Handsome Sandwich, Soundcheck, And Vanity First Updates!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for missing a concert in this past weekend's previews, as local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns headed north for a gig at Searchmont Resort at their in-house venue The Kiln on Saturday night. The band did not promote this show on their Facebook page, and Searchmont's Facebook page only first mentioned it on Friday, later hyping up the campfire jam aesthetic and requests angle for it. Searchmont only host bands sporadically at The Kiln, so it's not a regular spot for me to look for concerts at, but I do apologize, I'd have plugged it on here had The Stallyns said something in advance! Now, here's what you should know from three active local bands!

After two months of public silence, local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich posted on their Facebook page on Saturday to reveal that recording sessions for their debut album "Deconstructed" are complete! Now, they did say the same thing in November when attached to this picture, so clearly they fixed something up since then. The tracks will now be sent off to be mixed, and while they didn't specify details on Saturday, they confirmed in November that Jordan Zadorozny was going to mix the album at Skylark Park in Pembroke. The plan is still to release the album on Saturday, May 6th, which has been the plan since at least October when singer Taylor Emlaw announced it during The Soo's Got Talent (I believe I misheard her say "May 5th" at the time, my apologies). Regardless, publically setting such a specific album release date seven months out is kinda odd.

May 6th must hold some sort of special in-band meaning, but if they've announced it publically, it must have been in concerts only. A release show for the album is planned, which does imply that there will be physical copies to sell at one, but we'll keep you posted when more comes out on it! As a teaser, the band shared this video with the new Facebook post featuring a 12 second clip of one of their original songs, as set to footage of guitarist Jesse Cook laying on his back performing bicycle kicks to his bandmates' (and now our) amusement. Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from Handsome Sandwich soon!

Next up, here's some big news from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, as they have added Obsession bassist Jim Michaud to their lineup, replacing Paul Belair. The band announced the news on their Facebook page yesterday, and while they did not publically explain his departure, they did note that he "will be missed huge". Drummer Glen Thomas did elaborate on his personal Facebook page on the amicable reasons Paul left, and as it turns out, he actually left the band in November, something that the band never announced on Facebook. Paul had been Soundcheck's bassist since replacing Robin Lee in 2017, but he increasingly missed gigs for personal reasons, leading to guests (usually RPM's Rob Gilmar) filling in, including Jim at their Esquire Club dates on the 20th & 21st. With the similarly ranged Obsession ending their eighteen year run at the same venue next month, Jim coming on board does make a lot of sense!

It's worth noting that Jim & Glen played together in Lyrx, albeit in 1982 & 1983! No word yet on when the new Soundcheck lineup will debut, but they did jokingly ask on Facebook if Rob could fill-in again this weekend, so if that's legit, we'll be on the lookout for a short notice announcement (let alone if Jim carries over Obsession's planned March-December dates to Soundcheck, the idea is not unheard of). Stay tuned for more from as it rolls in, and best of luck to Paul in whatever he has planned next!

Finally, here's some new videos from local punk trio Vanity First's Facebook page in the past week! One is actually a re-post of their 2021 cover of Pennywise's "Bro Hymn" that was first seen on their YouTube channel, notable as it features former bassist Nick McClelland (singer Andrew Beggs has pulled double duty since Nick left). Cool to see again, they tackle this punk staple well! Another video is a re-post from their TikTok page, under the pretense that Andrew's "father" demands to know what he's doing behind closed doors. Of course, it's not what it looks like, and "it" is Andrew listening to punk music, specifically their 2022 standalone single "Get Out". Cute promotion for what it is! The other new Facebook uploads on offer actually have Vanity First covering Rage Against The Machine, including a vertically shot video of them covering "Bombtrack" at Go Skateboarding Day at Queen Elizabeth Park in May of last year.

Notably, Andrew didn't play bass while rapping on this one, so it was up to guitarist Mikhal Muto & drummer Keeghan McAllister to fill in all of the gaps, The 24 second clip comes off well with good angles of the ramp-top stage, though I'm surprised it took this long to come to Facebook! While seemingly formatted for TikTok, that video is not posted on their TikTok page, with the only post-EP release video there that isn't on Facebook being this clip of Keeghan having a "drummer moment" during what appear to be rehearsals at the Sault Community Theatre Centre. Light and amusing, but I feel you have to be in on the joke to an extent. Embedded below is a new 33 second clip of them covering "Killing In The Name" when they opened for Gutter Creek at Soo Blaster in September, and this video is extra notable given what did and didn't happen during the runtime.

As the band noted in the video description, Andrew has epilepsy, and if you know someone with that disorder, you'll know that they're often recommended to not look at strobe lighting or other rapidly flashing light patterns, as that could cause them to have a seizure. During the song's bridge, strobe lighting went off at the venue, and thankfully, nothing serious medically happened to Andrew, who kept his composure and played the song off perfectly normally! If you didn't know he was epileptic, you still wouldn't have if the band never said. I find "Killing In The Name" to be severely overplayed, but credit to Andrew for powering through here, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Vanity First!

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

Bret Michaels Concert Videos, Toystock VI Fallout, And More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Jason Michaud, who passed away on Sunday at just 23 years old after a tough battle with cancer over the past five years (read his obituary at this link.) Though not a local musician to my knowledge, Jason will be familiar to many readers from a benefit concert in his name two years ago at The Marconi Hall towards his ongoing medical expenses, which featured Redundant, Project 421, The Din, and Eclipse alongside DJ Seith as part of it's musical entertainment. A pot-luck dinner/celebration of life will take place at the Bridge View Banquet Hall (formerly The Verdi Hall) on Sunday at 6:00 PM, with arrangements entrusted to the Arthur Funeral Home, while The Din encouraged donations to the Canadian Cancer Society in their own Facebook post from Sunday. I didn't know Jason personally, but I've heard great things about his character and courage, and our best thoughts go out to everyone affected by his loss. R.I.P. Jason!

Now, today's post otherwise relates to recent concert fallout on both sides of the border, and we'll start with some new video uploads surrounding the Bret Michaels concert at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this past Saturday! Surprisingly, I've only came across one YouTube channel at press time with footage from the actual concert, that being of attendee Annette Chandler, who had previously uploaded videos from the Lita Ford and Fleetwood Mania concerts this year. Though untitled, Annette's videos are of Bret covering three Poison classics at The Dreammaker's Theater on Saturday, including "Nothin' But A Good Time",  "Unskinny Bop" (complete with pre-song cover medley), and as embedded below, "Talk Dirty To Me" to kick off his set. Good angle of the stage for these videos, and while the audio can be a little staticy at times, everyone has good energy and Bret's great at engaging with fans and keeping up the party atmosphere! Check out Annette's videos above & below!



Also, here's a pre-concert hype video from Bret himself that was shared to the Kewadin Concerts Facebook page on Saturday evening, wherein Bret gives a final push to the concert, which was "almost sold out" as of filming. Given that it went online only an hour before the show's advertised start time, we didn't have much of a window to post it here before the show took place, so apologies for it being late, but it's nice to see more direct promotion from the artist like this, and give this video a belated look below!

Finally for today, here's some fallout from the sixth annual Toystock charity concert this past Sunday at The Northern Grand Gardens! By the vast majority of accounts, Toystock VI was another successful event for music fans and charitable locals alike, and while I couldn't make it this year due to Christmas decoration/tree setup conflicts, I'm sure it was a great time! SooToday's Donna Hopper was in attendance for part of the day, posting this article mid-concert, so what lies within? The article includes interview remarks from promoter/performer Greg Simpson on the high early attendance and Christmas Cheer donation levels, a call to keep donations coming for those in need, and how Toystock has evolved. Solid overall, nice to hear that things are continuing to grow for Toystock, and here's to even more in 2018! The article also confirms a late band change, as Superior Heights Collegiate rock trio The Voyageurs (pictured) replaced pop rock cover quartet Cherry Crush on the bill for unannounced reasons.

Hopefully nothing too serious came up in the Cherry Crush camp, but good on The Voyageurs for stepping in! Other than being comprised of high schoolers, I know nothing on them or their sound, but hopefully some Toystock media turns up. In any event, there appears to have been some shuffling to the lineup order too, as the article went up before Cherry Crush's 7:00 PM set would have taken place. Two photos of The Voyageurs can be seen in Donna's high quality photos linked above, though no other bands are featured. See above for more on Toystock VI, and that's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Redundant & Mourning Wood), And The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

It's been 5 days since our last non-feature post at the SMS, surprisingly enough, so let's end that relatively dry spell now with the first half of the weekend's hard rock concert previews! We will touch on the Hells Bells, Sault Michigan-area, and potential late notice announcements either tonight or tomorrow, so stay tuned then, but for now, here's previews for an ongoing regular weekly engagement, and SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for TONIGHT and TOMORROW!

A number of familiar faces will reportedly take the stage TONIGHT at a fundraiser concert at The Marconi Hall! Apologies for the short notice, public confirmation of the band lineup wasn't made until the past few days, so we held it for our previews.  The event is to help the Soo's own Jason Michaud with expenses related to his cancer battle and related travel, which is a nice gesture, and hopefully there's a great turnout TONIGHT to help Jason and his family out! Oddly, the band lineup has never been announced on the official Facebook event page, but a thread on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group by Jason's friend James White (The Elements, etc.) indicates who's playing. Given later comments relating to timeslot shifts, the lineup appears to be headlined by James' punk trio Redundant (in their first announced show since the summer) at 12:00 AM, classic metal trio Project 421 at 11:00 PM, and DJ Seith spinning turntable mies at 9:00 PM.

The early bands will include alternative hard rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din (in new guitarist Tammy Hill's live debut) at 8:00 PM, and the debuting Eclypse (who were to play at the postponed Speak Easy Battle this month, and are still awaiting public information on their identity & sound) opening at 7:00 PM. Solid lineup, and it's nice to see the bands coming together to help Jason out! Tickets are $25 for this ALL AGES fundraiser, which will include supper and a door prize ticket, and there will be a cash bar for 19+ attendees. Doors open at 5:00 PM with supper and bands apparently beginning at 7:00 PM, and tickets can be obtained by the phone numbers on the Facebook event page linked above, which also contain e-mails to send donations to the Michaud family if you can't attend, and I assume paying at the door would be accepted. Check the above links for more details! I don't know Jason, but fighting cancer at such a young age is just unfortunate, and hopefully he can beat this! It sounds like he has a good support team too!

And for the bands, you have an increasingly rare set by Redundant, Project 421's first show in about 2 months, the debut of The Din's new lineup, and Eclypse's live debut (anyone know anything on them?), so if the Musicians Wanted thread is still accurate, there should be some good and exciting entertainment for hard rock and punk fans TONIGHT at 450 Albert Street West, and for a great cause! Check the above links for more details, and here's lots of Redundant live footage!



Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT for a one-nighter at Reggie's West! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only heard about the show yesterday via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page. After a couple of weeks off from publically announced concerts (remember, the band doesn't publically promote most shows on Facebook), the guys are back at the former Roosevelt Hotel TOMORROW for the first time in over a month, so if you've missed Mourning Wood lately, here's your chance! Note that they are not playing there on Saturday, as Glen's personal posting noted that Mourning Wood are playing a private wedding gig that night at a different venue, so keep that in mind. There is no announced cover charge TOMORROW, you must be 19 or older to attend at Reggie's West, and everything should start at around 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links, and here they are at The Rednecks Saloon last month!



Finally for this preview post, we'll look at veteran local hard rock solo singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's acoustic shows this weekend, including his expected matinee returns to Gliss Steak & Seafood TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY, plus a one-nighter at The Harp Bar and Grill TOMORROW NIGHT! As his lengthy engagements at both venues march on (he's pushing two years at The Harp), fans of his unplugged hard rock covers should be right at home as usual for his four shows this weekend, so if you want to check out his sets at supper-time downtown, you're covered for the next three evenings, and his more typical nighttime gig at the former Madison's Pub should get a good turnout tomorrow as well! Note that he's not playing at The Harp on Saturday night due to their expected broadcast of the UFC 193 pay per view, but he should be playing there next Saturday.

All four of this weekend's gigs have no announced cover charges, the Gliss shows are at 6:00 PM with no announced age limits, and the Harp show has a 19+ age limit and a 10:00 PM start time. Click here & here for more details, and here's Tym live a few years back!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more concert previews on this busy weekend next! Thanks everyone!