Heaven & Hell/Megadeth concert at the Steelback Centre (now GFL Memorial Gardens) on March 20th, 2007, capturing footage of all three bands on this night.

Why You Should Watch: As a window to one of the first major rock concerts at the new Gardens, this is a fun look back, especially given that there hasn't been much (if any) heavier shows there since! I was there and it was a really good concert, and it's hard to believe that it was over 18 years ago now, though be advised of the scratchy and poor audio quality with hindsight. Note that Vern03 explained in the description that he had a 100 MB file size limit to stay under at the time, implying that he filmed some videos longer than 4:50 that he couldn't upload at the time, though there are a few other videos from this show floating around YouTube.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Black Sabbath LIVE: Mob Rules: Despite headlining this concert, Vern03 only got two videos of headlining metal supergroup Heaven & Hell at the Gardens, and just to get this out of the way now, he always labelled them as "Black Sabbath" on his channel. Heaven & Hell were a reunion of Black Sabbath's "Mob Rules"-era lineup fronted by Ronnie James Dio, renamed afer Dio's first album with Sabbath to avoid confusion the then-still active Ozzy Osbourne-led Black Sabbath. Alongside footage of Vinny Appice's drum solo, Vern03 shot Heaven & Hell playing "The Mob Rules", which has had over 19,000 views in the process. That is quite a feat given the poor audio quality, but you have to remember where digital cameras were in 2007 compared to now. It was a very loud show, but excellent to witness live, and Vern03 had a good side angle of the stage from where he was!

 

Megadeth LIVE: Hangar 18: Co-headlining on this night were Los Angeles thrash metal legends Megadeth, who Vern03 must have liked more than Heaven & Hell (or Black Sabbath) as he filmed them thrice for his channel, including playing "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Symphony Of Destruction". Featured here is the last uploaded video on this channel, of Dave Mustaine and crew playing "Hangar 18", which is the longest and most complete of his three Megadeth clips. Audio-wise, the Megadeth videos survive better than Heaven & Hell's thanks to quieter audio levels, and it doesn't hurt that Dave's singing voice wasn't impaired by the metal plate in his neck yet, so fans should take to Dave, James, and the Drover brothers' performances after adjusting for the camera quality!

Down LIVE @ STEELBACK: Vern03's only video of New Orleans sludge metal band Down's opening set is of them playing "Bury Me In Smoke". Down's presence on this tour notably meant that the still-surviving members of Pantera's classic lineup (Phil Anselmo & Rex Brown) played in Sault Ste. Marie, alongside alumni of Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, and Eyehategod, which is very neat! Unfortunately, even if the audio quality here was better, Phil's voice was really rough due to a recent illness. I prefer Pantera to Down, but there's a lot of talent in that band, and they set the tone well for who was to come on this night!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! The joys of our random selection model, as after one month looking at something else, we'll be dipping back into the waters of local "blue Chinese metal crash rock" quartet Sykotyk Rampage via another auto-generated YouTube Music channel featuring some of their studio material for the second time in three months! Like last month, this one features two recent albums of theirs, so look for that on or around October 26th, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Greig Nori's Interview On The Borderline From June 2023!!

With the recent announcement of a Treble Charger reunion concert at The Machine Shop on March 7th, now's as good a time as any to finally cover an audio interview that singer/guitarist Greig Nori took part in last June! I profusely apologize for the delay in this making the site, it fell through many cracks, but the timing is right given the reunion concert! This was for an episode of Rock N' Roll Heaven on The Borderline, as hosted by veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay, and it runs for 76 minutes, albeit including eleven Treble Charger songs during the runtime, starting with "Takes Me Down". If you want to skip past Brian's introduction and this song, the interview proper begins at about 4:40 into the episode. Brian first asks Greig about when he decided to move back to Sault Ste. Marie full time and how his relationship began with the Algoma Conservatory of Music and The Loft, of which he is the general manager.

If you're only familiar with Greig as a musician, his work as a producer in Toronto comes up here, including where he got the idea to merge a studio with a live performance venue rather than his high-end studio in Toronto that was seeing a declining usage into the 2010s, with emphasis on bands taking advantage of the setup for social media purposes and promotion. The next two songs are "Don't Believe It All" & "Friend Of Mine", which sandwich more studio equipment talk. Greig next goes into his apparent involvement in an upcoming film soundtrack featuring some surprising attached names, before Brian begins asking about Treble Charger (if you're looking for that part, jump to the 20 minute mark). Greig brings up how Treble Charger formed, why they changed their name from nc-17, and how they technically weren't from the Soo originally, having formally joined forces down south.

After "Morale" is played on air, Brian asks about why Treble Charger broke up in 2004 (quite a leap in the timeline!), with Greig even admitting that he didn't really want to continue playing the pop punk-leaning music that Treble Charger was playing at that point. Their reunion show in Toronto in 2012 (Greig was off a couple years on the date) is brought up next before "Motor Control" is played. Next, they discuss the end of Greig's work with Sum 41 (he produced both "Does This Look Infected?" & "Chuck"), his time working on disBand on MuchMusic from 2008-2010, and why that show ended. We next hear "Red" to cap off the first half of the interview, after which Brian reads some statistics about how many songs get uploaded to (and heard from) streaming services, with Greig offering his advice to musicians hoping to get discovered. Treble Charger's biggest punk-era hit "American Psycho" is played on air next.

The discussion about helping rising newer musicians get noticed is continued afterwards, with Greig suggesting some specific routes that bands should take (he recommends the Canadian Musicians Co-operative), with this segment interrupted by a playing of "Brand New Low". After we hear "Business", Brian asks about Greig's current songwriting plans, albeit not attached to a specific project yet, along with his individual work songwriting with musicians who record at the Conservatory/Loft (the teased new Treble Charger album from the late 2010s is not brought up here). This is where the interview ends, but the episode ends with playings of "Favourite Worst Enemy" and "More's The Pity", sandwiching Brian's episode closing plugs and thank yous. Solid listen that, if a little heavy on industry talk, lets us hear from Greig on a wide range of topics! You don't hear him interviewed much nowadays.

This may be a perception thing more than reality, but the episode feels over-edited, like how the Treble Charger discussion leaps from their beginnings to their end without really talking about their heyday, while the Sum 41 chunk is only how that relationship ended. Is there an unedited cut with this stuff intact? I still think Brian should either place the songs in more natural spots or have more obvious transition markers so they don't come in so abruptly, but fans of Treble Charger will definitely want to hear this whole interview from last summer at this link or above! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Mike Haggith's Interview On Rock 'N Roll Heaven On The Borderline!!

Four days after the return of his monthly live-streams on Facebook, fans of local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith were spoiled again with another lengthy interview involving him, courtesy of the March 31st episode of Rock 'N Roll Heaven on local internet radio station The Borderline! While you may be more familiar with Sev's Cellar in terms of shows there interviewing heavier or punk musicians from the area, host and veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay has interviewed some impressive names in recent years from both the Soo and far flung locations, so click here for the full archive of past episodes! Mike's interview with Brian runs for an hour and 54 minutes, and starts with Brian setting up the interview and key notes about Mike as a musician and re: his day job as a pilot, before playing "The Nature Of The Times" at the 1:37 mark. The interview proper begins next around 6 minutes in.

Conducted by phone from Mike's current Barrie homebase, it starts with Brian asking about Mike's work as a pilot, the origins of him wanting to fly airplanes (much earlier than you may think), moving to the Soo to enroll in Sault College's aviation program, his extended stay here helping his musical career (The Din are promoted here), his move to Thompson, Manitoba in 2017, and his move to Barrie with WestJet, which abruptly cuts to his song "From The 55th Parallel" at the 12:30 point in the interview. When we come back to the interview, Brian compares Mike to major musicians who fly airplanes, and they stick to airplane talk next, including preferred planes to fly, if Mike brings guitars with him on flights, and his penultimate goal as a pilot, with "The Best You Never Had" playing next at 21:27, if less abruptly. Mike next talks about his marriage and recent one year wedding anniversary, before diving into his music career proper.

Brian asks Mike about his early beginnings with writing and recording music in his hometown of Windsor (this section has lots of amusement), as well as the early albums of Mike's that he has digitized and kept but never plans to release. At the 31:39 mark, we next hear Mike's song "2145", which is incorrectly labelled as "12" in the track listing on the episode page, before Brian asks about Mike's past bands and if some could ever come back. Mike did reveal that there were "limited talks" about The Din reuniting, but will likely leave that to archival releases now, but he did note that his old Windsor band S.C.A.R. could reunite, time permitting. Brian also asked if Mike would ever consider focusing on music as a 100% full time career rather than flying (Mike answered in the negative), before we next hear "Twist of Fate" at the 41:48 mark, which is from Mike's forthcoming album "All The Best In All You Do".

Yes, this is the studio take of the song, so if you're looking forward to that album, note this preview! Afterwards, Brian asks about Mike's work doing the soundtrack for the independent film Ashes of K (whose soundtrack featured existing songs from his solo and Din catalog), which actually ties in with talk of the Windsor Express basketball team, as Mike moonlighted as a broadcaster for them once! The first half of the interview ends with "Into The Setting Sun" at 51:26, before Brian asks about how Mike' family supported his music career, The next song is "Back Away Slowly" at 58:33, before we next get discussion about Mike's planned indie label MorningStar Records and his planned artist-friendly aims for the label, especially knowing what it was like as a local musician looking at contract offers and knowing that better can be done for the artists. "Blue Highway" is the next song up at 1:09:09.

The interview continues with Mike elaborating on print-on-demand methods for physical albums, and how Mike has used Kunaki for his solo catalog in recent years, extending into Mike's sales of his albums online and how this all ties in to the MorningStar Records plans. After we hear "Bridges" at 1:18:44, the MorningStar Records talk continues, including the optimism about the far flung artists who have expressed interest in signing on, before Brian asks about Mike's album "Bridges" and why it had such a delayed and eventually abrupt release. Mike talks about the songwriting and his moving to Thompson initially, broken up with the song "To Be With You" at 1:26:52, which ironically is not from "Bridges" (it's another new track that premiered on The Borderline). Afterwards, Mike outlines the recording of "Bridges" and his work in the Thompson rock band Between The Ditches.

Mike doesn't go into great detail about the personal matters that led to recording "If Ever Comes The Day" and releasing that in lieu of "Bridges", but he does address his decision to finally put that album out in 2021 in conjunction with his new website. The next song heard at 1:36:12 is "The Catalyst", which is from "Bridges" this time! He next discusses his new album "All The Best In All You Do", where he comes back around to the themes of "If Ever Comes The Day" and how it inspired the more optimistic & personally influenced album ahead. This wraps up the interview proper, before Brian plays "All You Do" from the new album at 1:45:47 (this might be that song's public premiere but don't quote me on that). After thanking Mike again, Brian teased that he and Mike will apparently be playing a "very intimate singer-songwriter evening" together next month, but details on the event are forthcoming. We'll keep you posted when more comes out!

After signing off, the Sinister Hearts frontman plays one more song of Mike's at 1:49:54, namely "MorningStar". This was an entertaining interview with lots of interesting tidbits and reveals throughout, and Mike came off well when talking about his musical and aviation careers! I would have took more time to gameplan which song plays where, let alone with the often abrupt jumps from interview to song and back (I'd have Brian introduce them on air for the songs to be added afterwards), but aside from that, fans will want to check it out at this link! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Rock & Roll Heaven On The Borderline's Episodes On Sault Memorial Gardens Concerts!!

With news remaining very slow for the local metal, hard rock, and punk scenes, today seemed like a good day to dive back into local internet radio station The Borderline, so what else is available to hear there that would fit our coverage range? Let's start with veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay's series Rock & Roll Heaven, which focuses on musical acts that have played in Sault Ste. Marie in the past, either through personal and guest recollections, or interviews with musicians who have came here on tour, and there are a lot of episodes you can hear on demand now on The Borderline's website. Last month, episodes of Rock & Roll Heaven were posted that explore the history of live concerts at the former Sault Memorial Gardens, which was our major concert venue and hockey arena from 1949-2006. While Brian's musical tastes can stray from our usual coverage, hard rock concerts there do come up, so what can you find within?

The initial Memorial Gardens episode runs for 63 minutes, and it is entitled "A Garden of Music", which primarily explores classic rock-leaning musical acts that played there through the early 1980s, and Brian does play DJ by airing select studio tracks from bands discussed during the show (a full playlist can be seen at this link.) At the 17:24 mark, Brian talks about being in attendance progressive hard rock legends Rush's third and final Sault Ste. Marie concert from 1977, which he fondly recalled, despite being poorly attended. In this segment, Brian played the live version of "Closer To The Heart" from their live album "Exit Stage Left", followed by "(Make Me Do) Anything You Want" by Toronto hard rock band A Foot In Coldwater, who opened for Rush on this tour. Fun 10 minute segment overall, and it's nice to hear some first-hand context about Rush's last local date from someone who was there!

The second episode (entitled "A Musical Hockey Barn") can be heard at this link or above in the second (lower) file. It's formatted very similarly to part 1, and runs for almost as long, but it does creep later into the 1980s in the second half, and thusly talks about more hard rock acts. There's also more recommendations from friends and listeners than in "A Garden of Music", for what that's worth. Hard rock fans will be most interested in segments from 18:02 on, starting with Brian's recollections of Vancouver hard rock icons Prism's local stop, including their songs "Spaceship Superstar" & "Flyin'". At 29:08, Brian looks back on Canadian guitar icon Kim Mitchell, who played the Gardens solo and with Max Webster, and he played his classic song "Lager & Ale" in this segment. Next, at 34:13 in, Brian talked about Alannah Myles, who opened for Kim locally at the show Brian attended.

Rather than go the obvious route by playing "Black Velvet", Brian chose her track "Still Got This Thing For You" to play on air. The last show Brian talked about in this episode was a triple bill from Canadian hard rock legends Moxy (not Moxy Fruvous), Goddo, and Trooper that he saw at the Gardens in the late 1970s. Moxy's segment begins at 40:04, and he plays their song "Ridin' High" here, before switching to Goddo at 45:01, from whom he plays "Walk On", and gives some extra detailed information on meeting and helping frontman Greg Godovitz much later on. Fitting of the headliners, he covered Vancouver hard rock favourites Trooper last at 52:52, and he plays their two first singles to close, "Baby Woncha Please Come Home" & "General Hand Grenade". A third episode was teased, perhaps diving into Gardens concerts in the 1990s, but it sounds like it's dependent on listener recollections and requests, so contact Brian if you can help.

I enjoyed listening to these episodes, especially when Brian had unique thoughts on specific concerts to share beyond just if he liked the bands in question, and his biography details in between were also welcomed! Re: a third episode, I wonder if getting a hold of Duane Roy (author of the Soo Stories book about Memorial Gardens concerts) would be worth considering? He definitely had strong recollections of shows there. Even if a part 3 isn't imminent, there is more to discuss from Rock & Roll Heaven (now linked on the SMS), so give both of Brian's Memorial Gardens episodes a listen above, and stay tuned for a new post of some kind by Saturday! Thanks everyone!

New Archive Concert Videos, The End Of Docks, And More!!

Let's get a new news post up on this Tuesday evening, including some assorted recent notes, an archive concert video from a couple years back, and a recent concert venue closure, but first, here's a new video upload from a major metal show that we enjoyed over seven years ago!

Courtesy of AlgomA bassist Kevin Campbell's YouTube channel, this video is of defunct metal supergroup Heaven & Hell playing the Black Sabbath classic "Computer God" at The Essar Centre (then known as The Steelback Centre) on March 20th, 2007, and it's great to see another video from this show! Note that Kevin credits them as Black Sabbath in the video, as this was the "Mob Rules" era lineup, but they toured and recorded as Heaven & Hell. As preceded by Vinny Appice's drum solo, this is a nice video, and though Kevin wasn't too close to the stage, he used the zoom on his camera to good effect on this solid rendition of one of the better songs on the "Dehumanizer" album! I stand by this being the best concert to ever hit the arena on a musical basis (Kiss topped it theatrically), and I'll always be grateful that I got to see Ronnie James Dio live before his passing. I wonder if Kevin has any more footage from this event? Check out the full clip below!



Next up, we appear to have lost another local concert venue, as Docks Riverfront Grill re-opened earlier this month as Waterfront Legend, a new higher-end Chinese buffet restaurant. The Foster Drive location was quietly sold to new owner Imee Yeun on May 1st, and had operated as Docks briefly over the summer before the relaunch, though the venue hasn't hosted an advertised band since classic rockers Redline played there in late March. According to a new SooToday article on the overhaul from Michael Purvis, the main dining area is mostly unchanged, and the bar's still there, but there's Asian art and effects, new lighting, and buffet tables in place of the pool tables. Given the changes, it seems very unlikely that live bands will be in the cards for Waterfront Legend, which will be disappointing for old Docks regulars, as it was a nice venue that played host to numerous cover bands over the years!

We have moved Docks to our defunct local venue links under it's Facebook page (as it's website was closed), and if you like Chinese food and buffets, give Waterfront Legend a chance! I had heard rumours for a while regarding Docks' ownership and changes, and the lack of recent band bookings had also been noticeable, but hopefully old regulars there find steady places to play in the near future! Best of luck to all former Docks employees!

Also today, here's another older YouTube video of local classic/hard rock cover band Havadder, as we slowly get up to speed concerning their older videos that we never addressed on here! Courtesy of a February 2012 concert at The Nicolet Tavern (now The Rednecks Saloon), this was uploaded to the band's own YouTube channel at the time, and remains the only upload there. Featuring their 2011-2012 Turner Up-hybrid lineup, then-bassist (and recent live guest) Travis Sharpe handles lead vocals on this cover of The Foo Fighters' "These Days" alongside guitarists Jason Roy (Havadder's founder & usual frontman), Jason Nisbet, and Robert Brown, and drummer Scott McLurg. It's a well done cover shot from a good central angle of the stage, but Travis doesn't have the right force on the chorus vocals. Check it out below though, and stay tuned for more from Havadder, new and old!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Likely stemming from a prior musician search in May, Social Suicide alum Anthony Boudreau is again looking for a rhythm guitarist for his new local band that would play hard rock & hair metal inspired by the likes of Avenged Sevenfold & Guns 'N Roses, with originals and covers planned. If you're interested, message Anthony at this link (or fellow member Damon King) on Facebook with media of you playing the song of your choice, and click here for more info!
• Former State of Misery drummer Nick Kainula is again looking to join a new local band, citing "any music from the '80s up" and Motley Crue as his biggest influences. Right now, he just wants to jam, but would love to play shows too. It'd be nice to see him back in an active band, but if you're interested in jamming with him, message Nick at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from September 5th!
• I have removed Haggith frontman Curtis McKenzie's Sound X solo project from our band links for two reasons. One is that he hasn't posted public updates concerning the project since late last year, and the other is that the link we had for Sound X (Curt's solo music page) has not tended to focus on this project over his more active band work. Hopefully he revisits his solo work soon though, and stay tuned for more on Haggith's new CDs!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and previews soon, plus this month's poll and last month's poll results on Thursday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Suicide Kings) & New Videos!!

Before we get into the poll updating and such, we're going to clear out some backlogged news from this past busy weekend (personally and computer issue-related, it is what it is.) Most of these relate to new YouTube postings, but we do have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you need to know!

Fresh off of their set opening for Anvil this past weekend, local hard rock standouts The Suicide Kings will make their first ever appearance at Sault College TOMORROW as the entertainment at a fundraiser event! Apologies for the short notice, I only just heard about this show late last week, and it got lost in the shuffle until now. They'll be playing at Odeno, the college's new lounge and bar that replaced The Outback last fall upon completion of the Health & Wellness Center that it's inside, and this (I believe) will be the first ever public hard rock show to take place there since it's opening. The event itself will be a benefit event for Sault College's Social Service Worker/Native Specialization program and their upcoming project & scholarships to connect Aboriginal youths to community role models to help build sustainable relationships, which is a nice cause for sure, so come on out to support it! Admission is $5 in advance and at the door, it is an ALL AGES event, and it has an early start time of 6:00 PM. For more information, check the above links or click here!

This show flew under the radar in many respects, but it is for a good cause, and fans might be curious to see how Odeno compares to The Outback as a concert venue, so keep it in mind for some mid-week hard rock action from this talented quartet! For a preview, here's The Suicide Kings live at Rotaryfest last summer!



Next up, we have another newly posted video from the Heaven & Hell concert at The Essar Centre in March 2007! Courtesy again of filmer Duane Roy's YouTube channel, this went online on Sunday, and it features the end of their set, specifically the last seconds of their song "Heaven & Hell", before closing with their full encore song "Neon Knights" (both from their eponymous 1980 album released as Black Sabbath.) The same video quality as before is on this clip, so there's not a lot to look at, but the sound's good, and it's a nice reminder of my favourite Steelback/Essar Centre concert to date (on a musical basis; Kiss' presentation can't be topped.) Check out Duane's new/old video below!



Also today, here's some new videos from local all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats! The girls launched an official YouTube channel last week that already features three videos from their two Docks Riverfront Grill gigs three weeks ago! One is of their cover of The Spice Girls "Wannabe" (with Paula Panther on lead vocals), while the other two (both from the same separate show) feature bassist Jamie Jaguar on vocals, and they're covers of The Runaways' "Cherry Bomb" and, as embedded below, AC/DC's "Big Balls"! The filmer had a nice close angle of the action, and the crowd sounds into everything, but it does look like there was an auto-focus setting put on them. The audio's pretty good too, and it's nice to get some solid quality footage of the girls' Docks debut weekend, so check out these new videos above, and here's their AC/DC cover!



Finally for today, remember the Superior Heights student cover trio featuring Sailor's Tongue guitarist Liam Seymour, singer/guitarist Adam Gualtieri, and an uncredited drummer that often covered hard rock material? Well, the first live recording of theirs in 8 months is now up on Adam's YouTube channel! An audio-only upload, this is a cover of Mumford & Sons' "Little Lion Man", but while it's not a hard rock cover, it is well performed and melodic, and it is nice to see them playing together still! Solid audio quality too, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more from Adam & Liam!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results & this month's poll details later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Swampstravaganza & Griphook) And A New Essar Centre Concert Video!!

After a stretch of uncertainty for the weekend's heavier concert schedule, we've received a good amount in the last few days (albeit with minimal notice), and that includes a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT! That leads off today's post, but stay tuned afterwards for another new show announcement (as bands are now confirmed for it) and a new video from a major concert almost 7 years ago! Read on below to get caught up!

Local hard rock cover quartet Griphook will be rocking The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band just announced this show yesterday. Last seen at this venue over seven months ago, this will be their first Rockstar Bar appearance with new frontman Joel Syrette, so if you've missed their diverse and often heavy covers earlier this year at The Rosie, be downtown for this one TONIGHT! Note that this is a one-nighter due to the previously announced That's Chester show tomorrow night, and it does take the place of the briefly advertised Late & Loud show that was either incorrect or very premature. Admission should be around $5 tonight, you must be 19 to attend, and there is a 10:30 PM start time in effect. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Despite the short notice, I imagine Griphook's new lineup should entertain in their return to The Algonquin Hotel tonight, so keep it in mind for your weekend concert plans, and for a preview, here's Griphook covering AC/DC in 2012!



Next up, the first bands have been named for this year's fourth annual Sewer Swampstravaganza at The Oddfellows Hall on May 3rd! Yes, the name has reverted back from the previously announced Swampfest, as per the Facebook event page. Possibly most surprising in terms of the lineup is that local/Toronto hardcore punk trio RedD Monkey will not be playing this year, as they're apparently on "an indefinite hiatus", as per frontman/promoter Steve Mozarowski on the event page linked above. He didn't give a public reason for the hiatus through there, but RedD Monkey's Facebook page has not been updated this year, and their scheduled set at the Tim Day show at The Algonquin in December was retracted into a solo acoustic set from Steve, which may have been related. This breaks their streak of playing each year's Swampstravaganza, but Steve is tentatively listed as playing a solo set this year, albeit oddly credited as "faceityoureametalband" with no spaces. Hopefully he does play to keep at least one tie to past installments (especially if The Bear Hunters don't play), but we'll keep you guys posted!

Steve's possible solo set aside, two bands are now confirmed, including local alternative hard rock/blues quartet Sykotyk Rampage in their first announced show of 2014! I believe this will be their first Oddfellows Hall appearance since last year's Swampstravaganza, making them just one of four bands to play the event more than once (joining RedD Monkey, The Bear Hunters, and Winkstinger), and their creative crash music should fit in nicely after a four month break, so don't miss them! Also advertised is Sudbury hard rock trio Aggressive Acoustic (fronted by ex-Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan) in their second local stop and first since the Zombie Walk afterparty in October, and it should be awesome to see Brian back in town with his current band, so check them out above! The search is on to fill out the lineup (presumably to get it to around 10 acts again), and while Steve is looking for younger performers, message the event page above if your band is interested in playing this year's event on May 3rd!

This ALL AGES marathon concert event goes down on May 3rd at 2:00 PM with a $5 entry fee, and schedule details will come out when the lineup is complete. Check the above links for more details! Despite RedD Monkey's hiatus (hopefully it isn't permanent, they're too good!), this concert should be as varied and entertaining as it has been since 2011, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in, and if you or your band wants to play, click here to show your interest!

Finally for today, here's a surprise new video posting from one of the first major metal shows at The Essar Centre, that being Heaven & Hell's headlining concert from March 20th, 2007! Remember, they were the supergroup made up of Black Sabbath's early 1980s/1990s lineup. Courtesy of Wawa author Duane Roy's YouTube channel on Wednesday, he filmed this video at the then-Steelback Centre during the first few songs of their set, starting during their set-opener "After All (The Dead)", before continuing with "The Mob Rules", and closing with "Children of the Sea", so click each link to hear each specific song! Filmed at a far angle on the left of the arena, the video is fairly blurry, and heads do get in the way at times, but it's great to see a new video from this show! On a musical basis, this was my absolute favourite concert to take place at the Essar Centre since it opened (seeing Megadeth live didn't hurt either), and kudos to Duane for uploading this finally, so check it out below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly, including perhaps a movie review or two? Thanks everyone!

Lots Of New Local Metal Videos!!!

The posts just keep on coming, and today, we'll go a bit lighter in some respects. Why, you ask? Just videos today, that's why! Two relate to a certain new band, one to a classic local band, and kicking things off, some newly uploaded video from a major local concert!

It's hard to believe that it's been three and a half days since Ronnie James Dio died, isn't it? It still doesn't seem right. Well, since the news was announced on Sunday, I've had a hunch that at some point, someone would upload a new video from Heaven and Hell's March 2007 show at the then-Steelback Centre onto YouTube or a similar site. And my hunch has proven correct! YouTube user exyurock (the same user who uploaded the video from Megadeth's set at that show on May 2nd) has uploaded a video from the show of Heaven and Hell playing the Black Sabbath classic "Lady Evil", which you can check out below! Decent quality, same camera and angle from the Megadeth video, but it turns out better audio-wise! Now I'm not inflating my opinions of the concert and song due to Dio's death, but man, he sounded good! For a then-64 year old, his voice was still incredible! I just wish the video was closer to the stage, it's hard to make out the band. Not the best Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell song from the Dio era, but it's still great, and check this clip out! Hopefully more video from this show comes online soon, now's a perfect time! Oh, and once again, R.I.P. Dio!



Next up, a double shot of WinkStinger-related videos to share with you all on this Wednesday evening! Keeping with their influx of YouTube demos, the band have uploaded a new track onto joeyvelcro's YouTube channel, entitled "Where'd We Go Wrong"! Well, in my opinion, they haven't went wrong at all, this song is pretty good! Nice and fast and heavy, these guys have tons of promise! Harsh face ripping vocals, good instrumentation, and I really like the guitar solo! These guys have music tailor-made to get some moshpits going, and I have no doubt they will! Click here to check out this song, and six others, or you can listen to "Where'd We Go Wrong" right here too!



The second WinkStinger-related video I have today may not feature the exact same group as in the same as the clips we've seen over the last while, but there is a definite link! Drummer Jonas Gasperas (also formerly of Soldiers of Misfortune) has his own YouTube channel, where he has two videos up from jam sessions with a band of some type. No indication if it's the same as WinkStinger or not, but for what it's worth, the videos were uploaded in January. One is called "chuddnugget", which is a 4:12 rough jam of a new song with no bass guitar. Doesn't sound too bad, fast and heavy, though it needs some polish. The other video is over 9 minutes long, encompassing two unnamed songs! Still no bass, but they sound good for what we get a taste of! One major problem I have is the videos are incredibly dark, I can't make out a ton. But from what I can see and hear, Jonas' drumming is at top form! WinkStinger or not, I like what I'm hearing! Click here to check out both videos, and for your convenience, here's "Songs 3 & 4" for you all to give a listen!



And finally for tonight, I have one more local album upload onto YouTube to share with you guys! And this is the third and final album from defunct local hard rockers Foothill Road! Entitled "Live: End Of The Road", it was released in 2005 to help bring some closure to the band's run. Produced by guitarist Mario Carlucci (huge thanks to him for sending me this and the rest of the band's back catalog), it includes live performances and some recording session outtakes from Foothill Road's 1990s heyday! This includes live versions of four tracks from their debut "Seventy", two jam clips, the unreleased song "Where's My Hat", and a cover of Rush's classic song "Working Man"! Good stuff, though again, I'll hold detailed criticism and compliments for an eventual review. Hopefully I can get to a "Seventy" review this year at some point, cause I'll 100% start with that first. And as was the case with their two prior albums, this is out of print, and I'm uploading this to The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel to share these songs with the world like they deserve! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! With that in mind, check out track one from "Live: End Of The Road", which is a live rendition of "Centerpiece", but click here to check out the rest of Foothill Road's last CD!



There, I think we're caught up for videos, for the most part! Tomorrow could be one of three things: A new news post, my review of "Castle Stories", or my next profiles of out of town bands with local members! Which will it be? Stay tuned to find out, but all will be covered by Monday!

A Dirty Virgin Update, Newly Discovered Local Concert Videos, And More!

Good afternoon, everyone! I've piled up a few assorted updates to share with everyone today, enough to fill up a post! So let's get started!

Sault Ontario glam/punk band Dirty Virgin have parted ways with drummer Matt Hicks. No official word as to what happened, but still disappointing. As such, Dirty Virgin are looking for a replacement drummer! If you, or someone you know, would be interested in possibly joining Dirty Virgin, message the band at their official Facebook group! Looks like, from the various wanted posts band members have made, that they want someone around their age range (21-25), so keep that in mind. Hopefully there's an interested drummer out there, cause Dirty Virgin are a good band, and it's been too long since we last saw them live in Sault Ste. Marie (they last played together live in July, but the last actual "concert" was in March.) If you're not sure of their sound, check out some concert clips at this location, straight from bassist Lionel Quinton's YouTube channel!

Next up, I found some cool new videos from some local metal concerts of recent years! Typically, I only find videos on YouTube (which I've favourited and you can find at the SMS' YouTube channel!), but I've found some more videos that should be shared! One that I've found is from the Heaven and Hell concert from March 2007, posted by kluasklaus1 on Vimeo! I don't believe he's a local person, but there is one video from the Heaven and Hell show here, and you can check it out at this location!

The rest that I've found come from a man by the online handle of WawaDuane. He's posted videos from various local concerts he's attended in recent years, some metal, some not. On his YouTube channel, he has clips of Megadeth from the Heaven and Hell show and Kiss' July 2007 performance at Kewadin Casino to check out! But he's also uploaded more clips on other sites, and they're very much worth mentioning! His pages on Flickr and Photobucket have even more concert videos from shows like the ones featured on his YouTube account, but also from The Scorpions' concert at Kewadin Casino in September 2007, and Alice Cooper at the same venue from August of that year! Video quality on Duane's clips are better than the audio, but it's great to see videos of these shows! I just wasn't expecting them to be on photo websites! I'll show you guys one of the clips, here's The Scorpions peforming their classic "Big City Nights" right here in the Soo!



And finally, three short news stories, in order by band name!

• By The Gods, the solo project from Lorax/Eyes Set Fire/Armistice guitarist Mitch Sirie, have uploaded some brand new tracks to their official MySpace page! This includes a new 12 minute instrumental, "Angel", and a preview of a heavier new song! I especially like the preview, though "Angel" is solid as well! Check them out!
• The official poster for the December 29th Detroit/Destroilet concert at Coch's Corner has been unveiled! It was designed by Destroilet drummer Matt Waples of Sonigraphix Design Solutions, who also recently designed the Frightlight Halloween show poster, among many others (here's a portfolio of some of his work) Nice poster, I can't wait for this concert! More updates on it to come!
• In a MySpace status update, Woods of Ypres have announced that now is your last chance to pre-order "Woods IV: The Green Album", as it begins shipping THIS WEEK! Only pre-orders recieved this week or earlier will come with a second bonus disc! Get full pre-ordering details at this location! Here's hoping my pre-order went through!

More news to come very soon, hopefully I'll have a review of Stillbroke's debut E.P. "Never Enough" in the coming weeks, along with all the local metal news fit to post! Also, notice the new banner image? Ace Frehley at Kewadin Casino on Saturday night! Should be a great show! Stay tuned for more news, everyone!