Despite this being Easter weekend, there's still lots of live hard rock and punk action to take in over the coming days, if mostly of the unplugged variety! Yes, this includes Good Friday, surprisingly busier for bands we actively cover than Saturday will be. Due to the amount of content in this post, I have opted to hold our preview of Friday & Saturday night's Soundcheck concerts for our next post, but don't worry, they are coming! Now, let's begin this post with some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, mostly on SHORT NOTICE!
Local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns have a busy holiday weekend ahead with their apparent debuts at two downtown venues, namely at LopLops Lounge TONIGHT and at The Whiskey Barrel at 113 Gore Street TOMORROW, with a return to the latter pub also taking place on Tuesday, April 30th! Apologies for the short notice on the prior two shows, they were only announced via the band's Facebook page on Monday. While we have seen The Elements at LopLops in the past, TOMORROW'S show is the first on record for The Wyld Stallyns' unplugged cover-centric live attack, though they're not the sole attraction, as they're playing during the return of LopLops' "Bad Idea Thursday" and it's related pint & a pizza deal. Keep that in mind if you're up for some supper and craft beer with your music! As for TOMORROW'S show, this is the first hard rock-leaning concert we've ever covered at The Whiskey Barrel, so what should you know about it?
Opening last November in the old Konoba Tapas & Vino location, The Whiskey Barrel is a Scottish-themed restaurant and nightclub that has sporadically hosted concerts and open mic nights in recent months, and they're definitely serious about the Scottish theme, as the Tuesday, April 30th gig is during "Kilt Night", where attendees wearing kilts will get drink and food discounts! Both of The Wyld Stallyns' shows there this month are part of a larger array of live musicians this month, all playing matinee sets unless they're on Saturday nights. It's great to see a new concert venue open on Gore Street, and with an intriguing theme that should appeal to Saulties with Scottish heritage, so visit the above links for more on The Whiskey Barrel! TONIGHT's LopLops show is at 7:00 PM, TOMORROW'S and April 30th's Wyld Stallyns shows are at 6:00 PM, and none have advertised start times, but remember, these are dinner-time/evening concerts, and the atmosphere for these nights & events should reflect that.
The Wyld Stallyns and their easily-adaptable live set can fit well at many familiar and unfamiliar venues, and they should deliver solid sets at LopLops TONIGHT and The Whiskey Barrel TOMORROW, and at month's end, so see above for more details, and here they are live!
Moving to previously announced concerts, here's another Thursday nighter TOMORROW NIGHT, as Hamilton outsider folk/punk solo musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie as the headline act at The New American Pub! Making his second live appearance here following a Cafe Natura show in 2015 (apologies for missing that), you may have seen James Hopkin's interview with B.A. on SooToday from last week, an given it's wildly varying and self-deprecating tone, you know you're in for a unique night tomorrow! B.A.'s irreverent, comedic, and unpredictable acoustic originals are hard enough to describe, but give him a listen and see what you think! Sault Michigan folk musician Magnet Moslov (from the Downtown Street Party in September) will open this concert, as per the official Facebook event page yesterday, and he should attract some fans in his own right at The New A! This concert is a presentation of Girl Friday Productions.
A $10 cover charge is in effect for this 19+ show, which is slated to begin at 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's a long overdue look at the episode of the defunct SooToday webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper that spotlighted B.A.'s last local show! Featuring live clips from Cafe Natura, you'll see Donna interviewing B.A. about his stand-up comedy prospects, his creativity, what take-aways he wants fans to get from his shows, and his then-new album, among other topics. This is an amusing yet detailed cross section of what you might expect tomorrow, but who knows what will happen? Be there to find out!
Finally for today's concert previews, let's round things out with one more acoustic performer, namely local hard rock singer guitarist Tym Morrison, who is slated to return to Gliss Restaurant on Spring Street for two more matinee shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY, while he will also have a traditional nighttime concert at Room 21 TOMORROW NIGHT sandwiched in between them! Fans of Tym's unplugged hard and classic rock hits should have a very good Friday tomorrow with two shows at two popular downtown venues, with Saturday patrons sure to get more of the same, so don't miss the former Caveman Morrison frontman's extensive live sets at any of these three gigs! Both of his Gliss shows have 6:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and no age limits (but mind the locale), while tomorrow's Room 21 show is at 10:00 PM and is 19+. Visit the Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Tym live in concert at Room 21!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Soundcheck preview and more tomorrow, plus last month's poll results also! Thanks everyone!
(Review note: Links on this post exclusively go to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Blogger links except one, which was changed to an Amazon link as a precaution. If that wasn't it, I fear that this may have been a false positive, as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Blogger are all active sites that I use frequently on this blog, and I do not intentionally post malware links in my posts. If I missed something, I'll be happy to address it according to Community Guidelines if someone tells me what the offending link(s) is/are.)
Here's a new news post to check out on this Tuesday evening, and it includes a new concert video of sorts, a new compilation album release, and a preview of a special Wednesday night metal concert, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month at an unexpected locale!
Lethbridge, Alberta post-punk/art rock quintet Body Lens will make their local concert debut on Wednesday, May 8th when they play at local concert promotion agency Dryer Fire's new summer pop-up venue at 128 Bruce Street! A throwback in ways to Gnaeus with their indie-tinged post punk sound, Body Lens' sound isn't too aggressive, but it has enough punk attitude to go around while also harbouring some darker goth influences, and they should be a good fit for a Dryer Fire-hosted event! A new local "dungeon synth" project named Hot Goblin will open this concert, who I know nothing on, hopefully we can fill in some blanks at some point. In lieu of the former Gore Street Cafe and the soon-to-be moved M.S. Norgoma, Dryer Fire owner Nicole Dyble will open her own temporary venue near The Farmhouse Collective on Saturday, May 4th, and there are more concerts coming there over the summer season, while vendors like Oosik Records will be on hand for events.
I like the idea of the temporary summer space for Dryer Fire events, and while they only infrequently book punk and hard rock concerts, this should be an interesting run to see if this leads to a longer stay and/or permanent location elsewhere! Click here for details on the grand opening. As for May 8th's Body Lens show, it has a $10 cover and a 7:00 PM start time, and it is an ALL AGES event (no word on what "notaflof" means though.) Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details!
Next up, here's our preview of a special mid-week metal concert TOMORROW NIGHT, as Vancouver death metal quintet West of Hell will return to the Soo when they headline at The New American Pub! This will be West of Hell's third concert appearance in Sault Ste. Marie, and their first in over 5 years, so their brutal and melodic originals have been a long time coming for their fans, and they should be ready to melt lots of faces at The New A tomorrow! Fellow Vancouver metal quintet Expain will bring their own thrash-laden brand of original music to the stage in their own local debut as the direct openers, and extreme metal fans should take to them nicely in the lead-up! A diverse local opening roster will include the apparent live debut of Blood Shed Productions cybergrind solo project Malignant Neoplasm, who were previously known for their studio demo output. I'm very surprised they're playing rather than C.T.W., but this should be an interesting set!
Despite event advertising saying that this show has "1,000% Metal", the opening act is local rapper Conika, who's no stranger to being a musical outlier on an otherwise rap-free concert. She's a skilled MC and should set the tone well tomorrow! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh. in their first concert booking of 2019, tomorrow's concert has a 19+ age limit, $5 cover charge, and 9:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this extreme metal Wednesday night blast, and here's West of Hell live!
Also today, we have a new compilation album release to take note of from a prominent artist, namely local/Thompson, Manitoba solo musician Mike Haggith, though in this case, it's the soundtrack to the film he contributed to! As you'll recall, songs from Mike and his old local band The Din comprised the official soundtrack to the Windsor-shot independent film Ashes of K, with Mike's involvement announced in 2017, preceding it's premiere last year, but the soundtrack was only released through Mike's Bandcamp page yesterday. The 11 song soundtrack features all of the tracks from his 2015 solo album "The Warinside" except "The Snake", "Candy Is A Hooker's Name", and "Of Cars & Criminals", plus 4 songs from The Din's 2016 debut CD "Give In To The Din" This does include both the solo and Din versions of "A Drive Through The Peninsula", as both are in the movie. The Ashes of K soundtrack is available at the above links on a "name your price" model.
As this is a compilation, it does not jump Mike's unreviewed & future studio albums in line for CD review consideration on the SMS, but if you really want to see our thoughts on the 11 songs, check out our reviews of "The Warinside" & "Give In To The Din", both written shortly their initial releases. It's great to see the soundtrack finally on sale/to stream, but might Ashes of K get a local screening at some point? See above for much more, and stay tuned for updates on his new album "Bridges"!
Finally for today, let's close up our coverage of Soundcheck drummer Glen Thomas' new live videos from his YouTube channel, as the last of the 11 recent uploads is the 15 minute compilation of live clips that he has (mostly) posted to YouTube already. As such, you get a lot of bang for your buck here, but if you prefer full videos, visit Glen's channel. The compilation begins with Soundcheck and then-drummer Scott McLurg at the Wawa drag races last August, with the 2nd-5th songs from their regular cover medley, including Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time", and Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", albeit cut off. The compilation continues elsewhere with concerts featuring Glen behind the kit, including covers of Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" at The Esquire Club, Kenny Loggins' "Footloose", Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and John Mellencamp's "Wild Night" at Toystock, and Keith Urban's "Somebody To Love" at Reggie's West.
The big scoop here is a previously unseen clip of Soundcheck covering Def Leppard's "Hysteria" (with Travis on lead vocals) at The Esquire Club, courtesy of a vertical cell phone camera angle at a crooked angle. Visuals aside, the cover is well done and melodic, if a little slow, and it's worth a special look! The video closes with their previously seen cover of Greta Van Fleet's "Highway Tune" at the Reggievelt. There's a lot to take in here, so if you want a sampling of Soundcheck at the top of their game, give this video a look below, and see most covers in full on Glen's channel!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and last month's poll results soon! Thanks everyone!
Today's post is entirely devoted to a bunch of new videos from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, all courtesy of drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel in the past two weeks! Glen posted 11 new videos in this span, adding up to over an hour of new content from this talented veteran group, and with things being spread across multiple different venues, it only makes sense to give each concert's videos their own write-ups! Two of these videos were previously shared to Soundcheck's Facebook page and subsequently featured here already (this Alanis Morisette cover at The Esquire Club & their classic rock medley at The Machine Shop in February), so I won't rehash them in this post. Also, one video is a sampler of scattered clips from various shows of theirs, and I'll approach it at a later date. Going in rough chronological order, we'll start with Soundcheck's set at a drag racing event in Wawa in August, oddly not featuring Glen on drums.
Prior to his addition to the band, this was filmed during Scott McLurg's brief stint behind the drumkit last year. The video is of Soundcheck's aforementioned 12-13 minute classic rock medley, where they cover David Wilcox's "Riverboat Fantasy", Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time", Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'", and a reprise of "Riverboat Fantasy". This is the third video of this medley that I've seen, and it still has a nice balance of tunes, if with fuzzy visuals, so give it a look below!
Next up, here's Soundcheck (now with Glen on drums) covering REO Speedwagon's "Take It On The Run" at what I believe to be their Rockstar Bar show on November 15th. Featuring guitarist Terry Eaton on lead vocals, the performance seems to be solid, especially on the guitar solo, but the vertical camera angle, green lighting, abbreviated run-time and even fuzzier visual quality don't help matters. If you can look past the above points, there's good stuff to take in below!
Moving to another Christmas-season concert, Glen posted three more videos of their Toystock VII set at the Northern Grand Gardens later that month to his YouTube channel as well, all featuring Travis Sharpe on vocals only, not even playing guitar here. These include covers of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" (complete with overlaid cell phone footage of attendees dancing), and as embedded below, John Mellencamp's "Wild Night". Filmed on the same strong camera & angle from their prior-posted medley video, these are largely well done covers, but attendee heads remain in the foreground. Give these a look above & below!
The other three videos are from two (maybe three) different concerts at Reggie's West over the past few months, all again with Travis singing lead. One undated video (possibly from the November show mentioned in a minute) is a very blurry and distant clip of them covering Keith Urban's "Somebody To Love", which is a fitting choice for either Reggie's branch, and the audio here holds up far better than the visuals! This is the only one of the three where Travis plays guitar too. Another video from the Reggievelt features Soundcheck covering Greta Van Fleet's "Highway Tune" in February, distinct from their Esquire Club cover of the same song from November. Solid rendition of this recent rock radio hit with much improved visuals, and the vertical camera angle better frames the band here! Embedded below is this set-ending cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark At The Moon" at Reggie's West in November, which happens to feature guest guitarist Tym Morrison!
Nice to see him back with his old Hollow and Carbon Black bandmates for a brief spell, and it's a shame we don't see his proficient guitar work in an electric setting as much anymore! Travis' vocals strike me as a little soft for this cover, but everyone performs well, and Tym fits in like a glove, so give Soundcheck's Ozzy cover a look below as well!
That's all for today, but thanks to Glen for sharing all of these videos, and stay tuned for more news and updates on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
Here's a new news post for your Saturday morning, and it includes news on a surprising lineup change from a prominent band, lots of updates from a big downtown venue & it's related concerts, and leading off, here's a major LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this summer!
A huge outdoor concert is hitting the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Saturday, August 3rd, as Muskegon hard rock quintet Pop Evil and Anaheim hard rock veterans Buckcherry will join forces in their respective local returns! By no means strangers to the area, this will be Pop Evil's sixth local concert appearance, and fifth under the Kewadin Casino auspices, though this is their first outdoor show here. Still riding high off of their self-titled CD from last year, Pop Evil's litany of rock radio hits like "Torn To Pieces", "Footsteps", and "Take It All" are surely in the cards for August 3rd, so fans won't want to miss out! It's been a longer wait for Buckcherry to play the Soo again, last playing The Dreammaker's Theater in 2011, though a lot has changed since then, with Keith Nelson, Jimmy Ashhurst, and Xavier Muriel out of the group, and Kevin Roengten, Kelly Lemieux, and Francis Ruiz now in the fold. Of course, Josh and Stevie are back to rock the border (for real, this time!)
Touring in support of their brand new CD "Warpaint", expect songs from that album alongside hits like "Sorry", "Lit Up", and Everything" with their usual raunchy party vibe! Potential opening acts have not yet been announced, and this show is surprisingly not credited publically to Allstar Promotions. Tickets for this all ages, 8:00 PM concert are $25 for general seating, which increase to $35 & $45 in closer rows. You can buy yours at this link, the Kewadin box office in person, or call 1-800-KEWADIN. This should be a huge concert for modern hard rock fans, and the outdoor setting (a'la Kiss in 2007) is a neat attraction, so see above for full details!
Next up, here's some more videos from Sault Ontario power rock outfit Re:Born's new lineup's debut concert at Soo Blaster, though changes are afoot there. As per this SooToday article by James Hopkin from last week, owner Das Kumar is rebranding the sports bar & restaurant in the coming weeks, including replacing the on-site arcade games with newer tiles, buying a new sound system to attract more concerts, reworking the menu, and changing it's name to just BlaSter (capitalization apparently intentional.) A grand re-opening is planned for later in the spring, but for now, the status quo is more or less in place. Given the mixed responses I've heard for the restaurant side of things, a change might be what the doctor ordered, but will the revamp mean more for the concert side of things? In any event, those Re:Born videos come from their headlining show there two weeks ago, as uploaded to Christopher Paci's great YouTube channel earlier this week.
While Chris didn't film anything from Tym Morrison's opening set, he did post two Re:Born videos, capturing the Project 421 successors covering Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me", and as embedded below, Iron Maiden's "Wasted Years". The sharp camera angle to the left of the stage isn't ideal, especially given how the booth seating cuts off the bottom right corner, but Re:Born themselves sound fine at this early stage with their new lineup, and Elly's vocals fit in fine on these very different 1980s metal tracks! Give these videos a look above & below, and stay tuned for more!
While we're on the subject, the next big metal concert at (Soo) BlaSter goes down two weeks from today when Canadian glam metal legends The Killer Dwarfs return to Sault Ste. Marie, and as promotion for the show, the venue's Facebook page shared this video on Tuesday featuring drummer Darrell "Dwarf" Millar hyping up the show, including it's related hotel package if you need to stay the night, and a mystery signed item in a case that will be passed around, which attendees will be able to win. Nice promotion, and hopefully it helps move some more tickets ($24.50 at this link), so give it a look below and see above for more details!
Finally for today, it looks like local punk trio Redundant may have parted ways with bassist James White. No statements have been made on their Facebook page at present, but drummer Rick White (James' brother) posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group this morning that he is "looking for a bass player", and to message him or Redundant frontman Justin Langlois on Facebook if you're interested in trying out. They apparently have "a few shows lined up for the summer and after", they want someone dependable, and they want to "get jamming again A.S.A.P", while Rick cited Green Day, Operation Ivy, NOFX, and Rancid as current bands covered alongside their existing originals. If you're interested in trying out, message Rick or Justin at those links or above! James had been a member of Redundant since replacing Jamie Whalen in mid-2011, and featured on their long awaited debut EP last summer, but he was absent for their last gig at The Rockstar Bar's Halloween Party for unannounced reasons.
Assuming that I read everything correctly, and that this isn't a temporary absence, it's very surprising to see James leave Redundant after 7 solid years, and his strong bass skills were ever present! Hopefully he keeps busy with The Elements and other future projects in 2019 & beyond, and visit the above links for more on Redundant's apparent bassist search! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!
We're back with another batch of weekend concert previews on this Thursday morning, so what lies within? A pair of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and some assorted recent news and notes, and yes, some big overdue stories are coming soon as well. Here's what you should know!
Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Water Tower Pub for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show only came to our attention via the Sault Music News Letter Facebook page's concert calendar post on Tuesday, and it was not included in their 2019 concert calendar that was posted online in February. That said, at least we heard about it with some advance notice, unlike their Reggievelt show last week! This will be Soundcheck's first Water Tower Pub booking in three weeks, and it is a one-nighter to go along with the venue's usual scheduling of different nightly acts, as seen on your right. No word on if bassist Paul Belair will be back in the fold after he missed their last gig, we'll let you know if anything is said on that front. You can take in their hard rocking blend of classic rock and newer covers TOMORROW'S concert has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live in concert last year!
Next up, local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns will return to The Rockstar Bar for a one-nighter of their own THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook event page on Monday, which the band has since acknowledged publically. Fans last saw Christina, Rob, and Jesse at this venue in early February, and this will be the band's current lineup's second gig at The Rockstar Bar. With their fan-friendly blend of hard rock covers and even some lighter and more top 40-leaning hits, The Wyld Stallyns should deliver another fun night of tunes for fans at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs bar on SATURDAY, so don't miss out! This show has a 9:00 PM-ish start time, a 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. See above for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!
Moving to previously announced concerts, prolific local hard rock solo singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will continue his long-term arrangement of concerts at Gliss Restaurant on Spring Street with matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY! With no nighttime shows elsewhere this weekend, fans will have to go to the downtown steak & seafood restaurant to take in Tym's unplugged hard and classic rock covers this weekend, and with his well-tested live set and extensive playlist at the ready, why not consider a supper-time run to Gliss for all of this entertainment? Tomorrow & Saturday's concerts have early 6:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and no age limits, but remember that this is a formal sit-down restaurant, not a nightclub. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for these short form story blocks, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or venue name:
As documented in local news sources like The Sault Star as of late, City Council was asked earlier this month to approve a one year contract with California-based Venue Coalition towards booking more concerts and touring productions at GFL Memorial Gardens. Venue Coalition helps book events at dozens of venues in North America, including at fellow OHL arenas in Sudbury, Kitchener, and Peterborough. If this agreement takes, it'll be interesting to see what results come through, and click here for more details!
I have moved Eckerman hard rock quartet Moss to our inactive Sault Michigan band links due to a year's inactivity, having last posted on their Facebook page in March 2018. After a prior run from ca. 1995-2005, Moss reunited in 2012 as a studio project signed to Werehold Records, and frequently appeared in the label's Friday the 13th new music posting events, but they were, sadly, the final Werehold act in our active band links. Moss were a solid band, hopefully we hear more from the Mills & Kabelman brothers and/or Werehold Records down the line!
As per a news release shared by SooToday on Tuesday, organizers of the Rock On The River festival in Timmins, Ontario (6 hours northeast of here) are looking for "local and regional acts" interested in playing at the "Northern Roots Stage" at the fourth annual concert festival, which definitely has featured hard rock and punk bands on their past lineups, such as headliners Billy Talent last year. If you're interested in performing at Rock On The River in July, fill out the band entry form at this link within the coming week!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, as we continue our monthly looks back at local metal, hard rock, and punk acts of the past! This month's randomly selected double header are due to the first band not having enough surviving info, but I just wanted to clarify that I decided to keep that band despite our removal of their MySpace page from our links, as nothing's changed with it beyond our knowledge (in hindsight) that MySpace lost their songs. However, un-profiled bands deleted from our band links will not be considered for future installments unless posthumous pages are launched/found. Now, here's what you should know! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brad Example & The Role Models
Genre: Punk
Hometown:Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Members:(Members not in their last full lineup in italics. This lineup information may be incomplete. Let me know if you can fill in any blanks!)
Audio/Video: With MySpace's loss of millions of songs on their servers last year, The Role Models' four demo originals hosted there from 2006 are no longer streamable. No other media is known to exist publically online, but Brad's own solo recordings may harbour some similarities to The Role Models, if in a more stripped down format, and you can check out recordings of him at this link and at scattered other locations. Of course, Brad & Dave's past work with The Inner City Surfers also shared some obvious thematic links.
Info/Analysis: One of many Surfers side projects, Brad Example & The Role Models only played live sporadically, including sets opening for The Revue in December 2006, The Saigon Hookers (twice) in 2011, and Public Animal in June 2014, while also playing at 2011's Tailfeathers Music Festival in Bruce Mines. Brad has focused on solo music since 2015, but The Role Models' chemistry-laden & fan-friendly punk attack was always a solid presence, complete with some surprise metal covers, and Brad's gritty but soulful singing fit their live shows nicely! Hopefully some media turns up and/or they reunite down the road, they deserved a busier run! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Second Guess
Genre: Alternative/Hard Rock
Hometown:Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Members:(Members not in their last full lineup in italics. This lineup information is incomplete, particularly concerning Dylan's role in the band. Let me know if you can fill in any blanks!)
Info/Analysis: Formed by best friends & high school students in 2004, Second Guess reportedly played a gig at The Downstairs Bar in January 2005, and had teased shows that same year opening for Kiros and The Crossed, though it's unclear if those sets took place. Second Guess were reportedly working on an original CD, and listed 7 songs on their setlist on their Tripod page, though aside from a brief reference to covering Nirvana material, no direct hints towards their sound were made. Garrett, Angelo, and John moved on to the short lived ska punk band Break The Violence in 2005 before forming their best known band As It Stands later that year, while Cody would find greater renown locally as a folk musician, currently performing in Edmonton under the alias John Hewitt. I have no way of knowing how Second Guess would have sounded, but their lineup definitely had talent that blossomed very well in the ensuing decade+, and hopefully some media surfaces! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Next month in this series, we have a Sault Michigan band next in our rotation, but because the randomly selected band that I drew for next month doesn't have enough surviving information, I randomly added a Sault Ontario band to fill things out. As such, we'll be looking at inactive Sault Michigan hard rock band Bucksaw (a.k.a. Dirtbag In A Dress) and a Sault Ontario band we just added to our links last month, that being defunct alt-punk trio Nowhere Fast! Look for these on or around May 10th, and for weekend concert previews and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert on here, as local classic/hard rock band Soundcheck played at Reggie's Weston Friday, a show that was not listed on the band's 2019 concert calendar. This was only announced that same evening on their Facebook page, and it was reportedly played as a trio, as bassist Paul Belair was absent. I apologize again for not plugging the show here, we would have had it been announced with more than a few hours' notice! Now, we have the latest from a prolific solo artist, a new musical production, and much more, but let's lead off with a unique LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month!
Hamilton comedy/folk punk musician B.A. Johnston will make his local concert debut when he headlines at The New American Pub on Thursday, April 18th! A tongue-in-cheek mixture of punk rock, outsider folk, Canadiana, and pop culture references, B.A. has gotten many wildly polarizing notices from fans and critics alike, but if you're at all familiar with his stage show and wide array of short and irreverent originals, you know it won't be hard to take notice, and the punk attitude and aesthetic is a frequent presence! Is it fair to compare B.A. Johnston to Wesley Willis, at least in part? Definitely give B.A. a look online to see what he has in store! No word on potential opening acts, however. This presentation of Girl Friday Productions has a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and $10 tickets, which are available at this link, at The New A, and at Case's Music. I'll be very curious to hear how this show does, so see above and the official Facebook event page for much more!
Next up, this isn't a concert per say, but given the subject band, I can't not mention this. From Thursday, May 2nd-Saturday, May 4th, St. Mary's College is holding their own student production of We Will Rock You, the jukebox musical based on Queen's music catalog! A hit musical around the world since it's 2002 debut in London, England, this SMC Spotlight production will feature students performing this dystopian future story where a group of Bohemians struggle bring free thought and rock music back to the monotonous, identical culture in this universe, all as set to Queen music performed live by the cast. The show runs at 8:00 PM each night, tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students, and tickets are available at St. Mary's main office. We Will Rock You isn't as recognizable as other similar jukebox musicals, but Queen fans would be well served to give this a look, so visit the official Facebook event page for more on this student version, and best of luck to all of the Knights next month!
Also today, here's the latest from local experimental/metal solo artist Chase Wigmore's extreme metal project Awokest, who resurfaced in March after a 2 month break from online updates by sharing this 80 second teaser clip of new material, which sounds like an ominous intro track moreso than a full song. Not long after, Chase shared the back cover of his upcoming Awokest album "Solving The Human Condition", which definitely says a lot about it's thematic content, while later sharing some artwork samples for his "Enter the Nightlands" compilation's physical release. The latter doesn't reveal much new, but it does confirm the original recording dates for it's included songs, with only 3 predating 2018. "Enter The Nightlands" is now available in CD copies on request, price details unclear, so message Chase on Awokest's Facebook page for details on that front. It's great to see Chase staying busy, so see above for more details, and stay tuned for much more from his projects!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items, all courtesy of musician searches on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group as of late! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
Former Haggith/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie is looking to get back into the the local music scene with a live band, and he cited bands ranging from Dokken & Dio to The Scorpions and Skid Row as acts he'd like to tackle (a familiar range if you recall his tenures with Project 421.) He has a bassist in mind already, but he is looking for a lead guitarist and drummer. If you're interested in working with Curt on a new project, message him at this link or above!
Ex-Bear Hunters/Skull After Betrayl guitarist Mike Vincent is looking for a female vocalist for a new rock band that he's working on, that would also play pop rock and "maybe some country." It'd be great to see Mike back with a live band after far too long, so message him at this link or above for more details!
Centro bartender Nicholas Larmond is helping put together a cystic fibrosis fundraiser event at Joe's Sports & Surplus on Queen Street East on Saturday, May 11th, and he is looking for "small local artists" and bands who'd be interested in playing for the cause. Sounds like a promising event, and if you're interested in learning more, message Nicholas at this link or above on the group!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!
Opening last November in the old Konoba Tapas & Vino location, The Whiskey Barrel is a Scottish-themed restaurant and nightclub that has sporadically hosted concerts and open mic nights in recent months, and they're definitely serious about the Scottish theme, as the Tuesday, April 30th gig is during "Kilt Night", where attendees wearing kilts will get drink and food discounts! Both of The Wyld Stallyns' shows there this month are part of a larger array of live musicians this month, all playing matinee sets unless they're on Saturday nights. It's great to see a new concert venue open on Gore Street, and with an intriguing theme that should appeal to Saulties with Scottish heritage, so visit the above links for more on The Whiskey Barrel! TONIGHT's LopLops show is at 7:00 PM, TOMORROW'S and April 30th's Wyld Stallyns shows are at 6:00 PM, and none have advertised start times, but remember, these are dinner-time/evening concerts, and the atmosphere for these nights & events should reflect that.
Moving to previously announced concerts, here's another Thursday nighter TOMORROW NIGHT, as Hamilton outsider folk/punk solo musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie as the headline act at The New American Pub! Making his second live appearance here following a Cafe Natura show in 2015 (apologies for missing that), you may have seen James Hopkin's interview with B.A. on SooToday from last week, an given it's wildly varying and self-deprecating tone, you know you're in for a unique night tomorrow! B.A.'s irreverent, comedic, and unpredictable acoustic originals are hard enough to describe, but give him a listen and see what you think! Sault Michigan folk musician Magnet Moslov (from the Downtown Street Party in September) will open this concert, as per the official Facebook event page yesterday, and he should attract some fans in his own right at The New A! This concert is a presentation of Girl Friday Productions.
