Our Lady Peace/Collective Soul Concert Fallout & Videos!!

We've put things off long enough (partly to let videos accumulate), so let's cover what went down at Sunday night's Our Lady Peace-headlined concert at GFL Memorial Gardens in today's post! The legitimately sold out concert was covered by newer SooToday reporter Greg McGrath-Goudie for this article that features ten photos from the Toronto alternative/hard rock band's closing set, but the focus isn't on the concert at large so much as one song. When O.L.P. broke into their classic ballad "Life", frontman Raine Maida prefaced it by noting that music programs are "automatically" the first to get cut at schools when they decide to cut costs, so they invited members of Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School's student rock band Steel Rock to sing the song with them. That huge opportunity was thanks to the work of Superior Heights teacher Eric Williams reaching out to the band about working with the school.

Kudos to Our Lady Peace for teaming up with Superior Heights and giving the kids one huge opportunity, one that they've been practicing for all winter, and it sounds like it went over well! You can see the performance below in one of (surprisingly) just two YouTube channels who have visibly posted content from the concert so far. YouTube user MasonTheGoat was on hand to film Our Lady Peace's set (nothing of the openers), and along with "Life" embedded below, he also filmed them playing "Clumsy", "Innocent", "In Repair", and "Whatever". Alas, all five videos were shot vertically, but while Mason wasn't especially close to the stage, he has a good clear view of the band in action. Honestly, Steel Rock are hard to hear as the song goes, but it's a solid performance of one of O.L.P.'s bigger hits, and the audio quality across all five videos is pretty good, so give Mason's footage a watch for yourselves above and below!

The only other YouTube video from the show that I've seen comes from YouTube user Mike Malott, who filmed Our Lady Peace playing "Whatever", which some readers will recognize as the 2002-2007 theme song of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit. The band hadn't played it live since 2003, let alone following the Benoit murder-suicide in 2007, but they reintroduced it in this current Canadian tour, with Raine telling fans at their show in Calgary that they wanted to "reclaim it" (source here). Mixed responses are online to the band bringing "Whatever" back, for obvious reasons, but it's a good performance shot from a much closer (and horizontal!) angle, and it is one of O.L.P.'s heavier cuts, so check it out below!

Finally for this post, has anything surfaced in terms of videos from the openers? Not a lot. I haven't seen any public videos of local openers The Northwest yet at all, and as for Georgia alternative rock veterans Collective Soul, the only public clip that I've seen actually comes from Sault Michigan rock radio station Rock 101's Facebook page. The 76 seconds-long clip sees Collective Soul playing one of their biggest hits "Shine", which is frequently heard in 101.3 FM's rotation. While shot vertically, the station staffer filming had a very straight on view of the stage from where they were, and it puts a good emphasis on the fans on the floor enjoying the show. Strong rendition, if slightly slowed down, so give Collective Soul's clip a watch below!

That's all for today, but we'll have more from the Our Lady Peace show when/if it surfaces, and more news on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: adamscovers' channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our monthly look at 1-3 randomly selected YouTube channels with at least 50% of their videos being relevant to local metal, hard rock, or punk concerts, in order to spotlight their content and material! We had originally planned to look at the YouTube channel #TrebleCharger, an auto-generated channel of Treble Charger studio tracks, but none of the videos work for me for unclear reasons (their links weren't pulled, they just don't play.) Instead, we've replaced it with the next closest alphabetical channel (punctuation precedes A on YouTube), and this has some solid recent cover performances from a few years back, so here's what you should know!
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adamscovers (http://www.youtube.com/adamscovers)

Owner: Village Media videographer and local musician Adam Gualtieri

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 22nd, 2011; Videos posted from that December through March 2014

Channel Summary: Adam's channel is (with one exception) devoted to at least 6 performances that he and fellow local musician Liam Seymour (The Boatload Killers, ex-Sailor's Tongue) made during sets at Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School when both were students there in the early 2010s, with both alternating guitar & bass duties. 13 of Adam's 14 videos are from Superior Heights sets, all with varying & uncredited drummers (one likely a teacher), including covers of the likes of Foster The People, Phillip Phillips, Traffic, Gnarls Barkley, and Mumford & Sons. The extra video is of his own solo composition, "Questions Without Answers".

Why Should You Watch: This is a solid channel to check out for fans of hard and classic rock covers from two up & coming talents (if they had a band name, it's not credited), and if you're a fan of Superior Heights and Dunnplugged events, this is a good source with multiple camera angles! Also, "Questions Without Answers" is a solid original, if rough and not "heavy", and it's a nice showcase of his talent! Note however that this channel hasn't been updated in a year, possibly due to Adam's graduation and resulting lack of further sets there. As well, a cover of Shinedown's "If You Only Knew" has since been privatized for unannounced reasons.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Communication Breakdown Cover♫: Among Adam's earliest uploads are three videos from a Superior Heights set circa February 2012, where he, Liam, and a drummer covered The Beatles' "Helter Skelter", Alice In Chains' "Rooster", and (as embedded below) Led Zeppelin's "Communication Breakdown". Adam only sings lead on "Rooster", with Liam tackling lead vocals on the other two, and while both have good voices, Liam's range is quite impressive, as fans of The Boatload Killers will attest, especially on the Zeppelin cover! Like on later videos, all three also make use of multiple camera zoom, post-effects, and titles., and they're a solid showcase of Adam & Liam's talents, and are among the heaviest videos on this channel!



December Cover♫: The next month, Adam posted videos of him, Liam, and (I think) another drummer covering Boston's "Smokin'", Foghat's "Slow Ride", Led Zeppelin's "The Ocean", and (as embedded below) Collective Soul's "December", which took the guys into more of a classic rock spin compared to their last uploads, which were focused on indie and folk rock. The only video from this day that was made black & white in post-production (despite being the newest of the four songs, ironically), this is my favourite demonstration of Adam's singing on the channel (Liam sings lead on the other three), and all are predictably good for their age at the time!



Lonely Is The Night Cover♫: Joining the now-private Shinedown cover from a pair of April 2012 uploads (Adam's last of a heavier or classic rock nature), this cover of Billy Squier's "Lonely Is The Night" is his most viewed overall, and it improves visually on older videos by featuring multiple camera angles (the angled one of old, and one in front of the stage), plus cleaner zooming. Strongly done again, with Liam's singing fitting nicely, and both he and Adam handle guitar & bass duties well! No word on if Adam and Liam still do any collaborative music work, but it'd be nice to see the two of them pick things back up in some form!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile!  Next month in this series, we'll be looking at two channels, as the first randomly selected channel only had two distinct type of videos, so we randomly added one more to fill it out. Next month, we'll be looking at Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel (featuring three videos from his older band Sense of Truth's debut show, plus a solo track) and YouTube user WhiskeyBar1's channel (featuring a Winkstinger concert video), so watch for these on or around July 22nd! That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new news post later today! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, Viva La Battle Updates, And New Videos!!

Keeping the news coming as we clear out our cache of backlogged stories, today's post features a new concert video from a recent high school event, a new cover and album sample from a talented Sault Michigan outfit, and the lastest updates on our next local battle of the bands, but first, here's a new band who will debut at said battle, so check everything out below!

We have a new local band to introduce on here, and they're a new hard rock quartet named Punch! Little is known on them so far beyond their lineup, which features Haggith frontman Curtis McKenzie and guitarist Daniel Horton joining forces with Suicide Kings guitarist Steven Flint (on bass) and drummer Ben Boudreau. Promising lineup that merges members of the top two bands from the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands in April, so keep that angle in mind! Information on their sound isn't out yet, but they will make their live debut in under two weeks when they compete at Viva La Battle at The Canadian Nightclub on November 13th, where they will be among the bands competing for the last opening slot at next month's Bam Margera/Fuckface Unstoppable concert! I will note that Punch replaced The Suicide Kings on the battle lineup, and while a reason hasn't been announced for their exit, bassist Mitch Sirie is still competing at the battle with The Bear Hunters, so I wouldn't be surprised if singer Mike Gaetano had an outside commitment.

The Suicide Kings haven't played live since August, so hopefully there's nothing bad concerning their status, but if I hear anything either way, I'll keep you guys posted! I would assume though that Punch are more or less succeeding Haggith after their December breakup, and their lineup is very promising on it's own, but how will they sound, what will they play, and how will they do at the battle? Find out on November 13th, where they're competing against the aforementioned Bear Hunters, "secret" debuting band Keep It Lit, and Greg Callaghan's new band project North West (info forthcoming, hopefully), and the deadline for band submissions has been extended too! Promoter J.D. Pearce revealed on the Facebook event page yesterday that submissions now end on THURSDAY, and he also confirmed that each band has a 25 minute set, performance order will be determined an hour before show time, and there will be a $5 cover charge that will gain you both entry and a ballot for the fan vote.

Check the above links for more details on Viva La Battle! This should be a great event, especially with three bands making their live public debut, but fans of The Suicide Kings and Haggith will wanna take notice of Punch, who are now in our active Sault Ontario band links! Stay tuned for updates on the battle, apply A.S.A.P. to compete at this link, and if you hear anything on North West's lineup/sound, let me know!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with a YouTube version of Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's cover of the "Halloween" movie's theme song! Uploaded to their YouTube channel on Halloween (naturally) after it's prior Reverbnation posting, the cover is accompanied by their trademark slideshows featuring band members and assorted themed pictures in (mostly) red & orange filters to fit the seasonal theme, before closing with a credits and a teaser to their new all-original album in 2014, including assorted instrumental clips of the 13 songs to be on it. Everything sounds promising, and the "Halloween" theme's never been heavier, so check everything out below!



And finally, here's a new metal cover from a recent Superior Heights Collegiate event! Uploaded to Ashes to Dust guitarist Alex Hemy's YouTube channel (his first live concert posting there), this is not of Ashes To Dust (unless their lineup has radically changed), but it is of Alex and a few other students covering Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine", which turns out well! Possibly from a Halloween costume day (given what students in the crowd are wearing), this is a solid cover with nice vocals from the female singer (I believe her first name was given as "Kat"), and while Alex's guitar work is solid, the solo actually was done by the guitarist on the far left, who has talent himself! Check out this full Superior Heights performance below!



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

The Sewer Swampstravagnaza's Newest Band, Acention Updates, And More!!

We're actually close to clearing out our recent news cache, so much so that I'm low on new stories to report in the coming week as of right now! Even still, there's stuff to talk about, including new "Woods V" reviews, a new video added to one of our monthly feature posts, and the latest from a newer local hard rock band, but first, here's info on the newest band on a major upcoming concert, and what heavier material they play!

A new band has been added to the lineup for the second Sewer Swampstravaganza concert at The Oddfellows Hall on July 13th, and they're a punk/rock quartet named Ashes To Dust! They were quietly added to the lineup in the last few days, making them the 9th band (and counting) for this huge all ages show. Never heard of them? That's alright, I hadn't either before today, but they're a young band comprised of Superior Heights students that formed in December, featuring Noah Morden on vocals, Alex Hemy on guitar, Kyle Breckenridge on bass, and David Peredun on drums, all of whom I haven't heard much on before musically. Now, Ashes To Dust admittedly aren't a full fledged metal or hard rock band judging by the covers posted on their YouTube channel, but they do have a couple heavier covers posted! These include live performances of Three Days Grace's "Break" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" at Superior Heights gigs (the former's last verse is from a jam session) and a cover of Stone Sour's "Through Glass" (with multiple angles, nice touch!) by half of the band, so click each link to check them out! Other posted videos include covers from bands like Green Day, The Rolling Stones, The Foo Fighters, and My Chemical Romance, so visit the above links to check those (and more) out too.

While not a full-on hard rock band, Ashes To Dust aren't bad for their age, and they know their covers well enough that I've heard! Noah's singing voice is pretty good for clean singing & punk material, but his upper range needs more development (especially on the "Break" choruses), and he missed parts of the lyrics late on "Paranoid". I'm curious to hear how they sound live outside of the school, and hopefully no matter what they play, they'll make lots of new fans in July at The Oddfellows Hall! Check out their cover of Three Days Grace's "Break" below!



Next up, here's the latest updates from the new local hard rock band Acention! The deletion of their Facebook group did not mean anything negative for the band's status, as members have recently been updating their Facebook page with new information and photos. One piece of news is that Acention appear to have parted ways with singer Danielle Wierzbicki and drummer Johnny Amendola, likely around the time their Facebook group was deleted. A reason for their departure has not been announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened, and best of luck to Danielle & Johnny in their next musical steps! Since then, the three surviving Acention members have revised their page to feature some interesting new details about their sound, including a more grunge-heavy style influenced by everyone from Avenged Sevenfold & Papa Roach to Metallica & Nirvana. In some other recent posts, band members have indicated that they had a "rough start" but they are jamming and laying down some songs, and they're hoping to unveil some material and play shows soon. I'm interested to hear more from Acention, and I'm glad they're still alive, so keep posted on their next moves at the above links, and if you're interested in singing or drumming for them, it's worth a contact in case they're looking!

Thirdly today, here's some more "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" reviews from the last little while! In January, Dave Steed from the pop culture website PopDose gave Woods of Ypres' last recorded album a favourable review, calling it "virtually perfect in every way" & "their crowning achievement", while also adding that it's one of the saddest records you'll ever hear, given it's release after & the connections to David Gold's passing. Nice review connecting to their past, with some well used lyric excerpts, so click here to check it out! Also, Jason Guest from the progressive rock site Sea of Tranquility gave "W5" 4½ stars out of 5 in a brief review from March, calling it "damn near as perfect as it gets", while stressing the weighted experience of it and how close and sad the lyrics are given real events. Nice review, if short, so give it a look at this location! Finally, "Cneaz" from the blog Metal Comment gave "Woods V" an 8.5/10 rating in February, and this is maybe due to the hit & miss Romanian translation, but he barely went into any detail on the album beyond David's death in summing up his score. Still, he called it a great album, though monotonous at times, and give his review a look at this link! Stay tuned for more "Woods V" reviews in the future!

And finally, I wanted to alert you guys to a major update to one of our YouTube Channel Profiles. Before our next Banned-centric one goes up on Tuesday, I had to edit our YouTube Channel Profile on local electronic hard rock project Candle Hour, as for the first time, a video recommended by us on a profile in this series was deleted from YouTube. That was Candle Hour's music video for their song "March to the End", which was quietly pulled for unknown reasons this year, though it's still available on other websites. As a result, I replaced it with this 2010 video for their song "Overture", which is set to footage from the 1903 silent version of "Alice in Wonderland". Check out my thoughts on the video at this profile linked above, which was also updated to reflect their latest video postings from this spring, but for now, give "Overture" a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes, including a preview of Wednesday's Fuck The Facts show, in the next few days! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Hey guys, this is a special auto-post while I'm at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion for the all ages outdoors metal show, and because I'm still trying to clear out a backlog of news, I thought I'd get these up on the site before the review! So here's our first local metal video showcase of the month, and today, we've got videos relating to one band's new album, a yet-nameless band's latest videos, and some new solo performance clips, so read on below for what you need to know!

We'll start with this latest video from Sault Michigan classical metal trio Theatre of Night, and it serves as a promo video for their upcoming second album! Uploaded onto their YouTube channel on Tuesday, it reveals that the album will be entitled "The Dawn's Early Light" (alluding to lyrics in "The Star Spangled Banner"), and it will serve as a "dramatic & haunting tribute" to the U.S. Armed Forces. Likely their last all instrumental album before beginning work with Gaby Koss, the video reveals that they'll cover songs like "The Star Spangled Banner", "Taps", "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic", and the themes of all of the American military branches among the 12 planned songs, along with playing clips from three tracks. The video itself isn't anything too shocking, just images of the nice album artwork with some filters and effects. My only gripe is that the intro seems very out of season, given that they included audio from their version of "Carol of the Bells" in a video from May, but I know it's more because it's from their last album than for anything else. Other than that, this is a great promo for their new album, which already sounds like it'll be on an even grander scale than "Christmas Night" was, so check out the full video below, and stay tuned for "The Dawn's Early Light" this summer!



Next up, remember the young local band from recent Superior Heights Collegiate sets that have been featured in videos uploaded by YouTube user adamscovers? Well, two more are now up of this young (but talented) trio, as posted late last month, including their covers of Shinedown's "If You Only Knew" and (as embedded below) Billy Squier's "Lonely Is The Night!" These differ from the previous 8 videos of this band in that multiple cameras are used: The normal one to the band's right, and a more central one, and lots of transitions, rotations, and zooms are used on these videos. Plus, the band members have switched guitar & bass this time around, so note that as well. The more we see of them, the better their video quality gets, but how does this band sound on these covers? They definitely handle harder material better than ballads, as their Shinedown cover sounded a bit off, but I'm still impressed with their talent! The bassist in these videos (who I believe is named Liam Seymour) has a solid voice, and these guys definitely can go far, but hopefully we can learn some more on them at some point! Check out their Billy Squier cover below, and much more at the above links!



Let's close this post with new videos, starting with a new solo performance clip from Trail's End & London Gentlemen drummer Jake LaLonde! Posted onto his YouTube channel on Tuesday, it's of him covering Godsmack's "Straight Out Of Line", and he definitely has it down pretty well! Like his other recent solo videos, this is from an overhead view in black & white, and his skills are as clear as ever! The original backing track sounds downtuned a bit though, but that could be to skirt copyright rules. Check out Jake's new video below, and keep an eye out for more news from his solo & band work!



And finally, here's the latest solo performance videos from ApolcayptiCDistroyeR frontman Jesse Middaugh! Both of these are Tom Petty covers on the acoustic guitar, as posted earlier this week, but they differ from most of his recent uploads in that Jesse does sing in them! He doesn't do a bad job on either "Free Falling" or "Learning To Fly" (as embedded below), but the limits of his vocal range can be felt, especially on the "Free Falling" cover. The video quality could be cleaner too, but overall, if you want some mellower covers, these might work! If you prefer Jesse and ApocalyptiCDistroyeR's heavier work though, you may wanna steer clear. Check out his newest Tom Petty covers above, and here's "Learning To Fly"!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for my review of last night's metal show at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!