Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands Lineup Reveal, Plus New Videos!!

Before we get into the meat of this post, let's frame it with a newly confirmed band for next month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian, as new hard/pop rock quartet Heavy Head are the fifth confirmed band for next month, as per the official Facebook event page! With a lineup full of 1st and 2nd place battle finishers with bands like The Suicide Kings, The Bear Hunters, Winkstinger, and Haggith, can they find similar successes next month so soon after their debut? I say that now because they're also confirmed for another big event next month, which leads off this post, along with some new videos, so here's what you should know!

The full performer lineup for the second annual Speak Easy Battle of the Bands has been announced via the official Facebook event page, so who all is playing on Thursday, March 10th? Joining the previously confirmed modern hard rock band Eclipse are the same three acts that were confirmed last fall for the original date, so alternative hard rock trio The Din, returning thrash metal band Pillory, and indie solo musician Jesse Merineau are all still in! They will be joined by punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, the aforementioned Heavy Head (fresh off of their debut show this Friday), indie/electronic rock project Aldous, and former Coverfly bassist Bryan Brown in a rare solo set. Of note, this will be the battle of the bands (and Speak Easy) debut for Aldous, Bryan Brown, Jack Spades, and Pillory, unless any of them are joining The Din, Eclipse, & Heavy Head at next month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands, of which this battle takes place in the midst of.

The Din and Jesse Merineau are the only returning bands from last year, and with none of last year's top 3 in the field next month, this is a wide open contest! It may be surprising to note that this is Jack Spades' first battle of the bands appearance (and first announced concert since October), but members have ample battle experience with bands like The Bear Hunters & T-Rex Manning, and frontman J.D. Pearce has promoted or played at all but one local battle of the bands since 2012. This will also be Pillory's first concert since their 2014 breakup, and their first with new bassist Jordan Leach, but how will they sound come March 10th? As for Bryan Brown, I'm unfamiliar with his solo music, but he played for Coverfly for three years before departing that veteran cover band earlier this year. He's got the skills, but how will he handle the solo spotlight, and what exactly does he play in that regard? Find out on March 10th at Algoma University's campus bar!

Also, three Heavy Head members are pulling double duty on March 10th (Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger with Jack Spades, and Daniel Horton with Eclipse), but will those bands snag multiple podium slots? $400, $200, $100 prizes await the 1st-3rd place bands, who each have 15 minute sets to impress the fans (no judges, it's a fan voted event again), and for attendees, admission is $5, it starts at 8:00 PM, and it's 19+ for all but Algoma students with student ID cards. This hould be another entertaining battle, so for more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more on both of next month's battles of the bands!

We'll close today with new videos, including the latest YouTube upload from Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night! Keyboardist Craig Harrison posted this on his YouTube channel yesterday, and it's of him playing his part of a new original song called "I Guess This Is Goodbye". Though obviously still in the works, Craig lays down a solid and pretty sounding keyboard track here, and it should accent the full metal song well when complete! Give it a look below!



Finally for today, here's a pair of new solo drumming videos from Bad Back's Nathan Sauve, as uploaded to his YouTube channel yesterday! His first uploads there in about six months, these are "post-music" performances, with him taking on the handle "DJ Nato" on one, and the songs themselves are called "Haunted Head" and, as embedded below, "Spew on the Motorway". A bit of a diversion from his usual solo performances, Nathan drums here to electronic-influenced music that feels a bit trance-like at times, but his drumming is as sound as ever, so give them a look above & below, and hopefully we hear more from Bad Back soon!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Danger Cats), Haggith's New CD, And New Videos!!

Before we get into this post, I wanted to apologize for not getting official plugs of last night's two Mourning Wood concerts (a matinee at The New American Pub and a normally timed Rednecks Saloon show) on the site yesterday. Both only recieved short notice plugs on personal Facebook accounts a few hours before showtime at The New A, and as we couldn't rush a new news post in time to plug both, we covered them on our Facebook page. Had we recieved more advance word on both, we'd have definitely plugged them here, but our apologies either way! Now, today's post features new videos, a recent album release, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Local all-female hard rock/punk quartet The Danger Cats will rock The Rankin Arena at 17 Batchewana Street on Saturday, June 13th during... a roller derby event?! Yes, the girls' second announced show of the summer will come during Border Brawl, a Sault Roller Derby event that will see two games between Ontario and Michigan teams (with game 1 featuring Northern Ontario's own NORD Starz.) If you're not familiar with roller derby, it's a fun and physical game that the whole family can enjoy, so give it a look online to see if this is up your alley! Danger Cats frontwoman Kate Kougar confirmed in personal e-mails that they'll be playing during halftime of both games, so with each starting at 6:00 & 8:00 PM, their mini-sets will presumably be at around 7:00 & 9:00 PM. This may seem like an odd show for a local band to play, but some of the members are involved in local roller derby events, hence the connection. (Calico Katie even designed the poster!)

Admission is $10 at the door or via advance ticket sales through derby players,  while kids under 12 get in FREE! Also, note that there's an afterparty at The Rockstar Bar too, but if The Danger Cats (or any other band) are playing it, nothing has been publically stated yet. For more details on this unique concert event, check the above links, and don't bypass roller derby, give it a look and see if you'd want to check out Border Brawl!

Next up, here's some overdue notes on a recent album release, as local hard rock/grunge quartet Haggith released their newest CD "Apocalypse II" on May 9th prior to their set at that night's Swampstravaganza V! Apologies for the delay in getting this on the site, it fell through the cracks way too much. Released a day earlier than anticipated, "Apocalypse II" is the band's fourth full length studio album and second in their "Apocalypse" concept series, as recorded over the past year+ at PaperClip Productions. The album features (in various lineup arrangements and instrument roles) the band's late 2014-early 2015 lineup, including singer/guitarist Curtis McKenzie, ex-guitarist Daniel Horton, bassist Jordan Leach, and drummer/vocalist Mike Haggith, though only Daniel is credited on all 10 songs, and his Project 421 bandmate Frank McGillivray is credited with playing guest guitar on the three "Home" tracks.

"Apocalypse II" was on sale for $5, and likely will be at the band's upcoming concerts as well. You can stream all 10 songs ("Apocalypse", "Hands of Death", "Immunity", "Spreading The Disease", parts 5, 6, and 7 of "Home", "Tribute to Mike Haggith", "We Are The Damned", and the title track) at Haggith's YouTube channel for free as well, but will we be reviewing the album on the site this month? No, because it only makes sense to go in chronological order for the "Apocalypse" series, so look for our review of 2012's "Apocalypse" (at last) by month's end! Check out both above!

We'll close today with new videos, including this clip of Bad Back drummer Nathan Sauve tracking drums for a guest spot he's doing for an upcoming Rotopsy track! As uploaded to his YouTube channel on Monday, the overhead video features him tracking his part in a speedo (as he pointed out), and it sounds good to add to a Rotopsy song! While a little monotonous, live drums top a drum machine and help give more of the full band feel to their goregrind intensity, and it'll be interesting to hear the final product! Give Nathan's new video a look below!



Finally, here's a new solo instrumental recording by prolific Sault native and Alberta metal guitarist Paul Melanson! The first upload to his YouTube channel in 5 months, the song is called "Split the Sphere", and it's a well recorded and performed original song with a nice solo and strong songwriting! His recent hard rock and cover work in Lethbridge is solid, but it would be interesting to see him tackle a full metal project like this again. Give his new video a look below, and see more above!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Mourning Wood), Sault Ontario Concert Previews, And More!!

Night #2 of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands should be wrapping up around now (our recap post and videos from the event are coming soon!), but for now, here's our first of two weekend concert preview posts for this weekend! We'll touch on Sault Michigan concert previews and potential late notice announcements tomorrow. In this post, we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT and a new drum video as well as the previews, so here's what you need to know!

Sault Ontario classic/hard rock trio Mourning Wood have a new regular gig lined up, as they'll be headlining and hosting a weekly jam/open mic night starting TONIGHT at The Rednecks Saloon! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the series on the Facebook event page on Monday, so we held it for our weekend concert previews. This is somewhat uncharted territory for a hard rock band to host in the area (Tym Morrison's acoustic jam nights at The Harp aside), but Mourning Wood will essentially be the house band on this weekly experiment at the former Nicolet Tavern, and while it will generally be a concert of theirs, an open invitation is out for any attendee with vocal or instrumental ability to join them and jam on stage! Amplifiers and microphones are provided, but you otherwise must bring your own gear.

As Mourning Wood's weekly jam nights are hyped for "every Thursday", and to avoid a glut of repetitve, increasingly distant concerts in our schedule, we'll add them monthly to the SMS listings unless something changes (so Thursday, March 19th & 26th are both now listed as well.) Like Mourning Wood's usual solo gigs, there's a 9:00 PM-ish start time, 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the above links! It will be interesting to see if this Thursday jam night takes hold, but either way, fans of Mourning Wood have a nice regular slate of Thursday shows to enjoy whether they're interested in jamming with them or not, so keep TONIGHT'S show in mind to start off, and here's Mourning Wood live last year!

Moving to previously announced concerts, we're sticking with Thursday events, as Chris Shoust's punk/grunge solo project Telephone & Address will officially launch their new studio album "Rust Orchid" TONIGHT at The Gore Street Cafe! After launching his last two albums in support of heavy electric bands, Chris will mellow things down as headliner for tonight's show, which will launch physical copies of their new ambient instrumental CD for a special $10 price (they'll jump to $15 after that), though remember that digital copies of the album were released on Bandcamp last month. Chris will be joined by Boxes of Boom leader and recent Speak Easy Battle co-promoter Sam Decter for a supporting set, and his own music has merit and creativity, so be there early to check him out! If you're not familiar with The Gore Street Cafe, it's located at 164 Gore Street (naturally), and it's just down the road from 180 Projects. Though infrequently used for concerts (usually acoustic when they occur), it's great to see another concert on Gore Street!

Admission is on a "pay what you can" model, this is presumably all ages, and everything will start at 7:30 PM tomorrow night. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Telephone & Address back on stage for the first time in 2015, and hopefully this release show is a big hit! And yes, "Rust Orchid" remains likely for this month's CD review. Don't bypass this show, and here's Telephone & Address live last year!



Lastly for today's previews, the aforementioned Tym Morrison will continue his long weekly run at The Harp Bar & Grill with announced shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! I will give the caveat that The Harp usually shows UFC PPVs when they occur, and one (UFC 185) takes place this Saturday, but both the Facebook event page and Tym's website still list a Saturday show. Whether The Harp is skipping UFC 185 or not isn't clear yet, but if you're a Tym Morrison fan, keep Saturday night in mind too... just with a grain of salt! In any event, Tym's entertaining and prolific hard rock covers should keep fans in the groove tomorrow (and Saturday?), so get ready for his unplugged action at The Harp! There's a 10:00 PM start time in effect, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Tym live at The Harp early in his run there!



Finally for today, here's a new video from Bad Back drummer Nathan Sauve's YouTube channel, as uploaded on Friday! This is partially both a drum cover video and an outtake reel, as Nathan was filming a cover of The Dillinger Escape Plan's "When I Lost My Bet" on different days, and he emphasizes the faces he makes when drumming in the clips (especially referencing one 4 minutes in.) The drumming is solid as usual, but having the original song synched alongside would help, and the faces would be more effective if the camera was mounted in front of him. Amusing and entertaining though, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more from Bad Back!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews and our recap of night #2 of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: suavij's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our monthly feature post to take a look at 1-3 YouTube channels with at least a 50% concentration of metal, hard rock, and now, punk videos! Thanks to our full punk integration that began last month, we now have our biggest selection pool yet for YouTube channels to randomly select from (219 as of today, and counting!), and hopefully we'll have much more on the punk side of things to come as we close in on 2015! This month's random selection comes from a recently prominent drummer and his local music work both recent and dating back to the mid-2000s, so read on below for this month's profile!
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suavij's channel (http://www.youtube.com/suavij)

Owner: Bad Back drummer Nathan Sauve, also known from previous work with bands like Fuller and as Lion Ride's original bassist (under the stage name "Lionel Itchy")

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 16th, 2007; Videos posted from that week through November 2013

Channel Summary: Coinciding with the early days of Lion Ride's run, Nathan's original YouTube channel covered his late 2000s local band work originally, including 6 early Lion Ride videos, 3 live Fuller concert clips from their earlier run, and 7 solo drum performance videos, with his early content rounded out by this solo audio track from 2009, a live video of a Sexual Vigilantes concert in the Soo the previous year, and two jam videos from a short lived band named "Loud Shirt Aaron & The Plain Looking Crew". After a 4 year hiatus from new video postings, Nathan uploaded 7 videos of his current band Bad Back live in November of last year, though he's since focused newer uploads towards his new solo YouTube channel.

Why Should You Watch: You should check out Nathan's original channel as it covers a lot of diverse ground relating to his local music work since the mid-2000s, and the videos are all generally well recorded also! It's better than it was too, as Nathan un-privatized his Lion Ride videos (plus the Sexual Vigilantes clip) in 2012 after a stretch where they were unavailable for unannounced reasons. His drumming and bass skills are present throughout, and there's a fun carefree spirit on most of these as well, so don't bypass his old channel (though remember, he's focused on his new channel linked above for newer Bad Back footage.)

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Fuller - Love Is Always: Uploaded at least a year after their breakup, Nathan posted three videos of his older alternative/punk trio Fuller onto his channel in September 2007 from an undated concert at The Oddfellows Hall. Then also featuring Bad Back bandmate Jamie Vincent on vocals & guitar alongside Nathan's then-Lion Ride bandmate Mark Rand on bass, the uploaded videos include Fuller playing their songs "Batteries", "Dance Jamie Dance", and below, "Love Is Always". Though far lighter in sound than Nathan & Jamie's more recent work, Fuller's energetic indie punk sound had a solid audience in their heyday, and you get a good sense of that on these videos, albeit with muffled sound and somewhat washed out colour. Nice glimpses at Fuller in their heyday though, and worth checking out to see the guys' older material!



Cocaine Crazy - Lion Ride: Courtesy of his tenure as Lion Ride's original bassist alongside singer Mikey Hawdon, guitarist Mark Rand & Marco Pedalino, and drummer Marc Muto (a.k.a. Mikey Lion, Marky Lion, Marco Lion, and The Italian Stallion.) Nathan's videos come from shows at the former Foggy Notions in late 2007, including videos from their live debut that July of "My Baby's Bad", "Lazer Lover", and "Cocaine Crazy" (this channel's most viewed video), and of "Cocaine Crazy", "Sneak Attack", and "Slapdance" from their show there that December. The latter three are all full concert videos with the actual audio, with dark lighting and mixed audio quality, but the first three are edited as music videos from The 705 Video Magazine using audio from Lion Ride's early studio demos, which are notable in part because "My Baby's Bad" & "Lazer Lover" didn't make it to the "Awesome" EP the next year, which "Lionel Itchy" did play on. Well put together, and a great early glimpse at Lion Ride's excellent live concert experience, though click here to see Nathan play "Slapdance" in a solo video too!



bad back - drum my way home (live): Nathan's last videos on this channel come from their all ages show at The Moose Lodge last fall where his current band Bad Back opened for Biipiigwan. Capturing most (if not all) of their set that night, the videos include their songs "Party Bus", "Two Tongues", "#1 Hit Single", "Lung Bucket", "Breeding Weak", "Oh (Nothin' In My Pocket)", and (as embedded below) "Drum My Way Home". Presumably as an attempt to lighten the videos, the colours are incredibly washed out, but Jamie & Nathan are up to their usual recent tricks with an aggressive minimalist set that alternative and hardcore fans should take to (but Fuller fans should tread with caution, Bad Back are very different.) Remember, for newer videos of Bad Back in concert, visit Nathan's new channel linked above!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month, through 100% random selection, we'll be looking at multiple channels for the first time since March (2 in fact, for just the second time in 2014), so what's coming next? Sault Ontario punk trio The Northern Tragedy's channel (featuring videos from two of their shows), and to fill things out, we're adding YouTube user filghtmaster's channel, which features one Bring The Fallen concert video! Watch out for all of this on or around September 22nd, and stay tuned for more news and notes shortly! Thanks everyone!

Another Local Metal Video Showcase!!

While videos upload from last night's Sewer Swampstravaganza, I've got a local metal video showcase to touch on today! Gotta keep the news rolling, after all. This post features new songs from two very different local acts, some old drumming videos that now have a direct connection to a heavier band, and leading off, a new "album" of sorts, so here's what you need to know!

Local alternative/grunge quartet Haggith have posted a new live "album" onto their YouTube channel on Wednesday! Intended to be YouTube exclusive with no purchase options (at least right now), it's called "In Sesh" (short for "In Session"), and it's their first live in-studio recording in an album format. Recorded during practice at PaperClip Productions the day of it's upload, the performance lasted 33 minutes, and included (in order) covers of The Stone Temple Pilots' "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart" and Don Felder's "Heavy Metal", a "new" track named "This Is A Song Called Tuning" (which is exactly what you think it is), their originals "Leon The Janitor" and "Public Enemy", their cover of Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along The Watchtower", and both versions of their original "Wanko", so click each link to hear each song! Note as well that frontman Curtis McKenzie doesn't play guitar at all on "In Sesh", focusing only on vocals.

The recording quality is good, and it's nice to hear some quality versions of some of their covers and "Public Enemy" finally, so give this "album" a listen below, and stay tuned either tonight or tomorrow for our review of their Swampstravaganza set!



Next up, here's the newest original song upload from Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison! Uploaded on Friday to his YouTube channel, it's entitled "More Love In The World", the song's about how Tym wants the title to happen, without judging people for their differences, which is a good message! The song itself (his first original posting in 3 months) is well played with a nice vocal range and very truthful lyrics, but the song feels unfinished and repetitive, almost like there's a missing chorus. Still, this is a nice lighter display of his talent and a good message to take to heart, so give Tym's newest original song a listen below!



Also in new song postings is a new original song from local grindcore project Crucify The Whore (featuring Austin McRae of Blood Shed Productions labelmates Brutaly Fatal), and it's entitled "Discipline Through Dismemberment". Coming from their joint "Brutaly Crucified" demo, this was uploaded to their label's YouTube channel on Monday, and it's (more or less) a combination of techno effects and grindcore, with a nicely fuller sound, and think Austin's growls fit better than Ringsnaps Gibson's pig squeals, but it's all a subjective matter of opinion. Check out the new "Brutaly Crucified" song below!

Finally for today, you know how former Lion Ride/Fuller bassist Nathan Sauve recently reemerged in the local scene as drummer for the grunge band Bad Back? If you're familiar with him personally or via his YouTube channel, his drum skills won't be news, but now we have a great reason to give mention to his "Nathan Sucks" series of drum performance videos from 2008. The common name is self-deprecating, but he really doesn't suck, as he has a lot of talent as a drummer, and they're definitely worth looking at! He posted 7 videos on YouTube in mid-late 2008, mostly of drum solos and improvisation, and he keeps things varied, fast paced, and well timed in each! The video I'll embed here is of Nathan playing the drum track of Lion Ride's "Slapdance" (well, for most of it), and even though Marc "The Italian Stallion" Muto was their drummer at the time, "Lionel Itchy" does a very solid job in this role too on one of Lion Ride's best originals! Check out Nathan not sucking on drums below, and see more at the above links!



That's all for now, but stay tuned either tonight or tomorrow for my Swampstravaganza review! Thanks everyone!