YouTube Channel Profile Series: justfrenchie's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This monthly feature series looks at 1-3 YouTube channels whose uploads are at least half made up of videos featuring local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musicians and/or concerts, in order to spotlight and showcase what's posted there and encourage you guys to view/subscribe. For our second randomly selected profile of 2024, we're heading back to the late 2000s for a prominent local punk band, so here's what you should know!

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justfrenchie's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/justfrenchie)

Owner: Redundant singer/guitarist Justin "Frenchie" Langlois, also known for fronting The Scary Uncles and playing guitar in Fitswitch, among other projects

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 19th, 2007; Videos uploaded from February 2008 until December 2010

Channel Summary: The de facto official YouTube channel for 2007-2010 local punk band The Scary Uncles, Justin uploaded two live concert videos, two jam session performances, and an audio track of them here. The only video not credited to the band is of Justin playing a solo cover on vocals & acoustic guitar.

Why You Should Watch: This is worth a watch for fans of Justin's local band work over the past 15 years, and not just fans who remember The Scary Uncles, as they always shared many sonic similarities with Redundant, so you can make links to see where things began! Note that this channel has not actively been used since The Scary Uncles disbanded.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

The Scary Uncles - Should've known: Four performance videos of The Scary Uncles in 2008 were uploaded to Justin's channel, including two from a concert at The Other Place (f.k.a. GLOW) on Gore Street where they covered The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" (with Justin's ex-Fitswitch bandmate J.D. Pearce on guest vocals) and Green Day's "Christie Road". The audio quality is really rough on those, but you'll get more out of their jam session clips featuring original songs, namely "Cripple" and (as embedded below) "Should've Known", which was later adopted by Redundant and appeared on their 2018 EP. These videos feature Justin alongside his future Redundant bandmate Andrew "Scary" MacDonald on bass and Mark Mullin on drums. Solid performances with nice clear visuals for 16 year old YouTube videos, so fans should take to these easier for audio & video quality than the concert uploads!

Justin - Paper Lanterns acoustic: By far the most popular video on Justin's channel, over 15,000 people have watched his unplugged cover of Green Day's "Paper Lanterns" (which, like "Christie Road", is another song from Green Day's pre-"Dookie" releases). Featuring Winnie-The-Pooh among his captivated audience, Justin nails this cover despite the acoustic trappings, and I'm sure it translated well to live concerts at the time! Note the dim lighting and background hiss, which aren't dealbreakers for watching this cover, but remember that this was uploaded to YouTube in November 2008.

Labatt 50 - The Scary Uncles: In one of The Scary Uncles' last public acts, Justin posted the studio version of their original song "Labatt 50" to his channel in December 2010. This was claimed to be from "their new album", which I don't believe ever came out, but Redundant fans will know this song under its new name "What Will You Do", which was also released on Redundant's EP in 2018. The song is accompanied by a slideshow of pictures of Justin, Andrew, and Mark during their heyday. The Scary Uncles' version of this song is more or less the same as "What Will You Do", but it is played slightly faster and Justin's voice is definitely higher than it would become. It's definitely interesting to hear the original version, and it's a shame that The Scary Uncles didn't realize their full potential, but at least Justin & Andrew got there moreso with Redundant!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around March 26th when we look at another randomly selected channel, and this time, we'll look at inactive local/Ottawa hard rock band Bad Chug's channel, featuring assorted performance clips from their Ottawa-based years. Look for that next month, and for more news and this month's CD review in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Scary Uncles

With a busy concert weekend looming, I don't want this to get lost in the shuffle, so here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This ongoing monthly feature series is back with another profile on a randomly selected local metal, hard rock, or punk band in our links that is functionally inactive or dissolved, in order to spotlight them for modern readers! This month's random choice was a very prominent punk band in the scene of the late 2000s, so here's what you should know on them!
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The Scary Uncles

Genre: Punk

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics.)

Justin Langlois (Redundant, Fitswitch), vocals/guitar
Andrew MacDonald (Winkstinger, Fitswitch), bass
Mark Mullin, drums
Matt Sibilo (Gianni Gagoots, Redefined, Late Shift), guitar

Audio/Video: Though a planned studio album was never visibly released, two demo recordings from those sessions ("Labatt 50" & "Andrew's Song") can still be heard via The Scary Uncles' MySpace and Reverbnation pages, though their old Supernova page was taken down when that site migrated in full to Facebook. Scattered videos exist on YouTube as well, with Justin's YouTube channel being the best source for uploads for both these and other original songs and select covers. Here's their trio lineup playing their song "Should've Known" at a 2008 jam session!

Info/Analysis: Formed by long-time friends (including 2 Fitswitch alums within them) in 2007, The Scary Uncles quickly became one of the most prominent pure punk bands in the Soo area of the late 2000s, which saw them open for bands like SNFU, Less Than Jake, and The Spades, as well as play notable events like Lion Ride's CD release party, the 2008 Skid Row Battle of the Bands (where they finished in second place), and charitable events like Algoma Hope 4 Haiti, among others. Surviving specifics on their run are in short supply today, but The Uncles disbanded after opening The Mark Rand Band's sole local concert in December 2010, with Justin carrying their sound over to his current punk band Redundant, who continue to play "Labatt 50" under the name "What'll You Do". While I admit that The Scary Uncles and Redundant are sonically very similar, the elder band delivered with their Green Day-inspired sets that were lively and aggressive when need be!

Currently available media showcases The Scary Uncles well, despite some mixed video quality from the chosen cameras, and compared to Redundant, this band did vary things a little bit via the mid-paced "Andrew's Song", and with solid chemistry and catchy originals, it's easy to see why they came close to winning the 2008 battle of the bands! Give The Scary Uncles a listen above, but look for new Redundant shows for similar modern day sets!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, our random selection will break us away from our recent lucky streak of punk bands from Sault Ontario, as we'll be spotlighting inactive local classic/hard rock cover quintet That's Chester next! Look for that profile on or around September 10th, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

Meet The (Inactive) Local Punk Bands!! Part 2

It's now about time for our second feature on defunct and inactive local punk bands to roll into our coverage (more specifically, punk bands with surviving and substantial online pages), and we have much more to come from here! Like our Facebook-centered first installment on Brain Tuel, The Fever Tops, For July, and The Inner City Surfers from Sunday, today's punk band feature focuses on bands with primary pages on specific sites (Reverbnation and Tripod today), and another theme emerged as we wrote this, as all 4 bands are successors to more successful local bands, so read on below for what you should know on each! Like before, the bands are listed in alphabetical order.

First up, we're adding defunct local ska punk band Break The Violence to our links, and they may be familiar as the likely predecessors of dormant local hardcore quintet As It Stands! Visibly only active in early 2005, their lineup includes current(?) A.I.S. bandmates Garrett Masters, Angelo Huckson, and John Mignacca on guitar, bass, and drums respectively, alongside saxophonist Nathan Bouliane (As It Stands' old emo-era bassist) and trumpet player Ryan Van Scoy, while a drummer named Keith (last name not given) played with them at one point as well. There's not a lot of concrete bio information on their Tripod page, and I don't think Break The Violence ever played live, but Garrett, Angelo, and John had previously played together in a band named Second Guess. Four songs were posted on their page too, but none can be played because the files are apparently all corrupt (which could be for the best, as the songs are labelled as "bad recordings".)

It's near impossible to know how Break The Violence would have sounded, but seeing as they had horn instruments, they were definitely going all in with the ska punk theme! While we know now the talents of most of the members (Ryan's a wild card), this was early in their local music runs, so they can be forgiven for any shakiness if media ever turns up. Interesting to see how things stood before As It Stands, so check out Break The Violence above!

Next to add to the site is Mayadevi, a defunct local punk band that some of you may remember from their 2005-2007 run! Their lineup always included now-Elliot Lake based solo musician Darren MacDonald on vocals & guitar, while lineups included current Shit Liver bassist Mike Kyle and drummer Kristan Surge in late 2006 & early 2007, later to be replaced by Joey Graham and Don Henderson respectively, while Joey's former Undead Warriors guitarist Aaron Gasparetto played with Mayadevi at one point. Originally founded as Darren's solo project, the band had plans for a CD named "The Great Panic Attack", and had teased upcoming appearances at The Oddfellows Hall and at school concerts, though it's unclear if any of the Oddfellows gigs took place. Though Darren's solo acoustic music is quite prolific, I've only found one video of Mayadevi themselves, from one of their last sets at a CASS Cafe event in December 2007, and it captures their cover of Fall Out Boy's "Dance, Dance", so how do they sound?

While I'm not a Fall Out Boy fan, Darren, Joey, and Don show some good skill here, but the vocals are a bit wavery, and their stage presences weren't too established yet. Darren's music has matured and improved over the years, but it's nice to see where things began! For reference, many of the above musicians have also played with Darren in his later acoustic band Ashoka At The Show, which he resurrected last year as well. Check out the Mayadevi video below, and read more on the guys at their Tripod pages (here & here!)



Closing with some more familiar local punk bands, let's mention Mayadevi bandmates Mike Kyle and Kristan Surge's later band OBCD, a late 2000s local punk band that could be considered the predecessors to local/St. Catharine's death metal trio Shit Liver! Though musically very different (OBCD played alternative/ska punk with no known growling), their lineup featured the entire current Shit Liver lineup, with bassist Mike being joined by Josh Penno & Matt Baic (both on guitar and vocals), and only Kristan didn't follow to the later band. Though only active for about a year from 2007-2008, OBCD were a frequent sight as openers at all ages shows during their run, including sets opening for The Rebel Spell, The UK Subs, and The Flatliners, last being seen opening for The Farrell Brothers at The Speak Easy in July 2008, with Shit Liver launching two years later. There's no surviving media of OBCD that I've heard of, but I remember them having a good punk intensity, and it'd be nice to come across some videos or audio from their short run! Check out more from OBCD at their Reverbnation page!

Finally for today's punk band showcase are local punk quartet The Scary Uncles, who were among the more successful new punk bands from 2007-2010 in the Soo area! Essentially predecessors to Redundant, both bands featured singer/guitarist Justin Langlois (also of The Thrill Junkies), with their lineup rounded out by bassist Andrew MacDonald (Fitswitch, Glunk!), and drummer Mark Mullin, though their earlier lineup included second guitarist Matt Sibilo (Redefined). Runners up in the 2008 Skid Row Battle of the Bands, The Scary Uncles opened for notable bands like SNFU, Reel Big Fish, and Less Than Jake during their run, along with playing at the Foggy Notions' re-opening concert in December 2009, featuring at events like Froshapalooza & Skate 4 Cancer, and opening for The Mark Rand Band in their last show at the end of 2010. Though studio recordings were undertaken during their run towards a debut CD, I don't think it was ever released, but Justin's current band Redundant plays some Scary Uncles-era tracks like their original "Labatt 50".

On the surface, there's not a lot of major differences between The Scary Uncles and Redundant beyond the absence of the White brothers, but that's definitely not a bad thing, as the guys have a lively Green Day-inspired punk sound that fans of traditional punk will love, and some of the Uncles' songs even have a more aggressive bite (like on "Cripple" embedded below), and more spread out vocal roles, as seen on the appropriately named "Andrew's Song". Check out more from The Scary Uncles at their MySpace, Reverbnation, and Supernova pages, and see videos of their trio lineup at Justin's YouTube channel!



I hope you guys liked our newest feature to roll in defunct punk bands to our links! Our next punk band feature will be later this week, and we'll likely focus on bands with primary surviving pages on CBC Music and Sonicbids, which will likely revolve around Burn The Past/Downshift, Glunk!, Nebraska Arms, and The 12 Gauge Ready, so look out for that, more news, and concert previews soon! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Mini-Series: The Skid Row Battle Of The Bands

Hey guys, it's time to launch a new mini-series at the SMS, as for the next seven Fridays, we're flashing back to some of the notable battles of the bands in Sault Ontario between 2008 and 2010! What's the background of them? What was at stake? Who competed, and where are they now? I hope to answer those questions for at least 7 weeks leading up to the April 20th Humane Society Battle, and though I know this isn't comprehensive, e-mail me at robertfigures@hotmail.com if you can fill in any blanks for any missing battles in either of the Twin Saults, or if you have any corrections or additions! I'm formatting the posts in this series differently then how our monthly features tend to look, including more videos and less personal reflections (out of fairness, as I wasn't at all of these events), and it took a bit of tinkering to look right, but hopefully you guys enjoy this first entry! Let's flash back almost 4 years to kick off this mini-series, so here's what you need to know/remember! (Updated on February 8th, 2016)
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The Skid Row Battle of the Bands (April 26th, 2008)

Background: The Algoma University Student Union & The Superior Community Skatepark Association joined forces to host a battle of the bands at The Speak Easy at Algoma University on April 26th, 2008. All proceeds from the battle went to construction of Sault Ontario's permanent skate park at The John Rhodes Community Center. Each band would get to perform 3 songs, with judges picking three bands to play in the final round, where each act played two more songs before the prizes were handed out. Musical ability, stage presence, originality, and crowd reaction were among the criteria being voted on by the judges, and Crank Sound Distribution handled sound at the event.

Prizes: Originally, just cash, with $500 going to first place, $250 to second place, and $125 for third place. However, an added prize for the first place band was added two weeks before the battle, that being an opening slot at a major headlining concert at Runway Park on June 28th of that year, which was to have been headlined by Skid Row, the Tracii Guns-led version of L.A. Guns, and Enuff Z'Nuff. That added prize was thanks to Hitman Productions, who were promoting the Skid Row concert.

Competitors: The lineup included 7 bands playing a wide array of styles. Punk was the most prominent style of music at this battle, including indie punk quartet The Blockade (in their only show under this name that I can confirm), hard hitting punk rockers The Scary Uncles, and popular ska punk outfit Free Beer. Only two metal/hard rock bands were on the lineup, including debuting hard rock quartet Sense of Truth and extreme metal duo Sue Inside. The lineup for this battle was rounded out by indie rock quartet Terminal and Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band Sikamikanico.

Results: Four bands (rather than three) were picked for the final round, those being The Blockade, Free Beer, The Scary Uncles, and Sense of Truth. In the end, Sense of Truth made the most of their local concert debut, claiming the $500 first place purse and an opening slot at the Skid Row concert. The Scary Uncles took home $250 for second place, with Free Beer winning $125 for third place, and The Blockade finishing in fourth place. Rankings for the remaining three bands were not publicized.

Aftermath: The Skid Row concert was cancelled on June 25th (just three days before it was to take place) after sponsors dropped out. Despite this, Sense of Truth rode the momentum of their victory to numerous high profile concerts over the following years, including opening for bands like Econoline Crush & The Trews, and recording material towards an unreleased debut EP in 2010, though they broke up after a lengthy inactive period in the fall of 2011. The Scary Uncles & Free Beer also maintained their successes through the late 2000s, playing numerous notable punk concerts in the area, and recording their own original material. Free Beer changed their name to M.O.B. in 2010 before going inactive (save for one-off sets) before briefly returning in full under the name Sarah's Valley in mid-2013, while The Scary Uncles' increasingly sporadic concerts continued until they disbanded in December 2010. Sikamikanico & Terminal continued to play a number of headlining gigs in the Sault area through the summer of 2008, after which both bands quietly went inactive. The Blockade do not appear to have played any other gigs under that name following this battle, though 3/4ths of the band rocked local venues as Talk Shit through 2009, and the bands may have been connected. Finally, Sue Inside relocated to Oil Springs, Ontario the following summer, and remained sporadically active in that area with varied material through the spring of 2012.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal or punk bands in italics):
Id Iota (Christian Lemay & Dustin Goodall from Free Beer)
Jack Spades (Jesse Cook from Sikamikanico)
Northwest (Wayne Watkins from The Blockade and Mike Yakasovich & Greg Callaghan from Terminal)
Redundant (Justin Langlois from The Scary Uncles)
Skeyes of Seven (Cory Murchison from Sense of Truth)
The Small Town Rivals (Wayne Watkins from The Blockade)
Talk Shit (Marc Lafrance, Ian Robinson, and Adam Sauve from The Blockade)
The Thrill Junkies (Justin Langlois from The Scary Uncles) 
The Wild Iris (Steve Myers from Sense of Truth)
Winkstinger (Jesse Cook from Sikamikanico)

Trivia:

• The judges for this battle were veteran local guitarist Keith Conway, Hitman Productions owner Stephane Guindon, and Speak Easy manager Tony Boniferro. Keith himself saw some battle of the bands success as a performer the following year, when his band Blues Harvest made the finals of the Kiss Battle of the Bands in December 2009.
• Around 220 fans were in attendance for this battle, with over $1,600 raised towards the Sault Ontario skate park, which was successfully opened to the public the following summer.
• Despite not being able to open for Skid Row like was hoped, Sense of Truth made the most of it by playing a concert on June 28th anyway at The Canadian Nightclub with fellow local hard rock band Driving Dave Home, who were to have played the Skid Row concert as well. Driving Dave Home guitarist Ron Baxter joined Sense of Truth himself the following year.
• Sense of Truth followed up their win at this battle with a run to the Kiss Battle of the Bands Finals on December 2nd, 2009, where they lost to Garden of Bedlam. Their lineup was noticeably different than during their Skid Row Battle win, with frontman Cory Murchison now on vocals only, the aforementioned Ron Baxter on rhythm guitar, and Curtis Beauchamp (ex-Fitswitch) on bass in place of Patric Belanger, who left Sense of Truth in late 2008.
• Two other bands from this battle competed in similar later events. Sue Inside competed in another 7 band battle held by the YMCA in March 2009 at The Grand Theater, but results repeated themselves, as Sue Inside did not make the top 4. Also, the relaunched Free Beer (then named Sarah's Valley) competed at the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands in April 2013, but they finished third in their semifinal match, and did not make the finals.
• Despite their fourth place finish, The Blockade's Wayne Watkins & Adam Sauve would see greater battle success in the coming years in their later band Nebraska Arms, who finished 2nd at the Sault College/Scotties Tournament Battle in February 2010, as well as making the Kiss Battle finals in December 2009
• The Scary Uncles almost got a chance to build on their success at this battle the following year, when they were slated to be a part of the Algoma University Battle of the Bands in December 2010, which was also held at The Speak Easy, but they had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts. Despite that, they were later chosen to open for The Inner City Surfers at their show there on December 22nd, 2010, which was one of the first place prizes at that battle already.
• Sikamikanico drummer Jesse Cook had far greater battle success as a lead guitarist with his later metal bands Operation: Killdozer and Winkstinger, who finished fourth at the 2009 YMCA Battle and in first place the 2012 Battle For The Blood respectively. These join earlier successes that he had with Soldiers of Misfortune, who he won at least one battle with.
• Sikamikanico bassist Alex White almost returned to a local battle of the bands at the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th with his later indie rock trio Cowboys & Indians, but they dropped out after he couldn't make the event.
• Sense of Truth guitarist Steve Myers returned to a local battle of the bands at The Rockstar Bar in April 2013 with his current indie/jazz rock quartet The Pesto Shirts (now named The Wild Iris), who rode a wild card berth to a third place finish in the final round.
• Three performers at this battle (The Blockade's Wayne Watkins and Terminal's Mike Yakasovich & Greg Callaghan) saw greater collective success at Viva La Battle at The Canadian Nightclub on November 13th, 2013, where they finished in second place with their new indie/punk quintet Northwest.
• Battle of the bands action returned to The Speak Easy on March 5th, 2015 when the venue hosted their own battle event. Like the Skid Row Battle, this event featured 7 acts and cash prizes for winners, but 2015's Speak Easy Battle was a fan voted affair, and no one that competed in 2008 was on the lineup seven years later.

Videos:
Clips of each band from SooToday's YouTube channel
Sense of Truth's set from frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel
Sense of Truth video from SooToday's YouTube channel





Sources/More Information:
Pre-battle coverage by SooToday
SooToday review & photos by Donna Hopper
Superior Community Skatepark Association post-battle coverage
Battle photos by Curt O'Neil
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I hope you guys liked this first entry in our new SMS mini-series! Our next entry in the series will be next Friday (March 9th), when we look at the 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands from May 2008, which wasn't the only battle held by this popular local music store, but it's the only one well documented online that we can cover equally in this series at the moment. Stay tuned for that next week, and much more news over the weekend! Thanks everyone!

The Mark Rand Band Concert Review!!

And now, it's time for our final concert review of 2010! I've been to 36 local metal/hard rock concerts this year, and fittingly, we end the year in much the same way we ended 2009: An old school hardcore concert at Coch's Corner featuring a punk opening band, Destroilet, and a headlining band featuring Mark Rand and Mikey Hawdon! I just realized how coincidental that all turns out to be. So here's my final concert review of 2010!

First off, thanks to Destroilet for the free t-shirt and Justin for the Scary Uncles pin, that's way too nice of you guys! The opening band was local punk trio The Scary Uncles in their long awaited return show, and maybe their farewell too? Band members had hinted that this could also be their last show too in online postings leading up to the performance last night, but unless you read them, you wouldn't have been able to tell, as they made no mentions of anything final. Having not seen The Scary Uncles in ages, I kinda went into this fresh, but I did have Monday's Reagle Beagle set as a reference point. Well, with the full band present, I must say, The Scary Uncles did pretty good! I forgot to mention this before, but Justin Langlois actually has a edgier and deeper voice live than on the studio material I've heard from them, and on every song, his guitar work gave everything a nice straightforward punk sound that we honestly don't get much here. Andrew MacDonald's bass work was as solid as ever, and Mark Mullin's drumming was pretty good, and you can tell he knew the material! Though mostly original songs (sans "Labatt 50", oddly), some covers from the Reagle Beagle show survived, including Nirvana and Johnny Cash. Good stuff all around, they're an underrated punk band with a great sound, and I hope this doesn't turn out to be their final show!

Then, Destroilet hit the stage for just the third time since their 2009 inception, and like in my first time seeing them late last year, I was impressed by their sheer energy and aggression! They ripped into a setlist chock full of old school hardcore covers from bands like Good Riddance, Gang Green, Assjack, GG Allin, Bad Religion, and even some classic local bands like Fist Magnet! There was a few originals thrown in as well, but each song followed a similar vein. Mike Hull and Christian Foisy contributed loud, aggressive, and unforgiving vocals for each song, with Mike expounding much energy as he moved about the stage and gave each song it's deserved aggression. Their sound isn't going to win points for technical brilliance, but you know what? It's old school hardcore, they're not trying to do that with their music. Matt Waples was solid on each song on drums, Adam Larocque's bass was loud and unforgiving, and the guitar work accomplished exactly what it set out to do, even if many of John Conway's solos sounded the same on each song. They played a rocking set packed full of hardcore insanity with little room for a break, and if you judge them on the atmosphere and the intensity of their live show, you'll have come away from Destroilet's set satisified, like I did!

Following their set was your headliners, the debuting Mark Rand Band! Remember, this is the six man hardcore supergroup that gave Lion Ride guitarist Mark Rand's Toronto-based solo project life on the live stage. Mark informed us during the set that the six of them ("Brown" Dave Brunton was absent) had only first jammed an hour before the concert. You could see hand written tabs on the floor for some of the members, but once the old school hardcore assault began, we didn't notice or care about any musical screw-ups! We heard Mark's fast paced (and very short) original songs like "Nine To Five", "Question", and "Minimum Wage", among many others, plus a cover of Minor Threat's "Small Man, Big Mouth" to cap off the set! Because the performed songs were from Mark Rand's solo project, let's talk about him first, and as it turns out, he'd make a great frontman if he did this more! He has a hard edged singing voice with a punk edge, and he has the screaming down as well, not to mention a distinct willingness to involve the audience and get everyone singing along! I wish I had a better grasp of the lyrics going in! Again, given the band's relative inexperience playing these songs together, you can't rate everything on a normal basis, you just have to gauge it on it's own terms.

Mikey Hawdon's drumming stood out to me, as it often does, and the three pronged guitar attack from Marco Pedalino, Nebraska Arms' Dave Prendergast, and ex-Renderware guitarist Marc Lafrance ensured devastating riffs on each song, even if they had screw-ups here and there! Guy Thiffault of Nebraska Arms also was pretty good on bass, it'd be cool to hear him play heavier stuff more! Despite the bribery of Jager shots to get people on the floor for their set, everyone was ramped up for The Mark Rand Band's dozen of aggressive fast paced songs, amidst some of Mark's trademark humour, including many funny self-deprecating shots at themselves and the other bands! If someone came last night to grade them on musical abilities, they might not get a high score, but again, they had only first jammed AN HOUR before the show, so what do you expect? This was a show where you went for the overall sound and the old-school hardcore environment, to get drunk and have a good time. On that basis, The Mark Rand Band scored very high, and if they play another show, they should be even better with more time to prepare! I had fun, and overall, that's what matters. As always, I got plenty of pictures, so click here or visit the SMS' Facebook page to check them out!

And yes, I have videos too, two songs on each video due to the short lengths of the material. So here's Destroilet covering Gang Green's "Let's Drink Some Beer" and Good Riddance's "Cages", and The Mark Rand Band playing Mark Rand's solo songs "Day Waste" and "Christ Almights"!





That's all for now, but stay tuned tonight for previews of the New Year's Eve metal/hard rock concerts that I know of, and some more news from the last little while! Thanks everyone!