LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Generations) & Our Lady Peace/Collective Soul Concert Videos!!

Before we kick off another packed stretch of weekend concert previews, here's a new news post to check out on this Wednesday evening, featuring a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month and some very belated videos from a major concert earlier this year. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will make their first appearance at Beck's Bar on Saturday, June 21st! This show was first announced on the band's Facebook group on Sunday by drummer Tony Santoro, and while members may well have played at the former Vibe Lounge during its early 2010s run under that name, it will be good to see Generations spread their wings a little further west at another live venue! Beck's proper have not corroborated this booking at press time, but they generally take bookings week by week, hence why many of the hard rock shows there are late notice around these parts. Remember that the Goulais River nightclub hosts DJ nights on Fridays, hence why this is a one-nighter, and we await word of who's playing in the Saturday matinee timeslot next week. This is a 9:00 PM concert with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details on Generations' upcoming Beck's debut!

Next up, remember how there was a surprisingly small amount of public videos after the Our Lady Peace-headlined concert at GFL Memorial Gardens on March 2nd? Well, this should help make up for things, as Christopher Paci belatedly uploaded videos of every band to his YouTube channel on May 4th! Apologies for the month+ delay on our part for these making the site, already two months after the show took place, but better late than never given Chris' excellent work filming at major local concerts over the years! Chris filmed eighteen videos at the Gardens on this night, half coming from the headlining Toronto alt-hard rock quartet, and he captured O.L.P. playing "One Man Army", "Superman's Dead", "Innocent", "Life" (featuring Superior Heights Collegiate's student rock band Steel Rock), "In Repair", "Whatever", "Somewhere Out There", "Clumsy", and as embedded below, their set closer "Starseed".

While not especially close to the stage from his spot on the floor, Chris zoomed in well to capture much of Our Lady Peace's first local set since 1998, and the guys sound good! Raine's voice is definitely deeper than in their heyday, but fans of their domestic rock radio hits (the Q104 format switch happened just in time, huh?) had nothing to worry about, and you can see how packed the arena was. Check out Christopher's Our Lady Peace videos for yourselves above & below!

From co-headliners Collective Soul's set, Chris filmed the Georgia alt-rock veterans playing "Mother's Love", "Heavy", "Shine", "Precious Declaration", "Gel", and as embedded below, "The World I Know". Collective Soul have a litany of familiar classic hit songs, and they come through well via the local concert videos, though the cell phone waving during ballads like "The World I Know" really dates things to the present! Good stuff for rock radio fans, so give Chris' videos from their set a watch as well!

Finally for today, Chris also filmed two songs from local indie punk quintet The Northwest's opening set on March 2nd, specifically of their original songs "Long Hair (Longer Nights)" and, as embedded below, "Walls". For their first live concert after a year+ hiatus, they made the most of their available staging with a good lively set, if these videos are any indication! Fans making their way/to from seats are definitely more of an issue at this point in the evening, so keep that in mind. No word on when we'll see The Northwest live again, Greg & Yak acoustic gigs aside, but check out The Northwest's 2025 videos from the Gardens above and below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Our Lady Peace/Collective Soul Concert Fallout & Videos!!

We've put things off long enough (partly to let videos accumulate), so let's cover what went down at Sunday night's Our Lady Peace-headlined concert at GFL Memorial Gardens in today's post! The legitimately sold out concert was covered by newer SooToday reporter Greg McGrath-Goudie for this article that features ten photos from the Toronto alternative/hard rock band's closing set, but the focus isn't on the concert at large so much as one song. When O.L.P. broke into their classic ballad "Life", frontman Raine Maida prefaced it by noting that music programs are "automatically" the first to get cut at schools when they decide to cut costs, so they invited members of Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School's student rock band Steel Rock to sing the song with them. That huge opportunity was thanks to the work of Superior Heights teacher Eric Williams reaching out to the band about working with the school.

Kudos to Our Lady Peace for teaming up with Superior Heights and giving the kids one huge opportunity, one that they've been practicing for all winter, and it sounds like it went over well! You can see the performance below in one of (surprisingly) just two YouTube channels who have visibly posted content from the concert so far. YouTube user MasonTheGoat was on hand to film Our Lady Peace's set (nothing of the openers), and along with "Life" embedded below, he also filmed them playing "Clumsy", "Innocent", "In Repair", and "Whatever". Alas, all five videos were shot vertically, but while Mason wasn't especially close to the stage, he has a good clear view of the band in action. Honestly, Steel Rock are hard to hear as the song goes, but it's a solid performance of one of O.L.P.'s bigger hits, and the audio quality across all five videos is pretty good, so give Mason's footage a watch for yourselves above and below!

The only other YouTube video from the show that I've seen comes from YouTube user Mike Malott, who filmed Our Lady Peace playing "Whatever", which some readers will recognize as the 2002-2007 theme song of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit. The band hadn't played it live since 2003, let alone following the Benoit murder-suicide in 2007, but they reintroduced it in this current Canadian tour, with Raine telling fans at their show in Calgary that they wanted to "reclaim it" (source here). Mixed responses are online to the band bringing "Whatever" back, for obvious reasons, but it's a good performance shot from a much closer (and horizontal!) angle, and it is one of O.L.P.'s heavier cuts, so check it out below!

Finally for this post, has anything surfaced in terms of videos from the openers? Not a lot. I haven't seen any public videos of local openers The Northwest yet at all, and as for Georgia alternative rock veterans Collective Soul, the only public clip that I've seen actually comes from Sault Michigan rock radio station Rock 101's Facebook page. The 76 seconds-long clip sees Collective Soul playing one of their biggest hits "Shine", which is frequently heard in 101.3 FM's rotation. While shot vertically, the station staffer filming had a very straight on view of the stage from where they were, and it puts a good emphasis on the fans on the floor enjoying the show. Strong rendition, if slightly slowed down, so give Collective Soul's clip a watch below!

That's all for today, but we'll have more from the Our Lady Peace show when/if it surfaces, and more news on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished) & More Concert Previews, Including Our Lady Peace!!

As promised, let's cap off this weekend's hard rock concert previews in today's post (later than I'd have liked due to personal commitments and shovelling), and it mostly covers shows taking place tomorrow and on Sunday, including the big one and its new local openers, and some new videos. First, we'll lead off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, March 7th & Saturday, March 8th! Announced yesterday via their Facebook event page, these appear to be fill-in/replacement bookings, as The American Band were originally advertised for next weekend on Kewadin's entertainment page. A reason for their withdrawal hasn't been announced to my knowledge, but kudos to Tarnished for stepping in with their hard rock attack! Of course, Tarnished were scheduled to play at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo this past weekend before the shows were cancelled due to the ransomware attack-prompted closure of all Kewadin branches, but that has been sufficiently resolved, and the St. Ignace Kewadin re-opens today (no word yet on the Soo Kewadin makeup dates). Click here for more details on the casinos' re-opening plans.

The event page also confirms that Rhythm & Brews' Chris Leask and Ron Suchey will join Alex and Josh next weekend, as they have at all non-battle gigs since the summer (if they have joined permanently, no one has 100% said publically on social media). Next month's Tarnished shows have 21+ age limits, 9:00 PM start times, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more from the E.U.P. soon!

Next up, let's resume this weekend's hard rock concert previews by heading north to Sault Ontario, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to Reggie's Place for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! No strangers whatsoever to Reggie's over this winter season, these will be Greg, Alex, and Warren's first shows at this Queen Street East staple in two weeks. Despite today's winter storm, band members' personal Facebook pages have promised that the show (or as they've taken to calling them lately, "sermon" or "gospel") will go on as scheduled, but of course, be safe on the roads if you're coming out, as snow is expected until after midnight tonight (or come tomorrow). Tonight and tomorrow's shows are 19+ affairs at 9:30 PM with no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, we have two new videos of "the dirty three" to check out!

Wednesday's vertical video captures "studio shenanigans" of the guys having fun, seemingly while recording a new original song, though they have yet to confirm that elsewhere online. If true, fans should be excited, and you even see a lyric sheet at the end! Embedded below is a brand new video of the guys playing their newest original "Fuck!" at Soo Blaster this past Saturday, and it's a really nice quality horizontal video that shows off the stage setup as they played a larger venue than normal for them! Fun and lively (if lyrically colourful) performance, so check it out below!

Elsewhere downtown TOMORROW NIGHT (not tonight due to Friday DJ nights) is the return of local hard rock quintet HeadFirst to Shooters Downstairs Lounge! This is the first in an (at least) three show engagement for HeadFirst that will see them not just playing their lively and varied hard rock covers and originals, but also being the namesake for exclusive cocktails, shots, and food items that will only be on sale during these concerts (also on March 15th and April 12th). Buying an official band t-shirt will also net you a $5 drink voucher, so there's lots of perks for fans to come out tomorrow! The guys have also teased possibly playing new originals from their "next project", so keep that in mind as the night progresses. Tomorrow's show takes place on Dennis Street at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's HeadFirst live!

Finally, here's the main event of the weekend in Sault Ontario, as Juno Award-winning Toronto alt-hard rock quartet Our Lady Peace will play their first local concert in twenty-seven years on SUNDAY NIGHT at GFL Memorial Gardens! With Canadian rock radio hits like "Clumsy", "Somewhere Out There", and "Sound The Alarm" dotting their lengthy career, this show (their first in the region since River Rave '98 in Richards Landing) has been highly anticipated for months, and hopefully Our Lady Peace deliver an excellent night full of classics and newer cuts after all this time! Note that this will also be drummer Jason Pierce's first local concert in a decade, after serving as Treble Charger's touring drummer from 2012-2015. Georgia alternative rock veterans Collective Soul will open in their local debut, and Rock 101 listeners will be very familiar with their litany of radio hits like "Gel", "Heavy", and "The World I Know". Not the heaviest band going, but Collective Soul get a solid response from attendees at the arena on Sunday!

In a late confirmation this morning, local indie punk quintet The Northwest have been added as local openers on SUNDAY, a'la 2022's Marianas Trench show at the Gardens! For one reason or another, The Northwest have been on a concert hiatus since the summer of 2023, so it is great to see them back, let alone at such a huge event! Presented by Rock 101 (this show was announced prior to The Fox's launch), this all ages & 7:00 PM concert is officially SOLD OUT, but check in online at this link or at the box office if you're curious about anything opening up late. O.L.P.'s long awaited return will be one of the shows of the year, so visit the above links for more on Sunday's festivities, and here's Raine & crew live!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Our Lady Peace), The Dany Laj/Handsome Sandwich Concert Preview, And More!!

For today's news post, I wanted to tackle the huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT that has been the talk of local rock fans over the past few days, along with the last straggler from this weekend's hard rock concert preview slate, and a new cover video from earlier this month, so here's what you should know on this Saturday morning!

Juno Award winning Toronto alternative hard rock quartet Our Lady Peace will make their long awaited return to Sault Ste. Marie on March 2nd when they headline at GFL Memorial Gardens during their 30th anniversary Canadian tour! A staple of domestic rock radio thanks to hit songs like "Starseed", "Superman's Dead", and "Innocent", this will be O.L.P.'s first local concert since they headlined River Rave '98 in Richards Landing during the Homecoming 1998 festival, and in terms of Sault Ste. Marie proper, they have not played in city limits since headlining at The Princess Theatre in 1996. How they've went almost 27 years since playing up here is beyond me, but it will be great to see Our Lady Peace back next year, and hopefully there's a huge turnout of rock fans in March! Lead singer Raine Maida & bassist Duncan Coutts remain from their 1990s shows here, now joined by guitarist Steve Mazur and drummer Jason Pierce.

Local fans may recognize Jason as the live/session drummer for Treble Charger from their initial 2012 reunion until 2015, wherein he played with them locally at their 2013 Searchmont fundraiser at The Water Tower Pub and their 2015 Bon Soo concert at The Machine Shop. Jason himself isn't from here, but it is neat to see him come back to town for another big concert! Joining Our Lady Peace on tour next year are Georgia alternative rock mainstays Collective Soul, who will be familiar to many 1990s-early 2000s rock fans from hit songs like "Shine", "December", and "Precious Declaration". I believe this will be their first show here, and given how often they're still heard on Rock 101, Collective Soul should pull many fans alone with their familiar alt-rock classics! A third touring band is to be announced for the western Canada portion of the tour, which ends in the Soo, so don't go looking for Wintersleep or Ash Molloy.

Tickets for this all ages concert go on sale on Thursday at this link and at the Gardens' in-person box office, and they will start at $75 apiece, with packages also available with early entry, included merchandise, and autographs/meet & greets. It's been a very long time for Our Lady Peace fans to wonder why they don't ever play closer to here than Sudbury, so I hope this concert is a smash hit in five months' time! I've never been the biggest fan myself, but I respect O.L.P. and Raine's activism, and I want this concert to do well so that more GFL Memorial Gardens can bring in more big rock shows in the future! Visit the above links for much more on Our Lady Peace & Collective Soul's local date next year!

Next up, let's finally cap off this weekend's concert previews with TONIGHT's concert from alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich, who will make their debut at the Fraternal Order of Eagles club at 246 Wellington Street West when they open for Montreal power pop veterans Dany Laj & The Looks! Readers may recall seeing Dany Laj and crew here five times in the 2010s, including a Rockstar Bar show in 2017 that the original cover trio version of Handsome Sandwich opened, and while not a hard rock act, it will be good to see them back for the first time in five years! Also, David Briggs from SooToday's North Bay-based sister site BayToday actually interviewed Dany (who himself lived in North Bay and Sudbury in the past) for this article cross-posted on SooToday earlier this week. Tonight's concert will be Handsome Sandwich's first since last month's Northern Vibe Festival and first in the Soo since Poutine Feast.

A presentation of Piecing It Together Shows (née Dryer Fire), tonight's concert has a 7:00 PM start time, no age limit, and tickets running for $15 in advance at this link or $20 at the door. Hopefully tonight's concert is a solid draw, especially given the competition from other shows tonight, let alone the relatively new venue (which P.I.T.S. will run again when Skoff headlines there next month), but if you saw and liked The Looks' upbeat garage rock in the 2010s, or want to order another sandwich, head to The Eagles Club tonight! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Handsome Sandwich live earlier this year!

Finally, here's the first new live concert video uploaded to The Dive Gastro Pub's new Facebook page (I still don't know why they deleted the old one and started over), and it features Dodge This/ex-Phatstick frontman Jason Taillefer covering Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" during his solo Patio Play concert there this past Saturday! He's joined by an uncredited guest singer, who is definitely not his Dodge This bandmate Jamie July. Truth be told, I had trouble identifying the song at first because the 30 seconds-long clip focuses on the bridge, but it's well done for hair metal fans, so check it out below, and we'll have more on Dodge This on the SMS soon!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's CD review and more on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Fort Creek Concert Preview, And Much More!!

For our first news post of the fall, we have two topics to get to: A preview of a (sadly) rare concert from a local band at this stage of the pandemic, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this weekend from a prolific musician who has a new video to share from a concert that slipped us by earlier this week. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will return to The Motley Market on Gore Street for his fifth public show there THIS SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, he only announced it via his Facebook event page yesterday, but it's still more notice than his concert on Monday got! In case you didn't catch Tym's late notice advertising that morning or our Facebook page post that afternoon, Tym played the new performance/vendor space for a third time in four days on Monday around supper time, but this gig served as live entertainment at the end location of A Walk To Remember, a march downtown in honour International Overdose Awareness Day, as put on locally by Save Our Young Adults. Of course, this is a wonderful cause and very relevant locally, as anyone who saw the W5 documentary will know, and it looks like a great time was had by all! Of course, had Tym or S.O.Y.A. announced his set with even a day's notice, I'd have covered it here.

Apologies for missing it on the SMS proper! As far as I know, SATURDAY'S show is just a regular concert, but if you want some live entertainment at this rising downtown locale, keep this one in mind! An early 3:00 PM start time is in effect, there are no cover charges or age limits advertised, and please use common sense re: masks & social distancing. For a preview, and as he has done for his other Motley Market dates, Tym did live-stream Monday's show on his YouTube channel, making this episode #41 of his live-streamed concert series, and the third straight to be shot at 132 Gore Street. For the record, he skipped at-home shows again this week, so barring a second virus wave, those may have ended outright. If you like Tym's unplugged covers, you are in luck, as Monday's live-stream runs for over three hours, his longest to date, so nothing was lost from that set if you missed out at the time! The set proper begins after 8 minutes of setup.

In order, Tym started on Monday by covering Richard Marx's "Hold On To The Nights", The Beatles' "Golden Slumbers", and Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)", before playing his original song named "Someday" (I think). The covers resume with Wayne Cochran's "Last Kiss" & Eric Carmen's "All By Myself", but he dipped into the original well again next with a jazz instrumental. Afterwards, Tym tackled Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny", Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like A Hole", The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", The Steve Miller Band's "Abracadabra", two Billy Joel songs ("She's Always A Woman" & "Just The Way You Are"), A Great Big World's "Say Something", and The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", before closing the first half of the show with his Spanish guitar instrumental. Tym takes a break for the next 50 minutes, ceding the floor to S.O.Y.A. member speeches, presentations, and mingling.

Yes, the camera is rolling for the duration, and there are some important things said about the organization and the walk, so keep all of that in mind! Tym returns for another 40 minutes of music to close, including covers of Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke", Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", The Bangles' "Eternal Flame", The Beatles' "Blackbird", Starship's "We Built This City", The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Fishin' In The Dark", Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns", Aerosmith's "Dream On", and finally, Abba's "The Winner Takes It All" (the last of three repeat songs from Saturday's live-stream, joining "All By Myself" & "Blackbird"). This was another solid set from Tym, full of established covers and a few surprise inclusions (I did not expect Nine Inch Nails), and this was easily the best crow he's had at the Motley Market! That said, he was a little too far left for the camera's viewpoint, and his banter with the crowd between songs could stand to be boosted a bit still.

Despite the very short notice, Tym's set was well recieved and well performed, so give it a watch below, and look for more similar live entertainment there on SATURDAY, perhaps with another live stream?!



Finally, new local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will become the first live band at the re-opened Reggie's Place on Queen Street East when they play there for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Well over a year after their public launch, this will be your first public opportunity to see Justin, Shane, Matt, Robin, and Tony on stage together, and while no one could have guessed it would be in the midst of a pandemic, hopefully the Halfway Loaded successors deliver a hard hitting night of covers (and perhaps originals?) tomorrow at Reggie's! Of course, Reggie's re-opened on Tuesday after a year-long closure and the sale of the nightclub from Reggie Daigle to Randy Lapossie, and while a lot of the old accoutrements and menu will remain the same, how much will be freshened up in this new era? Also, is this show the first sign of a live music slate there that isn't dedicated to country cover bands (Soundcheck aside), or are Fort Creek more country-leaning than past teasers let on?

An 8:00 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ show, there is no announced cover charge, and while social distancing measures aren't elaborated on in promotional materials, wear your mask (Fort Creek are even selling official band masks for $10), and use common sense. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's one of Fort Creek's few public videos with a full band performance, namely a snippet of the guys covering Lynyrd Skynyrd last fall! Trust me, the band is playing off camera.



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

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Our Place Or Yours

It's now time for our monthly Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile, as we once again take a look at a metal, hard rock, or punk band that's not based in the Soo area, but just happen to feature a Saultite in any of their past or present lineups! This month's installment takes a look at a rising young band from Southern Ontario featuring a guitarist who made a big solo impression locally in the early 2010s, so here's what you should know!
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Our Place Or Yours (London, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics. This information is incomplete. Let us know if you can fill in any blanks!)

Tyler Seguin (vocals)
Jonny Grimm (guitar)
Matt Parr (guitar)
Jordan Cope (bass/ex-guitar)
Clark DeCaluwe (drums)

Adam Dos Santos (guitar)
Justin Demolo (bass)
Jake Leal (bass)
Mike ????? (?????)

Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ourplaceoryours
Official Twitter page: http://www.twitter.com/ourplaceoryours
Official Bandcamp page: http://ourplaceoryours.bandcamp.com
Official Reverbnation page: http://reverbnation.com/ourplaceoryours
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/ourplaceoryours

Local Info: Though he had no substantial live band work while living here, current Our Place Or Yours guitarist Matt Parr lived in Sault Ontario in the early 2010s, during which he recorded djent and progressive metal material with his Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe solo project, including a self-titled debut album in December 2013. Matt would move to London early the next year, but can now be seen making waves with Our Place Or Yours!

Band Bio: Launched under the name New Age Sin in early 2012, Our Place Or Yours would play their first show that May, and soon began playing numerous gigs in the London area, while beginning studio recordings that summer. The band released their debut EP "Ruins" in April 2013, and later signed with Brutal Tooth Foundation Records that same year, while Matt Parr joined the band the following summer shortly after moving to London. Since debuting, Our Place Or Yours have opened for the likes of D3athcharg3r, Forever Cadence, and Something You Whisper, and placed second at a regional battle of the bands in February. While the band has yet to announce new studio recordings with their current lineup, Our Place Or Yours' first EP delivers a hard hitting and enthusiastic post-metalcore sound with some progressive hints that should get fans of hardcore music going!

Not to be confused with the NHL star, Tyler Seguin has an aggressive raspy scream that suits the material, and while we can only compare live videos so far, Matt seems to fit in well with his skilled guitar background! Jonny Grimm handles the guitar nicely as well, an O.P.O.Y.'s originals show a maturity while still having a modern sensibility that fans of As It Stands should like! It'd be nice to see Our Place Or Yours live in the Soo down the road, but give their material a look and/or listen at the above links, including this video of them covering a Beartooth song last fall!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month in this series, we plan on looking at Toronto-based Green Day tribute band The Dookies (who are fronted by prolific local punk musician Mikey Hawdon), so look for that on or around May 26th! That's all for today, but stay tuned for news, previews, and this month's CD review in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Mike Haggth - "A Place Of Our Own" Review!!

Today marks out 60th monthly CD review at the SMS, closing our 5 straight year of new reviews each month, so thanks to everyone for following along, and here's to many more to come! This month, we're looking at Haggith drummer & prolific local solo musician Mike Haggith's 48th solo album "A Place Of Our Own", marking our fourth review of one of Mike's solo albums on the site! Independently released in physical formats on May 10th with the digital copies following two days later, this concept EP was originally put out to coincide with Mike's solo set at the fourth annual Sewer Swampstravaganza last month, with recording sessions taking place in early 2014 at Galactic Records and PaperClip Productions. Like on Mike's other solo CDs, he sings all vocals and plays all instruments on this release, which can be bought locally at The Rad Zone for $5 or online for a price of your choosing via Mike's Bandcamp page. Streaming copies of each song can be heard on YouTube at this link, and are linked below too, but please buy this album to support Mike's music! Featuring 6 songs at 36 minutes in length, let's begin this month's CD review!

The first song is "Let Me In", which begins slowly before kicking into a steady instrumental rhythm with a noticeable use of symphonic keyboard effects. Mike's singing is consistent with earlier solo albums of his, harbouring a deep melody that fits the song well! Instrumentally, "Let Me In" is well composed, and I like the orchestral ambiance, but the guitar riffing and overall rhythm seems too monotonous and repetitive, and it seems like the original verse was extended beyond 3 minutes rather than a full ranged track. Solid opener though, especially for longtime fans of Mike's! Second on the EP is "Cowardly Hearts Beneath The Stars", which has a dark effect filled opening to contrast with a more optimistic sounding number, which uses piano parts to good effect, along with really solid drumming and more forceful vocals. More diverse and structured than "Let Me In", this song has a grand & important feel to it, though it's not "heavy" in the metal sense. I will say Mike's singing does sound a bit processed at points, but the songs are trending upward!

"Long Talk" comes next, with a catchy drum and orchestration beat leading into a softer verse with a minimal guitar presence, and while the vocals seem a bit too upbeat for the tone of the instrumentation, the choruses are arguably the best so far on this disc! Feeling much shorter than it's 6+ minute runtime, the orchestral effects add a lot, especially with the eerie ending, but fans of Mike's heavier songs may dislike the lack of prominent guitar work, and I concede that it'd have pushed this song over the edge if included. Effective all the same though!

Fourth on "A Place Of Our Own" is the 12 minute "To Kansas: The Ballad of K4/K5", which I presume is the sequel to "The Ballad of K2/K3" from 2012's "Neighbourhood Watch", and it's by far the heaviest song on this EP so far! I really like the symphonic elements here, with Mike's guitar & bass work contrasting with them nicely over the first 3 and a half minutes. When the vocals kick in, Mike uses more of a speedier aggressive bite than on earlier tracks, and while some melody is sacrificed, there is a passion within! The song seems to end at 6:38, but it builds back up slowly into a reprise of sorts which fits the themes and style of the first half of the song, but in retrospect, these songs might have been better served as either separate tracks or slashed down into one shorter original. Overall though, "To Kansas" will please hard rock fans the most, and has a nice orchestral essence, merging the best of both worlds if you don't get turned off by the length!

Fifth is the EP's shortest song (with the longest name), "'This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device'", but does this song named after an in-joke hold up? After an epic keyboard introduction, the song itself kicks in with a nice natural groove, and while the verses are minimal like on "Long Talk", the choruses are more active, and the fast-moving structure and nicely balanced vocals fit well! The song's almost got a punk vibe, it'd be interesting to see how Mike could have taken this song down that road in another project. Effective and catchy number, but extra guitar work and a less abrupt ending would have helped! This disc closes with it's title track "A Place Of Our Own", which begins softly with a piano intro before slowly introducing other instruments, with the song taking the form of an orchestral rock ballad when all the pieces arrive. The darker vocals create an interesting contrast with the grand-feeling music around it, though the song develops more of an aggressive streak on the last verse. Effective closure to the EP, and it flows along well with earlier songs!

So, what are my final thoughts on Mike Haggith's newest solo EP? I find that "A Place Of Our Own" continues the orchestral themes from last year's "Neighbourhood Watch II: Where It Ends" to good effect, and in ways, it could have been the third in the trilogy if not harbouring it's own existing concept. Mike's singing is effectively melodic and uniquely deep like on earlier solo releases, and he shows lots of musical talent throughout, especially on drums, while his orchestral compositions on the keyboard added a lot to the themes here, giving many songs an epic feeling! I like that less songs had abrupt endings too, but there were areas that could have used a darker or heavier tone, and on a few songs, more of a prominent guitar role rather than just singing over drumming. Overall though, "A Place Of Our Own" is a solid continuation of Mike's recent solo work, and fans of melodic hard rock and orchestral music should definitely check it out or buy it at the above links!

I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! We'll begin our sixth straight year of CD reviews next month, and we'll likely take our third look at Dafter, Michigan hard rocker SweetKenny's prolific discography next, but which of his 2014 albums is next for the SMS? With last year's "Cracks In The Wall" now a bit too old to be a "new" disc, I chose Ken's 8th solo album "Ink!" from March of this year over the newer "This End Up" as it's slightly heavier, so that will likely be next up for our monthly reviews! Watch out for that next month, and stay tuned for more news shortly! Thanks everyone!