The Sault Metal Scene would also like to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of local metal musician and rapper Austin McCrea, who just passed away in the past week, as per a number of personal Facebook postings. He was just 30 years old. This didn't cross my radar at the time, but Austin (a.k.a. Jayrald Micky) had been in hospital since September due to pancreatitis, and endured a number of devastating medical setbacks in the ensuing months, which you can read more about via this GoFundMe campaign that was launched on his behalf by his sister two weeks ago. As a local musician, Austin is arguably best known as the frontman of the goregrind/death metal band Brutally Fatal (once intentionally spelled "Brutaly Fatal"), who had two different incarnations between 2012 and 2019, and had brief and more mainstream turns under the names Re-Born and The Revolution.
Austin was a co-founder of the local goregrind/death metal/rap label Blood Shed Productions alongside his late-era Brutally Fatal bandmate Tyler Gibson, and his bands turned up multiple times at Blood Shed-affiliated concerts in the 2010s, be they late-era Oddfellows Hall concerts or house parties, while they also performed at the 2014 & 2015 Swampstravaganzas. Austin also dabbled in hip hop in the early-mid 2010s, rapping under the handle Miracle Man. While Austin primarily provided vocals, guitar, and bass in his best known bands, his most recent public music work was as the original drummer for local hard rock band Far From Fine (née Ravencore), performing with them at the 2022 Toystock and helping on their original material for their unfinished album, but he left that band by June 2023. Austin was also tapped to drum with Frightlight at The Northern Vibe Festival in 2023, but the horror punk band dropped out of that event and fell inactive afterwards.
I didn't know Austin well, but he was a talented and improving multi-instrumentalist who played the music he wanted to play without apologies, even if the imagery & lyrics weren't always to a wide audience's taste. When we profiled Brutally Fatal on the SMS four years ago, I linked to much of their known public music, including their demo EPs, while you can hear the originals he was working on with Far From Fine (albeit after he left) via their Lopstock 2023 set linked here. Losing someone over the holidays, let alone after this prolonged fight, is something I can't even imagine, and our thoughts are with the McCrea and Nadon families at this time. When details on services go public, I will let you know. R.I.P. Austin!
Here's a new news post on this Tuesday night, which features a recently revived solo project and some recent updates & teasers from an established act, but first, here's what you should know about a brand new addition to our band links!
We have a new local hard rock band to add to our active Sault Ontario band links, namely Far From Fine! This name will be unfamiliar, but you may have seen them live already, as this band debuted at Toystock at The Grand Gardens North in November under the name Ravencore. A reason for the name change wasn't announced, but on their new Facebook page, Far From Fine acknowledged that they were initially waiting to launch it in conjunction with their planned debut album (which was teased in this SooToday article on their Toystock set), but opted to get this up in advance of the summer concert season for promotional sake. Effectively, Far From Fine are successors to the 2012-2016 hard rock band The Suicide Kings (a.k.a. Beaumont Avenue), with singer Mike Gaetano and current Handsome Sandwich guitarist Mitch Sirie reunited as such. Mike also handles rhythm guitar and keyboard in this project.
The rhythm section features former Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi and former Brutally Fatal/Revolution frontman Austin "Mickey" McCrae on drums. Uniquely, each band member has an image on Facebook featuring a brief question & answer section (how Angelfire or Tripod of them!), which reveals details about their setlist, planned original songs, and favourite local bands, though Austin didn't give an answer on the latter query. Their covers do skew towards a more varied range of bands than The Suicide Kings played, with Everclear, Good Charlotte, and Blackstreet cited, while they are known to have covered Weezer at Toystock. Originals named "Relapse", "This Way Again", and "Poison In My Mind" are cited as individual favourites of the band so far, though Matt couldn't name one over the rest. The lyrics for "Relapse" and another original song named "Broken" have been posted as images on the band's Facebook page as well.
No media samples or planned concert dates are posted yet, but given that they already played live as Ravencore, got local news coverage out of it (especially with Mike's son Gavin guesting on drums), and that they already have at least four original songs ready, then these are all good signs for Far From Fine in 2023! I have no idea if the guys have actually been recording their originals in studio already or if they're still writing and rehearsing them, but thye're on the right foot, so visit the above links for more on Ravencore Far From Fine, and if you know where to look, a couple of videos from Toystock are floating around on personal Facebook accounts!
Next up, here's the latest from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's Facebook page! True to their pattern of one "Reel" per day of each band member, that series closed on Sunday with a "Reel" of guitarist Jay "Redbeard" Sarrazin playing at an unidentified concert. A fine guitar solo, just a shame that I can't embed it here! Again, this is Facebook's fault, not the band's. The "Reels" did keep coming though, with another one posted yesterday featuring singer J.D. Pearce and both guitarists rocking out mid-song, and today seeing another one, this time obviously cribbed from the "Hands" video that Jake Disman filmed at the Road To Lockdown Fest in Toronto on April 7th. Earlier today, the guys did tease that a "big announcement" will be made on their Facebook page at 7:00 PM tomorrow, allegedly "the first of many this spring", though I have no definitive word on what they're getting at yet, or if it'd even be locally relevant as opposed to something for the GTA.
Remember that they were recording their new album in Toronto earlier this year, while J.D. is likely back as curator for The Northern Vibe Festival's band-centric Forest Stage in August, so another Jack Spades homecoming set would likely follow in Ophir once again (festival organizers revealed the DJ-centric River Stage lineup yesterday, with the band announcement "coming soon"). In any event, we'll keep you guys posted on the latest news and notes from Spades GT when it comes in!
We'll close today with a surprise revival of a local grunge/alternative solo project, namely Kush Wood! The subject of our Defunct Local Band Profile just last month, project leader Kristien Woodcock posted on their Facebook page for the first time in over two years on April 10th, and has two new acoustic cover videos to show for it, one being a "Reel" of him covering Matthew Good's "Symbolistic White Walls". Sounds good while it lasts, but of course, the limitations of "Reels" are noted. The other video is cross-posted from Kush Wood's Instagram page, and while videos from there are not the cleanest thing to embed on the SMS, at least you can do it, unlike TikTok videos (not to mention "Reels"!). This sees Kristien covering Stone Sour's "Through Glass", and while neither of these videos are overly long, it's good to see him back at it with some strongly played & sung renditions! Give these a look, and Kush Wood are back in our active links!
Another weekend is upon us for concert previews, including ones with attached SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! The post also ends with clarification on a scheduled event that I don't think is taking place on Saturday night, and if you're wondering, our preview of Tym Morrison's late notice matinee show on Sunday will topline our next formal news post. Now, here's what you should know!
We'll start in St. Ignace, Michigan, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to the stage for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and...TONIGHT(?!) at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino branch! Apologies for the short notice on TONIGHT's show, the band only confirmed the added day on their Facebook page on Monday, but Kewadin had confirmed that Scarkazm were pulling a rare triple header via the official Facebook event page launched last month.
The rare triple booking at The Northern Pines Lounge appears to be as a tie-in with the Labatt Blue UP Pond Hockey Championships, which take place this weekend at nearby Chain Lake, which is in Moran Township 10 minutes south of the St. Ignace Kewadin. Full details on the tournament proper can be found at this link, and Scarkazm are playing TONIGHT to coincide with the meet & greet held at the casino.
Of course, their previously announced shows tomorrow & Saturday night will be more normal affairs, so don't miss out on Dave, Adam, and Jeff's hard hitting covers & select originals TONIGHT or then! Admission for all three shows is free (I don't believe tournament registration or tickets are required to just go to the lounge as normal), these are all 21+ events, and all have 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for the late notice TONIGHT, and here's Scarkazm live!
Next up, Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, neither the band nor venue have plugged these shows on their respective Facebook pages at press time, and I only heard that they were a thing via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page earlier this week. Their first gigs at Shooters since adding bassist Jim Michaud to the fold, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts follow their usual open mic/jam night hosting duties at Jay's Piston Broke Pub tonight. Despite the lack of online notice from public sources, hopefully Soundcheck's partying brand of classic and hard rock covers (and some country) goes over well on Dennis Street once again this weekend! As usual for Soundcheck there, expect 8:00 PM start times, no cover, and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!
Next up, we'll look at some hard rock shows this weekend that did have advance notice, starting with southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard's return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Bone Yard and Soundcheck basically traded venues this weekend, as Soundcheck had been the Friday-Saturday band at Jay's last week, while Bone Yard rocked Shooters, so keep that in mind whether you're up for a downtown or west end trip. Last seen at the former Reggie's West at the end of January, this weekend's shows should prove to be another chance for Bone Yard to deliver their down & dirty brand of hard edged and classic covers for their fans (a.k.a. Boneheads), so don't miss out on Greg, Alex, and Warren in action tomorrow and/or Saturday! These have 9:30 PM start times with 19+ age limits and no cover, and limited band t-shirts will be on sale. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!
Finally for today, I wanted to acknowledge a Sault Ontario concert announced for this Saturday night that I have serious doubts about the status of. Last fall, Ravencore drummer/ex-Brutally Fatal frontman Austin "Jayrald Micky" McCrae announced plans to hold a tribute concert/celebration of life for his brother Matthew Nadon, who passed away suddenly on August 27th at just 24 years old (read his obituary at this link). I'm not familiar with Matthew as a musician, but he was learning bass at one point, and he definitely had many friends in & out of the scene, so a tribute show does make sense. Original plans were to host it at Shooters in late November before being delayed to this weekend for unannounced reasons. Advertising for the event had Ravencore (in just their second ever live concert set) playing alongside No Filter (the new noise rock band from AlgomA/Bad Back alum Jamie Vincent), though neither have online pages to promote this show.
A personal Facebook posting noted that Chase Wigmore was also slated to play this event, but regardless, it doesn't look like the tribute show is happening. As noted above, Soundcheck are playing at Shooters on SATURDAY, there have been no posts on the Facebook event page since the date change, and Shooters haven't plugged it whatsoever on their own Facebook page (nor has their new upstairs sister venue The Queen Of Hearts Club, and I thought of that possibility initially). Given the nature of this event, you'd hope that it at least gets rescheduled, assuming it was called off, so we'll keep you guys posted when and if we hear anything about it, stay tuned for more news on the site shortly, and R.I.P. Matthew!
With some big news that I didn't want to fall by the wayside being announced today, I'm postponing this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post to tomorrow so we can dive into the news and notes, including a new music video, early details on a new local hard rock band, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the holidays!
Local indie punk quintet The Northwest will end the year with a headlining concert at LopLops Lounge on Wednesday, December 28th! The post-Christmas gig will be their first live appearance since their North Bay show in October, their first on a local stage since opening for Marianas Trench in September, and their first at LopLops since the pandemic began, so in the latter case, this is definitely a long time coming, and their upbeat indie and punk originals should fit right in there at month's end! The opening band is The Gambit, who are actually the newly renamed and revived Sick Sons, the 2019-2020 punk supergroup whose last public act before last month was to cancel a planned headlining gig at LopLops in March 2020 (we all know why), though they never fully disbanded during their pandemic hiatus. A reason for their name change wasn't announced, but it is great to see The Sick Sons Gambit back after well over 2½ years!
It is worth noting that LopLops are undergoing some type of redesign, including a garage door installed on the front of the Queen Street East building and some extra interior changes, as per this SaultOnline article, though I have no clue how far along things will be come the 28th. If this is a sign towards LopLops re-opening on a pre-pandemic basis, then fantastic! This 8:00 PM and 19+ event has $20 advance tickets that you can buy through Eventbrite at the official Facebook event page (no word on in-person availability yet). The Wednesday timing isn't ideal, but if you the next day off still for the holidays, don't miss out on the punk action on the 28th, and see above for more details!
Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Saturday, December 31st as their New Year's Eve party headliners! While not yet confirmed by the venue's Facebook page (which hasn't even plugged Soundcheck's shows there this weekend), the band announced the event via this Facebook event page. 2022 is profoundly lucky to have New Year's Eve proper on a Saturday night, so Soundcheck's hard rocking array of covers should attract a sizeable audience of revelers sending out 2021 the right way! No word yet on what kind of seasonal frills to expect for the occasion, but there should be something extra beyond the band & a New Year's countdown. As such, while a cover charge hasn't been announced yet, bring cash just in case. This is obviously a 19+ event and it starts at 8:00 PM. Visit the above links for more details!
Also today, let's answer an unanswered question from our Toystock coverage: Who are Ravencore? They still don't have an online band page that I'm aware of, but they actually got spotlighted on SooToday via this article by Darren Taylor this morning, confirming some of my suspicions from personal Facebook posts. As best as I can gather, their lineup features former Suicide Kings vocalist Mike Gaetano and guitarist Mitch Sirie (last seen together when that band reunited for the 2018 Rotaryfest) alongside ex-Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi and former Brutally Fatal/Revolution frontman Austin McCrae on drums. The article on SooToday actually primarily deals in Mike and his 10 year old son Gavin, who joined Ravencore on stage for their live debut at The Grand Gardens North last week, taking over on drums for a cover of Weezer's "Beverly Hills" that reportedly was well received!
A couple of brief, brief videos of Ravencore's set are on personal Facebook accounts, one seeing them cover Good Charlotte's "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous", but neither are publically shared. The article notes that Ravencore formed shortly before band applications for Toystock began, they have been working on original songs, and that they hope to record a debut album in the spring. The article has some minor mistakes (i.e. it wasn't 11 bands in 11 hours at Toystock), but it's a nice article especially for the sake of Mike's family, and hopefully we hear more from Ravencore ahead, especially if(?) they launch an online page of some kind!
Finally for today, here's a brand new video from Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel! A rendition of "Silent Night", fans will have first heard it instrumentally on their debut album "Christmas Night" over a decade ago, but this new version features singer Rachel Mender and has recently been uploaded to streaming services like YouTube Music as "Silent Night V2". The video features Rachel, guitarist Steve Giles, and keyboardist Craig Harrison (no Luke or Erik) performing individually in close, low-lit monochrome, though the performances are sometimes layered over each other or included in inset windows. This is quite a good rendition of this classic carol if you like symphonic metal, and Rachel's voice is a nice fit as you'd expect, and with cool visuals to boot, so check it out for yourselves below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next, guaranteed! Thanks everyone!
As I will likely be tied up all tomorrow with Christmas decorating and such, here's a special extended post on this Friday night, devoted to both recent promotional videos surrounding a major concert tomorrow night, and leading off, here's our preview of a big returning charity concert!
After a two year, pandemic-induced hiatus, Toystock is back for its ninth annual installment on SUNDAY at The Grand Gardens North! This special charity event will once again see ten bands/solo musicians in ten hours donating their time for Christmas Cheer, with admission by donation of new/gently used toys, non-perishable food, and/or money to help needy families at this time of year. Always a wonderful cause, so kudos to organizer & Bone Yard frontman Greg Simpson for sticking with the concept through the pandemic, and hopefully there's a great turnout on Sunday! Like in past years, expect a children's play area, face painting, appearances by Santa & Mrs. Claus themselves, but no word on the Stuff-A-Bus. 705Live will be on hand to provide sound on Sunday, with this being the sixth Toystock at its current 1324 Great Northern Road homebase. Now, who all is playing Toystock IX and when?
Three of the closing four bands are Toystock returnees, including Greg's own southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard in their record eighth Toystock set, but first with their current lineup. They're closing at 9:00 PM, with veteran classic rock quintet Mustang Heart making their surprising debut at this event at 8:00 PM. Country musician Brendan Hodgson returns for his third straight Toystock at 7:00 PM, while classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will hit the stage for their fourth straight year at 6:00 PM. Yes, drummer Glen Thomas will be donating three drumkits to young attendees after their set, including the drums that he will be using, so keep that in mind! The preceding six acts are all new to Toystock, including new local pop rock cover quintet Bourbon Blue (featuring Soo Fighters/Cherry Crush alum Jules Cote on drums) at 5:00 PM, though specifics are still slight on this band as of yet.
Country musician Rob Wagner "and friends" are on at 4:00 PM, preceded at 3:00 PM by a debuting local band named Ravencore. This group still has not issued any public details on their lineup or sound, aside from their advertised involvement in the Matthew Nadon memorial concert (postponed from tomorrow to February), and while some personal Facebook posts have hinted towards possible band members, Ravencore are clearly keeping things somewhat quiet until showtime. We'll keep you posted! Rising young punk trio Vanity First take the stage at 2:00 PM, preceded by The Long & McQuade Band (presumably a student group from the MacDonald Avenue music store) at 1:00 PM, which will pick up where old Case's Music and Bocturoc student bands left off at Toystocks past. Acoustic singer/guitarist Jeremy Logan Newman will kick off the festivities at 12:00 PM.
Toystock IX is an ALL AGES event and kids are happily welcomed to come enjoy the holiday festivities and meet Santa Claus on Sunday! Again, admission is via Christmas Cheer donations, and this should be a great event once again to enjoy a diverse array of local musicians! In some musical respects, this is kind of like a winter Rotaryfest (if indoors), but the charitable causes are absolutely paramount with Toystock, so be generous and come on down if you want to kick the holidays off right! Visit the above links for complete current details, and for a preview, here's Bone Yard, Soundcheck, Brendan, and the other 2019 acts last time out!
Next up, here's something you don't see posted every day, an on-air interview with a major touring musician on The Sault's Rock Station, Rock 101! In his first upload on his YouTube channel in over two years, Hair Scare host Scott Cook posted his interview with Steel Panther drummer Stix Zadinia from his morning drive show Scott Cook In The Morning on Saturday, in advance of their Dreammakers Theatre concert tomorrow night at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino. If you missed the live interview on 101.3 FM, what can you hear in this one? The 17 minute audio interview (uploaded alongside a photo slideshow) features Stix talking about his experiences on tour and playing shows of varying sizes, his musical origins and influences, perceptions of their adult comedy lyrics and sensibilities, their upcoming studio album, his favourite drummer between Neil Peart and John Bonham, and more related topics about well loved bands and so forth.
Honestly, this interview comes across like Scott and Stix talking like old friends without a lot of hard hitting questions specific to tomorrow's concert, which is cool to see, and Stix sounds very friendly and natural on the phone here, so Steel Panther fans should be into this! Give the whole thing a listen below, and visit Scott's YouTube channel for a handful of other interviews he conducted for Rock 101 a decade back!
Finally, local hard rock quartet Tarnished (who are the first band up at tomorrow's concert) also got to promote things on local radio, albeit outside of the Sovereign umbrella, as they returned to local classic hits station Eagle Radio 95.1 on Wednesday morning! While the Eagle isn't a rock station (comparable in format to Oldies 93), it's good to see Timmy E and the crew there supporting local talent, especially given Tarnished's appearances on there in 2020 & 2021. The interview proper was not excerpted in video format, but Eagle 95.1's Facebook page did post this video of the guys covering Chuck Berry's Christmas classic "Run Rudolph Run" in studio, and it's a fun rendition! Here, Alex & Nathan handled guitar as you're used to from their plugged in gigs, with Isaac also joining in on guitar, and Josh handled tambourine. Far from my favourite Christmas carol, but Tarnished make it work despite the vertical camera angle!
Of course, Alex & Nathan also played "Run Rudolph Run" at the Eagle in 2020, and a pre-Isaac lineup did record a full studio version that you can watch at this link. Elsewhere, a "story" video was shared where Josh hyped the show during setup at The Dreammakers Theatre (with interjections from Isaac), but alas, it was not posted separately as a regular video, so catch it if you can, while you can. A contest was also held for two pairs of tickets for the show, as promoted in this jokey video where Nathan bought everyone tickets without knowing that they were playing. Amusing hype, and congratulations to the winners, but give their new "Run Rudolph Run" cover a watch below, and don't miss the concert tomorrow night!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!
