LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Faps), Plus Tea Party Concert Fallout!!

Before we dive into weekend concert previews, here's a new news post for your Wednesday afternoon! This mostly concerns our long awaited coverage of a major concert last week, but we'll lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Saskatchewan trash-punk duo The Faps will make their fifth local concert appearance when they headline at The New American Pub on Monday, April 23rd! Last seen at LopLops in October, this will be their first New A appearance since headlining there in 2017, and as far as I can tell, their first local gig that's not in the fall season. It's always welcome to see Skyler & Blair's experimental and grunge-tinged brand of minimalistic punk back in the Soo, and hopefully The Faps deliver another explosive set in just under three weeks' time! Local openers will include new local rock quartet Dusty Hazelwood (interesting name), whose lineup unites Dynowaves bandmates Jefferson Childs & Brenton Ellis with AlgomA's Jamie Vincent on guitar and ex-Fever Tops drummer Mitchell Harris. While punk is an advertised sub-genre on their Bandcamp page, their two songs so far lean more to softer pop rock, but I'm curious to hear more from Dusty Hazelwood, they have a lot of talent!

The aforementioned Brent Ellis (of Detroit, Lion Ride, and Maximum RNR fame) will lead off on the 23rd with his online page-less solo project Slumshine, which we haven't covered on the site since he opened for Dany Laj & The Looks in November 2017. It's very good to see him bring Slumshine back after a quiet 2018! Promoted by Jamie's own Six, Two, Oh., this 19+ show has a $5 cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time. Despite it's Monday scheduling, this stop on The Faps' No Name/No Fame Tour should provide a diverse blast of alt-rock, so visit the Facebook event page for more details!

Let's continue today's post with the long awaited fallout from last week's Tea Party concert at The Machine Shop, and I apologize for the delay in this regard, I was waiting to try and get enough content for a full post (we fell a little short.) Starting with local news coverage, SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand to cover the show for this article, where she noted that the Windsor hard rock trio "sounds as tight and fresh as it did in it's mid-90s prime" in this brief article. She posted 17 colour photos from the concert there, including 13 of the headliners and 4 of Winnipeg southern rock band The Proud Sons' opening set, and they look fantastic as usual, so give them a look above! We missed this at the time, but The Sault Star's Jeffrey Ougler interviewed Tea Party frontman Jeff Burrows in this article on March 22nd, where he discussed the band's lineup stability, the current state of music distribution, and more related topics, albeit not overly focused on the local date in the interview proper.

Solid interview that goes in-depth on it's topic subjects, and Jeff is well-versed here, so definitely give it a look at the above links! Moving to videos, we'll start with a lot of videos from Christopher Paci's excellent YouTube channel, as he shot 10 videos at The Machine Shop on this night, including 9 of The Tea Party! One video is of The Proud Sons playing a song I can't immediately title, and it's worth listening if you like country rock with a folksy bent! As for The Tea Party, Chris got a handful of videos that feature multiple songs and cover segments, so keep that in mind regarding the linked performances. Chris filmed "The River", "The Bazaar", "Save Me", "Heaven Coming Down" (with U2 cover interlude), "Black River", "Temptation", "Sister Awake", and that song continued plus Rolling Stones & David Bowie cover breaks. Embedded below is a three song medley of their live exclusive  "Zahira/Rakim", which leads into "The Halcyon Days".

Strong video and audio quality throughout these clips, with Chris having a good vantage point of the bands while still capturing the nicely sized crowd throughout, and Jeff Burrows' stage presence and deep voice are ever present. Videos filmed here capture their hard and alternative rock sides as well as their world music influences, so you may prefer certain songs to others, but there's enough to go around from what Chris filmed, so give these 10 videos a look above & below!



The other known YouTube videos from the local Tea Party concert come from Wawa author Duane Roy (of "Castle Stories" & "Soo Stories" fame), who filmed two videos for his YouTube channel as part of his occasional uploads from local concerts there. Alongside a fragment of their "Paint It Black" interlude during "Sister Awake", Duane also filmed "Heaven Coming Down" (+ "With Or Without You) last week, and both videos benefit from him being in the front row, though they primarily focus on Jeff Burrows compared to his bandmates. Very nice quality to boot, so give Duane's footage a look too!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison), The Tea Party Concert Preview, And New Videos!!

As promised, here's those mid-week concert previews on this Monday morning, but to go along with them, I have some videos to share from a recent metal concert. Now, here's what you should know, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

Local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Mark's Breakfast Plus at the Market Mall for the first time this year with special matinee concerts TODAY, TOMORROW, and WEDNESDAY! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were only announced via their Facebook event page on Friday. A frequent venue for Tym Morrison's acoustic solo gigs since Mark's opened in 2017, Tym is known for typically playing at this west end diner on early weekday bookings, but these will actually be his first public shows there since last June. I'm surprised he didn't play there more often when Gliss was relocating, but it's great to see Tym back at a familiar locale TODAY, TOMORROW, and WEDNESDAY, even on late notice! As usual for his Mark' Breakfast Plus gigs, expect these to have early 4:00 PM start times with no announced cover charges or age limits, but mind the locale. See above for more details, and here's Tym live a few years back!



Next up, here's a preview of a huge concert with lots of advance notice, as Juno nominated Windsor hard/world rock trio The Tea Party will return to Sault Ste. Marie THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT at The Machine Shop! Following their successful free concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion last July, the band behind such hits as "Psychopomp" & "The Messenger" are back for another show full of hard rocking songs from their long career, including their new single "Black River", and hopefully there's a strong turnout for Jeff, Stuart, and Jeff's return to the Soo on Wednesday! Joining The Tea Party as openers (though only quietly acknowledged in local advertising) are Winnipeg southern rock quintet The Proud Sons, whose country-inflected original sound will prove an interesting contrast on Wednesday, but they have the talent and musicianship to go around nicely! Presented by Cabin Media, this is unfortunately not a free and all ages concert like last year, with tickets running for $40, but they are still available!

You can buy tickets at this link and presumably in-person/at the door, attendees must be 19 or older, and a 7:30 PM start time is advertised. After a 19 year wait for The Tea Party to rock Sault Ste. Marie ended last summer, it's great to see them back so soon, and hopefully they deliver another skilled and fan-friendly set on Wednesday! Stay tuned for updates and hopefully some local news coverage, and here's The Tea Party in the Soo last year!



We'll close today with some new concert videos shot by the ever-generous Christopher Paci (who also filmed the above Tea Party video), as he was in attendance for Saturday night's OZbourne concert at The Canadian Nightclub, filming 11 videos that night for his YouTube channel. Kudos to Chris as usual, he goes above and beyond when he's at a show regarding filming the bands! Regarding the headliners, Chris filmed the Winnipeg-based Ozzy Osbourne tribute band covering Black Sabbath's "War Pigs", "Paranoid", "N.I.B.", and (part of) the song "Black Sabbath", plus five of Ozzy's own solo songs, namely "Bark At The Moon", "Flying High Again", "Crazy Train", "I Don't Know", and as embedded below, "No More Tears." Generally, OZbourne deliver the goods on these videos for Ozzy fans in music and presentation, and Chris got a nice close view of the band too, so fans should enjoy these clips! Give them a look above & below!



Lastly, Chris also filmed two videos of opening blues rock cover trio The Paul DellaVedova Band on Saturday, and it's clear that Paul & company are fans of Paul Rodgers & Simon Kirke, as their filmed covers are of Bad Company's "Rock & Roll Fantasy" and, as embedded below, Free's "All Right Now." Nice to see the guys break out some hard rock classics for the occasion, and while Chris wasn't as close to the stage as he would get with OZbourne, you get some good angles on these solid covers! No, I don't know if the stage setup with the speakers behind metal barriers on the floor is permanent or just for this concert. Give Paul's videos a look as well!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Tea Party), New Videos, And More Updates!!

Let's get a new news post rolling on this Wednesday morning, and it's a stacked one, with a handful of recent shorter updates, some new concert videos, a long awaited music video, and leading off, a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for early next year, so here's what you should know!

In the first announced local hard rock concert of 2019, Windsor hard/world rock trio The Tea Party will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert on Wednesday, March 27th at The Machine Shop! The Juno Award nominees behind hits like "Heaven Coming Down" & "Temptation" were last seen locally when they headlined the local stop of the ONTour concert series at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion in July of last year, itself ending a 19 year break from their last Soo appearance, so it's great to have them back already for another concert! Last year's was very well received, and with their new single "Black River" now on sale, there's already some positive momentum for this show in the spring! Opening bands (local or otherwise) have not yet been announced, we'll let you know when/if they're confirmed. Promoted by Cabin Media (who are also promoting the upcoming Obie Trice and The Game rap concerts locally), this is unfortunately not a free concert like last year, with tickets going for $35 for the first 200 customers, and the cost goes up to $40 afterwards.

Tickets go on sale on Thursday morning at 10:00 AM at this link, and one assumes at The Machine Shop's in-person box office, so act A.S.A.P. if you want $5 off! Also unlike in 2017, this is sadly a licensed 19+ concert, but there is an early-ish 7:30 PM start time advertised. The Tea Party have a lot of familiar hits for anyone familiar with Canadian rock radio and old school MuchMusic, and it'll be nice to have the Jeffs and Stuart back in town early next year! Stay tuned for more updates as they roll in!

Next up, local death metal band The Bear Hunters finally released their first ever music video on Saturday! The first upload on their YouTube channel in over 4 years, this is for the first publically released song from their forthcoming sophomore album "The Dead Testament", namely "I Fear No God", so what should you know here? The video was directed by Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno via his independent film company Spacebag Productions (who are now finally in our "Other Local Metal Links" section), and was filmed at Robbie Adamson's church in nearby Leeburn, notably the site of both of the Oh!No festivals. The Bear Hunters didn't play at either installment (Johnny's other bands and Nik's Beaver Slap guest turn aside), so you could call this a belated make-up date of sorts! As you may tell by their new picture, the video does not feature rhythm guitarist Josh Stephney, who does play on this track and the CD, but still lives in Southern Ontario and hasn't performed live with the band since May 2016.

I'll hold comments on the song proper until our likely review of "The Dead Testament" in 2019, but the video is very well shot, with Josh capturing some effective mood lighting (even with candles!), and some excellent close up shots of the guys in action. I'd have included a little more outdoor footage, especially given how it was snowing when The Bear Hunters entered the church, but this is excellently done, especially for their first music video. Give it a look below, check the video description for the complete track listing order for the album, and keep posted for more updates!

Also today, here's two newly discovered videos of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, courtesy of drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel in recent months! One is from his debut as Soundcheck's permanent drummer, namely the Downtown Street Party on Queen Street East on September 22nd, and you can see the guys cover The Beatles' "Come Together" here in front of GFL Memorial Gardens. In terms of public video footage, this isn't a new cover (you may recognize this version from a Wawa gig with ex-drummer Scott McLurg), but this copy has strong merit and a strong performance that recalls Aerosmith's version to an extent! I like the setting right beside the Memorial Tower, but the outdoor sunlight is too overexposed, and the filmer flipped the camera sideways to capture Terry Eaton's guitar solo, so lock your mobile device's orientation for best results. Embedded below though is their cover of Greta Van Fleet's "Highway Tune", so what should you know there?

Filmed at Soundcheck's concert at The Esquire Club (also finally in our active venue listings) on November 3rd, this too features guitarist Travis Sharpe singing, and if you ask me, his solid vocals benefit from him not trying to sound like Josh Kiszka by way of Robert Plant! As for the video proper, I'm not high on the post-production effect where motions stay on screen for a slight delay, especially when the guys don't move around a lot, and the usage of a second camera's viewpoint late feels somewhat tacked on, and ideally should have been incorporated more. It's nice to see some more videos online, so give Soundcheck's new clips a look above & below!



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

• Based on their Facebook page's new cover photo, it looks like local Celtic punk veterans Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide have indeed enlisted Lake Effect drummer Chris Johns (replacing Mikey Hawdon) & The Barn Board Trio's Liam Seymour on guitar, officially making them a quintet. Mikey last played live with The Tide in July 2016, with Chris taking over on drums for their 2018 reunion, and Liam joined on later in the year. Both seem to fit in well, and it'll be interesting to hear the five-piece tide at LopLops later this month, but best of luck to Mikey with his Toronto bands!
• As frequently teased on social media prior, local/Thompson, Manitoba solo hard rock artist Mike Haggith released the first single for his forthcoming studio album "Bridges" onto online streaming and download platforms on Saturday! That single is "The Nature of the Times", which also has a music video in the works, and you can stream it on Spotify and buy it on Amazon, CDBaby, and iTunes. Like with The Bear Hunters above, I'll hold comment on the song until the likely review of "Bridges" next year, but this song will please fans of Mike's softer original material. Check it out above, and stay tuned for more on the CD!
• Dafter, Michigan hard rock solo artist SweetKenny quietly released another instrumental score album to his website on November 10th, though this oddly has not been released in a paid format at press time, and is also billed under his real name Kenneth Sutton. Entitled "Monster", the 8 songs are intended for usage in commercials for sports drinks and sports in general, and the album name may intentionally reflect Monster Energy drinks. Fans of his scores will want to check it out above, but we'll let you know if it goes on sale!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as December progresses! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Brook Moreau, Mike Deresti, And Maltheus

Here's this month's YouTube Channel Profiles to check out on this Tuesday afternoon! Today, we're spotlighting 3 randomly selected channels, as the first one we chose only had 3 very similar videos, so we had to fill things out, and the second channel only had one video period, so three it is. This month covers solo, live, and studio material from a handful of notable performers, so here's what you should know on this month's chosen YouTube channels and their content within!
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Brook Moreau (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3oG6AxI8g4ueU4yCdxdZ6A) 

Owner: Ex-For All That Is Lost guitarist Brook Moreau

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 5th, 2012; Videos posted from March 15th-18th, 2015

Channel Summary: Two years after the breakup of his Central Algoma death metal band F.A.T.I.L., Brook uploaded three solo performance videos on YouTube, including a cover of August Burns Red's "Composure" and two Killswitch Engage covers, "Take This Oath" and "Self Revolution", his most popular video. Oddly enough, Brook doesn't appear to have his guitar plugged in for the covers (hence why you can hear him hitting the guitar strings), but he is clearly playing the songs in question and seems to know them very well! Though Brook hasn't visibly used his channel in over three years, check out For All That Is Lost videos for higher quality views of Brook in action, he was a highly underrated player!


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Mike Deresti (http://www.youtube.com/deresti64) 

Owner: YouTube user and area resident Mike Deresti

Channel Timeline: Launched on April 28th, 2011; Only video posted on July 16th, 2017

Channel Summary: Mike's only upload is a video of Windsor hard/world rock trio The Tea Party's free headlining concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion last July during the provincial government-sponsored ONTour concert series. Posting this shortly after the show wrapped up, Mike's video is of The Tea Party playing their classic ballad "Heaven Coming Down" (plus a mid-song rendition of U2's "With Or Without You"), though it starts with frontman Jeff Martin talking about filming the music video for this song. One of the better public videos from this concert, you get a nice look at the stage and video wall from Mike's vantage point, and The Tea Party sound as good as ever on their biggest hit! Though Mike hasn't visibly used this channel since, other YouTube accounts have more videos from this show.


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Maltheas (http://www.youtube.com/maltheas) 

Owner: YouTube user Maltheas, who I don't believe is locally based

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 17th, 2010; Videos posted on June 19th & 20th of that year

Channel Summary: Maltheas' channel is solely made up of two videos of songs he likes with accompanying lyrics in both English and Spanish, including Jonathan Coulton's "The Future Soon", and the more locally relevant "Brand New Low" by Treble Charger. I don't speak Spanish, so I can't comment on how good the translation is, but commenters on the more popular Jonathan Coulton cover seem appreciative of the effort! Of course, the Treble Charger song in question was a fan favourite from their 2000 CD "Wide Awake Bored", but there are many channels with this and far more content from the local indie/punk veterans, so the channel may only be of a vested interest for Spanish-fluent fans.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, our randomly selected channel will be that of Pillory guitarist/Id Iota bassist Robert Sartini, who has over two dozen videos from Pillory and his solo endeavours, so look for that on or around July 26th, and stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Ripcordz & Tym Morrison), Monday Night Concert Previews, And More!!

Here's our final news post of the month, as we have some rare concert previews for Monday night shows within, plus some recent concert videos, and to kick things off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE), so here's what you should know!

Local acoustic hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will play a special matinee concert TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT when he debuts at... Mark's Breakfast Plus at The Market Mall? Apologies for the short notice, these were only announced via their official Facebook event page yesterday, alongside shows this coming weekend that we'll save for our next weekend concert previews to avoid redundantly featuring them twice in a few days' time. These rare hard rock concerts at the 275 Second Line West mall will mark Tym's first gigs at the new breakfast-specializing restaurant in the former Kackleberry's location, and while this may seem like an atypical site for a concert performance, they have already hosted artists like former That's Chester/Griphook frontman Jim O'Leary, and reportedly host live music specifically between Sundays and Tuesdays.

Tym is no stranger to bringing his unplugged covers to unfamiliar venues (we never covered Gliss until he started there, for example), and hopefully TONIGHT & TOMORROW's shows are hits! Like his Gliss gigs, these shows are both 6:00 PM matinees with no announced cover charges or age limits, but remember that this is a restaurant, and they do have formal dinner entrees if you don't want all-day breakfast. Visit the above links for more details on TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S debuts at Mark's, and here's Tym live!



Next up, we have another new concert to announce, but with lots of prior word, as Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz will return to the Soo on Saturday, October 7th at The Algonquin Pub! Yes, this show has been publically advertised for over a month now via it's official Facebook event page, but we only just learned the venue in the past few days. For a fifth straight year, Paul Gott and company will headline a local concert between August & October, and you know how intense and packed their shows get locally, so don't miss out on their tried & true classics and newer cuts this fall! Currently advertised local openers include punk/metal quintet Jack Spades (who joined them on the "Fed Up!" split & helped open each of The Ripcordz' last four local dates) and punk trio Stegadeth, who contain members that have opened for The Ripcordz with both Jack Spades and T-Rex Manning in the past. Fitting choices for what should be another ferocious night of hardcore punk in October, so don't bypass either local opening band then!

Sadly a 19+ event following The Ripcordz' all ages headliner at The Canadian last year, this concert will be a 9:00 PM affair with $10 advance tickets that you can now buy online at this link, though no word yet on local availability or potential price hikes at the door. Local fans know that The Ripcordz are a must-see attraction during their recently yearly stops in the Soo, so circle October 7th on your calendars, and stay tuned for updates!

Also, here's our preview of another Monday night concert (albeit one with advance notice), as Calgary industrial punk trio Dri Hiev will hit The Gore Street Cafe TONIGHT in their local concert debut! Harbouring a unique sound that I likened to noise punk recorded inside a hydraulic factory, I have no idea how Dri Hiev (presumably pronounced "dry heave") will fare in the laundromat, which tends to lean more towards acoustic acts, but come down to see their intense and original sound tonight to see for yourselves! Local acoustic punk solo project Telephone & Address will open tonight in their first live set since rocking the cafe five months ago, and Chris should be in fine form with more of his unplugged post-punk originals, and pick up his newest CD "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been..." tonight also! This early stop on Dri Hiev's Canadian tour will see a 7:00 PM start time, it will be ALL AGES, and while this is a "pay what you can" event as usual, the venue suggests donating $10. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Dri Hiev live!



Finally for today, here's some new videos from Christopher Paci's YouTube channel, as the local concert filmer was also back in action shooting lots of videos at The Tea Party's free headlining concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion two weeks ago! Only posted online late last week, Chris filmed every act except opening artist McLean (granted, his set was only advertised at 15 minutes long), and he posted videos of Sudbury country singer Andrew Hyatt's song "Love Drunk", and three songs by Toronto drum & bass duo Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker ("Damini", "Work Shoes", and "Yo Hello Hooray".) As for the headlining Windsor hard rock trio, Chris posted videos of them playing their songs "Temptation", "Heaven Coming Down", "Save Me", "The Bazaar", "Writing's On The Wall", and as embedded below, "Psychopomp". These are candid fan-shot videos rather than the previously seen videos from news outlets and organizers, so how did these turn out?

Not bad at all, Chris was about third row for the concert, with a nearly central angle to the stage, and with bright daytime lighting at the outdoor venue to boot. Fans' heads can get in the road, but with the higher stage and many softer stretches from the day's bands, the audio and video quality is no issue! Give all of Chris' videos a look from this free and varied evening of live music above and below, and stay tuned for more from his channel!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates next month! Thanks everyone!

Local Hard Rock Video Showcase!!

Before we begin this all-video post, here's a late lineup update for TONIGHT'S Project 421 concert at The Canadian Nightclub, courtesy of it's Facebook event page, as local rapper and Live705 newcomer Mike Reed-Lecuyer (a.k.a. Reeder) has replaced blues/hard rock trio Electric Church on the lineup. A reason for Electric Church's withdrawal wasn't publically announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened! You may recognize Reeder from last summer's Grave Party concert at The New A, and hopefully he adds solid rhymes to the proceedings tonight! Now, let's begin this all-video post, including recent major concert footage and in-studio clips!

We'll start today with a belated concert video from the Lita Ford outdoor concert at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino last month, courtesy of YouTube user spiritinthesky blue's channel on Thursday! With her Great White videos already uploaded, she finally posted this clip of Lita Ford playing her original song "Gotta Let Go" to open her headlining set, and while the audio's not bad, this was filmed from backstage (remember this user's backstage and meet & greet clips?) Lita is visible in the center, but the dark lighting from behind the stage isn't optimal. Unique view all the same, so give this new Lita Ford video a look below, and hopefully more videos are out there!



Next up, here's a new video from last Sunday's Tea Party concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, shared by the Ontario Government's Facebook page onto the ONTour concert series stop's Facebook event page on Thursday! A summative recap video, this features shots of the Soo and the road trip here for the concert for the first minute or so, before transitioning to the concert proper, including footage of The Tea Party, U.S.S., Andrew Hyatt, and McLean's sets, the crowd, and even some slow motion shots. All audio is disappointingly replaced by a techno/pop instrumental, but the filmers got some great angles of the bands and fans throughout the day's lineup, so give this one a look below as well!



Also today, here's some new videos from local alternative/hard rock trio The Din's Facebook page on Wednesday, specifically relating to demo recording now being underway for their second studio album! As far as I can tell, these are not the final recordings, and are strictly demos in advance of formal recording sessions later this year, but it's great to see that things have commenced towards CD #2! One video features frontman Mike Haggith tracking a song on bass while guitarist Tammy Hill mans the computer, while the other videos are of Mike recording vocal tracks, and between these two, there is 35 minutes of footage to check out from the sessions! The video below features Mike tracking their songs "35's The Limit" (fittingly enough) and "High Park", while part 2 features a slower and possibly newer song that I don't recognize, as well as "Up In The Air" and "Suburban Dream". Both feature assorted banter from Mike & Tammy between songs as well, helping fill out the time in the videos.

As both a sneak preview into five Din originals from their upccoming CD (albeit pre-session demos) and as an informal look at the band's recording sessions and often funny interactions therein, these are all worth checking out for fans of The Din! That said, prepare yourself for the length, and the sideways camera angles are unfortunate, but give in to The Din's new studio videos above and below!



Finally, here's a new cover performance from Theatre of Night keyboardist Craig Harrison, courtesy of the Sault Michigan classical metal project's YouTube channel on Tuesday! A cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", and as filmed in one take with a cell phone camera, the view from Craig's right side isn't optimal, but the black and white filter adds to the mood, and he puts the requisite passion into this cover! Give Craig's cover a look/listen below! (Disclaimer: this video was posted prior to Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington's tragic passing on Thursday, and we had slotted it for a weekend post prior to hearing the news, but the coincidental timing can't be ignored.)



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck) & Tea Party Concert Fallout!!

Before our weekend concert previews go on the site (not to mention some recently announced new concerts coming up in August), we have lots of fallout from a recent major concert to get to at last, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will make their Canadian Nightclub debut with a solo concert there on Friday, August 4th! Apparently a rare solo concert from a local cover band at The Canadian (is the venue getting back into booking weekend cover acts again?), this won't be entirely new territory for the guys, as predecessors Mourning Wood played a Toystock fundraiser there, but this will be a first for the former Nameus. No word yet on if we'll see Soundcheck out there in the interim (remember, shows that they announce are often on short notice), but fresh off of their Rotaryfest debut, hopefully Soundcheck deliver a fun night of 1980s themed covers and select country numbers in two weeks time! A $4 cover charge is in effect for this 19+ concert, which is listed to start at 9:30 PM, and aside from food/drink specials that night, I can't confirm if there's any extra frills related to the booking. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's some fallout and videos from Sunday night's free Tea Party concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand for the ONTour concert series stop, snapping 39 colour photos from the event for this article that also briefly summarized the event. Donna's excellent (but scrambled-in-order) pictures include 8 of The Tea Party's headlining set, 9 of Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker, 5 of Andrew Hyatt, 2 of McLean, and 15 of fans and attendees. That does seem like a lot, but it's clear from the happy fan response and ONTour paraphernalia that everyone had a good time with the free downtown entertainment on Sunday! SaultOnline's Lynne Brown was also in attendance for her own article on the concert, and she took 11 photos herself, including 5 of The Tea Party, 4 of U.S.S., and 2 of fans (including a well-timed shot of fans waving their arms in sync.) Give all of these photos and show summaries a look above for more on Sunday's action!

In terms of videos from the show, we'll start with a nine minute video of The Tea Party's set, courtesy of YouTube user Mike Deresti's channel right after the show. Mike's footage includes the Windsor hard rock veterans playing their biggest hit song "Heaven Coming Down" (as preceded by frontman Jeff Martin's anecdote about filming it's music video), and yes, they did inject U2's "With Or Without You" into the rendition! The video looks and sounds great, with a nice angle of the stage and video wall(!), and The Tea Party still sound like how they did at their peak, so give Mike's video a look below!



Today's other known videos come from the aforementioned local news websites, including multiple videos from a SaultOnline-affiliated YouTube channel named "ShadesofNorth CanUsa". If you glanced at or didn't read the above article, four abbreviated videos were linked there, including two of U.S.S.' opening set (which definitely got younger attendees moving up front) and two of The Tea Party's set. Their videos include clips of their songs "Psychopomp" and, as embedded below, one of their heavier hits, "Temptation". The side stage videos have some audio distortion, but a nice and unique angle of the band, so give them a look above and below as well!



Finally, SooToday also filmed the last two bands for their own YouTube channel, though in their case, it's a summative 69 second clip with no specific focus  on either band. Confirming that there was an on-stage MC to introduce acts, the video features some great quality, but all-too-short clips, including The Tea Party playing their song "The Bazaar" at video's end, and U.S.S. interacting with the crowd on the floor, which had to have been a thrill for fans! I wish there was more to this video, but give it a look below for more solid footage from Sunday's ONTour event!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and weekend concert previews in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

The Tea Party, Rotaryfest Stage 2, And LopLops Lounge Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's our third and final all-concert preview post for this stacked concert weekend (Darsombra on Monday aside, as it's technically next week), so what lies within this post? The third year of the current version of Rotaryfest's second stage, two linked 19+ shows from bands playing that event, and one more huge all ages event this weekend, so here's what you should know to close this huge weekend of concerts!

We'll start today's previews at LopLops Lounge for their first of two concerts this weekend featuring Rotaryfest Stage 2 performers, as local indie/punk quintet Northwest and indie/folk quartet K.I.C.K. will join forces TONIGHT before their Second Stage sets! Though the Keep it Cool Kids play later in the evening tomorrow, Northwest are the advertised headliners for this 19+ appetizer, marking just their second local concert appearance of 2017. Might they have some songs to share from recent EP recording sessions? Be at LopLops tonight to find out! As for K.I.C.K., this is their second show in a three day run of consecutive concerts, following their rainy set at yesterday's Downtown Street Party, and they should have some fun indie rock originals as well for fans tonight! A 19+ event, this show has a $5 cover charge and a 6:00 PM start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, don't miss out on this Second Stage prelude tonight, and here's Northwest live!

Next up, let's discuss TOMORROW NIGHT'S twelfth annual Rotaryfest Stage 2, which returns to it's "redirected" Clergue Park staging beside the art gallery as a one night only event, so who can you look for? Headlining the expanded 8 band all-original lineup at 8:00 PM is local indie rock artist Jesse Merineau with a full backing band (including Electric Church's Spencer Pine & 2/3rds of the former Caroline Divine), with the aforementioned K.I.C.K. co-headlining in their second Second Stage set at 7:00 PM. Alt-hard rock trio The Din will return to Stage 2 at 6:00 PM as this year's highest placed heavier or punk band, while the also aforementioned Northwest and fellow punk quartet A Dire Setback will rock the 5:00 & 4:00 PM sets respectively. Alternative/hard rock quartet Id Iota (and guest cellist Pete Mozarowski) will hit the festival once again at 3:00 PM, as preceded at 2:00 PM by the final all ages set from pop rock solo artist Mike Mikus before his announced move to Montreal (more on that in a second.)

Opening at 1:00 PM are new local indie/pop outfit All Us Others, featuring two female singers and a full backing band, so come early to hear how they sound! Curated for a third straight year by Chelsie Parayko, this year's Stage 2 action is once again FREE & ALL AGES, so see the above links or click here for full details on the all-original stage tomorrow! With a lot of talented young artists this year (with no bands that played Stage 2 even two years ago), this year's lineup promises lots of entertainment for fans of the recent alternative movement locally, so don't miss out tomorrow night, and for a preview, here's The Din live at Rotaryfest last year!



Also this weekend, here's LopLops Lounge's second Rotaryfest weekend concert featuring Stage 2 acts, as the aforementioned Mike Mikus and Id Iota will join forces tomorrow night for what is billed as Mike's "final show in the Soo"! As first announced last month, the former Pixo Control and Fever Tops frontman is moving to Montreal in the near future, so he's throwing one last headlining concert event before the big move, which will see him, Dustin, and Keeghan play songs from his forthcoming studio album, old Pixo Control favourites, and possibly some surprises. If you've missed Michael's old grunge/hard rock days with The Pixo Control, and/or love his newer poppier originals, here's your last chance for the foreseeable future! Id Iota (and presumably Pete) will also pull double duty tomorrow as openers, and gold star to Dustin Goodall in advance for playing four full sets with Mike and Id Iota in a 12 hour span!

The two acts have been heavily linked since Mike went solo last summer, so who better to open his farewell show than Id Iota? Much like with the Northwest/K.I.C.K. show, this is a 19+ event with a $5 cover and a 10:00 PM start time, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details. If you've followed Michael's music work in the 2010s, you know his move will be a disappointing loss around here, and while I hope he'll come back home for shows on occasion, best of luck to him in Montreal for sure, and be sure to give him a huge send-off tomorrow night! For a preview, let's throw back to The Pixo Control, whose last lineup is identical to Mike's outgoing solo band!



Finally for today's previews, here's a huge FREE show taking place THIS SUNDAY NIGHT, as Windsor hard/world rock trio The Tea Party will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario with a headlining set at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! The fourth of 23 free outdoor shows taking place this summer during the Ontario government's ONTour concert series, the Soo's stop on Sunday will see two bands and now two solo artists rock out in honour of the province & country's 150th birthdays, and this is a great epilogue to Rotaryfest weekend, so don't miss out! Of course, The Tea Party are a platinum-selling, Juno nominated hard rock band, and need no introduction for fans of 1990s Canadian rock, but this is their first local stop in nineteen years, so prepare for hits like "Heaven Coming Down" and "Temptation" on Sunday in their long awaited return! Openers will include Toronto drum & bass duo Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker, in U.S.S.' first show here in six years, as well as two Sudbury solo acts.

They include country musician Andrew Hyatt (replacing the re-booked James Barker Band) and, in a new confirmation via the official Facebook event page on Tuesday, Francophone alt-pop artist McLean, who curiously is only listed as having a 15 minute set. Very diverse lineup to be sure, but there's a little something for many tastes, and The Tea Party will satiate hard rock fans and those who haven't seen them locally since 1998 when they rock the big tent downtown! This FREE & ALL AGES show starts at 5:15 PM on Sunday, so check the above links for full details on this show and other upcoming shows in the ONTour series, and here's The Tea Party live!



That's all for today, but we're not quite done with concert previews, as Monday's Darsombra show will be previewed in our next news post, so look for that then, along with other stories! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Tea Party), A Concert Cancellation, And Much More!!

Here's a new news post for your Tuesday morning, which is by and large devoted to two topics: A major concert cancellation that many were expecting, and a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, but we also have some assorted recent news and notes to take in as well. Now, here's what you need to know!

Juno nominated Windsor hard/world rock trio The Tea Party will headline a FREE & ALL AGES concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Sunday, July 16th! As announced by in a press release on SooToday on Friday, the show is one of 23 free outdoor concerts taking place across Ontario between June 25th and September 17th as part of the Government of Ontario's ONTour concert series, which will see over 50 Ontario music acts playing across the province to celebrate Ontario's 150th' birthday, with the Soo's coming fourth in the tour. This is a nice surprise for music fans across the province, so visit the above links for current details on the tour so far! This will be The Tea Party's first local concert appearance since headlining at The Princess Theatre in 1998, before they had their biggest chart hit with "Heaven Coming Down", so this should be a cool chance to hear these Canadian rock legends playing many of their hits on a local stage after 19 years away, and for FREE!

A diverse opening lineup will include Toronto drum & bass duo Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (who played at LopLops Lounge back in 2011) and Barrie country quartet The James Barker Band in their local concert debut. Both bands have had top 10 hits on the Canadian alternative and country charts, and should find solid audiences of their own next month! A 6:00 PM start time is advertised on the Facebook event page, and for readers elsewhere in the north, note that there will be ONTour events in Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timmins, and Blind River as well, artists to be announced. This sounds like a great time for local music fans of varying genres, especially given The Tea Party's return, so stay tuned for updates if they come in!

Next up, it is now 100% official: the planned Rock The Border Music Fest at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Sunday is not taking place. Organizers quietly deleted the official Facebook page and event page yesterday, following a tumultuous month of no new public updates despite mounting local debate and pessimism about the planned concert. Australian hard rockers and planned co-headliners The Lazys confirmed the cancellation on their Facebook page, while planned local openers The Din took their issues and concerns public via the Facebook video below from this past Friday. The clip explains The Din's reasons for dropping out of the show (which hadn't officially been cancelled at that point), noted that they've obtained refund money for outstanding local tickets from March's aborted Quiet Riot concert from the same promoters, and encouraged fans to instead check out the Electric Church/Speaker concert at The Canadian on Sunday from local promoters Live705.

It's worth noting that if you purchased a Rock the Border Fest ticket, Live705 will honour them as coupons for their show on Sunday night, getting you admitted for the $5 father's discount price, which is very admirable of them! The Din encourage sharing of their video "if you value this city's ability to bring in big name concert acts". Also, note that the Eventbrite page for online ticket sales is still up as of Tuesday morning, despite the Facebook deletions, so don't buy tickets there hoping that this show might still occur. I won't single out any individual promoters here, but after two high profile hard rock cancellations in a three month span, it's easy to see why there's been so much online reticence in the past month, and the lack of public updates since May 7th was telling that something was up (at the very least.) Give The Din's video a look below, and don't miss Live705's Canadian Nightclub concert on SUNDAY or the aforementioned FREE Tea Party concert at The Pavilion in July!



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

• Local alternative/hard rock quartet Bizotic, alt-punk/no-genre trio Handsome Sandwich, and rapper Mikey Thomas have all been added as openers for the Vaultry-headlined concert at The Canadian Nightclub on July 7th. Promoters Live705 had originally only planned for 2 more acts on the bill of this rock/rap hybridization event, but now there's 7 total acts, including 4 bands and 3 rappers. Very intriguing event to be sure, so check the above links for full details on all of the action next month!
• This past Thursday night's CKY concert was covered by SooToday's Donna Hopper in this article posted online yesterday, featuring interview remarks with frontman Chad Ginsburg on his move to lead vocals and their upcoming CD "The Phoenix". As usual, Donna got some great photos at the show (albeit in black & white), including 5 of CKY's set, 10 of The Wild's set, and 4 of Jack Spades' set, though she didn't get anything from A Dire Setback or with CKY touring keyboardist Matt Cole. Solidly done once again, so check out Donna's new concert photos and coverage at the above links!
• Remember how Toronto death/groove metal quintet Sludgehammer were to have headlined the postponed Oddzfest II concert at The Oddfellows Hall on Saturday? Well, it was announced on Sunday that Bear Hunters guitarist Josh Stephney (the promoter of Oddzfest II) has replaced Chris Szarota as Sludgehammer's new frontman! No word on if the reveal would have been a surprise unveiling on Saturday or not had the show taken place, but it's great to see Josh singing again in a death metal band, so follow Sludgehammer above, and hopefully he brings them north for Oddzfest II at some point!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for even more news and notes on the SMS in the next few days! Thanks everyone!