More Offspring/Sum 41 Concert Videos & More Recent Notes!!

Tonight's punk-centric news post at the SMS is mostly devoted to new concert video uploads, but I also have some assorted recent updates to cap things off. Let's start with those videos, as we belatedly have lots of new public footage to share from November's The Offspring/Sum 41 concert at GFL Memorial Gardens! These come courtesy of prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci's YouTube channel over the past three days, and while they are two months after the fact, I'll gladly take them now rather than never, especially as he filmed all three bands! As far as public footage went, only one other YouTube user filmed Sum 41, and no one else filmed openers Dinosaur Pile-Up, so extra kudos to Chris for posting these! He uploaded 19 videos from this well received show, including 9 of the headlining California punk legends, where you can see them playing their songs "Americana", "Come Out & Play", "Bad Habit", "Gotta Get Away", "Why Don't You Get A Job"(with invading beach balls!), ...

..."Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)",  "The Kids Aren't Alright", "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", and as embedded below, their closing song "Self Esteem". Chris was among the mass of humanity on the floor, and he had a generally solid angle of the stage, but fans can get in the road of the camera at times. The videos sound good and lively, but Dexter does struggle on some higher notes. Check out these new Offspring videos above and below!



Next up, Chris shot seven videos of Ajax, Ontario punk quintet Sum 41's co-headlining set, including their renditions of "Turning Away", "The Hell Song", "Some Say", "Underclass Hero", "Fat Lip", the last half of "Still Waiting", and as embedded below, a two song clip with the guys playing "Over My Head" & "In Too Deep". Sum 41 sound great on these clips, and their stage lighting is particularly neat, albeit sometimes to the detriment of seeing the band. If you were hoping for more videos of Sum 41 in November, do not bypass these clips above and/or below to see what went down!



Lastly from the Gardens, Chris filmed three songs from opening English alt-hard rock band Dinosaur Pile-Up's set, including part of "Round The Bend", their hit single "Back Foot", and as embedded below, "Thrash Metal Cassette". Energetic and often heavy performances here, Dinosaur Pile-Up are rightfully gaining a solid profile, and it's great to see some local videos finally, so check out Chris' uploads above and below!



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

• In a Facebook page post on New Year's Eve, reunited local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers revealed that they have a Toronto concert in the works for this year, though they did not give a timeline for the release of their new singles. Toronto was the band's partial homebase in their original run, so it'll be great for fans down south to see them again! Hopefully we hear more from their camp in the coming months!
• Local punk trio Redundant will play their first advertised concert of 2020 when they play at night #13 of this year's Bout Music Festival in Toronto on March 27th! While advertised as a "festival", this is more accurately a multi-night battle of the bands, where 95 different musical acts will be competing for a top prize of $12,000, with 6 bands sent to the finals in May. Sounds like an intriguing opportunity for Redundant, and good luck down south! Click here for more on the March 27th concert, which features four other bands.
• Last week, in their first Facebook page posting in over 18 months, inactive local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage posted a picture of an eye chart with a caption saying "Sykotyk Rampage Live 20/20 Vision Tour January 9th, 2020."  The post seems to be cryptic by design, but in any event, I did not hear of any new band-related info last Thursday, let alone a concert tour. Unless new material or plainly citable activity surfaces from the cave, I'll leave Sykotyk Rampage in our inactive band links, but hopefully they do return in some form!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and weekend concert previews in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, Offspring/Sum 41 Concert Preview, And More Updates!!

Here's a new news post for your Monday night reading, and while it mostly focuses on a major concert preview for tomorrow night, we also have some assorted recent updates, and leading off, a new addition to our local band listings. Here's what you should know!

We have a new local band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, namely a new southern/hard rock quintet named Fort Creek! Named after the local conservation area, this group stems from local acoustic hard rock duo Tattoos & Scars' search earlier this year to find musicians to join that project, though it appears that this is a separate band, given that Fort Creek have quietly had their own Facebook page since May. Time will tell if Tattoos & Scars will be the Bearded Lounge to Fort Creek's Bone Yard, but in any event, both bands feature singer/guitarist Justin Grayson and guitarist Shane Biron. Their lineup is rounded out by rhythm guitarist Matt Sibilo (ex-Redefined, Scary Uncles, et al.), former Thin Ice/Soundcheck bassist Robin "Bones" Lee, and Griphook/ex-Gsis Murphy drummer Anthony Fabiano. As it turns out, they made their live debut at an open mic night at Reggie's West last month, with pictures to boot, though we have never considered open mic nights to be true "concerts" for our purposes.

If you want to hear Fort Creek in action, this video of the guys jamming Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" was posted on Facebook, but it only shows Justin, and it runs for under 30 seconds. Robin's YouTube channel has audio recordings of the guys covering Radiohead's "Creep" and, as embedded below, Thriving Ivory's "Angels on the Moon". We haven't gotten a massive look at their southern rock side yet, but Fort Creek have a very talented lineup with hard rock chops, and they're already further along as a live band than Halfway Loaded were. Give Fort Creek a look above & below!

Next up, here's our preview of a very special Tuesday night concert going down TOMORROW at GFL Memorial Gardens, as California punk legends The Offspring and Ajax, Ontario punk quintet Sum 41 will join forces for a night full of hit and fan favourite songs! This will be The Offspring's local concert debut, and with songs like "Come Out & Play", "Original Prankster", "Hit That", and many more in their repertoire, their upbeat punk hits should attract a great reception at the former Essar Centre tomorrow! Meanwhile, this will be the first local stop for Sum 41 in 15 years, having last came through when they headlined at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion in September 2004. As any MuchMusic watcher should know from years gone by, Sum 41's classic songs like "The Hell Song", "In Too Deep", and "Pieces" still hold up today, as do their newer songs, and it's great to see them back! This will be their first local gig with Gob's Tom Thacker on guitar or with Frank Zummo on drums.

Finally, English alternative rock trio Dinosaur Pile-Up will open in their own local debut, and with their own single "Back Foot" climbing on the rock radio charts and getting airplay on Stingray Loud, they should set the tone well with the grunge-inspired original attack before the punk sets in! An Invictus Entertainment Group production presented by Rock 101, this ALL AGES & 7:00 PM concert still has floor and bowl seats available at this link, at the in-person box office, and at (705) 759-5251, though the price remains $90 for most seats and $67 for the upper back bowl, minus service fees and taxes. The steep cost will scare off some fans, but hopefully this show is a huge hit to encourage more punk and alternative bands to come to the Gardens! With all of the hit songs and Rock 101 standbys from both bands, I know this will be a great concert, so visit the official Facebook event page for complete details, and here's The Offspring live!



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

• Back on July 31st, a 20 year old punk/metalcore guitarist named Brett Macchio posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group regarding a search for players (presumably a bassist and/or drummer) for a local band that he's working on. At the time, Brett had found a singer, and he has a handful of live experience from a high school band, plus some songwriting work since then. I'm not familiar musically with Brett, but if you want more information, message him at this link or above!
• Local Distillers tribute quartet Coral Fang will join frontwoman Tiffany Stocco's Volbeat tribute band The Guitar Gangsters for their Sudbury road trip on November 29th! This will be their first out of town gig, their first anywhere since Go Skate Day in June, and just their fifth show total. It's great to see that one of Tiffany's pre-existing cover bands will survive despite her move out of town, but will we ever see Poison Girl again? See above for more on the Sudbury concert at The Asylum!
• I have moved local hard rock quintet Halfway Loaded to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, coupled with members Justin Grayson & Shane Biron launching the aforementioned Fort Creek as their apparent primary band. Active since 2016, this promising quintet never advanced beyond open mic nights and private gigs, but follow Fort Creek to see what Justin & Shane have in store, and best of luck to Ryan, Jesse, and Dylan in the future!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Offspring/Sum 41), Doreen Concert Preview, And Last Month's Poll Results!!

After a quiet weekend with personal matters, we are back with a big news post on this Monday evening, so what's below to check out? The results of last month's poll, a mid-week concert preview, and leading off, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this fall!

California punk legends The Offspring and Ajax, Ontario punk quintet Sum 41 will join forces for a huge concert at GFL Memorial Gardens on Tuesday, November 19th! This will be the first ever local date for The Offspring, who will be very familiar to punk fans and rock radio loyalists from hit songs like "Self Esteem", "Gone Away", "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", and many others, and with a new album on the way, it'll be awesome to have Dexter and company at the Gardens this fall with plenty of classic songs to go around! As for Sum 41, it has been 15 years since we last saw them on a local stage, following their Roberta Bondar Pavilion headlining concert in September 2004, and with familiar songs like "Fat Lip", "Still Waiting", and "Screaming Bloody Murder", their return to the Soo should be welcomed by punk and metal fans alike this fall! Note that this will be their first local stop with Gob's Tom Thacker on rhythm guitar (though we've seen Gob here twice since), as well as with Frank Zummo on drums in place of Steve Jocz.

English alternative rock trio Dinosaur Pile-Up will open in their own Soo debut, and while not really a punk band, their aggressive grunge-tinged sound should set the tone well in November! An Invictus Entertainment Group production brought to you by Rock 101, this ALL AGES concert has tickets running for $98 for most seats, aside from upper back bowl seating which runs for $76, with VIP packages to be announced, and they go on sale THIS FRIDAY at 10:00 AM. The ticket prices are a little steep, but I sincerely hope this stacked show does well, so visit the official Facebook event page and this press release for more details!

Next up, here's our preview of another special Tuesday night concert, as Edmonton art punk quartet Doreen will make their local concert debut TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock Dryer Fire's temporary location on Bruce Street! An ecletic and diverse extension of the punk rock sound, Doreen's indie/garage-influenced sound should fit in just fine at this venue, so don't miss this exciting group tomorrow to see what they bring to the table! Local experimental musician Chase Wigmore will bring his unplugged alt-folk attack to Dryer Fire as the opening act, and fans will surely know that his intense, unique, folk/punk originals will be a sight to behold tomorrow, so don't be late for this one either! As usual for Dryer Fire, this is an ALL AGES concert at 7:00 PM, and there will be a $10 cover charge. The weekday scheduling is unfortunate, but the music speaks for itself, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and in lieu of a live video of Doreen (I shockingly can't find one), here's the title track of their new album!



Finally for today, here's the final results from our poll that launched on the site on July 18th, where we posed this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal, hard rock, or punk concert in the first half of 2019? Only 12 votes were cast, which isn't a great number, but at least they were spread out among a bunch of notable shows that were included, and no one voted "Other"! Here are the final results!

The Killer Dwarfs & Re:Born at Soo Blaster on April 27th (4 votes, 33¼%)
Dopethrone & AlgomA at The New American Pub on May 20th (3 votes, 25%)
Joni Radford Memorial at The Algonquin Hotel on March 2nd (2 votes, 17%)
Anvil, Striker, and Jack Spades at Soo Blaster on June 9th (1 vote, 8¼%)
The Tea Party at The Machine Shop on March 27th (1 vote, 8¼%)
Parabol & The Elements at The Rockstar Bar on March 23rd (1 vote, 8¼%)
White Cowbell Oklahoma at LopLops Lounge on January 26th (0 votes)
Rotopsy & Awokest at The New American Pub on February 26th (0 votes)
OZbourne at The Canadian Nightclub on March 23rd (0 votes)
Destroyer at The Canadian Nightclub on March 30th (0 votes)
West of Hell & Expain at The New American Pub on April 17th (0 votes)
Dave Evans & Hells Bells at The Rockstar Bar on May 4th (0 votes)
K-Man & The 45s at The New American Pub on June 6th (0 votes)
Go Skate Day at Queen Elizabeth Park on June 21st (0 votes)
Monster Truck at Soo Blaster on June 28th (0 votes)
Other (0 votes)

What do you guys think? Well, in terms of the shows with no votes, I am most surprised that White Cowbell Oklahoma, Dave Evans, K-Man & The 45s, and Monster Truck didn't get any attention, as all had high profile touring headliners with either proven local success or high existing clout elsewhere, but alas, it is all in who votes! By contrast, Anvil and The Tea Party both had local supporters in the past month among out voters, as if Parabol & The Elements' tribute show double-header in March, which is very encouraging! The Joni Radford memorial concert made the top 3, which is wonderful to see after so many of her friends and colleagues came together for this two-floor bash in March, but I am a little surprised it didn't get a few more votes. Dopethrone's well received doom metal concert in May placed second, as no doubt helped by AlgomA & Shit Liver's long awaited returns, but the mildly surprising winner was The Killer Dwarfs' headlining show at Soo Blaster!

A huge hit for hair metal diehards of all stripes, hopefully we're not waiting 20 years for The Dwarfs to come back to our area! Thanks to everyone for voting, and look for the six shows with votes (plus "Other") to return for our all-of-2019 poll on your favourite concerts early next year! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!