New Quarantunes From Mikey & His Uke, Plus Lots Of SMS Link Updates!!

For this 84th straight daily post at the SMS, we're continuing our link cleanup that populated our post on Saturday, but let's start with the latest quarantune cover videos from Mikey (Hawdon) & his uke! Since we last looked at the local punk music veteran's daily ukelele covers on his YouTube channel, Mikey has posted seven new ones in the past week. Unusually for this current stage of the quarantune series, only two of these videos feature guests beyond Mikey and editor/sometime percussionist Dean Glover, but Dean did spice up the solo videos in varying ways! The new solo videos feature Mikey & his uke covering Madonna's "Material Girl", 2 Unlimited's "No Limit", The Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl", Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again" (featuring many familiar faces in the included photos), and Stompin' Tom Connors' "Algoma Central 69", which should please Inner City Surfers fans in particular. That said, what about the videos featuring special guests?

One is a cover of The Spice Girls' "Stop" featuring four female musicians who have guested in prior quarantunes (I'll let you figure out which spice is which), but embedded below is video #83 from Friday, where Mikey is joined by his Surfers bandmates Dustin Jones, Dave Bahun, and Brad Example for a special rendition of "Booze N' Doobs"! Mikey is even included a second time in the top right on "drums", which is a nice touch. Fun and loose cover, as all of these are in their own way, so give all of Mikey's 85 quarantunes to date a watch above and below, and stay tuned for more tomorrow!



Finally for today, here's nine assorted shorter updates, all via recent changes and deletions to our link sections on the SMS, relating to bands, concert venues, and more. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band, venue, event, or business name:

• I have changed the link in our inactive concert venue listings for local natural foods restaurant and occasional concert venue Cafe Natura from their now-closed website to their Facebook page. However, Cafe Natura abruptly closed in June of last year, and has since been replaced at 75 Elgin Street by Georgie's Shawarma, which I don't believe has hosted live concerts. Kelly seemed to have a good thing going with Cafe Natura, and hopefully she and the former staff are in good spirits nowadays!
• I have removed Foggy Notions from our inactive concert venue listings as well due to the deletion of their Facebook (and last known surviving) online page. Of course, 708 Queen Street East has hosted Coch's Corner since it's move from the Days Inn in 2012, albeit with a much softer range of live music, and hopefully more concerts will occur there in time when things settle down!
• I have removed local music store Grooves Music from our "Other Sault Michigan Metal Links" section due to the deletion of it's Facebook page within the past year. The long-time 540 Ashmun Street business was sold to new owners in 2017 and re-opened as Crooked Music, before moving across the road to 539 Ashmun last year. Head to Crooked Music for all of your instrument, lesson, and vinyl needs, though use common sense given the pandemic!
• I have deleted Hempfest from our listing of local concert festivals due to the closure of their Facebook page in recent years, which was the annual marijuana culture/concert festival's last known online page. Readers may recall this annual event at the current Northern Vibe Festival site in Ophir, Ontario from 1999-2013 (save 2010) before organizers held it's last three installments in Moonbeam. Hopefully Robert, Willy-Jack, and everyone who made Hempfest possible are still doing well nowadays!
• I have changed the link for defunct local band management & promotion company New Era Design & Development in our "Other Sault Ontario Metal Links" section from their now-closed website to their Facebook page. Derek had solid ambition with New Era, including a working relationship with local hard rock band Stillbroke circa 2010, but their later activity was centered on digital media before New Era fell inactive by 2013.
• I have removed 2005 all-female alternative/punk trio Nowhere Fast from our defunct band links due to the quiet deletion of their Tripod (and only surviving) online page at some point in the past year. It would have been interesting to see Nowhere Fast make more of a local presence during their brief run, but hopefully their members are still musically active!
• I have removed mid-2000s punk band Oceania from our defunct band links due to the closure of BandSpace, which hosted their last surviving band page until that website quietly shut down three years ago. Oceania were a promising act, and hopefully LaR, Dilbert, and Chris re-emerge with new music down the road!
• I have replaced early 2010s punk/classical trio RedD Monkey's (sadly) deleted Facebook page in our band links with their Bandcamp page, which still hosts copies of their three studio albums. Steve, Pete, Kevin, and Joe have been missed locally in the last few years, and hopefully we hear of new music from them in the future!
• I have changed the link for defunct local nightclub/concert venue Smack Daddy's Bar & Grill (a.k.a. Bossy's Pub N' Grub) in our inactive venue listings from their now deleted Facebook group to their Smack Daddy's-era Facebook page. Sporadically active as a concert venue through 2011, Smack Daddy's closed in 2014, as the building was bought by new owners, torn down, and replaced by what's now Pim Street Dental. Hopefully they're doing strong business there, it's a good location!

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

Zaum & Pixo Control Concert Previews, Plus Caym Show Updates & Much More!!

Before we finish uploading our Swampstravaganza videos (the joys of seeing a concert with 9 different bands AND 4 open mic performers), here's a news post for your Monday morning featuring a rarity: two Monday night concert previews! Those lead off today, but we also have the latest from a prominent metal band and some assorted extra notes, so here's what you should know! (Updated at 12:36 PM)

We'll start with our double Monday previews at Cafe Natura, where local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control will return TONIGHT as local openers for Winnipeg pop rock quartet Naysa! Visibly an upstairs affair after December's basement show at the Elgin Street venue, The Pixo Control should be in fine form following their set at the Biipiigwan show earlier this month, and hopefully there's a solid turnout at this ALL AGES concert tonight! As for Naysa, while not a "heavy" band, their gloomy pop rock & indie originals have attracted a solid following, and they'll be a nice fit at Cafe Natura tonight, so be sure to stay late to check them out as well! TONIGHT'S concert starts at 8:00 PM, there is a $7 cover charge, and again, this is ALL AGES! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, don't miss the alt-rock entertainment tonight at Cafe Natura, and here's The Pixo Control live at LopLops Lounge last year!



The second half of today's downtown Monday hard rock concert action goes down TONIGHT at The Rednecks Saloon, as Moncton, New Brunswick "Middle Eastern mantra doom" duo Zaum will make their Sault Ste. Marie debut! A unique band that mixes doom metal with dark ethnic chanting and moods, their familiar yet creative sound should find a solid audience with local metalheads! German experimental/jazz duo The Jealousy Mountain Duo will join them tonight as well, and while not a heavier band, their own intriguing hybrid originals should make their own mark amidst the varied sounds to be had at the former Nicolet Tavern tonight! Local support will come via local hard rock quartet Haggith (in their second show with their current lineup and first at Rednecks in 8 months), so if you missed Caleb's return to the band on Saturday, here's your makeup date (and look for "Apocalypse II" as well!)

The new openers tonight are Jack Spades bandmates Johnny Belanger & Jesse Cook in an acoustic cover set, replacing local progressive rock quartet Mannapool (who were confirmed to have dropped out yesterday via promoter Mitch Sirie on the Facebook event page, likely for similar reasons as their Swampstravaganza exit.) Johnyy & Jesse should set a good tone, so come early! This 19+ show has FREE ENTRY, and a 9:00 PM start time is listed, but promoters are aiming to end early given that it's a Monday night. For more details on this diverse and intriguing concert, visit the above links, and here's Zaum live last year!



Next up, we have some big changes to announce for THIS FRIDAY'S Caym-headlined concert, which has been moved from The Oddfellows Hall to The Algonquin Pub! The show, now fully promoted by J.D. Pearce again, will now be the kickoff show for his and Tidal Records' Gonqshow concert series there, so there's all the more reason to check out Caym's first headlining date in the Soo on Friday night! To go along with the venue shift, the cover charge has been halved to $5, but sadly, this is now a 19+ event. This all confirms that Heavy North Entertainment are no longer involved with this concert, with planned local openers Them also removed from the bill for similar reasons. J.D. alluded to the changes on the Facebook event page by saying that "someone dropped the ball", but you can read into that however you want. This should be a great show either way, so stay tuned for our full preview later in the week!

Finally for this post, here's three shorter news stories from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Local rap/metal band The Apocalypse Afterparty have parted ways with drummer X (a.k.a. Steve Mozarowski), as confirmed to me by Steve at Saturday night's Swampstravaganza. Allusions to internal tensions in the band (often of a cryptic nature) have been made on Facebook in recent weeks, but we won't get into any details here. Best of luck to Steve in the future, and stay tuned for more on The Apocalypse Afterparty as we hear it!
• Local doom/death metal band Giwakwa have quietly confirmed the addition of Beaumont Avenue's Mitch Sirie as their new bassist AND lead singer, replacing both Nolan Rainville and Mitch's Bear Hunters bandmate Josh Stephney. Surprise announcement to be sure, but Mitch is a talented multi-instrumentalist with a lot of band experience, so he should fit in well! Our source is the band's Facebook page, but more details are forthcoming.
• We have moved local hard rock quartet The Side FX back to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The band featuring Garden of Bedlam, Papa Fogal's Chair, and Elements alumni haven't made a public statement since playing at bassist Mike Bird's stag & doe over a year ago, though keep in mind that guitarist Alex Walls lives out of town. Hopefully they turn up again, and best of luck to him, Mike, Rob, and Derek in the future! 

That's all for now, but keep posted on our Facebook page for the rest of our Swampstravaganza videos, with our review guaranteed to come afterwards! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Pixo Control), Shit Liver Concert Preview, And More!!

As we begin to wrap up April, we have a new news post for you guys on this Monday afternoon, including a new vlog posting, a local band's new Kickstarter campaign, and a preview of a special Tuesday night show TOMORROW, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

Local hard rock/alternative trio The Pixo Control will return to the stage on Monday, May 11th when they open for Winnipeg pop rock quartet Naysa at Cafe Natura! This will be The Pixo Control's first show at the Elgin Street venue/whole foods cafe of the year, though it will visibly be upstairs rather than December's basement show. With that and Thursday's Biipiigwan show on the horizon, it's great to see the guys breaking out of the studio for some more gigs, and hopefully both go well! As for Naysa, they deliver a gloomy pop/indie sound that isn't "heavy", but has it's own appeal, so be sure to check them out and see what you think in advance of May 11th! This ALL AGES event has an 8:00 PM start time and a $7 cover charge, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details. This should be an entertaining show for fans of indie and alternative rock, and Cafe Natura has definitely earned a positive reputation as a concert venue, so keep it in mind for next month, and stay tuned for more from The Pixo Control in a bit!

Next up, here's a preview for a special Tuesday concert going down TOMORROW NIGHT, as local/St. Catharine's death/grind trio Shit Liver will make their Rednecks Saloon for their second and final stop of their brief homecoming! Currently on their Homeland Debauchery Tour of Canada, this will be your last chance to see Shit Liver in the Soo before they hit the road again, so keep this one in mind for TOMORROW! They're scheduled for 1:00 AM, while local death metal veterans The Bear Hunters (who also played with Shit Liver at this weekend's house party gig) will hit the stage at 12:00 AM. Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades will also play at 11:00 PM, with alternative rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din making their Rednecks debut at 10:00 PM. The opening set will see Jack Spades bandmates Johnny Belanger and Jesse Cook reprising their acoustic punk set at 9:00 PM (last seen as Sleigher at X-Mess 2), and though the teased Mitch Sirie solo set is no longer listed, it may have always been a joke given the announced Alicia Keys covers.

Promoted by Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie, this is the show originally intended as a benefit to raise money for Johnny Belanger's smashed windshield, complete with Kickstarter-esque rewards for donating, but insurance covered the repairs, so Johnny just wants this to be a normal concert. With that said, admission is FREE, and the music starts at 9:00 PM, but there's a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a great concert, and a throwback of sorts for fans missing the old Rosie metal nights, so don't miss out TOMORROW, and I hope to be there as well! For a preview, here's Shit Liver live last year!

Staying with a Bear Hunters related topic, the guys have launched a full Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for their second full length CD "The Dead Testament"! Similarly to Jack Spades' Kickstarter to crowdfund their three-way split, The Bear Hunters are hoping to crowdfund $5,000 to professionally record this album, which would have 11 songs and is aimed for a release this winter. Mitch's write-up on the Kickstarter page notes that the band wasn't entirely happy with how "Eternal Hibernation" sounded, and while the top goal is lofty, they hope that this will ensure the best sounding album possible, with some of the money going towards limited edition digipaks and possibly their teased "Aftermath" EP. Like any Kickstarter campaign, there are multiple incentives that you'll get or recieve at various funding levels, so what lies ahead if you donate to the album?

Oddly, there's no sub-$12 rewards, but if you pledge $12, you'll get "The Dead Testament" upon release, while higher amounts could get you the digipak, handwritten song lyrics, complete tablature for each song, your own custom Bear Hunters song, private drum lessons, carpool rights on an upcoming tour, and at the $1,500 top level, a private concert. The Bear Hunters deserve the best possible album, so make sure to help crowdfund their next album if you can via the above links, and don't miss the guys TOMORROW NIGHT at The Nicolet Tavern!

Finally for today, we'll come full circle with more from The Pixo Control! Among numerous recent photo postings on their Facebook page from their ongoing album recording sessions, and this Instagram video reacting to their Shaw TV interview, the guys have also launched their own official YouTube channel, with the first video being of a planned vlog series! The five minute vlog features the guys playing and interacting in studio before transitioning to them having a photo shoot with Local2's Dan Nystedt at Village Media headquarters (note that this isn't from their Bare episode, which was also shot there.) You get lots of random light clips of the guys having fun and keeping things light, including a brief tour of the studio and a view of the band getting their photos taken, and it'd be interesting to see more of these! Give it a look below, and note that The Pixo Control teased a North American tour in the info for the vlog. Stay tuned for updates on that!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more this week, including this month's CD review by Thursday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (415E & Havadder), New Year's Eve Concert Previews, And More!!

In what may be our last news post of 2014 (with a CD review and 2014 retrospective to follow), we're tackling announced New Year's Eve show previews today, as despite being mid-week this year, there are still some hard rock bands taking to local stages to ring in 2015! If there's a short notice confirmation, we'll try to address that as well, but let's kick things off with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet 415E will send 2014 out in style with a headlining New Year's Eve concert THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! Apologies for the short notice, the band just announced this show on their Facebook page today. Despite the late word, this should be a great show for Yoopers who want to ring in the new year in style with some live hard rock originals and covers, and if you've seen Dave, Mitch, and the Hubbards live this year, you'll know what they bring to the table! For reference, the Sault Michigan Kewadin's New Year's entertainment will come via local indie rockers The London Gentlemen, in case you were wondering. 415E's St. Ignace show on Wednesday has a 9:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. For more details, visit the above links, don't miss 415E one last time in 2014, and here's the guys at The Dreammaker's Theater!



Also, local classic/hard rock quartet Havadder will headline a New Year's Eve party concert at Studio 10 (yes, the strip club) THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, they just announced this show on their Facebook page yesterday. To be the veteran quartet's second ever show at the Hudson Street nightclub, Wednesday's show will bear similarities to their headlining show there on Halloween, including refreshments, New Year's party favours, a midnight champagne toast, a Fender guitar door prize giveaway, and yes, "adult dancing" between Havadder's sets if that's your thing (our source for the above info is frontman Jason Roy's personal Facebook page.) Also, expect drummer T.J. Case to be absent on Wednesday, as he will be playing with Mourning Wood at The Rednecks Saloon that same night (more on that in a bit), but it's not yet known if their fill-in drummer will be Scott McLurg again or someone else. Given the seasonal nature and frills of this event, tickets will be $15, and can be bought at the Studio or through Jason.

This is definitely a 19+ concert, and a 10:00 PM start time is likely. For more details, visit the above links! Havadder's Halloween show at Studio 10 must have went well for them to come back for New Year's Eve, and hopefully there's a nice turnout for their often heavy yet diverse cover attack on Wednesday night! For a preview, here's Havadder live earlier this year!

Moving to previously announced concerts, local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control and garage punk quartet Gnaeus will head to Cafe Natura (downstairs, specifically) to open a year-end concert TOMORROW NIGHT alongside familiar faces from some of their shows earlier in the year! Both of these rising young bands will be opening for a reunion of local blues rock quartet The Frasiers as well as local folk musician Chris West's Great Chamberlain solo project (which Pixo Control frontman Michael Mikus has played live with in the past), so if you liked these artists from events like The Emergency Festival and Lopstock, keep TOMORROW'S show in mind, especially as all but The Pixo Control haven't played live since the summer! The Frasiers will headline at 10:10 PM tomorrow, with Great Chamberlain on at 9:40 PM, The Pixo Control at 8:30 PM, and Gnaeus opening at 7:30 PM. This show has NO cover charge, and no announced age limits, so visit the Facebook event page for more details on this event!

Also, no word on why this show is taking place downstairs in Cafe Natura's basement. This should be an interesting concert for fans of blues, folk, and alternative rock, so don't miss out on the action tomorrow night in what may be the last hard rock-featured concert before the New Year's parties! For a preview, here's The Pixo Control live at LopLops this summer!

Finally for known heavier concerts over the final days of 2014, we'll head to The Rednecks Saloon where the aforementioned Mourning Wood will play their own last concert of the year by headlining the former Nicolet Tavern's New Year's Eve party THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT! The newer classic/hard rock trio will bring their diverse and often aggressive cover selections there on what will be a Mardi Gras-themed event (despite Mardi Gras meaning "Fat Tuesday"), but it's a neat theme that fits the party atmosphere, so keep that in mind! Similarly to the Havadder New Year's party, Mourning Wood's will have entry via ticket purchase (in their case, $10, to be bought at the venue), and it's also a 19+ event with a 10:00 PM start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It sounds like Terry, Steven, and T.J. have a great event of their own coming on Wednesday, so keep it in mind for your own New Year's eve plans as we close the door on 2014! For a preview, here are the guys at Toystock!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Bear Hunters CD review and a retrospective look back at 2014 in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Pixo Control), More Toystock Videos, And More!!

Before we tackle a busy weekend for hard rock concerts, here's one more news post for this Wednesday night, but be sure to check out this morning's Defunct Local Band Profile on Half Past below this post! Tonight, we have some more recent CD reviews, more videos from a recent benefit concert, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the end of the year, so here's what you need to know!

Local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control and post punk/garage quartet Gnaeus will return to the stage for a end-of-year show at Cafe Natura on Tuesday, December 30th! Specifically taking place in the Elgin Street whole foods restaurant & venue's basement for unannounced reasons, this will be The Pixo Control's first Cafe Natura set in over 6 months, while it will be Gnaeus' first show anywhere since August's Emergency Festival. Look for both to have some exciting newer originals as they end 2014 with a bang! This show's advertised headline act is local folk musician Chris West's Great Chamberlain solo project, while local blues rock quartet The Frasiers will reunite over four months after their announced breakup on December 30th as well, so if you've missed them, you're in luck! Promoted by Frasiers bassist Brenden Fitzgerald, this show has NO COVER CHARGE, no announced age limit, and time slots to be announced. For more details, visit the Facebook event page!

This should be an entertaining concert, especially as all but The Pixo Control haven't played a publically announced show since the summer! Keep tabs on it over the holidays for a varied mix of sounds from Lopstock and Emergency Festival acts, and as they've now hosted two distinct shows with hard rock or punk acts, we're now listing Cafe Natura in our active Sault Ontario concert venue links!

Next up, here's some more videos from last month's third annual Toystock charity concert at The Canadian Nightclub! First, Bone Yard/That's Chester drummer Ric Datson uploaded this compilation of clips from the day's acts onto his YouTube channel last week, so what can you catch in the 9 minute+ video? In order, we have The Stumpy Coldwater Trio covering The Steeldrivers' "Guitars, Whiskey, Guns, and Knives" & a song that I can't place, followed by Robert "Killabeatz" Drolet beatboxing, the arrival of Santa & Mrs. Claus, Lorrie Lynn & The Sinners playing "Swear When I Pray", The Pixo Control playing "Land of the Moles" & clips of two later originals, Thin Ice covering Jason Aldean's "The Only Way I Know", Domina covering Pat Benatar's "All Fired Up" and clips of four later covers, Mourning Wood covering Bon Jovi's "It's My Life", Mannapool playing their song "Mayday", and closing with five assorted clips of Bone Yard playing various covers, so click each band's name to see them!

Note however that Ric did not film Mike Case's Junior All Stars or Lucky 13 (at least, not in clips included below) for unannounced reasons, though we'll have more from the former in an upcoming post. Solid footage overall at varied angles, despite Ric's lack of zoom on the clips, though the filmer for his band Bone Yard's footage did go closer to the stage. I wonder if the longer footage of The Pixo Control & Domina's sets is a sign of confidence for both bands' success and talent? Though most of the footage is from each band's first song (a'la Mike Caruso's videos), Ric did a solid job getting these clips, so see them below, and stay tuned for more!



Also from Toystock, here's the last of the aforementioned Mike Caruso's videos from the event! Uploaded to the Sault Online correspondent's own YouTube channel last week along with the videos we shared on Saturday, the last three videos that Mike shot are of prog-rockers Mannapool playing their first original song (credited on their setlist as "Chaos", but that's likely not it's full name), country headliners Bone Yard covering Brantley Gilbert's "Country Must Be Country Wide", and embedded below, classic/hard rock trio Mourning Wood covering Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way". Like with Mike's other videos, these have washed out colours due to the auto-brightening filter, and sometimes have quality jumps due to camera switches, but they're solid all around, and fans should enjoy these videos if you're a fan of the respective genres! Give Mourning Wood's video a look below, and see more via the above links!

Finally for today, here's some more reviews of local sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA's debut CD "Reclaimed By The Forest"! Last week, Marcos Garcia from the website Metal Temple reviewed the album, giving it an 8/10 rating ("Excellent" on their scale), calling it "a savage Sasquatch on a furious attack", even praising Mark Rand's mix of the tracks, and praised them as having "a very good future". Nice review, so give it a look at this link! The Tumblr page Doomed & Stoned also reviewed "Reclaimed By The Forest" yesterday, where they called it "well-crafted doom" and "a crushing listen" in a brief review, though they did tag it as one of their best metal albums of the year. Short but well stated, so give it a look at this location! Lastly for now, AlgomA made a cameo in MetalSucks' article on the best metal albums of the year (as chosen by various metal musicians), where Hooded Menace frontman Lasse Pyykko ranked AlgomA's CD as his 9th favourite album of 2014, joining such bands as Pallbearer and Godflesh, among others.

Solid all around, so see more of the rankings here, and stay tuned for more from AlgomA! That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Bottom Line), The Pixo Control Concert Preview, And More!!

We're still in our current upswing of Sault Michigan-centric news and notes, so this post includes a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for July in the E.U.P., related new video finds, and some more assorted notes, but we do have a Sault Ontario concert preview as well! With that said, here's what you need to know on this Sunday morning!

New local hard rock quartet The Bottom Line will play their second announced concert set on Sunday, July 20th when they'll be among the performers at the annual Music & Art Dockside festival in nearby Hessel, Michigan that day! My source is the band's Facebook page on May 5th, as organizers have not announced a performer lineup yet that I know of. Though The Bottom Line didn't detail the festival when they announced their involvement, the Music & Art Dockside festival will be held at the Hessel Marina grounds & gazebo, and if past years are any indication, there will be live music, arts & crafts, and regional shopping and merchants to take in at this annual event, which hasn't previously been a spot for heavier local bands. Times for the festival will likely be from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, this is an all ages event, and there's no announced admission costs. For more details, check the above links and the event page for last year's festival, and stay tuned in case we get confirmation of other performers!

We'll get back to more from The Bottom Line in a second, but first, here's a new Sault Ontario topic (I haven't forgotten this side of the border!), as local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control will play a special Monday night show TOMORROW when they make their way down to Cafe Natura! A healthy foods cafe and natural medicine store at 75 Elgin Street that largely attracts acoustic and folk performers, Cafe Natura has found success with it's target audiences since opening, so keep it in mind for this special show! Also, The Pixo Control teased a guest performer for this show on their Facebook page yesterday, possibly cellist Emma N-K (heard here), so keep an eye out! They will be the local openers for Halifax folk/alternative musician Jon McKiel (who The Pixo Control have covered live) and Nova Scotia indie/experimental duo Construction & Destruction, both of whom have a talented sound in their genres, so be sure to check both out via the above links!

The first Cafe Natura show we've fully covered on here, this ALL AGES event has an 8:00 PM start time and $10 cover charge, so visit the official Facebook event page for full details! It'll be interesting to hear how this show does, but folk and indie fans would be best served to come for Jon McKiel's unique originals alone, and the openers (Pixo Control included) should set the tone well also! Keep it in mind for tomorrow night, and here's The Pixo Control live at The Oddfellows Hall!



Next up, here's one last note relating to The Bottom Line, as guitarist Joe Jenkins has a YouTube channel featuring solo guitar performances of his in the past couple of months! These mostly are of jamming and riff ideas, though two videos are of titled songs ("That Wicked Side" and "Pitch Black", which is embedded below), and it's unclear yet whether these are/will become Bottom Line originals. A mixture of harder riffs and softer compositions are on Joe's channel, but the heavier ones sound like good candidates for band expansion, and while guitar solos aren't a high presence, Joe has clear ability and can definitely produce some heavy material, so check out "Pitch Black" below, and click here for more!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and fitting our recent topic trends, all relate to bands or events outside of Canada! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or station name:

• Sault Ontario goregrind label Blood Shed Productions have surprisingly announced the addition of a British one man goregrind project named Peppermint Green to their artist roster, making them obviously the first non-regional band with the Blood Shed. Their first song together can be streamed at this link, and label loyalists and grind fans will enjoy it, so give it a look if you want, and we'll see how the Blood Shed continues to spread in the coming months!
• Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook announced on their Facebook page yesterday that he'll be interviewing shock rock legend Alice Cooper on the air at around 9:30 AM tomorrow morning during "Scott & Brian in the Morning", obviously in advance of Alice's Kewadin Casino show on June 27th. Awesome news, so be sure to listen in if you can at 101.3 FM, as Alice is a legend who's been very good for local appearances! Tickets are still available!
• Courtesy of his upcoming solo album "This End Up!", Dafter solo artist Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton has posted a new track named "Rain" onto his Reverbnation page to stream, so give it a listen via the provided link! I won't give thoughts about it yet due to a likely review of the album this summer, but fans won't be disappointed!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Pixo Control), A New Band Page, And Sault Michigan Videos!!

It seems like too long since we've had a news post on here that focuses mainly on the Sault Michigan area, but that's the case today, as we have new videos from two E.U.P. projects and the long awaited first online page from a regional hard rock band, but we do have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for Sault Ontario as well! Without any further adieu, here's what you need to know!

Over two and a half years after their formation, Sault Michigan hard rock cover trio Power Slug finally have their own Facebook page, so we can finally add them to our active Sault Michigan metal/hard rock band links! I have no idea what took them this long, but it's great to finally have a formal online page for them! Succeeding the short lived River Witch in late 2011, Power Slug's lineup has continually featured singer/bassist Chris Leask and bassist Chris Gurnoe from the earlier band, with drummer/prolific local metal singer Bob Helsten (also of Nose Dive) rounding out their ranks. The band has carved out a solid reputation since their debut, playing numerous weekend gigs at regional bars, along with a few appearances outside of our area, and sets at some major concert events like LemmaFest. Currently, Power Slug has out of town gigs lined up at the Kewadin Casino in Manistique through September, but their new Facebook page has yet to plug any upcoming dates , so hopefully some more are forthcoming!

Power Slug's few online videos (some of which you can see here) show off a solid and gritty hard rock sound that fans of the members' prior bands should appreciate, and it's easy to see why they have a following! Be sure to check out Chris, Bob, and Chris at a local stage near you hopefully in the near future, so you too can chug your mug with Power Slug, and stay tuned for updates from their camp!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local hard/alternative rock trio The Pixo Control will take the stage for a show on Monday, June 16th at Cafe Natura! If you're not familiar with it, this venue (located at 75 Elgin Street, just seconds from Sears at the Station Mall) is a whole foods restaurant & natural medicine shop that also doubles as a concert hall (mainly for acoustic, indie, and folk bands), and they have a unique and successful thing going, so give them a look above! This show will be headlined by Halifax folk/alternative musician Jon McKiel (who The Pixo Control covered at the Hard Times Bar & Grill on Sunday) and fellow Nova Scotia indie/experimental duo Construction & Destruction, both of whom have a talented and experienced sound that will fit well at Cafe Natura, so keep them in mind as well! Promoted by Jackson Reed at the local music/art collective Ears & Eyes, this concert (the first at Cafe Natura that we've ever formally covered) is ALL AGES, starts at 8:00 PM, and has a $10 cover charge.

For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! While this may seem like an odd genre fit on the surface for such a grungy band, The Pixo Control are huge Jon McKiel fans, have a good relationship with Ears & Eyes, and frontman Michael Mikus has played this venue before with Great Chamberlain, so things will work out! The Pixo Control should set the tone nicely on the 16th with their alternative & grunge originals, so keep this unique show in mind!

We'll close today with some new Sault Michigan videos, including the long awaited first part of local hard rock collective The Highest of Fives' short film "Bang!" Uploaded to member Devin Anderson's/the band's YouTube channel on Thursday, what can you expect to see in part 1? It starts with an introduction to guitarist Marcel Grengs' "Crusty Park" alter-ego and the revelation that he's been kicked out of his parents' home, followed by an introduction to The Highest of Fives' in-movie lineup (singer Mitch Goetz, guitarist Devin Anderson, bassist Jack Slater, and drummer Mike Pascoe) and whether they should practice or not, with their related storylines being expanded on in the last minutes of this video, presumably to merge in part 2. Note that member Travis Theel is not featured on camera in this section, but he is listed as a co-producer in the credits. Also, while there is some of the band's music featured, it's not a widespread focus after the opening titles.

This is an amusing first part of "Bang!", with some appropriate cliffhangers for the next installment, and I like the spirit and imagination employed (though some of the post-production effects seem a bit out of place.) Things have been a slow go in terms of finishing and completing their film and album, but check out part 1 of the film below, and stay tuned for more from The Highest of Fives!



Finally, Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night posted a sample of their new original song "The Killing" onto their YouTube channel on Thursday! As previously teased on their website, this song features guest vocals from Italian singer Ida Elena DeRazza, who is a member of singer Gaby Koss' classical vocal group Cantus Lunaris, though it's not clear yet whether Gaby sings on this song too. The video is naturally heavily filtered, though the end does confirm that the full song will come out on iTunes on August 1st, so we'll have to see if that holds up. We don't get a huge glimpse of the song, but it has a haunting and dark quality, so give it a look/listen below, and keep an eye out for more Theatre of Night updates!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post in the coming days! Thanks everyone!