LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (BookcluB & Dos Amigos!!)

Here's a surprise second post for your Friday night reading, which is devoted to SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS concerning a big day for live music and downtown festival action TOMORROW, so what all can you expect?

Local acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will return to Forty-Five Social TOMORROW as part of their second annual Lot & Loaded Parking Lot Jam! Apologies for the short notice, their involvement was announced by the 117 Spring Street barber shop's Facebook page last week, but Dos Amigos proper have not updated their Facebook page whatsoever since August. Given that, who knows what Dustin and Mikey might have been up to in recent months, but it's good to see them playing a publically advertised concert again! The Lot & Loaded Parking Lot Jam again coincides with the annual Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer on Queen Street East and the Downtown Plaza, which Forty-Five Social booking three solo artists to play alongside Dos Amigos TOMORROW. Amazingly, the lineup from 2025 returns intact for 2026, just with a shuffled lineup order, so look for folk musician Matthew (or Matty) James at 9:00 PM, veteran local staple Jay Case at 7:00 PM, Dos Amigos at 4:00 PM, and country musician Marty Frolick at 2:00 PM.

Each act has a two hour timeslot TOMORROW, with the 6:00 PM hour seemingly serving as an intermission. While there is no stated age limit for this outdoor concert, use common sense, as this is taking advantage of Beerfest, and there is no announced cover charge at Forty-Five Social. As seen in this Facebook video, the Parking Lot Jam will take place under a tent in the titular lot, but just in case, 9&10 News has a heavy chance of rain and thunderstorms during Marty's opening set, but precipitation odds will drop for Dos Amigos and it should dry up for Jay and Matthew. Temperatures are projected to start at around 18° and will drop to around 11°. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Dos Amigos live!

Next up, this won't be all for Mikey Hawdon and Dustin Jones TOMORROW, as the ex-Inner City Surfers bandmates will join their current alternative/punk cover supergroup BookcluB at the Downtown Plaza for the Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer's proper concert program! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only learned of BookcluB's involvement via Dustin's personal Facebook page yesterday (they haven't updated their Facebook page in three months, and I have not seen LopLops, Beerfest, or You Belong SSM announce a music schedule). Just a half hour after Dos Amigos wrap up outside of Forty-Five Social, they'll join the full band at the Plaza for what appears to be a headlining set at 6:30 PM, which will notably be one of (if not) their first gigs since adding former Hails guitarist Carmen Muto to their lineup, replacing the relocated Brandon Ruch. This was confirmed via Rotaryfest's website in their Stage 1 writeups for this year.

We'll have more on Rotaryfest 2026 on the SMS soon, but Carmen is a welcome (if surprising, given Hails' sound) addition to BookcluB, giving them a new young gun on guitar! I don't know the format for the Festival of Beer's music schedule TOMORROW, but if it's similar to last year's schedule, you should expect three more bands and two DJ slots from noon onward, with BookcluB likely playing for an hour. Queen Street East will be closed from 8:00 AM-10:00 PM from Brock Street to Spring Street, and attendees can expect loads of craft beer companies and brewers selling their wares for the occasion, while a food truck festival will debut at the Plaza as part of this LopLops-curated festival. Lack of a full band schedule aside, click here and visit the above links for more details on what to expect! There will be two further Queen Street closures TOMORROW for other well timed events.

Outspoken Brewing will host their Night Shift party from 5:00 PM-2:00 AM with Queen closed from Elgin to Bruce Street, though they are only hosting DJs for music. Meanwhile Queen Street will be closed from Bruce to Dennis Street for a special rooftop concert at Village Media's headquarters featuring Steel Rock & The Pine Tones (Superior Heights & White Pines' student rock bands) and local Filipino band Bituin, so there's a lot going on downtown! Alas, those rainy weather forecasts remain very much a factor for anything going on until 6:00 or so, so be prepared. General admission tickets for Beerfest cost $35, but click here for all ticket package tiers if you're still needing to buy tickets online. I do hope that the weather cooperates for the majority of TOMORROW'S Festival of Beer and related downtown events, so whether you're in it for the beer or the music (or both), see above for more details, and for a preview, here's Bookclub live at the Downtown Plaza!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Ikons Of Rock), More Weekend Concert Previews, And New Videos!!

A slight delay for this second weekend concert preview post, but it is supplemented with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this fall and some new videos from another band playing this weekend, so here's what you should know on this Saturday morning!

Winnipeg/Las Vegas classic rock tribute band Ikons Of Rock will make their local concert debut on Sunday, October 5th at The Sault Community Theater Centre! This wide ranging tribute pays homage to hard rock legends from the 1970s onward, and as you can see in promotional materials, members (including Harlequin & Streetheart alumni) dress up as the covered legends in questions, with an emphasis on heavier artists, including female rockers and even going as recently as Rob Zombie! Ikons of Rock's multimedia-friendly live show is sort of a "jack of all trades" approach that you might recall from Las Vegas residencies, and there's definitely lots of talent in their ranks, so it will be neat to see them at the former Kiwanis Theater this fall! Unlike the newly announced Steve-O show at the S.C.T.C. this fall, tickets have not went too fast yet, so there's plenty of good seats available for Ikons Of Rock!

This all ages concert has a 7:30 PM start time, and tickets are only being sold in the lower area, not the gallery. All seats have flat prices regardless of location, those being $65 for adults and $55 for kids 12 and under or students with valid student ID. As of this writing, there are open seats in all rows, so act now before things start filling up! Get yours at this link or at the in-person box office at Station Mall, and visit the above links for more details!

Next up, let's finish up this weekend's known hard rock/punk concert previews, starting with new local acoustic punk duo Dos Amigos' involvement in the Lot & Loaded Parking Lot Jam outside of Forty Five Social TONIGHT! This is an outdoor acoustic concert taking place during/after the Sault Ste. Marie Festival Of Beer down Queen Street East, which has bands of their own at the Downtown Plaza (as previewed in our last post), so the 117 Spring Street men's clothing store is capitalizing on the festivities by hosting concurrent live music along with offering cocktails behind the store on their patio and attached parking lot. Of course, Dos Amigos bandmates Dustin Jones & Mikey Hawdon are also playing at the Festival Of Beer at 3:30 PM with their alternative punk sextet Bookclub, so it'll be a busy day for them!

Dos Amigos play at 7:00 PM when the Festival of Beer is slated to end, with veteran local singer/guitarist Jay Case headlining at 9:00 PM, while folk artist Matthew James at 4:00 PM, Pillory bassist Blair St. John at 2:00 PM, and country musician Marty Frolick at 1:00 PM will kick off the program at Forty Five Social. Nice change of pace and alternative for music (and beer) fans today, so keep all of the action in mind downtown, and Dos Amigos' unplugged punk covers should find an amenable audience! Lot & Loaded is a free event, and 9&10 News is currently calling for mostly cloudy weather at 17° with no chance of rain. See above for more details, and no public Dos Amigos videos yet, we'll let you know when there are!

Lastly for this weekend's hard rock concerts, we'll zip across to Rudyard, Michigan, where local hard rock quartet The Nameless are advertised to return to Huck's Pub & Grill TONIGHT! Now, I do want to preface this by noting that the band has not publicized this concert on social media, and also did not do so for their advertised Huck's concert last month, while Huck's Facebook page hasn't acknowledged this show at all since this concert calendar from May 9th. At the same time, no one has said that it isn't happening, so I'll treat it as on unless otherwise stated, but it is odd that The Nameless would promote their recent shows at The Merch but not these. Assuming all is well, tonight's Rudyard gig will be The Nameless' second there with their current lineup, and their first show anywhere since the end of May. They are a talented hard rock band with lots of fun covers, so don't miss them tonight!

Notably, veteran local country musician Gary Hatch is playing a matinee concert today to tie in with Huck's customer appreciation day (complete with a pig roast!), but this is a separate 3 hour concert, and he isn't "opening" for The Nameless. That said, Huck's recent "nighttime" concerts have all had early start times, usually at 6:00 PM, tomorrow included, so don't be late! Expect a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Nameless live!

Lastly for this post, let's look at some new videos from local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst in advance of their debut at Beck's Bar tonight! To promote the concert, one more teaser "Reel" was shared to their Facebook page, which features frontman Red Jettison and guitarist Rainey Rancourt standing outside of Beck's physical signage while debating ways to get the word out about tonight's concert. Rainey has many ideas, but will Red like any of them? Find out there, and then go see them on Goulais Avenue tonight! For something longer and embeddable, the band posted a second music video from their new album "Road Trippin'" onto their YouTube channel on May 28th (apologies for the two+ week delay), and this time, it's for the song "Steam"! Red compiled this video entirely out of public domain black-and-white cartoons from the 1930s, expanding on that concept after using an early Disney cartoon in the "Slay The Dragon" video.

This video was edited around cartoons that had something to do with trains given the song's allusion to steam engine trains, namely the Looney Tunes short Porky's Railroad and the Fleischer Studios cartoon Betty In Blunderland (a pre-Hays Code cartoon, at that!). I'm a classic cartoon buff, so I approve of re-appropriating public domain cartoons from Porky Pig & Betty Boop in this manner, and while I might prefer actually seeing HeadF1rst in their own video, Red did a good job editing this to match the song. Check out the "Steam" video below, and you may hear them play it tonight at Beck's!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Dos Amigos & Curtis McKenzie), A New Song, And More Updates!!

We've made it to the month of June, and as far as I'm concerned, the summer season has also begun! Starting off things for June 2025 is a new news post featuring LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on very SHORT NOTICE), a new single from a local metal project, and some assorted recent notes, so here's what you should know on this Sunday morning!

Former Project 421/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie will return to Beck's Bar for a matinee concert TODAY! Apologies for the short notice, this gig is legitimately a late notice replacement show due to folk singer/guitarist Matthew James dropping out of his planned Sunday matinee date there for publically unannounced reasons. Hopefully all is well with Matthew, but kudos to Curt for slotting in on a day's notice, and if you missed him at The Dive on Thursday, you have another chance to see his hard rock covers earlier than you may have realized! However, TODAY's matinee is a change from the former Vibe Lounge's usual scheduling, as it will have a special start time of 1:00 PM rather than 3:00 PM. This is to accommodate Beck's Bar's late involvement in the United Ironworkers Motorcycle Club 786's annual Poker Run, which will see participating bikers stop in at Beck's en route. Click here for full details on the Poker Run itself.

Should be a unique atmosphere for this concert, especially so recently into Beck's run since re-opening, and hopefully there's a good turnout for Curtis' covers at this Goulais River nightclub TODAY! As usual, expect a 19+ age limit and no cover, and remember, this show starts two hours early for the Poker Run's benefit, so Curt's not guaranteed past 5:00 PM. Visit the above links for more on TODAY'S late notice concert, and here's Curt live!

Next up, new local acoustic punk cover duo Dos Amigos will take part in the Lot & Loaded Parking Lot Jam outside of Forty Five Social on Saturday, June 14th! This special multi-act concert is being held concurrently with the annual Sault Ste. Marie Festival of Beer, and will take place in the parking lot of the men's clothing store in the former Salvation Army building at 117 Spring Street, which is just a stone's throw from the Festival of Beer itself, and "crafty cocktails" will be offered on site while checking out Lot & Loaded. We await full confirmation on the Downtown Plaza music lineup for the festival proper, but the Parking Lot Jam means that Mikey Hawdon & Dustin Jones will be pulling double duty, as they'll be playing prior at some point with their alternative cover band Bookclub. Should be a fun, if busy day for Mikey & Dustin, so don't miss out in two weeks at both locations! At Forty Five Social, Dos Amigos are co-headlining at 7:00 PM, which is when the Festival of Beer itself ends.

Headlining here is veteran local musician Jay Case at 9:00 PM, while the other musicians are the aforementioned Matthew (or "Matty") James at 4:00 PM, Pillory bassist Blair St. John at 2:00 PM, and country music veteran Marty Frolick at 1:00 PM. There is no announced cover charge for this outdoor concert, and while there isn't a stated age limit, remember that this is coinciding with the Festival of Beer. Visit the above links for more details!

Also today, here's a brand new studio single from local deathcore duo Hollow Sky! Their third original song and first in just over a year, the song is called "To Die For", and according to the band, it's streaming "everywhere". Definitely not an accurate claim, as unlike their first two singles, it's not on Boomplay (yet?), let alone Bandcamp, Tidal, and so on. By "everywhere", they mean Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon Music, and Deezer. To promote the single, Hollow Sky ramped up their social media presence in the preceding weeks, including teaser "Reels" featuring the single cover artwork and clips of the song, one featuring guitarist Adam Fahrer playing a djent riff from it. While we're in the unembeddable and vertical portion of this post, they also shared a "Reel" of Adam playing along with Dream Theater's "Strange Deja Vu", a song whose riff he loves. Sounds good to me!

The last teaser video (not a "Reel" despite being vertically framed) features on-screen lyrics for the sample clip, implying that they might be posting a full lyric video for "To Die For", but as best as I can tell, there isn't one yet. Featuring clean vocals along with death growling from Liam Tallon alternating relatively frequently, this track has a catchy bounce to it while still displaying really solid technical guitar work, and the production suits everything well, so it's great to see Hollow Sky back at it! No word on if we'll be waiting another year for their fourth song, but give yourself something to die for below, and stay tuned for more Hollow Sky updates!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• I have moved local hardcore punk solo project Choking On Appendages to our inactive band links. A heavier solo project than we had previously seen from Hails/Agnosticism guitarist Mikhal Muto, C.O.A.'s only public activity was the release of their debut EP "Macabre" on Bandcamp on May 30th last year, with no further social media pages launching for the project. I liked what I heard from Choking On Appendages, and hopefully Mikhal revisits them down the road, but follow his current bands and promoted concerts to see what he's currently up to!
• Also back in our inactive links is local death metal band Chronic Demonic, who have not posted on their Facebook page since one year ago yesterday. A long-gestating group led by ex-Frightlight guitarist Kevin Powe & ex-Faithless Sin bassist Ryan Gratton, Chronic Demonic played live just once, covering The Misfits at the former Roosevelt Hotel back in 2013, though they continued updating fans on their updates (or lack thereof) for over a decade afterwards. Their perseverance was always nice to see, and it'd be great to see that proper concert down the road! Hopefully we hear more from Nik, Kevin, Ryan, Jonathan, and other ex-members soon, and R.I.P. Sabrina!
• In a late addition to the Derev-headlined concert at Soo Blaster on May 23rd, promoter Tyler St. Amour (also using his middle name William in the advertising) opened the show with a solo set, as per his agency Heavy North Entertainment's Facebook page that morning. Tyler's addition was "due to some scheduling conflicts", but whether he was replacing advertised solo opener Chase Wigmore or was an extra act, I can't immediately confirm. As a musician, Tyler is best known as a metal bassist and vocalist with bands like Them and Bardo, but this was implied to be an acoustic set, so it'd be interesting to hear how he sounds in that format!

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: 7/47 & Social Suicide

After a few days' delay due to being out of town and busy (my apologies!), here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, as we once again look at 1 or 2 defunct or inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk bands (two this month), in order for fans to know more about them and check out their available media! This month's installment is a double profile, as the first band didn't have a lot of surviving info, but both have familiar faces and clear talent from each side of the border, so here's what you should know!
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7/47

Genre: Classic Rock/Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics. This lineup information is incomplete, mainly regarding the identity of their female lead singer from their last posted video. If you can fill in any blanks, let us know!)

?????, lead vocals

Mike Pascoe (The Highest of Fives, Free Refill), vocals/guitar

Jack Slater (The Highest of Fives, 415E), bass

Joe North (The Eleventh Hour), drums

Tyler Wall (Free Refill), guitar 

Info/Analysis: 7/47 were a young hard rock band that formed through Joey Beairl's Guitar Studio rock camp program in Sault Michigan in mid-2009. Featuring two members of Free Refill in their original lineup, 7/47 quickly began playing covers at various venues in the area that summer, even taking a road trip to Christmas that August. Updates slowed down until the next summer, when 7/47 played an outdoor set in Mackinac City, which came after the addition of an unidentified female lead singer and the departure of guitarist Tyler Wall. No public updates followed, and 7/47 are believed to have dissolved by the end of 2010, though Mike Pascoe & Jack Slater have since reemerged in The Highest of Fives. As seen via 4 surviving videos on Jack's YouTube channel, 7/47 had a strong sound that showed the kids developing sound well, and their last singer had a good voice too, though Mike's vocals weren't as developed yet. Check out 7/47 live above & below!

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Social Suicide

Genre: Technical Death Metal/Grindcore/Punk

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics. This lineup information may be incomplete, as the band went through many lineup changes that weren't always credited publically. If you can add something, let us know!)

Tyler St. Amour (Them, Fountain of Betrayal), vocals/bass
Anthony Boudreau (Them, Infamous), guitar
Keeghan Rosso (The Pixo Control), drums

Storm Perry, guitar/drums
Andres Duchesne (Pillory, The Bear Hunters, The Issues), guitar
Ray Cowan (State of Misery, March Into Regression, Unbound), guitar

Audio/Video: Social Suicide never posted online media from their run, but they did write original material and had covers in their setlists when they did play live. For reference, Tyler and Anthony's current band Them likely have the most similarities to Social Suicide's late-era sound, and may play some of the same material.

Info/Analysis: Launched in August 2011, Social Suicide quickly began plans to play gigs at Superior Heights Collegiate, write original material, and play proper concerts the following summer, but a spate of lineup changes and internal conflicts slowed things down throughout their three year run. The band did play sporadic house party events in the early 2010s (including their "debut" in June 2012), but never at a formal local concert, despite signing on with Blood Shed Productions in early 2013. Last updating their Facebook page in January 2014, Social Suicide quietly disbanded last year, though frontman Tyler St. Amour and guitarist Anthony Boudreau soon regrouped in Them with new instrument roles. Though it's surprising that Social Suicide didn't accomplish more in their run, be sure to check out Them to get your fix!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! So, who's coming up in this series in May? Through completely random selection, I've selected defunct Sault Ontario thrash quartet Pillory, which will mark our second straight profile in this series on a band that featured Tyler St. Amour and the late Andres Duchesne in any of their lineups! Another Sault Michigan profile will follow in June, but look for this on or around May 10th, and stay tuned for more updates shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Benighted), Pixo Control Updates, And Much More!!

I hope everyone's having a great Tuesday! Keeping with our recent steady output, today's news post includes new material from two linked projects, the latest from a promising young band, and more assorted updates, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for March! (Edited on Wednesday at 2:05 AM)

A long teased death metal concert is now official, as French death/grind quintet Benighted will headline at The Oddfellows Hall on Saturday, March 7th (and by French, I mean from France, which is very cool in and of itself!) A favourite of promoter Tyler St. Amour, Benighted's brutal and intense death metal sound should be more than welcomed to Sault Ontario in the midst of their first Canadian tour, so be sure not to miss this show if you live death metal & grindcore! They'll be joined by Montreal theatrical death metal quintet Bookakee, who are known for wearing costumes, using props, and enacting sketches during their sets of technical & progressive death metal, and they have to be seen to be believed, so make sure to see them in March! They're scheduled for 11:00 & 10:00 PM respectively, while the top local support slot will go to local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters in their first announced show since November's CD release party, and they'll be on at 9:00 PM.

Very fitting choice, and they should brutalize on March 7th! The only other currently announced local band will be goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore (in their second announced show of 2015) at 6:30 PM, and while The Revolution have expressed interest in playing, the other three local band slots have yet to be confirmed. The first concert from Heavy North Entertainment in over 4 months, admission will be $7 in advance (starting on February 1st) or $12 at the door, the first band will be on at 5:30 PM, and this is ALL AGES! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This sounds like it will be a great concert for death metal fans, so be sure to stay tuned for updates as they come in!

Next up, here's the latest from young local alternative/hard rock trio The Pixo Control, who will be making a big appearance on a new local webseries soon! The show is called Bare, and it's a VM Radio-produced series where local musicians will perform in a stripped down acoustic fashion (a'la MTV Unplugged), with multiple cameras filming all of the action. A preview photo is shared of the set on VM Radio's Facebook page, but it's not from The Pixo Control's episode. Other details on Bare are forthcoming (including on what sites to watch it on), but we'll let you know when more comes out. Either way, it sounds like a fun series, and I'm curious to see who else plays on Bare! Also, a review of their most recent concert (at Cafe Natura on December 30th) is now online via the local music & arts website Ears & Eyes, as written by contributor Shane Erickson (a.k.a. DJ Seith), and it's fairly in depth on all of the bands that night, so what should you know?

Along with remarks on the reunited Frasiers and Great Chamberlain (who featured The Pixo Control's Michael Mikus and The Fever Tops' Mitch Harris), he praised local post punk quartet Gnaeus' energy, openness, and their "hard-charging alternative rock sound", while enthusiastically praising Michael's stage presence and intensity when discussing The Pixo Control, who debuted a new song named "Alphabetical Order" that night. I won't spoil the rest, but Shane is well spoken in the interview, so give it a look at this link or above, and read more from Ears & Eyes too, it's a great site!

Also today, here's the latest from Telephone & Address frontman Chris Shoust's other two active bands, those being his duo projects The Red & Black and Orange! They both now have new media on their respective Soundcloud pages, with Orange's page now featuring 10 new "Sunday Sessions" recordings posted last week (bringing them to 14 total), all continuing their diverse punk/rockabilly instrumental sound! The Red & Black's new Soundcloud page features 7 original songs, including 4 previously heard on their Bandcamp page, and three new songs named "Sing or Move On", "Stay at Home in Bed", and "This is All That Matters". Their new songs are effective yet lo-fi like before, and fans of Chris & Damian's past collective work should enjoy the songs! It should be noted that The Red & Black's Soundcloud page implies that their 7 songs will comprise their portion of the hinted split album with Orange, but it's not clear yet which Orange songs will be included, or if this album will get a paid public release in some form.

Chris' projects have been very prolific in terms of media in the last few months, so we'll have to see what comes next from them! Stay tuned for more updates, and yes, we have more from Telephone & Address themselves as well, so keep an eye out!

Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or event name:

• Apolcaypse Afterparty "songwriter" Paul Stanghetta (a.k.a. Puablos Stancu) is looking for "chicks with bass & an amp", presumably to join the band, which does follow earlier hints that they were looking to expand their lineup with female members. If you're a female bassist and are interested in joining this unique rap/metal project, message Paul at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Tuesday!
• We've moved local death metal band Social Suicide to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, having not posted on their Facebook page since January 5th, 2014. Active since 2011, this band was led by the aforementioned Tyler St. Amour, and underwent many member & sound changes, but house parties aside, never played a public show or released any media. Best of luck to surviving members in the future, and don't miss Tyler & fellow Social Suicide alum Anthony Boudreau in the newer metal band Them!
• Only 5 registration forms for the VM Radio Battle of The Bands at The Canadian Nightclub in March are available to whoever wants to pick them up and enter, rather than just bands who reserved spots, so if you want in and/or had a reserved spot, head down to The Rad Zone A.S.A.P. to get your forms! Once completed and sent in with your $100 entry fee (which you get back by selling your ticket packages), you're in for the battle! Our source is promoter J.D. Pearce on the Facebook event page today.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more in the coming days, including this weekend's concert previews & more! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Anvil & Tym Morrison), And More Recent News Updates!!

We're back with a new news post on this cold Friday evening, and today, it includes a bunch of recent assorted stories, news from a recently reactivated metal project, and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS concerning a pretty big event this spring, and first, a show TONIGHT and recurring four more times this month, so here's what you need to know!

Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will (as expected) continue his weekly concert arrangement at The Harp Bar & Grill TONIGHT, and for the rest of the month too! Apologies for the short notice for tonight's event, Tym only just publically confirmed this show earlier this evening via it's Facebook event page. Entering the fifth week of his current arrangement with the former Madison's Pub, Tym's newly updated calendar on his official website (which now runs off of Google Calendar, a big improvement) confirms that he'll be back at The Harp over the next four Fridays as well (January 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st), while the entries there elaborate the theme of his Harp gigs too, as while Tym is the primary performer and host of the events, they also double as jam/open mic nights, so if you like performing at such events, keep that angle in mind! Tym's shows this month (including TONIGHT) all start at 10:00 PM, none have an announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, check the above links!

It's great to see Tym giving attention to his website's calendar/schedule again, so hopefully these give us a "new" outlet to hear about his solo and band dates! This arrangement with The Harp is going well so far, so don't miss Tym there TONIGHT or over the other Fridays this month, and for a preview, here's Tym and ex-Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc covering Extreme's "More Than Words"!

Next up, a huge concert's coming our way on Saturday, March 15th at The Canadian Nightclub, when Toronto metal legends Anvil return to the Soo! Last seen at The Canadian 20 months ago in July 2012, the stars of the acclaimed documentary "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" are still touring in support of their newest CD, last year's "Hope In Hell", and if their 2012 show here was any indication, they'll put in another wild and very heavy set of classic and highly influential originals in March! Drummer Robb Reiner's son Tyler's hardcore/metal quartet Caym will also return to the Soo as openers at this show, marking their second local stop after opening for Skeletonwitch at The Canadian last June, and their extreme hybrid sound should fit in well in their return this spring! Local support will include local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades (in their second announced date with new guitarist Jesse Cook), which will also mark members J.D. Pearce & Tiffany Stocco's second time opening for Anvil in town, as they both played with Frightlight at the July 2012 concert, so they'll fit in nicely again!

The other currently confirmed opening band is new local classic metal band Project 421 in their second announced concert (and Canadian Nightclub debut), so look for these talented veterans to rock the stage once again in March! A third local opening band is being sought, and though their identity has yet to be confirmed, The Suicide Kings, Punch, Telephone & Address, and The Danger Cats have shown public interest in the empty slot. We'll keep you posted when something's announced! This 19+ concert has an advance ticket price of $20 or $25 at the door, and while you can buy them online right now at this link, they will be on sale through local merchants in the near future. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to have Anvil and Caym back in Sault Ontario after their own well received dates here in recent years, and there's a promising lineup of local openers too, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in, and get your tickets A.S.A.P. online at the above links! Kudos to J.D. once again for another huge concert, he outdoes himself over & over!

Also today, here's the latest concerning a recently dormant Blood Shed Productions death metal project, that being Social Suicide, who appear to be getting back off the ground after a few months of dormancy! The Tyler St. Amour-led band is apparently working on new jam sessions of their original songs and covers, along with lots of new material, as per their Facebook page yesterday. The post also indicated that they'll have an all new lineup plus "a secret non-credited member of the original lineup", which would imply that either Anthony Boudreau or Keeghan Rosso is back in the fold, but again, Tyler did say that his identity was "secret" for one reason or another. Social Suicide have been active under varying lineups since at least August 2011, but they have only seen scattered activity since, though they did play at least one public set (which I believe was solo) at a Blood Shed Productions event in August of last year. Hopefully we'll get lots more updates soon from Social Suicide, as for a project around for this long, I'm surprised they haven't done a lot more. Stay tuned for updates as we hear them!

Finally for today, here's a handful of assorted shorter news stories from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• According to singer/guitarist Darby Wigwaus' personal Facebook page, local sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA played an impromptu set on New Year's Eve during Honest Job's concert at 180 Projects, marking their first live appearance in over 4 months, and returning them to the site of their debut show from last spring (which also featured Honest Job.) Nice to hear that AlgomA are back at it, and hopefully 2014's a huge year for them!
• Local progressive metal solo project The Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe have posted a handful of new djent recordings onto their Soundcloud page in the last few days, including a Periphery cover, a different version of their original "Whatever", and some "Drop E Riffage", which all sound very promising and brutal, so give them a look at the above links! Matt's talented, don't bypass his work!
• Woods of Ypres fan Jacob Brooks has posted an unofficial "Live & Rarities" album onto BandCamp that compiles 9 live recordings from one of their last concerts in St. Paul, Minnesota along with two rehearsal tracks of Woods of Ypres playing "Shedding The Deadwood" & "I Was Buried In Mount Pleasant Cemetery", neither of which was played in official setlists at the time. All proceeds from the album (which is on a "name your price" model) go to David Gold's family, so consider picking it up or checking out these nice quality recordings from late in their run!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news soon, including perhaps our next CD review? Find out shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Battle Of The Bands & Pillory) & Sault Michigan Weekend Concert Previews!!

Keeping our weekend concert previews rolling, we're mostly focusing on Sault Michigan today, but we also have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for shows TOMORROW and later this month, including Sault Michigan's next battle of the bands, so read on below for what you need to know, and if any late notice concerts pop up, we'll have them here A.S.A.P., if possible!

A night of grindcore and death metal will hit the P-Patch area TOMORROW NIGHT in honour of former March Into Regression/Fountain of Betrayal bassist Tyler St. Amour's birthday, in what is being called "Grinded Live In Your Ears"! Apologies for the short notice, the Facebook event page was only launched yesterday. To be held at 110 Pentagon Boulevard (Tyler's home?), this publically attendable concert is being hyped as an option for Sewer Swampstravaganza attendees to hit after leaving that concert, and it reminds me in ways of the old F.A.T.I.L. Gatherings, but who's lined up to perform? The headliners are local thrash band Pillory in just their second live show, first in over 8 months, and first since the passing of guitarist Andres Duchesne & addition of new bassist Cole Royal, and it's great to see them gigging again! Swampstravaganza performers Crimson Crusade are also lined up, while two death metal acts from local grind/horror rap label Blood Shed Productions will make their public concert debuts in the preceding slots, those being Crucify The Whore and Tyler's own long-gestating death metal project Social Suicide!

No word on if either have full lineups for these performances or if they'll be solo sets, but it's nice to see Ringsnaps and Tyler finally bringing these bands to a live audience, and hopefully it's just the next step in their evolution! The show will be opened by a solo performer credited as "Todd The Shitty Busker" at 11:20 PM, though I can't reliably verify his identity, sound, or genre at present. This show has free admission and no announced age limits, Blood Shed demos will be on sale, and doors open at 11:00 PM at 110 Pentagon (which is seconds from the St. Bernadette Elementary School.) Check the above links for more details! There's a lot of unknowns with this concert, especially given it's location and somewhat mysterious live forms for two of the bands, but it should provide attendees with death and grind intensity all night, so keep it in mind for tomorrow! For a preview, here's Pillory live at The Canadian last year!

The other new concert is this year's "Rock Till You Drop" battle of the bands at this year's Chippewa County Fair, which goes down on Thursday, August 29th at the grandstand at the Kinross fairgrounds, so what should you know? Like past years, three local bands will compete for votes from fans, with votes likely being determined in a busker style via cash donations in a bucket after each set, with the winning band being the one whose set raised the most cash. This year however, all donations will go to Team Jessica, the fund to help local high school student Jessica Jorgensen through her leukemia battle (which is also the cause behind next week's Pop Evil concert at The Dreammaker's Theater), which is awesome, so hopefully attendees give generously! The three bands include two returnees from last year's "Rock Till You Drop", as local classic hard rock quintet Banned and young local metal quartet Tantrym Tyme will give this yearly battle another stab on the 29th, and note as well that Tantrym Tyme (then Abstract) won the 2011 edition, so are they the band to beat?

The third band (replacing pop duo Missy & Chelsea from last year) is new local hard rock quintet RamWagon, who should give a strong performance in what I believe is their first ever local battle appearance, so don't bypass them on the 29th! To be emceed by Rock 101's Allison "Alli J" Miller, "Rock Till You Drop" has a 7:30 PM start time and no age limits. For more details, visit the above links, and thanks to Tantrym Tyme for battle updates! The field's wide open for this year's battle, and hopefully lots of money is raised for Team Jessica! Who'll take this year's "Rock Till You Drop"? Be at the Chippewa County Fair to find out, and stay tuned for updates!

We'll close this post with this weekend's Sault Michigan concert previews (at least, the ones with advance word), and conveniently, both bands in question are among the "Rock Till You Drop" battle competitors! We'll start with RamWagon, who will make both their non-Sault and Kewadin Casino debuts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT when they hit The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin! RamWagon have been making a quick regional impression in the past month, and with more gigs and exposure imminent, this union of Full Throttle and Analog Deficiency members should impress with their blend of covers this weekend in St. Ignace! 9:00 PM-ish start times, no announced cover charge, and 21+ age limits are to be expected, and for more details, check the above links and Kewadin's entertainment page! RamWagon should deliver a fun weekend of hard rocking covers, so don't miss out tonight or tomorrow, and when we get some embeddable preview videos, I'll let you guys know!

Finally for the known advance hard rock shows across the river, Kinross classic/hard rockers Banned will play their next local concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Runway Bar in nearby Hessel, Michigan! Their second show at this venue in just over a month, watch out for the Traynors, Tara, Denny, and Jim to knock it out of the park with their own diverse blend of covers and originals, though remember that their 2011-2012 concerts are proof that they can deliver lots of metal still! Tomorrow's show in Hessel (a half hour northeast of St. Ignace, 50 minutes south of the Soo) will have a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. For more details, visit Banned's Facebook page! Banned continue to be one of the most entertainingly prolific bands on weekends in the E.U.P., so keep tomorrow's Runway Bar stop in mind, and for a preview, here's Banned's current lineup covering The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" earlier this year!



That's all for today, but barring late notice show announcements, we'll likely touch on some non-preview news tomorrow, with Hempfest and BFGs previews coming on Saturday! Stay tuned!

A New Local Band, Nudge Concert Previews, And More!!

It's time to bring March in like a lion with our first news post of the month, so what's on tap? We have a new local band to introduce (as well as a related new label/recording studio), along with the last remaining concert previews for the coming weekend, and a cool archive glimpse at a local band, so read on below for what you need to know!

We have a new local metal project to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they're a goregrind/death metal act named Crucify The Whore! A solo project by a local musician named Ringsnaps Gibson (real first name unclear), the project was launched circa November 2012, and it's the flagship band on Ringsnaps' new independent label/studio Blood Shed Productions (more on them in a second.) Since the end of last year, Ringsnaps has been uploading original material to the Blood Shed Productions YouTube channel (both from this project & his own solo horrorcore/rap songs), but in terms of C.T.W., he's already recorded and released a number of original songs (many with titles and lyrics that some readers may find questionable), and while there have been two different CDs produced, they're all homeburned demos with handwritten titles and paper sleeves from what I can tell. Future plans involve some sort of split release with an artist named Splitneck, although full details aren't yet known. I imagine fans of grindcore & goregrind music will enjoy C.T.W., but I admit that this music is a really acquired taste.

Ringsnaps has skills at multiple instruments & programming, but the short, repetitious songs & distorted, guttural (and often low) vocals have the ability to wear on uninitiated listeners. It's not really my thing, but it does what it's supposed to do, and while I don't agree with or speak in favour of many presented statements, I admire the unapologetic stance for their lyrics & imagery (though supporters of Amanda Todd will want to steer clear.) If you like grindcore & goregrind metal, give Crucify The Whore a listen and see what you think, and I've embedded one of their songs below to check out!



While we're on the subject, let's touch on Crucify The Whore's label/studio Blood Shed Productions! Also launched last fall, the label already plays host to various newer local projects (mostly solo), including a death metal project named Brutally Fatal led by label co-owner Austin McRae (who apparently just released a disc of some kind), plus some horror rap performers like Miracle Man & Phat Boii, and others yet to be revealed. As well, March Into Regression/With Blood Builds Character bassist Tyler St. Amour's recently inactive death metal band Social Suicide will apparently be relaunched "soon" with new material, a new sound, and a new name under the Blood Shed Productions banner, as per a recent Facebook page posting. Judging by updates on their page, the band has also parted ways with every surviving former member except Tyler, though with no media posted from their earlier incarnations, there shouldn't be any jarring changes from what we already knew. I'm impressed with how quick this has all come together for B.S.P.'s performers, but I wonder if they would go further musically if some of them joined forces in a full band rather than assorted solo acts?

Brutally Fatal especially seems unfinished, as Austin has bass skill and decent growling abilities, but maybe things will be shored up with time for them and others. There's some ambitious plans in the works, so if goregrind and horrorcore appeal to you musically, check the above links, and both Crucify The Whore & Blood Shed Productions are now linked on the SMS on your left!

Next up, here's our previews of the remaining concerts this weekend, as Marquette/Ishpeming hard rock quartet Nudge will return to The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Their first local stops since the end of last year, the guys should be raring to go with a quality night of hard rock and metal covers & originals, and hopefully their local fans will be at The Frog in full force this weekend to drink it all in! Note that unlike most of Nudge's recent local concert weekends, there was no mid-week acoustic shows, so if you wanna see the Danzo, Scott, and the guys in action, you haven't missed anything yet! Admission should be free for tonight & tomorrow's shows, you must be 21 to attend, and there are 10:00 PM start times in effect. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It'll be great to see Nudge back in Sault Michigan, and hopefully the guys bring some awesome covers and originals back to their local fans all weekend long! For a preview, here's Nudge covering Motley Crue's "Shout At The Devil" last year in Marquette!



Finally for today, here's a little bonus discovery relating to the subject of our most recent CD review. While researching defunct local hard rock band Aftersight towards our review of their only CD "Waiting For Lightning", I discovered that the website cited on the back of the jewel case (though long since expired) survives via The Internet Archive Wayback Machine, which archives & preserves websites of the past for people to look at in the present day! Three different incarnations of Aftersight's website have been archived from 2003, 2004, and 2005 respectively, but what does each contain? The 2005 archive is bare bones and features mainly placeholder text and little band info, while the 2004 version appeared to mainly exist as a host for songs from their album, though neither the mp3 files nor most of the page's images have survived. The 2003 version, however, is in surprisingly good form, despite many missing photos and page elements!

Included within is info on the band's "Hottie of the Week" contest, news on concerts at venues like The Eastgate Hotel, references to old local bands like JaxxMadd, band member bios, a number of surviving band photos, a setlist (with covers), and much more, so if you can get past missing and dead portions, check the full thing out at this location, and see more at the above links! Hopefully I'll find more similar local band pages with archives like this at some point!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news & notes shortly, including this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Skeyes Of Seven's Debut, Local Band Lineup Changes/Notes, And This Month's CD Review!!

Alright, let's get back to some Sault Ontario stories today! In this post, we have the identity of our next CD review, a pile of lineup notes for a few local bands (including some lingering questions about just who is in one band), and leading things off, when you can see a new local band for the first time, so here's what you need to know! (Updated at 4:29 PM)

A new local hard rock band will make their long awaited debut next month, as Skeyes of Seven have been confirmed as the third local opening band for Toronto metal legends Anvil's headlining concert at The Canadian Nightclub on July 25th! They were quietly added to the Facebook event page's lineup within the last few days, and they should be the first band playing that night, before Anvil, Frightlight, and Garden of Bedlam. In case you've forgotten, Skeyes of Seven is the new band featuring former Sense of Truth bandmates Cory Murchison & Ron Baxter on vocals and guitar alongside Half Past guitarist Alain Fletcher and former Tripod the Dog/Genghis Khan bassist Mike Mannarino, and it'll be awesome to see the guys finally hitting the stage! Notably, this will be Cory & Ron's first live concert since they opened for Lion Ride in May 2010 at The Canadian, so it's been a very long time coming for them especially (and what better way to return than by opening for Anvil?!) Note however that they have yet to confirm who their new drummer is (founding drummer Chris Thompson left this spring), but you'd have to imagine one will be announced within the next month. Stay tuned for more on Skeyes of Seven as I hear it!

As for the Anvil show, tickets are still available at The Rad Zone at Wellington Square Mall, Music Depot on Gore Street, and The Canadian Nightclub's front desk for just $20, which is a huge value for the band's you'll be seeing! There's also some tickets available at The Rad Zone, Music Depot, and The Roosevelt Hotel for the 3 Inches of Blood show on July 9th for $10, so pick them up A.S.A.P. before they're gone! Check the above links for more details on both of these J.D. Pearce-promoted concerts, and click here for SooToday's brief article on the 3IOB show! No mention of the local openers specifically, but some press is better than none at all!

Next up, here's some lineup notes concerning the recently relaunched band March Into Regression. First, from what I've seen, I think the previously referenced Josh & Jeremy might be Bear Hunters guitarist/ex-Bring The Fallen singer Josh Stephney and Like Father Like Son/ex-Lorax frontman Jeremy Hannah. Nothing 100% official has confirmed them as being in the band, but Jeremy posted mobile photos onto Facebook of most of March Into Regression outdoors at what looks like the F.A.T.I.L. Gathering in Laird that they returned at. If they are actually band members, I don't know if they're both singing, or if one is on guitar, or some combination, but it'd be nice to see them singing in a metal band again after so long! The other lineup news is another question mark, as though March Into Regression's Facebook page doesn't list him as a band member anymore, bassist Tyler St. Amour is featured alone in their current profile picture. Plus, he was tagged in this photo last month with guitarists Ray Cowan & Christopher Neveau that is credited to M.I.R., despite recent implications that Dan Souliere was now their bassist. So, how much of this is right, now wrong, or always wrong?

Personally, unless they update their Facebook lineup, I'll believe their current lineup when I see it, which could come next Thursday night when they play their first Sault Ste. Marie gig in over a year at the next Rosie metal night! Hopefully I'll see you guys there, and stay tuned for more M.I.R. news! Leading from bands that have involved Tyler St. Amour, here's some more concrete lineup news concerning his other band, local metal act Social Suicide! Apparently, they've reverted to their original lineup for the most part, as Anthony Boudreau has returned on guitar and Keeghan Rosso is back on drums, indicating that Ray Cowan, Andres Duchesne, and Storm Perry are all out of the band. A reason for these lineup changes has not been announced, but hopefully the new/old lineup works well in the future, and best of luck to the former members! Tyler is still fronting the band, though he's swapped the bass for the guitar, and according to a Facebook page posting last week, they have a new bassist to go along with new originals and plans for future shows. The new bassist has not been revealed yet, but hopefully the guys got someone that fits their sound well, and stay tuned for more Social Suicide news as it comes in!

And finally, I'd like to confirm that this month's CD review at The Sault Metal Scene will be The Harsh Heads' only CD "First Hated, Then Forgotten"! I've opted to pick this archive review for two reasons: Nothing new has came out this month for local metal/hard rock bands in terms of official packaged albums (the week ahead has nothing likely either), and Harsh Heads' members Aaron Gibbs and John Conway return to the stage with their current band The Billy Bastards on Saturday night when they open for Maximum RNR, so it neatly ties in with that show! As you may remember, The Harsh Heads were a prominent old school hardcore/punk band in the early 1990s, and their two unreleased 1994 demos later got a posthumous CD release in 2005, which is what we'll review this month! How has it held up 18 years after it's recording? We'll know by Saturday, so keep an eye out for this month's CD review, and as for next month? Barring a delay for when it comes out, I hope to look at Theatre of Night's second album "The Dawn's Early Light" given it's planned July 1st release. If we review it next month, it'll be our third Sault Michigan CD review in four months, which will be interesting, so watch out for that hopefully, and our review of "First Hated, Then Forgotten" this week!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on RedStone Riot TOMORROW, along with much more news! Thanks everyone!

Battle For The Blood Updates, Ashes To Dust & Powerslug Videos, And Much More!!

After a day full of special feature posts, we're back to news on this warm Monday afternoon, so here's what's on tap! Today, we have details on hte next area battle of the bands (and what's changed), new videos from a young local band that play some heavier material, updates from a Sault Michigan hard rock band (and their first video footage, finally), some thoughts on a recently posted interview, and much more, so here's what you need to know!

The upcoming Battle for the Blood has been postponed one week, as per the Facebook event page. This latest local battle of the bands will now take place on Tuesday, June 19th at The Roosevelt Hotel, which confirms earlier word that promoters were looking to shift the battle's date to enable Desbarats death metal standouts For All That Is Lost to remain among the competing bands. Even still, the new date still has a missing band, as the previously announced Shit Liver were quietly removed from the lineup on Facebook around the time of the date change. A reason for the grimecore trio's withdrawal from the battle has not been publicized, but I wouldn't be surprised if scheduling conflicts played a part. It's disappointing to see Shit Liver out, but they'll be back melting faces soon! As a result, the battle now consists of just three bands (F.A.T.I.L., The Valentine's Day Massacre, and Winkstinger), and if this sticks without a replacement fourth competing band, it would make this the smallest Sault Ontario battle in recent memory. That said, battle promoter J.D. Pearce's local punk quartet T. Rex Manning will play "a special performance" at the battle, though out of competition, so if you enjoy their punk insanity, you'll get a kick out of their set!

Personally, I'd love to see another band added to replace Shit Liver among the competitors, as three bands seems awfully small for a battle of the bands, but even if none are sought, it'll still be a huge event on June 19th! Remember, the winners open for 3 Inches of Blood at The Rosie on July 9th, and with an extra week to prepare and get amped up, the postponed date for the battle can only help for attendance and advance word!

Next up, here's some new hard rock-relevant videos from young local rock band Ashes To Dust! The newer band of Superior Heights students have posted five more videos onto their YouTube channel, mostly from school performances, and though their sound and cover choices remain widely varied, there are a few heavier clips to mention! Along with an audio-only original named "Forgotten Lives" and an interesting cover of Kool & The Gang's "Celebration" (with many guest performers), the bulk of the new videos are from a set at the same stage from their earlier school concert clips, and they include covers of two Pink Floyd songs, Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust", and (as embedded below), Three Days Grace's "Animal I Have Become", so click the above links to give these new videos a look/listen! Ashes To Dust are definitely extending on their promise from their older videos, and the guys have talent for their ages (Alex Hemy's guitar work is standing out more & more), but Noah Morden needs to work on his higher notes when singing. Clean singing something in a low tone when it's meant to be high is a distraction to me. Still, there's definitely something there, so give their cover of "Animal I Have Become" a look below, see more at the above links, and don't miss Ashes To Dust at the second Sewer Swampstravaganza on July 13th!



Also today, here's some news relating to Sault Michigan hard rockers Powerslug! First, I can basically 100% confirm that they are currently a trio, so it looks like both singer Aaron Fasel and drummer Ivan Schliska left the band last summer around the time of the name change from River Witch. Without a band page to confirm said news, I was finally able to 100% conclude their current lineup (featuring guitarist Chris Gurnoe, bassist Chris Leask, and drummer Bob Helsten) based on this logo on Facebook featuring depictions of the three members as "power slugs". It's a shame that it took this long to verify all of the lineup alterations, but hey, it's better to find out late than never know! With that said, one glaring absence is in the form of media of Powerslug on stage, but the wait is finally over, as I've finally found a video from one of their concerts! A video from a rare out of town gig this past weekend at The Sand Bar in Ludington, Michigan (one hour north of Muskegon) surfaced yesterday thanks to Facebook user Munford Chef, and though it's not a very high quality video, it's at least a video, and that's something! (it's also cool to see them play a show in the Lower Peninsula!)

The video shows Chris Leask singing, and it's of them playing a song I swear I've heard before, but the video quality makes it hard for me to pick out lyrics. I think I'm hearing stuff about locking someone up and throwing away the key, but I may be wrong. The video was filmed off of a cell phone camera, which inexplicably turns in numerous directions when filming, and the audio quality is very scratchy, but any Powerslug video is better than none! I can't embed Facebook videos here, but click here to check it out, and stay tuned for more Powerslug news sooner or later!

Now, here's some assorted news stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band or artist name:

• New local grunge trio Haggith's planned set at The Canadian Nightclub on Sunday was called off so they could ensure the availability of a demo CD for fans. That said, I only learned yesterday that their set was to have been part of a jam night at The Canadian's Upper Deck Lounge, which are apparently running there on Sundays, so it wouldn't have technically been an official "concert". Haggith are now planning to play the jam night on June 17th, with demos in hand, so keep their debut performance in mind on Sunday!
• Former Hammerspace guitarist Justin Smith is looking to either join or form a new Sault Michigan metal band, as revealed in a post on our Facebook page last week. He has all of his own equipment, and I can vouch for his talent, so if you're at all interested in enlisting or jamming with Justin, give him a shout at this location!
  
• Local death metal band Social Suicide apparently played their "first show" on June 7th, according to their Facebook page. Details on it were extremely minimal, so I think it was a school-related performance, or possibly to just friends, but it's good to see them slowly progressing! Videos may be posted from that set, so keep an eye out just in case!

And finally for today, here's some analysis and thoughts on the second Woods of Ypres magazine interview that I posted on here yesterday, which came from the May 2009 issue of Windsor Arts & Music Monthly magazine. This interview was also very informative, especially from David Gold's lengthy reflections on his stint living in South Korea, which seemed to share it's own challenges and benefits compared to Canada. I was also interested by his thoughts on record labels, and his negativity on starting Krankenhaus Records in this day & age and releasing other bands' material, but he did a fine job of it! I don't know if Krankenhaus actually released that Vanquished album though, as I found very conflicting information as to what label it was released through. Also of note for differences: The title of Woods of Ypres' "best of" album later became "Independent Nature: 2002-2007", the Necramyth album only got a physical release when paired up with a limited run of "Woods IV", and the "yet unrevealed black metal project from Eastern Canada" was Thrawsunblat, featuring future Woods of Ypres guitarist Joel Violette. It's definitely an interesting interview, so check it out in the post below this one, and if I ever come across any more print David Gold interviews that aren't online, I'll find a way to get them out for you guys to read!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news this week, including possibly some news on a local concert venue's re-opening! Thanks everyone!