LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The 2026 Lake Superior State University Battle Of The Bands!!)

The fourth annual Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands goes down TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice in two ways, as 1. the band lineup was only revealed on a staggered basis in recent days on LSSU's Arts Centre's Facebook page after registration closed on the 11th, and 2., the battle was quietly moved up a day from tomorrow to TONIGHT at some point last month (this poster is proof that the date was originally on Thursday, as the past three battles were). Regardless, this year's fourth (not third) annual battle will be the biggest yet, as not only are there a record high eight competing acts, but the prize pool is bigger than ever, with $1,000 going to the first place act, $500 for second place, and $250 for third! For context, first place bands previously only won $150. Kudos to Kevin and Pam Cooper for sponsoring the upgraded prize totals! If the same as past years, LSSU faculty and a student representative will judge on differing categories, with bands getting 15 minute sets, and competitors are allowed to play covers.

Of this year's eight competing acts, three are returnees from last year's battle, namely folk singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney (the only act to have played at all four LSSU Battles), punk/hard rock duo About:Blank (fresh off of their third place finish at the Superior Whitefish Festival Battle of the Bands in Brimley this summer), and local rap duo Tunngtyed. Last year's battle was won by local acoustic rock act The Dynamic Duo, and while they're not technically defending their title (no winning band ever has), Danielle Petingalo and Ben Huyck have formed a proper four piece sister band named Dynamix to compete TONIGHT! Their lineup is rounded out by bassist Bill Spence (ex-Absolute/NoXcape) and drummer Dan Jackson, and they claim to play "rock, pop, and country", similarly to what Danielle and Ben play unplugged. Will electric instruments and a rhythm section ensure another win? Two more bands are playing tomorrow, one being Fusion Core, a jazz/rock sextet of teenagers, who did win a talent show at Sault High.

New and promising local musical talent is always welcomed, and members do play horn instruments, so it will be interesting to see how Fusion Core fare beyond being the largest and youngest band in the field! TONIGHT's other band is Whiskey Red, a new local classic rock/country duo out of Kinross featuring former Small Town Society frontwoman Holly Sibbald and ex-Full Throttle guitarist Jason Lamoreaux. Photos show them playing electric instruments, but come out to see what else they bring to the table! The field is rounded out by two more acoustic solo musicians, namely Hessel alternative rock singer/guitarist Adam Alford (who has original music on major streaming services) and Dee Homminga, who is active on stage and screen as a singer and guitarist. No solo act has ever won the LSSU Battle, but could Adam, Dee, or Kevin be the first?

The 3rd 4th annual LSSU Battle takes place TONIGHT at 7:00 PM as part of this year's Great Lake State Weekend. It is absolutely ALL AGES, with tickets running for $10 for adults and $5 for kids aged 10 and under, and you can buy them at this link if you don't want to pay at the door. As in the past three years, everything goes down in the theater at the far left of campus (basically Sault Michigan's answer to the SCTC). The field this year is wide open, and it will be interesting to see who joins The Sole Aggressors, Molly & The Other Guys, and The Dynamic Duo as victors of this annual event! Could About:Blank build off of their podium finish in Brimley? Can Dynamix kinda sorta repeat as champions? Is the fourth time a charm for Kevin? Can Tunngtyed impress despite being the only guitar-less entry this year? What about all of the complete newcomers? Find out who comes out on top TONIGHT!

Memo to Sault Ontario event promoters: If Sault Michigan and Brimley can each have successful multi-year battles of the bands, what's stopping a bigger neighbouring city from even getting one off the ground? No preview video today, as I don't want to give any inkling of favouritism in the competition, but visit the above links for complete details on this year's Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Hails), A New Local Punk Band, And More Recent Updates!!

Before we dive into weekend concert previews, here's a new news post for your Tuesday night reading, which includes some shorter recent updates, a new video, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and leading off, a new band making their debut later this month, so here's what you should know!

New local pop punk band Homeroom Hero have launched their own Facebook page, so now we can add them to our active local band links! Debuting on Friday, October 30th at The Art Hub At Spring when they open for The Reeves (details here) with a further gig coming next month at PetFest, Homeroom Hero are hyping themselves up big towards fans of early-mid 2000 pop punk and emo bands, which will definitely be a niche that has been underserved locally in the 2020s. Their lineup includes former No Shadows Cast guitarist Brian Lester, newer local guitarist Dennys Andrade, bassist Paul Fowler, and former As It Stands drummer/Forever Will Be leader Ryan McLaughlin. The band originally had ex-A Dire Setback frontman Larry Babic on vocals, but he has quietly departed Homeroom Hero for unannounced reasons, as per a recent Facebook Messenger conversation with Paul.

Hopefully nothing too serious happened with Larry, as he has been missed on stage since the late 2010s! In Homeroom Hero's first video on Facebook, you can hear their apparent new singer (a woman, based on the voice) covering the last chorus of The Offspring's "The Kids Aren't Alright". Doesn't sound bad to me, but who is she, and will the band reveal her identity prior to Devil's Night? And what other covers do Homeroom Hero have up their sleeve? We'll know more soon, but check out their first audio teaser below!

Next up, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, this time an all-local show from Underground Events SSM on Tuesday, November 10th at The Speak Easy at Algoma University, and despite being on a work/school night, this will have a stacked lineup of five local bands, two debuting! Your headliners are crossover thrash trio Hails, while their former guitarist Mikhal Muto (promoter of this very event) will front his ska/crust punk quartet ASDP as co-headliners. Young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe (or, if you believe the poster, $5 Bribe) will make their Speak Easy debuts here, while the other two bands are brand new. One is The Mario Kwon Quartet, a jazz outfit led by the musician behind the Yecharo solo project that some readers may recall from this year's Go Skate Day, while the other is a debuting skate punk band named Worst Case Scenario. I have no public details on them yet, we'll let you know if something comes out in the next few weeks!

Tickets are on sale at this link for $20, and the price is unchanged at the door, unless you're a current Algoma student with valid student ID, as you'll get in for half that price. The bands start at 6:00 PM and this is absolutely an all ages concert (the bar will not be open and they ask not to bring in outside alcohol). If you can swing coming out on a Tuesday, this should deliver the goods for fans of hard rock and punk, and it'll be interesting to get more on Worst Case Scenario, so visit the above links for more details!

Also today, the above poster (made by Mikhal) sort of ties into our next topic, as Eden Plague guitarist Mitch Sirie starred in this new Facebook video to promote their gig opening for Korpiklaani at Blaster Powerhouse next month. While ostensibly to hype availability of tickets (all members except Justin were credited in the description as having some to sell), Mitch spends most of the video criticizing generative AI usage, especially to advertise events. Veronica Miller of Mother North Studio designed the official poster for the concert, which came about after the former Bear Hunters disapproved of the AI-generated poster that the former Soo Blaster made for the concert (which you can still see on the venue's concerts page; I recall Mitch complaining that the AI program distorted the Eden Plague logo). To their credit, Blaster has used Veronica's poster for all promotion elsewhere since, including physical copies.

Mitch doesn't mince words about his distaste for generative AI posters, while also plugging his hairstylist and locally-made beard oil for good measure. I do agree that you should support real artists, regardless of medium, and I would rather see art made in a legit computer program or by hand, so hopefully we get more of that regardless of source! As for the concert promo, it did take a back seat for much of the video (still no word on who Free Drugs are), but getting Korpiklaani here all the way from Finland on November 7th will be huge, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Mitch's video!

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:

• Local rapper Kodex has replaced Shae Tull on the lineup for this Saturday night's Customer Service concert at Blaster Powerhouse, as per promoters Underground Events SSM's Facebook page. Unspecified "scheduling issues" were cited as to why Shae withdrew from the Halloween-themed concert, and hopefully all is well with her! Kodex's inclusion makes him even more of a genre outlier than Shae would have been at this majority-punk concert, but he is a talented MC, so don't bypass him, and our preview of this show will hit the site in a few days!
• A celebration of life for late local classic rock musician and American Federation of Musicians Local 276 union vice president Paul Leclair will take place at The Water Tower Inn on Saturday at 1:00 PM, as per this entry on SooToday's obituary page. This takes place eight months after Paul passed away at the age of 74, and I am glad to see that his friends and family will finally get a public chance to pay their respects and celebrate his memory. R.I.P. Paul!
• In another "Story" from Riverside Stasis frontwoman Tea Emlaw's solo Facebook page, she shared a brief clip of the band playing at Village Media headquarters this past Friday for the (slightly) relocated Village Sessions kickoff event. I don't understand why you wouldn't let everyone see and share the video whenever we want, but it did give some sense as to the intimate space of the event. Also, ex-Din drummer Brandan Glew was behind the kit for this gig, though the band still has not officially clarified on social media if he has replaced Anthony Boudreau or if he was just filling in. We'll let you know when they formally announce something!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

Early Details On Rock Of Ages & New Headrush Concert Videos!!

Before we begin this post, just a heads up that former Rising Tide/Steeltown Playboys bassist Marshall Jaaskelainen's obituary was posted on SooToday on Friday, shortly before our scheduled auto-post written the previous night went up. Marshall is survived by his father Harry, two brothers and two sisters, a niece and nephew, and other extended family members. His funeral service will take place tomorrow at 5:00 PM at the Northwood Funeral Home, and the family would appreciate donations to The Summit. As for his celebration of life at Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s Tap Room last night, SooToday's Darren Taylor was in attendance for it, posting this article featuring a handful of photos of the event, and it looks like a packed house, which is wonderful to see! The article features remarks from Marshall's siblings Rachel (who organized the event), Heidi, and Byron, as well as his former bandmates Jay Case & Lindsay Pugh, and his friend Kate Mulligan.

Marshall's brother and long-time bandmate Sheldon (who has lived and worked out of town in recent years) was unable to attend, but hopefully we'll see him back home when able. It sounds like the celebration of life was a huge hit to pay homage to Marshall as a musician, friend, family member, and all around good person, and I do hope that tomorrow's services go similarly well for everyone who loved and miss him. R.I.P. Marshall!

Today's post otherwise looks at recent live videos from a local cover band, but first, here's an upcoming show that crosses our radar (if not a traditional "concert"), as The Musical Comedy Guild of Sault Ste. Marie is hosting a local stage production of the musical Rock Of Ages next year! To be held at the Sault Community Theatre Centre from April 28th-May 1st, this is being presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals, and will be directed by Andrew Stuetz, who is best recognized in our coverage as the annual MC for Rotaryfest Stage 1 but has a large background in local theatre. Audition info is still to come, but if you're not familiar, Rock Of Ages is a jukebox musical themed around 1980s hair metal, AOR, and arena rock songs, which ran on Broadway from 2009-2015 and received a film adaptation in 2012. This should be an interesting change of pace, so follow the Guild for continuing updates!

The back half of this post is devoted to local classic/hard rock cover sextet Headrush, who have a bunch of new videos to look at, mostly via their new YouTube channel! While launched in June, they only uploaded videos to it last month, all six coming from their Friday night set at Rotaryfest Stage 1 in July (a rare public concert set from them this summer, as they took the season off from bar gigs). Capturing about half of their set on the familiar pop-up stage at Clergue Park, Headrush were filmed covering Prism's "Spaceship Superstar",  AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie" (featuring a woman apparently named Rosie dancing on stage!), Journey's "Stone In Love", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Sun", Foreigner's "Double Vision", and as embedded below, Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time". The uncredited filmer was right up in front of the stage and got some really nice quality footage on all fronts, including on the stage at a few points!

The guys were playing at dusk, so thing look that tiny bit more impressive for lighting and ambiance, and everyone sounds good, with John Anderson hitting some strong high notes (mercifully, that weekend's severe wildfire smoke warnings lessened enough to not throw a wrench into the Friday program). Give Headrush's new Rotaryfest videos a watch above & below!

Lastly, the other new video was actually shot by local concert regular and supporter Audrey Marshall for her personal Facebook page before being shared publically, but not by the band. As you may recall, Headrush played their first bar gigs of the fall at The Esquire Club this weekend, and Audrey filmed this video of their encore, where they welcomed former Mustang Heart keyboardist Vito Tassone to guest on a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'"! Frank Mannarino switched to rhythm guitar as a result. The video only runs for 80 seconds, and it is reasonably tight to the stage, but what Audrey shot looks and sounds good, and it is neat to see Vito on stage with a full band again, so give this a watch below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Dos Amigos), Recent Facebook "Story" Videos, And More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran local musician and Soo's Got Talent co-producer Darren Robertson, who passed away at the Algoma Residential Community Hospice on Wednesday, just three days after his 56th birthday. Darren had been fighting esophageal cancer since May of last year, and you can read more about his fight via this GoFundMe campaign on his behalf. He is survived by his parents, wife Judy, his kids Aiyah, Jaeden, and Julian, his brother Ryan, and other extended family. A recognizable face in the local music scene for decades (even if his band work largely predates social media), Darren primarily crossed our radar for his work as a producer, judge, and MC of The Soo's Got Talent, who have done a lot to promote rising local singers and other performers since 2019, while supporting deserving charities along the way, and he was promoting this fall's event online earlier this month.

Darren was also the creator of the free news/entertainment publication Soo Now, and you may recognize him from his one-time day job at Eazy Express. Cremation has taken place, and a celebration of life will be held at a later date, but arrangements were entrusted to the Damignani Burial, Cremation, and Transfer Service. A kind supporter of local music and wonderful causes, and a talented musician in his own right, Darren has been rightfully eulogized by so many people this week, and with The Soo's Got Talent returning with a non-competitive winter gala next month, there will be more chances to remember him and his work to come. R.I.P. Darren!

Today's post otherwise looks at recent video shares that many may not have even had the chance to see, some assorted recent updates, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local acoustic punk duo Dos Amigos will play their second show in three days TOMORROW when they return to Thomson Farms Cider & Winery! Apologies for the short notice, Thomson Farms only confirmed that Mikey & Dustin would be playing via this AI-generated poster yesterday. While music has been a frequently advertised component of their fall fair this month, Dos Amigos are the only act credited by name in any of the AI-generated posters, having played at the Third Line West cider mill two weeks ago. Fresh off of last night's intimate Village Media gig, hopefully their unplugged punk covers get another strong reception TOMORROW! As usual, lots of family entertainment and activities are also going on.

TOMORROW's fall fair activities run from 11:00 AM-5:00 PM with Dos Amigos playing from 12:00-3:00 PM, and it is definitely free and all ages, on-site purchases notwithstanding. Assuming the concert will be outdoors (the patio will be open), temperatures will noticeably warm up from what we have seen recently, as 9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy skies with a high of 15°, and no chance of rain. Thomson Farms says that it will be "at the Wine Barn" (at, not in). Visit the above links for more details, and here's Dos Amigos live!

Also today, a lot of Facebook "Stories" have popped up in recent weeks from concerts at Beck's Bar featuring videos from concerts there. My dislike of "Stories" is well known by now, as even beyond the brief and vertical trappings, they are basically temporary videos that self-destruct and vanish forever after being seen once or twice on your news feed. I'm sure I missed others from Beck's that didn't turn up on Facebook for me, but I can confirm that recent "Stories" of theirs included Curtis McKenzie covering Velvet Revolver's "Fall To Pieces", Stones At The Alter covering Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy", and online page-less Soundcheck sister band TNT covering both Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and Fastball's "The Way". Terry Eaton and Travis Sharpe sang each cover respectively, while Rusty Barrel joined them on cajon as a guest percussionist again.

My job isn't to call out Beck's over posting "Stories" (they have their reasons), but if it was me, I wouldn't give a fleeting teaser of a show in progress that people can't re-watch and share, let alone this frequently. If you're one to skip the "Stories" strip, you might want to give it a look, as occasional videos that aren't permanently uploaded elsewhere do turn up there, even if I wish they were!

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:

 

• Local crossover thrash trio Hails will play Sudbury for the first time with their current lineup on November 21st when they head to The Townehouse Tavern to open for Hamilton punk band Losing Streak. Sudbury is, of course, a 3+ hour drive east, but we do have readers who live/work out there, so keep this show in mind if you'll be in the area next month, and best of luck to Brent, Tony, and Keeghan on their upcoming road trip!
• Among recent shares of photos from their ongoing recording sessions at The Loft on their Facebook page, local hard/blues rock quartet The Reeves confirmed on Wednesday that they are indeed working on an EP, something that was previously only stated in public writing in the Rotaryfest program. As of Tuesday, frontman Brad Irwin was tracking guitar parts, and hopefully things are progressing as well as they seem from the outside!
• In one more note from a Facebook "Story", Riverside Stasis frontwoman Tea Emlaw's solo Facebook page revealed last week that the band is recording new singles in studio. The verbiage used was "singles", not an album/EP, though that doesn't necessarily mean that we aren't getting one either. Why you'd want to reveal this in a post that vanishes upon viewing, I don't know, but keep things in mind from this talented group! She also starred in this short black & white video on the band's Facebook page to plug last week's set opening for The Lazys (though oddly not their headlining show at Beck's later that night.)

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The T.R.I.P.) & More Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we finish off this weekend's hard rock concert previews, just a heads up that a celebration of life for former Rising Tide/Wild Turkeys bassist Marshall Jaaskelainen will be held tomorrow night at The Tap Room at Northern Superior Brewing Co. at 6:00 PM. The brewery announced this on their Facebook page yesterday, and members of Marshall's family had announced it on personal social media accounts prior. The event will have an open mic aspect where friends, family, and bandmates can talk about Marshall and/or play music in his honour, though as far as I can tell, there are no formally scheduled bands. Of course, kudos to Northern Superior for hosting this, and given Marshall's talents and nature, I'm sure it will be packed tomorrow night to pay tribute to him. As of this writing, an obituary or details of further services have not been publically released, and we will let you know if/when they are. R.I.P. Marshall!

Today's post otherwise caps off this weekend's known and advertised hard rock concert previews in the area, and we'll start with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as sporadically seen acoustic classic/hard rock cover band The T.R.I.P. will reportedly be performing at The Water Tower Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via personal Facebook postings this week, though note that The Water Tower Pub's October schedule (since yanked off of their Facebook page) originally had TOMORROW as being a Beej Syrette solo concert. As you may recall, The T.R.I.P. (no word on what the acronym means) started as a side project for cousins & then-Double Down bandmates Joel & Beej Syrette, though after that band abruptly disbanded in March, The T.R.I.P. returned for a Beck's Bar gig last month, now with bassist Dan Beaupre joining them.

Now, this show conflicts with Soundcheck's short notice gig TOMORROW NIGHT at Jay's Piston Broke Pub (Dan joined them in August). He is listed by name in personal postings referencing TOMORROW'S T.R.I.P. concert, but where will he be? I'll clarify if something comes out! Regardless, if you've missed Double Down over the past seven months, keep this gig in mind, even if it's unplugged and sans Ric! Remember, The Water Tower Pub doesn't host the same band on back to back nights, and classic rock veterans 46th Parallel are playing there tonight. TOMORROW's show is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and no T.R.I.P. videos yet!

Also this weekend are local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' newest concerts, which will see them rock Reggie's Place TOMORROW NIGHT! They were originally advertised to be playing tonight too, but the band confirmed that they are not playing tonight due to "certain circumstances", as per their Facebook group. As such, their defunct predecessors Jus' Chillin will perform instead with guest guitarist Michael Yurich. Usually, a Jus' Chillin reunion is prompted by Valerie being unavailable, but if Mike is sitting in, maybe Joe is absent (too)? The post said nothing about tomorrow night, so hopefully the status quo returns then. Here's hoping that there's a good turnout downtown regardless! Tomorrow's show is at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charges. See above for more details, and for a preview, guitarist Joe Miller has shared two new videos of them live onto their Facebook group! Both see them covering Pat Benatar songs at their most recent Water Tower Pub show, one being "Heartbreaker", which was originally filmed by attendee Kyle McGinnis.

Sadly, that one is vertical and only 93 seconds long, but it's a strong performance that lets Valerie let loose on vocals! Embedded below is the slightly longer (and horizontal!) video of Generations covering "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", which Joe shared from his own personal Facebook page. Not as challenging of a song for Valerie's range, but a classic rock staple that they know well, and despite the venue's extremely blue lighting, this video is well shot and framed. Give these a look above and below, and don't miss Generations at Reggie's Place tomorrow!

We'll close this weekend's hard rock concert previews in Sault Michigan, where local punk/alternative duo About:Blank will play a rare headlining concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Merchant's Bar! The second of at least three gigs (private and public alike) for Parker and Kade this month, this will be their first public show in the Soo since their acoustic matinee outside of Moloney's Alley in June. Coming less than a week before they open for Bimbo at Pizza Hut (no word yet on if they're in the LSSU Battle of the Bands on Thursday), hopefully the guys tear things up at The Merch, where fittingly, they will have new merch for sale! Tomorrow's concert is a short one, running from 10:00 PM until midnight, so no openers and no stuffing four sets with covers.This is a 21+ concert with no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's About:Blank live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this weekend! Thanks everyone!

The Return Of Mikey & His Uke, Realignment Project Updates, And A New Live Video!!

Before we begin this Thanksgiving post, I wanted to apologize for missing Bone Yard 225 frontman Greg "The Ranting Rockstar" Simpson's solo acoustic concert at The Dive Gastro Pub on "Think It Over Thursday". I profusely apologize for missing this show in last week's previews, but alas, The Dive only announced that Greg was even playing on 3:26 PM that day, and Greg still doesn't have a solo social media page dedicated to his Ranting Rockstar persona/gigs (even on his personal page, this didn't get an early plug). Hopefully the show was a hit, and I'd have happily covered it had it had even a day's notice! Now, here's some recent updates and videos from a few local acts, including a surprise return!

After a nearly two year long hiatus, Mikey & His Uke are back! We last heard from the local/Toronto punk supergroup project when Mikey Hawdon concluded his "Dookie" 30th anniversary series of Green Day covers in November 2024, but the BookcluB/Dos Amigos frontman surprised us by posting a brand new remotely-filmed cover of The Dandy Warhols' "Bohemian Like You" onto their YouTube channel last week. For their big return, Mikey sure got a stacked lineup of musicians from afar for this cover, including Bangles guitarist Vicki Peterson on vocals, Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen, Redd Kross bassist Steven McDonald, Poison drummer Rikki Rockett, and former Runaways bassist Jackie Fox (a 4 day champion on Jeopardy!) on backing vocals. As usual, Mikey starts off strumming his ukelele before dropping the pretense and playing rhythm guitar. The cover is very sound, and everyone performs well with some unique levels of staging!

The biggest variance here compared to past Mikey & His Uke covers is that three performers actually appear on camera together. Vicki starts off singing alone outside, then Jackie joins her, and when they go inside, Steve has moved from performing in a dark theatre to playing on the couch, where the ladies join him for the back half of the cover. Good stuff with some suitably huge star power, so check out the "Bohemian Like You" cover below, and Mikey & His Uke are back in our active band links! Here's hoping we're not waiting until 2028 for the next video!

Next up, here's the latest from local industrial metal solo act The Realignment Project's Facebook page, so what has Matt Hicks has been up to in the past couple of months? Much of that time was spent working on their second full length album, and in the most substantial teaser video from the sessions in that span, Matt posted this video on August 14th of a new song in progress via his tracking computer. He gave what appear to be lyrics for the song in the description, but what we hear is just the bass and drum tracks for the then-unfinished song. Sounds good to me for what it is! As of August 19th, the album was 75% done, and six days later, Matt posted this amusing video that shows an insight into his alleged "creative process". Vertical or not, I have a feeling that there is some real basis to the scenarios presented! Songwriting for the album was still ongoing on September 2nd, and by the 14th, he was tracking vocals for songs then in progress.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Matt announced on the 18th that he was already working on demos for T.R.P.'s third full-length album, and you can't knock the hustle! Back to album #2, post-production had begun by the 23rd, and five days later, he showed off some expansions to his home studio in this video soundtracked by a Motley Crue song. Last week, Matt confirmed their second album was done, and he confirmed on Friday that the album will be named "Signal Decay", with a release lined up for December. This is on par with the release timeframe for The Realignment Project's first full-length album "Long Cold Winter", which also came out two months after its sessions ended. In the interim, Matt posted this teaser video on Facebook featuring a groove metal-inspired instrumental section of one of the new songs. As usual, I'll hold comment pending our review of the full song and album next year.

Even with the focus on full albums as opposed to EPs in the past year, Matt works at such a busy and prolific pace, and it's good to see him getting "Signal Decay" done and prepped for release already! One assumes this is still through East London Recordings and will turn up on major streaming services, Bandcamp, and via ElasticStage print-on-demand physical copies like before. Give the teaser a watch below, and stay tuned for more soon!

Finally for today, here's a new video discovery from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown! The band proper has been publically dormant for over three months, but I came across this during our profile on guitarist Jaxon Massaway's YouTube channel, and it presumably slipped my notice because it is a "Short" video (re: vertical, brief, and classed separately than regular videos, though it is embeddable here and isn't temporary like a Facebook "Story"). This comes from their set opening for Born Of Osiris at The Vernors Room at The Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac in May 2024. It's a borderline drum-cam video (Jaxon was still HLTC's drummer here), but it's not super well positioned for that purpose, and you can only see Nathan, Christian, and Blaze (debuting with the band as a one-off DJ here) from behind, and Brandon isn't in frame at all. It's a promisingly heavy performance, just a poor angle, vertical, and way too short. Still, give it a look below!

That's all for today, but enjoy your Thanksgiving, turkey, and football on the Canadian side of the border, and we'll be back with more news and notes on the SMS later this week! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Malignant Neoplasm

Plans have changed for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as our randomly selected pick for this month's past band spotlight was local/Toronto punk cover supergroup Mikey & His Uke, who just posted their first new song in over a year last week! We'll look at the new song on the site in our next post. Obviously, they're not defunct (or inactive) anymore, so in the rare cases where my next selection comes back to life after being picked, I go with the closest alphabetical act who I haven't already looked at, and only one defunct or inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk act whose name starts with an M qualifies at present. As such, things are much more brutal & underground this time, so here's what you should know!

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Malignant Neoplasm

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Cybergrind/Gorenoise

Lineup:

Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson, all instruments

Audio/Video: This studio-only project released 9 demo albums onto their Bandcamp page between July 2013 and April 2021, with their final album "Hugz" teased as one of their few albums "that's good from start to finish". They also took part in two of label Blood Shed Productions' mid-2010s splits, both alongside their sister goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore, and select albums from their catalog were sold on CD at Blood Shed-affiliated concerts in the 2010s. A compilation of all of Malignant Neoplasm's songs was offered for a time in 2022, but never publically posted. Few of the MxNx-specific videos on the Blood Shed YouTube channel are more substantial than just re-uploads, but here is the (vertical) music video for "Needle Aspiration Biopsy" from their self-titled debut!

Info/Analysis: One of the many 1-2 man metal/grindcore bands signed to Blood Shed Productions in their 2010s heyday, Malignant Neoplasm differed from Tyler's better known band CTW via an electronica influence permeating their music, while their imagery and songs often reflected medical procedures and real photos of human anatomy (not NSFW but still graphic) until their 2018 relaunch, even going so far as to name an album that year "No More Medical Songs". Otherwise, they shared the same pig squealing vocals, short song lengths, lo-fi production quality, drum machine, and provocative song names and lyrics that CTW were known for. Malignant Neoplasm's original Facebook page was converted into CTW's (now-deleted) second Facebook page, and their replacement mostly posted new songs and teasers for them, plus the release of new t-shirts. Occasional hints and archival song shares continued from 2022-2025, and Tyler last posted teasers of music being played on a stereo in two March 2025 videos.

Like the bulk of Tyler's other 2010s metal acts, Malignant Neoplasm are critic-proof. You either like this style of metal for what it is, or you won't, and these fall in line with his "I play what I want and you don't have to like it" ethos. The techno influence and extra background noise helped distinguish them from CTW, even if it made them less amenable to live concert performances, and they developed a cult following similar to what CTW, Rotopsy, and others got at the time. I applaud Tyler for doing his own thing without apologies, but what you see is what you get. I still think that the Blood Shed guys could have coalesced into one great five piece death metal band, but give MxNx a listen above if you want to dive in!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! The series returns on or around November 10th, and we'll have more news and notes on the SMS this week. Thanks everyone, and to our Canadian readers, in the event a new post doesn't come prior, I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (TNT) & More Thanksgiving Long Weekend Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what else you should know in the area from tonight onward!

Local acoustic classic/hard rock cover duo TNT will return to the stage on SUNDAY NIGHT at Beck's Bar! Apologies for the short notice, Beck's only announced the matinee show in their weekly concert calendar announcement on their Facebook page on Monday, and TNT still don't have a dedicated social media page to promote their own shows with (granted, their sister band Soundcheck rarely updates theirs much anymore either). This is Travis & Terry's first announced acoustic concert since their set at Maddy's Mighty Mutts' Family Fun Day in August, though I did want to acknowledge here that the guys did play a run of eight Saturday matinee concerts at Misty's Fifties from May-July, which I belatedly discovered on the Second Line West nightclub's Facebook page via a bunch of mostly AI generated promotional images. This notably made them the last hard rock-leaning act to play there before Becky Sawyer of Beck's Bar bought Misty's.

I do profusely apologize for missing those shows for coverage here, but alas, they were mostly on late notice on the venue's end, and TNT don't have their own page to plug upcoming shows with. Hopefully they were all a hit, and could Terry n' Trav(is) play there more once Misty's reopens? At least we know about SUNDAY'S Beck's show, which takes place at 3:00 PM during their weekly euchre tournament, and it is 19+ with no cover once again. Visit the above links for more details, hopefully some public videos turn up soon, and stay tuned for more from TNT and Soundcheck (7.3?)

Next up, let's jump over to Sault Michigan briefly, where Traverse City classic metal trio Peril will play their final gigs at The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino branch TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Peril are alive and well, but frontman Jeff Hudson confirmed on their Facebook page that they won't be back at the Soo Kewadin "for the foreseeable future" due to "the upcoming construction changes". It's well established by now that The Rapids Lounge is closing soon for heavy renovations in advance of a new sports bar opening on site or nearby in 2027, and based on updates to Kewadin's entertainment page for upcoming lounge schedules, it does appear that the NuCorp-headlined concerts over Halloween weekend will be the final ones at The Rapids Lounge as we know it. As such, Peril are the last hard rock-leaning band to play there, and they have played there loads over the years, so come on out for all the action this weekend!

These will also be Peril's last EUP gigs for 2026, but their sister band Scarkazm will be back at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace before the year is out though, and we'll have more on that in an upcoming post. Tonight & tomorrow's concerts are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges, and if you're curious, cover band Detour and Detroit blues rock musician Chris Canas will play the next two weekends before NuCorp send out The Rapids Lounge at months end. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Peril live in St. Ignace!

Also this weekend, Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will return to The Esquire Club TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! This double shot in the west end will mark the long awaited return to the weekend nightclub circuit for Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve, after their annual summer spell of just festivals and private gigs extended through September (their last gig of any kind was opening for Fefe Dobson). As such, it's been a long and silent six months for Silent 9 at The Esquire Club, but hopefully their fan friendly classic and hard rock covers get a solid reception this weekend as they return to the regular bar grind! Tonight and tomorrow's shows are at 9:30 PM with 19+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new video of Silent 9 live at Wolf Fest II at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion last month! This was uploaded to the band's Facebook page on September 15th, a few days after Wolf Fest took place.

As usual for their own social media video uploads, this is (sadly) short and vertical, with the 39 second clip seeing the guys covering AC/DC's "Shoot To Thrill". Despite the above issues and some recurrent light reflections, Silent 9 do a solid and upbeat job with this song, one of my favourite AC/DC singles, so give it a watch below, and look for much more this weekend!

Finally for our Thanksgiving long weekend previews, we head to The Sault Community Theatre Center at White Pines Collegiate & Vocational School, where Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever will rock the Soo once again TOMORROW NIGHT! Bon Jovi Forever just played at the former Kiwanis Theatre last fall, while they also headlined at The Rockstar Bar a decade ago, so clearly they've done something right to make returns here in the mid-2020s. Covering both the 1980s and early 1990s hair metal days and their more general rock sound of more recent times, BJF deliver the goods for fans of the New Jersey legends, and if you know how Jon Bon Jovi sounds live nowadays, Baz will take you back to what you're used to! All of the east end action goes down tomorrow night at 8:00 PM, and tickets are still on sale at this link, at the door, or at the community box office at Station Mall. The first six rows in the center section are completely sold out, as are the front rows on the left and right, but there's plenty of seats left!

Adult tickets cost $61.02, seniors 65+ and students 13-21 years old cost $49.72, kids under 9-13 cost $16.95, and kids 8 and under are free, and use the promo code group6+ for a discounted group rate if you are buying for 6 or more people. Visit the above links for more on what should be a fun night for Hair Scare fans, and here's Bon Jovi Forever live at the SCTC last year!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS over the long weekend! Thanks everyone! 

R.I.P. Marshall Jaaskelainen (1991-2026)

The Sault Metal Scene would like to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of prolific local musician Marshall Jaaskelainen, who suddenly passed away on Tuesday at the age of 35, as per numerous personal Facebook postings that broke earlier today. Well known across genre lines as a bassist (stand-up and electric alike), Marshall will be best known in an SMS context from his work in local/Toronto Celtic punk band Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide for their entire 2007-2021 run. Marshall was joined there and in multiple other projects by his older brother Sheldon Jaaskelainen on cello, and with The Tide, they released three studio albums and had been working on a fourth when they fell inactive. Over the years, you may recognize Marshall from work on stage and/or in studio with such bands as The Wild Turkeys, The Way Backs, The Boot Hill Crooners, and The Steeltown Playboys, and he was still playing live as recently as this summer. Marshall was also a mandolin instructor at Case's Music in the 2010s.

This sad news seemed to hit like a sack of bricks for many in the local music scene, and even beyond Marshall's talents and frequent band work locally and on the road, he was also known for his kindness and sense of humour. Others who knew him better than I can attest to his character better than I ever could, but in our interactions, he always came off well and appreciative, and regardless of your music taste, you'd be hard pressed to find a better stand-up bassist in the area than him. We'll have details on services and memorials when/if announced, but our best wishes go out to Sheldon and the entire family, and go check out some of the brothers' original music if you have the chance. R.I.P. Marshall!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (PetFest & Bimbo), Plus The Sale Of Misty's Fifties!!

Let's try to quell a new backlog of stories that's growing around here, via two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming weeks, plus news on a familiar local nightclub changing hands, so here's what you should know!

The next multi-band concert at the Pizza Hut in Sault Michigan will go down on Friday, October 23rd! Just one day removed from this year's LSSU Battle of the Bands (auditions close on Sunday), this Serious Business-promoted concert will actually feature three touring bands, two of which have been in the EUP in the past. Your headliners here are Detroit experimental/prog rock duo MRKT, while also making the trip to the Soo in two & a half weeks are Marquette art punk duo Bimbo (who headlined at Pizza Hut in May), and Muskegon "weirdo punk" trio Violet Scum, who you may remember headlining at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley in May of last year. There's a lot of eclectic sounds from these three bands, so do check them all out for a sampler of what to expect! Local punk duo About:Blank (who opened for both Bimbo and Violet Scum's prior shows in the EUP) will kick off the evening.

Parker & Kade will be less than a week removed from their headlining show at The Merch, and hopefully they keep their recent momentum up well here! This 18+ concert has a 7:00 PM start time, and admission will be $15, identical to the Bimbo show in May. Looks like another intriguing concert on Ashmun Street ahead, so if you're in the EUP or are able & willing to cross the border, don't bypass this action! Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, a huge fundraiser concert will take place at Blaster Powerhouse in Sault Ontario on Saturday, November 21st named PetFest! As the name may suggest, this event will be in support of The Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society, with 100% of proceeds going there, so if you wanna help animals in need and the work that goes into their care and adoption, consider coming out! Based on band stature, I'm assuming that the lineup listed on the poster and Facebook event page is the planned running order top-to-bottom and left-to-right, so if that is true, death metal veterans Eden Plague (the former Bear Hunters) are headlining in a rare appearance at the former Soo Blaster. Expect some "life metal" from these brutal local mainstays next month! Sporadically seen alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will co-headline in their second show of the year, and if you know anything about frontman Chris Nielsen's day job, you'll know that they'll be on board with a pet charity concert like this!

Also scheduled next month are hard/blues rock trio Stones & Crows, alt-hard rock quartet The Reeves, blues rock musician (and mayoral candidate!) Josh "The Preacher" McNally & his Jackleg Band, new local pop punk/emo band Homeroom Hero in just their second concert (interesting seeing Larry sharing a bill with A Dire Setback for the first time since he left that band), and talented young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe. The show will be opened by former Stereo North frontman Andrew Pucci, who is actually promoting this concert, so kudos to him for supporting a great organization and cause like this! Andrew has been slowly re-acclimating into the live scene in mid-late 2026, as fans who recall his wildfire smoke-cancelled open mic appearance at Rotaryfest will be aware, but how does his modern acoustic solo set sound? Find out next month! PetFest takes place eight days before this year's Toystock, in case you were wondering.

Tickets for this all ages event will be $20, and are on sale at this link and presumably at Blaster Powerhouse (no idea if Andrew or the bands can hook you up, or if at-the-door admission will stay at $20). The concert begins at 4:00 PM and will run until midnight, but I don't know if every act gets an hour's timeslot to perform, set up, and tear down, or if there will be variable set times. This looks like a great time and great value for fans of active local bands, especially original ones, so visit the above links for more details!

Finally, here's some big news for fans of a local venue or two, as Beck's Bar owner Becky Sawyer has bought a second local nightclub, namely Misty's Fifties! The news was announced in this SooToday article by Brandon Walker last week. A reason for Lori selling the 658 Second Line West nightclub after 33 years was not announced, but Becky used to work there, and spoke positively of the memories behind the bar there. Of course, she has done a very strong job with the former Vibe Lounge in the past year+, and Beck's is just a 3 minute drive from Misty's straight down Goulais Avenue, so oversight of the two bars should be simple enough. Misty's Facebook page was last updated on September 1st, and Becky has signalled "that there are some amazing changes coming". One appears to be new signage at the building proper, as that was recently taken down (not the proper street sign yet.)

Misty's will be closed "for a few weeks" for the revamp, renovations, and some training, but Becky vows to honour the history of the bar since it opened in the 1990s. SMS readers will best know Misty's from frequent matinee concerts from Tym Morrison and, most recently, TNT, but its size has left it more amenable to acoustic acts (nothing that I was aware of was scheduled there during the renovations). Will that continue? What all is and isn't changing beyond the signage? We'll let you know when the bar reopens, but visit the above links for more details, best of luck to Lori in what's coming next, and stay tuned for more news and notes shortly! Thanks everyone!