Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for missing a show in this past weekend's concert previews, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck played for a second straight year at Algoma Tree Services' annual community meet & greet outside of their homebase in Goulais River on Saturday night. Like last year, they joined classic rock band Angry Joe & The Growlers for this Kiwanis Club children's charity event, which was publically open with family activities. Also like last year, Soundcheck did not publicize their involvement on their Facebook page, though Algoma Tree Services did. I profusely apologize once again, I'd have covered it had I known, but hopefully things went well despite the forecast!
Now, today's post otherwise looks at some recent videos and updates from
an array of local musicians, starting with new album releases, one being from a new addition to our band links, namely local rapper Tristan "Bold Noize" Goslow! While active locally since at least 2015, Tristan (who originally rapped as "White Noize") only crossed our radar on multi-genre events that he performed at, such as the old Sky's The Limit mental health fundraiser concerts, The Soo's Got Talent in 2018, and that year's Rotaryfest Stage 2. That changed once I started covering Lopstock III's SooToday live-stream from late last month, and whether you saw Bold Noize thusly or in person at LopLops, you'll have seen him reveal that he was working on a punk album that was released as planned to major streaming services on Thursday! It is titled "God Save Me", reflecting his faith, with his Christian rap status being more prominent in his early years.
The nine song album indeed features Tristan singing rather than rapping along with full band instrumental tracks, and while I have not seen public credit given to who played guitar and such on "God Save Me", note that he sang along with recordings at Lopstock, as he did for his four proper rap cuts that night. The music on offer definitely leans toward punk way more than nu metal, and I was reminded a bit of Machine Gun Kelly's rock output in terms of how Bold Noize approached the shift in genre. Honestly, the songs come through better as punk rock songs via the studio recordings than they did at Lopstock, owing to the pre-recorded instrumental tracks being heard & mixed as intended on streaming services. Bold Noize can carry a tune well on the punk songs, and you can hear for yourself how he handles a totally different genre on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, while the album is definitely on sale digitally for $8.99 on iTunes.
I would suggest that Tristan get a live band going, even if just occasionally, to better reflect the "God Save Me" album/future punk dalliances live, but it's hard to say what his next plans are, as he doesn't update his Facebook page all that often. Beyond "God Save Me", Bold Noize is a skilled MC with a strong flow, as local rap fans over the past decade will be well aware, but how far will he go in the punk realm? It'll be interesting to find out, but I do plan to review this album on the SMS formally in January (we're booked solid through year's end), and check out "God Save Me" above & below!
Next up, here's one more new album release, as local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage's have newly put out their 69th studio album, fittingly named "69"! The cover artwork obviously gives the title in Roman numerals as "LXIX". While this was released to their Bandcamp page on Saturday, the band gives a release date of September 6th there. hardly a new conceit for their albums since becoming a studio-only band in 2017. Production and personnel-wise, there's nothing shocking to report from their prior album from earlier this year ("Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of The Stoned Ape"), but "69" appears to be a normal album without an overarching concept. 19 songs are included, enough to force this to be a double album if printed on CDs, and there are definitely some suitably eclectic titles for longtime fans!
You can buy "69" via digital download for $15 on Bandcamp, and you can stream it for free there as well. A review of this album (if not another album if they surprise us with one beforehand) will likely hit the site in February 2024, given our continued backlog, but it's great to see the Beckers, Shane, and Tony back with more improvised & irreverent bluesy hard rock, hopefully befitting the "69" title for anyone inclined to put on their environ-mental suits! Buy or stream "69" above!
We'll close today with a new live video of local/Toronto pop rock cover veterans The Killer Hooks, courtesy of their set at White Pines Collegiate & Vocational School's 50th anniversary reunion at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre last week! Odd that they wouldn't have it at the S.C.T.C.... maybe the seats were an issue for mingling Wolverines alumni? The Killer Hooks are the occasionally seen high profile cover band fronted by Gsis Murphy's Tony Marcello, and we have brought them up on the SMS on occasion when they were filmed doing a hard rock cover, though their sets are way more pop rock in tone and focus. I really should go through their own videos at some point to see what heavier tunes they've done since we last talked about them, but this video comes from Mike Blair at 705Live Sound Co., who handled sound at the White Pines reunion.
Uploaded to 705Live's Facebook page on Friday, the video features The Killer Hooks covering Kiss' "I Was Made For Loving You", and if you want to get a dance floor going via a Kiss song, that'd be the one to use! The 42 second clip is obviously abbreviated, but Mike had a nice view of the stage with effective stage lighting to highlight the band nicely, and they handle this song pretty well! I'd have based it more on Kiss' later live versions where Paul sung the verses at full voice, but beggars can't be choosers. Give this Killer Hooks video a watch below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more of our Lopstock III fallout tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
For our first news post of the fall, we have two topics to get to: A preview of a (sadly) rare concert from a local band at this stage of the pandemic, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this weekend from a prolific musician who has a new video to share from a concert that slipped us by earlier this week. Here's what you should know!
Local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will return to The Motley Market on Gore Street for his fifth public show there THIS SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, he only announced it via his Facebook event page yesterday, but it's still more notice than his concert on Monday got! In case you didn't catch Tym's late notice advertising that morning or our Facebook page post that afternoon, Tym played the new performance/vendor space for a third time in four days on Monday around supper time, but this gig served as live entertainment at the end location of A Walk To Remember, a march downtown in honour International Overdose Awareness Day, as put on locally by Save Our Young Adults. Of course, this is a wonderful cause and very relevant locally, as anyone who saw the W5 documentary will know, and it looks like a great time was had by all! Of course, had Tym or S.O.Y.A. announced his set with even a day's notice, I'd have covered it here.
Apologies for missing it on the SMS proper! As far as I know, SATURDAY'S show is just a regular concert, but if you want some live entertainment at this rising downtown locale, keep this one in mind! An early 3:00 PM start time is in effect, there are no cover charges or age limits advertised, and please use common sense re: masks & social distancing. For a preview, and as he has done for his other Motley Market dates, Tym did live-stream Monday's show on his YouTube channel, making this episode #41 of his live-streamed concert series, and the third straight to be shot at 132 Gore Street. For the record, he skipped at-home shows again this week, so barring a second virus wave, those may have ended outright. If you like Tym's unplugged covers, you are in luck, as Monday's live-stream runs for over three hours, his longest to date, so nothing was lost from that set if you missed out at the time! The set proper begins after 8 minutes of setup.
Yes, the camera is rolling for the duration, and there are some important things said about the organization and the walk, so keep all of that in mind! Tym returns for another 40 minutes of music to close, including covers of Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke", Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", The Bangles' "Eternal Flame", The Beatles' "Blackbird", Starship's "We Built This City", The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Fishin' In The Dark", Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns", Aerosmith's "Dream On", and finally, Abba's "The Winner Takes It All" (the last of three repeat songs from Saturday's live-stream, joining "All By Myself" & "Blackbird"). This was another solid set from Tym, full of established covers and a few surprise inclusions (I did not expect Nine Inch Nails), and this was easily the best crow he's had at the Motley Market! That said, he was a little too far left for the camera's viewpoint, and his banter with the crowd between songs could stand to be boosted a bit still.
Despite the very short notice, Tym's set was well recieved and well performed, so give it a watch below, and look for more similar live entertainment there on SATURDAY, perhaps with another live stream?!
Finally, new local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will become the first live band at the re-opened Reggie's Place
on Queen Street East when they play there for one night only TOMORROW
NIGHT! Well over a year after their public launch, this will be your
first public opportunity to see Justin, Shane, Matt, Robin, and Tony on
stage together, and while no one could have guessed it would be in the
midst of a pandemic, hopefully the Halfway Loaded successors deliver a
hard hitting night of covers (and perhaps originals?) tomorrow at
Reggie's! Of course, Reggie's re-opened on Tuesday after a year-long
closure and the sale of the nightclub from Reggie Daigle to Randy
Lapossie, and while a lot of the old accoutrements and menu will remain
the same, how much will be freshened up in this new era? Also, is this
show the first sign of a live music slate there that isn't dedicated to
country cover bands (Soundcheck aside), or are Fort Creek more
country-leaning than past teasers let on?
An 8:00 PM
start time is advertised for this 19+ show, there is no announced cover
charge, and while social distancing measures aren't elaborated on in
promotional materials, wear your mask (Fort Creek are even selling official band masks for $10), and use common sense.
Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a
preview, here's one of Fort Creek's few public videos with a full band
performance, namely a snippet of the guys covering Lynyrd Skynyrd last
fall! Trust me, the band is playing off camera.
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
