Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Side FX & Steel Sour

After a weekend concert preview-induced delay, here are this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Once again, we're spotlighting local metal, hard rock, and/or punk bands from our inactive band links, in order to feature them and their run anew for current readers, and this month's first randomly selected band had no surviving public media, so a second group was chosen to round things out. Here's what you should know on these two short-lived 2010s hard rock groups, both with familiar faces!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Side FX

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/Edmonton, Alberta

Genre: Hard Rock/Alternative/Metal

Lineup:

Rob Speers (The Wyld Stallyns), vocals
Alex Walls (Cody Parks & The Dirty South), guitar
Mike Bird (Papa Fogals Chair, Sulfur), bass)
Derek Turner (Garden of Bedlam, Papa Fogals Chair), drums

Audio/Video: The Side FX never posted any public media to sample their sound with, but they cited Led Zeppelin, Sublime, Volbeat, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers among their covers on their Facebook page. They likely shared a similar sound to frontman Rob Speers' 2014-2020 funk/hard rock quartet The Elements, whose February 2014 debut came a few months before The Side FX's last known concert set took place.

Info/Analysis: Not to be confused with the 2019-2020 classic rock band SideFX nor the early 2000s metal band SIGHdEFECT, The Side FX launched in July 2013, debuting when they opened for Australian ska punk band The Resignators at the former Roosevelt Hotel on July 23rd. However, guitarist Alex Walls moved out of town to work as a studio musician the following month, and a search for a new guitarist did not have any public followthrough. Alex would return to The Side FX when they opened at bassist Mike Bird's stag & doe in May 2014, but they did not play live or post online again after that. With this talented lineup, it's a too bad that they didn't last longer, but do follow Rob & Derek's later local music work!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steel Sour

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock/Blues/Country

Lineup: (The presented lineup reflects who performed in Steel Sour's only full performance video, but the seven performers may have included guest musicians, as most local rock cover bands are smaller than this. Robert, Rick, Steve, and James were all separately pictured or referenced by name in social media postings outside of said video)

Robert Nevitt (Re:Born), vocals
Nicole (Ambeault) Bentley (Bourbon Blue), vocals
Rick Atkins (Big Mistake), guitar
Randy Russell (Bourbon Blue), guitar
Fred Dunn (Eclipse), guitar
Steve Bentley, bass
James White (Redundant), drums

Info/Analysis: Presumably taking name inspiration from Stone Sour, this new local cover hard rock band debuted in November 2018, with their first sound sample coming via this 19 minute live-stream of covers by Robert and Rick in January 2019. That May, they posted their cover of The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" on YouTube featuring all seven performers (love Steve's wig!), but the band quietly fell inactive afterwards, with later bands like Big Mistake, Lockdown, and current pop rock cover band Bourbon Blue all featuring multiple Steel Sour members. We don't have a ton to go on, but Steel Sour had good energy, a distinct sound despite the seven people, and solid vocals, and it's a shame they didn't do more!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! We return to single band profiles next, but still in the 2010s, by way of defunct local hard rock group Acention, who you may remember from their social media presence in the early 2010s. Stay tuned for that on or around May 10th, and for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: quasarwaves, These Magnificent Tentacles - Topic, and steelsour7319's Channels

Here's this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, continuing our monthly feature spotlights of YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts! As the first channel that we randomly selected only had one video, and the second only had four songs (one a re-recording) primarily from one EP, we're tripling up this month, but there's an interesting array of performances to take in, so here's what you should know! 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lee T Maines (http://youtube.com/quasarwaves)  

Owner: Former Gates of Winter frontman and Woods of Ypres guitarist Lee Maines

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 8th, 2010; Only surviving video posted on December 2nd, 2011

Channel Summary: As fans should remember, local progressive death metal band Gates of Winter slowly worked on a third album named "Perihelion" from their 2010 return from hiatus as a studio project through their last public activity in 2016, with most teaser clips from the sessions being taken down as the guys worked on perfecting the material. Alas, the album never came out, but one of the few surviving clips is Lee's only remaining video on his YouTube channel, where he played 51 seconds of the riff from a song tentatively named "Wormhole Mechanics" to test track mirroring. It's a shame that "Perihelion" was never finished, as Gates of Winter's pure technicality was excellent on their 2010s sample media, and Lee's in fine form here, but hopefully we'll hear completed songs in some form down the line!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These Magnificent Tenatcles - Topic (http://youtube.com/channel/UCJIHHa1lrPJwMyCeErf9k8g)

Owner: An original member of local alternative/punk band These Magnificent Tentacles, identity unclear, though the uploaded music was from their run as a duo

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 23rd, 2022; All videos uploaded that same day

Channel Summary: This is an auto-generated YouTube channel made to host songs submitted by Brent & Steve to YouTube Music, thusly featuring their debut EP "Surfacing..." from the previous month and the original (but very similar) studio version of its opening song "The Abyss", which is actually the most viewed upload there. These Magnificent Tentacles have since expanded to a full five-piece band, but have been publically dormant for four months now, so it remains to be seen how fast they could put out new material for streaming services. Still, these are entertaining and varied songs that point to a promising future, and hopefully that will be realized in 2023!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steel Sour (http://youtube.com/steelsour7319)  

Owner: A member of 2018-2019 local hard rock band Steel Sour, identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on May 9th, 2019; Only video uploaded that same day

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for this short lived group, their jam session video cover of The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" was their final public act before dissolving later that year. Steel Sour featured a massive seven piece lineup (at least for this jam), including Robert Nevitt on vocals, backing vocalist Nicole Ambeault, guitarists Rick Atkins, Randy Russell, and Fred Dunn, bassist Steve Bentley (with impressive wig), and drummer James White, notably featuring multiple members of Re:Born, Lockdown, Big Mistake, and Dealing Without. Despite the manpower in this basement, the cover is lively, energetic, and doesn't feel rushed, and it's a shame that Steel Sour didn't keep going!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! To end 2022 in this series, we're doing multiple channels again, as the first randomly selected channel only has one video, and the second only has a handful of similar uploads. As such, we'll be looking at the channels of YouTube users AtYourC3rvix (featuring a live Uncanny Valley video) and mikemccleary3123 (featuring five original songs of his, some with accompanying videos or lyric tracks). Look for them on or around Boxing Day, nd stay tuned for more news & notes (and this month's CD review) in the coming days! Thanks everyone! 

Two Belated Additions To Our Sault Ontario Band Links!!

After our last post so heavily looked at bands inactive for over a year, let's go the opposite way with two bands being added to our band links, if not new ones! Yes, we will be covering the finals of The Soo's Got Talent here also, check back when videos are posted. Now, here's what you know on these band link additions!

First for our new (and belated) additions to our Sault Ontario band links today is local southern hard rock duo The Bearded Lounge! Publically launched in early 2017, they are the unplugged side project to Bone Yard, with frontman Greg Simpson and guitarist Alex D'Ettore picking up acoustic guitars for separate gigs, and the occasional event where both bands take the stage. Like with Bone Yard, I initially didn't roll The Bearded Lounge into our full coverage because of their original country-centric stylings, but both bands have evolved more to a southern-leaning hard rock cover set, so with us doing the same for Bone Yard earlier this year, let's complete the pair! Playing their first announced concert set in March 2017 at The Machine Shop (frequently so as part of the Group Health Centre's "Catch the Ace" promotion), The Bearded Lounge would become a common sight at many local concerts, if less often than Bone Yard.

Fans may recognize The Bearded Lounge from appearances at community events like the Rides for Autism and ARCH, Toystock, Downtown Street Parties, Cruisin' the Dub car shows, and the Twin City Tattoo Convention. For standard concerts, Greg & Alex have played primarily at Reggie's West, but have been seen at numerous other venues, often non-traditional or more intimate ones that lean more to acoustic acts. After the same pandemic hiatus as almost everyone else, The Bearded Lounge returned to the stage at the downtown Reggie's for gigs in July 2021, and have been seen since at the recently dormant Rockstar Bar, Mane St. Cafe, Water Tower Pub, and most recently, Gateway Casino this month. As of this writing, The Bearded Lounge do not have further gigs listed, we'll keep you posted when any new ones are announced by the band or venues.

A number of videos from Bearded Lounge gigs are online to check out, with former SaultOnline correspondent Mike Caruso filming them often for his old YouTube channel in their early run, and their Facebook page has eight live videos including multiple live takes of The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up" (of course) and Charlie Daniels' "Long Haired Country Boy" (with Alex on vocals), but embedded below is one of Mike's higher quality videos from the Reggievelt in 2019, where the guys covered Kris Kristofferson's "Me & Bobby McGee" and their slowed down version of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite". If you like Bone Yard and aren't against acoustic music, you'll absolutely like The Bearded Lounge, and Greg & Alex adapt well to a stripped down format. The modern day Bone Yard set is very similar to what The Bearded Lounge's, with the obvious changes, so give them a look for yourselves above & below!

Today's other belated local band addition is inactive local hard rock band Steel Sour! Quietly active from November 2018-May 2019 and presumably getting their name in part from Stone Sour, this band featured ex-Re:Born singer Robert Nevitt, his future Big Mistake bandmate Rick Atkins on guitar, future Lockdown bandmates Nicole (Ambeault) Bentley on backing vocals & Randy Russell on guitar, Eclipse/Re:Born bassist Fred Dunn also on guitar, Steve Bentley on bass, and ex-Redundant bassist James White on drums. Also, Rick & James later were bandmates in Dealing Without. Seven members in one hard rock band does seem a little like overkill, but who knows if this was just for this jam or if everyone would have been a part of the live gigs that never happened. Robert and Rick did sample their sound in this 19 minute acoustic live-stream from January 2019.

There, they covered the aforementioned "Me & Bobby McGee" (what are the odds?), Pop Evil's "100 In A 55", and The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil". Not bad renditions with strong vocals, so don't bypass that video! For something involving the full plugged-in band, all we got was this cover of The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", which was uploaded to their YouTube channel as their last real public act. The band did lampshade this as a quickly recorded basement jam session recording, but it's solidly performed with good energy, and it doesn't feel overcrowded (Steve's amusing rocker wig notwithstanding). Shame that Steel Sour didn't last into the 2020s, but give them a look above & below!

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