Treble Charger At Big Shiny Saturday Concert Video Showcase!

I apologize for this slipping through the cracks over the past 2+ months, but when the band in question doesn't really have an active social media presence, it wasn't as likely to cross my radar. As teased in some of the local press for their reunion gig at The Machine Shop in March, local/Toronto indie/punk quartet Treble Charger did indeed continue playing live via summer festival dates in Southern Ontario! We knew at the time that they'd be playing at Riverfest in Elora last month, but before then, they actually were booked for the Big Shiny Saturday festival in North York, which took place at The Bowl at Sobey's Stadium on July 6th! Here, they played alongside fellow domestic 1990s-2000s rock acts The Tea Party, The Headstones, I Mother Earth, and Bif Naked (The Headstones were never on a Big Shiny Tunes album, but they're of the same era). In searching YouTube, at least seven attendees filmed Treble Charger's set, so let's cover four of them in today's post!

We'll start with attendee superfannrock, who filmed Treble Charger playing three songs at Big Shiny Saturday during their middle set (he also filmed The Tea Party and The Headstones for his channel). Songs filmed include "Hundred Million", "Red", and as embedded below, their second song "Brand New Low". Sharp angle with a smoky ambiance, but superfannrock got a nice zoomed in view of the guys in action, who sound on the level of their reunion gig, and while he's laser focused on filming just the band, you do get a sense that this is a big stage. Check these out above & below!

Next up, attendee ShakyShorty filmed a song each from the five acts at Sobey's Stadium on this day, with his Treble Charger video being of their early Bill Priddle-sung classic "Red", which was their second-to-last song. Also, Frank Deresti and David Peredun continued on bass and drums from the local date in March, so it is very neat to see an all-local Treble Charger lineup, let alone playing out of town! While ShakyShorty didn't employ as extreme of a zoom, he also had a far more central view of the stage and got more of the framing and setup as a result. If you like mid-late 1990s indie Treble Charger, you'll like how the guys played "Red" here, so check this quality performance out below too!

Alas, superfannrock was one of only two of the seven filmers to shoot anything other than "Red" and "American Psycho", so I apologize for any redundancy in advance. Both of those songs were shot by attendee Toronto Live Music, who filmed everyone on Big Shiny Saturday except Bif Naked. To spread things out a bit, I'll also feature this channel's "Red" video here, but I'd argue that these are the best of the Treble Charger videos for quality in this post, with Toronto Live Music clearly closer to the stage and framing things well with some lighter, more natural zooming, and the audio is nice and clear! Good stuff on both accounts, so check these videos out also!

Three of the other four Big Shiny Saturday filmers only filmed "American Psycho" during Treble Charger's set, and we'll close with that song from attendee Fun Randyz, who also filmed everyone except Bif Naked on July 6th, but this was his only Treble Charger video. Like she did at The Machine Shop in March, Greig Nori's daughter Ava joined the guys on stage to provide guest backing vocals from the bridge onward, which is a fun touch that I'm sure Greig loved repeating! This punk-era staple is always a crowd favourite, and while Randy was a little further back, he zoomed in well on the stage with good audio, so give his clip a watch below!

We'll have more from Treble Charger and Big Shiny Saturday in an upcoming post, but it looks like everything went well in North York in July, and here's hoping their other 2024 festival dates were similarly successful! Stay tuned for all of that and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Banned), An Inactive Band Note, And New Videos!!

Let's dive back into news and updates on this slippery Tuesday morning, and here, we have some new videos from the Ontario side of the border, a note on a band moved out of our active band links, and leading off, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this summer!

Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned will return to their hometown for a pair of special post-race concerts at the Kinross Speedpark later in the 2019 auto racing season! Much like they did last year, this veteran cover outfit will rock the on-site stage for concerts on Saturday, July 13th and on Friday, September 6th, which will respectively follow the second annual Baby Show qualifier race and the Four Cylinder Friday events during the Memorial Invitational weekend. For full details on the race aspects of both days, click here! It's great to see Alex, Don, and Wayne back at the Speedpark for a couple of gigs this season, and hopefully they provide a great soundtrack to cap these nights with! The other four races with a scheduled musical performer will feature classic rockers The Whole Shabang and Rudyard country/classic rock quartet Steelhead (featuring Banned alum Alex Schrovenwever.)

Both of Banned's Kinross Speedpark gigs in 2019 have 9:30 PM start times, these are definitely ALL AGES events, and concert admission is FREE post-race, though click here to locate full admission fees regarding the races proper. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more!

Next up, we have a local band to move to our inactive band links, namely Sault Ontario lo-fi punk/grunge project Telephone & Address. While a firm public statement has not been made regarding their status, there hasn't been a public update from Telephone & Address' camp since the release of their album "Monster" on February 3rd of last year, now over a year ago. It's also worth noting that frontman Christopher Shoust's old website (which featured Telephone & Address information and material) has had it's domain expire, and his current website is solely devoted to his painting & visual art pursuits. A recurring presence in our coverage since 2013 (though demo albums were recorded dating back to 2010), Chris achieved a following with his varied albums, which featured acoustic, punk, ambient, drum-and-bass, and grunge influences over the years, while his unplugged solo sets were easy to slide into concerts big and small.

Plans to release an early demo compilation named "The Early Tapes" stalled indefinitely, and not a lot came of their late-period expansion to a duo, but Chris had a good thing going with Telephone & Address, and he had an eclectic range of sounds to apply to his albums, always well suited to his lo-fi production and packaging methods. Hopefully they resurface down the road, but best of luck to Chris and Jackson in the future!

Also today, here's a new video of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's set at the Soolebrity Showcase Saturday concert at The Machine Shop from this past weekend's Bon Soo festivities! Posted to their Facebook page on Sunday, this is of the guys playing their lengthy classic rock medley that long time fans will easily recognize, such as from Toystock last year. As a refresher, the 10 minute video features the guys covering fragments of David Wilcox's "Riverboat Fantasy", Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time", Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", and Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'", though it cuts off before the "Riverboat Fantasy" reprise. Like previously, Terry Eaton sings for the Wilcox, Metallica, and Van Halen covers, Travis Sharpe handles the rest, and they sing backing vocals for each other.

The vertical cell phone camera angle isn't ideal, especially as Soundcheck proper are only in the video's top half, but the guys have these covers down well, and their chemistry and energy comes through strongly enough! Give Soundcheck's Soolebrity Showcase video a look below, and stay tuned for more updates from Soundcheck when announced!

We'll close today with a new-ish live concert recording from local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock solo artist Mike Haggith's Facebook page! Though uploaded on Friday, this "from the vault" clip was recorded at MacLean Park in Thompson during the city's Concert In The Park series last July that Mike played at, and this is of him playing a stripped down acoustic version of his newer original "An Act of Strength." I presume we'll be reviewing the full version when the "Bridges" CD finally comes out, but in this mid-2018 live form, it's a solidly done number with a sense of purpose, and the recording quality is nice! Based on the video's picture, I can't confirm if Mike has plans to release this concert as a live Bandcamp album or not, though stay tuned if he does. Give Mike's live & unplugged rendition of "An Act of Strength" a listen below, and stay tuned for more from his camp!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Scarkazm & Banned) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we cover some newly announced concerts (including a big tribute show in March), let's tackle our first hard rock concert previews of February 2019 to end this month! Due to the amount of shows, we're bumping our preview of Saturday night's Chase Wigmore concert at The Rednecks Saloon to tomorrow's post, which will also (in theory) allow an extra day for public information on the lineup, as updates haven't been quick since the postponement. Now, let's kick off this weekend's previews with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, one on SHORT NOTICE!

Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned will make their first live appearance of 2019 when they rock the beer tent at the annual International 500 snowmobile race in Sault Ste. Marie TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed this gig via it's Facebook event page on Friday. In spite of the ongoing polar vortex and frigid temperatures, the show must go on, and Banned are still slated to rock the I-500 pre-race festivities, as they previously did in 2016, not to mention their rare mid-week Kewadin Casino gigs timed with the I-500 in 2017. This will be Banned's first concert outside of Manistique since the fall, so if you've missed the Traynors and Wayne in recent months, and can withstand the cold, head to the I-500 beer tent at the race site at 984 West 4th Avenue! Much like Project 421 did last year, Banned are on TONIGHT at around 8:00 PM after the Woody’s Challenge race, with their set coinciding with the annual I-500 downtown pub crawl, so keep that in mind if you're so inclined.

Musical entertainment is not advertised on other days for this year (usually, the beer tent only has a band on the Thursday), but click here for the full schedule, and follow necessary links there for details on the race proper and potential admission fees where required. Of course, the I-500 race begins on Saturday morning, and I believe 1230 AM will call the action for those curious. Visit the above links for more details, hopefully Banned put on a great show in spite of the temperature TONIGHT, and here they are live!



Next up, we'll stay in Sault Ste. Marie, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will rock The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, but that's not all from their camp, as they've announced more 2019 dates for the E.U.P. via a spree of Facebook event page postings last week! We already knew of local gigs from Scarkazm and sister band Peril in the first quarter of 2019, but as linked en masse here, we can now confirm the rest of Scarkazm's Kewadin Casino slate for this year, so where and when can you see them in the coming months? At the aforementioned Rapids Lounge, you can see Scarkazm on May 17th-18th, September 27th-28th, and November 29th-30th, while they'll return to The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace for concert weekends on June 21st-22nd, August 9th-10th, October 4th-5th, and December 20th-21st. Aside from April and July, E.U.P. fans will get their Scarkazm one weekend a month for the rest of the year!

Of course, don't forget about tomorrow & Saturday night's Scarkazm gigs in the Soo, and with convenient timing during the I-500, that should be a nice attendance boost, so consider a run to The Rapids Lounge for some hard hitting tunes this weekend after each day's festivities! All of these Kewadin gigs from Scarkazm have 21+ age limits, 9:00 PM start times, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for full details, and here's Scarkazm live!

Now, let's head north to Sault Ontario, where local acoustic hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison will continue his long-term arrangement at Gliss Restaurant with matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY! Unlike the next two weekends (where he has a nighttime concert elsewhere), this weekend's bookings are solely the usual Gliss ones, but his unplugged covers are always worth a listen, especially with his prolific setlist, so don't bypass Gliss on Spring Street for all of the action this weekend! If you'd rather see him at nighttime, be at Room 21 or The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on each of the Fridays after this week. As usual for Tym's shows at this downtown restaurant, both of these shows are 6:00 PM evening events with no announced cover charges or age limits, but mind the locale. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym live!



Finally for today's previews, we'll head to The Machine Shop, where this year's Bon Soo Winter Carnival will welcome back local bands via the first annual Soolebrity Showcase SATURDAY concert event! Promoted by (Choose) Maxx Entertainment, this will be an indoor event unlike Bon Soo's old Marquee series, and it will unite live bands with local artists of various media (like painting, crafts, and photography), while local craft brewed beer will also be on tap to purchase, so this should be a prime chance to support varying local talent! Visit the official Facebook event page for full details on the artists and brewers you'll see at The Machine Shop on Saturday. Country rock cover quartet Bone Yard are headlining on Saturday at 10:00 PM, preceded by classic/hard rock veterans Soundcheck at 9:00 PM for the night's only heavier kick, and their Machine Shop debut.

The opening bands are both acoustic country duos, namely Bone Yard side project The Bearded Lounge at 8:00 PM & The Jeff & Jeff Show at 7:00 PM. Yes, all four of these bands played at Toystock in both 2018 & 2017, so if you want an encore/spinoff, you know where to be this weekend! Admission is free with the purchase of a Bon Soo button from local merchants or at the door, and despite the craft beer angle, this is an ALL AGES event. While I wish The Marquee lived up to it's potential, it's great to see Bon Soo trying a local-centric concert again, and hopefully this is a big hit for the festival! Check the above links for more, and here's Soundcheck live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Dave Evans & Soundcheck), Plus New Videos!!

Let's get a new news post up on this very cold Saturday afternoon, and it's packed with some big stories, including a new teaser for an upcoming event, new video footage of a new local band, and leading off, here's two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for early 2019 that are big in very different ways!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will be among the performers at the Soo-Lebrity Showcase Saturday concert at The Machine Shop on Saturday, February 2nd! Organized by (Choose) Maxx Entertainment, this intended-to-be annual event will take place as part of this year's Bon Soo Winter Carnival (which begins the previous day), and it will unite local bands, local artists (photographer/promoter Josh Pace among them), and local craft beer for one high profile event. In fact, you could call this a mini-sequel to Toystock (if more adult in tone), as all four of the bands on February 2nd performed at the last two Toystocks, so fans of that event may want to take extra notice! Soundcheck will co-headline Soo-Lebrity Showcase Saturday at 9:00 PM, preceding country rock veterans Bone Yard at 10:00 PM, with their acoustic side project The Bearded Lounge and fellow unplugged country notables The Jeff & Jeff Show kicking things off at 8:00 & 7:00 PM each.

Admission is free with the purchase of a $7 Bon Soo button, and while an age limit wasn't stated, the presence of craft beer may just say it all. It's great to see a local performer-friendly concert back at Bon Soo this year, and while I do think that the outdoor Marquee concerts never lived up to their full potential, everyone can stay warm with the bands while enjoying local art and beer at the same time! Visit the official Facebook event page for more on the Soo-Lebrity Showcase in two weeks' time!

Next up, here's a surprising but very intriguing concert announcement, as original AC/DC frontman Dave Evans will make his Sault Ste. Marie debut on Saturday, May 4th at The Rockstar Bar! Diehard AC/DC fans will know that Dave Evans was their lead singer in 1973 & 1974, and featured on their debut single before being replaced by Bon Scott. While he didn't feature on the vast majority of AC/DC recordings, he does renditions of Bon-era songs live, as well as the two tracks from the above single, select originals, and outside covers. Dave's voice is deeper and somewhat more melodic than his successors, and while he didn't stick around long with AC/DC, it'll be interesting to hear how he handles these classic songs locally! In fact, his backing band will be an actual AC/DC tribute band named Thunderstruck, and while the Facebook event page indicates that they're from Australia, I've seen conflicting posts online about which specific AC/DC tribute named Thunderstruck is playing on Dave's 2019 Canadian tour.

No word at press time on potential opening bands. This 19+ concert has an 8:00 PM start time, and tickets run for $16 in advance at The Algonquin Hotel's front desk, or $20 at the door. Regardless of how long he was in the band, it is very cool to see an original member of AC/DC on a local stage, and hopefully this show is a hit come the spring! See above for more details!

Also today, here's some new videos from new local Tool tribute band Parabol, courtesy of their live concert debut at the aforementioned Rockstar Bar on October 27th during that weekend's Halloween Party! Uploaded to their Facebook page on Wednesday, these feature the then-unnamed band covering "The Pot", "Schism", and as embedded below, "Sober", which we hadn't previously featured here from prior videos shot that night. Camera angles are inconsistent (only "Schism" is filmed in landscape orientation, and the other two can be quite crooked), but their authentic sound and proficiency comes through nicely on each, so give these a look!



Finally, did you notice that the Facebook event page cover video for the Northern Film Showcase on January 27th at Shooters Downstairs Lounge was quietly deleted from our post from last Sunday? Well, organizers McBully Productions opted to replace it with a new video hyping three more music videos to be screened at this special event later this month. As embedded below, it confirms that local death metal band The Bear Hunters' new video for "I Fear No God" will be featured at this event, alongside new videos from solo artists Renee Landry and Britta Wolfert. Nice to see (at least) 8 diverse local music videos on the docket, and get more details at the above links!



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