Our Recap Of Mike Haggith & Red Jettison's 2+ Hour Video Interview From Last Month!!

Apologies for the three week delay in this making the SMS, but local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and HeadF1rst frontman Red Jettison took part in a 2+ hour long video interview on June 16th! This was for The Community Pulse, a series out of Scarborough hosted by musician Frank Terzo, and while his name would seem very appropriate for a local musician to have, this is one of those "do-it-yourself indie musician" feature programs that Mike has gravitated to in his modern day solo era. If you've followed his interviews and appearances in this realm since 2018, you'll recognize names among prior episode guests that have either worked with, interviewed, or spotlighted Mike. This episode of The Community Pulse actually begins with a Frank Terzo music video (he promotes his own music in this series as well as via guests and collaborators), before the introduction, which includes specifics on the format.

While interviews are definitely most of the story, The Community Pulse features artist spotlights, song premieres, indie music news, and more, so it's a good catch-all if you're in this oeuvre of DIY indie rock artists helping out other DIY indie rock artists! The actual show begins 7:34 into the 2:28:23 episode, with Frank setting things up, acknowledging Father's Day, and plugging some independent musicians and hosts featured in the introductions. We finally see Mike and Red on camera at the 13:50 mark, but I want to preface things by noting that Red is also referred to by his real name Carson Hiltz in the episode, by Mike, Frank, and in text (the Red Jettison stage name is exclusively used in the band's own promotion though). Also, Red is referred to as the "co-host" rather than a guest, which goes along with prior episodes of The Community Pulse, in that Frank always has a remote musician credited thusly, even if they don't ask many questions themselves.

After Frank asks how Mike and Red met, he promotes Mike's own indie label MorningStar Records (more on the No Arrow mention soon) and does some plugs and shoutouts, before he played "Tour Bus Fantasy" from HeadF1rst's new album "Road Trippin'" at the 27 minute mark. Once it concludes, Frank highly praised the song's retro rock vibe, and Red discussed the songwriting process for it, heavily crediting guitarist Rainey Rancourt's contributions there. After discussing the deadlines and time crunch for getting physical copies of "Road Trippin'" pressed and shipped, Red noted that HeadF1rst are already working on new original songs, before Frank does some more shoutouts. We next transition to talk about Mike's music, where he plugs his Frequent Flier fan club/newsletter program, and how you can get his new studio album "Frequent Flier" for free (eventually), while also explaining his thought process beyond releasing it for sale.

Basically, Mike wants to keep the album special for Frequent Fliers, hence why only three songs are posted to stream for free, but he also wanted to offer the whole thing to people who buy physical media and/or non-subcribers interested in buying the songs. The lead single "Brand New Day" is played at 47:57, and when we come back to the interview, Frank immediately calls it a "killer track", again complimenting the retro classic rock vibes of it (I'll hold comment until our review of "Frequent Flier" later this month). Mike next outlines the recording process for this song, particularly the backing vocals. Following more shout-outs, Frank asked how Mike first got into music, leading into Mike discussing his extensive discography, noting that "Frequent Flier" is not one of his "mainline" solo albums, and is one of nine in his back catalogue that is "off to the side". He next outlines his aims for MorningStar Records and promoting other independent acts there.

Red jumps back in next to discuss his feelings on MorningStar and his hope to do a concert featuring just MorningStar-affiliated acts. Frank next sets up Mike's original song "Hot & Cold" from 2023's "All The Best In All You Do", as prefaced by Mike's songwriting process for it and the inclusion of Southern Ontario-based metal guitarist Hetriani (another indie musician who pops up on The Community Pulse and similar shows) as a guest. The song proper (via its lyric video) is played at 1:08:19, capping off the first half of the episode. After strong praise from Red and Frank, another guest pops in on the livestream, namely Laurie Pepi Igo, a pianist out of Massachusetts who also frequents this indie music sphere via her channel Laurie's Mishmosh. After more shout-outs from Frank, Laurie (a Frequent Flier cardholder, no less), praises Mike's program and its offerings, while Red elaborates more on HeadF1rst's lineup and plans for the future.

Laurie gets the spotlight next, with a short song by pianist Donna Mitchell played at 1:31:40 (I guess Laurie features regularly to showcase an independent pianist). After Laurie signs out, Red asked how soon Mike knows what will make his albums (especially given his extensive discography), before we transition to talking about the next song played on air, namely Mike's song "All The Best" from his 2023 album, and you can hear it at the 1:40:55 mark. More discussion about art and songwriting follows, before Frank asks Mike about the freak accident at Rotaryfest 2023 when Mike dislocated his knee while playing "Hot & Cold" on Stage 1, and played on while laying on his back until the ambulance arrived (read our initial coverage of that at this link). At least at this point, Mike can look back and laugh about everything, but he was a trooper for getting through all that two years ago! Frank next asks Mike about how he devised the Frequent Flier program.

The last song played on air in this mammoth episode is the namesake for Mike's label, namely "MorningStar" from his 2020 album "If Ever Comes The Day", as prefaced by Mike elaborating on the song's inspiration and recording process, especially as he started using GarageBand for iOS with that album. You can hear that song at 2:08:19, with 15 minutes to spare. This Community Pulse episode continues with Frank asking about Mike's live music plans, with Mike noting that he and The Big Finish Band were hoping to return to Rotaryfest, but they weren't selected for 2025, though he is hopeful that they might be picked for next year. He did promote their return to the Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir next month, while a pro-shot, multi-cam, full concert video of Mike & crew's set at HeadF1rst's album release party in May is planned to be posted on YouTube soon, along with a live album of that entire concert!

Not all of Mike's announced/teased live album plans have seen their intended conclusion ("Face To Face", for one), so that will be neat if it does come out thusly! Red also plugs upcoming HeadF1rst gigs, including a short notice show to be previewed on the SMS tomorrow, a teased return to the Loud & Proud family fun day at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion (we await confirmation on that event), and their Rotaryfest and Northern Vibe sets ahead this summer. After final words and plugs from everyone, Frank closes by playing "Family" by Liz Aday over the end credits. Entertaining and casual interview/hangout that painted Mike and Red in strong lights! Red was less "co-host" and more "co-interviewee", with Frank asking way more questions, but this is Red's first real toe in the water to this community (unless I missed something). It's always neat to see all of the live-stream commenters and interactions in videos like these too, including many repeat names!

There's a lot to take in, but check out the full Community Pulse episode for yourselves below, and we'll have more from HeadF1rst and Mike Haggith on the SMS this month, starting with a short notice show preview from the former tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Red And Black & Stoned Ape Evolution

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, continuing our monthly spotlight of randomly selected local metal, hard rock, and punk acts of the past in order to spotlight them and their run for current readers! This month's installment is a double profile, as the first band only had minimal information online, so I randomly picked a second band, namely early 2010s Sault Michigan hard rock band Swayze Train, only to re-discover that I had announced their removal from our band links last year due to a lack of surviving public content (their Reverbnation page proves it), but forgot to actually delete them. Blonde moment! I picked the closest un-profiled & alphabetically adjacent Sault Michigan band with minimal info to fill things out, so here's what you should know on both!

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The Red & Black

Hometown: Garden River, Ontario

Genre: Post Punk/Grunge

Lineup:

Christopher Shoust (Telephone & Address), vocals/guitar
Damjan Binda (Spider Fingerz, F.F.B.), drums

Info/Analysis: Launched by former F.F.B. bandmates in August 2014, The Red & Black posted seven songs to their Soundcloud page & six mostly-shared songs on their Bandcamp page over the next three months. Plans were teased for a full length album, then a split release with Christopher's recently reunited punk duo Orange, but neither came to fruition. A planned live debut opening for The Whiskey Shits in November 2014 was cancelled, but they did play an unrehearsed impromptu set in June 2015, opening for Toronto doom metal band IRN at The New American Pub. Public updates did not follow, and the band dissolved by the end of 2015. If you know Telephone & Address' more aggressive, plugged-in material, then The Red & Black's raw, unpolished sound & Chris' distinct vocals on songs like "Talk Talk Talk" will be very familiar, and Damjan's drumming fit in well! Solid stuff for fans, hopefully we hear from both guys musically again!

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Stoned Ape Evolution

Hometown: Bay Mills, Michigan

Genre: Thrash Metal

Lineup: Stoned Ape Evolution never revealed their lineup publically and always wore masks on stage, not unlike prior Sault Michigan metal band Clownsack. Two of the band's four (later five) publically depicted members were John Napoletano and Melvin Willis, instrument roles unclear, though I believe John was the frontman. If you can fill in any blanks as to this band's lineup(s) and if it's alright to reveal them now, let me know!

Info/Analysis: Formed by early 2016, Stoned Ape Evolution sought to "bring a taste of a bigger metal band to a smaller area". Primarily seen at the Bay Mills Bands Together series of charity concerts in the mid-2010s, they debuted at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley in May 2016, and also played at that year's Rudyard Musicians Festival. Their final gig was an outdoor Bay Mills Bands Together event in September 2017, and the band otherwise shared memes on their Facebook page into early 2018 before quietly dissolving. Two public videos are known to exist from their run, including covers of Megadeth's "Sweating Bullets" in Rudyard and of Metallica and Megadeth songs in Brimley, and while I do think the vocalist was trying a little too hard to sound evil, they were technically sound and definitely unique for the E.U.P. in this day and age! Hopefully their members are still active!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around October 10th when we look at another randomly selected band, this time back in Sault Ontario with inactive local "shield rock" band Swmapgut! Look for that in a month's time, and for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

A New Northwest Music Video, Border City Rock Talk, And More!!

Before we dive into fallout from last night's big concert, let's clear out some more backlogged news stories in today's post, including new material from a rising young metal guitarist, some very belated details on a local rock journalist's return to interviewing, and leading off, a new song from an upcoming album! Here's what you should know!

The second single from local indie/punk quintet The Northwest's upcoming third EP "All In" can now be heard on major streaming services and within their new music video! Uploaded to their YouTube channel on Thursday, the video (directed by Andrew Sowka) features hands holding Polaroid photographs framed over the widescreen view of the picture-in-hand, and the song's lyrics progressively appear on the bottom of the Polaroid. If that's not your speed, the lyrics are also in the video description. Interesting approach and it's well made for what The Northwest were going for! They got a second interview with Niagara Falls music website From The Strait yesterday, where writer Kris Goetz asked an unidentified band member about this song's inspiration, their songwriting process, who they'd like to tour with, getting played on Hockey Night In Canada, and what helps The Northwest stand out as a band.

While the repeat coverage from an out-of-town site rather than a local one may seem a little odd, remember that The Northwest are getting more and more eyeballs on them thanks to the Hockey Night In Canada appearances and their own acknowledged talents & experience, and the interview gives us some good insight into what they're aiming for nowadays! I'll hold comment on "Shorelines" for now, pending our eventual review of "All In", but give The Northwest's new music video a watch below!

Next up, I wanted to give a long overdue spotlight to a local journalist and interviewer who we had talked about pre-pandemic, namely Ernest "Che" Skinner, who wrote the Rock Talk column for SaultOnline in the late 2010s before moving over to Wawa-News.com in February 2019. Well, he left that site as well and has since went independent, via last summer's launch of Border City Rock Talk, which specializes primarily in coverage of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and his own classic-leaning rock music reviews, interviews, and opinion pieces. For the most part, his rock articles on Border City Rock Talk so far have not been hyper-focused on local bands or concerts, but remember that the pandemic has been a steady concern. Still, Ernest has gotten some very big gets for both print and video interviews that you can read on their website and their YouTube channel! For example, who all has Che interviewed for YouTube in the past year?

Among others, you can check out interviews with Twisted Sister's Dee Snider, Triumph's Rik Emmet, Spinal Tap and The Simpsons' Harry Shearer, Great White's Jack Russell, and Helix's Brian Vollmer, so clearly Ernest is doing the right things to attract some big names! I will embed one here, as it crosses both the hard rock and local concert line, namely Ernest's 15 minute interview with Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd from last August, which was obviously in advance of Buckcherry's headlining date at Soo Blaster in October. Apologies for this being so late, I didn't know Ernest had resumed his rock interviews and writing until very recently. The interview has Ernest asking Josh about their new album "Hellbound", Josh's fandom of Minor Threat, how the tour was going at that point, what to expect from Buckcherry's setlist, what critics think, the struggle with alcoholism, Josh's work as a phlebotomist, ...

...and how the pandemic personally affected him. While there are a few hesistant points with Ernest's questions, this was a casual and well handled interview that goes along well with what he's been doing for so long now, and at least the Buckcherry show went on as planned last fall! Hopefully we'll see more from Border City Rock Talk that crosses over with local concerts & musicians as bookings tick up this year, but give his Josh Todd interview a watch below, read and view much more above, and Border City Rock Talk is finally linked on the SMS!

Finally, I wanted to give another spotlight to local metal guitarist Shane Desjardins, who has recently resumed working on original material under his project name Red Ruins Me! We've mentioned him on the SMS in 2019 and in 2020, and while I don't believe Red Ruins Me has a social media presence beyond their YouTube channel, Shane did post a "full album" there last month named "Resurrect", followed by a pair of instrumental deathcore tracks & two live videos. One is a compilation of guitar riffs, while the other sees Shane & a friend covering Killswitch Engage's "Rose of Sharyn" (albeit with the original song very loud). I don't know if Red Ruins Me will ever expand beyond free YouTube postings, but Shane is a talented songwriter with a good ear for brutal riffs that honestly remind me of something you'd hear in an action video game soundtrack at times! Give his music a listen above & below, and look for a surprise Rolling Stones cover!

That's all for today, but if all goes well, we will start looking at B.L.S. concert fallout tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Pop Evil Concert Updates, New Brutally Fatal Material, And Much More!!

(Updated at 5:25 PM) Before we begin today's post, I wanted to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Kittie bassist Trish Doan, who suddenly passed away earlier this week at the age of 31. Further details on this sad news can be found on Kittie and metal websites. Local fans will recognize Trish best from her appearances with Kittie at both of April 2012's tribute concerts in memory of late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold, including the Ypres Metal Fest at The Canadian Nightclub, as well as the "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" release party in Toronto, both shortly after she rejoined the band. Kittie fans in general will recognize her from her two stints with the all-female London metal quartet since 2005, including appearances on two of their studio albums. Trish was a key member of Kittie for the better part of a decade, and fit in nicely during their local show five years back (as the packed crowd will attest), and I'm sure fans won't forget her any time soon. R.I.P. Trish!

Now, today's post covers some other recent news updates, including a new "album" posting and more updates, but to lead off, we have some big news on a major upcoming concert in the E.U.P.. Here's what you need to know!

Though we are less than two weeks away from showtime, there has been a surprising lineup change for the Pop Evil-headlined concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on February 26th, as Ohio hard rock quintet Red Sun Rising have dropped out of the remainder of the Rock 'n Roll Now Tour. The reason for their exit is somewhat vague, yet varies depending on the source. Red Sun Rising say they were removed from the remaining dates and it was out of their control, local promoters Allstar Promotions say that they removed themselves but were unsure of the circumstances, and Pop Evil haven't acknowledged R.S.R. at all since, though you can delve into fan-posted rumours there if you want. All I know is that it's definitely disappointing to see Red Sun Rising drop out, especially with their rising profile and two #1 rock radio hits, but hopefully they come back to the Soo at some point in the future! Replacing them for the rest of the tour & on the 26th are female-fronted Detroit hard rock quintet Kaleido, while Los Angeles hard rock quartet Badflower have been promoted to the middle slot.

Kaleido have a fun, pop-influenced modern rock sound that should be a nice addition to this show, so make sure to be there early for their set! Also regarding this huge concert, Kewadin Casino posted this 90 second commercial promoting the show onto their Facebook concerts page last month, which clips together portions of music videos for each band alongside concert-related graphics, including an Allstar Promotions logo that I've never seen elsewhere. Obviously, this is outdated now, given the presence of Red Sun Rising, but it's well done, so give it a look below, and click here to get tickets for just $23.50, which are still available from the seventh row and back on the outside sections!

Also today, Sault Ontario death metal duo Brutally Fatal have finally posted what they're calling their new EP onto the Blood Shed Weekly YouTube channel yesterday! "Blood of the Devil" had been in the works since March but various delays forced it to be cut down to a 15 minute release with 9 songs. As you'd expect from a Blood Shed Productions metal act, these songs tend to be very short, and most of the titles have names I won't repeat here, but it's worth noting that vocals are seemingly used more sparingly than we've seen on past Brutally Fatal recordings, and when we do hear them, they're shouted, not growled. That might appeal to fans of Austin McCrae's old band The Revolution, so keep that in mind! Oddly, the description notes that they "can't remember" who played bass on the tracks, though whether they said that in jest or not is up for debate. Also, keep an ear out for train whistling on the song "Chugga Choo Choo".

No word on when/if this will see a paid and/or physical release, but fans of Brutally Fatal's minimalist metal should be happy, so listen to "Blood of the Devil" if you want below, but keep in mind the provocative song titles!



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 news unrelated to this month's Pop Evil show, Allstar Promotions noted on their Facebook page that they confirmed a new show on Friday, which is apparently "one of the biggest shows (they) have done", and Rock 101 will announce the show on Tuesday, with tickets going on sale at Kewadin next Friday. Intriguing, and we'll let you know when it's announced! Also, they are gauging support on Facebook toward potentially bringing British post-grunge quartet Bush (of "Glycerine" & "Machine Head" fame) to Sault Michigan, so if you'd like to see that show, voice up there!
• Novelty/clothing retail store chain Spencer's Gifts is coming to The Station Mall, as per their website! Though not directly linked to what we cover at the SMS, I mention it here for two reasons: They sell a large amount of music and band merchandise (metal & punk among them), and there is some speculation on social media that they are taking over HMV's location after they close for good by the end of April. In any event, it's great to have Spencer's opening in Sault Ste. Marie, as it's a fun store full of odd and creative novelty items, so keep watch for it at The Station Mall in the coming months! Also, HMV's liquidation sales are now up to 40% off.
• Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night has posted a new instrumental song to their Reverbnation page entitled "The Drowning", and this is a fuller original with a dark & ethereal ambiance, strong guitar work from Steve Giles, and an orchestral bite that long time fans should easily take to! Give it a listen at the above links, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Pop Evil), And Sault Michigan Weekend Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's this weekend's concert previews for the Sault Michigan area, with a huge returning hair metal legend to cap things off, but let's begin with a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, our first of 2017, in fact!

North Muskegon, Michigan hard rock quintet Pop Evil will return to Sault Michigan for a headlining concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault's Kewadin Casino on Sunday, February 26th! Since we last saw Pop Evil at the Jessica Jorgensen benefit concert in August 2013, they have became a rock radio staple with four #1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, including "Footsteps" and "Torn to Pieces", so the interest and crowd levels should be even bigger than ever for their return after 3½ years! Notably, this will also mark their first local concert appearance since Hayley Cramer replaced Joshua "Chachi Riot" Marunde on drums. Akron, Ohio hard rock quintet Red Sun Rising (of the #1 rock hit songs "Emotionless" and "The Otherside") will open in their local debut, and they should be a nice compliment for fans of modern hard rock! Leading off in February are Los Angeles hard rock quartet Badflower, whose classic-tinged hard rock should find a good audience as well, so be sure to check them out as well in advance of the show!

Allstar Promotions will return after a lengthy hiatus to promote this concert, their first since Theory of a Deadman last year, and it's great to see Dave & company back at it! Tickets for this ALL AGES show are just $23.50, and they are now on sale at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office, while the show itself is advertised to begin at 7:00 PM. It's awesome to see Pop Evil back in the Soo for their fourth headlining appearance (they also played at Kewadin Casino in 2010 and The Satisfied Frog prior to that), and they're as big as they've ever been, so see the above links A.S.A.P. to get your tickets for February 26th, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, let's tackle this weekend's concert previews, starting with the return of Kinross classic/hard rock trio Banned to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Continuing their fall string of concerts at Kewadin branches, this will be their first St. Ignace weekend in two months, and the shows come fresh off of their Halloween weekend appearances in Manistique. Alex, Don, and Wayne should be in their usual solid form with their return to the E.U.P. this weekend, so if you're in the area, definitely consider a trip to see Banned's varied and often-heavy sets! There's no announced cover charges for these 21+ shows, which have 9:00 PM start times. Check the above links for more details, and here's Banned live!

Also, let's head north back to Sault Michigan, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63 are advertised to rock The Rapids Lounge at the Soo's Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT themselves! Returning to one of the sites of their regular monthly concert weekends after a rare non-Kewadin show at the American Legion for Halloween, these will surprisingly be their only concerts of November 2016, as Highway 63 weren't advertised to play at The Northern Pines Lounge this month. As a result, fans won't want to miss this veteran quartet's solid blend of covers this weekend, so don't miss out tonight and/or tomorrow, especially for some post-Bret Michaels rock action tomorrow! As usual for Highway 63's local concerts (and like Banned's St. Ignace shows this weekend), these are 21+ events with no announced cover and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details, and here's Highway 63 live!



Finally for this weekend, Poison frontman Bret Michaels will make his sixth local concert appearance when he headlines at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Last seen there over two years ago, Bret is bringing his "The Party Stops Now Tour" back to the Soo this weekend for what should be a huge show for fans of both Poison's hair metal classics and his more recent country-tinged solo material, with the show itself also serving as the "mega pre-party" before Kewadin's 31st anniversary celebrations. We haven't seen a major hard rock show at The Dreammaker's Theater since Theory of a Deadman last summer (Europe last spring for hair metal), so it's great to see the hard rock drought end at last! This concert will also see funds going to Bret's Life Rocks Foundation's charity drives and local charities, with merchandise sales at the show also including vintage memorabilia for the cause, so keep all of that in mind also!

Tickets are still available from the third row and back for this concert, and they go for $48.50 (general admission), $58.50 ("gold" seating in the first six rows in the outside sections), and $250 for VIP admission in the center's first 5 rows, backstage passes, and a meet & greet with Bret himself. You can get tickets at this link, 1-800-KEWADIN, and at the in-person box office, so get yours A.S.A.P. to ensure a good seat! Bret's always been a reliable draw and fan favourite for his numerous Sault Ste. Marie stops, and this weekend's show should be a big hit for Hair Scare loyalists and more, so see above for full details, and here's Bret live in the Soo in 2014!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for some overdue news and notes next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Go Skateboarding Day), Grave Party Concert Preview, And More!!

Here's a new news post for your Sunday evening, and with an unusual amount of early-week concert previews to touch on (including a big SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT), we'll lead off there, before closing with some assorted recent notes. Now, here's what you should know!

Local bands will again hit the skatepark at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of The John Rhodes Centre for this year's Go Skateboarding Day festivities THIS TUESDAY! Apologies for the short notice, the event was only announced on Wednesday, similarly to the late announcement of last year's band lineup. Hosted by Tidal Records and primarily sponsored by SooToday, this is the fourth straight year for a local hosting of Go Skate Day, but it's just the second with a major live music component, and it's even bigger & better than ever! Skateboarding competitions, lessons, and demonstrations will be freely offered during the day on TUESDAY, with prizes, giveaways, refreshments, and more also on hand, so be sure to visit the official Facebook event page for full details! As for the bands, an increased and stacked lineup is on hand for this year, and aside from DJ Seith spinning his turntable mixes, it's entirely different from last year's, so who all is playing?

Listed acts include local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades,  post-punk/garage quartet Gnaeus, DJ Seith, alternative/hard rock trio The Din, VM Radio Battle-winning indie rockers K.I.C.K., and rapper Conika, who had to drop out of last year's Go Skateboarding Day activities due to illness. Will she be rapping alongside DJ Seith again? Be at the skatepark TUESDAY to find out! The event page also lists "...and more!" to cap off the band lineup, which implies at least one surprise or special guest, and if there is any public announcements to that effect, we'll let you know (for reference, last year's Go Skate Day featured DJ Seith alongside the inactive Garden of Bedlam, the on-break Pixo Control, and the dormant Caroline Divine.) This year's Go Skateboarding Day is FREE and ALL AGES as usual, and while set times for the bands aren't listed, the event is advertised to run from 3:00 to 9:00 PM, with the skateboarding competition starting at 4:30 PM.

It's great to see Go Skateboarding Day expanding it's local presence in 2016, with a huge band lineup and lots of skate action in store for boarding and music fans alike! You could call this a preview of Rotaryfest's Stage 2 also, as Gnaeus, The Din, and K.I.C.K. are all on that event's lineup next month, plus DJ Seith & Conika played last year (no word yet for this year though, but we'll keep you posted!) Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new online commercial for the event from SooToday, featuring brief performance footage of last year's bands! Good promotion for this year's festivities, so make it out to Queen Elizabeth Park on TUESDAY!



Next up, here's one more concert preview for a special Monday nighter taking place TOMORROW NIGHT, as Winnipeg punk trio Grave Party will make their local concert debut with a headlining set at The New American Pub! Rocking out with new songs from their EP "For Dummies" in tow, Grave Party's hard hitting modern punk sound should get fans going at The New A tomorrow, so welcome them east with open arms for what should be a fun show! A wildly varied and slightly condensed local opening lineup will see local goregrind duo Rotopsy co-headlining, as preceded by a trifecta of local rappers, including Mikey Thomas, Miracle Man, and Mike Reed-Lecuyer, a.k.a. Reeder (replacing Phat Boii), who is new to our coverage and not on the poster, but has performed at recent rap events with Mikey. Also, Jacob "Shit Creek Survivor" Quarrell will open the show with some acoustic folk numbers, so come early to check him out too!

Note that sets by Coyote Speedfreaks mainman Chase Wigmore and local death metal duo Brutally Fatal have quietly been removed in the past couple of months for unannounced reasons, but unlike Phat Boii, these acts weren't replaced on the bill. Hopefully the remaining artists fill things out well, including Brutally Fatal members with Rotopsy & Miracle Man! Promoted by Tyler Gibson & Blood Shed Productions, this 19+ show has a $5 cover charge, and will start at 9:00 PM. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on tomorrow's very diverse show, and in lieu of a Grave Party video (I honestly can't find any, they're fairly new), here's Rotopsy live!



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

• Troubled Mind drummer Mike Vincent has posted three more original songs ("Systematical Satan", "Soulless Sanctuary", and "Screaming Serenity") to his Bandcamp page, and re-recorded his first three to boot! Notably having the letter S first in every word of every title, Mike has confirmed in personal Facebook postings that he is planning to release a debut solo EP, and is working on lyrics for each song, so we'll hold comment on the new songs until release as a result. Give Mike's six studio instrumentals a listen above!
• We have removed former local record store Mister Disc from our "Other Local Metal Links" due to the quiet deletion of it's Facebook page at some point in the past year. The Todd Gordon-owned establishment was open from 1988-1999, with Todd maintaining a posthumous Facebook page in recent years featuring reminisces of the store and daily song dedications, though it's not clear why the page was taken down. Though the store is long gone, it's disappointing to see the Facebook page go, but continued luck to Todd in his screenwriting career!
• Barring a sudden burst of activity, we'll move local post punk/grunge duo The Red & Black to our inactive band links on Tuesday due to a year's inactivity. The project from Telephone & Address' Chris Shoust and busker Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda hasn't posted on their Facebook page since June 21st of last year to remark on their last minute debut at the IRN-headlined New American show the previous day. Chris & Damjan are talented and creative, and hopefully The Red & Black re-emerge down the road!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Black Cat Attack), New Videos, And More Assorted Notes!!

As we continue to clear our our cache of recent news items, here's a packed news post for your Tuesday, and it includes some assorted recent updates, new concert videos from each side of the border (coincidentally, both including Led Zeppelin covers), and leading things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this summer, so here's what you need to know!

Oshawa "death punk" quartet Black Cat Attack will return to Sault Ontario for a headlining concert on Friday, July 8th at The Rockstar Bar! Almost three years removed from their local debut at the former Roosevelt Hotel in 2013 (ironically at a show relocated from The Algonquin Pub), this explosive genre-melding punk outfit should deliver strongly in their long awaited return to the Soo, and it never hurts that Sum 41 guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh is a B.C.A. member as well! Frontwoman Valerie Knox's other band, Toronto grunge/punk quartet The Anti-Queens, will open in their local concert debut on July 8th, and their strong, to-the-point punk sound should get fans going as well at The Rockstar Bar this summer! Local support will come via punk/metal quintet Jack Spades (whose frontman J.D. Pearce is promoting this show), while at least one additional local band is to be announced, so message promoters at the official Facebook event page for more details just in case!

This 19+ concert has a 10:00 PM start time, and while admission will be $10, there will be some level of advance ticket sales, so stay tuned for updates on that front. It's great to see Black Cat Attack back in Sault Ste. Marie after such a long wait (I know the rumours of them playing Jack Spades' 2014 EP release show had some fans excited), so keep posted at the above links for full updates on what should be a big concert this summer!

Next up, here's some new videos, starting with lots of new concert videos from Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63's show this past Friday at The Rapids Lounge at the Soo's Kewadin Casino branch! All shared to the band's Facebook page over the past few days via personal Facebook accounts, one comes from attendee Brian Boswood, who filmed 17 seconds of Highway 63 covering Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You" that night, and while it's on the vertical cell phone camera angle, it's solid for what we get! The rest come from frontman Henry Switzer's own personal Facebook page, though the videos vary in length and camera orientation. Included are covers of Kiss' "Love Gun", part of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger", AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", The Outfield's "Your Love", the end of Led Zeppelin's "Rock & Roll", and as embedded below, Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", so click each link to watch each video to see what went down on Friday!

It's great to see a wide variety of new videos of this talented quartet, as both a sign that they are still playing announced gigs despite their caesura on Facebook promotion of them, and to give fans a fresh look at their recent shows! The videos are well filmed, and the guys sound good, especially on the heavier tunes, so give Highway 63's new Facebook videos a look!



Also today, here's a couple more hard rock covers from new local blues/classic rock cover quartet Red & The Muscle! Uploaded to frontwoman Marisa Valois' YouTube channel last week, one is a short audio cover of Heart's "Alone", joining a pair of Aretha Franklin renditions, but embedded below is a part of a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On" from their debut concert at The Water Tower Inn earlier this month. It's a much better showcase of Marisa's strong vocal range compared to their earlier "Sweet Emotion" cover, and while the instruments are a little quiet, it's well done overall, so give it a look below, and see more from Red & The Muscle above!



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 some clarification on new local band Gianni Gagoots (who are opening for Cocaine Moustache at July 12th's's punk rock bingo event at The New A), we can confirm that their lineup features Late Shift's Matt Sibilo on guitar, his former Redefined bandmate Josh St. Amour on bass, and veteran local punk drummer Frank McCormick on drums. Frank confirmed on the show's Facebook event page that they are a jam band inspired by numerous genres (including metal & punk) that make up songs on the spot. No word yet on their name's inspiration, who (if anyone) sings lead vocals, or if they'll launch an online page, but kudos to Frank for the info!
• Troubled Mind drummer Mike Vincent's third original song since relaunching his solo project can now be heard at his Bandcamp page! Entitled "Six, Six, Six", it's a fast and heavy instrumental that has some thrash and groove metal elements, but the production is uneven. Give it a listen above, as well as newly mastered versions of Mike's first two 2016 songs!
• We have moved Strongs, Michigan "backwoods metal" trio Swampghas to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The Werehold Records-signed band hasn't posted an online update since their participation in March 2015's Friday the 13th music event, and we waited for this year's before making any calls on their status. Relaunched in 2012 after previously forming in 2001, Swampghas are a gritty & entertaining metal band whose album "The Raco Tower Incident" seemed to be coming along well, so hopefully we see Swampghas back soon, and best of luck to Jason, J.R., and Doug in the interim!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results on the site tomorrow, and for more news and previews as well! Thanks everyone!