LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Hard Rock Revue), Fort Creek Updates, And Much More!!

Here's another packed news post to check out on this Tuesday evening, and here, we have some recent assorted updates, a look at a unique concert from earlier this month, and big lineup changes from a local hard rock band, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

The day before the Punk Rock Fiesta goes down in October, The Rockstar Bar will signal their return to hosting regular public concerts on Friday, October 2nd when they host the one-off Hard Rock Review! This is a supergroup of veteran local rock musicians led by Dodge This singer/guitarist Jason Taillefer in his first local concert appearance with a plugged-in hard rock band since Phatstick broke up in 2012, so that alone will be a pull for many. Other 1990s local rock veterans will join him here, including guitarist Jeff See, bassist Robert Iacoboni (later seen in Master Steven and the Taiwanese Pink Floyd tribute band In The Flesh), and former Gsis Murphy/Fort Creek drummer Anthony Fabiano, so local rock fans who were around then should be quite interested! As well, they will have a guest singer for six songs, namely Dallas Crockett, a friend of Rob's who sings for the Kelowna-based AC/DC tribute band High Voltage.

Dallas isn't local, but it will be interesting to hear how he does on six AC/DC classics during his planned guest spot in October! Hard Rock Review (isn't "Revue" more accurate in this context?) are advertised to play a 1980s-leaning hard rock set on October 2nd, including acts like The Scorpions, Judas Priest, Journey, The Cult, and even "a couple of one-hit-wonders". Doors open at 8:00 PM for this 19+ concert, and an admission fee or potential ticket sales are not known yet. The first weekend of October is shaping up to be huge for fans of hard rock and punk of the past, and an ideal way to kick off The Rockstar Bar's full relaunch as a proper concert venue, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, we have some big lineup news from local southern hard rock band Fort Creek, who announced two new additions to their ranks via their Facebook page on Sunday! First, they have enlisted Half Past bassist Arthur Lacasse to replace the long-since departed Robin "Bones" Lee. Art is a good fit based on his musical background, though does him joining Fort Creek mean anything negative for Half Past's status? That band has yet to play live this year following drummer Johnny Amendola's departure and move to Soundcheck/Separate Wayz, but we'll let you know if anything is clarified from their camp! Meanwhile, in a surprise, Fort Creek have also brought in former Stillbroke/Borderline Divine alum Sam DeDominicis as their new drummer, replacing Phil Greco. A reason for Phil's departure was not announced, though if you recall Bones and Anthony's quiet departures in 2023, this won't be shocking.

Fort Creek were recording their long-awaited debut album at Phil's own Jettison Studios though, so does this signal anything bad re: the album sessions, or will he still work with the band behind the scenes? Again, we'll let you know! We last heard from Sam when Borderline Divine teased a reunion in 2016 that never got off the ground (the former Stillbroke last played live in 2012), so it's been a while regardless, but it's great to see him in a new local band after all these years, let alone Justin, Shane, and Bill having a full lineup again after almost three years! Stay tuned for more from Fort Creek in live and studio contexts hopefully soon!

Now to the oldest topic in our backlog that we hadn't yet covered in an SMS post, namely fallout from this year's Government Bay Barge Bash in Cedarville, Michigan! As you may recall, three bands play this annual Les Cheneaux Islands summer concert on a floating barge in Government Bay, with swimming and boating to the event and the stage encouraged among the revelry, and for the rain-delayed event on August 2nd, their official Facebook page did get two videos highlighting what went down four Sundays ago. One features quickly cut clips from the Barge Bash, including very brief looks at The Mark Bowen Band's set. Alas, this video is both vertical and 14 seconds long, but it is an effective teaser! The longer of the two captures Cedarville classic rock veterans Shipheads On Shore covering (as best as I can tell) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Running Down A Dream" for 51 seconds.

Shared from attendee William Maloney's personal Facebook page, he panned the camera around in a circle, and you can see that the barge isn't that far from shore, so you can walk around in the water (just don't slip!). The aesthetics alone make this video worth a watch, as you don't often get concerts where boats are parked so close to the stage, let alone the wide forest sightlines, so if you don't mind getting a little wet, this deserves more attention as a summer destination concert. Sadly, no public videos of Project 906's headlining set that I am aware of, but see above for more from this year's Barge Bash, and here's to another big one next year!

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:

 

• Local hard rock cover trio Nate's Chow have added a new gig to their calendar, but it will be on the road this Saturday at the Jerk-N Depot in Alanson, which is 90 minutes south of here (give or take Mackinac Bridge traffic) and 20 minutes northeast of Petoskey. According to the band's AI-generated poster, this is a "last minute add on show" due to a previously scheduled band cancelling. This will now be just the second gig since the former Unfortunate Sun rebranded as Nate's Chow, and while anything in the Lower Peninsula is out of our coverage range, hopefully things go well on Saturday night!
• While we await confirmation of who their new bassist is, Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz shared videos of their "epic crossover" gig in Chapleau with their sister band Soundcheck via this batch post on their Facebook page last week! Unfortunately, both videos are 7 seconds long and do not have audio whatsoever, but from what we can see, it looks like a lot of fun was had by the bands and fans alike at the Gold Rush Nationals, and stay tuned for more from both bands!
• Former Spades GT bandmates J.D. Pearce, Matthew "Fang" Voros, and Sean "Skull" MacNab will reunite for the first time since their abrupt dissolution in December this Thursday at The Queens Nightclub in Barrie, when they play a one-off Misfits tribute set as Fiend Club! This show is an all-tribute band affair featuring six bands, mostly punk and emo ones, plus the amusingly named headliners Rage Against The Poutine. Matthew and Sean have remained active this year in their psychobilly band The House of Haunt, and it is good to see J.D. (a.k.a. Johnny Pints) back on stage again with them, but could this lead to more in some fashion?

 

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Even Flow), A New Local Band, And An Inactive Band Note!!

June is here and so is the summer for all intents and purposes, so let's kick off another month with a packed news post, including a major band moved to our inactive links, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a big outdoor community event later this month, and first, a familiar new group that will be debuting on stage in a few weeks, so here's what you should know!

We have a new band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are Riverside Stasis, the new alternative band that is debuting at the all-local Blaster Powerhouse concert on June 27th! We knew going in that this was the new band from former Handsome Sandwich singer Tea Emlaw and former HeadFirst guitarist Raine Rancourt, but as it turns out, 3/5ths of HeadFirst are back in this project, with guitarist Liam Dinsmore and drummer Anthony Boudreau also involved. Rounding out their lineup is ex-Jack Spades bassist Rob Speers, who played with Tea in the short-lived cover rock band The Barbarians last year. Riverside Stasis' new Facebook page describes them as an "indie/pop rock band", but given this lineup and the show they're debuting at, I'd be hard pressed to not cover them. Their first original song is named "The Fool", which you can sample in this performance video edited by A Dire Setback bassist Matt Quinn.

While the band has more HeadFirst DNA, post-pandemic Handsome Sandwich fans will be drawn to this via Tea's vocals, which remain as distinctive and cutting as they were on "Deconstructed" and "Collage". The song proper only gets to a harder rock sound on the chorus, but we only get the first 99 seconds of what is clearly a longer song. Given members' diverse musical backgrounds, there's a lot of potential sounds that Riverside Stasis could draw from, but it's good to see many familiar faces joining forces in this new band, so get more details above, and check out their first video below!

Next up, new Riverside Stasis bassist Rob Speers will pick up the microphone to join his other active local band (Pearl Jam tribute quintet Even Flow) when they play at this year's first Downtown Street Party on Queen Street East on Thursday, June 25th! Specifically, Rob and crew will be among the performers at the corner of Queen and Brock for one of two outdoor stages for this street party, the first since the City of Sault Ste. Marie took over management of downtown events & development from the former Downtown Association. Queen Street will be closed from Pim to Brock Street (i.e. The Rockstar Bar to the former RBC), with each street party (all on Thursdays) progressively moving their way west each month, though specifics and music lineups for the other three are to be announced. As best as I can tell, Even Flow (in just their third public concert since debuting last fall) are the only hard rock-leaning band playing on either the Brock Street or Pim Street stages on June 25th, but who else can you look for on this Thursday evening? 

I don't know if the You Belong SSM Facebook page has bands listed in performance order, but Even Flow are listed between "Half Scoundies" (frontman Josh Penno and fiddler Todd Webb of local bluegrass/folk band The Golden Scoundrels in a stripped down acoustic set) and veteran classic rock cover trio The Cloud Bandits. Meanwhile, the other stage at Queen & Pim will play host to blues/rockabilly trio The Steeltown Playboys, classic rock mainstays Angry Joe & The Growlers, and former(?) Mustang Heart keyboardist Vito Tassone. The two stages should be far enough apart where music shouldn't bleed over between ends of the block party! Attendees can also expect beverage gardens, deals from Queen Street businesses open during the event, a vendor market, and family activities, including a rope walk course in front of the Sault Ste. Marie Museum. Click here for full details!

Downtown Street Party #1 goes down on Thursday the 25th from 6:30-11:00 PM (if Even Flow are indeed second, I'd expect them to be playing in the 8:00 range), this is absolutely an ALL AGES and licensed event, and there is no cover charge. Despite the contentious end of the Downtown Association last year, it is good to see the City picking up the ball to keep bringing community events to the downtown core like this, and hopefully Even Flow's brand of grunge and alt-rock classics from the Pearl Jam catalogue add to the festivities later this month! See above for more details!

Finally, I have reluctantly opted to move local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT to our inactive band links. While not at our one year inactivity threshold, activity in their camp abruptly stopped on December 18th after what I would characterize as "sudden personal differences" arose on social media. Things got fairly divisive, and it's out of my depth to wade in on this discourse on a music site, so I'll let you find out what exactly happened five months ago if you want. The band has not made any official public statements or online updates since then, but none of their 2025 band members directly list Spades in their Instagram bios now, and they dropped out of all scheduled bookings into 2026, including the annual Walterstock in Toronto in January. Barring a revival, this ends a successful 12 year run for the former Jack Spades, who relaunched in the GTA in late 2021 after frontman J.D. Pearce and guitarist Daniel Horton both moved out of town during the pandemic.

While J.D. hasn't signalled work with a new public band as of yet, Dan is still in The Fast Life and is also now playing in a classic rock cover band named Tonehenge, guitarist Matthew Voros and bassist Sean MacNab are still performing together in the Toronto psychobilly band The House Of Haunt, and drummer Tyler Reiner is working as a session drummer and podcaster. Spades accomplished a lot in their four years down south, including two album releases, some wide tour runs and high profile gigs in the GTA and beyond, and lots of fun video content, plus two return trips for local concerts in 2022 and 2023. Best of luck to all prior (Jack) Spades members in the future, and hopefully we see the band again in some form!

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

Spades GT Videos That We Never Shared Here Before!!

To break things up a tad before following up on yesterday's all-video post, I wanted to discuss dormant local/Barrie crossover thrash group Spades GT today, as I realized that there may be more public media of theirs online that they never promoted on social media, either because it fell through the cracks or because they decided not to share it from the filmer's account. As it turns out, there are some public videos of them live that never found their way to the band's Facebook page before what happened internally in December, so let's work our way through these in descending order by length. First, remember how ZigSeven's Dave Galante occasionally filmed lengthy videos featuring most of the musical performances at multi-band events that Spades GT played at? Well, we missed one that the guys never plugged on social media, as Dave was on hand for a "ZigView" at their all-ages headlining concert at See-Scape in Toronto on June 27th.

The 90 minute video starts with Dave setting up the show ahead and arriving at the venue, complete with his very stylish sunglasses, while he and his partner (wife?) scout a pre-concert meal. He did film all three openers, so you can get a glimpse of the whole night, but if you want to jump straight to Spades' set, that begins at the 56:18 mark. In order, the guys played "Hands", "Cenobites", "Final Girl", and "Sewer City Radio" (which was introduced reflecting its local inspiration), before the show abruptly paused while they dealt with technical difficulties. Guitarist Daniel Horton's amplifier appeared to disconnect or stop working mid-guitar solo, so they dealt with fixing that for a few minutes after the song ended, but J.D. and gang filled time as best they could. I wonder if this was why they never shared the video on Facebook? The set resumed for four more songs: "Red", "United", "They Live", and "Rise".

Note that the "United" album release party was the following week, so the former Jack Spades opted to save that album's songs (save the title track) until that show. Amp replacement aside, this is a quality set from all involved, and J.D. was particularly loose and animated throughout, so kudos to Dave for shooting so much footage, and give this a watch for yourselves below!

Next up, this Facebook video of Tyler Reiner's drum solo when they opened for Anvil (his dad Robb's band, of course) at The Rockpile in Toronto on November 17th, 2023 was uploaded by the Facebook page Reviving The Rock, and while the band did comment on it, we never mentioned it on the SMS at the time, so I don't think they shared it on their own. This 35 seconds-long square video solely focuses on Tyler, and it's a solid drum solo while it lasts, so give it a watch for yourselves below!

Lastly, the most recent of the new-ish Spades GT videos comes from their October 26th concert opening for The Exploited at The Piranha Bar in Montreal, where Caro Thibault filmed them playing "United" for the YouTube channel ChicksRockMedia. If the band was aware of this video, I assume it was never shared because it's a 30 seconds-long sidestage clip with very dark stage lighting late, so even when Dan (in the foreground) is playing his solo, you don't see much after the first 18 seconds. What we hear does sound good, so give this one a watch below, and click here to check out more videos from the other bands at The Piranha Bar that night!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Sky Pilots), A New Local Band, And More Recent Updates!!

I hope everyone is having a good Easter Sunday! Whether you could call a new SMS post an Easter treat is debatable, but I do have a new news post to check out, including new videos and updates from two bands featuring Fitswitch alumni, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the E.U.P. next month, and leading off, a new addition to our Sault Ontario band links, so here's what you should know, whether you'd found your Easter eggs or not!

Fresh off of their live concert debut yesterday at Beck's Bar, we can now add new local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe to our active band links, as they have launched a Facebook page! They were already on Instagram and TikTok, but neither platform is as feature-rich and intentionally designed for usage as a formal band page. There's not much on their Facebook page yet, but a video of them covering 3 Doors Down's "Loser" at Beck's is floating around on personal Facebook accounts. While they have more unexpected band choices in their repertoire, how often to you see 3 Doors Down covers locally? It is a well done cover if you can find it, and R.I.P. Brad Arnold, of course. In terms of new public content, 5.D.B. did post some new "meet the band" images on Instagram where you can learn more about the members' favourite bands (Tyler pulls some real deep cuts!) and other roles.

Their only new video since we first spotlighted Five Dollar Bribe on the SMS is embedded below, where half of the band do a comedy sketch to promote the matinee gig at Beck's and a contest to win an official band t-shirt (had you liked and tagged the post on Instagram or TikTok, you'd have been entered for a chance). Fun for what it is, so give it a watch below, and we'll have more from 5 Dollar Bribe when it goes live!

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Next up, here are those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as Munising, Michigan classic/hard rock cover quintet The Sky Pilots will return to our area for concerts on Friday, May 29th and Saturday, May 30th at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! The only brand new hard rock-leaning shows announced in either regional Kewadin branch's entertainment pages through the next two months, these will be The Sky Pilots' first St. Ignace shows since early November, though I must profusely apologize, as they also returned to The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie for concerts on March 13th and 14th, as per their Facebook page. I've gotta keep better tabs on The Sky Pilots, especially as they played in the E.U.P. five times last year, and they are fronted by former Electric Motor Fish/Swayze Train singer Melissa Strand, so I am sorry for missing last month's gigs, but I hope they were a huge hit!

Of note, last month's shows were actually the Pilots' first concerts of 2026, regardless of locale. Next month's shows do not fall on the Memorial Day long weekend, which is the week prior this year. As usual for Kewadin lounge gigs, these are at 9:00 PM with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on what should be a fun weekend of old school rocking covers from this talented U.P. band!

Also today, here's an update from a band that we haven't talked about on the SMS in months, namely Sault Ontario/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT! There is a reason why updates dried up from their camp, and while I have not seen an official public statement about what happened, what I would characterize as "sudden personal differences" arose in mid-December, and I'll leave it there pending 100% public word from the band about their future or lack thereof. Their last show (to date?) was at C.W. Coop's in Barrie on December 13th where they opened for Pale Horse Ritual, and what happened internally arose before they could post a recap video from that show or their November 14th gig with Anvil in Delhi. However, I did find something brand new that I'm surprised that the former Jack Spades never promoted, as they featured on a live album last year! Fans will know that Spades frequently travelled to Meyersburg in Southern Ontario for the annual Spiderfest, which is the basis of this Bandcamp-exclusive album.

The "name your price" album "Spiderfest 2024 RP001" was released on June 11th, and it features one live cut each (in performance order) from the 2024 festival lineup, with past local headliners Random Killing, The Ripcordz, and The Bunchofuckingoofs among the 23 included bands. This rendition of "Succubus" from 2023's "Sewer City Radio" features the band's summer 2024 lineup, including then-new guitarist Matthew Voros and the soon-to-depart James Roy Daley on bass. Strong (if quick) performance with really nice recording quality across the board, so give this punk compilation a listen above, and we'll let you know if Spades GT clarify their status publically!

We'll close today with new videos from local doom/sludge duo The Spaceship Opening's Facebook page! One of the videos features an off-camera Andrew MacDonald testing his new bass cab, and while the musicality of it is debatable, he is getting deep powerful bass out of it (ask what appears to be a burned out match midway through!) The other video is another live recording from the same concert seen in their first two official public videos (which is apparently "all we have" as of Friday). I did want to clarify as to what event their three performance videos actually came from, as the event took place before I could verify The Spaceship Opening's sound/genre. This was a fundraiser for the Sault Theatre Workshop on November 29th, where they and DJ Seith opened for comedy rock band The Floor Between Us, who also headlined a show there the previous day with a different opener lineup.

No word on who November 28th openers A.D.H.D. are, but that name alone will make it hard to look them up! Kudos to all involved for supporting the Sault Theatre Workshop and their programming, and you can see videos of The Floor Between Us that weekend on their new Facebook page! As for The Spaceship Opening, this video actually features Andrew on vocals, so they're not an instrumental-only band. It is a little faster and punkier than their prior two songs, but it's hard to get a sense for Andrew's vocal capabilities, as he sings in a relative monotone that, while well suited to alt-rock, may not show his full range. Not a bad drum-and-bass number, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Andrew & Ralph!

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

Spades GT Updates From The Past Month!!

Let's dive into another single-band post on this snowy Tuesday afternoon, courtesy of local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's activity from last month, so what's new to report from the G.T.A.? We'll actually flash back to October to start for some all-too-rare concert videos of theirs that are A. raw live footage, B. the full songs, and C. horizontally shot! These were filmed at their set opening for The Exploited at The Rockpile in Toronto on October 19th, and are courtesy of attendee Jake Disman, who has filmed them at multiple gigs over the years, most recently at the Steve Edwin McLeod tribute concert at the same venue in March. Only uploaded to his YouTube channel last month, these were curiously uploaded intermixed with other concert videos from different events over the course of a week. Jake uploaded eight songs from this night in four 2 song chunks (all but their closer "Hands"), so what can you see here?

The videos include their usual set openers "They Live" and "Rise", plus "Sewer City Radio" and "Demons", "Cenobites" and "Wrecked" (featuring The Fast Life's Andrew Moorehouse on guest vocals), and as embedded below, their third and fourth songs "Red" and "United". Jake had a good high vantage point to capture the full band in action, if with occasionally too-deep stage lighting, and it looks like everyone had a blast with the ripping originals during Spades' set! We'll have more from this show in an upcoming post, but give Jake's really solid videos from October a watch above and below!

When we last left off with J.D., Daniel, Matthew, Sean, and Tyler, they were gearing up for their return to The Bovine Sex Club (that is still its real name!) in Toronto on November 7th, where they and guitarist Daniel Horton's other punk band The Fast Life opened for their their buddies in G.F.U.. The three bands had joined forces for a Barrie gig in October, among multiple other bookings, but this was reportedly Spades' last Toronto show of the year. The recap video (vertical as ever) went live on their Facebook page four days later, and it is externally embeddable without an audio content match! The first minute of the 4+ minute video sees drummer Tyler Reiner plugging the concert, their next gig in Delhi, and their eventful past year in general.The first half is all outside of the venue mingling, where we get a good look at Fang's dapper kilt, and it's encouraging to see that Sean hasn't been kicked out of Spades GT yet!

Once we move inside The Bovine, clips are shown from most bands (no Loaded Dice though), with Spades pictured playing "Wrecked" at the 2:55 mark, albeit for less than 10 seconds total and from a distant spot with fans' blocking much of the view. After seeing a G.F.U. clip, we hear more of their frontman Jeremy "Jayboe" Cibirka's platform for his Toronto mayoral campaign, before performers from that night gather at video's end, with Daniel saying that they "crushed it". I'll take his word on that, but check out the entertaining recap video for yourselves below!

One week after that gig, the former Jack Spades made their first ever trip to Delhi (pronounced "dell-high"), which is outside of Simcoe and a half hour southwest of Brantford. The November 14th concert at Capitol 33 saw them open for Toronto metal legends Anvil (featuring Tyler's dad Robb Reiner on drums), in the first time that Spades have opened for Anvil since February of last year. While the band was highly complimentary of the concert and venue on Facebook afterwards, and promised to return to Delhi next year, they did not post a recap video from this concert, at least not yet. A couple days later, Spades GT announced their second 2026 show, which will see them head to Guelph for a concert at Jimmy Jazz on January 16th alongside Stand Against Fear and Prior Convictions. If those names are familiar, it's because ex-Spades GT bassist James Roy Daley is an alumnus of those bands too, so how's that for degrees of separation between them?

Promotion says that this is Spades GT's Guelph debut, which didn't seem right, but in researching, they had a Guelph cancellation in July when Brazil's Kaos Attack dropped out of an Ontario tour run, and they had been promoting a planned set at Jimmy Jazz in March 2023 alongside Stand Against Fear (here's proof), but they quietly dropped out and were replaced by Knifehammer in the preceding weeks. Good to see the guys trying a Guelph concert again, and hopefully this one sticks! They hope to play more cities and markets for the first time in 2026, so keep that in mind, especially if you're in Southern Ontario. On November 18th, Spades announced their final show of 2025, a headlining date in their Barrie homebase on December 13th (yes, this Saturday) at C.W. Coop's on a doom metal-laden bill that will also feature Hamilton notables Pale Horse Ritual. The band also claims that this will be their "last one (in Barrie) for a while".

How long is "a while"? That's to be determined, but this isn't the first time they've hyped a year-ending Barrie show thusly, and they're teasing a big year ahead with "lots of new things coming your way", so we'll have to see what's next from the guys after Saturday's Barrie concert! We'll let you know when more comes out re: that show, the potential Delhi recap video, and their 2026 plans in due course, so raise 'em up, cause a scene, and visit the above links for more from Spades GT! Thanks everyone!

Spades GT Updates & Concert Recap Videos From Last Month!!

Let's tackle some more fall happenings from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT on the site today, so what's new to report since we last left off with their timeline in early October? Their next concert took place on Sunday, October 19th when they opened for British hardcore punk legends The Exploited, as they did previously in September 2024, though this time, they invaded The Rockpile rather than Lee's Palace. Very cool to see them tabbed to open for The Exploited once again, and J.D. & Dan's old local bandmate Blair Burch (Broken, Project 421, et al.) was in attendance for this concert, snapping some great quality photos that you can check out at this link! Attendee Miles George got a pile of quality photos himself that you can check out here, but his are all in black & white. Note that The Fast Life's Andrew Moorehouse is seen in some photos here, implying that he guested on "XS" and/or "Wrecked". The band's requisite vertical recap video went live on their Facebook page three days later, so what can you see in this one?

Primarily filmed by guitarist Daniel Horton once again, this features the band leaving for and arriving at the concert, the rainy tailgate party, the guys giving a fan autographs on a unique body part, bassist Sean MacNab's late arrival after an appointment, cameos by Blair and his son Cory, as well as former Spades guitarist Jay Sarrazin, and soundcheck and setup for their set. We do see the guys playing the start of "Red" at the 3:45 mark, but alas, only for about 30 seconds. Things end with post-set mingling outside and at their merch table, with some very brief footage of The Exploited's set. Dan said that they "crushed it", and from what little we see, I can't argue, so give this entertaining recap video a watch below!

A busy weekend for the former Jack Spades lie ahead, starting on Saturday, October 25th, when they were slated to play a rare matinee set at Headbang For Paws, a benefit concert for the Comfie Cat Shelter in Orillia, but the shelter revealed on their Facebook page on the 15th that it was cancelled "due to circumstances beyond our control". Very disappointing, especially given the cause behind it, but hopefully we see Spades in Orillia in due course! The band never confirmed the cancellation on Facebook themselves, but they did have a busy month, and now they didn't have to cram two shows into one day. The guys still rocked out that night, as they and their friends in G.F.U. joined Daniel's other band (Barrie punk quartet The Fast Life) at C.W. Coop's in their current homebase, which also served as a belated birthday bash for drummer Tyler Reiner. The recap video was uploaded 10 days later, so what's on offer here?

It features the continuation of G.F.U.'s singer's mayoral campaign, Sean's comically short leash in terms of his standing with the band (good thing he made it for this show!), previews of their new t-shirts and toques on sale, and Daniel setting up for his set with The Fast Life (it seems like Tyler filled in with them here) and later changing a broken guitar string. Two very brief clips of Spades' set can be seen at 3:21 (one shot from outside the venue behind a window, even), but quality and vertical framing aside, these only run for about 12 seconds. Dan called this "a good warm-up gig" for what was to come the next day, and you can see for yourselves at this link! Unfortunately, Facebook content matched the backing music added in post-production here ("Filthy Lie" from the new album "United"), so unlike the Rockpile recap video, I can't embed this one on the SMS. After rocking Barrie, the guys packed their gear for the 6 hour drive to Montreal!

Specifically, the guys rocked The Piranha Bar on Sunday the 26th, where they opened for The Exploited once again in their Quebec debut. Possibly because it was a bigger/more unique concert, the recap video for this one went up a day earlier than the Barrie one, though regardless, this too was hit with a Facebook content match (this time for using "Cenobites" from 2023's "Sewer City Radio" as backing music), so it is also unembeddable on external sites like this. The first 1:45 of the video focuses on the trip to the venue, including a stop at a Long & McQuade for strings. When the guys arrived in Montreal, we get some footage of the buildings near the venue, Tyler giving thanks and hype for the opportunity, and some setup clips inside The Piranha Bar, with another all-too-brief raw clip of Spades GT playing across multiple cameras at 2:45, running for just 20 seconds. Afterwards, we see the guys packing up for the drive back to Ontario.

Tyler thanked everyone again and promises to return to Montreal in 2026, and Daniel said that they "kicked ass". I can't disagree from what little we got of their set, but it looks like a great experience, so check everything out at this link or above! We are now caught up on Spades GT's October concerts and official content from last month, and when we next cover them, it'll start with their Toronto gig on November 7th. Stay tuned for that and more on the site soon! Thanks everyone, raise 'em up, and cause a scene!

Spades GT - "United" CD Review!!

It's now time for our 197th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and as our new album release backlog continues being cleared out, we're taking a look at local/Barrie crossover thrash band Spades GT's new album "United"! Independently released via the Sewer City Records imprint on July 5th, "United" is the follow-up to their first GT-era album (2023's "Sewer City Radio"), and is their fourth album total when counting their two releases as Jack Spades before they relocated from the Soo in 2021. Like on the prior album, the guys recorded this one in February at Room 21 in Toronto with producer Kyle Marchant. "United" features Spades founder & lead singer J.D. "Johnny Pints" Pearce, guitarist Daniel Horton, and drummer Tyler "Jeeb" Reiner once again, and they are now joined by rhythm guitarist Matthew "Fang" Voros, who sings on a track here as well.

"United" was recorded in between bassist changes, as James Roy Daley left the band last summer, and Sean MacNab didn't join Spades until shortly after the sessions wrapped up (though he is pictured and thanked in the liner notes). Daniel was shown tracking bass in teaser videos from the sessions, but I have not seen a public reference as to if he played bass on all eight songs. Former Spades guitarist Jay Sarrazin and Daniel's Fast Life bandmate Andrew Moorehouse return as guest performers for a track each on "United", while rapper Julien "Mersinary" Dos Santos also guests on a song here. Physical copies of the album are on sale at concerts (alas, Spades haven't played a local date since June 2023), while "United" can be streamed on YouTube Music, Apple Music (it costs $7.92 on iTunes), Amazon Music, and Spotify. Song names below are linked to their YouTube copies. With eight songs running for about 27 minutes, let's begin this review!

The album opens with its shortest song "Anthem", which is a hard driving rocker with a really catchy lead guitar line, plus a solid guitar solo that lets Dan show off well! I was going to compliment the backing vocals, but the shouted chorus (which opens the song right off before the opening verse too) got really overdone after a little while. To me, it seems forced and monotone, and eats up too much time for a song that doesn't even crack 3 minutes. If you're going to commit to the "bashers, misfits, et al." thing, I'd have had J.D. actually sing it. Solid opener that Spades fans will enjoy musically, but I'd have rethought the choruses. Next up is the CD's title track (and the longest song on offer) "United", which was the lead advance single for the album as well. This song leans more into J.D.'s past punk music work with a more melodic rhythm and vocal style that calls to mind his Graves-era Misfits fandom, which will be nice to see for fans of his 100% local output!

Unlike on "Anthem", the backing vocals aren't overdone on repeated shouting choruses, and while your mileage may vary on that, this one seems like a much better candidate to sing along with at concerts (just need to get a new local one already). Strong drumming from Tyler and another good (if shorter) solo helps make this an early highlight, especially if you were following Fitswitch and Frightlight prior! Third is "Demons", which has another punk influence to it but it a touch slower and darker, with J.D. singing in a slightly lower register without backing vocals. There's an intensity here from the lyrical content that would actually call for a heavier or thrashier sound, but the contrast isn't badly done, and there's a strong groove to the guitar and bass here, and Tyler beats the hell out of the kit even when the song is more measured around him. Not uniformly intense and dark but I do like it!

The first half of the album is capped off with "Filthy Lie", which uniquely has J.D. sharing vocal duties with a bandmate, as Matthew (who fronts the psychobilly band The House Of Haunt) sings the choruses and bridge here with J.D. handling verses. The bouncy and upbeat riff is well placed here, and Matt more than holds his own vocally on the choruses with a distinct but natural range, so if there was ever an emergency where J.D. couldn't sing live, he could easily fill in! Of the songs so far, this changes tempo and pace the most in its runtime, so there's a little for many tastes. Not the best overall song here, but a fun shake-up of formula! Song #5 is the last one without guests, namely "Game For Two", which isn't as in your face vocally but it has a really strong instrumental structure, and I wish the vocals were more upbeat and intense to match. Dan & Matt deliver some of their best co-op riffs here, and we get another quality solo too, so guitar fans won't be thrown off at all!

As a pure song, this is an album highlight with some of the heaviest music yet from Spades GT on this album, but the vocals are too low and reserved by comparison. The three songs with guest performers are backloaded on "United", with Fast Life frontman Andrew Moorehouse (who sang guest vocals on "XS" from the last album) doing so again here on the sixth song, "Wrecked".  This song has one of the best intros on the album for its galloping and freewheeling instrumental performance, which is cool to see! Andrew's role on this song is bigger than on "XS", as he and J.D. trade lines during verses and share vocals on the choruses. A fast moving song with a punk influence, this is a fun one with some bouncy lead guitar, and while I'm not sure that the vocals gel as well on the chorus, it's a welcome diversion for fans who like Spades' punkier side, and Andrew acquits himself well!

The penultimate track on offer is "Strong", which features Reel Wolf Productions rapper Mersinary on guest vocals, and who has done this song live with Spades at least once. This song has a full and intense riff and full-band performance that doesn't let up, including really good bass work, and J.D. sings in a more melodic full voice on the verses, so that lines up well with the music! Mersinary crops up at 2:24 to drop bars in the bridge, and while a solid rapper whose delivery wasn't out of line with the music, he's only there for about 20 seconds and he didn't feel integral to the existing structure. He certainly didn't hurt it though, and "Strong" one of the better full songs here! "United" ends with "Die On Our Feet", featuring the return of 2022-2023 rhythm guitarist (and Tyler's old Caym bandmate) Jay Sarrazin, who played on two songs on "Sewer City Radio" (namely "Final Girl" & "Red").

Fans of guitar solos will be rewarded early as well as before the last chorus, and while this song doesn't reinvent the wheel from what works from the Spades camp, it has a hard driving riff, strong melodic vocals from J.D., and a better use of backing gang vocals on the choruses. Anyone else get a "Hallowed Be Thy Name" vibe from the guitar line in the bridge? What really hurts "Die On Our Feet" is a fifteen seconds-long fade-out during the second guitar solo, and is that really how they wanted to end the album? The solo was really cooking, why not actually write a proper ending to a quality song?

So, how do I grade "United" overall? There are things that I would address, but it's a fun sophomore effort for the Spades GT era of the band! It feels like the guys were experimenting a little more musically, with songs leaning into punk moreso, having J.D. experiment more in terms of his vocal range, and having three songs were someone else hops on vocals too. No matter what, they were in strong form as a full band, and the fuller sound from having two guitarists on every track shouldn't be overlooked either! Their fast and freewheeling brand of crossover thrash will still appeal to Jack Spades-era fans while benefitting from the production and networking upgrades since they moved south, with everyone performing to their musical strengths, including steadily great drumming from Tyler! The title track was probably my favourite song front-to-back on the album, and nothing here was bad, but I did notice a lot of little things I'd have changed.

Specifically, the overdone shouted choruses on "Anthem", an uneven contrast of vocals and instrumentation on some songs, Mersinary's verse on "Wrecked" feeling dropped in, and the way-too-long fade-out ending of "Die On Our Feet" could all have been adjusted to tighten up this album. Regardless, this is a fun and hard hitting collection of new songs that any era of Spades fan will take to, so buy or stream "United" at the above links, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! We'll end 2025 by looking at defunct local grunge band No Arrow's belated CD "Souls For Sale", so watch for that next month! Thanks everyone, raise 'em up, and cause a scene!

Spades GT Updates From September-October 2025!!

With a quiet weekend for hard rock/punk concerts in the twin Saults and area, let's shift tonight's gaze to the subject of this month's album review on the SMS, namely local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT, so what have they been up to in the past month+? On September 24th, they announced on their Facebook page that they will be back for the fourth annual Walterstock fundraiser concert at The Rockpile in Toronto on January 3rd, an event that they have not missed yet. To my knowledge, only one other band (out of 23!) on the bill of next year's Walter Froebrich memorial concert has played in Sault Ste. Marie, namely Barrie blackened death metal trio Out Of Spite, who opened for Selias (then featuring Spades drummer Tyler Reiner) at Soo Blaster in September of last year, though Spades have shared the stage with multiple other bands there. Always good to see Walterstock back, so keep it in mind if you'll be in the G.T.A. at the start of the new year!

After announcing their Orillia concert debut at the Headbang For Paws matinee concert on October 25th (a benefit for a local cat shelter there), drummer Tyler "T" Reiner starred in this new Facebook video on September 28th where he plugged their Quebec debut, when they opened for The Exploited at The Piranha Bar in Montreal on October 26th. That must have been a huge opportunity, and we'll definitely talk about it when we get there in Spades GT's timeline! Even if the show hadn't already happened, I can't embed this video here because Facebook content matched the backing song ("Wrecked" from the new album), but Tyler also plugs then-upcoming concerts of theirs in Southern Ontario, including the rest of their upcoming dates for 2025, Walterstock, and teased new merchandise and 2026 dates ahead. Good stuff that isn't entirely outdated at this point, so give it a look above! Now, let's talk about their actual concerts last month!

The former Jack Spades played six shows in October 2025, with the first coming on October 3rd when they and their friends in G.F.U. opened for Misfits tribute band The Shitfits at Camp Cataract in Niagara Falls. The Shitfits are Danzig-centric morseo than Graves, but I'm sure frontman J.D. Pearce approved regardless! This was a show put on by Sofa City Sounds, whose owner Amanda Schilz has interviewed the entire band (sans Fang) across three different remote video interviews that are linked here. As such, this was Spades GT's Niagara debut, and their usual vertical recap video from this concert was posted to Facebook five days later. Again mostly filmed by guitarist Daniel Horton, we get mingling outside and inside of the venue (did you know that G.F.U.'s frontman is running for mayor?!) before checking out raw video clips of that night's three opening bands, with Spades getting the spotlight at 2:49 for a snippet of them playing "Rise".

Alas, it's just for 24 seconds and remains a vertical video. Better this than nothing, but I'd love to see more full song uploads, let alone in landscape! We do not get footage of The Shitfits for unannounced reasons, but we do see the guys testing out a "Love Meter" before giving final thoughts on the show as a whole, plugging their gig in Windsor the following night, and checking out some of the Niagara Falls waterfront attractions, including some nighttime mini-golf and the falls proper. Fun recap that takes advantage of their first time in Niagara, so give it a watch below! 

On October 4th, the guys returned to Windsor for a show at The Cherry Rock Lounge that also featured the aforementioned G.F.U. and Windsor hardcore punk band Avoid The Comment Section, featuring veteran local metal/punk guitarist Ash Richtig. Really cool to see two bands with Soo expats converge on a bill like this, even from 5+ hours away! I wish Ash would bring one of his bands home for a concert here. Despite teasing the recap video being posted the following week, it wasn't uploaded until Wednesday (as in, November 5th), well after recap videos from later concerts were posted. Why the delay, I have no idea, especially as it's much shorter than the Niagara one, but better late than never! This one starts with the guys driving to Windsor and getting A&W (does Dan prefer the chicken there?) before arriving at the venue, where bassist Sean MacNab faced off against guitarist Matthew Voros at a Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition cabinet.

I'll let you find out who won, but happy belated birthday to Sean, who celebrated at the Niagara show! We only get raw footage of Spades here (3:05 in), and while well shot, it's again vertical and only for 23 seconds this time. Matthew takes the lead when summing things up and giving shoutouts and plugs, with an Easter egg at the end with Daniel expressing his big wish for somewhere not to stop on the way back. Effective for what we get, and good to see this finally posted after over a month, so check it out at this link! I can't embed it here due to Facebook content matching the backing music added in post ("Strong" from the new album). We'll pick things up with Spades opening for The Exploited in Toronto next! Thanks everyone!