For the first time in 2022, we have a new post that is not 3 days from the previous one! Not necessarily because news is perking up, but because there's actually a pair of concerts to preview this weekend, obviously not in Ontario though given the current restrictions (though we'll have more on the new re-opening timeline on the site soon.) Alongside those previews, we have a very cool video upload with a prominent local band, but leading off, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!
Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to Hulbert Happy Hour in nearby Hulbert Township for one night only on Friday, February 18th! This will be Project 906's first gig at this venue since way back in 2019, as well as their first show of 2022, and their second concert set with new drummer Odin Osogwin. However, this is actually a rescheduling of a concert originally planned for this past Saturday. While we did miss it for coverage on the SMS when the Facebook event page went up two weeks ago, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the show to be postponed five weeks, with news breaking in a post on the event page on January 12th. There's no partial lockdown in Michigan right now like in Ontario, but clearly some venues are still being very cautious, and hopefully things are sufficiently quieted down by Presidents Day weekend! Expect a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover.
And as usual, please respect and follow any public health and safety measures in effect at Hulbert Happy Hour (at 10402 South Maple Street) to ensure everyone has a safe and happy time next month. It's a shame that the pandemic cost this show its original date, but the omicron variant is what it is and everyone's adjusting however they can, so hopefully next month's date sticks! Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for updates from the Project 906 camp as we get them!
Next up, while Project 906's show this month was postponed, we do finally have weekend concert previews for the first time in 2022, as Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! As best as I can tell, Kewadin have not been cancelling concerts due to omicron, but please adhere to any and all public health and safety guidelines posted at the lounge/casino if you come out this weekend. This weekend's shows are Peril's first anywhere in 2022, and their first in Sault Ste. Marie since February 2020, and while they did return to the E.U.P. with St. Ignace Kewadin gigs in the fall, it's probably pretty obvious why they haven't played in the Soo in almost two years. It'll be great to see Jeff, Adam, and Brooks back at The Rapids Lounge this weekend, so keep these rare gigs in mind!
Peril are not scheduled to return to either Kewadin branch in the first quarter of 2022 after this weekend, but their sister band Scarkazm will be at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace in March, pandemic willing. Peril's Rapids Lounge gigs this weekend have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Peril live!
Let's head north to Canada now, as another archive video of inactive Sault Ontario/Toronto indie/punk band Treble Charger on television has surfaced on YouTube, this time from the 2001 installment of MuchMusic's old Snow Job outdoor concert festival! In case you forgot, Snow Job was held annually from at least 1993-2002, and featured (mostly) Canadian bands & musicians performing outdoors at a Canadian ski resort to a live audience and on TV proper. In March 2001, MuchMusic held Snow Job at Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, with Treble Charger joining Our Lady Peace, Shaggy, and Crazy Town as that year's featured acts. If you want more info on Snow Job 2001, visit the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine backup of it's old Much website page. Almost 40 minutes of Much footage was uploaded by YouTube user TheLasko45 last week, so there's obviously a lot to take in!
Yes, Treble Charger footage from Snow Job 2001 was already uploaded by YouTube user tiffanyminx11 over a decade ago, but her videos only add up to 19 minutes, and are mislabeled by one year. The video proper (which features two vintage MuchMusic commercial breaks!) sees Treble Charger as the first band to play that year, and they were introduced by then-MuchMusic VJ Bradford How. Set-wise, Treble Charger played "How She Died", "Cheat Away", "Friend of Mine", "Favourite Worst Enemy" (preceded by Bradford asking Greig and Trevor about the song's inspiration while on the slopes), "Brand New Low", "Business" (preceded by the band snowboarding), "More's The Pity", "Mercury Smile", and "American Psycho". If you're into watching old commercials, the breaks are at 6:51 & 22:06. I don't know about you guys, but I had a lot of fun watching this set back!
This long of a Treble Charger concert video is cool enough (tape hiss excepted), but what put things over the top are the visuals and special elements that an outdoor winter concert at a ski resort provides, from the mountain scenery to snowboarders doing their thing behind the stage to Rosie wearing a ski helmet & goggles, and even a challenge during "Brand New Low" for a fan to chug 4 bottles of ginger ale during the song! I don't know what the temperature in Sun Peaks was that day, but I didn't see anyone's breath, so I doubt it was as cold as the Soo has been over the last week! Definitely worth a watch for Treble Charger and old school MuchMusic fans, so check it out for yourself below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!
News remains slow as of late, thanks in large part to the ongoing Ontario lockdown, but I have cobbled together enough material for a proper news post on this Sunday morning! Below, you'll find lots of assorted topics from the last while, plus a 24 year old MuchMusic clip featuring a familiar local band, and leading off, a rising local hard rock group's recent attention in a major local news outlet! Here's what you should know!
Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished got a nice article from The Sault Evening News on Thursday, so what should you know from it? Actual newspaper copies aside, the online version of the article is officially behind a paywall (open to online subscribers only), but if you switch to newspaper mode on your browser quick enough upon opening, you can freely read the article, which explores how they launched and got their name, their musical influences both before & since joining Tarnished, their fan interaction and keeping a public profile during the pandemic, and their future plans & aspirations. The article is informative and a fun read for fans, and it's great to see an active hard rock band in the E.U.P. getting some local press attention! Scoops include a likely return to outdoor acoustic gigs on Portage Avenue this summer, a show in Grand Rapids in two weeks, and more at undisclosed locations in late June.
Note that bassist Donald Alexander is not featured in the article whatsoever, while Josh Fair is credited as being their bassist again rather than drummer, so did Donald leave the band? As "Donny Wayne", he was credited on bass in this Facebook event page for their Royal Oak show last month, but the venue wrote that up, and Tarnished themselves last acknowledged him via Facebook videos from their Hulbert gigs in March. If Donald is gone, it's a shame, as he seemed to fit in well with Tarnished, but we will let you know if that is inaccurate or if they announce a new drummer or bassist. In any event, read Tarnished's full Sault Evening News article at this link or above!
Next up, here's a newly discovered TV interview with inactive Sault Ontario/Toronto indie punk quartet Treble Charger! Uploaded by YouTube user Uncool Dispatch last month, this aired on the long-running MuchMusic show Much West, where host/former VJ Terry David Mulligan spotlighted music from and in Canada's west coast. Treble Charger were on tour in Vancouver at the time, and the interview was conducted outdoors (in the rain!) in the Yaletown district there. The interview appears to be circa November 1997, as per the scrolling on-screen text beforehand, and it features singer/guitarist Greig Nori and then-new drummer Trevor McGregor. Here, Terry asks Greig & Trevor about their recent work with Smokin' Worm Records, the search for rising new musicians to tour with, issues in working with major labels, and how their music was evolving in a changing landscape. As well, a dog gives his valued input!
The video also includes a clip of Treble Charger playing "How She Died" at the University of British Columbia, and it ends with the full video for the version of "Red" from their third album, 1997's "Maybe It's Me". I feel like there's missing context in this interview that would have been cleared up in prior segments of this Much West episode, but it's a fun look back at Treble Charger in their transitory phase before going punk, and the discussion's loose but professional! It is a shame that Bill wasn't part of the interview though, given that he was still their primary singer then, including on "Red". Give Treble Charger's 1997 Much West interview a look below!
Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
I have moved local acoustic punk solo project Ashoka At The Show to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. Darren has updated their Facebook page frequently in the past year to promote his e-gaming exploits with NHL 21, but he has not promoted Ashoka At The Show as an active musical act since May 9th of last year, ironically noting his plans to work on more songs. Hopefully we hear from Darren musically again in the future, he's a multi-talented guy!
Former Sense of Truth/Skeyes of Seven frontman Cory Murchison posted a new original song named "Love's Countryside" onto his YouTube channel last week! The song was originally written for his grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, and he added instruments to it for this new version as a gift for his mom on Mother's Day. Due to the hyper-personal nature of the song and attached slideshow, I opted not to embed it here, but Cory put solid emotion into this well composed track, which you can hear above!
New local noise/industrial metal project Molten Imp now have their own Facebook page, where they revealed that they will have a new single to unveil on May 25th (one week from Tuesday), and are also planning to release a full length album on CD this fall. Promising early news to be sure, and see above to hear what Boyd's up to!
The annual CBC Searchlight competition is back for 2021 as CBC Music looks for the next great undiscovered Canadian talent, so click here for full details on this year's competition and if you want to throw a late hat in the ring! As best as I can tell, the only locally based band of any genre to enter so far is indie rock quartet Man Feelings, but this year's Searchlight interface is not fun to navigate, especially when you can only narrow down bands by province or territory. The top 100 voted bands move on as of Thursday with huge prizes on the line, so see above for full details!
As you may have noticed, the annual Sky's The Limit fundraiser concert for Children's Mental Health Week did not take place (virtually or otherwise) this month, and I could not find a public statement from Algoma Family Services about why it was cancelled in 2021. Held at the auditoriums at The Tech and later Korah Collegiate from 2016-2019 before going virtual due to the pandemic last year, The Sky's The Limit sought to raise awareness for mental health among local youth, with artists like Mike Haggith & Electric Church among the lineups. Hopefully The Sky's The Limit comes back next year, as it served an important purpose!
Defunct local black/doom metal band Woods of Ypres were ranked #1 in Metal Hammer magazine's list of the 50 greatest cult metal bands, as seen in the current May 2021 issue! They even got a full page write-up that you can (partially) read at this link via the Woods of Ypres fan club Facebook group, though parts are out of frame. It's amazing to think about how big Woods of Ypres have gotten in the decade since losing David, and hopefully getting this kind of press in a major metal magazine will only help expose them to a wider audience! If you have this issue, give it a read!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new post of some kind on the site by Wednesday! Thanks everyone!
I hope you guys had a great Christmas and Boxing Day! We are back from the holiday break of sorts with this month's YouTube Channel Profile, also our final monthly feature post of 2017! This series spotlights 1-3 YouTube channels whose content is at least 50% devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk bands and/or concerts, as randomly chosen the previous month in order to promote their content and encourage readers to check them out and/or subscribe to them! This month's choice is stacked with footage from one of the Soo's biggest exports, so here's what you should know!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Detoxicated (http://www.youtube.com/detoxicated)
Owner:YouTube user Lauren DeDieu, who I don't believe is locally based
Channel Timeline:Launched on February 12th, 2006; videos posted from that day until February 2010
Channel Summary:Originally intended as a channel for videos from MuchMusic's programs Video On Trial and Live@Much, it quickly became known as a source for videos of or relating to local/Toronto indie punk quartet Treble Charger, as implied with the channel name referencing their 2002 album "Detox". Featured content includes music videos, live performances, band commentaries, behind the scenes sessions, and interviews, including many from MusicMusic during their early 2000s heyday. However, most content since July 2006 has been of separate projects, primarily Montreal alt-rockers Mobile.
Why You Should Watch:This is a must-watch channel for fans of Treble Charger, especially from their later years, and with 30 or so videos dedicated to them on the Detoxicated channel (not to mention a Greig Nori-featured episode of Video on Trial to lead off), you'll find a lot to like here, especially if you miss the good old days when MuchMusic truly aired music! However, note that this channel hasn't been visibly updated in well over 7 years, not even for post-reunion activity from Treble Charger.
Our Recommended Videos To Check Out
Treble Charger - Red (Original Version): Though outpaced by a Mobile & Video on Trial video each in popularity, the music video for Treble Charger's 1994 song "Red" is the most viewed here from the band's featured content, netting over 260,000 views. Notably, this is the video for the version of "Red" from their debut album "nc17", not the more famous re-recording from 1997's "Maybe It's Me". Featuring artsy footage of a woman running through a colourful forest full of unexpected items, this softer original (featuring Bill Priddle on lead vocals) is in line with the band's mid-1990s output, and it's a well written number accentuated with interesting visuals! Note that the video is letterboxed, having been uploaded before YouTube introduced widescreen videos in 2009. Also, while many other Treble Charger music videos can be checked out on this channel, a curious omission here is the video for the 1997 version of "Red".
Treble Charger - American Psycho Band Commentary: Much in the same vein as commentary tracks on DVDs, Treble Charger (sans bassist Rosie Martin) made very similar recordings back in 2002 for what I believe to be early website exclusives, before coming here in 2006. These feature Greig, Bill, and then-drummer Trevor McGregor giving running commentary on their music videos for "Friend of Mine", "How She Died", "Brand New Low", "Business", and as embedded below, "American Psycho". The video quality isn't great, and each half of the video is squished to fit the aspect ratio, but it's neat to hear the guys reminisce on the video shoots in an informal setting, and you do hear some good trivia and humourous facts throughout, if you don't mind the hit-and-miss audio quality! Note that the latter three videos are not on this channel in their original form, but are available elsewhere on YouTube.
Treble Charger - Live@Much Part 1: Most of the Detoxicated channel's videos are of Treble Charger's appearances on MuchMusic to promote their album "Detox", including five from a mid-2002 appearance on MuchOnDemand & seven videos comprising their entire episode of Live @ Much from November 13th, 2003. A hybrid concert & interview in front of a studio audience at Much headquarters in Toronto, the episode starts below with "Brand New Low", while part 4 features "Hole In Your Head" & "Don't Believe It All", and it closes with "American Psycho". Parts 2-3 & 5-6 are solely of interviews by host & then-VJ Jennifer Hollett, and they cover lots of ground for their career, music, and future plans (including some audience questions on part 3), though with Bill's departure shortly afterwards & their hiatus the following year, it's interesting to see how some of the responses turned out. Excellent flashback for fans of the band and MuchMusic alike, and well worth a watch!
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I hope you guys liked our final YouTube Channel Profile of 2017! To start 2018 in this series, our first random selection for the new year will take us to the official YouTube channel of local doom metal trio AlgomA, so watch for that on or around January 26th, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!
