New Musician Interviews From The Borderline Radio, And More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of veteran local radio personality, program director, and sports announcer John Bell, who recently passed away, as per an announcement on 1230 WSOO's Facebook page yesterday morning. Stay tuned to relevant Sault Michigan news outlets for information on services when it becomes available. A Minnesota native, John would become a fixture of local radio over the past 35 years across multiple stations and companies. SMS readers may best recognize John as the long-time news anchor for Rock 101 and their sister stations, but his on-air and behind-the-scenes roles on the Sault Ste. Marie airwaves go well beyond that, including lengthy runs as a DJ and/or morning host with WSOO, 99.5 Yes FM, and the former Know AM/Talk Radio 1400, as well as doing play-by-play for the Sault High Blue Devils hockey team and local junior hockey clubs like the Soo Eagles and the Soo Indians.

John had dealt with major health issues in the last couple of years that I won't get into here, but a fundraiser burger bash was held in his honour in October 2019 at The Elks Lodge, and that seemed to go over pretty well. I never met John, but his familiar voice and on-air talents were ever present when listening to local radio, and he will be missed by all that knew and respected him, if social media testimonials are any indication. R.I.P. John!

Now, today's post continues in the realm of radio, specifically Sault Ontario internet station The Borderline, which we covered shortly after it's launch last fall, and one missing aspect for me at the time was the ability to listen to episodes online after the fact if you weren't able to catch them live. Well, they have done just that on their redesigned website, and 10 of The Borderline's shows have streamable-on-demand episodes at this link! As such, let's at least start to spotlight the series that have episodes dealing with local metal, hard rock, or punk music, and we'll first look at Across The Tracks, where host & station founder Adrian Vilaca talks to local musicians about the story behind their original music. Most aren't hard rock artists, but back in August, Adrian did interview local/Thompson, Manitoba alt/hard rock musician Mike Haggith about the background of his newest CD "If Ever Comes The Day", so what should you know behind that episode?

An 84 minute listen, it features Mike discussing the lyrical inspirations and real life feelings that enveloped the album and it's individual songs, including how his day job in aviation puts things in another perspective, the reason behind the two blank tracks. Every full song from "If Ever Comes The Day" is included after the interview segments, though they aren't discussed in their running order on the actual album. This is an entertaining listen that will likely be the most context you'll ever hear from Mike re: the album's concept, and Adrian gives Mike lots of room to go into lots of details therein, so fans will want to hear the whole episode at this link! While we're on the subject, fellow Borderline staffer Mike "Sev Micron" Severin interviewed Mike Haggith himself on Friday for an episode of his own interview series Sev's Cellar, which has interviewed multiple hard rock performers so far.

Honestly, I'll hold a full write-up on Sev's interview with Mike Haggith for now, because only the second half of the interview is available to stream on demand. It's not labelled as such in the description, but Sev clearly notes that it's part 2 about three minutes into the 68 minute file, before jumping into the interview in progress. Hopefully the first half is posted at some point!

We'll close by looking at a full episode of Sev's Cellar from early last year, where he interviewed Jack Spades/Frightlight frontman and local concert promoter J.D. Pearce (a.k.a. Johnny Pints)! However, be advised that this was recorded before the pandemic, hence why J.D. promotes the local First Jason and Anti-Queens concerts and Jack Spades' annual July tour run, all obviously being cancelled. He also alludes to the lineup changes in Jack Spades, including an apparent new guitarist & drummer, but again, the pandemic may have delayed a further public reveal. The interview afterwards features J.D. discussing his inspiration as a songwriter, his favourite lyrics, songs he's listening to now, info about his personal life, why his concert output was decreasing, memorable local concerts of his, and advice for young musicians, among other topics. "Fright Night" and "C.H.U.D." by Frightlight are also played in full.

Mike revealed in the episode that J.D. would be hosting a punk/metal show on The Borderline, but as best as I can gather, that series never premiered. A lot of the context of the interview is very much dated now (this was only posted for on-demand listening last month), and the background music seems out of place despite reflecting the interview discussion, but this is a fun listen that has some interesting insights from a performing and promotional viewpoint! Give it and more a listen above, and stay tuned for more from Sev's Cellar and beyond in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Updates On Another Sault Ontario Battle Of The Bands, Plus An Interview With AlgomA!!

Keeping our busy stretch alive on the site, we have more big updates on another battle of the bands taking place in the Soo early next year, so if these don't make up for the lack of 2014 battles, I'm not sure what will! That will lead off the vast majority of this post, but we also have a recent interview with a local band to cap things off, so here's what you need to know, and check out the rest of the weekend's concert previews in the post below this one!

The second Sault Ontario battle of the bands of 2015 will go down in March at The Canadian Nightclub, and if you remember April 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle, this will be very familiar! Promoted by local concert promoter & singer J.D. Pearce (a.k.a. Johnny Pints), this battle is a spiritual sequel to that 2013 battle that he co-promoted, and it will also be an all-month event, with four nights of battling taking place on each Wednesday in March! Specifically, there will be semifinals of an intended 4 bands each on March 4th, 11th, and 18th, with each night's winning band (and the highest scoring runner up as a wild card) returning on March 25th for the finals. The first place band that night will win $1,000 in cash and recording time, with more prizes to be announced. Judging criteria has not been announced yet, but crowd engagement, originality, talent, and stage presence are all locks to be among what the judges (yet to be announced) are looking for.

A maximum of 12 bands are being sought for the battle, who would each play 30 minute sets on each night of the battle, but who's confirmed so far? As of this writing, eight bands are confirmed, including local rap/metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty, all female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats, local grunge/hard rock quartet Haggith, folk rock quartet Honest Job, pageless local hard/funk rock quartet Late Shift, classic metal quartet Project 421, doom/punk trio The Revolution, and a new local metal project named Them. Of these bands, only Haggith have competed in a recent battle (they were runners-up at the Rockstar Bar's battle last year), but members of some of the above bands have been seen in other recent battles! For example, Apocalypse Afterparty "songwriter" Paul Stanghetta is a two time battle runner up with The Fury, Late Shift's Clint Wilson finished in second with his old band Northwest in last fall's Viva La Battle, and Project 421's Daniel Horton is of course also in Haggith.

In case you're wondering, the debuting Them play a variety of genres (everything from death metal to hardcore punk), and their lineup includes Heavy North Entertainment owner Tyler St. Amour on vocals and guitar, ex-Revolution bassist Rainey Vincent, and Infamous guitarist Anthony Boudreau on drums  You may recognize them from being briefly scheduled for February's Commencing Human Desperation show, and while information at the time implied that they were a ska punk band featuring The Pixo Control's Keeghan Rosso, that's either erroneous or now outdated. Thanks to Tyler for the info!

Also, Tyler's involvement gives him a chance to repeat his 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands win with Fountain of Betrayal, so keep that angle in mind! The identity of the other four bands is forthcoming, so be sure to stay tuned for updates! If you or your band want in on the four night battle at The Canadian in March, the entry fee for bands will once again be $100 per act, but like in February (and in April 2013), bands will be given tickets to sell, so they can make their money back (and more) if they sell them all! These sets will be premium tickets that will cost $15 and guarantee attendance for all four nights of this battle, and a savings of $10 if you bought tickets separately or at the door. If you don't get tickets from a competing band, admission will be $5 for each night of the semifinals and $10 for the finals, though outside ticket availability is to be confirmed.

A licensed ALL AGES event throughout March, each night has an 8:00 PM start time, though additional details (including the remaining bands, battle sponsors, judges and their scoring criteria, and complete semifinal schedule) are to be confirmed. For now, visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and if you or your band want in on the Canadian Nightclub Battle in March, message Johnny Pints on Facebook A.S.A.P.! I enjoyed the first all-month battle at The Rockstar Bar last year, and it's great to see a sequel from some of the same crew behind that event for next year! For sake of clarity, Beaumont Avenue (the former Suicide Kings) will not be defending their Rockstar Bar Battle title in March, as drummer Ben Boudreau won't be back from college out of town by then. Given the gap between November 2013's Viva La Battle and February/March 2015's new battles, the field is theoretically wide open for both of next year, so be sure to stay tuned to the SMS for complete impartial details on each, and SIGN UP A.S.A.P. BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

Finally for today, here's a recent interview conducted by the music website Grand Sounds Promotion with local sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA! Posted on November 18th at this link, the in-depth interview features the members of AlgomA discussing their music's themes & influences, their new album "Reclaimed By The Forest", how they'd describe their music, their past & other band work, their relationship with label Deadbeat Media, their friends and relationships in the music scene, and the specific inspiration behind their song "Tertiary Syphillis", among other topics. Note that this interview is almost a month old now, so it does still list frontman Darby Wigwaas' side project Das Skalpell Kampf under their original name Scalpel Fight, and it still name drops the now defunct Pillory among their friends in local bands. There's no real "scoops" for new info in the interview (though the band confirmed that they'd like to release their CD on vinyl), but it's still a very entertaining read!

The over-usage of exclamation points in the transcription is a little amusing for a depressive doom metal band, but give it a look above, and stay tuned for more updates from AlgomA! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more on both upcoming battles of the bands and other news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

Anvil Concert Photos & Interviews, Plus New Concert Video Postings!!

In case you're wondering, yes I do know of a handful of late notice concert announcements, we'll be touching on them tomorrow in conjunction with this weekend's concert previews, so look out for them then! In today's post, we have new video postings from each side of the border, and first, some fallout from a recent big show, so let's kick things off!

SooToday & Local2 were on hand for Saturday night's Anvil concert at The Canadian Nightclub, with two separate articles & videos documenting the event making it to Local2 in the last few days! Remember, the video host that Local2 uses does not allow external embedding, so you'll have to visit the links below to see them. The first video served mainly as a sample of the full later upload, with the second video full of 10 minutes of content, starting with footage of frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow playing "March of the Crabs" in the crowd to start their set, before transitioning to a pre-show interview with Lips (interspersed with some concert clips) where he talks about if Anvil are still chasing the dream, whether they regret anything from their career, the struggles with selling metal in Canada, how they feel about being an influence to newer bands, trying not to sell out, advice to younger bands, and more. It's a solid interview, and Lips speaks very well about the topics asked, so be sure to check it out above!

Also, don't sleep on the first video, as while it does preview the full interview with Lips, it also includes an interview segment with promoter/Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce where he talks about his role in promoting Anvil's recent Northern Ontario run and it's importance for connecting Northern Ontario communities, as well as the other bands on the bill and Jack Spades' own quick rise, so be sure to check that out as well above! Finally, Donna's photos from the show finally went up on SooToday this morning, so what should you know on that front? All in black and white again, she posted 35 photos of the night's bands, including 10 of Anvil, 9 of Caym, 6 of Jack Spades, and 5 each of The Suicide Kings & Project 421, and like usual, Donna got some great shots of the bands in action! Note that I haven't seen any concert videos online aside from the Local2 footage above, but we'll have them here if any turn up, so keep an eye out!

We'll close today with new embeddable videos, starting with an 11 year old Kewadin Casino concert video! This comes from Sacramento hair metal legends Tesla's headlining show (perhaps their first in the area?) at The Dreammaker's Theater in Sault Michigan on April 6th, 2002, and though it was posted via Wawa author Duane Roy's YouTube channel yesterday, he told me it was filmed by the late Mike Lemma, who Yooper readers will be familiar with! Notably featuring the band's classic lineup (including now departed guitarist Tommy Skeoch), the half hour video starts with Tesla's cover of The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil", before transitioning to their originals "Action Talks", "Gettin' Better", "The Way It Is", and "Song & Emotion", so click each link to check out each individual song! The video itself isn't much to look at, with a far angle to the right of the stage that often dips below people's heads (maybe the camera was being hidden?), but the audio is solid enough, and if you love Tesla or hair metal, or missed this show, be sure to give this video a look below and above!



Lastly for today, here's a new video from a recent private Blood Shed Productions concert! Uploaded to the label's YouTube channel on Sunday, this featured goregrind duo Rotopsy and other label-affiliated acts at label co-founder and Brutaly Fatal frontman Austin McCrae's house. There's assorted media from this private event on personal Facebook accounts, but there is one video on YouTube, and it's of Rotopsy playing their original song "Non-Profit Vomit Shop" (which is, as of yet, unreleased on CD) at the show. Decent recording quality with a good close angle (despite flipping on it's side for a stretch), but if you've heard past Rotopsy originals, there won't be a lot new from this track compared to others, so keep that in mind. Check it out below, and stay tuned TOMORROW for info on the next Blood Shed-affiliated show, which takes place sooner than you might be thinking!



That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for weekend concert previews, including some big short notice announcements! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sugar Island Music Festival), Your First Look At Chronic Demonic, And More!!

Well, I wasn't expecting to have a second post today, but with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT, I had to get this up, so read on below for that (plus a new song posting, ticket availability for some upcoming shows, and the first video from a newer local band), and check out some new concert announcements (including one for tomorrow) and more Sault Michigan weekend previews in the post below this one!

I completely forgot about this (blame slow updates for the schedule), but there will be one hard rock band at this year's Sugar Island Music Festival, as Kinross, Michigan quintet Banned will be playing at this annual event once again TONIGHT! This probably explains why Banned are only playing in Hessel tomorrow night rather than all weekend. The guys (and girl) will be on at 8:00 PM tonight, with new Dafter classic rock band Thieves In The Night headlining at 10:15 PM, and they're preceded by Flint duo 3-Zip at 9:30 PM, The Fosters Sportsmen's Club Band at 8:45 PM, Banned at 8:00 PM, Junior and the Dinosaurs at 7:15 PM, Hillsdale indie quartet All Arms at 6:30 PM, 3 and a Half Men at 5:45 PM, and local pop duo Missy & Chelsea opening at 5:00 PM. Apologies for not knowing about some bands, this is a recurring theme for the Sugar Island Festival's schedules. The rest of the schedules feature no heavier leaning bands that I can source, but everyone playing today except Banned and Thieves of the Night have another set coming up tomorrow or Sunday, so keep that in mind.

Emceed by Rudy Villareal, admission is $10 for the weekend (no single day options), while kids 12 and under get in FREE. For more details on events, schedules, games, and advance ticket locations, click here! Sure, there have been heavier years for metal/hard rock bands, but The Sugar Island Music Festival is a consistent success in the region, and it gives an American alternative to Buskerfest and Hempfest, so don't miss Banned and the other bands TONIGHT and this weekend! Remember, it's about 45 minutes east of the Soo, and for a preview, here's Banned at the 2011 Sugar Island Festival covering AC/DC!



Next up, remember last week's benefit concert at The Roosevelt Hotel to fund Frightlight bassist Mike Gingras' short film "The Kid Who Made The Face"? Well, aside from the previously announced bands (Frightlight, The Bear Hunters, and Redundant), two newer local metal/punk bands played surprise mini-sets at the show, including Jack Spades and Chronic Demonic! The former (featuring T-Rex Manning, Bear Hunters, and Asylum Country members) was confirmed through personal Facebook posts, and while I don't know much on what they played in their second preview set, Chronic Demonic confirmed their brief performance on their own Facebook page the following day, complete with a video! Featuring members of Frightlight and Faithless Sin in their lineup, the video (which was uploaded to Facebook and is unembeddable here) was filmed by attendee April Fogal, and while the song's name wasn't given, my first thoughts point to what Frightlight would sound like if they had a female singer (Ririe "Sabrina Strange" Lavoie), and it works on that level!

The audio quality isn't great, and make sure your speakers are low, but there is something there, and I'm curious to hear more when they make their full debut! Click here to check out Chronic Demonic's first video, and don't miss the full debut of Jack Spades on September 9th at The Rosie when they open for The Dayglo Abortions! Speaking of concerts promoted by Frightlight/Jack Spades frontman J.D. "Johnny Pints" Pearce, tickets for his upcoming Bunchofuckingoofs and Dayglo Abortions concerts are now on sale at both their host venue (The Roosevelt Hotel) and at The Rad Zone in the Wellington Square Mall, so get yours A.S.A.P., especially as the BFGs show is THIS MONDAY! J.D. also announced that if you buy tickets for the BFGs show and the Airbourne concert on August 19th, bring them with you to the Black Cat Attack-headlined show on the 17th and you will get in FREE! Sounds like a good deal to me, so keep that in mind, and don't miss the BFGs on Monday and the get more details on all of J.D.'s upcoming metal and punk shows at the above links!

Finally for today, here's a new YouTube song upload from defunct experimental/grunge trio SBD! Uploaded to frontman Dann Pichette's YouTube channel this past Saturday, it's of the No Arrow successors' original instrumental "Ess", though I don't know off hand if this is the same recording from their "Sonic Experiments" album. Nice psychedlic tinged take on alternative rock with solid instrumentation, but it does hint towards the largely instrumental nature of their album. I miss Dann's local music work since SBD's hiatus began in 2011, but hopefully this helps fill the void, so check out SBD's "Ess" below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Infrastrate! Thanks everyone!

Peril Concert Previews, Swampstravaganza Updates, And More Recent News & Notes!!

Hey guys, it's time for some more news at the SMS, along with previews of this weekend's metal/hard rock concerts! Honestly, this weekend is fairly quiet for metal/hard rock shows, with only two that I know of going down (both across the river), but we've filled this post out with updates for an upcoming all ages show, some early glimpses at Haggith originals, and much more, so read on below for what you need to know!

We'll start with the concert previews, as Charlevoix classic metal trio Peril will make their first trips to Sault Michigan of the new year TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino! Their third & fourth shows in the Eastern U.P. of 2013 (following two February dates in St. Ignace), this veteran Northern Michigan band should have an exciting weekend of metal and hard rock classics in store for their Yooper fans tonight & tomorrow, so don't miss arguably the heaviest local concerts of the weekend! Admission should be free for both nights, a 10:00 PM start time is likely, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, check the above links! It's great to see Jeff and company back in the Soo for some live action, so keep Peril's regional return in mind for your weekend concert schedules, and for a preview, here's Peril covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" a few years ago!

Next up, here's the latest updates on the third annual Sewer Swampstravaganza at The Oddfellows Hall, which as you may remember, goes down in August, though now on a different day. Originally scheduled to be held on Wednesday, August 21st, the show was rescheduled to Saturday, August 10th, as per the Facebook event page on Monday. A reason for the date change wasn't announced, but the Saturday placement is definitely an improvement for the scheduling, and hopefully there will be a bigger turnout! No word yet though on if any bands will drop out due to the date change. The other news for this event is that a new band has been added, and surprisingly, they're an out of town band, that being Montreal thrash trio Warsenal! My source is the event page linked above, as updated yesterday. The first fully out of town band to play at a Swampstravaganza, I presume they're headlining, but a full schedule has not been announced as of yet.

Warsenal have a fast and heavy old school thrash sound that should appeal to many local metalheads, so kudos to the guys in RedD Monkey for getting them for this show, give Warsenal a listen at this link, and stay tuned for more updates on the newly rescheduled Swampstravaganza as they come in!

Also today, here's another new video posting from Haggith/Sound X frontman Curtis McKenzie's new YouTube channel on Tuesday, and it's a bit of a throwback and a prototype all at once, as this is a package of three songs named the "Rage Train EP" that he recorded in early 2012. These appear to be recordings from before Haggith's formation, but all three included songs ("No Cure For Insanity", "Rage Train", and "Wanko [Reprise]") were adapted into Haggith originals for their debut album "Dragon Joy Ride" last fall. Featuring Curtis on all instruments (save for drums, which are covered by collaborator Zach Day Andre), these are well recorded and performed, and if you didn't know better, you'd assume they were just Haggith demos! Good stuff, and a nice early look at these songs, so check out Curtis' "Rage Train EP" below, and stay tuned for updates from his active band projects!



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

• Frightlight/T-Rex Manning/Jack Spades frontman J.D. "Johnny Pints" Pearce was thanked in the liner notes of Toronto metal legends Anvil's new album "Hope In Hell" (proof here), so if you pick up a copy, make note of this little local connection! That's awesome for sure, and maybe J.D. can bring them back to town for another concert at some point?
• Sault Ontario metal standouts Garden of Bedlam have launched their own Twitter page, so go follow them there for what will hopefully a new source of frequent band updates! Also, remember that they make their out-of-province debut TOMORROW in Quebec City, and they even have radio interviews planned when out east, so stay tuned for any fallout from the show when we have it!
• If you missed Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's live debut on Memorial Day outside of The Corner Pub, then pictures of their set are now viewable on their Facebook page! There, it appears that drummer Greg Giles was not in town for the show, so his brother Steve and keyboardist Craig Harrison likely played as a duo, but I bet it was a great event all the same, and hopefully Greg will be a part of future shows!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, including this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Insipid Brutality on Monday! Thanks everyone!

Major Announcements On New Johnny Pints Concerts, Plus Late & Loud's New EP!!

Before we review last night's Garden of Bedlam show (videos should be posted on Facebook in the next couple of hours), we have a new news post covering many recent stories, so what's on tap? Mostly news concerning local concert promoter (and prolific metal/punk singer) J.D. Pearce, who has even more big news coming for 2013 concerts, so that will lead off, but also watch for news on lineup additions for a previously announced gig, another one being moved, and a recent EP re-release. Without any further adieu, here's what you need to know!

The aforementioned J.D. Pearce (a.k.a. Johnny Pints) is going to try promoting a metal/punk festival this fall that he's calling Heavy North! Planned to be held at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center at 50 Pim Street, the aim appears for this to be a multi-day event starting on September 27th, and it will likely feature out of town headliners and local acts, though full details have yet to be announced (i.e. bands, ticket availability, age restrictions, other ground rules.) Most local music festivals that we have in town are either geared towards more mainstream genres (i.e. Rotaryfest) or one-off (like many charitable events), so if this is a success, it could be huge and encourage this to become an annual event! Of course, that was the aim of last year's Ypres Metal Fest. I think J.D. has the drive and resources to pull this off and see if it will be successful, but given the Heavy North branding, I'd like to see an emphasis on local/Northern Ontario bands and non-regional acts with former Saultites in their lineup. I'm sure things will fall into place as we get into the summer, so stay tuned for updates, and message the above links if you want in on Heavy North!

In a possibly related note, the July 8th SNFU/Death By Stereo concert originally planned for the Bushplane Museum was moved to The Canadian Nightclub (who hosted Death By Stereo's last show here in 2009) on Wednesday, as per the Facebook event page. A reason wasn't announced, but could it have been to save the museum for Heavy North? Either way, the SNFU show will be huge, and it still has a huge venue, so click the above links for more details!

Also in new event announcements is The Crusade, a multi-band cancer fundraising concert to be held at The Canadian Nightclub on Monday, May 20th. This is a cause close to J.D., as his mother has survived cancer battles multiple times, so you know this event will be done right! Cancer sucks, I lost my grandmother & step-grandfather to it, so I know full well the importance of an event like this! This ALL AGES event will take place from 12:00 PM to midnight on May 20th, and admission is by donation (or, pay what you can), with a suggested amount of $5. All proceeds will go to The Canadian Cancer Society & The Relay For Life, and while no bands have been announced yet, J.D. emphasized on the Facebook event page that unlike his usual punk/metal/hardcore shows, this is open to everyone! I'd assume some harsher bands will be a part, but expect a wider variance of acts for The Crusade.

If you're interested in playing (all genres are welcome), or would like to donate prizes for likely draws, message J.D. at this location, and get more details above! This sounds like a great event for an awesome cause, so contact the above links to get involved, ad keep an eye out for any SMS-leaning band announcements!

Lastly for updates on J.D.'s upcoming concerts, the local support for the Skeletonwitch-headlined metal show at The Canadian Nightclub on June 3rd is now official, and rather than just one band, we have two, including local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters! Fresh off of their best ever local Battle of the Bands finish from Wednesday night, their concert pace continues to slowly pick up, and this major show will be their first at The Canadian since (I think) opening for Fuck The Facts last May! The other newly confirmed opening band is local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade (featuring Pillory & Inhuman Methods alumni) in their first concert since The Locals Attack at The Canadian in November! Though only sporadically seen with recent lineups, their Death-influenced sound attracted a lot of positive notices last fall, and they've been busy working on a yet-released EP so far this year, so we'll have to see how they sound and perform in their long awaited return! Check the above links for more on this huge concert in June, and I know I'll see you guys there!

Finally, here's what you should know on local classic metal quartet Late & Loud's CD release from their finals appearance at The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands Finals! As in the Saigon Hookers' show in November, Late & Loud sold $5 copies of "Heavy Rockin' Hard Metal" on Wednesday night for fans & attendees, though this was an expanded version subtitled "Still Hard", featuring 4 new songs! The cover art is on your left, and the disc features the 5 songs from the initial EP release (as recorded at The Smoke & Oak Room with Dave Pihlaja), albeit newly ordered. The other 4 songs include re-recordings of "Never Again" & "Love Letter Lockdown" (last year's bonus tracks), plus two brand new recordings ("Trouble" & "Live For Excess".) The 4 new tracks were produced by singer/guitarist Jonathan Tiberi's Daybreak Johnnies bandmate Steve Hopkin, and without reviewing them yet, the quality is better than on last year's bonus songs! The re-release also includes an expanded booklet (including more band photos), a psychedelic custom design on each disc, and a slimmer jewel case.

I fully plan on reviewing the "HRHM" re-release next month on the site (hopefully sooner rather than later), so there's our May CD review at the SMS! I just hope Wednesday wasn't their last show, and I hope Late & Loud stay alive, even if just for sporadic reunion gigs when Jon comes back north. The off-podium finish for the guys is bound to be disappointing, but to their fans (myself included), it was fun and business as usual, and if it was their last, they went out with a bang! Stay tuned for updates as they come in, and keep an eye out for our review of the EP next month!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for my review of last night's Garden of Bedlam/Skeyes of Seven concert later tonight! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Greber), New Videos, And More Recent Updates!!

We have another news post for you guys this afternoon, but remember to read our memorial post to late J.A.B. guitarist Jean-Paul Fecteau below this post, as he suddenly passed away on Saturday. As of this writing, details of his arrangements have not been posted, but I'll let you guys know if I hear anything regarding them or any other tributes. In today's news post, we have new videos from acts on each side of the border, and some more recent news items, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month in Sault Ontario, so here's what you need to know!

A new death metal concert is hitting The Roosevelt Hotel next month, though on a Saturday night (May 18th) for a change, and it'll be headlined by a different (yet familiar) band from Cambridge, Ontario named Greber! A sort of death/experimental metal duo, they feature bassist Marc Bourgon from Juno nominated Ottawa/Gatineau grindcore favourites Fuck The Facts, and he and Greber drummer Steve Vargas have a drum & bass-only set of metal originals in store for what should be an interesting concert which might call to mind two-person metal bands like Mares of Thrace or Sue Inside at older local shows! They'll be joined by a familiar lineup of local death metal bands, including melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters & grindcore trio Shit Liver, who are both no strangers to The Rosie! While this will likely be The Bear Hunters first show following their Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands appearance(s?) later this month, it'll be Shit Liver's first public local concert in almost 3 months, following their headlining set at "Axed Theory Night" at The Rosie in February.

Shit Liver (who appear to be promoting this show) were also reportedly nearing completion of their debut EP last month, but could it possibly surface in some form on May 18th? This 19+ concert has a 9:00 PM start time, but admission prices have yet to be revealed. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an interesting show, and it'll be good to see Marc back following the most recent Fuck The Facts dates, while the two local death metal bands are very well matched, and should provide ample & brutal support come next month! Stay tuned for show updates as they roll in!

Next up, we have some new videos to share, starting with the latest video from Sault Michigan metal band The Highest of Fives! On Friday, a new 5 minute "short film" was posted onto member Devin Anderson's YouTube channel, which is similar in theme and composition to their initial preview video from December 2012, but what's in it? Well, I can confirm that drummer Mike Pascoe is back in the fold after a brief absence, with Devin (his old Free Refill bandmate) shifting back to guitar, a fact that's lampshaded in the video with some joking testimonials from members about why Mike left and related band tensions. The rest of the video includes numerous assorted clips of the members playing instruments (or pretending to play them), hype & promotion of their sound and their planned debut album "Bang!" (such as guitarist Marcel Grengs promoting album packages for amusingly high prices), a guest appearance from Marcel's former Analog Deficiency bandmate Cody Reed, and samples of two original songs (one improvised one named "Sweet Apple Pie", and one unknown studio track from the album.)

There are some genuinely amusing moments in this video (especially the interviews on Mike's departure and return), and this type of comedic video is something I'd like to see more local bands do! However, like their past previews, we see a lot without learning a lot in the process, and there's not a lot of samples of their original material there, but it sounds like they're slowly getting a lot done from what I can tell. I'm curious to see/hear more, so check out The Highest of Fives' newest short preview video below, and stay tuned for more Highest of Fives updates as they roll in!



Also in new videos, veteran Sault Ontario solo guitarist Mike Cliffe posted a new solo video for his original song "Dream of Insomnia" onto his YouTube channel yesterday, and it's a jazzy progressive hard rock instrumental that features inset videos of him playing the song overlayed with trippy visualizations, logos for his AudioFumes podcast, and even dancing stick men. It's well done and does sort of have a floating dream atmosphere at points, so give Mike's newest solo video a look/listen below!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by artist or promoter name:

• If you're wondering where Sault Ontario horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight have been since their Halloween 2012 shows, they've been taking a break at least partly due to bassist Mike "Eddie Fright" Gingras' move to Toronto late last year, where he's currently back in college. Frightlight are still together, and we should see them back later this year, so keep an eye out for any news on their return!
• Frightlight frontman/local concert promoter J.D. "Johnny Pints" Pearce is looking for bands to play a proposed all ages cancer fundraising concert later this year, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society. There's already visible interest, but if you're want in, message J.D. at this link or reply to his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group from Friday!
• Local solo guitarist Shane "The Shaner" Solomon posted three newer solo demos onto his Reverbnation page at some point late last year, including in-progress samples named "Toast Master", "Emo Hemophilia", and "Riftworn Take B", and while the former two are visibly unfinished and short, "Riftworn" has mid-tempo heavy promise and good riffing, so check out Shane's newest songs at the above links!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow morning for our preview of Wednesday's second night of the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands Semifinals! Which of this week's newer local rock bands will join Late & Loud in the finals? The preview's on it's way tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman Morrison & Annex Theory), A Band Looking To Play Here, And Much More!!

It seems like forever since we've had a real news post on here! Monthly features and video-centric posts aside, we haven't really touched on news on the site since Thursday the 24th, so it's good to end this drier spell with some news and notes on this Wednesday morning! Today, we have updates to one of our monthly feature posts, assorted recent news, and a band looking to play here, but first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for a West End venue next month that should intrigue many of you guys, so here's what you need to know!

Sault Ontario classic metal trio Caveman Morrison will finally make their first live concert appearances of 2013 (and their first in over 2 months) next weekend at The Roosevelt Hotel! The band had originally been scheduled to play at The Rosie three weeks ago in the first weekend of the new year, but the shows were suddenly cancelled the night of the Friday gig, so it's great to see Tym, Dutch, and Johnny back at the Korah Road venue next weekend! Announced this past Saturday, Caveman Morrison's shows on February 8th & 9th should be 19+ affairs with no cover charge and 10:00 PM start times. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Caveman Morrison back at it next weekend, and hopefully Tym and company deliver a great night of metal and hard rock covers to their fans at The Rosie to kick off the year next weekend! Stay tuned for any updates if they come in, but note that this is just the start of a busy month at The Rosie for Caveman Morrison drummer Johnny Belanger, which we'll know more about below!

The other new show is a very promising extreme metal show on February 21st at The Rosie featuring two returning local metal bands along with headlining Winnipeg progressive death metal sextet Annex Theory! Last seen in the Soo opening for Laika at the 30th Roosevelt Hotel metal night in August 2011, this fast rising band featuring ex-Quo Vadis frontman Trevor Birnie should be raring to go with their technical and original take on the genre, so don't miss their return after a year and a half! The opening bands will sure be welcomed back by many local metalheads, as melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters & grimecore trio Shit Liver will finally return to the live local stage! Though they both played live in Sudbury in December, neither has been seen at a public concert in the Sault area since the summer, with The Bear Hunters last seen at the F.A.T.I.L. Requiem in Laird in August, and Shit Liver (who opened for Annex Theory at the 2011 show) having last played a public local set at the 46th Rosie metal night in June, so it's certainly been a long time coming for both! Plus, it's no major secret that both bands have been working on studio material in the past year, so that has to bode well for their setlists!

This concert is being promoted by Frightlight/T-Rex Manning singer J.D. Pearce, and with this lineup, isn't it fitting that it's taking place on a Thursday? Though not a revival of the dormant Rosie metal night series, it marks J.D.'s fourth Thursday night show at the Rosie in the past 9 months, so it's definitely familiar ground! There will be a 19+ age limit and $3 cover charge for this 9:00 PM show, and click here for more details! This should be an awesome concert, and likely very overdue for many a metalhead, so don't miss this metal onslaught on February 21st, and stay tuned for any potential updates!

Speaking of upcoming live dates, here's a show that could use a promoter, and this could be a big opportunity! Earlier this month, I got an e-mail from Apocalyspe Productions out of Montreal concerning possibly bringing Russian folk metal band Arkona to Sault Ontario this year, as unlike most of the other bands he promotes, this will be a cross-Canada tour. A preferred date wasn't given, but he's looking for metal promoters in the Soo who can help secure a date for Arkona here. Though not really common, Sault Ontario has hosted European metal bands in the past (i.e. Heaven & Hell, Behemoth, Napalm Death), so this isn't completely out of the realm of possibility, but can you help? Arkona are a well regarded metal band in Russia, and their female fronted blend of folk and doom metal with Pagan influences is very interesting, so if you can help promote or book Arkona in Sault Ontario this year, message here for any extra information, and check the above links for more information!

Next up, here's three assorted shorter stories relating to some of the above bands and personalities, so as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or promoter name:

• If you were curious as to the identity of the Misfits tribute band The Fiend Brigade that are playing the all tribute-band concert at The Canadian Nightclub on March 1st, then I can confirm that they are essentially local metal/punk band T-Rex Manning with Francis McCormick on drums in place of Daniel MacDonald, who moved out west last year, though no word yet on if Frank's fully in T-Rex Manning too. Thanks to frontman J.D. Pearce for the confirmation!
• The aforementioned J.D. Pearce has started a Facebook group named "Johnny Pints Presents..." to promote and get the word out on concerts that he books, which is a great idea to keep everything in one place for reliable announcements! Join the group above, and it's now in our Other Sault Ontario Metal Links section on your left!
• In a Facebook page posting on Saturday, Shit Liver alluded to their show at The Rosie on the 21st, while also hinting that their debut album could be done by then (but there's no guarantees), and they already have ideas in mind for a second album. Believe it or not, I think this is their first ever acknowledgement on band pages that they're working on studio material, but it's great to hear something finally, and hopefully 2013 is Shit Liver's biggest year yet!

Finally for this post, here's the rest of our recent updates to our Battle of the Bands Rewind profiles from last year! In our profile of the Kiss Battle of the Bands, I restored a photo, updated the band aftermath section to reflect finalists Wishbone's breakup & Stiffler's Mom's reunion, and added a link for Crank Sound Distribution, who provided sound each night. In terms of that profile's section on later bands with battle alumni, I replaced Big Wheel & The Spokes, High Road, March Into Regression, and That's Chester with 415E, Bone Yard, Giwakwa, and Pocketful of Scoundrel to better reflect newer & more recently active bands. On the Sault College Battle of the Bands profile, I added newer folk band The Soft Shoe Shufflers (featuring 2/3rds of battle winners' Blackwater) to that same section on newer band with battle alumni. Finally, I edited the Downtown Showdown profile to reflect competitors' SBD's now inactive status, while adding Giwakwa & Sykotyk Rampage to the same newer bands section. That's it for that batch of updates, and stay tuned shortly for more updates to another of our monthly feature post series!

That might be all for today, but stay tuned for more news as it trickles in (maybe not until we preview this weekend's metal concerts), and of course, our review of Destroilet's new CD! Thanks everyone!