YouTube Channel Profile Series: CrazyCarLover1990's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we again feature a randomly selected YouTube channel whose uploads are at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk artists/concerts, in order to encourage views and subscriptions! This month's choice takes us to the early touring days of a high profile local punk band, so here's what you should know!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

CrazyCarLover1990's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/@CrazyCarLover1990)

Owner: YouTube user CrazyCarLover1990, exact identity unclear, but they likely live in the Ottawa region

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 19th, 2009; Videos uploaded from October 2010 through January 2013

Channel Summary: Thirteen of this channel's 23 videos come from four different concerts played by inactive local Celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide in southeastern Ontario back in 2010 and 2011. Other content on the channel include five videos from a Cesar Millan live show in 2010, a singer/guitarist named Alex at a possibly unrelated event, and the channel's four newest videos, which are not musically focused and do not have a common thread beyond who uploaded them.

Why You Should Watch: Fans of early Rising Tide material and concerts will definitely be curious to check out these videos, especially as Dustin & crew were still relatively new in their run at this point, and while they didn't reinvent the wheel too much as the 2010s progressed, these are a fun look at their early run, even if all concert videos here were shot vertically! The Cesar Millan videos may interest Dog Whisperer fans, Alex is a good singer, and the other videos on offer will have individual appeal at best, most notably this racing lap video. Note that multiple newer Tide videos from here and afar can be found elsewhere on YouTube and Facebook, and that this channel hasn't been visibly updated in over a decade.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Dustin jones: The first five videos here come from The Rising Tide's show at D'Arcy McGee's in Ottawa circa early-mid 2010, when they featured Dustin Jones (vocals/guitar) alongside fiddle player Sheldon Jaaskelainen and his brother, stand-up bassist Marshall Jaaskelainen, with ex-Redefined/future My Son The Hurricane drummer Danno O'Shea behind the kit (note that the debut EP that they were touring in support of did not have drums at all). CrazyCarLover filmed them playing "Molly Malloy", "Summer Honey", and "Tick Tick Tock", plus Sheldon's solo vocal/guitar rendition of the Old Crow Medicine Show's "Wagon Wheel". Featured here is their eponymous "Rising Tide", as preceded by their traditional intro of the allegro movement from Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525". Vertical dimensions aside (with the camera sometimes flipped sideways), everyone performs well on these early numbers, and Ottawa fans took to their Celtic punk hybrid well!

Dustin Jones and the Rising Tide - Sheldon singing rock me: The Rising Tide's second D'Arcy McGee's show filmed here was in September 2010, which featured songs from their then-upcoming 2011 CD "Whiskey Will Be Our Sun". In upload order, CrazyCarLover filmed them playing "Half My Life", & "Until We Drop", and covering Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" & Tom Waits' "Cold Water", but this time, we'll embed their Sheldon-led cover of "Wagon Wheel" (erroneously labelled as "Rock Me") as it is this channel's most popular video, with over 1,500 views as of this writing. Not the most punk cover choice out there, but Sheldon has a good handle on this modern country staple, and everyone seemed to know it! The final video from D'Arcy McGee's on this channel saw The Tide playing their Sheldon-led original song "Brass Knuckles" at the venue's New Year's party that December.

Dustin Jones And The Rising Tide: CrazyCarLover definitely also loved The Rising Tide, as they filmed Dustin & crew one more time at the Tir Nan Og Irish Pub in Kingston (2 hours south of Ottawa) circa June 2011. Now featuring Dustin's Inner City Surfers/Bookclub bandmate Mikey Hawdon on drums, the guys are seen here covering Hank Williams III's "Smoke & Wine" with Sheldon on lead vocals, a video that was uploaded twice with slightly varying titles for some reason. A rollicking hellbilly cover that puts everyone on their toes, this is a nice change of pace from The Tide's usual M.O., if not zoomed in especially close. Hopefully we hear more from The Rising Tide down the road when the time is right!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! As decreed by random selection, we'll actually be returning to the well of "auto-generated YouTube Music channels for Mikhal Muto bands" next, as we'll be looking at Vanity First's YouTube Music channel next month, two months after profiling Agnosticism's similar channel. Look for that on or around March 26th, and for this weekend's concert previews starting later today! Thanks everyone!

Fall 2024 Updates From Spades GT!!

It's been a minute since we talked about local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT on the SMS, so what have they been up to since we left off in late September? Well, we'll start with a new live video of theirs that was uploaded to their Facebook page on September 25th, courtesy of the show where they opened for The Exploited and Total Chaos at Lee's Palace in Toronto earlier that month! This was cobbled together from footage shot by Julie's HC Music and Stuff, as well as Thrash Panda Productions head Bowser Tabernak, who is one of the organizers of the annual Spiderfest in Meyersburg that (Jack) Spades have played at often over the years. The band was filmed here playing "Final Girl", and in a throwback to their late 2022 incarnation, ex-guitarist Jay "The Beard" Sarrazin came back to fill in on bass for their shows with The Exploited that month (new second guitarist Matthew Voros was ill and missed both dates). 

The two camera angles were well edited together for this video, with one very close to the stage from an upward slanted angle, while the other was further out and captured the entire stage in frame, but was not stationary and did slowly sway around. Good stuff, and while they were down a guitarist, Spades delivered a rollicking rendition of the first single from "Sewer City Radio" here, so give this strong live video a watch below!

After that Friday the 13th show in Toronto, the bands in question regrouped on Ottawa the following day to rock The Brass Monkey, with Andrew Depedro reviewing the show for KNAC, and you can read his review at this link. While Andrew seemed to refer to that night's lineup as their current lineup, he praised their punk-esque energy levels and "bombastically eavy bruising numbers", while also remarking on their "unpolished driving ambition for many of their peers to dig". A picture of guitarist Daniel Horton was included as well. Solid praise of the band and set, so give his review a look above! On October 27th, the band posted a "Reel" to their Facebook page of Daniel and drummer Tyler Reiner remarking on their songwriting sessions at their "jam chamber" towards their planned new album next year, and they're apparently working on "some bangers", with hopes for fans enjoying "the direction tempos and messages".

As usual, "Reels" are unembeddable on external websites like this, they can't be played in background tabs, and they're forcibly short/vertical videos, so keep that all in mind, but the content within is encouraging for Spades fans! Another "Reel" was posted on November 2nd of the guys (sans Matt) in an apparent recording studio, but it just has static images and music, without new visual content. Spades GT played their final show of 2024 on November 8th, when they returned to their adopted hometown of Barrie to open for Battlescarred at The Rec Room. This show (entitled "Battle Cry Against Cancer") was a fundraiser for Battlescarred frontman Ray Galica following his own cancer diagnosis, so kudos to Spades for stepping out to help out Ray at this difficult time! $3,200 was raised for him and his family on this night. A recap video and "killer shots" were teased but never uploaded for unannounced reasons.

You can see a static image from their set in this brief video (not sure why they did it like that), but it confirms that Matthew was back in the fold for this set. With Jay on the road touring with Sierra Pilot, Spades GT called in Daniel's Fast Life bandmate Andrew Moorhouse (who provided backing vocals on the studio version of "XS") to play bass for the night, so he's a good familiar choice! A post-set "Reel" was also uploaded, where Daniel noted that they had a "couple (of) boo-boos", but "Andrew killed it", and he praised Barrians for coming out, while also hyping "lots of new surprises" for the new year. No sign of Matt, and the rapidly flickering light should definitely be advised for anyone who could be prone to seizures (maybe it's a good thing I can't embed it here!), but it's a nice little post-show update! Lastly for today, another "Reel" was posted on November 10th featuring Tyler and singer J.D. Pearce at their jam space.

Here, Tyler praises a bottle of rum that they had there, notes that they were just working on two new songs, and showed off their demo recording setup, including a keyboard that will reportedly factor on at least one song. It's hard to read the on-screen text behind the Facebook caption, but Spades plan to record their new album in February with producer Kyle Marchant at Room 21 in Toronto, similar to "Sewer City Radio" last year. We'll have more from the Spades camp on the site soon, but visit the above links for more on what J.D., Daniel, Matthew, *insert bassist here*, and Tyler are up to as of late! Thanks everyone!

Spades GT Updates From August-September 2024!!

Given recent news and recommendations from the band, let's continue playing catch-up on local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT's activity in recent months! Last time we talked about Spades, they had finished up two Southern Ontario gigs opening for Random Killing in mid-July, after which they took a month+ break from the stage. Their final show of the summer season was on August 31st, when they opened for Gag Order & A.S.O.P. at Bar 379 in Peterborough, and unlike their July gigs, they did give this concert the vertical recap video treatment for their Facebook page! I'd still prefer seeing videos of full songs shot horizontally, especially given the addition of Matthew Voros to their lineup, but hey, at least this isn't a "Reel". The video features the guys driving to Bar 379, mingling outside, setting up for their set, and even reenacting a moment/meme from The Simpsons, before we see clips of them on stage with live audio!

Nice to hear a snippet of "Sewer City Radio" there, as brief as it is! The video ends with the guys hanging out post-set and remarking on some of the surprising things that they saw and found in Peterborough that day. Quality video that has a little something for all Spades GT fans and some amusement within, so check this out for yourselves below!

Conspicuous by his absence from the Peterborough concert & recap video is bassist James Roy Daley (Matthew played bass there instead), and we can now confirm that he has parted ways with Spades GT. A reason for his departure was not publically announced, other than to say that "we have had guys come and go". James had played with Spades since the beginning of 2023, and featured on their "Sewer City Radio" EP and their most recent local gig (last August's Josey Scott concert at The Rink), but remember that he was always busy with multiple other projects, bands or otherwise. I wonder if his leaving the band was part of why he pulled out of his solo set at the Northern Vibe Festival last month? Hopefully all is well & amicable with Killroy going forward, as he is a talented artist! The former Jack Spades are seeking a new permanent bassist ("THE GUY", as it were), so who/what are they looking for?

They must be punctual, have a professional attitude & work ethic, and have their own professional gear as well. If you want to audition or inquire within, contact the band at the above links or by e-mailing drummer Tyler Reiner at reinerpd@yahoo.ca. Of course, local readers should remember that the band relaunched in Barrie in late 2021 (and primarily jam/rehearse in North York), so this will be far more amenable to musicians currently living in the GTA. Hopefully J.D., Daniel, Matt, and Tyler find the right bassist soon! Just over a week after the Peterborough concert, Tyler starred in this Facebook update video where he hyped up their shows opening for The Exploited in Toronto and Ottawa earlier this month, thanked promoter Steve Hoeg for booking them on multiple concerts down south, and confirmed that "The Beard" (a.k.a. former Spades guitarist Jay Sarrazin) would be returning to fill in on bass for the Exploited shows!

Of course, Jay first served as their fill-in bassist after Daniel Rodbard's departure in mid-2022 (including at that year's Northern Vibe), before moving to second guitar for shows in early 2023 and recording on two songs on "Sewer City Radio". It's good to see Jay back with the guys (including his old Caym bandmate Tyler), even if temporarily, so look for him in videos from this month's dates! Tyler also confirmed that they do indeed have another hometown gig booked in Barrie on November 8th (a cancer fundraiser for Battlescarred frontman Ray Galica), but details are still forthcoming. Good & detailed updates, so check it out below!

After one more Tyler-starring teaser video to hype the Exploited concert in Toronto the next day, the guys did rock Lee's Palace as one of the opening bands for the British hardcore punk legends on Friday the 13th, and again in Ottawa at The Brass Monkey the following day! Both bills also included recent Stellar Door local headliners Total Chaos. Unfortunately, Matthew missed both dates due to an unspecified illness, as revealed by fellow guitarist Daniel Horton in the 11 minutes long recap video covering both of the Exploited concerts from this month. Much to my happy surprise, it's horizontal too! The video starts with the guys arriving at Lee's Palace, loading gear, having a bite to eat, and hanging out pre-show, before we get some all-too-brief clips from their set, but audio of them playing "Rise" can be heard. After we see them chilling after the concert and hitting the road in the middle of the night, we next see their footage from Ottawa the next day.

While much of the Ottawa video is similar to Toronto's (just in a new venue in a new city), we do see them getting breakfast at Denny's and checking out The Exploited's merchandise. No concert footage from Spadres GT's set (nor Spades GT's set) was filmed at The Brass Monkey, allegedly because "every camera in the building malfunctioned". Joke answer or not, the URL for the website to forward complaints to did not work, so now who can I tell? The cameras were all fixed in time to film some of The Exploited & Total Chaos' sets, while we also see Spades & Jay hanging out in & out of the venue, and wrapping things up at the hotel, where they hinted at a likely return to Ottawa in 2025. There's definitely a lot to see here ("camera malfunctions" aside), and it does look like both concerts were big hits for hardcore punk fans in the capitals, so check everything out for yourselves below, and hopefully Matt got better soon!

As best as I can tell, we are now caught up for Spades GT content on the SMS, barring anything fan shot or posted that the band hasn't re-shared on social media! They don't have any announced gigs until the fundraiser in Barrie in November, so we'll have to see how the fall continues to shake out for the guys, let alone their bassist search. Stay tuned for updates in any event, and for more news on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Bad Chug

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as we again look at a past local metal, hard rock, or punk band, as randomly selected from our band links! This month's band was actually just covered in our YouTube Channel Profile in March, but I tried to make sure that things were sufficiently unique and different here to warrant a re-feature, especially as this is about the band at large, not just their YouTube presence. With that said, here's what you should know on them!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bad Chug

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie/Ottawa, Ontario

Genre: Hard Rock

Lineup:

Aaron Desmoulin, vocals/guitar
Jacob Quarrell (Sainte-Marie), guitar
Kyle Dube (Lycanthro), bass
Matt D'Ettore, drums

Audio/Video: The best place to watch Bad Chug videos is their YouTube channel, featuring a number of live performance videos from the summer of 2016 and some extra bonuses, though it was not used for their early 2020s relaunch in the Soo. A selection of mostly short videos from 2016 can also be seen on their Facebook page, while an original song named "Primal" was once posted to Bandcamp. Two videos of Bad Chug's sole local concert at Soo Blaster in October 2021 were filmed for Christopher Paci's YouTube channel, which you can watch here and below!

Info/Analysis: Bad Chug launched out of their original Ottawa homebase in May 2016, and quickly began working on studio material while also playing a well-filmed private jam room concert the following month. Live dates were minimal in their original run, but they did open for Nessie at Cafe Deckuf in Ottawa that July. After posting their single "Should Never Be" that November, the band quietly fell inactive by early 2017. Three years later, the band resurfaced, albeit after Aaron and Matt moved the band to Sault Ste. Marie, commencing with new teasers for studio material and being added as openers for Buckcherry's headlining concert at Soo Blaster in May 2020. Obviously, the pandemic lockdowns and provincial health mandates had other plans, but Bad Chug clung on as openers until the show finally took place in October 2021, with Kyle back on bass and local folk guitarist Jacob Quarrell joining as well.

Despite finally playing the Buckcherry concert as intended, no public updates of any kind followed for Bad Chug, and they are presumed to have disbanded for good by early 2022. While the audio of their local concert videos can be scratchy, and Aaron's vocals weren't the rangiest out there, Bad Chug had a strong and carefree hard rock sound that would have been easily well received in concert had they stuck around longer in Ottawa or here, and it'd be nice to hear more of what they recorded in studio during their runs! Hopefully everyone is still musically active in some form!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month, we'll look at another randomly selected act from Sault Ontario, and for the first time in a year, it'll be of a solo project, namely experimental/death metal project Awokest! Look for that on or around July 10th, and for more news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Bad Chug

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we once again look at a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half focused on local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts! This one has a bit of an asterisk beside it, as this channel is for a band who hadn't moved operations to the Soo yet, but they eventually were based here, if not at the best time for live bands! Here's what you should know!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bad Chug (http://youtube.com/@badchug5849)

Owner: A member of 2016-2017 & 2020-2021 local/Ottawa hard rock band Bad Chug, exact identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 3rd, 2016; Videos uploaded from the next day until November 29th of that year

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for Bad Chug during their original Ottawa-based run, it features a 20 minute live set, each song from it re-uploaded in separate videos, two other live performance clips, a "welcome to our channel" video, and in their last upload, a studio recording of their song "Should Never Be".

Why You Should Watch: Given that Bad Chug's February 2020 relaunch as a local project was severely limited by the pandemic and only saw them play one public concert (opening for Buckcherry at Soo Blaster in October 2021), this channel will be essential if you saw them there and wondered who Bad Chug were! Beyond that, they were not an untalented group and it would have been nice to see them accomplish more & longer both here and in Ottawa! A selection of unique videos can be seen on their Facebook page, but there or on YouTube, they have no videos from after 2016 (visit this link to see fan-shot video of Bad Chug at the Buckcherry concert here).

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Welcome to the Bad Chug channel: Most local musicians don't bother with a "welcome to our channel" video for their channel's homepage, but Bad Chug did, albeit before becoming a local band. Here, their fans (or "Chuggernauts") get to meet singer/guitarist Aaron Desmoulin, bassist Kyle Dube, and drummer Matt D'Ettore, who hype up the band, promise upcoming shows/content, jam out (without live audio) and open/drink beer, which may have been implied by their name. Accidental(?) video mirroring aside, this was a good way to introduce Bad Chug to viewers!

Bad Chug Live Show: Six of Bad Chug's ten YouTube videos comprise of the same private house party concert from June 2nd, 2016 (considered their first show), where Aaron, Kyle, and Matt played five songs, all separately uploaded as their own videos after the fact. In order, the guys played their eponymous song, "Should Never Be", "Rockin' Hard Place",  and "Primal", before covering Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone" alongside guest guitarist Kevin Hallarn (Aaron just sings here). They could have used a proper lead singer (shades of Late & Loud there), but their originals had a strong groove with a nice free-wheeling attitude, and it's easy to see how they would have turned heads had they not launched as a local concern on the cusp of a global pandemic! Click here for an alternate angle of their "Mr. Brownstone" cover from this night.

Bad Chug - Sex Doll Live: The only proper concert video (as in, at a public venue) on offer here comes from Bad Chug's show opening for fellow Ottawa hard rock band Nessie at Cafe Deckuf in July 2016. Also their channel's most watched video, it sees the guys playing their original song "Sex Doll" (named Veronika, incidentally), which has more of a funk rock influence. It probably uses Aaron's vocals the best out of all of their posted originals, and it's a solid track that would surely have been a live hightlight, but the video quality does the band no favours. The dark and inconsistent lighting is a constant, and the audio is a little rough compared to the 20 minute set, so it is a shame that this song wasn't seen in another upload! Click here for Bad Chug's Facebook video from Nessie's headlining set.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around April 26th for a two channel profile, as  the first randomly selected channel (ran by ex-Swampgut guitarist Rob "Rodge MacGodge" MacDonald) only has nine audio recordings by Swampgut, and I'd only want to hand select two of them to feature without getting too repetitive given what it has. As such, I'll fill things out with a channel who only has three SMS-relevant videos, all from the same concert, namely YouTube user metalfu, who filmed at Kiss' 2007 Kewadin Casino concert! Look for those next month, and for more news news and notes on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

A New-ish Local Hard Rock Band, More COVID-19 Concert Updates, And A New Song!!

Here's another news post to check out on this Friday morning, and it includes a new original song and the latest wave of coronavirus-related cancellations and postponements on the local hard rock concert calendar. Leading off though, here's a new (kind of) local band to take note of this year!

We have a new-ish band to add to our active Sault Ontario band links, and they are Bad Chug, a hard rock trio that originally launched back in... May 2016?! As best as I can tell, I missed out on this band upon their initial launch because they were originally based out of Ottawa, but since returning just last month, they have permanently moved back home, so we're not that out of the loop. Bad Chug were originally active in mid-late 2016, and they were surprisingly busy during that time, including playing a handful of live dates, posting eleven videos on their YouTube channel (including live concert & jam session clips), and even releasing their original "Primal" on Bandcamp, though that song (album?) has since been taken down. Over three years after falling inactive, Bad Chug resurfaced locally last month with plenty of new studio material teasers, plus revealing that they will be the second local openers for the Buckcherry concert at Soo Blaster (more on that in a bit.)

Lineup-wise, Bad Chug features singer/guitarist Aaron Desmoulin and drummer Matt D'Ettore, neither of whom I'm familiar with from prior local bands. While in Ottawa, their bassist and co-vocalist was Kyle Dubé, who is not visibly part of Bad Chug 2.0, and they have yet to announce who has replaced him. Self-described as playing "old school hard rock", the best place to start checking Bad Chug out with is the video embedded below, featuring their 20 minute set at a June 2016 private house party concert in Ottawa. In order, the guys played their eponymous song, "Should Never Be", "Rockin' Hard Place", "Primal", and a cover of Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone" with guest guitarist Kevin Hallarn. It's hard to say yet how Matt & Aaron have grown as musicians in the past three years, but from the material on offer, they had a strong hard rock base with a carefree attitude, and there is some real songwriting ability on display!

Much like Late & Loud, an achilles heel with Bad Chug is the vocals, as (at least in 2016) Aaron's singing didn't project too far, and Kyle overdid the aggression a bit, but we have yet to hear Bad Chug in 2020 to compare. For what it's worth, band biographies say that Matt sings too. I like where Bad Chug are going so far, and check out much more above & below!

 

As noted above, Bad Chug were quietly named as the final opening band for the Buckcherry concert in Sault Ontario, which would be a huge platform for their local concert debut, but that'll have to wait 26 weeks, as promoters have postponed the show from Wednesday, May 13th to Wednesday, November 11th due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Very unfortunate, but given that the news isn't getting better in the near future, it was the safest move. Yes, already bought tickets will be accepted for the new date, but you can also get refunds at point of purchase, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details. While we're on the subject, the last two hard rock concert holdouts over the April 10th weekend have also been cancelled, namely the Sandman concert at The Canadian on the 10th (as per the band's Facebook page) and the Just Heart concert at The Rockstar Bar on the 11th, as per it's Facebook event page. Of course, if you bought tickets and want a refund in the short term, contact the venues online for details, especially as promoters have not indicated that they were postponed.

The last domino standing on the April hard rock/punk concert calendar is the First Jason show at The Canadian on April 26th, which has not (yet) been cancelled as of this writing, but stay tuned for updates on it's status, increasingly negative it may be. With concerts in May starting to be affected, the big ones to watch in May include Mike Haggith's CD release party and shows from touring headliners The Anti-Queens, Numbing, and Peril. As of this writing, all are still scheduled for their original dates, but we will keep you posted if anything changes for these and other May concerts.

Let's end today's post on a happy note, namely a new original song from local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's YouTube channel! Though his regular concerts at Gliss & elsewhere are on pause due to the coronavirus-related restaurant & nightclub closures, Tym has kept busy writing new music, like this song named "Down With The Devil". While very reflective of his increased observance of Christianity, this is still a heavy track with a solid guitar solo and in-your-face impact (Stryper, this ain't!) However, starting with the chorus is a little surprising, and the processing on the vocals there is overdone to me. Give Tym's new song a listen below!



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

Id Iota Updates & Tour Fallout, New Woods Of Ypres Video Finds, And More!!

The last full week of October is upon us, so let's kick things off in style with a stacked news post! Today, we have a new Sault Michigan cover video, and surprise archive videos from a dearly departed local metal band, and leading off, the latest videos and coverage of a fast-rising local hard rock act, so here's what you need to know!

Let's start by tackling some overdue recent notes and updates from local alternative/hard rock quartet Id Iota, who recently wrapped up their Ontario tour run with ex-Pixo Control frontman Mike Mikus! While in Ottawa earlier this month, Mike and Id Iota recorded an interview and some in-studio songs for Carleton University campus radio station CKCU FM 93.1's program Carleton Music Showcase, with the episode airing last week, but if you don't live in Ottawa, you're in luck, as the episode is online! The hour-long program is largely a music showcase (naturally) of various artists, notably leading off with fellow Sault Ste. Marie-native Renee Landry, while the local band portion begins about 5:57 in with Mike's debut pop rock solo single "Drowning Crown", followed by a brief interview by co-host Andrew Knox with both Mike and Id Iota frontman Christian Lemay. The interview proper features discussion about both acts' music and background, how both joined forces to tour, and more, and while it's brief, it's an amusing clip!

For reference sake, Christian did bring up The Pixo Control in the interview when referencing how he and Mike met, but nothing was elaborated on regarding their demise. Also, Mike's new solo band features Pixo Control holdover & Id Iota guitarist Dustin Goodall on bass alongside Mike's old Fever Tops bandmate Mitch Harris on drums, so followers of his whole music career will be right at home! The interview is followed by one more new Mike Mikus original (the laid back "Figures as Much") and two Id Iota songs ("Permanence In Pencil" & "California Wasted" from their debut EP "Maudlin Fair".) Solid performances overall, so definitely check out the full interview and episode at this link, and get ready, as the Mikus/Iota segment runs for 22 minutes! As for the tour proper, Id Iota had their cameras rolling for three video uploads on their Facebook page, all 1 minute or less in length, including this video in Toronto, and this heavier song from London.

Embedded below is the only song they titled in the descriptions, namely their newer track "Seas Envy Skies", with Christian manning some type of beeping effects board early during this portion of their set in Ottawa. I wish the filmer had shot longer videos, but kudos for what they did get, and remember, the technical last stop of their tour comes on November 26th at LopLops Lounge, so watch for them then! See and hear more above and in the coming days, and check out Id Iota in Ottawa below!

Next up, here's some surprising new video finds from defunct local blackened doom metal band Woods of Ypres! These were actually uploaded to the David Gold's Legacy Facebook page shortly after his passing in December 2011, but they absolutely flew under the radar here and there, with the 4 videos only having a combined 8 likes on Facebook as of this writing, and it took a recent YouTube re-posting by fan Hlynur Svartaduhter for us to have even found them. These four videos come from Woods of Ypres' set at the one-off Obey the Flame Festival in Montreal, Quebec on May 25th, 2003, back when they were a Windsor-based black metal outfit. Based on an Internet Archive copy of their website from May 2003, their lineup here includes eventual frontman David Gold on drums, alongside singer Robin Cross, guitarists Dustin Black & Colin Wysman, and bassist/clean vocalist Aaron Palmer (all but David left Woods of Ypres by year's end, when he relocated to Toronto and started over with new band members.)

Filmed on camcorder by an attendee, the videos feature Woods of Ypres playing "Intro: The Shams of Optimism", "Crossing the 45th Parallel", "The Sea of Immeasurable Loss", and (as embedded below) "A Meeting Place & Time". Notably comprising all of their 2002 debut EP "Against the Seasons" save for the closer "Awaiting the Inevitable", the audio's solid despite the videos' age and recording format, and while it's still unusual to see Woods of Ypres without David up front, these capture the future Juno winners in brutal form from their early Windsor days, and hopefully more turns up! Fans should definitely check them out above & below!



Finally, here's a new solo cover from Theatre of Night keyboardist Craig Harrison's YouTube channel, as posted last week! The Sault Michigan native again revisited his old Dust N' Bones side for this cover, where he sings "We All Die Young" by Steelheart, as later popularized in the 2001 movie Rock Star. Filmed on a Go-Pro or similar handi-cam, and with a sepia tone filter placed over top of the video, this isn't a bad rendition, and Craig can hit higher notes well, but some of his singing does sound a little strained. Check it out below, and see more from his various projects above!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Powerslug), Plus News From Frightlight, LemmaFest, Acention, And More!!

Well guys, the weekend's schedule is largely quiet for metal and hard rock concerts at present, but is there anything heavy going down that I can verify? Yes, as we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a show TOMORROW (and a related lineup change), and that leads off today's post, but also stay tuned afterwards for a local band's recent interview, LemmaFest updates, a young local band's first video glimpse, and more!

Apparently, Sault Michigan hard rockers Powerslug will return to The Corner Pub Bar & Grill for perhaps the first time of the new year TOMORROW NIGHT! I actually learned about this show from a different source, that being prominent local musician Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten (Wearwithal, ex-End of Existence, etc.) on his personal Facebook page yesterday. As it turns out, he's actually their current drummer (replacing Ivan Schliska), and recent postings indicate that he joined the band around the time of their name change from River Witch last August. However, note that I haven't found any postings from Orb from before April referring to Powerslug, so take that for what it's worth. Either way, the band's lack of an online page precluded me from hearing about the change when it happened, and I apologize for being so late with word here, but it's good to see Bob drumming live again! He's definitely talented, and with Great Bodily Harm dissolved, it's nice to see him hitting the local stage still, even if details on Powerslug are hard to source! Best of luck to Ivan too, and though I don't know why he left, hopefully we hear more from him at some point! As stated above, this talented hard rock quartet will hit the stage at The Corner Pub tomorrow, and they'll be on at around 10:00 PM with no announced cover charge and a 21+ age limit.

Though I wish Powerslug had an online page of some kind or video footage to keep fans abreast of any songs, lineup changes, or upcoming dates, there is clear talent in Powerslug's lineup, and I know that their show tomorrow will be a great time, so if you're in the mood for some hard rock on this quiet concert weekend, go chug your mug with Powerslug tomorrow night at The Corner Pub!

Next up, here's a new article on local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight! Lydia Peever from the fittingly named Ottawa horror culture website Ottawa Horror recently interviewed singer Johnny Pints towards an article/contest for their site on Wednesday, and it's a nice read! In the article, Johnny discusses the band members' love for horror movies, the inspiration for the Frightlight name, and some horror links to some of their tracks (including hinting towards a They Live-inspired new song), while Lydia also complimented the band's artistic style and the sound of their "It's A...Live" EP, and expressed hope that Frightlight will play in Ottawa down the road. My only gripe is that they incorrectly credited the Die Mannequin show earlier this month as drummer Chris FreakNStein's second live show with Frightlight, when it was his fourth (following the Misfits gig in Toronto, the Coch's Corner Halloween party, and Dead In The Van), but the rest is awesome and gives Frightlight some well deserved press! As well, a contest is also featured there where the winner will receive a large Frightlight t-shirt, two copies of their EP, three pins, and four stickers, so if you wanna enter, e-mail contests@ottawahorror.com with the name of your favourite horror-themed band before 1:00 PM TOMORROW!

It's great to see Frightlight spreading the dead far beyond the Soo, and it's a nice complimentary article all around, so give it a look at this location, and enter the contest if you can to win a cool Frightlight prize package!

Thirdly, here's the latest updates relating to the second annual LemmaFest outside of Dondee Lanes on June 23rd! There's been a change to the band order for the festival, as local metal trio Scofflaw and local cover rock quartet Chump Change have swapped slots, with Chump Change jumping back to a 3:00 PM set and Scofflaw now closing the outdoor stage at 9:00 PM. The switch was made due to a booking conflict for Chump Change, presumably due to an existing concert lined up that evening, as per drummer Jason VanLuven on the LemmaFest Facebook page. Not too drastic of a change, but it helps all parties, and it does stack the deck more for metal in the evening, so make note of this lineup alteration! Also, LemmaFest organizers have announced that some proceeds from this year's event will go towards the Grosse Pointe Music Academy's Guitar Camp in Sault Michigan this July, and there's an attached contest deal going on with this event, so click here for all the details on that! This could be a fun and rewarding way to get young prospective musicians in the area a chance to learn more on the guitar, and it's awesome to see LemmaFest supporting the cause! Check the above links for more on LemmaFest, and stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

Also, here's some more recent updates from new Sault Ontario hard rock band Acention! Band members have frequently been updating their Facebook page with new stuff, so here's some of what's been posted over the last few days! They've confirmed that guitarist Dalton Boissineau is handling vocals at the moment (replacing Danielle Wierzbicki), and they've also posted a bunch of new band photos (including a new logo) to go along with a bunch of recent status postings. Most have been teasers for original material & covers they're working on, including a cover of The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Strip My Mind", but most recently, they've posted their first video footage! It's a Facebook video (so I can't embed it here), but it's of Dalton and guitarist Josh Willet working on an original song on acoustic guitars, and this is a solid start, but I definitely wanna see this expanded on with bass and electric guitars and so on. Click here to check it out, and stay tuned for more news and notes from this promising young band as it all comes in!

And finally, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or festival name:

• Continuing their recent spring run of concerts outside of the Sault Michigan area, Kinross hard rockers Banned will hit the Trailhead Campground in Drummond Island (just under 2 hours from here) for a "job" TOMORROW NIGHT! Sure, it's a bit of a drive, but if you wanna see Banned live, keep their Drummond Island trip in mind this weekend! My source is the band's Facebook page.
• The official poster for the second Sewer Swampstravaganza concert on July 13th has been revealed! Like last year's, it was done by local artist & Ye Olde Mold Pickers accordionist Rihkee Strap, and the design this year is a bit cleaner and more artistic! However, Inhuman Methods isn't pluralized on the poster, but this isn't the first time that their name has been misspelled locally. Stay tuned for more updates on this 10 band all ages show!
• Sault Michigan hard rock trio Tantrum (formerly Abstract) are apparently playing a gig of some kind tomorrow at 6:00 PM "off 7 Mile Road", as per their Facebook page. They weren't any more specific, but I believe this is an outdoor show. I don't have enough information to officially "call" it on here, but if you're along East or West 7 Mile Road on Saturday evening, and you see Tantrum playing, go check them out!

That's probably all for today, but stay tuned for more news as the weekend rolls along, including this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!