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!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Oceania & Nathan Switzer

Here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, our monthly spotlight of one or two inactive or defunct local metal, hard rock, or punk bands, in order to showcase and feature them and their accomplishments for current readers! Our final 2017 installment is on two bands for the first time since March due to the first randomly chosen band not having enough surviving material so sustain a solo profile, so one more was added to fill things out. There's some familiar faces in this month's bands, so here's what you should know!
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Oceania

Genre: Punk

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Lawrence "LaR Noxous" Davies (Black Like My Heart), vocals/guitar
Nick "Dilbert" DiLabio, bass
Chris Rancourt (Slow Motion Theater), drums

Info/Analysis: Succeeding LaR and Chris' old band Slow Motion Theater, Oceania were active briefly from 2004-2005 as a jokingly-formed Green Day tribute band, though they would add original material to their set shortly after. The band played live a few times in 2005, primarily at The Oddfellows Hall (opening for Take One For The Team that July), but few surviving updates followed, aside from LaR's reposting of Oceania's acoustic song "Picture, No Sound" on his YouTube channel in the 2013 (plus a posthumous full band cover), while Chris would later find notability as the head of Laris Records and Northern Rocks Magazine. I can't judge Oceania themselves based on surviving media (especially with their PureVolume page's songs still not working), but if the acoustic song below is any indication, they had an accessible punk sound, and LaR's performance is solid, if still a little reserved vocally! Check out more of his later solo music above, and hopefully some more Oceania material turns up at some point!


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Nathan Switzer

Genre: Progressive Metal/Techno

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Nathan Switzer (Highway 63), all instruments

Info/Analysis: Active only briefly in late 2010 and early 2011, this solo project was the mastermind of former Analog Deficiency & Traces guitarist Nathan Switzer, prior to him joining his father Henry's classic/hard rock cover groups Monkey's Uncle & Highway 63. Nathan was aiming to self-record and release an EP called "Life" in 2011, but no updates followed there, and assorted demo recordings posted to his Soundcloud page through 2013 did not receive any public follow-up elsewhere tying them to his 2010 work. His only current song posted before 2011 ("The Beginning", embedded below) has an aggressive and proficient sound with solid production, as did the now-deleted "The End", while his later postings ranged from brutal metal (as in his "new guitar tone test") to some techno originals that show some good variety, including on the comedic "I'm Cool Too" featuring Half Stupid alum Matt Williams. Nathan's a very talented guitarist, and it's be interesting to see him resurrect his original material at some point in the future!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Next month (and year), we'll kick off 2018 with a randomly selected Sault Ontario band to commence another 2-1-3-1-2-1 cycle between the Twin Saults, and the band in question will be defunct local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade! Watch for that on or around January 10th, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison), The End Of As It Stands, And More!!

I wasn't expecting to have a second post today, but when I remembered there was a show TONIGHT that we accidentally forgot in our previews, I rushed this one, so we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, plus more new shows from the same artist! Also, we have some assorted recent notes, video finds from an artist that we recently acknowledged on the site, and sad news on a prominent band's status, so here's what you need to know!

Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's weekly concert arrangement at The Harp Bar & Grill continues TONIGHT, and as a result, we'll add his numerous August bookings to our concert schedule! Remember, we take things a month at time due to the years worth of bookings on his website's calendar, and apologies for the short notice, we forgot about Tym's show this weekend until today. The August shows will push his ongoing weekly run at the former Madison's Pub into it's 39th week, and they'll see him rocking out TONIGHT, the next three full weekends (August 8th & 9th, 15th & 16th, and 22nd & 23rd), and once more on Friday, August 29th. No word on why he's not playing tomorrow or on the 30th, but he usually sees one or two dates a month pre-empted for another artist, such as the Joe Kennedy show on July 19th. As usual, the Friday shows are The Harp's weekly jam night that Tym hosts and plays at, while the Saturdays are for Tym's usual solo acoustic hard rock show, so keep each theme in mind for some live action!

As well, Tym will once again play at The Road House Bar & Grill on Thursday, August 21st, continuing his recent trend of playing this east end venue once a month to coincide with their monthly customer appreciation nights, so don't miss that show either! The Harp shows are 19+ with 10:00 PM-ish start times, but the Road House show will likely be all ages in the early evening. For more details check the above links, and don't miss Tym at The Harp all month, including TONIGHT! For a preview, here he is covering Heart!



Next up, we can sadly now confirm that local hardcore quintet As It Stands are now inactive. Drummer John Mignacca confirmed the news in a recent personal Facebook conversation, saying that "we are done", but members may reunite in a new band of a different name in the future, and he didn't elaborate further on reasons for the band's split. Active off and on since their 2005 beginnings as an emo band, As It Stands soon became one of the most popular hardcore bands of recent memory in Sault Ontario, promoting and playing at numerous high profile concerts both here and on tour runs, including opening for bands like Fuck The Facts, Blind Witness, Upheaval of an Exorcist, and many others, along with playing at 15 Roosevelt Hotel metal nights, tying for first at 2012's Humane Society Battle of the Bands, and in their last show, opening for Dead & Divine at The Canadian that August. As It Stands also released two demo EPs in their original late 2000s run, and worked on studio sessions for an unreleased album after their 2010 return, though activity has been very sporadic for the last two years.

This is disappointing to confirm, but not entirely unexpected given how quiet the band has generally been in recent months, despite attempts at a relaunch last fall. A.I.S. grew a ton from their early emo days to become a very popular local band, and their fans returned in full force after the Out Of The Mouth Of Babes experiment concluded. I always enjoyed their hardcore fury, and hopefully the guys stay active in music going forward wherever the road takes them! Best of luck to Justin, Garrett, Albert, Angelo, John, and other former members in the future!

Also today, remember how we profiled defunct local punk band Oceania in our most recent defunct local punk band introduction post? (Yes, we have another one coming soon.) Well, their frontman Lawrence (a.k.a. LaR Noxous) was kind enough to send me some e-mails thanking me for the coverage, and as it turns out, he's still musically active! While he's largely been focusing on work lately, Lawrence has uploaded a number of musical and non-musical videos to his YouTube channel in the past 2 years, many of which are credited under the band name Black Like My Heart, most recently a song named "Julie" 5 months ago. A mixture of audio tracks (like full band versions of older Oceania songs like "Picture, No Sound"), filmed solo performances, and even music videos like "Silent Bells", you can see the fuller sound that is missing from the non-working PureVolume songs that Oceania posted, and you get an alternative punk sound with effective raspy vocals, and enough variance to cover a few genres worth! Check out Lawrence's video for "Vanished" below"!



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

• Local musician Brian Lampe is exploring the possibility of forming band that would cover Tool songs and play originals as well (no word on his instrument role though.) There's a lot of interest already, but if you want in or have any questions, message Brian at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on Tuesday!
• The Machine Shop (the live event space at Mill Square, the former St. Mary's Paper location) is now actively looking to book events full time beginning in June of next year. You may remember this venue from hosting Gino Vanelli last fall, among other events, but the building is getting a full restoration before starting a full permanent run as an event host. For more information on The Machine Shop and future bookings, visit this link or SooToday's article on the plans from Wednesday!
• Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's long teased new song "The Killing" can now be streamed at their Reverbnation page! Featuring guest vocals from Italian singer Ida Elena DeRazza, it's more ethereal and intricate than their their heavier instrumental work, but it's well composed, and Ida's vocals add a great ambiance! Check out the full song above!

That's definitely all for today, so stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

Meet The (Inactive) Local Punk Bands!! Part 4

After a longer than expected delay, here's our fourth feature to roll in defunct and inactive local punk bands into our links and coverage on the SMS! We're 100% focusing on bands with surviving primary pages on PureVolume today, mainly as Bandmine turned out to be (more or less) an automated aggregator of bands rather than a proper band page host, while MySpace (a logical spot for some surviving pages) is extremely hard to navigate for local bands now due to their layout overhauls. We'll approach MySpace soon though! Now, here's 4 of our punk band discoveries from PureVolume!

First today are two linked mid-2000s punk projects, those being 2 Minute Warning (pictured) and Starlit Sins! Their lineups both featured guitarists Wes Greco & Andrew "Pooch" Pucci (who has some solo material), bassist Dustin Supak, and original Cherry Crush drummer Justin Marandola, while Ben Tulloch was 2 Minute Warning's singer, and current K.I.C.K. frontman Simon Shearsby replaced him with Starlit Sins. Both bands had live experience, with 2.M.W. (who launched in 2004) playing shows at venues like The Canadian Nightclub, while Starlit Sins played a memorable Roberta Bondar Pavilion set in August 2006 (their only publically active year.) No surviving material of either band is online to our knowledge, though 2 Minute Warning did record a 3 song demo of some type that, though visibly available to listen to on their page, doesn't work for one reason or another. For what it's worth, Starlit Sins' more detailed bio describes a negative fan response to Ben's vocals with 2.M.W., but take that with a grain of salt until/unless media becomes available.

It'd be interesting to find some working media of either 2 Minute Warning or Starlit Sins, especially to see what kind of talents the guys had, of whom largely are not currently active in local bands (Simon being the biggest exception.) If we ever come across music or videos of either, we'll let you guys know, but read their biographies and check out concert photos from both projects at the above links!

Next to add is Oceania, another punk band from around the same time period, roughly running from 2004-2005. Their lineup featured a singer & guitarist named Lawrence (unsure if that was his first or last name, but he was nicknamed "LaR") alongside bassist Nick "Dilbert" DiLabio and Northern Rocks Magazine/Laris Records founder Chris Rancourt on drums. Basically successors to Lawrence and Chris' 2003 project Slow Motion Theatre, the members of what became Oceania formed the band after joking about playing a Green Day tribute show, and got their first bookings on that basis, but soon added original material. Oceania (whose name came from the book "1984") played at least two shows at The Oddfellows Hall in 2005, including a set opening for Take One For The Team that July, though aside from efforts to win the Ernie Ball Battle Of The Bands, no public updates are known to have followed. Like 2 Minute Warning above, Oceania's three songs on their PureVolume page don't work, but there is still a song of theirs around to give a listen to!

As uploaded to their BandSpace page, a live acoustic version of their song "Picture, No Sound" is streamable there, and while it's not indicative of the full band's sound, Lawrence has a nice sound and tone, though his clean vocals often sound a bit too reserved. At least we have a taste of how Oceania sounded, but hopefully more media from their run turns up at some point, so be sure to check them out as well above!

Finally for today's defunct punk feature is Portable Glory, whose page doesn't tell us much, but were recently brought to fans attention when current punk trio The Northern Tragedy revealed on their Facebook page on May 8th that two members of their lineup were in that band! I'm thinking the two common members are singer/drummer Terrence Gomes and guitarist Mike Ivany based on the similar vocals and lack of audible bass, but if I'm wrong, I'll correct this for sure! I'm unsure when exactly Portable Glory were together, but they weren't around very long, and I assume they predated Terrence's larger work with bands like Good Morning Gorilla and Changing Waves, so I'd guess the mid-late 2000s. Four working demos (intended for an album named "Sock Puppets & Knuckle Heads") can be heard on their PureVolume page, and while the recording quality isn't great, and their lineup definitely needed to be filled out, I wouldn't hold it against fans to think these were Northern Tragedy demos, as they have similar sounds and melodies! Unrefined, but give Portable Glory a listen above!

I hope you guys liked this newest punk band feature, and I hope our next one (which will cover remaining PureVolume punk bands like Fuller, and perhaps more) will be up later this week! That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's CD review and more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!