'80s Rock Invasion Concert Video Showcase!!

Today's post takes us back to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula, and while we will get to more fallout from last week's battle of the bands in Sault Ste. Marie, we're actually going to focus on St. Ignace today via a long overdue look at the other non-addressed public YouTube videos from July's '80s Rock Invasion concert outside of the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino! I apologize for the delay in these making the site, it was a busy summer and these fell through the cracks. Surprisingly, the remaining extant videos from the show do not include footage of Ace Frehley's headlining set, but three of the supporting bands had videos yet to be featured on the SMS, including co-headlining Los Angeles hair metal band Great White, so what else can you see from them? YouTube user Big Talk (who also filmed Ace's full set) got two videos of Great White playing  "Save Your Love" and, as embedded below, "House Of Broken Love".

Unlike Big Talk's video of Ace's set, the Great White videos were shot with two cameras, including the high quality angle from their good front row spot, as well as a second camera at floor level to the stage that had to have been shot by a second person. No word on why the second camera wasn't used for Ace's set, but it's good to see multicam footage for some of Great White's! Everything looks and sounds good for fans of their classic glam metal sound, with Brett Carlisle doing justice to Jack Russell vocally, so check these out above & below!

Next up, the remaining known public YouTube videos from the '80s Rock Invasion come by way of YouTube user Greg Miller, whose channel features almost two dozen more concert videos from classic rock and hair metal shows downstate, so keep those in mind as well. For one reason or another, Greg didn't post anything from Ace Frehley's set nor Vixen's opening set (I haven't found any public videos of Vixen here), but he did upload three videos from the other three bands' sets, so what all can be seen here? From the aforementioned Great White, Greg filmed them covering Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and playing their originals "Desert Moon" and "Lady Red Light" in one video, but embedded below is them playing "Rock Me". While similarly close to the stage as Big Talk was, Greg had a sharper angle and a lower quality camera, but his footage is still strong and captures lots of good views in the moment! Check these out above & below as well!

Now to two bands whose St. Ignace sets haven't had videos featured here yet, starting with Las Vegas glam metal quartet Slaughter, who Greg filmed playing "Fly To The Angels", "Burnin' Bridges", and as embedded below, "Spend My Life". In their (at least) fourth gig in the Sault Ste. Marie area, Slaughter still sound solid, with Mark's voice holding up very well over the years on these classic singles, so don't bypass Greg's videos from their set above & below!

Finally, Greg got three videos of original Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler and his solo band in action! Casual fans may have wondered what his solo concerts are like, and with one original exception, his set was entirely comprised of covers of Guns N' Roses songs centered around his time in the band. To that end, the assembled band (filmed here covering "Welcome To The Jungle", "Sweet Child O Mine", and as embedded below, "Paradise City") are effectively a GNR tribute band, but a very talented and energetic one with very Axlesque vocals, so fans will have got a kick out of Steven's band, especially if you loved "Appetite For Destruction"! Check out Steven & crew above and below!

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

Ace Frehley, Vaegon, and Pridefest Loud & Proud Concert Previews!!

Alright, it's time to finally conclude our previews of this weekend's hard rock, metal, and punk concerts in the Twin Saults and surrounding area! Thanks to Rotaryfest, this weekend is always super busy, but there's a huge show in Michigan's E.U.P. to look at in this post, along with two special Sunday concerts north of the border, so here's what you should know for this weekend's uncovered heavier concerts!

We'll pick things back up with the main event in the Eastern Upper Peninsula this weekend, as the '80s Rock Invasion descends on St. Ignace TOMORROW NIGHT outside of their Kewadin Casino! If you love hair and glam metal, you will definitely want to make the hour's drive south for this huge outdoor concert, headlined by original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley in his first local date since rocking Sault Michigan way back in 2009. Fans will surely get a full set's worth of Kiss classics and Ace solo hits like "New York Groove" and "Shock Me" tomorrow, so if you're in the Kiss Army, brace yourselves! Also playing up here for the first time since 2009 is Los Angeles hair metal band Great White (the version seen in St. Ignace in 2017 was the now-defunct splinter version led by ex-singer Jack Russell). Guitarist Mark Kendall and most of their classic lineup are keeping the Great White train rolling!

With hits like "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and "The Angel Song", don't miss their return! Las Vegas glam metal quartet Slaughter will also make their local return in their (at least) fourth concert in our area, last seen here via an indoor headlining date at the St. Ignace Kewadin in 2019. Mark and crew still have the goods, so look for hits like "Fly To The Angels" and "Spend My Life" tomorrow evening! Classic-era Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler and his solo band will make their local debut tomorrow with a set full of GNR hits from his run in the band, so fans will want to see his talented band bring those songs to life tomorrow as well! Opening are all-female Minnesota hair metal band Vixen (of "Edge Of A Broken Heart" fame), who notably switched out singer Lorraine Lewis for former Headpins/Trans-Siberian Orchestra vocalist Rosa Laricchiuta after this concert was announced.

Rosa has a very strong voice (as fans of La Voix know), so don't be late! Also, Steven Adler's band starred in the third and final Friday shoutout video on Kewadin's Facebook page to promote this concert, which notably has all of his band members trading off for the plugs. Results are inconsistent, but it's neat to see everyone involved! No shoutout videos from Ace or Vixen that I am aware of though. This all ages concert takes place tomorrow night at 6:00 PM, and tickets remain on sale at this link, at the in-person box office, or at 1-800-KEWADIN. Tickets are still on sale in rows 13-15 ($95), rows 16-30 ($85), and in the general admission lawn area ($65). Weather-wise, 9&10 News is currently calling for partly cloudy conditions at 68-76° Fahrenheit tomorrow night with partly cloudy skies, so the bands should beat the potential rain forecast for much of tomorrow afternoon (that's new information in the forecast for you Rotaryfest-goers).

Incidentally, the St. Ignace Kewadin will also welcome Sault Ste. Marie classic metal/hard rock band Tarnished to The Northern Pines Lounge tomorrow night at 9:00 PM, so if you wanna keep the Hair Scare going after Ace's set ends, head inside the casino! Still surprised that they didn't have Tarnished as local openers for the big concert when they'll already be there tomorrow. If you love hair metal, St. Ignace is absolutely the place to be tomorrow night, so visit the above links for more on this stacked lineup of bands, and for a preview, here's Ace Frehley in the Soo last time out!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario for two big concerts taking place on SUNDAY, starting with this year's Loud & Proud family fun day as part of day #1 of this year's Sault Pridefest! This annual (pandemic aside) event moves from the Bushplane Museum to the Roberta Bondar Pavilion for an afternoon of family friendly entertainment, including vendors, kids games and activities, refreshments, and much more! Unfortunately, advertising for Loud & Proud's band lineup has never been consistent, as they often don't even mention the scheduled musicians on social media, this year included, but this year will feature three musical acts alongside unspecified drag performers. The acts in question are headlining local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty (who only confirmed their involvement on personal Facebook accounts), singer/guitarist Gimiiwan Ikwe, and the previously confirmed hard rock quintet HeadFirst opening. Thanks to Mikhal Muto from The A.A. for filling in the blanks!

Notably, this will be day #2 of HeadFirst's early release of physical copies of their debut EP "Head Trauma", so if you didn't buy one tomorrow at Rotaryfest for $15, here's your second chance before the wide release next week! Loud & Proud is FREE & ALL AGES, and runs Sunday afternoon from 1:00-4:00 PM. The current weather forecast calls for partly cloudy weather with a high of 23° and no chance of rain, tent acknowledged. If you want to celebrate Sault Pridefest and LGBTQ+ awareness with some entertaining live bands, head down to the Pavilion on Sunday for all of the fun! Visit the above links for more details, and here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!

Finally, this very busy Rotaryfest concert weekend ends with an extreme bang at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on SUNDAY NIGHT, as they basically revert to The Roosevelt Hotel for the night to host touring technical death metal bands from out west! In their local debuts, metalheads can enjoy Edmonton's Vaegon and Vancouver's Exterminatus on Sunday, and both are sufficiently brutal in their own ways, and your faces will melt if the summer humidity didn't do that already! Do check out both Vaegon and Exterminatus' original groove-inflected material on major streaming services, they'll be a good antidote if you've been wondering why the Soo hasn't had a lot of death or extreme metal bands in the 2020s so far (promoter availability, venue closures, local bands' own evolution, and the pandemic all helped in that). Local openers on Sunday are young local metal trio The BAG in their first show in three months before heading to Leeburn next week.

The guys have been busy in studio as of late, and released a teaser of their new original song "Suckatit" (no spaces) as a "Reel" on their Facebook group yesterday. I can't embed "Reels" here, but the clip is at least framed in post-production to fit the vertical dimensions. Ripping speed metal number in this jam session phase, and the dog definitely seems to be into it, so check it out above! Admission is $10 at the former Rosie on Sunday, this is a 19+ event, and it starts at 8:00 PM. Work/school night or not, definitely consider coming out to this show if you want to encourage Jay's/The BAG to bring more touring metal bands here! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Vaegon live!

I believe that is now officially all for the Rotaryfest weekend metal, hard rock, and punk concert previews! We'll be back at it this weekend with more news and notes in all likelihood, so look for much more news and notes on the SMS in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT ('80s Metal Invasion) Plus Wyld Stallyns Lineup Updates!!

Today's post is largely devoted to a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this summer that you 1980s glam metal fans are definitely not going to want to miss, and we also have some new band lineup announcements to round things out with. Here's what you should know!

A massive hair metal concert (and outdoors, at that) is coming to the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Saturday, July 20th for the '80s Rock Invasion! Presumably formatted identically to the Cheap Trick/Goo Goo Dolls show on the waterfront in August 2021 in terms of staging, this show will be even bigger for scheduled bands, with five name acts coming to St. Ignace for Hair Scare diehards, including the long awaited return of original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley! Last seen at the Sault Michigan Kewadin in 2009, expect the Spaceman himself to break out Kiss and solo classics like "Shock Me", "New York Groove", and "Rock Soldiers" in his first E.U.P, date in almost fifteen years! Two hair metal bands who are no strangers to this part of the world will also be making their way to St. Ignace in July, with Los Angeles' own Great White co-headlining in their local return! Now, Great White are one of those bands that split in two, L.A. Guns style, but this time, we are getting the original band led by original guitarist Mark Kendall.

While this Great White has most of their classic members from the "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" days, you may recall that Jack Russell's Great White (the splinter version featuring their classic singer and bassist) headlined outdoors at the St. Ignace Kewadin back in 2017, so discounting that, the original Great White also have not played here since rocking The Dreammakers Theatre in 2009. A little confusing, but hair metal fans will be right at home with Great White's return in July! The other returning band is Las Vegas glam metal quartet Slaughter, who last played here via an indoor headlining date at the St. Ignace Kewadin in June 2019, preceded by support gigs in both of the Twin Saults in 2008 & 2012. Expect classics like "Fly To The Angels" & "Up All Night" in their (at least) fourth regional concert! Also coming in July is "Appetite For Destruction"-era Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler in his local concert debut!

You may be familiar with Steven's exploits in recent years with bands like Adler's Appetite, but he currently tours under his own name with a solo band playing a set primarily made up of GNR classics from his time in that band. Steven's still got the chops, and he found strong musicians to bring these songs to life, so don't bypass his set either! Opening on July 20th is Minnesota hair metal band Vixen, notable as the biggest all-female group in the genre, and from hit songs like "Edge Of A Broken Heart" and "Cryin'". Only drummer Roxy Petrucci remains from their heyday, but they still deliver some talented hard rock with their current lineup, so don't be late for them kicking things off! Pre-sale for this 6:00 PM & all ages concert kicks off tomorrow, with tickets going on sale to the general public on Friday. Tickets will start at $65, and if the Cheap Trick show in 2019 is anything to go by, there will likely be two higher tiers.

That show had tickets at $50, $75, and $85 depending on location, with the two higher price points being in seated areas. You can buy yours starting on Friday at this link, at the in-person box office, or by calling 1-800-KEWADIN. Given that this Saturday's Skid Row/Buckcherry concert at the Soo Kewadin sold out (preview forthcoming), I wouldn't take my chances that Ace and crew will have good tickets for long, so get yours A.S.A.P., and visit the above links for more on what will be a huge concert for hair and glam metal fans this summer, especially if the weather cooperates!

Finally, we have big lineup updates from Sault Ontario funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns, as they have a completely new rhythm section! They have enlisted former Id Iota/Far From Fine drummer Blair St. John as their new bassist (replacing Alex White), while former Din/Re:Born drummer Brandan Glew has replaced Derek Turner behind the kit. Blair & Brandan debuted for The Stallyns at The Kiln at Searchmont this past Saturday, though both have sat in as guests with the band before. Reasons for Alex & Derek's departures were not publically announced, but the post on the band's Facebook page announcing the changes painted things in amicable terms, and that "you'll see them around, so keep showing them the love". Hopefully that's true, as Al and Derek are talented musicians who would be assets in newer bands! Blair and Brandan are strong musicians with multi-genre experience, so they'll fit in fine as well!

For what it's worth, The Wyld Stallyns' next concert has been announced on at least one band member's personal Facebook page, but I'll wait for a public announcement from the band or venue before covering it here (unless it doesn't get a public plug thusly, but I do know where & when it is for weekend preview purposes). It is great to see Christina, Rob, Jesse, and Josh re-fill out their lineup, and hopefully we'll hear more from the new-look Wyld Stallyns soon! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Analog Deficiency & Steven Flint

Today marks our latest Defunct Local Band Profiles, but with a change for half of them. Originally, we were going to profile mid-2000s Sault Ontario death metal band Devastation of the Heavens second, but when doing their profile, I found a lot more information & media than I'd expected, and it's only fair to give them a full profile to themselves. As a result, I've bumped D.O.T.H. to the April installment of this series as the lone band, and I've randomly picked a new Sault Ontario project to join this month's already-selected Sault Michigan band, in our monthly look at defunct/inactive local metal/hard rock acts. With that said, read on below for all you need to know on this month's randomly selected bands! (Updated on August 21st)
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Analog Deficiency

Genre: Progressive Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members: (Members not in their last lineup in italics. This information is incomplete. E-mail me at robertfigures@outlook.com if you can help fill in any blanks or make any corrections!)

Nathan Switzer (Sir Charge, RamWagon), guitar
Cody Tidwell (Traces), guitar
Cody Reed (RamWagon, The Eleventh Hour, Hoist The Sails), guitar
Joe Niemi (Hoist The Sails), bass
Marcel Grengs (RamWagon, The Highest of Fives, Hoist The Sails), drums

Brian Decker, guitar
T.J. ????? (Deprecor), bass

Info/Analysis: Analog Deficiency were a short lived Sault Michigan alternative metal project that existed from July 2009 through the fall of 2010. Formed by members of a prior cover band, Analog Deficiency had plans to write and record an album during their short run, but I don't believe they ever played live (or even secured a permanent singer.) Public band news slowed to a stop by September 2010, with members focusing on newer band projects in recent years, including most of their last lineup joining both Hoist the Sails and RamWagon. I wish Analog Deficiency had lasted longer than they did, as their posted instrumental demos were very promising! As shown on their two surviving 2010 audio tracks "We're Dealing With A Samsquanch, Boys" & "Lamps Falling From The Sky", the members shown solid skills at technical metal with a clear influence from Meshuggah & similar industrial/djent bands, even throwing some KoRn-esque riffs in for good measure! If anything, these songs are unfinished and can be a bit repetitive (vocals & solos would help), but it's a shame that Analog Deficiency never took off, as the guys had something very good going. Check out "Lamps Falling From The Sky" below, and more at the above links!


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Steven Flint

Genre: Metal/Classic Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Performers: (E-mail me at robertfigures@outlook.com if you have any additions or corrections!)

Steven Flint (The Suicide Kings, Wishbone, Limelight), all instruments
Chris Stainthorpe (Silver Dream), guitar
Mike LaRue (Limelight, Silver Dream), bass 

Info/Analysis: Over a year after the credited performers' previous band Silver Dream crashed & burned, that project's drummer Steven Flint launched a short lived solo project in July 2011 featuring him on more instruments, along with input & performances from the other non-vocal members of that band. Steven's solo work only produced one (now deleted) song entitled "Run To You", which was heavier than the performers' 2010 output while still retaining a classic edge, and Steven's vocal range shared deeper & grittier qualities like those of fellow local musician Mike Haggith. Steven's solo work quietly went inactive early the next year, with him & bassist/producer Mike LaRue joining the (also short lived) local cover band Limelight in the spring of 2012. I liked where Steven's solo material was going, but it's great to see him hit even bigger heights with his more recent bands, and even if he doesn't do any imminent new solo work, I'd like to hear "Run To You" again in some form, possibly by The Suicide Kings?

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Next month, as promised at the beginning, we WILL be profiling the mid-2000s Sault Ontario death metal band Devastation of the Heavens on or around April 10th! After finding more information than I'd originally estimated, it's only fair, so watch out for that next month, and for more news this week! Thanks everyone!

A Likely Inactive Local Band, New Videos, And Sebastian Bach In Sault Ontario?!

With weekend concert previews out of the way, we've got a new news post for you guys on this Saturday morning (beats the lack of good cartoons anymore), so here's what's on tap! Today, we have a new video from a newer Sault Ontario trio, some old 1990s videos from a band who played in the Sault Michigan area on tour way back when, and a note on a likely inactive local metal band, but first, here's some really intriguing news that connects metal with the recent growth of movie productions in Sault Ste. Marie!

Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach was in Sault Ontario yesterday... but not for a concert. As it turns out, he has a role of some type in the movie "Swearnet" that's being filmed here, which you guys will probably better recognize as the new movie from Trailer Park Boys stars Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay, and Mike Smith (a.k.a. Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles!) Trailer Park Boys fans will be sure to understand the connection with Sebastian Bach, as he guest starred on the show's final season, where we saw his affinity for model train sets (the central one of which inspired the name of defunct Sault Michigan hard rockers Swayze Train), so if this connection seems random, watch season 7. My source for this info is Sebastian's Facebook page, where the photo on your left came from. I have no idea how big of a role Sebastian has in "Swearnet", or if he's even still in town, but from what I understand, the movie either is based on or will help launch an internet-based television channel full of uncensored vignettes & sketches, so Sebastian may only feature in one part of the film. It'd be awesome to see him book a concert here (I enjoy his solo stuff way more than new Skid Row material), but this is cool in & of itself, so check the above links for more, and I can't wait to see the completed film!

Next up, I've regrettably decided to move Sault Ontario metal quartet Borderline Divine to our inactive band links. Normally, I wouldn't act so fast after a band declares a hiatus (as they did on July 3rd via their Facebook page), but an immediate future for the former Stillbroke is looking unlikely following frontman & founding member Jesse Frigault's move to Alberta earlier this month, where he's already found a new job. He is in many ways Borderline Divine's driving force, so that (plus guitarist Mitch Sirie's ongoing primary work in The Bear Hunters) leads me to think that if we ever see them back, it won't be for a long while. Maybe the hiatus declaration was more to leave a bit of hope rather than abruptly shut the door? If they're for sure functionally inactive now, it ends a successful (albeit scattered) 4 year run that saw the band's many incarnations reach a number of heights, including opening for bands like Helix, West of Hell, and Columbia, their 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands victory, and of course, releasing Stillbroke's 2009 EP "Never Enough". Though their success arguably peaked in 2009, fans will be sure to have some solid memories from their shows before and after that year, and their brief mid-2012 activity as Borderline Divine left a lot of heavier promise that honestly topped Stillbroke to me in many ways!

I know the guys have put in tons of work from their inception to their last show in June to make it locally, and in some ways, they did, if not as long as was hoped. Hopefully this isn't the last we'll ever hear from Borderline Divine, but for now, best of luck to Jesse, Mitch, Justin, and Sam (and the array of former members) in the future, and when I hear about the members' next moves in the local scene, I'll be sure to have them here!

Thirdly today, I was alerted to some old school concert videos from a show at the old Tumble Inn in nearby Eckerman, Michigan yesterday, and these definitely belong on the SMS! Life's Eclipse frontman Jason Mills sent me the links to these videos as part of some assistance for a reader in finding videos from one of his old Northern Michigan bands at their local stops in the 1990s, and while this isn't either band in question, they're definitely heavy & could use an SMS spotlight! They were a 1990s Michigan metal band named Collision, and while I don't think they're from the Soo originally, they did play at The Tumble Inn at least once in the mid-1990s. The videos from said show include covers of Alice In Chains' "It Ain't Like That" & "Would?" and (as embedded below) Dio's "Don't Talk To Strangers", so check them out if you wanna! Uploaded in late 2008 by YouTube user budachiba (who may be bassist Jeremy DeLawrence), Collision had a solid groove and a versatility that allowed them to handle grunge and more traditional metal really well, and I'd like to find out more about them! Decent video quality too given the age and format this concert was filmed on. Check the above links for more, thanks to Jason for sending me the links, and if I find any more old school Tumble Inn footage, I'll have it here, but for now, here's Collision's local Dio cover!



Finally for today, here's some more news from Sault Ontario grunge band Haggith! Bad news first, as the band has announced that Wishbone bassist Steven Flint is not joining their lineup as was previously announced. A reason for the backtrack wasn't announced, just that it came after "some discussion" and there appear to be no bad feelings with Steven, who the band complimented the talent of on their Facebook page on Wednesday. As a result, frontman Curtis McKenzie is trading his guitar for a bass and Haggith are remaining a trio going forward. Hopefully this is the best move for the guys, and Curtis does have bass skill, but we'll have to see how they sound in their next gigs! On a more positive note, YouTube user paperclipprojectX uploaded a new video on Monday of 2/3rds of the band (minus drummer Mike Haggith) playing an unplugged version of their original song "I Am", and it sounds pretty good! The lighting is effective (if still dark) and Curt & Daniel add some nice grit to this acoustic rendering, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more Haggith news in the coming weeks!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly, including this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

Anvil Concert Videos, The Return Of Case's Music, And More!!

Here's one more news post for this Saturday night, and if you missed it, check out our all-Rotaryfest video post from this morning below this one! Tonight, we've got some assorted shorter stories, news on the return of a local music store and what's going on there now, and kicking things off, new videos from a major recent metal concert, so read on below for all the details!

First up today, here's one of the brand new videos from Wednesday night's Anvil concert at The Canadian Nightclub! BeeFMouTH alum Kevin Campbell (who was on hand doing film work with 62nd Chamber Productions during Frightlight's set) got some footage from the Toronto metal legends' headlining set as well for his YouTube channel, including two of their earlier songs that night, those being "School Love" and "Winged Assasins" (and yes, he filmed Lips' Ranger Lake Road story as well!) Complete with on screen titles, this is a nice video with solid audio quality, but the video quality is hit & miss. Some type of filter was on the camera which gave everything a more fluid dreamlike motion, which looks cool sometimes and too blurry at other times. That, and attendees heads & devil horns do get in the way, but Kevin did a good job shooting and compiling this video, and kudos for the footage for sure! Check out this new Anvil concert video below, and stay tuned for more from 62nd Chamber Productions' filming that night as it comes in!



Also new from said concert are two more videos of new local hard rock quintet Skeyes of Seven's set, including their original "Destination Unknown" (not pluralized as I had earlier) and, as embedded below, their cover of Stone Sour's "Come What(Ever) May"! Uploaded to the band's brand new YouTube channel earlier today, these were likely filmed on a stationary camera that the band had set up on the floor during their set, but as tall as it was, fans heads are still in the way on the original, as there was more people on the floor by then. The videos have an old look to them by the quality, but the audio's nice and it's nice to hear the vocals a bit louder than I remember at the show! Nice work, but I wonder if we'll see the Breaking Benjamin & Avenged Sevenfold covers from that night too on Skeyes of Seven's new channel? As we haven't shared this song on here before, and you can see the band better, here's Skeyes of Seven's cover of "Come What(Ever) May"!



Thirdly today, in case you haven't heard, Case's Music is officially back open in it's new home! After leaving their old Spring Street location on June 22nd, the popular local music store re-opened in the old Frame Center building at 636 Queen Street East on July 16th, and though they're still partially under construction, I've heard great things about the new larger location! Regular hours are now 11:00 AM-5:00 PM daily except Wednesdays, when they're open until 7:00 PM, and they're even planning to host weekly acoustic performers outside of the building on Saturday nights, adding to a very musical stretch of Queen that already includes The Grand Theater, LopLops Lounge, and the new Coch's Corner within walking distance. As well, Case's Music have opened up the floodgates for local bands/musicians to sell their albums and merchandise there, and though no metal artists have took them up on this yet, they're eager to support local talent and have the store as a saleground for local music, so if you're interested, message them at their Facebook page or drop in with some stock to sell! It's great to see Case's Music off to a great start at their new home, so check the above links for more on their on-sale items, instrument lessons, and much more!

And finally for tonight, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Already no stranger to the Sault area, Poison frontman Bret Michaels made a special video greeting for local Catholic summer school students on Thursday, in congratulations for those students for raising money for the Canadian Diabetes Association via a Celebrity Apprentice-themed fundraiser (Bret won that show's third season.) That's an awesome gesture, and thanks to Bret for filming that for some local kids! Click here for The Sault Star's coverage of this story from last week!
• Local solo guitarist Shane "The Shaner" Solomon has posted two newer songs onto his Reverbnation page, including a solid hard rocking instrumental named "Righteous Own" and a cover of the Storm Eagle theme from the video game Mega Man X. The latter's a well done faithful cover, but the former is heavier and has a nice groove, if it's a bit repetitive, so check the above links to hear these and much more from Shane's solo work!
• I've moved ex-Silver Dream drummer Steven Flint's solo project to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. He hasn't posted any real updates since late last July, and he's since deleted his only song "Run To You" for unknown reasons (it was good though, he should bring it back!) Disappointing, but I imagine Steven's keeping busy with his new classic rock cover band Limelight, and if I hear of anything of theirs that might fit on the SMS, I will let you guys know!

That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for some more news and videos tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Assorted News And Updates!!

Here's one more post for the opening day of December before we have two posts tomorrow (One being our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post, the other with weekend concert previews), but first, I want to note that if you saw an event page for a concert on Saturday night at Feedback featuring Espanola metal band Fifth Column and locals View To A Kill, don't get your hopes up. The event page for the show was deleted yesterday, so it appears to be off now, but if I hear anything to the contrary, I'll let you guys know! Now, to the news and assorted videos of the day, starting with some updates to a concert later this month!

There's been a few changes to the Green Christmas Bash at Feedback near the end of the month, as confirmed at this new Facebook event page (the old one was deleted), starting with a date change, as the show will now take place on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas itself. A reason for the date change was not announced, but December 24th does fall on a Saturday this year, so that could be related. That said, the lineup for the concert has been confirmed, though not without a band change, as local metal quintet Sativa Rose have dropped out of this show. According to promoters, they're off because frontwoman Marisa Valois will be out of town with family when this show takes place. Disappointing, but hey, family calls! Replacing them on the bill is a new folk/acoustic trio named Ye Olde Mold Pickers, who I believe share at least one member with the local band The Night Owl Meme Makers. They're actually the listed headliners for this concert, with local classical/punk trio RedD Monkey, local metal quartet View To A Kill (yes, they were Andrew Angelic's new band from the original event page), and "the original crash band" Sykotyk Rampage opening the festivities in that order. Admission remains $2, it's still 19+, and it all starts at 10:00 PM on Christmas Eve. Check the above links for more details!

Sounds like an entertaining and diverse night of music, and hopefully the promoters will be sure to bring more Green Christmas shows to Feedback in future years! If you wanna enjoy some live music over Christmas weekend, this show could very well do the trick! Stay tuned for updates!

Next up, if you're still uncertain on whether to buy Theatre of Night's remastered "Christmas Night" album (that we just reviewed yesterday), then this could be some incentive, as the band has uploaded their version of the Christmas classic "Carol of the Bells" onto their new YouTube channel! They launched the channel on Tuesday, but this song was only just posted yesterday. The video features various shots of the album artwork, band members, and other monochromed Christmas-relevant photos, with only minimal colour use. Decent effects, and they fit with the mood of the song, so if you want to get into the Christmas spirit and preview the full "Christmas Night" album, check out Theatre of Night's rendition of "Carol of the Bells" below!



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

• Apparently, Wishbone bassist (and former Silver Dream drummer) Steven Flint filled in on drums for Sativa Rose at their concert on Tuesday when they opened for The Unbelievers, as Alex Palmer was absent. Hopefully things went well, Steven should have been a solid fill-in! If I hear anything new on Sativa Rose's new lineup, I'll have it here!
  
• I updated our GarageBand Profile of defunct local hard rock trio Sin Stereo to update the video references, specifically because the video of their successors Stiffler's Mom covering "Enjoy The Show" is now on YouTube. Not a huge change, but I thought I'd mention it!
• Russell Garwood of Zero Tolerance Magazine posted this Woods of Ypres article last month which features exclusive comments from frontman David Gold about the upcoming "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light", including comments alluding to what this album would mean to the band's legacy if it ended up being their last album. I sure hope it's not, but it's an interesting read nonetheless, so click here to see what David has to say!

And finally, here's this week's classic video! With a relatively thin weekend for metal concerts (despite the return of Helix), I won't tie in this week's video with a performing band, so we'll dip into the archives for this week, and I've chosen a video from the recently-inactive local grunge trio No Arrow! We haven't heard much from them since their one-off show at what is now Feedback in February, but there's plenty of old videos and music of theirs online, including this video of them playing their original song "Delayed Reaction" when they opened for Montreal punk legends The Ripcordz at The Speak Easy on August 5th, 2007! At this performance, frontman Dann Pichette and drummer Joe Falco were joined by guest bassist Dean Scheepmaker (now of the Manitoba band The Aral Sea), and they definitely rocked on one of their heaviest songs here, though the audio quality is kinda scratchy and the first minute of the song wasn't captured. Dann's got some great screaming here too, helps make me miss No Arrow all the more!

This video was uploaded onto Facebook by Dann a couple days after this concert, and you can view the original video at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=4026989126. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to No Arrow, they did all the work here, I'm just sharing this video with a larger audience like it deserves! With that said, give No Arrow's 2007 performance of "Delayed Reaction" a look below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post at midnight sharp! And also, on a sort of personal note, tune into Rock 101 (at this location or at 101.3 FM in the Twin Saults area) tomorrow morning at 8:10 AM during "Scott & Brian In The Morning", as I'm gonna be interviewed on air about the SMS! I don't know how I'll do, but be kind if I slip up, as I've never been part of a live interview like this before. Check it out if you're up, and stay tuned for more news over the next while! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Shit Liver & Tym Morrison) And Two New Local Hard Rock Acts!

Hey guys, here's another news post for your Tuesday, including two newly discovered hard rock acts from Sault Ontario and two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one of which is extremely short notice), so here's what you need to know!

Local death metal/punk trio Shit Liver will be playing at The Roosevelt Hotel TONIGHT! The rising trio have been named as the openers for this short notice concert which is being headlined by Yellowknife punk quartet Booze Cruise, who are touring Canada in support of their new LP "Moose Stuff"! They're not really a metal band, but they have a nice high energy punk sound with some faster ripping sounds here and there, so they're well worth seeing tonight, despite the late notice! And with Shit Liver opening, you know there'll be some hard hitting crust to kick things off, so if you're free, head to The Rosie TONIGHT! Plus, it's bassist Mike Kyle's birthday, and what better way to celebrate than at a punk/metal show? Remember, this show is TONIGHT at 10:00 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no cover. For more details, visit the above links and the Facebook event page! Should be a fun time, hopefully a good sized crowd turns out despite the late word! For a preview, here's Shit Liver playing their song "Fabricated Nonsense" at The Rosie in June!



Also on the docket for new shows is another solo acoustic show from Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison! He's back out for another concert on Saturday, this time at The Zone Roadhouse on Highway 17 North in Goulais River, for his first solo show there in three months! Note that this is the second Saturday in three weeks that he hasn't played at Service Grill Pizza, so either he's now playing there bi-weekly, or his gigs there aren't as rigidly scheduled as they were in the summer. I'll keep you guys posted on any possible Service Grill shows he may have coming up! So if you want to head to Goulais River for some acoustic hard rock hits, The Zone Roadhouse is the place to be on Saturday night! Tym will take the stage at 8:00 PM, there is no announced cover charge, and I'd assume there's a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Should be a good concert, Tym's solo acoustic show always impresses, and hopefully lots of people turn out! Stay tuned for more on this show later in the week!

Now, we have two newly discovered local hard rock acts to mention on here, so here's all that you need to know! Firstly, we have a local electronic instrumental hard rock project from Sault Ontario named Candle Hour. Led by local musician Hugh Stephens, Candle Hour launched last October, quickly releasing a debut album named "Airplane" on numerous online stores, along with launching band pages on most popular internet music sites (examples: MySpace, Facebook, Reverbnation, YouTube, Soundclick, and many more.) Though a solo project with a mostly unrevealed background, Candle Hour are currently working on a second album, and have released four music videos. I probably missed Candle Hour for SMS coverage for so long because I assumed they were strictly a techno project, but there's a lot of hard rock here! Hugh lists Nine Inch Nails as one of Candle Hour's influences, and on songs like "Astral Transmission" and "Without A Parachute", there's definitely a hard rock sound to be enjoyed! The closest local band I can think of to Candle Hour in terms of sound would be the defunct solo project Divinity Collapsed, though I don't believe there's a link between the two bands.

Candle Hour is an interesting project, and Hugh definitely shows some talent and creativity with this material! The techno and electronic elements are well constructed, and the heavier hard rock sounds are integrated well, though I'd be interested to see him expand on some of the songs, as the songs I've heard can be slightly repetitive. Overall though, I am impressed with Candle Hour, so definitely check them out for a solid blend of electronic and synthesized sounds with hard rock, they work well together! I'll embed one of their videos here, so here's one of Candle Hour's heavier songs "March To The End", as accompanied by old military footage! Good stuff!



Lastly, the other new act finally connects some of the pieces left following a local band's abrupt disappearance last summer. Remember Silver Dream, the local glam rock quartet that crashed and burned last July? Well, at the time, departed frontman Matthew Silver said that the rest of the band would remain together, but we never heard anything else come from that... until now! Drummer Steven Flint launched a solo MySpace page in July, and he credits Silver Dream bandmates Mike LaRue & Chris Stainthorpe for backing instruments and production on his solo material! Specifically, Mike plays bass and handled the technical recording, while Chris played guitar, and Steven handled drums, vocals, and additional guitar & bass. I wouldn't say that Steven's solo project is one and the same as Silver Dream, but it's nice to see the old members sticking together! One song is posted, entitled "Run To You", and it's not bad! Definitely heavier than most of the Silver Dream samples we heard. Has a bit of a classic rock vibe while still being heavy, and Steven's vocals are deeper and grittier than you may expect, reminding me a bit of Mike Haggith vocally.

"Run To You" needs to be filled out more, but the guitar work is promising, the production isn't bad, and with some more work, this could get some deserved local attention! Check out more on Steven's solo project at the above links, and both he and Candle Hour are now in our active Sault Ontario band links!

That's all for today, but GO SEE SHIT LIVER & BOOZE CRUISE TONIGHT! Short notice or not, it'll be worth your time! Thanks everyone, and stay tuned for much more in the next few days!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Caveman Morrison), Plus More Assorted News!!

Hey guys, I'm back with some more local metal news and updates, so get yourselves ready! We have an upcoming concert looking for acts, and updates from two prominent local bands, but first, here's a long awaited LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Caveman Morrison are back! After a three month break and a band member changeover, the local metal cover trio will hit the stage for the first time since the spring on August 13th at The Vibe Lounge! This will be the band's first official concert featuring Browbeat frontman Dutch Vanderploeg on bass, replacing the departed Rick White. A start time of 10:00 PM is listed on the official Facebook event page, and according to one of Dutch's statuses on Facebook, there will be a $2 cover charge. I almost guarantee this is a 19+ show as well. Click here to confirm your attendance! It's great to see Caveman Morrison back, I'm really looking forward to seeing the new lineup in action, and hopefully you guys are too! If you wanna hear some great metal covers from one of the Sault's better known metal bands, The Vibe Lounge is the place to be on August 13th! And yes, the show's on a Friday, but don't be scared off by the whole "Friday The 13th" connection! Click the above links for more info and details!

Next up, I got an e-mail recently from Steven Dahlke, a Sault Michigan concert promoter and the event manager at The Big Bear Arena near Kewadin Casino, which has held a few notable hard rock concerts, including one of Half Stupid's final shows from last August. Steven's planning to hold a concert full of young local bands at The Big Bear Arena near the end of next month in cooperation with Steve's Music, and he's on the lookout for bands! I won't spill details on the early tentative lineup yet, the show hasn't been offically announced to the best of my knowledge, but there's some very intriguing names that he shared with me! He asked me for help in promoting the show, so that's exactly what I'm doing! I don't know 100% details, but know this: If you want to play in an all-locals concert in late-August in Sault Michigan, contact Steven at this location! This may sound geared towards Sault Michigan acts, but if you're in Sault Ontario and are interested, go for it! And as I hear more finite details on this show, especially concerning metal and hard rock acts, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Thirdly today, some assorted Garden of Bedlam updates that, in hindsight, I should have featured with my Rotaryfest review. Firstly, Garden of Bedlam recently announced that their upcoming full length album will tentatively be titled "Everything Will Die"! This was first announced in a Facebook group e-mail, and was later mentioned on stage by Buzz while introducing the song of the same name at Rotaryfest (source here!) Now, that could change (remember, it's the TENTATIVE title), but if it sticks, I approve! As for recording of the CD, all that's left for in-studio are vocals and some of Josh Belleau's guitar solos, according to the band's Facebook group! Buzz mentioned on his Facebook page yesterday that all he has left is one song, harmonies, and some "gut wrenching screams"! Sounds good to me, I can't wait to hear the finished product! Hopefully the illnesses that Buzz was battling were killed in a metal fashion so as not to affect the album! Also keep an eye out on producer Miguel Gauthier's Facebook page for studio updates too! I'll keep you guys posted as I hear more on the new album, and, of course, your next chance to see them live is on August 10th, when they open for Kiss at The Essar Center! You won't want to miss that!

Finally for today, we have new Woods of Ypres-related videos to share! But first, here's an article from Hellbound.ca where columnist Gruesome Greg reminisces about his lost Woods of Ypres t-shirt that was styled in a Batman logo-esque fashion. Only 25 are in existence, and it sucks that he can't find his! Interesting topic, I've never seen a metal column article around a band t-shirt, but it's actually a good read, especially for those of you who have a t-shirt or two that you hold dearly! Check it out here! Now, video time! The first video I'm showing also comes from Hellbound.ca's Vimeo channel, and it's outtakes from Woods of Ypres' recent music video shoot! It's basically 73 seconds of slow motion clips of frontman David Gold leaping off of a cliff into a river below with a handheld camera and, in one instance, a female co-star! No indications of which song the video is for though, but it's cool to get a glimpse of what to expect in the video! The second video is one of two new concert videos uploaded onto YouTube by user Ishadowseek from their show in Santa Clara, California! These are definitely not the best clips we've seen from the tour, especially not this clip, which has very muddled audio and shaky camera work. The one I'm embedding below, of the songs "Suicide Cargoload (Drag That Weight)" & "Halves and Quarters", is longer and better, but not high quality for the video. Still worth checking out though! I'll keep you posted with more Woods of Ypres news and updates!





That's all for today, but stay tuned to The Sault Metal Scene for more news and updates in the coming days, plus some special feature posts as well! And just for reference, the next concert I hit will likely be Ultraviolence at Coch's Corner on Saturday night, so I hope to see you guys there! Thanks everyone, I'll be back with more news and updates tomorrow!