YouTube Channel Profile Series: Jolene Barens & Reckage35

Here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we again spotlight YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and punk artists and concerts, in order to showcase them for current readers and encourage them to watch and subscribe along with them! This month's first randomly chosen channel only had a single video, so we randomly picked one more to fill things out, and as luck would have it, both were Sault Michigan concert filmers at some major recent hard rock events. Without any further adieu, here's what you should know on both!
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Jolene Barens (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNrEyqU1RvChv1W3TGamiXQ)

Owner: Sault Michigan-area resident Jolene Barens

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 24th, 2017; Only video posted on December 31st of that year

Channel Summary: Jolene's only upload is of British Columbia hard rock/post grunge quartet Theory of a Deadman playing their hit single 'Bad Girlfriend" during their headlining concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on December 30th, 2017, though despite the video's name, there's no sign of openers Infathom. The 2 minute clip also includes frontman Tyler Connolly mentioning to the crowd that Theory intend to return to the Soo "next year", but nothing firm has been publically stated to that end. While the vertical camera angle & overexposed lighting don't add any favours, Jolene got solid audio on this rock radio favourite! However, note that Jolene hasn't visibly used this channel in 2018. Visit this link for more videos from this concert, among other YouTube channels.


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Dan Reck (http://www.youtube.com/reckage35) 

Owner: Sault Michigan-area resident Dan Reck

Channel Timeline: Launched on May 27th, 2009; Videos posted from the following day through September 10th, 2013

Channel Summary: Initially a personal use channel featuring two 2009 videos about his Ion XE paintball gun and one with Halo 3 gameplay tips, Dan resumed use of his channel in 2013 for concert video postings, courtesy of seven videos from that year's Shinedown and Pop Evil concerts in Sault Ste. Marie. Dan's last video is of In This Moment playing at the Allegan County Fair in the Lower Peninsula that September

Why You Should Watch: Dan's channel is worth a watch for fans of recent Kewadin Casino hard rock shows from Allstar Promotions, with him getting a solid angle of both bands at these well received concerts! As for his non-local concert videos, the paintball gun videos should be interesting uploads for fans, the Halo video has a good response from gamers, and the In This Moment video isn't bad either, despite it's vertical orientation. Note however that Dan hasn't visibly used this channel in five years.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out

Shinedown - Simple Man: Dan's first two concert videos were from Jacksonville hard rock quartet Shinedown's headlining concert at The Dreammaker's Theater in July 2013, as he filmed their original song "I'll Follow You" and, as featured here, their acclaimed cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man", as preceded by a number of teased separate covers. While the audio quality is good for these softer performances, Dan never zooms the camera, which is a shame given the speaker's placement, and he did apologize for the shaky quality. Solid view otherwise from this well received concert, and there are more Shinedown videos from their local stop on other channels if you want more footage!



Pop Evil - 100 in a 55: Dan's other Sault Kewadin concert videos come from the Pop Evil-headlined concert that August, which served as a benefit for local teen Jessica Jorgensen during her battle with leukemia. His five videos include the Muskegon hard rock quartet playing their songs "Hero", "Boss's Daughter", "Monster You Made", "Last Man Standing", and as embedded below, "100 in a 55", which is the most viewed concert video on Dan's channel. Filmed from a similar sharp angle as his Shinedown clips (but closer), the stability effect added in post can be distracting, but the audio tends to be reliable, especially on heavier tracks, and fans will be right at home with these clips! Yes, other attendees did post videos from this show on YouTube.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series is slated to return on or around September 26th, and like this month, we will be spotlighting multiple channels again, as our first randomly selected channel only has 4 videos, all from the same concert, so we randomly chose one more to fill it out. As such, we will be looking at the channels of users tokenfinn (featuring videos from 2007's outdoor Kiss concert in Sault Michigan) and veteran local guitarist Tony Marcello (featuring hard rock covers by his old bands The Killer Hooks & Midpoint.) Give that a look next month, and stay tuned for more news and this month's CD review this week! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

We haven't done one of these in a while without attached reviews & previews, but here's a local metal video showcase (and this time, none are YouTube music postings!) They include another major recent concert video, a bunch of live clips from a local band, one band's new lineup's first footage, and a new solo performance, so let's begin! The first video is one more video from the Shinedown concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on July 21st, as another clip of the Jacksonville hard rockers playing the last portion of their Lynyrd Skynyrd cover "Simple Man" at the show were posted online last week! Uploaded by YouTube user hoopy31 (who previously uploaded a local Buckcherry video from last year), this has fantastic audio (especially for when the crowd completes the "kind of man" portion of the chorus, but the camera doesn't focus to the stage well, and I believe this video had the auto-stability fix put on it after uploading, so it has some odd movements as a result. Nice video, if abbreviated from some other local clips of this song, but give the newest Shinedown Kewadin video a look below! (Updated at 11:30 PM)



Next up, let's cover the last of the hard rock/metal videos on Brenda "Leather" Roy's YouTube channel, as her other hard rock concert footage comes from shows played by local classic/hard rock quartet Griphook! No less than 10 videos are featured from various shows that they've played at four different local venues this year, all of which were uploaded in May and June. Only partially labelled by song in the title (with one credited as frontman Jim O'Leary alone), the videos include covers of Alice In Chains' "Would" and Deep Purple's "My Woman From Tokyo" at The Rockstar Bar, Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down", The Tragically Hip's "Locked in the Trunk of a Car", Incubus' "Drive", and AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" at Docks Riverfront Grill, Finger Eleven's "One Thing" and another "Drive" cover at The Nicolet Tavern, and Seether's "Country Song" & Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" at The Roosevelt Hotel, so click each link to check them out! (Note as well that the "Drive" covers are mislabelled as "Maybe Tomorrow", and the Hip cover is wrongly identified as "I Won't Back Down") So, how do these 10 videos look and sound overall?

The quality is more consistent than on some of Brenda's older videos, and Griphook's talents and chemistry are clear throughout, but the audio is occasionally a bit muffled, and the lighting can be very dark. It's good to see a pile more Griphook videos than I thought existed, so kudos to Brenda for all of her video postings (see more in our post from Wednesday), and here's Griphook covering Deep Purple at The Rockstar Bar earlier this year, with guitarist Brian Oja on lead vocals (and thanks to Glen Thomas for helping identify the Tragically Hip song!)



Also, here's the latest jam session videos from newer local classic metal quartet The Hydra's Teeth! Uploaded to guitarist Brendan Christie's YouTube channel on Wednesday, these constitute their first videos featuring new second guitarist Anthony Orazietti (ex-Sativa Rose/Winkstinger), and they're videos of their songs "Live By The Axe... Or You'll Die By The Sword" and (as embedded below) "The Circle"! Note that these are both in black & white, and Brendan deleted the older YouTube videos of these tracks that Anthony wasn't featured on. The fuller guitar sound is welcome, and these videos retain the promise that The Hydra's Teeth have (especially if you miss Late & Loud), so check out more above, and here's "The Circle"!



Finally for today, here's the latest solo guitar cover from Ashes To Dust's Alex Hemy, and this differs from his other recent videos as it features him singing! Uploaded to his YouTube channel last week, this is a cover of The Eagles' "Already Gone", and while it's not a heavy song, his vocal abilities are actually pretty good! They at least work for this style, but he can carry a tune and he has a good tone to his voice, but I think his voice should improve as it gets a bit deeper. The guitar work is solid as ever too, so check out his Eagles cover below, and stay tuned for more from Ashes To Dust and Alex's solo work as we hear it!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

Tesla Concert Preview, New Sault Michigan Video Finds, And Local Venue Renovations!!

One more post before I head off to Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mash-Up (though I may have an auto-post of some kind tonight), so what lies ahead for right now? Today, we have a preview of the next major headlining metal show at the Soo Kewadin, some new videos to share on here from across the river, and some recent concert venue changes (including one in Sault Ontario), so read on below for what you need to know!

TOMORROW NIGHT, Sacramento hair/classic metal legends Tesla will return to The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino for their fourth local concert appearance! The band best known for hits like "Love Song", "What You Give", and their cover of "Signs" were last seen here over three years ago when they rocked the Soo Kewadin in June 2010, and it will be great to see them back (with the exact same lineup, no less) to charge the local stage once again with their up-tempo classic metal and hard rock sound which helped them sell over 5 million albums! Like their 2010 date, Tesla's opening band tomorrow will be Detroit hard rock quintet Fifth Way (featuring Rudyard native & LSSU graduate Zak Stelmaszek on guitar), in both their first local appearance in 10 months and their first local date since their revolving door of bassists saw Victor Wooten replaced by Anthony Palsgrove. Hopefully their hard hitting modern rock sounds serve them well in their local return, and it's definitely familiar ground for them!

As of this writing, a handful of tickets are still available in the ninth row & back for $35 each, so if you don't have yours yet, get them A.S.A.P. at this link, 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the box office in person! This is an ALL AGES show, and while a 7:00 PM start time is advertised, online posts indicated that Fifth Way would be playing at 6:30 PM. For more details, visit the above links and this commercial! Tesla still have it, and this show should prove to be another success for their Saultite fans, so don't miss this show, stay tuned for fallout, and for a preview, here's Tesla covering a ZZ Top classic in the Soo in 2007!



Next up, there's a couple more Shinedown concert videos to share from Sunday night's local concert! These come from YouTube user Dan Reck (a.k.a. Reckage35), and though he didn't post a video of "Bully" like most others, he filmed the Jacksonville hard rockers' cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (complete with pre-song cover teases) and, as embedded below, their original "I'll Follow You"! Another video on a slanted angle from our right of the stage (did no one film anything on the left side?), Dan got some solid audio from these two softer tracks, but there's no zooming, and part of the stage is blocked from what I assume is a speaker. Nice quality otherwise, so check out Shinedown playing "I'll Follow You" at Kewadin Casino below, and stay tuned in case more Shinedown videos turn up!

Also in new Sault Michigan video discoveries, I recently came across a video from local metal band Tantrym Tyme that we've never shared on here! Dating back to when they were still known as Abstract, this was uploaded by YouTube user METALLICA2MEGADETH on December 22nd, 2011, though it's definitely older than that. The lineup, clothes, and location match up with earlier videos of the guys playing a September 2011 gig in Mackinac Crossings on Mackinac Island, in what was one of their last concerts with guitarist/bassist Kyle Burton before his departure that month. The video features Abstract covering Velvet Revolver's "Slither", and like many 2010-2011 videos that I've seen, their skills are impressive for their younger ages, but they've definitely improved in all areas since. Jacob Hotlen's vocals in particular seemed wonky on the choruses, but his solo's pretty good, and it's a nice glimpse at Abstract's early run! Check out their "Slither" cover below, and don't miss Tantrym Tyme this weekend outside of Harmony Health Foods for Downtown Days!



Finally for today, two popular local concert venues have apparently undergone some recent changes, so we might as well mention them! One is The Rapids Lounge at the aforementioned Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as their Facebook page last night announced that the local bar/concert spot held it's "grand re-opening" on Wednesday, complete with this ribbon cutting photo. Reportedly, the changes include a newly renovated sports lounge, more TVs, added seating, a new sound system, and Michigan sports memorabilia, though possible changes to the concert area weren't mentioned. Hopefully everything is indeed better at The Rapids Lounge, and go see some live bands there soon! The other renovations are (surprisingly) for The Canadian Nightclub in Sault Ontario, as they're soon ready to unveil what DJ Jay Perron is calling a "rebirth" of the Pim Street bar/venue on August 1st, coinciding with their usual Thursday night dance parties. Jay hyped "fresh new surprises & a fresh new vibe" on The Canadian's Facebook group yesterday, but didn't elaborate further there.

By my count, this is the third time in 4 years The Canadian Nightclub has had renovations (following earlier renovations in 2009 and in the aftermath of July 2011's flooding), and it remains to be seen how different The Canadian will look and feel come the Airbourne concert on August 19th. Hopefully these last for the long haul, and I hope the "rebirth" in question is a success for all involved! And yes, I assume this is partly why we didn't hear much on July concerts there. Stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

That's all for now, but I will see you guys at Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mash-Up TONIGHT! West of Hell's return, Bring The Fallen's farewell, 6 more bands, and FREE ADMISSION if you wear a local band t-shirt, so DON'T MISS THIS SHOW! Oddfellows Hall, 6:00 PM! Thanks everyone!

More Shinedown Concert Videos, Plus A New Hydra's Teeth Clip!!

Before we preview this weekend's slate of local metal & hard rock concerts, we have some more Shinedown concert videos to share on here that were uploaded after yesterday's post, and because I don't have quite enough to fill a single post, we have a bonus video from Sault Ontario that we recently alluded to on here, so read on below for what you should know (and see!)

Our first newer Shinedown videos today come from YouTube user Mara McLeod, who uploaded five videos from Sunday's concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino onto her YouTube channel yesterday! The videos are of the Jacksonville hard rockers playing their songs "I'll Follow You" and "Bully", plus their cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (and the pre-song cover teases in a separate video), but embedded below is the first footage of them playing "Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)" at the local concert! Filmed at a similar angle to encorevids' videos, albeit even more slanted, Mara has a solid angle of Zach Myers especially, and the audio quality's good (if muffled), but why is the "Diamond Eyes" video filmed in the vertical "cell phone" mode when the rest are at normal widescreen dimensions? Solid stuff, so check out more above and below, and also visit Mara's channel for Shinedown videos from a show in Saginaw earlier this year!



Also in new videos, Sault Ontario metal guitarist Neno Jovanovic (who you may remember from his inactive solo project) uploaded his first music-related video in over a year to his YouTube channel yesterday, and it's also from the Shinedown concert! This is of them playing their hit single "Bully", and though it's the most centered video we've seen from the show so far, the audio quality is extremely staticy, and it's very hard to hear the song aside from higher notes. Visually, it's a good look at the concert though, so check out Neno's video of "Bully" from Sunday night below!



Finally for new videos, Christopher Paci (whose first 3 videos from the show were mentioned yesterday) uploaded one more to his YouTube channel after that post went up on the site, and it's also of "Bully". The quality's no different than his other videos (slanted angle with zooming & solid audio of an "Amaryllis" song), but like his other clips from the show, there are portions that inexplicably sound muffled. I'll note that "Bully" was Shinedown's last song of the night, so that might explain why all YouTube users with public videos of this show (but one) filmed it, as it was their last chance. Check out Christopher's take of "Bully" below!



Finally for today, remember on Monday how we plugged the Facebook-only video of newer local classic metal band The Hydra's Teeth jamming their new original "Cinderella-Red Dress"? Well, guitarist Brendan Christie uploaded it to his YouTube channel on Monday, so now we can properly embed it here! Featuring most of their current lineup (new second guitarist Anthony Orazietti is absent), it's an instrumental take from the same spot as their past videos, and Late & Loud fans should appreciate the similar sounds and classic edge present here (remember though that it's an instrumental take.) Give "Cincerella-Red Dress" a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

Shinedown Concert Fallout, Including New Videos & The Opening Band's Actual Identity!

As promised, we've got Shinedown concert fallout to get to today, as Sunday night saw the multi-platinum Jacksonville hard rock quartet make their local debut at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! By almost all accounts that I've read so far from the show, it was a huge success for both Allstar Promotions and in the eyes of attendees! Photos from the show were uploaded by promoters onto Facebook at this location, confirming that there was a meet & greet for fans to meet Shinedown (Daughtry had the same on Saturday), but the big piece of unreported news from the photos is that the openers were NOT Devour The Day, despite being reported as such by Allstar Promotions on June 26th. In reality, Devour The Day were on tour with Hinder this month, though I'm not sure why they were announced as the openers for the local Shinedown concert. In reality, the opening band was hard rock quartet Prosevere, who (like Devour The Day) are also from Memphis, so that may have helped lead to the confusion. I haven't seen videos of their set (though photos are available from Sunday at the above links), but how do Prosevere sound?

Lighter sound than I was expecting, but Prosevere have an appealing modern rock sound with fun elements, a clear energy, and nice use of melody, and hopefully they made a good impression on local fans! Of course, I apologize for the incorrect news on the site, but promoters never corrected the earlier announcement on the openers, and I'd seen no references to Prosevere being involved on other pages (similarly to Ace Frehley's openers 16 Second Stare from his 2009 Kewadin date.)

Now to the videos, as I've found footage from at least 4 YouTube channels from the show, so let's give these some deserved attention! We'll start with 3 videos from YouTube user Christopher Paci (who also uploaded videos from the Buckcherry, Evans Blue, Queensryche, and Sebastian Bach concerts in the past year), as he filmed Shinedown playing three songs from their new album "Amaryllis" on Sunday night, including "Unity", "I'll Follow You", and (as embedded below) "Enemies"! All uploaded early this morning, Chris' camera work is fairly jittery, and the audio gets muffled on occasion, but the quality is fairly good otherwise, with a clear view of Shinedown in action (and looking quite dapper too), with the songs sounding pretty close to the studio originals from what I've heard on the radio! If only he was slightly closer, but at least Chris could zoom. Solid videos, so check out his video of "Enemies" below, and see more at the above links!



Another uploader of 3 videos was YouTube user encorevids (first name Mike), who you may remember from posting videos of the Buckcherry/Papa Roach and My Darkest Days concerts at Kewadin Casino from past years! Posted on Mike's YouTube channel yesterday, the videos are of another take of "Enemies", plus clips of "If You Only Knew" and (as embedded below) "Bully", so check the links to give these a look! Mike had a similar angle to Chris (if more slanted), and though the quality is very fuzzy with no zoom, the audio is more consistent and clear, so that works out well! Check out Shinedown playing "Bully" in the Soo below!

Two more videos were uploaded by YouTube user 91dwaynel yesterday, including another clip of "Bully" (albeit mislabelled) and, as embedded below, an acoustic cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man"! It's preceded by some joking around about what cover to do by singer Brent Smith & guitarist Zach Myers (the other members weren't present for this song), including brief clips of them covering Black Crowes, Nirvana, and Bon Jovi songs before finally launching into "Simple Man", complete with a great crowd singing along with every word! Nice sense of humour and crowd involvement from Brent & Zach, and this cover is definitely one of my favourite Shinedown tracks, so it's nice to get some great quality video to go along with it! Dwayne was in the front row or close to it, and the videos are solid quality with very clear audio, so both of his clips are well worth watching! Give Shinedown's "Simple Man" cover a look below!



Finally for the Shinedown videos that I currently know about, YouTube user Melissa McNamara uploaded one video from the show yesterday, which is of the guys playing their song "The Crow & The Butterfly". Very good audio, but it's cut off at the beginning, and it's filmed from a very far angle from the stage with no zoom (and on a cell phone camera), so it's one of those tall & narrow videos. It's worth checking out for the clear audio though, so check out "The Crow & The Butterfly" from Sunday night below!



That's all for now, but of course, we'll have more Shinedown concert fallout and videos as we hear of them, and if all goes well, we'll have this month's YouTube Channel Profile up on the site later today! Thanks everyone!

Shinedown Concert Preview, Cancer Fundraising For Luke LeBlanc, And A New Video!!

Finally, here's our fourth and last post covering this very busy weekend in hard rock and metal concerts, as arguably the biggest of the weekend is going down tomorrow night! Our extended look at that leads off today's post, but we also have news on a local musician's major cancer fight, and a recent live concert video, so read on below for what you need to know!

In the second of two major concerts from Allstar Promotions this weekend at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino (following TONIGHT'S Daughtry concert), multi-platinum Jacksonville hard rock quartet Shinedown will make their Sault-area debut TOMORROW NIGHT! Touring in support of their new CD "Amaryllis", Shinedown have been one of the most successful modern hard rock bands of recent years, with hits like "Second Chance", "Save Me", and "Bully" keeping them as staples of rock radio, and they have a lot of popular and memorable songs that are sure to strike a nerve tomorrow night! They'll be joined by Memphis hard rock band Devour The Day (featuring two members of Egypt Central) as openers for tomorrow's show, and their energetic and upbeat hard rock sound should suit them well as they hit the Soo themselves! Note however that Detroit hard rockers Fifth Way (featuring Rudyard native Zak Stelmaszek on guitar) will NOT be opening this show anymore, as per their Facebook page last week. A reason was not announced, but note that Allstar Promotions never publically confirmed that they were playing.

Disappointing news to be sure, especially knowing Fifth Way's local familiarity and talents, but no matter why they're out, they WILL still be opening for Tesla on July 27th (one week from today), so keep that in mind! The Shinedown concert (which is ALL AGES) will go down at 7:00 PM TOMORROW, and as of this writing, only a handful of center section tickets (mostly in the fourth row) were available, so this is a near-sell out. If you want to try for tickets, click here, call 1-800-KEWADIN, or visit the Kewadin box office! Also, I have no idea on the protocol for a potential meet & greet, so call ahead just in case. Check the above links for more details! This should be a very successful concert, especially knowing Shinedown's popularity and success in recent years, so if you have tickets, have a great time! Myself, I don't mind a few of their songs (like their "Simple Man" cover), though I admittedly find a few of their songs overplayed, but they have a lot of talent, so don't miss their local debut TOMORROW! For a preview, here's Shinedown's video for their newest single "Unity"!



Next up, another fundraising campaign has been launched to help raise money for former Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc's battle with cancer. Launched by Denise Armstrong on May 21st on the website GoFundMe, the links above explain that Luke and his family need financial assistance to help him at this time of need, along with noting that the cancer has spread to his stomach, spine, kidney, and one eye. The main goal is to raise $20,000 for his fight and related expenses, though as of this writing, only $120 had been donated. Luke's a very nice guy, and I commend him 100% for his brave battle with cancer in the past year, as well as keeping his trademark sense of humour through every up and down! He's also a talented singer, as Half Past fans and his old bandmates should attest to, but right now, his health is what's most important. If you can even donate a few dollars, that would mean a lot to Luke and his family right now, so keep this fundraising campaign in mind, click here for information, and help out if you can! Get well soon, Luke!

Finally for today, here's a new video from the second Golers concert at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 4th! Filmed by AlgomA singer/bassist Kevin "Marty Chase" Campbell & posted on his YouTube channel on Tuesday, this is of the Vancouver crossover/thrash band playing their original song "This Is Not A Test", as filmed on a stationary camera on one of the long tables near the stage. Good angle of this short original track, and the audio quality's solid, but the video is fairly dark. Still very solid, so check out this new Golers concert video below!



That's all for today, but I'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for Bushplane Musical Madness II, and if weather and timing permits, you might spot me at the Tenaris Second Stage in the evening before or during Sailor's Tongue's set, especially with their hyped CD availability! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tantrym Tyme), A New Album Release, And More From Sault Michigan!!

As promised, today's post is completely focused around the Sault Michigan scene, so what's in store for this Independence Day weekend? Today, we have news on a band who DIDN'T break up (and their recent updates), a new band on two upcoming Kewadin Casino concerts, and a brand new album release, but first, here's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS relating to an upcoming community event, so here's what you need to know!

Young local metal quartet Tantrym Tyme have announced two new concerts that I can 100% verify and source! Often, their shows either get late or no notice, and take place on an outdoor stage at various regional locations, but we do have some info on their next dates, starting with sets outside of Harmony Health Foods on July 26th & 27th as part of Sault Michigan's annual Downtown Days! Also known as the Sidewalk Sales, this is a yearly community event featuring outdoor sales from local merchants, kids games, and live music (you may remember that Free Refill frequented the Downtown Days during their run), so shoppers and Saultites in general should find something to like! Tantrym Tyme's location for the shows isn't random either, as drummer Ethan Twardy's parents own Harmony Health Foods (at 217 Ashmun Street, just seconds from The Corner Pub), and the band have played, been sponsored by, and sold merchandise there in the past. No times for their sets have been announced, but given the outdoor setting, there's obviously no cover charge or age limit. Check the above links for more info!

One more show was announced too on their Facebook page last month, but I'm waiting for more info before plugging it on here (especially concerning other bands.) Tantrym Tyme on rising fast in prominence and talent, so don't miss their next (announced) shows during Downtown Days in three weeks, and stay tuned for possible updates!

Next up, a new local album was just released on June 30th, so it's time to give it some overdue press, as Dafter solo hard rock musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton's sixth original studio album "Perception" is now on sale! Independently released through and recorded at the Waterfall Recording Studios earlier this year, this is a much longer album than it's predecessor "Doo Hickey", featuring 10 songs. In terms of personnel, it looks like Ken handled all instruments (I don't believe collaborator Scott Schroen is featured this time), while one song ("Pages the Break of Dawn") was sang and co-written by Plastic drummer Paul "Dorothy" Burns (formerly of Bent Rollercoaster & Hammerspace). Ken describes the album as "a fun rock n' roll album with a summer feel to it", and the album's page on his website describes some of the songs' themes. "Perception" is now available to buy for $9.99 in mp3 format (or $12.97 on CD) at this location, while all 10 tracks are streamable at this link as well, but buy it to support SweetKenny's work! With that all said, when is a review of it coming to the SMS?

Not until the fall, as it's still too soon from our review of "Doo Hickey" in March, but I'm currently leaning towards the fall for it (as the summer's booked up, and I don't know finite dates for Mike Haggith's next solo album to be exact otherwise.) SweetKenny's newest CD will get a fall review though, so don't worry! I'll hold full thoughts on the album until we review it, but pick it up above, as Ken's a very talented veteran guitarist who deserves the support!

Also in recent news, Detroit hard rock quintet Fifth Way will apparently return to Sault Michigan for two opening dates at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino later this month, as they've been announced as openers for Shinedown & Devour The Day on July 21st AND Tesla on July 27th! My source is guitarist/Rudyard native Zak Stelmaszek on Fifth Way's Facebook page on Thursday, though note neither the promoters or venue have officially confirmed their addition. The Shinedown gig will be Fifth Way's first local appearance since opening for Evans Blue at The Dreammaker's Theater in September, while it will also see yet another bassist change, as this will be their first local date since Anthony Palsgrove replaced Victor Wooten in the band last fall (by my math, that's 5 bassists in a 4 year span!) As for the Tesla show, that's familiar ground for Fifth Way, as they opened for Tesla at their last local concert in June 2010, so hopefully their modern hard rock blend will be welcomed back after 10 months away from the Soo in time for these huge concerts! Stay tuned for more if it comes in!

Finally for today, I have an apology to make, as in April, I incorrectly reported that local hardcore band The Eleventh Hour (formerly Angelic Genocide) had likely broken up due to the deletion of their Facebook page. Usually, that's a good indicator, but instead, they quietly launched a new Facebook page last fall and didn't delete the old one right away, hence the confusion. Their current lineup credits singer Sean Roush, guitarist Josh North, and drummer Joe North as still being in the band, alongside new addition Zach Howe on clean vocals (replacing Cathy Burgos), while guitarist Cody Reed left the band as well last year, and a Google cache of their Facebook page indicates that former bassist Alex Boyer had briefly rejoined before leaving again. The band was temporarily named Changing You For Better Days earlier this year before reverting to The Eleventh Hour, and while news has been slow (partly due to Zach living in the Traverse City area), they have rough plans to release an EP called "Eyes of the Wretched", with lyrics to an original song named "I Have A Voice" posted on Facebook as well.

The new Eleventh Hour page features one original sample via a Facebook video (as a result, I can't embed it here), but it's a rough instrumental that suffers from staticy audio. It's heavy enough though, and I'm curious to hear newer material of theirs with better quality and vocals! It's great to see The Eleventh Hour are still together and plugging away, and hopefully they can get over the hump that many recent extreme metal bands have been stopped by in Sault Michigan, and make a big name for themselves! Check the above links for more, my deepest apologies for the mix-up, and they're now back in our active band links!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for some Sault Ontario news and updates tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Shinedown & Haggith), Plus New Videos!!

We have some big news to touch on for today's news post, including new videos from two very different heavier-leaning Sault Ontario bands, but first, here's some big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month, and coincidentally, all on the same weekend, so here's what you need to know!

Local grunge/alternative rockers Haggith will host a second Bushplane Musical Madness concert at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on Saturday, July 20th! This comes 7 months after they hosted the first fundraising event under this name, where they joined The Suicide Kings and Sykotyk Rampage, and the second installment was announced on Haggith's Facebook page on Friday. This will be their next public concert (though they'll be playing a private Canada Day weekend gig in Goulais Mission for a second straight year), and Haggith are aiming higher for next month with a 2 hour set, and what sounds like a potentially larger band lineup, though full details are forthcoming. It was confirmed on their Facebook page that local punk trio Redundant will join in this year in their Bushplane Museum debut, and while no one else is confirmed yet, drummer Mike Haggith expressed interest in having the other bands from last year back on the 20th, as per his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group last Thursday, but message Mike at this location if you want in on this event!

Admission will remain at just $5, and Mike also revealed that they're hoping for this year's Bushplane Musical Madness to be alcohol licensed (yet still all ages), while the start time will be 4:30 PM. Check the above links for more details! Sounds like they're gonna make this bigger than last year's by far, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in, and for much more (Mike) Haggith-related news this week!

While Sault Ontario will see some musical madness at the Bushplane Museum next month, that same weekend will see a lot of major rock action at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! As announced live on Rock 101 last Thursday (apologies for the delay in getting this on the site), one show will see prominent North Carolina post-grunge/rock quintet Daughtry (they of hits like "It's Not Over) play at Kewadin Casino on July 20th, which should be a huge show, but I wouldn't really consider it "hard rock". For something a little heavier, how about Jacksonville, Florida hard rock quartet Shinedown live at The Dreammaker's Theater the very next night?! Touring in support of their new album "Amaryllis", this multi-platinum selling act best known for hits like "Second Chance", "Save Me", and "Sound of Madness" are definitely among the biggest modern hard rock bands nowadays, and with nine #1 songs on the Billboard Rock charts, you're bound to be familiar with Shinedown's energetic and varied sound!

I have not heard anything on opening bands for Shinedown (or Daughtry, for that matter), but tickets for each ALL AGES show are $39.50 with 7:00 PM start times, and you can buy tickets for each online at this location, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the Kewadin box office in person. For more details, visit promoters Allstar Productions' Facebook page and the above links! Though Shinedown is more up the SMS' alley, this is quite a double whammy for Kewadin Casino next month, and tickets for each show are going fast, so act A.S.A.P. to get yours, and stay tuned for updates on the Shinedown concert as they come in!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with the newest videos from the young local cover band featuring local musician Adam Gualtieri and Sailor's Tongue guitarist Liam Seymour that you may remember from Superior Heights Collegiate performance videos since last year. Adam posted the first live videos of them in action since last December onto his YouTube channel in the past week, and they include covers of Phillip Phillips' "Home" and (as embedded below) Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy"! Coming from the same set, both are acoustic covers, and neither features the uncredited drummer from past videos. Both are well done, though "Home" is a badly overplayed song as it is, and their guitar work and vocal harmonizing are pretty solid, especially when Liam does lead vocals! I must ask though, why's Liam standing behind a bass drum by itself, with a full kit behind them? Check out their Traffic cover below, and more at the above links, including Adam's new original song named "Questions & Answers"!



Finally for today, a new live concert video from local death/stoner metal quartet Giwakwa is now online, though for unexplained reasons, the ability to embed it on external websites has been disabled. Posted last week, this comes from the Sleep When You're Dead-headlined all ages concert at The Oddfellows Hall on May 29th that Giwakwa were among the openers for, and the video is courtesy of AlgomA guitarist Boyd "Darby Wigwaus" Rendell's film company 62nd Chamber Productions' YouTube channel. Boyd was on hand filming the bands for what they're calling a "bootleg" currently in production, though no word on what all will be in the final product as of yet. The video itself is of Giwakwa playing their song "Iron Lung", albeit with a green tint to the colour, and while it's good quality, the video's motion feels very floaty, and the sound seems to echo a lot. Solid stuff though, despite the inability to embed this one, so give this new live video of theirs a look at this location, and don't miss them TONIGHT at The Rosie for the Striker concert!

That's all for today, but I'll see you guys TONIGHT for Striker, the return of Frightlight, and more! Also, stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Caste of Shadows tomorrow morning as well, if all goes according to plan! Thanks everyone!