Sabrina Pelchat Funeral Details, Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands Updates, And More News

I hope everyone had a great Halloween, despite the rain! Our first post of November includes new live concert videos, assorted updates, and updates to an upcoming battle of the bands, but first, here's some details on final services for a departed local musician, so here's what you should know!

The obituary for late Chronic Demonic singer Sabrina Pelchat has been posted on SooToday, which confirms that her services will be held on Tuesday at 3:00 PM at the Northwood Funeral Home at 942 Great Northern Road, with visitation beginning there at 1:00 PM. Helen Smith will officiate the service, and interment will be at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. She is survived by her parents, four siblings, partner/Shadowthrone bandmate Robert Sartini, her grandmother, and numerous other extended family members. The family is asking for donations to the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society in her memory, and you can also offer condolences at this link. This is all still very sad for family and friends of Sabrina's, but hopefully everyone can remember the good times on Tuesday, and if you were a friend or colleague of hers, definitely consider going to the service on Tuesday, and/or the memorial concert at The Rednecks Saloon later this month!

Next up, here's some bad news for fans eagerly awaiting the second Speak Easy Battle of the Bands on Thursday, November 19th, as it has been postponed until March 2016. Co-promoter Jordan Leach (now going under the name Ye Tang Che on Facebook) revealed the news on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Friday, citing "sponsorship issues" for the delay. He didn't elaborate further on what the issues were, other than to say that he announced the postponement "with great distaste, but there's no way around these difficulties." A fixed March date for the battle will be announced "within a few weeks", and while the four previously announced acts (Mike Haggith & The Din, Pillory, Jesse Merineau, and the yet-to-be-revealed Eclypse) are still signed up for the battle, they are free to drop out if necessary for scheduling or other concerns. Jordan was hoping for 8 competing bands the last time out, so if you're interested in playing the delayed Speak Easy battle in March, message him above or at this link!

This is disappointing news, but honestly, the lack of updates regarding the lineup and prizes in recent weeks was a giveaway that something was up with the battle. At least with a March date, it'd (in theory) begin an annual pattern for the battle to be held in March like it was this year, and I'd assume it will be on a Thursday like before, but specifics are to be confirmed. Could it fall on March 3rd to loosely be a one year anniversary? Will these four acts remain come then? Who exactly are Eclypse? Stay tuned for more updates!

Also, here's some long teased media from Ten Kings guitarist Joe Jenkins' Instagram page, which has no less than 224 videos uploaded, far more than on his YouTube channel! There's beyond too many solo videos to cover at the moment, so while I figure out how to best approach covering them, Joe did upload three short clips there of him performing with Ten Kings in the past year! They include a guitar solo of his (song unclear) from July's Theory of a Deadman concert at The Dreammaker's Theater, and two brief clips from concerts at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, including one of the second guitar solo from their cover of Guns 'N Roses' "Paradise City". Embedded below is a snippet of Ten Kings' cover of Billy Squier's "Lonely Is The Night", his only band upload that isn't of a guitar solo, and while you don't hear a lot, the guys sound good! It'd be nice to see more videos from Ten Kings concerts, but give Joe's Instagram clips a look above & below!

\m/ #guitar #guitarist @tenkingsband #cover #billysquier #classic #rock #musician #band #drums #fender #stratocaster #peavey #mapex #sabian #jackson #shure #guitfiddlin #likeforlike #tone #tonegeek #toneheaven #live #livemusic #supportlocalmusic #savethemusic #samplessuck #knowyourtone #instarock #instalike #beard

A video posted by Big Joe Jenkins (@bigjoeguitar) on Oct 14, 2015 at 9:02pm PDT

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

• Local post-punk quartet Gnaeus launched a contest on their Facebook page on October 19th, where they're looking for silly suggestions. The best suggestion (which would presumably be performed by the band) would net the winner a free copy of their upcoming debut CD "Loomings" and a chance to touch guitarist/synth player Brad Irwin's hair. If you're interested in submitting a suggestion, visit the above links!
• In a pair of house cleaning notes from last night's annual Halloween Party at The Algonquin Pub, The Elements enlisted Lake Effect saxophonist Josh Norling to round out their Sublime tribute set (nice touch!), while a personal Facebook post by Jack Spades drummer Johnny Belanger indicated that the one-off punk tribute band that he played in last night apparently had the ribald name of Ball Licker Inc. (but I have not seen references to that name elsewhere.) No word on who played what in the band, but we'll let you know if we hear anything! I wish I could have been there!
• Once again, Asylum Country/ex-Mourning Wood drummer T.J. Case is looking to join a new local band, as per his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on October 13th. T.J. is a very skilled drummer, as fans of his band work will surely know, and he has experience in hard rock and punk acts, so message him at this link or above if you want more details!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Diemonds), Recent Concert Videos, And More!!

We're back to some news and notes on this Tuesday, including some assorted recent updates, two more new videos from a big summer concert, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next weekend, so here's what you should know!

Toronto hard rock quintet Diemonds will return to Sault Ontario next Friday (August 21st) for a headlining show at The Rednecks Saloon! Last seen here in November 2013 at The Algonquin Pub, this female-fronted power outfit always bring a great time to the stage, as seen in 2013 and way back in 2009, and with their new CD "Never Wanna Die" in tow for their Infest The West tour, fans won't want to miss Diemonds' intense live show in 10 days time! Local support will come courtesy of local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters and at least one more band to be announced, so message promoters if you want in! For reference, 2013's Diemonds show featured the now-inactive T-Rex Manning & Punch as openers. Promoted by Destroilet singer Brenton Ellis (under his recent online handle Buck Norris), next week's 19+ concert will have a $5 cover charge, and there's a 9:00 PM start time listed. For more details on this concert, visit the official Facebook event page!

It's great to see Diemonds come back to the Soo after an almost two year wait, and hopefully there's a great turnout next weekend! It's also worth noting that Brent is picking up steam lately as a promoter, primarily at The Rednecks Saloon, which is encouraging, and hopefully he keeps at it if things go well! Stay tuned for updates on this show as they come in!

Next up, here's the last of the recent concert videos from YouTube user Melissa Morrison's channel, as uploaded last week along with her LopLops footage, so what should you know? Though not labelled as such, these appear to come from the Archaics-headlined concert at The New American Pub on June 1st, with photos from that show matching performers' clothing and the stage setup. Melissa posted two videos from the concert, both of local bands making their New A debuts that night, including this one of local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control covering the 1960s rock classic "Twist & Shout" in their usual slowed down, then sped up style. Though shot on the vertical angle like most concert videos on the channel, Melissa had a nice clear view of the guys in action, and the audio's very good to boot, but note that the very beginning is cut off. Give this new Pixo Control video a look below!



Melissa's other video from the Archaics show was of local post-punk/garage rock quartet Gnaeus playing a song that I admittedly can't title, but it is familiar from concerts, and has a nice fast paced ending that shows their punk side nicely! Strong work as usual from the VM Radio Battle winners, so give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from Gnaeus!



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

• Turner Up/Wishbone alum Brent Royer is looking for a bassist for his new local band project, who apparently play "80s and 90s rock". No other details were offered, but I assume Brent's either the singer or drummer, given his past local band roles. If you're interested in trying out on bass for Brent's new band, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Sunday!
• Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi has entered the local post-punk quartet in the music website Indi's Original Song Challenge, where the winning band could win $50,000, so be sure to throw them a vote to help the cause! The submitted song appears to be "Lovers", as an existing YouTube video of it is embedded within.
• Mourning Wood/Asylum Country drummer T.J. Case is apparently looking to drum in a new band, as per his own Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on Sunday. He noted that he has 13 years of experience, and can do session, live, and tour work, but no word on if this means anything negative for his current local bands. T.J.'s a great drummer who can play almost anything, so if you want to try him out, message him above or at this link!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and previews soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Highway 63), New Video Finds, And More!!

After a two day run of weekend concert previews and battle of the bands updates, let's take a look at other stories from recent days before we dive back into the battle pool, and believe me, there's big news on both to mention shortly! For now, we have some neat video finds, assorted recent notes, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for over the holidays, so here's what you need to know!

Newer Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quartet Highway 63 will play their last gigs of the year (barring a New Year's Eve show) when they return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Friday, December 26th and Saturday, December 27th! Coming just three weeks after the Sir Charge successors' most recent Soo Kewadin dates, I will note that these shows are not among those listed on Kewadin Casino's entertainment page, but they may be waiting to list the 2015 schedule there before updating it. The Switzers and company should be in good form after a successful late 2014 string of concerts, so if you're up for some post Christmas hard rock action, you know where to be! Our source is the band's Facebook page, which also revealed yesterday that the guys are getting ready to record "our demo for the Petoskey casino", presumably meaning that they're auditioning to play gigs at the Odawa Casino & Resort there.

Sault area cover bands playing in the Lower Peninsula aren't unheard of (Highway 63 bassist Chris Leask has played down there with Power Slug), and it'd be great exposure, so hopefully things work out for the guys on that front! As for their Boxing Day weekend shows in the Soo, there's no announced cover charges, 21+ age limits, and 9:00 PM start times in effect, so check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more from Highway 63 as we hear it!

Next up, here's some older performance videos that we just recently came across on YouTube, starting with defunct Sault Ontario hard rock cover quartet Sneaky Pete live at The Rockstar Bar! Uploaded to lead guitarist Mario Carlucci's YouTube channel in October, the video itself is undated, but it was likely filmed in 2011 (it's not the same show as the one we filmed at in January 2012, and they didn't play live in other years.) The almost 9 minute long video features Sneaky Pete covering Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone" before transitioning to Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" to close what was filmed, and the guys sound good here! Mike Oakley's vocal range does come up short at times, but Sneaky Pete had chemistry and a good thing going, and it's s shame that they only played live concerts for less then a year after such a long stretch of preparation. The colours are also badly washed out after post-correction, but kudos to Mario for posting this after 3 years! Give it a look below!, and hopefully the guys turn up in bands again!

Also today, remember how Mourning Wood drummer T.J. Case frequently takes over lead vocals for renditions of AC/DC's "Highway To Hell" during their shows? Well, it turns out that he's been singing AC/DC live long before Mourning Wood were ever a thought, as evidenced by a video posted on YouTube over 4 years ago! Uploaded by user TheLilspirit, this appears to come from his brief run with the veteran local rock band Wishbone, specifically their show at The Roosevelt Hotel (now Reggie's West) on November 20th, 2010. While the Dennis Duguay-fronted band is best known for their original material, they do play the occasional cover, and TheLilspirit filmed 2 at this show, including The Surfaris' instrumental "Wipe Out" and the aforementioned AC/DC cover, though in this case, T.J. and Wishbone did AC/DC's classic "TNT". Both are well performed, and while "TNT" benefits from having two guitarists, the backing vocals are barely audible & aren't as effective.

I'll also note that both videos are definitely centered on T.J. over Wishbone (the songs are credited to T.J. only in the title, and the other Wishbone members aren't in frame), but a reason for the single member focus isn't stated. Maybe the filmer has a personal connection, and/or the videos are intended as a solo showcase? Give Wishbone's "TNT" cover a look below, see more above, and don't miss Mourning Wood at Rednecks TONIGHT!



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 funk/hard rock quartet The Elements have quietly been added to the lineup for the second annual X-Mess acoustic punk show at The Algonquin Pub next week, as per the Facebook event page a few days ago. No word on how their set will adapt to an unplugged setting (especially concerning drums), but it's great to see the guys on board for this seasonal event! Stay tuned for more updates, and the first 11 people in the door on Saturday will get a gift!
• Redundant frontman/Thrill Junkies bassist Justin Langlois is looking to join another band on bass, saying "I need to play more bass" via a post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group this past Friday. Justin's talent and resume speaks for itself, but if you're interested in jamming with him, message him above or at this link!
• Speaking of bassist searches, a new local modern rock/punk band named Stereo North are also looking for a bassist, as per a post on the Musicians Wanted group yesterday by drummer Brett Norton. The band is comprised of experienced members, have a setlist ready with new and old songs, and plan to begin playing live once a bassist is found. If you want to try out for Stereo North, message Brett A.S.A.P. at this link or at the Musicians Wanted group!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more updates over the weekend, especially concerning both of next year's battles of the bands and the acts playing them! Thanks everyone!