Before we fall any further behind on recapping episodes of Metal Morpheus on local internet radio station The Borderline, let's look at two today, including episode #15 from October 10th, where host Josh Amendola returned to metal subgenre-themes after his three week spotlight on guitarists, so what did he look at that week? Technical death metal, in what you could generously call a follow-up to the death metal episode from August, but this takes things into a further, more progressive category. The 62 minute episode begins with Virginia tech death metal band Arsis with their song "Looking To Nothing" (1:10), followed by Montreal death metal legends Quo Vadis (who Gates of Winter opened for on tour) with their song "Silence Calls The Storm" (5:40). Fellow Montreal death metal band Beyond Creation follows via their song "Coexistence" (11:15), and Josh noted that he opened for them live with a (presumably not local) band of his named Karmageddon.
The trip to Montreal ends with Vengeful's "Forsaken" (19:35), and Josh next spotlights German technical death metal band Defeated Sanity's song "Verblendung" (24:35) to end the first half of the episode. We head back to Canada next to spotlight Mitochondrion's lengthy original "Parasignosis (29:20), before next looking at Quebec death/thrash metal group Martyr's song "Endless Vortex Towards Erasing Destiny" (37:15). This episode's local content follows, courtesy of defunct London metal quintet Papa Fogals Chair, whose lineup was comprised entirely of Soo and Thessalon natives but were never properly based here. While not a technical death metal band, Josh does note that they had intricacies to their sound, which you can hear in their on-air song, "Disgust" (41:35). Next, we go back to Montreal, starting with Augury's "Alien Shores" (46:15), and like with P.F.C., this song is not on Spotify.
The Montreal quotient of the episode wraps up with Cryptopsy's "Slit Your Guts" (51:15), and the episode proper ends with the legendary Death's slow instrumental "Voice of The Soul" (56:40). While the episode is heavily dictated by Josh's time living in Montreal based on what bands he picked, that is a good sign. After all, the episode comes from a genuine love and appreciation of these bands & this sub-genre, and you'll get your brutal and technical fill from this episode without too many obvious selections, so give it a listen at the above links!
As for episode #16 from October 17th, that episode was also on a metal subgenre, specifically on crossover thrash, so if you're a fan of punk and/or thrash metal, this episode will straddle both lines and hopefully please both fanbases! Given the shorter song lengths, more bands are crammed into this episode, starting with The Dirty Rotten Imbeciles' classic "I Don't Need Society" (0:45), followed by subgenre pioneers Beowulf & their song "Lost My Head" (2:45), which is not on Spotify. Iconic sludge metal band Corrosion of Conformity follow with "Loss For Words" (6:15), which comes from their pre-Pepper days playing hardcore punk in the 1980s. British punk stalwarts G.B.H. are next with "Sick Boy" (11:10), followed by hardcore punk/thrash legends Suicidal Tendencies and their fan favourite track "Send Me Your Money" (14:05), featuring Metallica's Robert Trujillo on bass.
New York thrash band Carnivore (featuring late Type O Negative frontman Peter Steele) are next with "God Is Dead" (18:40), followed by songs from two very notable New York hardcore bands, including Agnostic Front's ultra short "Victim In Pain" (23:55) and The Cro-Mags' "Age of Quarrel" (24:55) to end the first half with. California crossover thrash band Excel's song "I Never Denied" (30:40) comes afterwards, preceding the legendary Nuclear Assault's song "Game Over" (36:10). English anarcho-punk band Antisect's song "They (The Eternal Myth & Paradox)" (39:10) is played next, but it isn't on Spotify either. The last non-local band is the killer thrash quartet Sacred Reich with "Death Squad" (45:25), and Josh closed that week with threesongs by 1999-2004 local punk band Downshift (later Burn The Past), all coming from from their 2000 debut album "Before You Knew Me..."!
While not a true thrash band (Jack Spades would have been closer to the theme), Downshift sure have the fast punk quota down via their songs "Ground Zero" (50:30), "Hold My Head Up High" (54:00), and "Worth Repeating" (56:10). Josh doesn't elaborate on back stories for these bands as much as he did for the technical death metal episode, but he covers some very fun and intense bands here, and this is another fun episode to listen to, especially with how into the hosting duties Josh has gotten! Check out both of these Metal Morpheus episodes (and more) at the above links, listen to episode #21 live on The Borderline this Sunday, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!
In our second post of the day, we have new videos from bands on each side of the border, recent news coverage of a band reunion earlier this month, and leading off, updates on a recent CD release, so read on below for what you need to know, and check out last month's poll results & this month's new poll in the post below this one!
Let's start today with some details concerning physical copies of local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades' debut EP "The First"! This is the CD copy's album cover (which I replicated from a scan of it), and while the whole booklet is in a monochrome colour scheme, the CD's actual label has a tan aged look to it. The back booklet of original copies features autographs from all 5 band members in this pressing, while the inside features the band's lineup, thank yous from each band member, and photos from Jack Spades' set opening for Anvil in March, as taken by SooToday's Donna Hopper. In terms of the technical credits, both Jamie Vincent and Mark Rand are given equal production credit, while the booklet and logos were created by Frightlight guitarist Kevin Powe. Copies were $10 at the EP release show on Sunday, but that also included admission to the show, so it's not clear yet whether they'll drop in price in other sale situations. Aside from an odd cut on the edge of my booklet, everything's really solid, so get your copy of "The First" A.S.A.P., and stay tuned for our review!
Next up, remember how Thessalon/London metal quintet Papa Fogals Chair reunited locally on May 3rd at The Moose Lodge in honour of bassist Mike Bird's stag & doe? Well, Local2 cameras got to attend this event and film a report that you can now watch at this location! Remember, Local2's video host doesn't allow external video embedding. Featuring an assortment of video footage of their reunion set (their first since 2010), drummer Derek Turner talks to the camera about PFC and a bit about their history alongside his bandmates, before transitioning at the end to footage of Derek's most prominent active metal band Garden of Bedlam, who were playing live for the first time in 2014 that night. No footage was included of Derek's other band The Side FX's set at the stag and doe, and we still await some new public updates from their camp. Though a stag & doe isn't an event that we tend to cover on here because of their personal nature, it's great to see Papa Fogals Chair back together, even if for one night! Check out the very solid video footage above, and hopefully this wasn't the last we've seen of them!
Closing today with videos that we can embed, here's a brand new preview of Sault Michigan solo project Drayton Fever's upcoming studio work for label Werehold Records' Friday the 13th music event next month! Posted onto the label's YouTube channel yesterday, this is the first Werehold video in 5 months, and the first depicting a live performance in 2 years. It's of project leader Doug Reed playing guitar for one of two new Drayton Fever songs planned to be a part of the June 13th upload spree, though does the video have to be so close with no camera angle changes? Short, but promisingly heavy, so give it a look below!
Finally, Brutaly Fatal frontman Austin McCrae posted a pair of new solo videos onto their Facebook page yesterday! Both are early versions of new original songs for the band, and they include "Belly of the Beast" and, as embedded below, the longer "Cold Temptress". Both are solid early glimpses at new material, but they're obviously unfinished without Rainey & Brandon involved, and I have a feeling Austin's not going full power on the vocals for these takes. We'll see how they turn out, but give Austin's new Brutaly Fatal song previews a look above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!
For this news post, we have a lot of shorter recent items to clear out of our news cache, along with some new video postings that might be of note, so read on below to get caught up! We start with a new video from 2/3rds of Toronto metal legends Anvil, who issued this video greeting to local fans yesterday in advance of NEXT WEEK'S headlining show at The Canadian Nightclub! Just 15 seconds long, it's basically a brief show plug from frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow" and drummer Robb Reiner, and while nothing new is stated, it's great to get some direct advertising from Anvil themselves! Remember, they rock The Canadian this coming Saturday with fellow Toronto metallers Caym and local opening bands Jack Spades, The Suicide Kings, and Project 421, and tickets remain on sale for this 19+ concert for $20 (or $25 at the door), so get yours A.S.A.P. at The Rad Zone, The Canadian, or from local band members while they last, and check out the new video below!
Next up, Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy's newest solo cover is now up via his YouTube channel, this time a cover of Green Day's "21 Guns"! Uploaded last night, it continues his recent multi-instruments trend with vocals, and while I'm honestly not a fan of this song at all, he does handle it as well as I'd expect! I'd be curious to hear how Alex does on older Green Day songs too, but for now, check out his newest solo video below!
Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter stories from the last few days, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:
In their first public update in 5 months, long gestating Sault Ontario hard rock band Acention updated their Facebook page
on January 10th, where (I believe) frontman Dalton Boissineau blamed
the lack of activity on personal issues & internal drama.
However, he did promise that music will be up as soon as possible, and
when things come together, the band will talk about potentially writing
an EP. Fingers crossed things work out, because progress has been way
too slow from their camp!
Local concert promotion agency Heavy North Entertainment are looking for metal bands that might be interested in playing a concert of theirs in almost two weeks on Friday, March 21st. No word on the venue or already enlisted bands yet, but this might be the same show that the on-hiatus Crimson Crusade turned down an offer to play at last month. Stay tuned for updates, and if you're interested in playing, message promoters at this link!
Barring a re-emergence of activity by then, we'll likely be moving local progressive hard rock project The Mourning Glory
to our inactive Sault Ontario band links on Tuesday due to a year's
inactivity. Despite teases for material and such this year, the band has
made no public updates since this post on drummer Glen Thomas' forum Freq's Music Planet last March. Hopefully the band turns up again, but either way, follow Glen and Tony's main band Flat Stanley for their current work!
I have deleted former Sault Michigan record store New Moon Records from our Other Sault Michigan Links section, as their old website's domain name is now held by a California independent label of the same name, after previously expiring by the end of last year. New Moon Records (which was in the current Dotgames location) closed long before we were aware of the site, so this isn't a big loss, but I just wanted to let you guys know!
London/Thessalon metal quintet Papa Fogals Chair (featuring a number of current Saultites) will hold a one-off reunion on May 3rd at The Moose Lodge as part of the entertainment for bassist Mike Bird's stag & doe! The event will also feature drummer Derek Turner's current band Garden of Bedlam (in their first announced set of the year) and acts to be announced. Given the personal nature of stag & does, we don't call them as full public "concerts", but click here for more information!
Local goregrind duo Rotopsy are the fourth confirmed act on this year's Sewer Swampstravaganza on Saturday, May 3rd, in the first appearance at this yearly Oddfellows Hall all ages event by a Blood Shed Productions band. Should be interesting, and stay tuned for further lineup confirmations as they come in!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news soon, as well as this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles on Monday! Thanks everyone!
It's official: This is the busiest month in SMS history! Today marks our 36th post in 30 days, and we will hit 37 tomorrow when we preview this weekend's concerts, so how's that for a packed month of news? Today, we mostly have new videos, including a long awaited tour vlog, new concert footage from a recent major show, and this week's classic video, but first, here's big news concerning one local band's lineup!
Local hard rockers Half Past have announced the addition of singer Jordan Rains to the band, replacing Luke LeBlanc. Though not a widely known singer in local rock circles, Jordan did try out for Half Past during the Fingerbone days before finally making the band in this latest vocalist search. Surprisingly enough, Jordan is actually one of the tenor singers in a local Christian vocal group named NAClamation, which is interesting in itself! Being a tenor, I'd assume his singing voice will be higher in tone, and combined with Half Past's own mention that he has a "great vocal range", we should be looking at some great singing from Jordan in Half Past when they return to the stage! The news was broken on Half Past's Facebook page only two hours ago. I'm curious to see how Jordan does with Half Past, especially given his vocal style, which seems like it will be at least somewhat different from how both Luke & John Barber sang with the band. The NAClamation recordings don't say much for Jordan's singing on it's own, but the guys in Half Past know exactly what they're doing, and Jordan should work out just fine! Fingers crossed for a return to the stage very soon!
Next up are the long awaited Woods of Ypres tour vlogs! After some delays due to upload failures, the first two parts of their first tour vlog in Sault Ste. Marie are now on frontman David Gold's YouTube channel, so here's what you should know! These utilize more on screen titles to identify songs and video segments than last year's had, but the basic theme is the same: Concert footage, road antics, alcohol consumption, and assorted amusing moments from the tour and related excursions! Part 1 features (among other stuff) some shots of their local rehearsal area, Joel Violette's piano skills, why they went to Canadian Tire, the struggles of getting to The Roosevelt Hotel for their concert here on March 10th, some "dancing" to The Bear Hunters & State of Misery during their sets, a local building for sale that David wanted to purchase, and over four minutes of concert footage from that very show! Part 2 is basically just the continuation of the concert footage, and I assume it will conclude in Part 3 when it's uploaded, along with some likely post-show moments. Yes, the footage captured from Woods of Ypres' actual set was from the filming I was doing on one of the band's camcorders, though I noticed that almost no footage from "Camera 2" was used save for a cheering crowd moment. I wonder why not?
I thought my footage was good, but I felt too close to the action at times, especially when filming Joel. I guess I had to be to avoid people obstructing the view, but I'd have liked to have seen the second camera's take! Still, it's good footage, clear audio and video, and it's nice seeing stuff I shot being used like this! I've embedded the first third of the tour vlog below, but check out the above links to view Part 2 (and more), and stay tuned for Part 3!
Thirdly today, how's about some new concert footage from a recent major show? Videos that I've seen on YouTube from March 14th's Buckcherry concert at Kewadin Casino have entirely been from their set, with nothing from Papa Roach or local openers Fallen Heroes...until now! Yesterday, YouTube user suffocation2 uploaded this video of Papa Roach playing their hit "Last Resort" from what appears to be their show earlier this month! Even if it's their 2009 show here, it's 100% at Kewadin, so it still fits here! The video quality's really good for this clip, and the audio's not bad either, though it has some staticy portions with the bass here and there. I was a big fan of Papa Roach's in their early "rap metal" days, but frontman Jacoby Shaddix sounds more tired here than I'm used to. I bet you this was later in the set. Still, this is some of the best footage of any band that I've seen recently from major Kewadin hard rock shows, so definitely give it a look below, and if any more videos pop up online from this concert, I'll have them here!
And finally, here's this week's classic video! For the first time, it's not linked to a performer at an upcoming concert, as I'm low on available non-YouTube videos from the bands/artists that I know are playing this weekend, and I want to spread things out. So this week, I decided to upload a video from a prominent local band that we haven't seen on stage in a few months, and that band is Garden of Bedlam! This video comes from their headlining show on February 27th, 2011 at Foggy Notions, and it's of the band covering Pantera's "Fucking Hostile" with guest singer Andy Chillman of Papa Fogals Chair fame! FYI, Papa Fogals Chair is the inactive London metal quintet featuring Garden of Bedlam drummer Derek Turner, and they opened this concert (along with fellow Londoners Pistols At Dawn) in a rare one-off reunion set! Andy joined Erik "Buzz" Boissineau on lead vocals for this Pantera cover, and it's well performed and chaotic, though you can tell that their voices were slightly shot after playing full sets earlier. Plus, there's a lot of dead air afterwards while the band talks and mingles, so look out for that. Still, it looks like it was fun, I wish I could have been at this show!
This video was shot by attendee Amy Shaw, and later uploaded on Facebook by PFC bassist Mike Bird in the week following this concert. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit belongs to the performers in the video, Amy, and Mike for all their hard work, I'm just showing this off to a bigger and wider audience, especially given the special nature of the performance! The original video can be seen at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=339373697450. So check out this week's classic video below!
That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
It's time for new videos! I won't call this a "local metal video showcase" as these are very heavily in the realm of two topics: Monday night's Buckcherry/Papa Roach concert and Woods of Ypres! I don't like loading posts too heavily, and I have some big news tomorrow, so I'll devote this mostly to some new videos, with lots more to come tomorrow! Now, to our first news!
With Monday's Buckcherry/Papa Roach concert in the books, what do we know out of it? Not a lot, local news outlets haven't given it a lot of post-show attention (even The Soo Evening News, oddly), but I can tell you guys some things! I did find out who the last minute local openers were, and as it turns out, it was Sault Michigan acoustic duo Fallen Heroes, who've been seen frequently in the area in recent months. Though not officially confirmed anywhere, pictures of Fallen Heroes performing on stage can be seen at this location. I apologize for having the opener news so late, it took some research to figure out which band it specifically was. They don't seem like the best fit to open a hard rock show like this, but they look talented, and kudos to them for seizing this opportunity! As for the reception for the main bands, I've heard mixed things towards Buckcherry's set from fans, but Papa Roach seem to have gotten a better response. When I show the first videos, you can judge for yourself!
One more thing about this concert, as a large photo album by promoters Allstar Promotions is now online featuring loads of photos from the meet & greet with the headlining bands and scattered photos from The Dreammakers Theater before and during the show! Not bad, click here to see the album!
Now to the videos! There is at least one more channel at present with footage from Monday's concert, but I'm not gonna overload this post needlessly, so I'll show you the first posted YouTube videos from Monday! YouTube user encorevids posted four videos from the show (two each of Buckcherry & Papa Roach) onto their YouTube channel yesterday, so here's what you should know! The Papa Roach videos are for their songs "Getting Away With Murder" and "Kick In The Teeth", while the Buckcherry videos are for their performances of "It's A Party" and "Dead", so click on each link to check them out! All of the videos are shot from the stage's right, though the footage is taken from around the middle of the floor area, so there's a lot of people in the way. I tend to see more stage than band even moreso than you'd think, but blame that on the seat, not the filmer. Audio quality is scratchy on both videos, though all four give the impression that unneeded static is overtop of decent quality music, if that makes sense. If you were hoping for crystal clear though, this won't have it.
If Buckcherry truly did have a disappointing set like I've heard some people say, I honestly can't tell, but it could just be the audio on the recording itself. Papa Roach sound good too, despite the audio quality and my preference for their old sound. Decent footage, all things considered, so check out Buckcherry playing "It's A Party" and Papa Roach playing "Getting Away With Murder" immediately below!
Finally for today, here's some new video footage from Woods of Ypres! This actually doesn't come from their current tour run, this is actually brand new footage from the band's show at Club Absinthe in Hamilton from May 15th, 2009, during their Eastern Canada tour that month! Odd that it took so long to make it online, but there's extra local connections in this one! Remember, this was back when Gates of Winter's own Bryan Belleau & Steve Furgiuele were still in Woods of Ypres, in what would be Steve's last tour leg with Woods of Ypres before he was replaced by Shane Madden that summer. This was uploaded by YouTube user AskeGuitar on Monday, and it's of the band's performance of "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground" from this concert! Audio's good quality, I can hear everything fairly clearly, and the video quality works also! Though it's very dark, the red/blue lighting adds an interesting ambiance. Good stuff, and it's always nice to see the band's "Gates of Ypres" lineup again, even if it's not at it's 6 member peak of late 2008! Check out this new video below!
That's all for today, but we'll have another double post day tomorrow, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, weekend concert previews, and more! Stay tuned!
Hey guys, it's time for another packed news post! Today, we have news on what happened to a local news site, details on a brand new book that you guys will be interested in, and the newest local band to hit the studio, but first, it's time to preview some upcoming concerts! I decided to push back some new band pages and the SooNews story to make room for the concert previews, so we have those leading things off today, and the first one we have is quite the big concert, so let's get things started! (UPDATED: Monday, 6:24 PM)
Tomorrow night marks the first major hard rock/metal concert of 2011 at Kewadin Casino, as three high profile hard rock bands make their way to Sault Michigan, courtesy of local promoters Allstar Promotions! Headlining tomorrow night are Los Angeles hard rockers Buckcherry, who you're bound to recognize for hit songs like "Lit Up", "Crazy Bitch", and "Sorry"! They've sure found success again since their 2005 resurrection, and with loads of hit songs, they'll be sure to get fans moving tomorrow night! Joining them are another California hard rock act, Papa Roach, who are particularly well known to local fans, having headlined a Kewadin Casino concert at The Dreammakers Theater themselves in November 2009! With hits like "Last Resort", "Forever", and "Lifeline" on their resume, their brand of alternative hard rock will find lots of fans once again! The final band tomorrow night would have been Norwood, Ontario post-grunge rockers My Darkest Days (of"Porn Star Dancing" fame), but they have pulled out due to an illness by frontman Matt Walst, as confirmed on Allstar Promotions' Facebook page. A local band has been drafted to replace them, but I'm unsure which one at present. When I find out more, I will let you know!
Another band, Orillia, Ontario hard rockers Bleeker Ridge, were scheduled to open as well, but have been pulled from the lineup due to issues obtaining work visas to perform in the USA, as confirmed on Allstar Productions' Facebook page. I find it interesting to note that, in the same status, they confirmed that they asked Sault Ontario's own Lion Ride if they wanted to replace Bleeker Ridge, but they turned down the offer. It'd have been cool to have seen them opening, but with their own commitments and maybe visa concerns of their own, I can see why they might have said "No." This concert will take place at The Dreammakers Theater TOMORROW NIGHT at 7:00 PM! Tickets were $36.50, but they are completely SOLD OUT, so unless you have your ticket already, you probably won't be able to go. For reference sake, it is all ages, and if anything comes out concerning newly released tickets, you'll likely hear about it tomorrow through the above links. Sounds like it will be an entertaining high profile concert, hopefully it's a success! I'm honestly not a huge fan of either headlining band, though I really dug Papa Roach in the early 2000s before they changed their sound. Still, hopefully tomorrow's show goes well, and when post-show details come out, I'll try and have them here! For a preview, here's Buckcherry's video for "All Night Long"!
Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, punk/hard rockers Motion Carried return to the stage for the first time since last week's "secret" show at Coch's Corner when they back up Vancouver punk standouts The Rebel Spell in their short notice second local concert in an 8 day span! The Rebel Spell are a great band, as you may have seen at their Foggy Notions show earlier this month, but this time they're heading to The Roosevelt Hotel for a night of punk mayhem! A second opening band is hyped on the Facebook event page, but they haven't been announced at present (for reference sake, Shit Liver and Free Beer opened the last Rebel Spell show.) I'll let you guys know when the opener is announced, especially if they're metal! Admission on Tuesday will be $5, or $4 if you donate a vegan food item. It's a 19+ show, and it all starts at 9:00 PM or later. Check the above links for more details! This should be another rocking night of punk, head out if you can! Motion Carried, I still wanna know more about concerning their sound though. Are they like a new version of The Scary Uncles, or will they take some heavier influences from Justin Langlois' past work in bands like SIGHdEFECT? If I'm there on Tuesday, I'll let you guys know, but check the above links for more on them and the other bands!
Now to a pair of extra big stories, and first, we have a new local band with an album in the works! The band in question is local old school hardcore quintet Destroilet, who started recording sessions for their debut EP on Saturday morning! Though their Facebook pages aren't frequently updated to reflect this news, drummer Matt Waples is keeping fans up to date on his personal Facebook page, so that (and some e-mail correspondence) is my source. The band are recording with producer Aaron Gibbs at his home-based studio where he's recorded Billy Bastards studio material (he and Destroilet guitarist John Conway are in The Billys), and Matt tells me this will lead to an EP with 5 or 6 songs. A photo album from the recent sessions was also posted on Matt's Facebook page, featuring loads of photos of the band playing, recording, drinking, and doing other stuff! The first photo of the album, on your left, may be the EP's cover, which would suggest that it'd be self-titled, but nothing to that effect is confirmed. Matt tells me the recording sessions coming along great, and will still have a rough edge, which is a good sign! Stay tuned to the above links for updates, and yes, this will be in our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post!
And finally, Duane Roy's new book is now on sale! Following the 2009 release of "Castle Stories", his new book "Soo Stories: A Rock N' Roll Scrapbook" is now on sale, featuring his stories and memories from seven concerts at the old Sault Memorial Gardens, plus many more artifacts, photos, and stories from many notable contributors! The book features Duane's stories of seeing Ted Nugent, Kim Mitchell, Tom Cochrane, Helix, Honeymoon Suite, Alice Cooper and The Tragically Hip at the Gardens between 1986 and 1995, and as a preview, excerpts of the Ted Nugent & Kim Mitchell stories can be seen at a SooToday article on the book at this location! Looks good, can't wait to read the whole thing! Like in "Castle Stories", "Soo Stories" features lots of name contributors, including former Bad Side guitarist and radio DJ Jason Mapes, local author George Case, Streetheart guitarist Jeff Neill (a Sault native himself), and members of notable Canadian hard rock bands like Helix, Syre, and White Wolf! I just hope the photos are better quality, but if everything else is on "Castle Stories'" level, things should be great! The Sault Star's Brian Kelly included a lengthy article and interview with Duane in today's issue, click here to read it as well, as it features lots of interesting notes on the book, the Gardens, Duane's future plans, and more!
"Soo Stories" was published by Alloways Publishing in Blind River, and is now on sale online through PayPal at this location! Both "Soo Stories" and "Castle Stories" cost $25 Canadian, though the price jumps to $28 for Americans, and $35 for anyone in other countries. Note that copies of both books will hit the shelves of The Rad Zone in the coming weeks as well, if you'd rather wait to pick up a physical copy in person. I'm absolutely getting one, stay tuned for updates as they come in, and buy a copy at the above links today!
That's all for now, but I have more news to share very soon, so stay tuned for those (and new monthly feature posts) in the coming weeks! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, today's a huge news day, so let's not waste any time! We have news on a local band's new bassist, and the recording process of another local band, but first, we have two very exciting LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!! One marks a local band's long awaited local return, while the other is a major concert you guys could be very excited over! Let us begin!
The first major metal/hard rock concert of 2011 in the Twin Saults was announced last night, and for you modern hard rock fans, this will surely get you excited! On March 14th, Los Angeles hard rockers Buckcherry will make their long awaited debut appearance in the Sault area as the headliners at this concert at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino! After false reports of them backing up Kiss on their later-cancelled 2009 local date, and inquiry about booking them for a show in August at Kewadin, Allstar Promotions finally have Buckcherry locked up for a local show! Now, you can hear them play hits like "Lit Up", "Crazy Bitch", and "Sorry" live at Kewadin in March, but that's not all, as there are opening bands! Firstly, California hard rockers Papa Roach will be in Sault Michigan for a second time after headlining at Kewadin in November 2009, and they'll have hits such as "Last Resort" and "Lifeline" in store for us once again! The other confirmed opening band is Ontario rockers My Darkest Days, who recently topped the rock charts with their hit single "Porn Star Dancing"! This is also their second local stop, following their show in September at Kewadin where they opened for Hinder. I wouldn't call My Darkest Days "metal", but Zakk Wylde does play on "Porn Star Dancing", so that's notable! Another opening band has yet to be announced. Check out all of the above links for details on the announced bands!
As previously stated, this show will take place on March 14th at The Dreammaker's Theater. Details such as the start time, certain house rules, and the other opening band aren't known yet, but Allstar Promotions have confirmed on their Facebook page that tickets will be about $38.50 (US dollars.) That being said, original estimates have tickets going on sale "at the end of the week", presumably meaning next week. I imagine it's all ages, but I'll let you guys know either way if it is or not. They've also said that this show will be a part of a Jagermeister sponsored tour of some kind, but I haven't found specific details on that front. I will of course keep you guys updated on this show as news comes in! This should be an exciting concert, and though I admit not being a huge fan of the three bands (save for Papa Roach's early years), there will be lots of rock to go around, and it'll be worth the money! Stay tuned for more news as it comes in!
The other new concert is smaller in scale, but a big deal nonetheless! On December 28th, Lion Ride make their long awaited local return! Yes, the local punk/metal rockers will be back home for a hard rocking concert over the Christmas break at The Canadian Nightclub! This will be their first local show since May when they headlined at The Canadian on the May 2-4 weekend, and after seven months away, they'll be back in the Soo to deliver some metal to their hometown fans! I'd expect to see Carmine Romano back as their touring bassist for this show, as he's played with them at their most recent Toronto-area gigs. Full details have not been announced yet, but it will be a Tuesday night concert with an announced 8:00 PM start time (that seems early.) I'd expect a 19+ age limit as well. The cover charge hasn't been announced yet, nor have the openers, though the Facebook event page hypes that the openers will be "wicked". More details will be posted there in the near future, so stay tuned over the coming weeks for updates! This should be a great show, pencil me in to be there! I wonder if we'll hear some stuff from their forthcoming full length album at this show? Check out the above links for more details, and while we're on the subject, they'll be playing a show in Barrie at The Foxx Lounge on December 3rd, click here for info!
Two more stories for today's update, and firstly, we have some big news from a local hard rock cover band. On Monday, Sneaky Pete announced the addition of bassist Sean Berlinguette (far left) to the band, replacing Dave Grimaldi, who left the band in July after moving to Sudbury. The band described him as an "active local recording & songwriting musician" who's worked with "some of the Soo's premier musical acts." I'll take their word on that, but I haven't found anything online concerning past bands Sean worked with. Still, the band glowingly praised his abilities on their Facebook page, so hopefully he's the missing piece of the puzzle! And yes, this photo is from the photo shoot they were hyping. The band added that they're ready to go public 'in the near future", they've been aggressively polishing their sets since Sean joined, and they might be playing live "when you least expect it". Nice to see their lineup complete again, and hopefully now they can finally play live! We've been waiting for months for them to make their debut, we'll have to see what's in store next for Sneaky Pete! Check out the above links for more!
And finally for today, local industrial hard rock duo Riverin are the latest subject of the "Attack of the Garage Bands" series on Glen Thomas' music blog The Barking Eye! This is the series that talks about how certain local bands self-record their own material, and it previously featured local metal acts Sykotyk Rampage and Tym Morrison in past installments. This time around, guitarist Matt Clement offers up info about how Riverin write their music, what instruments they use, how they record the material, and what programs they use. Lots of technical information to go around, and maybe some musicians out there can take some cues from Riverin for home recording! They also told Glen that they want to expand Quartertone Studios to a full basement recording studio in the near future, which sounds promising! There's also lots of info on the band and some embedded tunes to check out as well. Nice to see Riverin get some extra press, and hopefully we'll see the fruits of their labour sooner rather than later! To check out this post, and more, click here, and I'll have more on Riverin very soon!
That's all for tonight, but stay tuned, cause I have lots more to share in the very near future, including a special post where we detail updates to past bands discussed in our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile series! Thanks everyone!
Hello there, local metalheads! I have more stuff to share on this fine Thursday, including previews of this weekend's (known) local hard rock concerts, the latest notable news articles on The Barking Eye, and a notable concert video from a concert from last year that was recently posted online! But first, we'll start with your local concert previews for this weekend! Before we kick that off, note that Tym Morrison's show scheduled for tomorrow at The Roosevelt Hotel has been cancelled for some genre conflicts, let's leave it at that. Now, onto the scheduled concerts!
I'm starting with the two shows in Sault Michigan because these could be the last time you see this band for a while, at the very least. Tomorrow night and Saturday night at The Bird, local hard rockers Nixxon Dixxon hit the stage for the last time before drummer Jake LaLonde heads to California to attend the Musicians Institute (and yes, I'll have updates on if he made the next round of the Full Ride contest when they come out.) With Jake's plans out west, and from comments made by frontman Brandon Carr on his personal Facebook page, the band appear to be going on a hiatus or break in the meantime, if nothing else. So this could very well be your LAST CHANCE to check Nixxon Dixxon out for a long time, make note of that! They'll be on at 10:30 PM both nights with no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to enter. They're a great band with loads of metal covers and select originals in store, so at least consider going, because who knows when you'll see the band back playing shows.
No matter what, they've accomplished a great deal for a band their age, and we already remember them fondly, whatever the future holds! For more, visit their official MySpace page, and for a video preview, here's Nixxon Dixxon covering Alice In Chains' "Rooster" from the Pop Evil show in February!
Now, in Sault Ontario, we have two hard rock shows, this time courtesy of Turner Up once again! The local classic hard rock quintet return to Foggy Notions this weekend for a pair of concerts, and disregard the Facebook event page, they ARE playing on Saturday too, as confirmed in band members' Facebook statuses. Nothing that I can tell about these shows that are too different from normal Turner Up shows, so there'll be a 10:30 PM start time, a likely $3 cover charge, and a 19+ age limit for both concerts. Should be fun, as usual, though if you miss them this weekend, you're bound to see them again very soon, cause they have a solid weekend booking schedule! For more infomation, visit the above links, and for a preview, check out a video of Turner Up (with current frontman Brent Royer) covering Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be" at a recent Rockstar Bar concert at this location! I can't embed it here, but hopefully something embeddable pops up soon!
And now, for two news stories to close this post, and first, we have the newest metal-relevant stories from Glen Thomas' informative music blog, The Barking Eye! The largest & most intriguing revolves around the ongoing rumours that would see Northern Raceway (formerly 5th Line Speedway) become an outdoor concert venue. In case this is before your time, Northern Raceway was a former local racetrack that was active from 1965-1987, and is now unused, with the old track and grandstands still there unattended. Glen backed up a lot of the positive speculation about this rumour in saying that Northern Raceway is a "gold mine" waiting for development, and it's size & location (near a KOA campground and away from most of the city) would be perfect for holding major outdoor concerts. However, he pointed out that residents around the area had spoken out AGAINST turning it into a concert venue when the rumours started due to the noise issues, and property damage concerns were also raised. That being said, there's no definite facts about the possibility of turning Northern Raceway into a concert venue, just lots of ongoing speculation, but what do you guys think?
Glen pointed out that rumours picked up after Castle Farms in Charelvoix stopped hosting concerts in the 1990s, which makes sense to give the area another big concert spot. I could submit that Runway Park could fill that void, given that they hosted Bell Border Jam and WOULD have hosted the cancelled Skid Row outdoor show had it stayed on, but there hasn't been a major concert there since 2008 that I can remember. If there was actually a devoted group with the right funds to turn Northern Raceway into a concert spot, I'd be for it, but honestly, I just take these as rumours. Interesting rumours, but rumours nonetheless. Check out the article for yourself by clicking here! Among other notable articles, Glen weighed in on Garden of Bedlam's huge opportunity opening for Kiss, the new local pop rock band Cherry Crush (featuring Foggy Notions owner Taryn Bugyra on lead vocals), and a mini article about the old Sault Music Scene Facebook group from shows in the 1970s and 1980s! Good stuff, click the above links for much more, cause Glen has a lot of interesting things to say about the scene, past and present!
And finally, here's another major local concert video, and shockingly, it's not from Kiss' show last Tuesday! Nope, I can't forget about other major shows in the area, and this fits the bill. YouTube user escherich1987 uploaded a video from Papa Roach's concert at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino from last November onto his YouTube channel! It's a video of Papa Roach playing their song "Forever" from the show, but note that the video quality is quite jittery and shaky. That being said, the audio holds up better, but it has clippy sound with washed out bass, especially in the heavier choruses. Not the best video we've seen from the Papa Roach show quality-wise, but it never hurts to have more local concert videos, especially this late after the show. Check the video out below, and yes, I have at least one more Kiss video to share, so stay tuned!
That's all for today, but guess what's tomorrow? The new SMS poll, that's what! And of course, the results of last month's poll. What did you guys vote as your favourite show of the first half of 2010? We'll find out tomorrow, and as for the new poll topic? It's about local radio, and not about station issues or the controversy from early in the year. Let the debate begin! Stay tuned for that, and more, very soon!
Happy Tuesday everyone! This weekend was already shaping up to be a pretty good weekend concert wise, but some recent concert announcements have added to that! As such, we have three LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS today! Stay tuned afterwards for lots of updates from the Lion Ride camp, new videos from a major show in 2009, and what may be another hard rock tribute band making their way here!
Firstly, Sault Ontario hard rockers Turner Up have scheduled a pair of new concerts for this weekend! This time, they'll be back at The Nicolet Tavern, the same spot that they rocked on Bon Soo weekend! Jam nights aside, these will be Turner Up's first shows since February 26th at Foggy Notions, and their first featuring new guitarist Jeff Gray (you may recognize him from Johnny Lunchbox, among other bands!) They'll be at The Nicolet Tavern THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY! I have not seen an announced cover charge, a start time of 9:30 PM is given both nights. Should be good shows, if you want some live hard rock covers, Turner Up will deliver the goods! Also, I should add that it's great to see The Nicolet Tavern booking heavier acts more regularly lately, and for you Americans, it's not far from the bridge, so that's convenient! Confirm your attendance by clicking here, and of course, sorry for the short notice, I just heard about this show today.
Speaking of shows I just recently head about, Sault Michigan's own Riot! By Night are also playing locally this Friday and Saturday! They'll be back at a familiar stomping ground, The Satisfied Frog, on both of those nights with a posted start time of 10:00 PM! The band's newest MySpace status update says "...guess they can't keep us down for long!", and good thing "they" can't! The more Riot! By Night, the better! They've been one of the most active Sault Michigan metal bands locally so far in 2010, and from what I've heard, they have the talent to back it up! I wonder when they'll finally post audio or video online? Hopefully they will soon, I bet they're good! So there you go Sault Michiganders, two more shows this weekend, and once again, I apologize for the short notice!
Now to some assorted news stories, and here's a proposal for you guys: How would you like to see Lion Ride play on this year's Vans Warped Tour? Maybe we couldn't help get Bad Side supporting Bon Jovi (sadly), but here's something very cool that we can try and build the support to vote for as well! Lion Ride have entered the 14th Annual Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands! Essentially, this will give dozens of unsigned bands the chance to play LIVE on the Ernie Ball stage at their hometown's Warped Tour in a huge Battle of the Bands! In Lion Ride's case, if they make the cut, they'd be playing the Warped Tour stop on July 9th in Toronto at Arrow Hall. Tons of prizes are up for grabs including a $15,000 shopping spree, recording a 3 song EP with producer Matt Squire, tons of skate gear and apparel, and much more from various name sponsors! But before any of that can happen, Lion Ride must hit the top 100 bands in the voting for the Toronto stop on this huge Battle of the Bands. Bands will be selected to play live based on musicianship, song writing originality, and crowd drawing ability, among others. (Yeah, I know this is generally seen as a "punk" festival, but Lion Ride have a punk mentality, they'll fit!)
Wouldn't it be cool to see Lion Ride play at The Warped Tour? They wouldn't be the first locals on this year's lineup (Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide already are confirmed, congrats to them!), but this would be huge exposure, especially if they do well in the battle aspect! But they can't do this alone, they need YOUR HELP! If you want to vote for Lion Ride to play in the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands in Toronto on July 9th at The Warped Tour, CLICK HERE!!!!!! You must register for a free account, and you may only vote once a day, but let's show Lion Ride our support! I notice that a lot of bands are trading votes, which is a nice gesture, but let's see the fans show up to support Lion Ride too! I've already voted (and left a comment in the comment board), you all should too! CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR LION RIDE!!!! Let's see them in the top 100, and hopefully The Warped Tour will choose the right band to move on! VOTE TODAY!!
But maybe you're asking yourself how Lion Ride can do all this when they apparently have no bassist? Well, frontman Mikey Lion did indeed confirm to me that Diamond Brent Panther left the bass position in Lion Ride in an e-mail today, but they do have a temporary replacement! The band have tapped Carmine Romano to fill in for the band's next run of Southern Ontario shows! You may recognize Carmine as the singer/bassist of the Kitchener hard rock band The Saigon Hookers, who are good friends and frequent tourmates of Lion Ride's! It looks like he's just a temporary member, but for what it's worth, Mike Indovina only drummed with Lion Ride at first on a temporary basis, and now he's a full member! So Lion Ride are hitting the road for a four show mini-tour with The Saigon Hookers next Wednesday, when they play shows in Burlington, Kitchener, Waterloo, and London over a four day span! You'll notice that their planned show in Montreal next Wednesday has been cancelled too. Best of luck to Lion Ride on their upcoming tour, hopefully they'll be back home real soon for a show! Oh yeah, VOTE FOR THEM TOO!
I actually have MORE Lion Ride news, but let's not go overboard yet, I'll have the rest in my next regular post! Now you notice how we've got hit with a bunch of tribute bands this year? Well, another one may be on the way, according to The Canadian Nightclub, and I stress may. In a recent Facebook e-mail, Mary Lou Johnston from The Canadian told members of it's Facebook group about upcoming tribute band performances in March, including Keep The Faith (the Bon Jovi tribute band) and "Mamakin" on March 26th and 27th. Now you may recognize "Mama Kin" as an Aerosmith classic, and fans of the former Hempfest will remember a Toronto tribute band named Mama Kin as one of the headlining bands last year. Now this makes the most sense out of any bands named Mama Kin that I've seen (and there are a few), but this band have conflicting dates on the 26th and 27th in Guelph and New York. Those two shows may very well have been cancelled, but I don't know for sure. If I hear any updates, I'll have them for you guys, but for the time being, I'll leave it off the concert listings.
And finally, over four months after the show took place, more video from November's Papa Roach concert is FINALLY online! YouTube user Rockinroll15 (a huge Kiss and Papa Roach fan) had uploaded five clips of the band's local show, including performances of the songs "Change or Die", "Last Resort", "I Almost Told You That I Love You", "Between Angels & Insects", and a double clip of "Getting Away With Murder" & "Scars"! The videos are from far back in the crowd, but the audio isn't terrible, and the video is clear of what it shows, it's just not close enough to the band to get them clear. Nice to see more video from the concert online, click on the above links to check out the videos! And I'll show you guys one of the clips, one of my personal favourite Papa Roach songs, "Between Angels & Insects"!
So what's on the horizon for the SMS this week? Tomorrow, it's our newest previews of out of town bands with local members (This month: Feral Noise ft. Tym Morrison, and Sadomasochism ft. Mikey Bishop!), and on Thursday, we'll preview all TEN concerts taking place on this busy weekend of local metal concerts! And somewhere in there, maybe after, the rest of the Lion Ride news too, and much more! Stay tuned everyone!
(EDIT 5:28 PM: I added a section about a conflcting lineup for the Sense of Truth show in the Sault This Week, and a band replacement for Saturday's Pop Evil show!)
Firstly before we get into the news, I wanna apologize for the lateness of the Pop Evil concert custom banner and Facebook logo, I should have had them up on Sunday but it completely passed my mind. I'd had it made up for a few weeks, but the rotating banner idea took over any of my thoughts about that. In response, I will likely leave them up late to make up time, so if you see them still up on Monday and point it out, it's intentional. Sorry everyone!
This weekend is quite notable for local concerts, there's only four unique shows, but there's some pretty big ones in that list, so it's time to preview what's going on this weekend!
Let's start in Sault Ontario, when tomorrow night, Sense of Truth return to the live concert stage at The Canadian Nightclub! The local hard rockers will play their first concert since last month at Coch's Corner, and will play their first live set at The Canadian since their finalist performance at the Kiss Battle of the Bands! As you may know, the band are wrapping up the recording of their debut E.P., so I wouldn't be surprised if we hear some brand new songs tomorrow night! Also joining them for this show are Groove Committee, a new local rock band featuring former Odd Man Out frontman Nick Roy, ex-Scary Uncles guitarist Matt Sibilo, bassist Alex White, and drummer Anthony Gagnon! I wouldn't say they're "metal", but they play a very wide variety of rock covers, from bands like Pearl Jam, Modest Mouse, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a lot of Ween songs too! We'll have to see how they sound live, click here to check out some videos of Groove Committee! This show starts at around 10:30 PM tomorrow night with a $3 cover charge, nice affordable way to start the weekend! Click here and here to confirm your attendance on the two Facebook event pages, and click on both bands' names to check out their pages and hear them in action!
This should be a fun concert, but I am not saying I'm going because every time I say I want to see Sense of Truth live, something happens and ruins it for me. So I'm either not committing or saying I'm not going to avoid jinxing myself. Let's just say that if you see me there, my reverse psychology worked! In the event I'm there, I'll take videos and post a review either right after the show, or after I get to Detroit on Saturday. For a preview, here's a clip of Sense of Truth covering the Tool song "Stinkfist" from a show at (I think) The Grand Theater last year! And here's a fun fact to close: One of Nick from Groove Committee's bandmates in Odd Man Out was Sense of Truth guitarist Steve Myers!
Also, let me quell any possible confusion about the lineup for this concert: When reading this week's Sault This Week, you may notice that the Hot Spots section plugs a show at The Canadian tomorrow featuring "Sence Of Truth" with special guests "Rightous Roxid". Spelling errors aside, I believe Rightous Roxid are one and the same as Groove Committee, so if you're confused about the band lineup, don't worry, the internet hasn't lied to you!)
Then on Saturday, the metal will wreak havoc at Foggy Notions when Garden of Bedlam take the stage for the first time since Boxing Day at the same venue! Though a Garden of Bedlam concert is noteworthy in itself, it's even more special once you notice who's opening: Papa Fogals Chair!! Yes, the Saultite-comprised, London-based metal quintet will reunite for the first time in almost two years for this special show in honour of percussionist Adam Chillman's birthday, with drummer Derek Turner pulling double duty as member of both bands! It's also cool to see both bands playing together at Foggy's again, seeing as the two bands joined forces for Garden of Bedlam's first ever concert in the spring of 2008! How time flies, huh? Rounding out the lineup on Saturday are London punk/hardcore rockers Pistols At Dawn, who should deliver a high energy fury before the two main bands get into gear! This concert is sponsored by PFC bassist Joey Grisdale's local tattoo shop, Forsaken Tattoo Studio, and will take place at 11:00 Saturday night with the doors opening at 9:00 PM. There will be a $5 cover charge at the door, and yes, it's 19+ (Aren't most shows nowadays 19+ anyway?) Confirm your attendance for this show by clicking here!
This should be one hell of an awesome concert, all three bands are extremely talented (click on their names above to head to their MySpace pages), it's always great to see Garden of Bedlam, and how often will we get a chance to see PFC, one of London's finest metal bands, back in the Sault? I glowingly praised them on here before, so make sure not to miss them! But of course, Garden of Bedlam are headlining, and deservingly so, as they'll once again rock Foggy's to the core! I wish I could go, but I will be in Detroit, so do me a favour: GO TO THIS CONCERT!!!! Make it huge, make it the success it deserves to be! For a video preview, check out their music video for "The Truth Shall Set You Free"!
Now we'll head to Sault Michigan, where Nixxon Dixxon will be tomorrow night for a show at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino! If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned a show on Saturday as well, you'll know why in a second. I believe there's no cover charge with a 9:00 start time, as I've read from earlier weekend concert descriptions at The Rapids Lounge. Expect another solid night of metal and hard rock covers (and likely some originals) from these rising local stars! Click here to check them out on MySpace! Go check this out if you're in Sault Michigan and need something to do on Friday night! For a preview, here's Nixxon Dixxon's entire preformance from night 1 of the Kiss Battle of the Bands in November!
So why I haven't I mentioned a Saturday show? Because they're playing something much bigger that night. Muskegon hard rockers Pop Evil will be headlining a special benefit concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino on Saturday night, of which Nixxon Dixxon are opening! This will be Pop Evil's second trip to Sault Michigan, after playing here last year as one of the supporting acts for Saving Abel! Also on the lineup are Toronto alt-rockers Evans Blue and Evart, Michigan's Graveyard Tan, replacing The Spider Rockets on the lineup! All three bands have varying levels of success, Pop Evil have been making some big inroads into the mainstream, and have released a number of hit songs like "100 in a 55" and "Hero"! Evans Blue have a solid radio rock sound, and it's been a long time coming for Graveyard Tan's return to Sault Michigan, they're a really good band! (Thanks to Chris McKee for the update on that!)
This concert is a benefit show for two young girls from the area that tragically died in recent accidents. Kim Rogers and Kelsey Raffaele died in separate accidents in December and January, and this concert will place all ticket proceeds to scholarships in their name. This is why there's black ribbons with their names in the current SMS banner. I never knew them, but they sounded like nice girls and this is a tragedy that they never deserved. The good will towards supporting this cause has been rapid, as many local businesses and people have bought tickets with no intention of using them all themselves, or even going, and then donating them free of charge to fans who will use the tickets. That is an unbelievably nice gesture, and it's great to see so many people jumping on the bandwagon!
I know many people got tickets free, but you can still buy them for the low low price of $15, a great deal in itself for four talented rock bands! Click here if you want to buy a ticket, and remember, even if you don't like the bands, you can do what so many others are doing and donate your ticket to someone that will! A start time of 6:00 PM has been announced. This should be a fun and emotional show, I can bet that Kim and Kelsey would be very proud and happy of all that is being done in their names! But don't forget the music, as a lot of mainstream hard rock standouts will rock this weekend as well! It's great to see Pop Evil back here, they have a lot of fans and some good songs! Click on all the names above in this preview to check out all the involved bands, and here's a Pop Evil video to get you psyched up, their video for "100 in a 55"!
I'll be back with a new post real soon with some stuff I've missed, so stay tuned! Remember to go see this weekend's concerts, and my review of "22" by Sykotyk Rampage is posted on Monday!
Hey guys, it's time for the second installment of our profiles of out of town bands with Saultites in their lineup...does anyone know of a shorter name I could use for it? Meh, that's off topic. Today, we'll talk about two Southern Ontario based bands that feature local members in their entirety, yet were never based here! One features two prolific local musicians' lighter side, the other of which is reuniting later this month! Maybe you remember them, maybe you don't, but they are sure worth profiling! So here's this month's profiles! (UPDATED: November 24, 2014)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Papa Fogals Chair (London, ON)
Lineup: (Saultites in RED)
Andy Chillman (vocals/guitar) Joey Grisdale (guitar/backing vocals) Mike Bird (bass) Derek Turner (drums) Adam Chillman (percussion)
Official MySpace page: http://myspace.com/papafogalschair Official SoundClick page: http://soundclick.com/papafogalschair Official CBC Radio 3 page: http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/papa-fogals-chair Official StereoKiller page: http://stereokiller.com/bands/papafogalschair Official Supernova page: http://supernova.com/papafogal Official AudioStreet page: http://audiostreet.net/papafogalschair Local Info:Though never based out of Sault Ontario, all five members of Papa Fogals Chair either lived or now live in Sault Ste. Marie and surrounding areas. Friends since Grade 3, the members of Papa Fogals Chair played in a few local bands growing up, including Sulfur and Spit, among others, with Sulfur releasing an EP entitled "How Empty I Am". Following the lead of a few other Saultites, these guys headed to Southern Ontario in the early 2000s, where Papa Fogals Chair took shape. Most notable to local fans nowadays is drummer Derek Turner, who now mans the kit for Garden of Bedlam, though the other members of the band have kept busy in various other projects, notably frontman Andy Chillman's work in the London acoustic bands Too Much Unsaid & The Bird Stone Revival, and the local hard rock band The Side FX, which features both Derek & bassist Mike Bird.
Band Bio:Likening their music to furniture being bashed over your head, P.F.C. rose quickly among the metal scene in London. They released a demo and two albums, 2004's "Face Melter" and their 2006 followup, "Two Faced Is Never Pretty", both of which got some deservedly great reviews and radio airplay. A frequent sight in Southern Ontario at their height, P.F.C. were nominated for a London Music Award in 2004 in the Best Metal/Hardcore category, though after their 2006 peak, the band quietly dissolved. However, reunion shows happened on occasion, usually alongside Derek's new band Garden of Bedlam, including a notable performance at their first concert at Foggy Notions (now Coch's Corner) in 2008. Papa Fogals Chair would later make one-off returns to the live stage at Foggy's in February 2010, and at Mike Bird's stag & doe at The Moose Lodge in May 2013, though plans for future concerts are unknown.
Papa Fogals Chair are awesome, there is no way around that! I've been a fan since I first checked them out a few years ago, they're exceedingly heavy and they have some nice grooves in a lot of their songs too! Andy Chillman has some unique vocals compared to other singers of their type, but they work very well! I love the guitar work too, awesome riffs and solos! Very little for me to complain about here! But don't take my word for it, check them out on their MySpace page. It's great to see locals hit the heights that PFC reached, and though I'm still bummed that I missed them in February 2010 though, but hopefully that's not their farewell! With 2013's MySpace overhaul, no videos of theirs survive that I know of, but here's one of their best original songs "Disgust"! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sexual Vigilantes (Toronto, ON)
Local Info: If you know your local bands, Brenton and Curtis should be very familiar! Brenton (a.k.a. Diamond Brent Panther) & Curtis were recently best known as the singer & bassist for the cult Toronto hardcore punk band Maximum RNR, but you may also recognize them as bandmates in the Toronto bands The Labour Of... and Kuah, and of course, from the inactive local hardcore punk band Detroit, releasing two EPs during their run! Also, Brent's well known locally as Destroilet's current co-lead singer, Lion Ride's former bassist from 2008-2010, and as The Bombed Squad's former frontman, while Curtis has been seen locally and in Southern Ontario acts, currently with the garage punk band The Cola Heads and the thrash outfit Chainbreaker. Brent and Curtis were the only members of The Sexual Vigilantes, with a drum machine handling the kit on studio recordings.
Band Bio:Formed in 2005, The Sexual Vigilantes played a varied style of metal/hard rock, ranging from classic rock inspired songs like "Back In Brown" to more hardcore songs like "Phantom Limb", to even some songs with electronic influences. In fact, some SXVGLNTES songs eventually became Detroit tracks, like "Pyre Driver" and "Kill-O-Rama"! Not ones to take themselves seriously, the band infused a lot of comedy into band discussions, from their many different stage names to various band descriptions and bio information, which you can get tastes of at their various pages! The Sexual Vigilantes were mostly known for their studio output, rarely playing live concerts, and employing guest musicians where needed when they did. The Sexual Vigilantes have not updated their MySpace page since March 2009, and are long since defunct, but check them out at the above links, and maybe they'll turn up again down the road!
The Sexual Vigilantes were unique soundwise, harbouring an interesting combination of genres! Curtis isn't a bad singer, he and Brenton play as good as ever on their instruments, and they can be pretty funny! Though not locally based, they brought The Sexual Vigilantes home on December 28th, 2007 for two shows that night; an acoustic show at the former Eargasm Records, and then a normal set at what's now Coch's Corner, with their Detroit bandmates Mark Ranᶁ & Mikey Hawdon joining in on guitar and drums. I think those were their only concerts. Solid band, it'd be cool to see them reunite down the road, as their stuff was pretty entertaining! For a video preview, here's The Sexual Vigilantes' playing "Motorbike The Song" live at their last show!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hope you guys enjoyed this month's out of town band profiles! Just cause you take a metalhead out of the Soo doesn't mean you take the Soo out of the metalhead! Next month, I will take a look at two bands who aren't from Ontario: Feral Noise, the Calgary metal band featuring Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison on guitar, and Michigan's own Sadomasochism, one of many bands to feature local drummer Mikey Bishop! Stay tuned for that in the first couple weeks of March!
That's all for today, tomorrow will feature my review/recap of tonight's Sault College/Scotties Tournament Battle of the Bands at the curling rink on Anita Boulevard! Will Sykotyk Rampage win it for the metalheads, or will one of the other bands win a well deserved $750? I'll let you guys know tomorrow afternoon, plus news on a local band's new frontman, and hopefully more! Thanks everyone!
