LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Quit It!), Upcoming Album Teasers, And New Videos!!

 Here's a new news post for this Sunday morning, which includes some varied new videos, upcoming album details on both sides of the border, and leading off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT that completely slipped me by until now, so here's what you should know!

Calgary "socio-political anthemic punk" band Quit It! will make their local concert debut TONIGHT at The Speak Easy at Algoma University! I profusely apologize for the short notice, I only heard about this show this morning via this SooToday article which went live on October 9th, though the Facebook event page went live late last month. I'm assuming this fell through the cracks because the SooToday article was "sponsored content", let alone that TONIGHT's show appears to have no local openers (the poster saying "bands" acknowledged), but remember that The Speak Easy only infrequently hosts SMS-amenable bands, with this being the first such punk/hard rock event since Mean Bikini played there in 2023. Touring in support of their new album "Through The Debris", Quit It! have an explosive and politically charged sound that left-leaning punk fans will appreciate, and their DIY approach and clear talents and energy will definitely lend themselves well to drawing a good response from fans at Algoma University TONIGHT!

If there is an opening band, they are uncredited in public press. A 7:00 PM start time is in effect for TONIGHT'S concert, which has admission at the door of $15 for general audiences and $10 for Algoma students with valid student ID. As best as I can tell, this is an all ages event. Being on a work/school night for most may not be ideal, but Quit It! are worth checking out for sure, and if this goes well, it might not be two years before The Speak Easy brings another touring punk band here! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Quit It! live last month!

Next up, here's the latest from local metal trio The BAG, who had been radio silent for the past three months, so what have they been up to? Well, on Thursday, they revealed on their new Facebook page that they have finished mixing and mastering their debut album! To my recollection, they hadn't even announced that they were entering the studio (despite having multiple originals in their live sets), so this is a welcome surprise! I was worried that Spencer joining the Sault Side Squad was a bad omen for The BAG's future, but no cause for alarm there! The album will be named "Sacculus", which is a sensory cell in the inner ear and some some insects' antenna, and the painted cover artwork by Elly Grawbarger depicts a battle between a cthulhu and a lava monster (possibly a cherufe?) near a volcano, with the band rocking out at the foot of it. Further details on the track listing, release formats, and more lie ahead, but check out more updates from The BAG above!

Also, let's start playing catch up on what new Sault Michigan hard rock trio Crush have been up to beyond what we have covered of theirs on the site already! Since launching, this band has picked up both the original music responsibilities and the jokey/parody social media promotion angle that Alex, Josh, and Isaac's other/old band Tarnished have largely shelved since they shifted to a covers-only focus last summer, and that is very clear if you follow Crush's Facebook page. On August 6th, they shared this video of the guys going to Dunham's Sports at the Cascade Crossings strip mall, where guitarist Josh Fair bought his first gun, followed by the guys taking it to a field to do some practice shooting. The visual content here isn't really SMS-relevant beyond who's starring, but there is humour to be had! And remember, this is Michigan, everything with the rifle was done legally and safely. However, the music will be of note regardless!

Added in post are demos of Crush's original songs "No Way", "Intoxicated", and "Too Close", and the end-of-video caption notes that they have an "album coming soon". I had my suspicions watching this video that they were in studio in some form, so it's nice to get some public clarification, and it will be interesting to hear how things are coming along! Give Crush's day of gun fun (and the new demos, albeit as background music) a look below!

Finally, here's a new video from Sault Ontario classic rock cover duo Frankly Speaking's concert at Beck's Bar on Wednesday! This special mid-week show was one of their "Rock On To The Sound Of Change" events that generally isn't billed to the Frankly Speaking name (rather "Frank & Frank" or "Frankeeproductions"), and in this format, they pay homage to rock classics in a historical context and how those songs/bands inspired social change. Generally, the Franks don't lean heavier as far as the SMS goes but they certainly have hard rock covers in their back pocket that we have featured here in prior posts. This video was shared to 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook page from singer/guitarist Frank Gioia's personal Facebook page, and it features him and keyboardist Frank Greco covering the opening ballad verses of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", with a silent video of Queen playing behind them.

What we get here looks and sounds good, even with the hyper-narrow widescreen orientation, and it is interesting seeing a themed special concert set like this from a local band that gets treated as a bigger deal! Some readers may recall "Rock On To The Sound Of Change" being performed at Rotaryfest Stage 1 last year, albeit without a video screen. Give Frankly Speaking's partial Queen cover a watch below!

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

Rotaryfest 2024 Fallout & Videos (Part 2!!)

A few days after our first Rotaryfest recap post, here's our second post featuring videos and news coverage from the Sault's Summer Festival! For the known public videos and articles about Stage 1 on Thursday and Mike Haggith's Friday set, click here for our initial post. The Sault Star was present for Friday bands on both Stages 1 and 2 at Clergue Park, and while the photographer wasn't credited, you can see shots from The Luxury and The Rhythm Sections's Stage 1 sets, plus That There Blues Band's set on Stage 2 at this link. The next known public videos from the Friday bands on Stage 1 come from the Rotaryfest debut of local classic rock duo Frankly Speaking, but this wasn't just a normal set of theirs. Festival promotion never even addressed them under the Frankly Speaking name, rather as "Frank & Frank" or "Frankeeproductions", presumably because this was their special themed set known as "Rock On To The Sound Of Change".

In this performance (which is also done for other community events), singer/guitarist Frank Gioia and keyboardist/accordionist Frank Greco paid tribute to rock n' roll history while emphasizing the original musicians' social impact. A 7 minute video featuring highlights of Frankly Speaking's set was shared to the Frankeeproductions YouTube channel, capturing portions of 13 songs (likely every one played that day), but as each clip only runs for an average of 33 seconds, it'd be a lot of text trying to link to each individual portion when you can easily scan the video timeline on YouTube and see the post-production titles thusly. The set did end with two Elton John and Beatles covers each, while hard rock fans will want to see how Frank & Frank handled Rush's "Closer To The Heart" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". Note that there are some typos in the titles, like how the Coldplay song is labelled "Ticking Clocks" (it's just called "Clocks").

I wouldn't have put this video in such a washed out post-production filter, but I gather that the Franks were aiming to have the highlight video look old fashioned given the themes. These minimalist covers are performed with zest and enthusiasm, and the stationary camera is zoomed in tight on the guys so we get a good side view of Frankly Speaking in action, though if you like seeing more of the stage/audience, this may not be ideal for you. Strong stuff, even if I'd rather see full songs in full colour, so check out "Rock On To The Sound Of Change" below!

Friday's other known public videos are of new local funk/pop rock cover quintet The Rhythm Junction, who are basically the side project of Stage 2 band The Eight Seventies, only with Jason Gasparetto swapped out for singer Marisa Valois-Christie and her brother Jacob Valois (as also seen on Stage 2 with his solo jazz band). On their Facebook page, The Rhythm Junction uploaded a video of them covering Blondie's "Call Me", while videos filmed by attendee Aidan Valois (no doubt family) of them covering Haddaway's "What Is Love?" and The Killers' "Mr. Brightside" were also shared there. Alas, all three are vertical, but The Rhythm Junction are talented, and Marisa's smooth voice carries them well, so give them a watch above, and see more from them on Facebook! Now, we'll head to the final day's music on Saturday, July 20th, so what is public from then?

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's Stage 1 debut set did get some official video footage courtesy of their Facebook page, where you can see their set-ending cover of Guns N' Roses' "Welcome To The Jungle"! Two problems though: It's a "Reel", so I can't embed it here, and it's one of those "Reels", where a normal landscape horizontal video is pillarboxed into the vertical dimensions, rather than cropped to fit, so it's tiny. It's a strong performance with good energy from Jess, but I may never understand why so many Facebook users intentionally limit their videos by making them "Reels". Later on the Saturday program, local country band The Way Backs (featuring two Rhythm Junction members in their ranks) performed on Stage 1, and while not a formal live video, you can see photos from their set in this Facebook upload! It's set to The Highwaymen's "Live Forever", and it does look like everyone had a good time!

Lastly for this post, Sound Of Sting frontman Mike Ferfolia was interviewed by The Sault Star's Brian Kelly in advance of the Toronto-based Police/Sting tribute band's featured Saturday night set, and it's a good interview that explores his musical career and Sting's influence on him, so read the whole thing at this link! Unless belated new media comes out, our last Stage 1 content will be of the final band on Saturday night (which wasn't Sound Of Sting), and we do have some Stage 2 videos and such to look at also, so stay tuned for all of that next month! Thanks everyone!

New Videos From Frankly Speaking, Mikey Hawdon, And That's Chester!!

Let's dive into our 89th straight daily post at The Sault Metal Scene today, and it's a video-heavy one once again, specifically around cover performances from many familiar faces. Here's what you should know!

Veteran local classic rock cover duo Frankly Speaking held a special live-streamed concert on Facebook on Tuesday night that does have some hard rock content! While their setlist is largely not on the heavier spectrum, frontman Frank Gioia and keyboardist Frank Greco have a solid talent base and an extensive setlist that you may have seen at bars and special events since at least 2012. In fact, Frank Gioia was the featured musician in Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s final "Songs & A Six-Pack" live-streamed concert last month, so check that out if you haven't already! Shame that The Wyld Stallyns never got a redo. As for Frankly Speaking, their live-streamed concert is entitled "Healing Songs By The Fire", as the Franks are performing outside around a bonfire, which is a familiar and warm locale for many readers! This was shared onto the band's Facebook page from Frank Gioia's personal Facebook page, and was promoted with this SooToday article.

The 76 minute live-stream opens with Frank Gioia introducing the band and talking about how fire represents hope and how they want to bring everyone together in uncertain times, primarily social injustice. In order, Frankly Speaking cover Bruce Hornsby & The Range's "The Way It Is", Otis Redding's "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay", Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)", Seal's "Crazy", The Tragically Hip's "Ahead By A Century", Bill Withers' "Lean On Me", Supertramp's "The Logical Song", Joe Cocker's version of Billy Preston's "You Are So Beautiful", Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful", Queen's "You're My Best Friend", Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire", Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", and John Lennon's "Imagine". Effective set overall, and Frank & Frank have a good handle on these (mostly) classic rock favourites! You can tell that they put in the care and effort to include songs reflective of the themes of hope & healing.

Frank Gioia's between-song banter is very reassuring, and with how his speaking voice sounded, was anyone else reminded of Carl Sagan a bit? Frankly Speaking delivered a fun set, and having it take place at dusk with the sun setting was a nice touch, so give the whole thing a watch below!

Next up, we have another veteran act coming together (albeit remotely) to cover a song reflective of recent times, as the surviving members of classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester's best known lineup got together to do a rendition of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"! Uploaded to drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel earlier today, this features Ric alongside singer Greg Simpson (in his now-familiar smokeroom), guitarist Gabe Tessaro, and bassist Aubrey Falls, with Greg also playing acoustic guitar in lieu of the late Eugene Orlando. The video description notes that That's Chester broke up due to Eugene's passing in 2015 (their two Rotaryfest reunion sets in 2016 & 2018 excepted), and the cover is in dedication to him and everyone who's lost a friend or family member. I'm not a Pink Floyd guy, but this is a nicely done cover, and you do get the sense that this was emotionally tough to do.

The double meaning of wishing that everyone was here due to social distancing also exists, but the tribute to Eugene dominates given the optics of this particular cover, and I know how much he was missed following his sudden loss over four years ago. Give That's Chester's reunion video a watch below, and hopefully we'll see the guys on stage again down the line!



Finally for today, here's the latest "quarantunes" from prolific local punk musician Mikey Hawdon and his uke, courtesy of his YouTube channel! Two new ones are up that we haven't plugged on the SMS, including yesterday's cover of Wilson Phillips' "Hold On" featuring guest musicians from out of town. Embedded below is today's cover (#90) of The Ramones' "She's The One", and in a first for our embedding choices on the site, this is a completely solo rendition with no guests. Of course, Mikey knows The Ramones very well from his work fronting The Merves and The Gabba Heys, and he adds a soft sincerity with the solo ukelele rendition, so give it a watch below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!