Glen Thomas' "Glen Yaps" Video On Soundcheck!!

If you're familiar with veteran local rock drummer Glen Thomas, then you may be aware of his series of "Glen Yaps" videos on his YouTube channel, where he talks about anything that comes to mind, typically relating to music and drumming. His newest "Glen Yaps" video will be of SMS interest beyond those interested in drumming technique and equipment, as it's a 70 minutes long reflection on his recently dissolved local classic/hard rock cover band Soundcheck! Glen does note at the start that he was in Soundcheck and their predecessors/brief sister band Mourning Wood for 10-11 years (according to our old coverage of those bands, he replaced T.J. Case in Mourning Wood in August 2015, left prior to that band's final two gigs in April 2017, then replaced Scott McLurg on drums in Soundcheck over a year later). Next, Glen addresses their breakup, saying that the band was "going through the motions" towards the end, but they had a good run.

Glen next looks at the high points of his runs in both Mourning Wood and Soundcheck, highlighting the professionalism of the lineups, especially the 2018-2019 Soundcheck lineup (featuring singer/guitarists Terry Eaton & Travis Sharpe and bassist Paul Belair), while also acknowledging the drama and internal conflicts that all bands go through, and the shifts in audience response when lineup changes happened, primarily hinting towards when Cameron Oliver replaced Travis in late 2019. He also reflected on their frequent fill-in musicians (often bassists) over the years, and how their experience as musicians allowed them to easily ad lib and adapt on the fly, let alone perform with a massive multi-genre playlist, despite not practicing very regularly. After reflecting on some of the individual members (including their most prominent fill-in bassist Rob Gilmar), Glen looks at the downsides of the band to him.

He starts by reflecting on how he actually wanted to leave Soundcheck two years ago, and desired some more musical variety and setlist input, and how he wanted Soundcheck to change up their set with newer songs in general to retain audience investment. While that was a struggle for him, Glen stuck it out and they found some new fans and fun gigs in the last few years. Glen also noted that he dislikes playing weddings or stags & does, events that often have a large audience that isn't there for a rock band, and he felt that he couldn't express musical freedom at such bookings. In the music business, Glen wants to play music first and foremost, especially nowadays. Reflecting on the ultimate end of Soundcheck, they mainly broke up due to Terry wanting a break from live music, but that lined up anyway with Glen having issues with the band's increasingly loud sound in concert aggravating his existing vertigo.

Glen next mentions how Cameron has a rough go of things when he joined Soundcheck, as some existing fans really didn't like change/Travis leaving, but he praised Cameron's professionalism and talents as he grew into the role. Apparently, Terry & Jim are going to keep performing together in a new band of some type, while Cameron continues to perform as a solo country musician. While Glen is currently working as a fill-in drummer where needed, he is tentatively working on new projects named Drones Over Jersey and Bing Bang Boom, as well as a mystery unlaunched project that he seemed to really want to get going, but could not. Next, Glen thanks the venues who booked Soundcheck and the fans who saw them over the years, while also crediting bandmates' talents again (especially Terry), and noting that commitment to your band is important.

After the camera died and Glen replaced his battery, he recapped everything and thanked all of his Soundcheck/Mourning Wood bandmates and predecessors. It's rare when you get such a long (and public) retrospective on a local band, especially in video format, and while this is just Glen's take on Soundcheck for good and for bad, it's interesting to hear how he assessed the group over the years! The back half does increasingly have him reiterating earlier points, but he's an easy talker in this format, and it's nice to get some public reasoning into why Soundcheck disbanded on New Year's Day. Check out the full "Glen Yaps" video below, and stay tuned for more news & notes soon! Thanks everyone!

Queen Street Block Party Review!!

An impromptu decision with a friend led us to the block party on Queen Street East yesterday to see the last two bands, so here's a surprise review of what I was able to catch! Hosted by downtown artisinal soap store Wood, Resin, and Lye, everything looked well organized and maintained on the blocked off Heritage Block of Queen Street (Pim Street-East Street) with lots of vendors and a decent crowd despite this being later in the day. Bands performed on a stage set up in front of Precious Blood Cathedral, so just about halfway into the block party zone, and 705Live Sound Co. made sure everyone sounded good yesterday. I guess the block party proper was delayed to a 2:00 PM start but we only arrived at around 4:30 (again, going at all was decided late). As such, I apologize for missing the opening acts, but there was indeed a Soo's Got Talent alumni set to kick off the day, albeit not strictly "last year's finalists", rather half of them.

Last year's winner Amanda Phillips, fellow finalists Ali Nisbett & Xavier Pelletier LeBeouf, and non-finalist Greg McLeod (all singers) represented the annual local talent show here, and if you want to see videos of their performances, then head over to The Soo's Got Talent's Facebook page! None of their videos feature metal, hard rock, or punk covers, but at least as far as the video goes, Amanda & Ali joined forces for at least two songs. T.S.G.T. judge Darren Robertson also served as the on-stage MC yesterday. Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations were second up yesterday, where they revealed that Dorian Grey/Flat Stanley guitarist Tony Kajnar is the newest addition to the band, replacing Brandon Ruch. Tony was one of two guest guitarists that Generations have played with in the past month+, and clearly his gig with them at The Water Tower Pub went well for him to get the fill-time position!

For a first look at Generations with Tony Kajnar as a full band member, drummer Tony Santoro's wife Dawn did film a video of them covering Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" with Tony K. on lead vocals, though it's easy to miss, as it was tucked at the end of a batch post of her photos from the day on their Facebook group. The 2:33 clip is sadly shot vertically, but at least she zoomed, and it sounds good while it lasts, with both Tonys handling this more modern power pop song well! Give it a watch below!

Arriving downtown (as in, to park my vehicle), we heard pop rock cover quartet Lime covering Joan Jett, while they were doing a Beatles song while walking to the stage. As such, I only saw them perform two songs live, including a cover of The Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" with guitarist/Rising Tide alum Liam Seymour on vocals, and the song that I filmed, as embedded below. Though Lime never plugged their involvement at the block party on their Facebook page, a sideways live-streamed video of them covering Linda Ronstadt's "When Will I Be Loved?" can be seen there. Liam, frontwoman Madi Schomogyi (a 2018 Soo's Got Talent finalist), and bassist Dan Linklater (ex-Id Iota) did show good chemistry and musicianship in what I saw, and Madi's voice is quite distinct! I couldn't immediately confirm the identity of their guest drummer though (normal drummer Braiden Bryant was unavailable).

The headliners of the block party were online page-less punk/alternative cover quintet Bookclub, who feature 3/4ths of The Inner City Surfers in mostly shuffled roles alongside guitarist Dave Bahun's old Room 206 bandmate Allan Watson on drums, and trumpet player Erin Antonello (who also plays tambourine and sings backup as song needs dictate). This was my first time seeing Bookclub live, and their set honestly hews closer to Mikey & His Uke than The Surfers, if with a more commercial range, but still with punk themes given that Mikey Hawdon is fronting this band. Though jokingly referencing their set as all-original, they only played covers from such acts as The Greg Kihn Band, The Travelling Wilburys, Lindsay Buckingham, Huey Lewis & The News, and John Fogerty, among others. With this group of musicians, talent and chemistry is no issue whatsoever, and the crowd was definitely into it!

You could tell that they were trying to move things along quick for time reasons, but Bookclub impressed in playing a diverse array of all ages-friendly songs (they knew their audience), and while I do lean more to their earlier collaborative bands for my musical preferences, their adaptability is commended! Erin's backing vocals were almost inaudible, but I don't know if that was an issue with the sound setup or not. Fun set for fans of Mikey's frontman work and The Surfers, and you can see our photos from Bookclub and Lime's sets at this link or at our Facebook page! Apologies again for the small number of Lime photos, I was lucky to arrive when they still had a full song to play at set's end, and good thing that I filmed it, as that was my last shot! As for our videos, here's Lime covering The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" to end their set, and Bookclub covering Doug & The Slugs' "Making It Work"!

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

A New Local Hard Rock Band, Spades GT Updates, And More!!

Here's a new news post on this Tuesday night, which features a recently revived solo project and some recent updates & teasers from an established act, but first, here's what you should know about a brand new addition to our band links!

We have a new local hard rock band to add to our active Sault Ontario band links, namely Far From Fine! This name will be unfamiliar, but you may have seen them live already, as this band debuted at Toystock at The Grand Gardens North in November under the name Ravencore. A reason for the name change wasn't announced, but on their new Facebook page, Far From Fine acknowledged that they were initially waiting to launch it in conjunction with their planned debut album (which was teased in this SooToday article on their Toystock set), but opted to get this up in advance of the summer concert season for promotional sake. Effectively, Far From Fine are successors to the 2012-2016 hard rock band The Suicide Kings (a.k.a. Beaumont Avenue), with singer Mike Gaetano and current Handsome Sandwich guitarist Mitch Sirie reunited as such. Mike also handles rhythm guitar and keyboard in this project.

The rhythm section features former Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi and former Brutally Fatal/Revolution frontman Austin "Mickey" McCrae on drums. Uniquely, each band member has an image on Facebook featuring a brief question & answer section (how Angelfire or Tripod of them!), which reveals details about their setlist, planned original songs, and favourite local bands, though Austin didn't give an answer on the latter query. Their covers do skew towards a more varied range of bands than The Suicide Kings played, with Everclear, Good Charlotte, and Blackstreet cited, while they are known to have covered Weezer at Toystock. Originals named "Relapse", "This Way Again", and "Poison In My Mind" are cited as individual favourites of the band so far, though Matt couldn't name one over the rest. The lyrics for "Relapse" and another original song named "Broken" have been posted as images on the band's Facebook page as well.

No media samples or planned concert dates are posted yet, but given that they already played live as Ravencore, got local news coverage out of it (especially with Mike's son Gavin guesting on drums), and that they already have at least four original songs ready, then these are all good signs for Far From Fine in 2023! I have no idea if the guys have actually been recording their originals in studio already or if they're still writing and rehearsing them, but thye're on the right foot, so visit the above links for more on Ravencore Far From Fine, and if you know where to look, a couple of videos from Toystock are floating around on personal Facebook accounts!

Next up, here's the latest from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's Facebook page! True to their pattern of one "Reel" per day of each band member, that series closed on Sunday with a "Reel" of guitarist Jay "Redbeard" Sarrazin playing at an unidentified concert. A fine guitar solo, just a shame that I can't embed it here! Again, this is Facebook's fault, not the band's. The "Reels" did keep coming though, with another one posted yesterday featuring singer J.D. Pearce and both guitarists rocking out mid-song, and today seeing another one, this time obviously cribbed from the "Hands" video that Jake Disman filmed at the Road To Lockdown Fest in Toronto on April 7th. Earlier today, the guys did tease that a "big announcement" will be made on their Facebook page at 7:00 PM tomorrow, allegedly "the first of many this spring", though I have no definitive word on what they're getting at yet, or if it'd even be locally relevant as opposed to something for the GTA.

Remember that they were recording their new album in Toronto earlier this year, while J.D. is likely back as curator for The Northern Vibe Festival's band-centric Forest Stage in August, so another Jack Spades homecoming set would likely follow in Ophir once again (festival organizers revealed the DJ-centric River Stage lineup yesterday, with the band announcement "coming soon"). In any event, we'll keep you guys posted on the latest news and notes from Spades GT when it comes in!

We'll close today with a surprise revival of a local grunge/alternative solo project, namely Kush Wood! The subject of our Defunct Local Band Profile just last month, project leader Kristien Woodcock posted on their Facebook page for the first time in over two years on April 10th, and has two new acoustic cover videos to show for it, one being a "Reel" of him covering Matthew Good's "Symbolistic White Walls". Sounds good while it lasts, but of course, the limitations of "Reels" are noted. The other video is cross-posted from Kush Wood's Instagram page, and while videos from there are not the cleanest thing to embed on the SMS, at least you can do it, unlike TikTok videos (not to mention "Reels"!). This sees Kristien covering Stone Sour's "Through Glass", and while neither of these videos are overly long, it's good to see him back at it with some strongly played & sung renditions! Give these a look, and Kush Wood are back in our active links!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kush Wood (@ravenrelics8)

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

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Kush Wood

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as we shine a light on another local metal, hard rock, or punk act from the past, as randomly selected from our inactive band links! This month's choice is a more recent solo act who had a lot of promise despite never being a live act, so here's what you should know on them!

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Kush Wood

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/General Viejo, Costa Rica

Genre: Alternative Rock/Grunge

Lineup:

Kristien Woodcock, vocals/guitar

Audio/Video: Kush Wood released four studio singles to major streaming services like Spotify in 2020 & 2021, namely "Intent & Design", "Love Replace This", "Down The River", and "The Passage Way", while a separate original song named "Weathering Change" was posted to their Bandcamp page in 2016. Most of Kush Wood's media was otherwise posted to their YouTube channel, which mostly features solo acoustic covers by Kristien, though you can hear versions of unreleased originals like "The Shade" and "The Open Highway" here. A solid amount of covers that lean to 1990s alternative rock acts are also present, though his cover of The Stone Temple Pilots' "Plush" is a Soundcloud exclusive from their singer search.  Here is Kristien's playing "Love Replace This" in one of his last YouTube uploads from 2020!

Info/Analysis: Launching the Kush Wood Facebook page in December 2015 while working in Costa Rica, Kristien originally put out solo cover recordings, but he did post two original songs to Bandcamp before the project went inactive after July 2017. After an almost 3 year hiatus, a now-long haired Kristien resurrected Kush Wood in March 2020 with a Patreon page and plans to release new originals on major streaming services. New songs and performance videos followed for the next year, but Kristien has only posted thrice since the spring of 2021, all to share posts not about Kush Wood. It's a shame that Kush Wood fell inactive again, as Kristien had a good thing going with well produced throwback originals that felt like a modern take on the grunge era, and in a town that had bands like No Arrow and Haggith, he'd have gotten a good reception had Kush Wood played live gigs!

Kristien also has a versatile range for melodic tones and grittier effects, and his songs adapt well to acoustic and electric styles if songs like "The Passage Way" are any indication, so hopefully we haven't heard the absolute last from Kush Wood! Give their originals and covers a watch/listen for yourself to see what you think!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This series will return on or around April 10th with our second Sault Michigan profile of 2023, as our latest random selection is early-mid 2010s hard rock cover trio Power Slug! Look for that next month, and for more news and notes on the site this weekend! Thanks everyone!

New Videos And More Recent News & Notes!!

Before we dive into this weekend's hard rock concert previews, here's a new news post to check out on this stormy Wednesday night, which wraps up with some assorted recent updates, but let's lead off with a batch of new videos, starting another new video from local/Barrie punk/metal quartet Spades GT! This comes from Toronto filmmaker Aidan Grossman of the The Grossman Film Group, who filmed and edited this seven minute clip for the band, and be advised that while the YouTube video is unlisted there, Spades' Facebook page shared the clip publically earlier today. The video was shot at their set opening for Anvil at The Rockpile in Toronto last month, and it features the absolute best quality video footage I've seen of Spades (Jack or GT), but it's not just about that, as Aidan also filmed new band members Daniel Rodbard & Tyler Reiner prepping for the show and driving to the venue (meeting up with J.D. and Dan there).

You also see the guys setting up for their gear & some one-on-one remarks outside The Rockpile before we get soundcheck and performance footage taking up most of the last 2½ minutes. Nice little "Inside Baseball" look at Spades GT getting ready for a concert in their current era, and again, the video quality is excellent for the performance clips, as brief as they are! It'd be awesome if Aidan could post the whole unedited set, but if you want to watch the whole thing from another attendee, check back on the SMS by the weekend. Check things out below, and look for a couple of cameos by Anvil drummer Robb Reiner (Tyler's dad!)

Next up, here's another new video of new local acoustic hard rock (and online page-less) duo Short & Sweet from the Parabol concert at Soo Blaster last week, as per frontman Cory Murchison's YouTube channel once again! Why he's staggering uploads like this, I'm not sure, but it does mean that we're covering Short & Sweet more frequently! This time out, you will see him and Kyle covering another Seether song, namely "Wasteland" (definitely not the same named song by 10 Years). Another strongly handled cover that's effectively pared down to an acoustic duo format, in spite of some jittery camera work, so give it a watch below!

Also today, here's the latest from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore quartet Heavy Lies The Crown, who revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that their second show with their current lineup will take place on July 13th.... in Chesterfield Township, outside of Detroit. Alas, no local dates yet, hopefully at some point soon! Specifically, they'll be opening for Nonpoint (of "Bullet With A Name" and "Left For You" fame) that night at the Diesel Concert Lounge, so click here for details on that show if you're so inclined. In the video proper, singer Brandon West (who randomly loses his shirt midway through) and guitarist Ted Olson are bantering with someone off camera while allegedly signing their contract to open for this concert, before plugging the show proper. They also have tickets to sell for $20 a piece (message them for details), so this may be one of those "openers pay to perform and sell tickets to offset the cost" situations that you see more of in larger markets.

Still a huge deal for H.L.T.C. to open for a name band like this, let alone in their second show with this lineup (this will be huge for Jaxon especially), so give the announcement video at this link! I cannot embed the video here due to Facebook content matching the music in the video, even though it is from Heavy Lies The Crown's own album.

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

• I have moved Sault Ontario alternative/grunge solo project Kush Wood to our inactive band links, having not updated their Facebook page since sharing a meme in May of last year. Project leader Kristien Woodcock had been active recording original content since 2015, and he had a good thing going despite us only discovering his work last summer, so hopefully he picks things back up for Kush Wood in due course!
• As per their Facebook page last month, local industrial metal solo project Molten Imp has left Bandcamp (at least for now) to devote more resources to uploading new material on a perceived overlooked platform, namely Soundcloud, while also introducing a Patreon account for paid backers to get exclusive content. As such, their prior paid virtual singles can now be heard for free on Soundcloud, albeit without the paid buyer-exclusive bonus tracks. Sounds like Boyd's thinking outside the box a little for his imminent music work, but we'll see how things ahead go for Molten Imp!
• Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will hit the road for DeTour Village (70 minutes southeast of the Soo) this Saturday for a free outdoor concert at their marina as part of DeTour Village's summer concert series! Now, DeTour Village is just outside of our coverage range (it and Drummond Island are really the only parts of Chippewa County that are more than hour's drive away), but if you're up for a drive or live near the southeast tip of the county, you'll see Rhythm & Brews at DeTour's marina on Saturday at 6:00 PM, and hopefully things go well!
   

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

A New Addition To Our Band Links, Plus New Videos From Both Sides Of The Border!!

We have a new news post to check out on this warm Tuesday, and while we're half focusing on videos from a recent Sault Michigan concert, let's stay in Sault Ontario to start, courtesy of a new teaser video and a newly added solo project to our full coverage! Here's what you should know!

We have a new local solo musician to add to our local band links, namely Kush Wood (real name Kristien Woodcock), an alternative/grunge musician who has actually had his solo Facebook page up and running since 2015! Apologies for the delay in finally rolling Kush Wood into our band links, of course, but let's make up for lost time! Kristien is not familiar from past local bands, but you may have first heard of him via his run of grunge and alternative-leaning unplugged videos posted to his YouTube channel through 2017 (partially uploaded when he was working in Costa Rica), plus his entry into the Stone Temple Pilots singer contest that you can still hear on Soundcloud. In March 2020, Kush Wood returned with long hair after a three year public hiatus, and has continued posting new and re-recorded videos and original singles over the past year, with many now available on digital platforms like Spotify, Bandcamp, and Apple Music.

The grunge influence is very prevalent in Kush Wood's originals, and while Kristien seems to have Scott Weiland as a vocal inspiration, his own songs are closer in spirit to "Jar of Flies"-era Alice In Chains, if more optimistic. Production can be a work in progress, especially with the obvious drum programming, but Kush Wood is on to something, and it's nice hearing a grunge-inspired solo act like this around here! Give Kush Wood a listen above, and here's his video for "Love Replace This"!

Next up, here's a very brief teaser video for something that local party metal band The Apocalypse Afterparty were recording with Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno's Spacebag Productions in March. Uploaded to drummer Amanda Stanghetta's personal Facebook page and subsequently shared publically to the band's own Facebook page, this features frontman/Amanda's husband Paul covering Saul Williams' "List of Demands (Reparations)" in a bathroom, with Josh manning a very professional camera at a close angle. No one else is playing the song proper in this 13 second clip, but given the setting, there might not be room for everyone anyway! If this is going to be a professional multi-angle video of this cover, other band members will have been shot separately, but so far, I don't believe it's out yet. We'll let you know when/if the video is released, but give Amanda's teaser clip a watch below!

Let's head to the Sault Michigan area to close, via new live videos of local hard rock trio Tarnished's "summer rock party" concert outside of Hulbert House Bed & Breakfast in nearby Hulbert Township on Saturday night! The venue's Facebook page uploaded or live-streamed five videos of Tarnished's set, which allow us to see their outdoor stage setup, which will also be used for their set opening for Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys in August. Looks professional enough to do the job, though it's placement sideways along the slope of a hill is definitely an interesting visual! As for the videos proper, two are from later in the night from a closer zoom of the stage, with Tarnished covering Seether's "Remedy" and Poison's "Every Rose Has It's Thorn". The other three are in daylight and are thankfully much longer, including covers of Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue On Black" and Everlast's "What It's Like".

 

The other video is over 9 minutes long and captures songs from near the start of their set, including the end of frontman Alex Traynor's solo track "Life Is Made Of Lies" and covers of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" and Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust". This video has definite audio quality difficulties, so I'd be embedding another one here, if Hulbert House hadn't blocked external embedding of these videos, alas. Given that the two full songs in the 9 minute clip are very bass heavy, who is playing bass in Tarnished now? Alex himself (and on a five string bass, no less!) It is surprising to see him not on guitar, but if him switching instruments allows them to play live short term, go for it! Unfortunately, only the Everlast cover is on a horizontal camera angle, but the filmers do zoom in and get closer to the stage on the other clips. Performance-wise, Tarnished are on their game!

Despite not having a high turnout (remember, the band didn't plug this date until Wednesday, and Hulbert is an hour's drive west), they're in good spirits and clearly happy to be back on an E.U.P. stage for the first time since March! And again, this will be a preview of what to expect when they play Hulbert House's outdoor stage again in August, pandemic willing. Give these videos a look via the links above, and that's all for today, but look for our next Defunct Local Band Profile by Friday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rivers Of Nihil), Tym Morrison Concert Previews, And Much More!!

With spring perhaps finally upon us, here's a new news post to check out on this Sunday afternoon, so what's on tap? Some assorted recent news and notes, new videos from each side of the border, and to lead off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this summer, so here's what you should know!

Technical death metal fans will want to take notice, as three American groups will hit The Rockstar Bar on Friday, July 6th for a night of face melting brutality! The headliners are Reading, Pennsylvania technical death metal quintet Rivers of Nihil, who are touring in support of their new CD "Where Owls Know My Name". This band has an aggressive, groove-tinged sound that should please any tech-death metal fan, so be sure to check them out in advance of this show! Support will come via Sacramento-based quartet Alterbeast and Nashville quintet Inferi, and with the former's chaotic and fast-paced aggression on their new CD "Feast", and the latter's black metal-tinged brutality via their new album "Revenant", fans will want to brace themselves for a metal onslaught this summer! Local support will come via the first announced concert in almost a year from death/thrash metal trio Pillory, though it's not yet clear if Jordan will be on bass or not. Great to see them back though, it's been far too long!

Notably marking the first promoted concert since last fall from Live705 (and a rare booking of theirs without A Dire Setback on the bill), tickets for this 19+, 9:00 PM show are a surprisingly affordable $15, which you can buy at this link, and presumably through Live705 staff and Pillory members once local availability is confirmed. This should be an awesome concert for death metal fans, with a stacked lineup of touring aggression making the trip north in July, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's our previews of former Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's special concerts at Mark's Breakfast Plus at the Market Mall TOMORROW, TUESDAY, and WEDNESDAY! As announced earlier this month, Tym will bring his acoustic solo show back to this breakfast-centric restaurant for these matinees, which are unusually timed for a cover artist at most venues, but remember that Mark's often books musicians early in a given week for supper-time shows. These follow Tym's shows there in the first full week of April, and should provide west end fans with a wide array of harder and classic favourites, so don't miss out at Mark's over these three days! No word yet on if Tym will play a similar schedule there in May or not. Tym will be on at 4:00 PM each day, and there are no cover charges or age limits, but remember that this isn't a traditional concert venue, it's a diner in a mall. Click here for more details, and here's Tym live!



Also, here's some new videos from the aforementioned Live705's Facebook page, as a staffer attended Saturday night's Stegadeth concert at Room 21 and had his camera rolling! Three videos were posted from the show (albeit all in vertical orientation), including one clip of the band setting up for their first set, including new drummer Johnny Belanger putting up a banner with their logo. Fun for what it is! Two videos from their set (which was indeed fully electric) were also shot, including Stegadeth covering Blink-182's "Stay Together For The Kids" with guitarist Tiffany Stocco on vocals, and, as embedded below, The Presidents of The United States of America's "Peaches" with bassist Bill Bennett on lead vocals. These are solidly done, especially if you're interested in hearing new cover choices from the T-Rex Manning successors, and the stage setup is nice (I like the monitor with their logo), so give these new videos a look!



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

• Sault Ontario tapas restaurant & acoustic concert venue The Barrelhouse Wine and Whiskey quietly closed last fall, as per their Facebook page. A reason for the closure was not announced on social media, but owners are still operating the (concert-less) Embers Grill & Smokehouse on Albert Street East. This is SMS-relevant due to Tym Morrison's series of shows there last year, and while the Barrelhouse's end is disappointing, note that some former staff have moved onto Boston Pizza, which Tym played on Saturday!
• Earlier this month, dormant local country/punk veterans The Billy Bastards shared a picture of a new band logo from a computer monitor on their Facebook page, along with the caption "In progress...", with guitarist John Conway confirming in a comment that they have 2½ songs done for their forthcoming fourth studio album! How's that for a big update? No word on when we'll see their first public concert set since 2015, but stay tuned for more on The Billys' new studio work, and they're back in our active band links!
• We have removed local classic/hard rock cover band Mourning Wood from our defunct band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page at some point in the past couple of months. A reason for the page's closure wasn't announced, and while I wish bands wouldn't wipe themselves from the internet like this, remember that Mourning Wood were merged into & succeeded by Soundcheck last year, so it's not like we completely lost a band of this style and makeup. Follow them and The Peace Vibe for members' current musical projects!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Stiffler's Mom & Mourning Wood), The Latter Band's End, And More!!

It's now time for our last concert preview post of the month, barring any further late notice announcements, and if you're wondering why we haven't covered either Live705's new concert or new Din videos, don't worry, they will be in our next news post! Now, let's kick things off with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS from two bands, including the previously announced demise & merger of one of them!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood will end their local run with concerts at The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, we were waiting for confirmation of which band name these shows would be under, which only came via the official Facebook event page yesterday. Three weeks after announcing their impending merger with sister band Soundcheck, Mourning Wood will cease operations under that name after this weekend's shows, with the event page confirming that they're dropping that name going forward due to "a lot of backlash", presumably for it's provocative origins. Technically, these will be Mourning Wood's only gigs with "new" guitarist Travis Sharpe, and with Steven Flint moving to drums to replace Glen Thomas, but these are Soundcheck shows in all but name, and you'll see the same lineup moving forward as that band, including at The Esquire Club on May 19th & 20th in two more new confirmations, albeit announced for Mourning Wood at the time!

Our source for the May weekend is this concert calendar from the venue, and if they are not being transferred to Soundcheck, we will remove the shows from our listings. TOMORROW, SATURDAY, and next month's Mourning Wood/Soundcheck concerts have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 10:00 PM start times, so check the above links for more details! Mourning Wood have been a very familiar sight at numerous venues since their debut in mid-2014, and while I often wished that they'd promote shows with more advance notice (or any notice at all for their country-tinged Reggie's Place gigs), they were always reliable in concerts for familiar classics & fan requests. Memorable sets at Rotaryfest 2015, two Toystocks, and their week-long Reggie's run last year were among their highlights, and I'm sure Terry, Paul, and Steven will carry that along with them with Travis in Soundcheck as 2017 rolls along. Best of luck to them, T.J., and Glen in the future, and here's Mourning Wood live!



Next up, local hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom will return to The Rockstar Bar for one night only THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the show on their Facebook page yesterday, though the venue's physical marquee board had advertised it for at least a day prior. After a month away from the local stage, this veteran party band will continue their recent Rockstar-only stretch of concerts to start 2017 with another night of familiar fan favourites on SATURDAY NIGHT, so don't miss out! No word though on who's playing at The Rockstar Bar tomorrow night, and if you're hoping to check out Stiffler's Mom outside of The Algonquin Hotel, remember that they will be back at The Esquire Club in June. Expect no cover charge and a 19+ age limit for this concert, and a 10:30 PM start time is likely for SATURDAY, so check the above links for more details, and here's Stiffler's Mom live!



Finally for today's currently known hard rock concert previews, veteran local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Gliss Steak & Seafood for his previously announced regular acoustic gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY! Wrapping up another busy month at The Quality Inn's house restaurant this weekend, Tym's unplugged cover favourites should prove to be another solid musical backdrop for patrons and fans at this downtown location this weekend, so keep Tym's Gliss shows in mind if you want a more reserved night of classics! Remember that we will address his likely May concerts at this venue in time for next week's concert previews. In terms of tomorrow & Saturday, expect 6:00 PM matinee start times, no announced cover charges, and no official age limits, but remember where these shows are being held. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and this month's CD review soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & Soundcheck), A New Band/Merger, And Weekend Concert Previews!!

We're back after a few slow days to cover this weekend's concert previews, including some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (some on SHORT NOTICE), but with recent major news regarding an apparent band merger and the new Facebook page for one of those bands, we're saving our previews of tomorrow's Who Made Who concert and this weekend's Peril shows in St. Ignace for our next post, be that tonight or tomorrow morning, so look for them then! Now, let's begin this post with the first of this weekend's concert previews, and that new band!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Rednecks Saloon for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT, and they finally have a Facebook page to boot! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only just announced early this morning via it's Facebook event page. Five months after making their public concert debut at the former Nicolet Tavern, the former Nameus finally have an online page to promote themselves and concerts with, which is great to see, but what do we know now? On Soundcheck's page, they describe themselves as "a new local '80s retro & hairspray cover band" and a "party like hell band", so if there were any fears about not fitting the SMS, hopefully this assuaged them! In terms of lineup, they feature former Carbon Black bandmates Travis Sharpe (Havadder) and Terry Eaton each on vocals & guitar, alongside Terry's Mourning Wood bandmates Steven Flint on drums and (in a new lineup announcement) Paul Belair on bass, replacing Robin "Bones" Lee.

According to Soundcheck's Facebook page's biography, Robin left the band "to take care of his health and well being", after having spent less than a month with the group. Best of luck to Bones, hopefully it's nothing too serious that he's dealing with, and hopefully we see him back on stage soon! Now, given that Soundcheck's lineup currently features 3/4ths of Mourning Wood's most recent lineup, you would be right to assume that there is something afoot with that band's active status, as Mourning Wood's Facebook page newly confirms that they are "going to be amalgamating very soon" with Soundcheck, though they oddly note that they're playing the "same music", and that "a new member is joining the band", presumably meaning Travis, who wasn't in Mourning Wood. My first instinct is that Soundcheck are simply adding Paul on bass and taking on Mourning Wood's bookings going forward, which include two upcoming weekends at The Esquire Club in a few weeks, more on them in the near future.

Does the merger happening "very soon" mean that Mourning Wood gigs will continue in the short term beforehand? Does the "same music" reference mean country covers are being added to Soundcheck sets? Stay tuned for updates, but in any event, TOMORROW NIGHT'S show at Rednecks has no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 10:00 PM start time. Check the above links for more on this concert, Soundcheck proper, and the merger, hopefully public videos finally start turning up, and Soundcheck are now in our active band links! We won't move Mourning Wood to our inactive links until we're certain that Soundcheck have taken over all of their future activity.

Next up, and with April now well and fully in progress, let's add prolific hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's slate of solo concerts at Gliss Steak & Seafood this month to our concert listings, including shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY, plus a bonus return to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice on this weekend's three shows, all were only announced by Tym earlier this week via their respective Facebook event pages (linked here & here.) Tym's usual Gliss matinees are continuing their march forward into the spring, with TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows joined by expected solo gigs on April 14th & 15th, 21st & 22nd, and 28th & 29th, so look for more unplugged hard rock classics at this downtown restaurant over the coming four weekends! As for TOMORROW NIGHT'S Roadhouse show, this marks Tym's first appearance at the Trunk Road venue of the year, and if you've missed him at this venue, don't bypass this show either!

As usual for Tym's Gliss shows this month, expect 6:00 PM start times and no announced cover or age limit (but remember where these are being held), while TOMORROW'S Roadhouse concert has a more typical 19+ age limit, 10:00 PM start time, and no cover. Check the above links for more details, and here's Tym live in concert a few years back!



Finally for today's concert preview post, here's a special Thursday night concert going down TONIGHT at The New American Pub, as Toronto hard rock quartet Return For Refund will make their local concert debut! Touring in support of their newly released studio album "Lift You Up", this talented band will definitely intrigue many fans with their 1990s-inspired blend of alternative rock styles, throwing in some grunge and blues influences for good measure, and they should attract a solid base of fans when they rock The New A tonight! Fast-rising local alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback will open as expected, but there has been a lineup change, as it was confirmed two weeks ago that blues/hard rock trio Electric Church have replaced pop rock artist Mike Mikus as the show's first act (apologies for the delay in noting this on the site, it slipped us by last month.) A reason for Mike's withdrawal wasn't announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened, and it will be neat to see Electric Church take on The New A for the first time tonight!

Apparently promoted by the venue proper (it is not Live705 affiliated beyond A Dire Setback's set), this show has a 9:00 PM start time, $5 cover charge, and 19+ age limit. This should be a solid night of hard and alternative rock originals, so definitely consider a trip to The New A tonight, check the official Facebook event page for updates, and here's Return For Refund live!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Who Made Who & Peril previews, and more, next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Old Wives & Deathsticks), A New Local Band, And More!!

Before we kick off our first news post in four days, just a heads up that today is reportedly the final day for HMV's liquidation sales before their Station Mall location closes for good in advance of Sunrise Records moving in. Last time I was there, everything was 70% off or more, so make use of the sales today if you can, and we'll be replacing them in our music store links shortly as well! Now, here's a stacked news post featuring a surprising lineup departure, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spring, and first, a new local band!

Over a month after their local concert debut, new local punk/alternative trio Handsome Sandwich have finally launched their own Facebook page, so what should you know? Comprised of Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger, Winkstinger guitarist Jesse Cook, and Redundant bassist James White (with Johnny providing most lead vocals), you may have seen this curiously named band open for Gianni Gagoots live at LopLops Lounge last month, but that remains their only announced concert appearance. Despite the trifecta of past common band links for 2/3rds of the band (James & Jesse with The Elements, James & Johnny with Caveman Morrison, and Jesse & Johnny with Jack Spades), Handsome Sandwich will reportedly not sound like any of them, and will harbour more similarities with Johnny's solo concert sets that he played in the mid-2010s, some with Jesse playing alongside. An original song named "Signs" is in progress, but unless you missed their debut gig, there are no other hints about their sound yet.

A band with such well done (if bizarre) artwork can't be all bad, especially with such a solid lineup of familiar faces from recent punk and metal bands, and it will be very interesting to see how Handsome Sandwich fare into 2017! I know that Johnny had wanted to front a punk band locally for a while now, and if this is the realization of that goal, then look out, as there's a lot of potential to be had, even with such a curious yet creative band name! Stay tuned for more on Handsome Sandwich as it comes in!

Next up, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, starting with the delayed local concert debut of Whitby, Ontario garage/noise rock duo Deathsticks, who will rock The Gore Street Cafe on Thursday, April 20th! Work commitments scuttled this band's planned New American Pub concert in October, but now, they're getting a second chance for local fans to see what the guys in AlgomA saw when the two played together in Peterboroigh last summer. Expect some minimalist but aggressive originals with a psychedulic spacey bent at times from Deathsticks next month when they headline at the laundromat! In place of the never-debuted Dark Garfunkel and Sleeping Together from October, the local opener is ex-Pixo Control frontman Mike Mikus, whose own rising solo pop rock originals continue to make waves, so keep him in mind for April 20th at well! Despite Six, Two, Oh.'s intended promotion of October's cancelled date, next month's show appears to be in-house through the venue, as is often the case there.

As usual for Gore Street Cafe events, this is an ALL AGES concert under the venue's usual "pay what you can" model, and an early start time of 7:00 PM is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and stay tuned for more from this intriguing concert as it comes in!

Also, we have one more new show to confirm today, but this one is indeed via Six, Two, Oh., as three touring punk bands from out west will hit The New American Pub on Sunday, May 14th for what is being called "The Alberta Intrusion"! The bands in question are Edmonton pop punk trio The Old Wives, fellow Edmonton punk rockers Worst Days Down, and Calgary punk quintet The River Jacks, so how's that for a solid lineup of hard hitting punk from afar? In particular, you may recognize The River Jacks from headlining at The Algonquin Pub two years ago, so if you've missed them since that Gonqshow concert series date, here's the belated sequel! The local opening band is newer local punk/metal trio Stegadeth, whose frontman Bill Bennett opened for The River Jacks here in 2015 with Stereo North, and they should provide solid support to the Alberta intrusion in May! This 19+ show has a 9:00 PM start time and $5 advance tickets, though the price jumps to $7 at the door.

Advance tickets are apparently now available at Northland Music, Case's Music, The Rad Zone and Big Guns Barbershop on East Street, so keep those locales in mind, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details! This should be a great concert for punk fans, with The Old Wives' skate punk sound, Worst Days Down's more alternative stylings, and The River Jacks' old school sensibilities a nice match for any taste, so check the above links to give all of the night's bands a listen, and get your tickets A.S.A.P.!

Finally, we have a surprising update from a veteran cover fixture, as local classic/hard rock quartet Mourning Wood appear to have parted ways with drummer Glen Thomas. A reason for his departure has not been publically announced, but singer/guitarist Terry Eaton revealed that they have a drummer vacancy via his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday. Glen has been a fixture with this frequently seen cover band since replacing T.J. Case in August 2015 upon their expansion to a four-piece lineup, and it was nice to see Glen back in a band that played some hard rock for the past year & a half, but hopefully things are amicable, and don't miss him with The Peace Vibe! Glen's departure may explain why Mourning Wood haven't played live in over a month (with Terry & guitarist Steven Flint's side project Soundcheck picking up the slack recently), but they are looking for a new "tub thumper"!

Steven noted in a comment on the aforementioned Musicians Wanted group post that "versatility is key", having singing ability is a bonus, and they just want "a skilled musician who's down to earth" that loves to play live, while Terry mentioned that Mourning Wood have gigs booked through the end of the year, including New Year's Eve (specific dates and venues not listed.) If you're interested in trying out for Mourning Wood, message Terry at this link or above, and stay tuned for updates on their drummer search and more general updates soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Mourning Wood & The 3 Day Millionaires) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

On this cold Thursday, let's heat things up with this weekend's hard rock and punk concert previews! Yes, I am aware of the major new concert announcement for The Machine Shop next month (click here for initial details), but I didn't want to break up our concert previews to force it in this post. Don't worry, it's coming! We'll also cover Sault Michigan shows this weekend in our next news post, but for now, here's what you should know on the Ontario side, starting with some SHORT NOTICE CONCERT ALERTS!!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet The 3 Day Millionaires will return to The Rockstar Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the show was only just announced by the band via it's Facebook event page yesterday. Two weeks removed from their most recent Rockstar Bar appearance, this union of Cleveland Steamer, Sneaky Pete, Wishbone, and Thrill Junkies alumni should be in their usual rocking spirits TOMORROW with anothr full night of hard hitting covers, so keep The Millionaires in mind for your weekend plans! Note that this is a one-nighter due to Saturday night's "Neon Glow Radical Retro Show", so remember that if you're a fan of dance party and/or old school parties. Also, The Millionaires are also hyping up TOMORROW'S show being connected to the birthday party of their "biggest fan", so prepare just in case there's some extra celebrations!

As usual for The 3 Day Millionaires' Rockstar Bar appearances, this concert has a 10:30 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's their current lineup live in concert last year!



Next up, fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood are apparently returning to The Esquire Club for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only heard about the shows via the Sault Music News Letter Facebook page's post from Tuesday about this weekend's concerts, and the band themselves have yet to publically announce the dates. After Terry & Steven spent the past month focusing on their side project Soundcheck, their original collaborative band will return to the stage for the first time since their Esquire Club gigs last month, and fans should take to their hard rocking covers and other varied selections at this west end venue TOMORROW & SATURDAY! As far as I know, Steven Flint will be back for these shows, after missing last month's while on vacation. As was the case last month, this weekend's shows have 19+ age limits, no announced cover charges, and 10:00 PM start times. Check the above links for more details, and here's a new video of Mourning Wood live!

Filmed on a stationary camera at one of last month's Esquire gigs and uploaded to drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel last week, this is of Mourning Wood covering Bryan Adams' "Run To You", with Lucky 13/ex-Thin Ice guitarist Robin Lee filling in for Steven. I'm not a fan of the video's (or venue's?) purple lighting, and the camera is a little too close to stage, leaving bassist Paul Belair largely out of frame, but the performance is solid and adds a little extra rock to the original song! Give it a look below, and don't miss Mourning Wood back at this venue TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY!

Moving to previously announced concerts, we'll next look at Tym Morrison's next gigs in his ongoing weekly concert arrangement at Gliss Steak & Seafood, which continues as usual TOMORROW & SATURDAY! The prolific local acoustic hard rock musician is fresh off of his special Valentine's Day concert there on Tuesday, and is back to his regular twice-weekly gigs at The Quality Inn's house restaurant, so if you're interested in an evening full of hard rocking covers from this talented veteran singer/guitarist, you know where to be this weekend! As usual for Tym's long term run at Gliss, expect 6:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and no announced age limits, but remember where these shows are being held, as Gliss isn't a typical nightclub venue. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and for a preview, here's Tym live!



Finally for today's previews, local funk/hard rock instrumental quintet Gianni Gagoots will play their first ever headlining concert set THIS SATURDAY NIGHT when they rock LopLops Lounge for the first time! Still somewhat of a new sight locally, this interestingly named band have been impressing fans since mid-2016 with their creative jam originals and loose stage presence, and this union of Redefined, Rising Tide, and Barn Board Trio alumni should deliver again this weekend! Joining them are two more unique newer sights locally, including the second live appearance and LopLops debut of newer alt-hard rock quartet Bizotic (featuring No Arrow, Sounds From The Green Room, and Smeltzer alumni), and the first ever local concert appearance from new local punk/alternative trio Handsome Sandwich, the new band from Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger, Winkstinger guitarist Jesse Cook, and Redundant bassist James White.

Handsome Sandwich don't have any online pages or posted media yet, but this creatively named band promises to be something different than what we've usually seen these guys play before locally, and based on preliminary information, owe a lot more to Johnny's past solo concert sets than Jack Spades or The Elements. When we hear more, we'll let you know, but don't miss Handsome Sandwich's debut on Saturday! This concert has a $5 cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and doors will open at 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the Facebook event page, and for a preview, here's Gianni Gagoots live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for Sault Michigan weekend concert previews and more next! Thanks everyone!