YouTube Channel Profile Series: LIONRIDE's Channel

It's time to debut our newest monthly feature series at The Sault Metal Scene, as it's the first installment of our YouTube Channel Profile Series! Each month, we'll take a look at up to 3 YouTube channels featuring videos of a local metal/hard rock relevance, be they songs, live performances, jam sessions, demos, or anything else that counts! The series will start with just YouTube channels containing 50% SMS-relevant videos, and we'll dip into other channels if need be if we run out. I'll randomly select at least one channel each month, and if there isn't enough videos or variety present to fill the post, we'll include one or two more randomly chosen channels. Plus, we'll tell you everything you should know about who runs the channel, what to expect, why you should subscribe or "friend" them, and more, so let's begin with the official YouTube channel of a prominent local band! (EDITED: October 15th, 2013)
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LIONRIDE'S Channel (http://youtube.com/user/lionride)

Owner: An original Lion Ride member (I'm guessing guitarist Marky Lion, but I don't know for sure), though the channel is credited to the band as a whole.

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 10th, 2007; Videos posted between 2008 & April 2012

Channel Summary: This is the official YouTube channel for defunct Sault Ontario hard rock quintet Lion Ride, and was created in late 2007 during their first year as a band. It features 9 videos created between December 2007 & July 2009, plus two posthumous uploads following their 2012 breakup. Seven of them are live concert performances, mostly taken from a March 2008 show in London, though videos from concerts in Barrie, Moonstone, and (of course) Sault Ste. Marie are posted. The channel also includes a short aside from an early local concert involving Marky Lion's mother, as well as some Toronto rock radio airplay that the band received in May 2009. After almost three years of inactivity, the band resumed sporadic use of their channel last year, including posting their cover of the Pointer Sisters' song "I'm So Excited" in April 2012, and all four songs from their unfinished second album sessions in March 2013.

Why Should You Watch: Because this channel has some solid Lion Ride footage from their earlier lineups that deserve a wider audience, and not to mention their last studio recordings! I do recommend subscribing, especially after the channel returned to use, but I wouldn't hold my breath for anything super substantial beyond old material postings, and even then, they've only uploaded two videos there since 2009. Check it all out though!

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Lion Ride - "Lazer Lover" Live @ The Salt Lounge: Of all of the performance videos on the Lion Ride channel, I opted to feature their performance of "Lazer Lover" in London in March 2008 here first because this song was later omitted from the band's later setlists, despite a studio version of it existing online. It's an energetic little song that definitely suits Lion Ride's style, and though the camera quality isn't fantastic (scratchy audio), it's nice to see video of the band playing "Lazer Lover"! Also watch for former bassist Lionel Itchy & drummer The Italian Stallion, who can both be seen on most of the live concert videos on the channel as well!



Lion Ride 'Bang Bang Bye Bye' Live @ Moonstock: The channel's last concert video to date, this comes from a cancer benefit show that Lion Ride played in Moonstone, Ontario (a half hour north of Barrie) on July 4th, 2009. Featuring the band's 2009-2010 lineup (including then-bassist Diamond Brent Panther), the video is of an early performance of Lion Ride's original song "Bang Bang, Bye Bye", which would have been on their unreleased full length debut album. Though the video quality is kinda fuzzy and far, the audio is great, and it's nice to see Lion Ride rocking out for a great cause, especially when they gave us an early taste of a then-new song!



Lion Ride - Fuck Yeah !!: With over 1,300 views, this is the most popular video on Lion Ride's channel, despite clocking in at just 26 seconds long. It documents what became a common occurrence at Lion Ride's local concerts, where Marky Lion's mom Marsha screams "Fuck yeah!" into the microphone! In this case, it's from Lion Ride's December 2007 concert at Foggy Notions (now Coch's Corner.) Always fun, and proof that even your mom can rock like Marky's!


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I hope you guys enjoyed this first installment of our YouTube Channel Profile Series! Next month, we'll take a look at the YouTube channel of Cami Hubbard, who is the mother of Splitshot/former Nixxon Dixxon guitarist Chris Hubbard, and conveniently, her channel features a bunch of live Nixxon Dixxon videos! That'll be posted on August 22nd, so stay tuned for that, and we'll have my Garden of Bedlam concert review and much more very soon! Thanks everyone!

The Bear Hunters/Sanktuary Concert Review!!

Hey guys, here is my review of last night's all ages metal show at The Oddfellows Hall! How was it? Did the metal flow despite unhumanly disgusting humidity? I'll tell you, but first, just an update on this weekend's post schedule. Tomorrow's two posts will be auto-posted at midnight and 6:00 PM. The first one will be the debut of our YouTube Channel Profile Series (Lion Ride fans should take note) and the post at 6:00 PM will be a news post including a new concert. A review of TONIGHT'S Rosie metal night will likely be postponed until early Saturday because we're actually going out of town tomorrow for a family trip to Manitoulin Island, so I'll be working on limited time to upload photos & videos and post a review, and I sincerely doubt it'll be finished tomorrow. That explains the autoposts, so we don't fall behind. The review's coming though, I promise! Now, to the review of last night's show! (EDIT: 2:12 AM)

First off, it was extremely hot, the second straight concert I've been to where the heat was an issue. We managed though, and the fact that pop and water were on sale at The Oddfellows Hall helped! Opening last night's show were local cello/punk trio RedD Monkey, who replaced Sativa Rose as openers. Since I first saw RedD Monkey live last fall, they've really grown on me as one of my favourite non-metal local bands, and they continued that trend last night! Amidst Steve Mozarowski's numerous reminders about the benefits of water, the set was great, and I dunno if it's just me or not, but they sounded heavier than usual last night! Fast pounding punk riffs and cello playing from Steve's brother Pete that blended in really well to their musical attack! I'm still of the belief that capping a set with a rap number is anti-climactic, but they tore it up with their unique sound, and while I enjoyed the set on it's own merits, their cover of "Ace of Spades" went over really well with much of the crowd too! Solid set from RedD Monkey, I'll absolutely be back to see them next month!

Next up were one of two out of town bands, that being Halifax metal quartet Black Moor, and despite the dark sounding name, they were straight up classic metal at it's best! These guys knew how to mix a thrashier speed metal sound with influences from old school British metal, and there was some creative touches that helped make their set far from boring! Lots of longer songs too, which is always welcome! Eric Hanlin's vocals were harsh and suited the songs perfectly, while his and Evan Frizzle's guitar playing was relentless and catchy on each song! Rob Nickerson's hair seemed to fly every which way in the midst of his entertaining stage presence, but his bass playing stood out on his own, as did Kenny Myers' rapid fire drumming! I was really impressed with these guys, who put it all out there in their original songs, and the moshpits were honestly the biggest of the night during their set, though the heat may have helped lessen them in later sets. Hopefully Black Moor come back here soon, we will welcome them back with open arms!

The penultimate band last night was another Halifax speed metal band, that being Black Moor's good friends Sanktuary, and though their sounds were similar in genre, Sanktuary stood out on their own as well! Compared to Black Moor, Sanktuary's sound wasn't as varied, taking more cues from speed metal in general, so it was more straightforward, but still very relentless and entertaining! Alan Binger's vocals were really nice, ranging from a suitable heavy metal tone to some really melodic patches and even a couple falsetto notes here and there! He and Cole Hume rocked our faces off with their crushing metal sounds, and Anders Grasholm fit perfectly with his proficient drum skills! Though their originals were really entertaining and full of great old school metal, fans of Metallica were pleased to hear them cover "The Four Horsemen" and "Motorbreath" at the end of their set, which was really cool! Though I was getting worn out by this point, I recognized the talent of Sanktuary, and hopefully they come back to the Soo really soon!

And of course, your local headliners were local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, which seems odd given the presence of out of town bands, but hey, this ensures their local fans stay the whole night! Their set last night comprised of basically all of their quality originals, like "Dominate", "Succumb to Eternity", and fittingly (given the heat), "Collapse The Sun", and they tore it up to the fans who braved the humidity for the whole set! Nik Deubel's a great growler, but I couldn't hear him well, which sadly comes up a lot for their sets. He needs to be turned up! The rest of the band were on form, including great guitar work from Mitch Sirie and the ever-improving Josh Stephney, and Justin Lam's bass lines were as great as ever! Fans ate their set up, which was full of brutal death metal that was a fitting capper to the night, but hopefully fans will show up in even larger numbers tonight! I enjoyed their set, and here's hoping for more great death metal to come!

Humidity aside, it was a great show, but I wish more people had braved the heat to rock out for the whole thing! I despise summer, but metal lays down for no weather! I got photos last night, so click here to check them out or visit our official Facebook page, and while we're on the subject, have you ever wished I took photos of the crowd? Well, wait no more, as I'm starting a new album of just crowd shots called "Tag Yourself!" Why that name? Cause I want you guys to tag yourself in the photos if you're seen moshing, rocking out, or just enjoying the music! I've seen other bands do this for their shows, and I thought I'd try it on the SMS and see how it goes over. Besides, you guys wanted crowd shots, now I'm finally delivering! Check out the first photo at this location, and if you're in the picture, tag yourself! And yes, I got videos, so check out RedD Monkey covering Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff" in their own cello rap rendition, Black Moor's song "Acid Biker", a newer Sanktuary original (I think it's called "Hail The Villain" but I'm not 100% sure), and The Bear Hunters' own "Collapse The Sun"!

That's all for now, but I will see you guys at The Roosevelt Hotel TONIGHT for Garden of Bedlam, and stay tuned for the debut of our YouTube Channel Profile Series at midnight sharp! Thanks everyone!

This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Now it's time to preview this weekend's slate of local metal and hard rock concerts! Tonight's Bear Hunters/Sanktuary concert aside, there's six shows from five different headlining bands that I can 100% verify the hard rock/metal calibre of., but there's some big shows to talk about, so let's start off this week's preview post!

The 25th Roosevelt Hotel metal night goes down tomorrow night, and the headliners are none other than local metal standouts Garden of Bedlam in their Rosie debut! After just two Rockstar Bar shows in a 10 month span, the prominent local quartet will play at a different local venue for the first time since opening for Kiss when they rock the Rosie tomorrow with their trademark originals and some fan favourite covers! Awesome to see them finally at a Rosie metal night, hopefully there's many more to come! The opening bands will be local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters (fresh off of TONIGHT's all ages show at The Oddfellows Hall) and extreme metallers Winkstinger, who'll both deliver a furious and brutal sound to the stage to kick off the night! As usual, there will be no cover charge, a 10:00 PM-ish start time, and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like an awesome time, I'll be there for sure, but the review of it might be a tad late due to a weekend family trip to Manitoulin Island (we leave Friday morning), but I'll get it up as soon as I can! I don't wanna miss a note! I'll see you guys there, and for a preview, here's Garden of Bedlam playing their new original "Emptiness Without A Name" last month!



Also happening tomorrow is the live debut of Kinross hard rock trio Banned, who'll play an outdoor show at the Rudyard Township Park in nearby Rudyard, Michigan as part of their "Music In The Park" series! Featuring former Traynwreck guitarist Alex Traynor, his dad Don on drums, and bassist Alex Schrovenwever (all three share vocals), Banned hope to rock your night away with a wide ranging set of rock n' roll, metal, and maybe even some country?! Though this is the first Banned concert, Alex and Don played together at a talent show in January, which you can see footage (and possible sound samples of) at this location, so give those a look! This show will be an all ages event at 7:00 PM tomorrow night, and there is no cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It will be interesting to see how Banned do tomorrow, hopefully they can carve a rightful spot in the local scene! Head out to Rudyard for some Banned music, and when official video of them in action comes online, I'll let you guys know!

Sticking with Sault Michigan briefly, we'll head to The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino, where local hard rock quintet Splitshot will return for a weekend full of rocking covers! A later addition to their concert schedule, the band featuring half of the former Nixxon Dixxon lineup will rock The Rapids Lounge tomorrow night and Saturday night at 9:00 PM both nights, with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge applying to both dates. Check the above links for more details! Should be fun shows, there's talent present, but I still wish someone would post something to give us an indication of their sound. Videos, a setlist, something! Still, I did find out a bit more about the band's lineup, as Tony Hubbard is both Splitshot's drummer & guitarist Chris Hubbard's father, so we know a bit more than we did! I assume Dave Menard and Gary Beaumont (Kyle's dad?) are singer and rhythm guitarist respectively, but online descriptions are vague. Still, Splitshot should do great, so go see them this weekend, and stay tuned to the SMS for some cool videos related to Chris Hubbard that I found on YouTube recently!

Back to Sault Ontario to close things out, and first, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is back at Service Grill Pizza on Saturday to rock out with two sets of acoustic hard rock covers! His newest weekly local concert arrangement seems to be going well, so definitely consider a trip down to Korah Road on Saturday to chill out with a beer, some pizza, and some great tunes from Tym Morrison! There's no cover charge, a 19+ age limit is unlikely (unsure about the evening set though), and he'll be on for two sets at 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM on Saturday. For more details, check the official Facebook event page, and note that Tym is scheduled to play a solo show in Hilton Beach (on St. Joseph Island) on Sunday afternoon too, which is a bit far out of "local" range, but click here for that show's details! Sounds like a good time, so head down to Service Grill Pizza on Saturday for some acoustic action from Tym Morrison! For a preview, here's Tym Morrison (and ex-Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc) covering Extreme's "More Than Words" in 2008!



And finally, get ready, Guns N' Roses fans, as Toronto tribute band Gunz N' FN' Rosez are coming back to The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night! The local favourites were originally scheduled to play here on July 7th, but the show was later postponed for unexplained reasons, dislodging a planned Half Past show this weekend. Saturday works well for GNFNR, probably better than the original Thursday date! Look for an authentic sounding (and looking) Guns N' Roses set from this frequently seen tribute band, who always entertain when they come up to the Soo! Tickets are $7 in advance, and can be purchased at The Rockstar Bar or The Rad Zone. If you buy at the door, the price jumps to $10. Steep, but for the GNR experience you get, it's worth the money! There will be a 10:30 PM start time, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Guns N' Roses fans everywhere should take note of this show, as GNFNR bring a great and close sound to the real thing to every show, so definitely consider picking up a ticket and heading to The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night! For a preview, here's Gunz N' FN' Rosez playing the classic "Paradise City"!



That's all for today, but I'll see you guys at The Oddfellows Hall in around an hour for The Bear Hunters & Sanktuary! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), A Concert Preview, And More!!

Hey guys, it's time for another news post, but two things before we start. One, I've heard nothing new on The Canadian Nightclub flooding front in terms of it's condition or scheduled shows since yesterday. Jay Perron put some more photos up from after the rain stopped at this location, and all I can say is "Wow." I'll keep you guys posted when I hear anything. Secondly, apologies to Full Circle for erroneously saying their Saturday show at The Roosevelt Hotel was cancelled due to their Rotaryfest booking, because apparently, they mentioned on stage that they'd be at The Rosie afterwards. To be fair, the event page last weekend didn't mention a Saturday bar show, but still, I erred, and I apologize to anyone who may have been affected! Now, to the news, as we have a midweek concert preview, new material from two bands, and much more, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

As expected, Tym Morrison will return to Service Grill Pizza on Korah Road on Saturday for another acoustic set fill of hard rock classics! This is the third announced show in his weekly arrangement of Saturday sets at this local restaurant, and though it was expected to happen, we of course waited for official confirmation, as Tym's website's calendar isn't updated to reflect late summer bookings yet. So head out to The Service Grill either at 3:00 PM or 8:00 PM to catch either of his solo sets while enjoying some pizza, maybe a beer, whatever you want! I assume the sets are all ages given the setting, but I'd be wary of age limits for the nighttime set just in case. There's no cover charge, and get more details at this location! Sounds like fun, hopefully Tym's sets go well on Saturday! We'll preview his sets that day probably early Thursday. Also of note, if you live in or near St. Joseph Island, note that Tym will be playing a solo set on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM in Hilton Beach at the Tilton Hilton, which could start it's own weekly engagement if successful. Hilton Beach is too far out of our "local" range to cover (it's a 75 minute car ride), but as a former Island resident (I lived in Jocelyn Township until I was 4), I couldn't let that show slide, so definitely make note of Tym's trip to the island on Sunday as well!

Now for a mid-week concert preview, which I decided to break from the rest because it'd be insane to preview Friday or Saturday shows on a Tuesday. Big concert though, so here's what you should know! A high quality package of metal (with a hint of punk) is coming to The Oddfellows Hall TOMORROW NIGHT for an all ages show that's sure to melt a few faces! Despite the presence of out of town bands, local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters will headline tomorrow's concert, with a high impact set of brutality in store for their fans of any age! That said, two touring metal bands from Halifax will be playing direct support tomorrow night, those being speed metal trio Sanktuary and the thrash influenced classic metal quartet Black Moor! If you love classic speed metal from the early 1980s, both of these bands will be perfect for your tastes, and they're a welcome change for out of town bands locally! The opening band will be local classical punk trio RedD Monkey, who replaced Sativa Rose on the lineup last week. Interesting choice, but RedD Monkey are very talented, quite original, and even "some metalhead" can appreciate them, so don't miss their set! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Doors open at 6:00 PM tomorrow evening for this show, RedD Monkey kicks things off at 6:30 PM, there will be a $5 cover charge, and again, this show is ALL AGES! This will be a great concert, and I will absolutely see you guys there tomorrow night! For more details, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's The Bear Hunters at their last Oddfellows Hall show in April, playing their original song "Bloodthirst"!



Now to some brand new samples from the recent studio sessions of two local bands! Going in alphabetical order, we will start with Sault Ontario metalcore quintet As It Stands, who have released the first pre-production track from their May recording sessions in Mississauga onto their "BandPage" on Facebook! The song is strangely titled "Oh Herm, Herm Delish", but the song sure doesn't sound like the title may suggest! Very heavy, Justin's vocals are as brutal as ever, and there's some nice melodies thrown around too! It sounds familiar to their live shows, but I'm not 100% certain if they've played it live or not. Check the song out at the above links, and if this is a preview of what to expect from the new album, we should be very excited! The other new song is from Half A Man, and it's an unfinished clip of their song "Die In Disgrace" from their upcoming debut album! It's not complete and has no vocals yet, but it sounds very heavy, and effectively switches speeds at the drop of the hat! Good stuff, check it out at this location, and click here for a full live version shot in early May so you can preview what the finished product will sound like!

And finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories in alphabetical order by band or venue name:

• I was able to dig up a few more details on Bucksaw, a Sault Michigan band who played at LemmaFest last month. According to photos posted at this location, Bucksaw featured singer/drummer Jason VanLuven, ex-Blind Baby bassist Bill Ogston on guitar, and Scofflaw bassist Barney Gravelle in their lineup. Though online posts indicate that the second guitarist was Mark Bowen, he looks different from the other guitarist in the photos, but I could be wrong. If anyone has any extra details on Bucksaw (pages, genre, audio/videos, etc.), please let me know!
• I've added a couple new photos to our Facebook photo album of local hard rock-relevant items at The Rockstar Bar! One is just an update to our old photo of a Lion Ride sticker on the wall (a Saigon Hookers sticker was placed beneath it), while the other is a photo of a cymbal signed by Half Past! The cymbal, which has the band's 2009-2011 lineup's autographs, is actually on the wall behind the drummer's spot on the stage, so it can be hard to spot. Check the new photos out at the above links!
• Can a cat roaming in a ceiling manage to evade Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold and guitarist Joel Violette? Watch what happens at this location, as filmed at a house the band were staying in during their Saskatchewan shows in May, when David accidentally left the wrong door open. Entertaining, especially for cat lovers!
  

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews, our YouTube Channel Profile Series' debut, and much more very soon! Thanks everyone!

The Flooding At The Canadian, It's Effect On Local Concerts, And More!

Alright, this post is coming earlier than I'd like (I had planned for this to go up early tomorrow), but some major news came in today that I felt I should get on the site sooner rather than later. That's the main story, but I will include this week's classic video at the end to fill things out, and check out all the details on our current poll (and last month's poll results) in the post below this one. Now though, let's get to the big news (And if anyone has any corrected or additional news on the below stories, by all means let me know!) (UPDATED, 9:12 PM)

The Canadian Nightclub on Pim Street was the victim of major flooding overnight during our major rainstorm, and as such, the entire nightclub is massively flooded. Estimates have put upwards of 100,000 gallons of water populating the inside of The Canadian Motor Hotel's downstairs bar, and though removal of the water has begun (you can see the trucks removing it outside in the parking lot), there is a long way to go from here. SooToday was covering the unfortunate incident at this article, including photos of the interior, where you can see how bad the flooding is. No pictures with the stage in view are shown, but you can see how high the water is in relation to the bar area. According to The Canadian's Jay Perron on this photo album, the parking lot of The Canadian was a lake, sewers were backed up, and the water basically came through the doors. I'm in no position to estimate damages or comment on the severity of the flooding, but this certainly is not a minor incident. This shocking news comes just 15 months after the fire at The Upper Deck Lounge upstairs, which itself didn't disrupt the bar, but the guys at The Canadian have had some real bad luck in general since the renovations in 2009.

I really feel for everyone at The Canadian right now, hopefully they can eventually restore the bar to working order, and hopefully they can come back from this stronger than ever! The Canadian has extra value to myself because it's both right near my place and was the site of my first 19+ concert (Sandman in June 2008), so I certainly wouldn't have wished any of this on them. I heard and saw the storm we got up on the hill, it was intense, but I'd never had thought it'd cause a flood inside any buildings. Obviously, how wrong I was.

I'll keep you guys posted if any updates concerning the bar's condition come to my attention, but if you're a concertgoer, you may be wondering what this means for scheduled concerts, theme nights, and events there. From what I'm hearing, any scheduled events and shows at The Canadian are now cancelled through at least the end of August. Some discussions about that are featured on our Facebook page. On the metal side of things, this obviously means that the Alcoholic White Trash all ages show on August 1st and Hollow's reunion show on August 6th are no longer happening at The Canadian, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will be cancelled outright. Stephane Vincent from The Roosevelt Hotel let me know that there was preliminary talks about the Alcoholic White Trash show being moved to The Rosie, but that's not final at present time. Hollow have yet to officially cancel or move their show, but they will try and find a new venue if possible, as indicated on their reunion shows' event page. A shift to The Rockstar Bar wouldn't surprise me, seeing as they're playing there on the 5th already, but that's just speculation. As for Full Circle's scheduled weekend there in September, I've left it on our schedule for now, as September is (at best) up in the air for possible bar events, but if I hear confirmation that it's cancelled or moved, I will let you guys know!

My other Canadian-related note is that a band that was hoping to play there next month is now without a venue. This show had yet to be officially announced, but with the venue for the show being essentially lost due to the flooding, we're hearing details about it and what is needed now. Toronto hardcore metal quartet Vilipend were apparently scheduled to rock The Canadian Nightclub on August 3rd through Dismembertainment, but the show is now venue-less due to the flood. Bassist Michael Crossley contacted me on Facebook for help in possibly helping to secure a new venue, so I sent him some contacts. I have no clue if that will lead anywhere though, so if you book concerts, work for any venues, or can help in any fashion to secure a new spot for a Vilipend show on August 3rd (even a house party or garage), contact Michael at this location! Vilipend have a good sound, a more unique and raw form of hardcore than we're used to, grittier and more sludgy. They'd definitely be worth seeing, but alas, they need a venue, so if you can help in any way, contact the above links! Let's help them out!

This was sort of a bummer of a post, but I thought I'd end it on a positive note, so here's this week's classic video a bit earlier than usual! I decided to feature Garden of Bedlam again for a classic video, seeing as they're playing at The Roosevelt Hotel on Thursday for the first time, and like last month, this week's classic video comes from their set at Hempfest 2008! This actually led off their set that August, and it's of one of their old live covers that was not previously on YouTube, as they covered Velvet Revolver's "Slither"! Garden of Bedlam do a good job, but Buzz's megaphone didn't add to anything really when it was used. They have better covers, but Garden of Bedlam can handle most types of hard rock well, and it shows here! This video, like the Helmet cover posted last month, was filmed by a Hempfest attendee at the show and was it was later uploaded to Facebook by bassist Evan Belleau. You can view the original video at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=35356975931&oid=10668648337 and NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! This video deserves to be seen, and a wider audience should see some more Garden of Bedlam videos! So without any further adieu, here's Garden of Bedlam covering "Slither" at 2008's Hempfest!



Now that's all for today, but I'll try and get a new post in tomorrow, hopefully with a happier range of news! Stay tuned, and thanks everyone!

Last Month's Poll Results & This Month's New Poll!!

It's time once again to unveil a new poll on The Sault Metal Scene, but first, we have last month's poll to detail the results of, so that will lead off the post! But first, you'll see that the custom banner on the site this week is in homage to Garden of Bedlam's debut EP, hope you guys like it! Now, to last month's poll, as we posed this question to you guys: Which of these defunct or recently inactive bands would you most want to hit the stage again? We got 44 votes this past month in our return to standard monthly polls, which is a good number, thanks to everyone who voted! So, how'd all the bands finish in the poll? Here are the results!

Fitswitch (9 votes, 21%) Other (9 votes, 21%) Gates of Winter (7 votes, 16%) Dirty Virgin (3 votes, 7%) Sense of Truth (3 votes, 7%) Detroit (2 votes, 5%) Quite Frankly (2 votes, 5%) SBD (2 votes, 5%) Stillbroke (2 votes, 5%) Renderware (1 vote, 2%) Soldiers of Misfortune (1 vote, 2%) Time of Ruin (1 vote, 2%) AtrophiA (0 votes, 0%) Browbeat (0 votes, 0%) Driving Dave Home (0 votes, 0%) Infrastrate (0 votes, 0%) No Arrow (0 votes, 0%) Paraside (0 votes, 0%) Sue Inside (0 votes, 0%)

What do you guys think? Seven bands tied for last with no votes, and while I can see why there may be less fan support for some of them, I'm surprised that no one picked Browbeat or No Arrow! Maybe if you could vote for multiple bands. Of the four bands that tied for 10th place with a single vote, none shocks me more than Soldiers of Misfortune, who were extremely over in my teen years. At least they got some love! Four more bands tied for 6th place with 2 votes each, and it's refreshing to see bands like Quite Frankly & SBD getting some attention in the polls, but I really thought Detroit & Stillbroke would get more votes. Dirty Virgin & Sense of Truth tied for fourth with 3 votes each, which is about where I predicted them, though I figured Sense of Truth would finish a bit higher. Third place went to Gates of Winter with 7 votes, a predictably high finish, though I would have pegged them in the top two. But the poll's winners, tied for first with 9 votes each, and 21% of the results each were Fitswitch and "Other", but keep in mind that the people who voted "Other" likely didn't all vote for the same band. I'm surprised "Other" finished so high, but that could mean many things, from fan support for recently broken up bands like State of Misery to old school love for a band like Amethyst, or even a different genre! But as I said last month, I stuck to more recent bands, though not freshly broken up ones to avoid a possible bias, especially when similar new bands are around. As for Fitswitch, it's great to see such support from fans concerning a possible return to the stage, though it's kinda odd for two reasons: A. Fitswitch do occasionally reunite on special occasions, and B. We have Frightlight now, who share three members of Fitswitch's classic lineup, cover them live, and sound very similar (if you refined their sound & added a horror motif.) That said, Fitswitch were very popular locally, I really enjoyed them in the mid-2000s, and they are a deserving winner of the poll! Who knows, maybe they will reunite more officially down the road, but I'd say enjoy Frightlight, they work extremely well! Thanks to everyone for voting in last month's poll, and as we've been hinting, this month's poll is becoming a July tradition at the SMS, so once again, I'll pose this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal concert in the first half of 2011? There were a lot of major metal and hard rock concerts from January-June of this year, and I've picked 19 notable and successful shows from the past half year to vote for this month, with the ever popular "Other" at the end as well! So without any further adieu, here are your choices! Bands: Who Made Who Venue: The Canadian Nightclub Date: January 20th Info: AC/DC fans were treated to some more high voltage rock n' roll in January when Toronto tribute band Who Made Who returned to The Canadian to deliver a night full of AC/DC classics in their first of multiple stops this year! No strangers to Sault Ontario, Who Made Who likely pulled in a great audience (as they will at Hempfest next month), but was this your favourite show of 2011 so far? Bands: Bring The Fallen, Winkstinger, The Bear Hunters, State of Misery, and Sativa Rose Venue: The Oddfellows Hall Date: January 28th Info: Originally scheduled to be a private birthday concert for then-Bear Hunters guitarist Mike Vincent, medical reasons cancelled it, but bandmates saved the show and turned it into a public all ages event entitled "Icy Metal For Aborted Therapy"! Though a few bands were removed as a result, five talented local metal bands tore the house down in this all ages show, which included one of Bring The Fallen's last live sets. Was this your favourite show in the first half of 2011? Bands: Maximum RNR, Frightlight, and Destroilet Venue: Foggy Notions Date: February 19th Info: Hardcore and punk would collide at this well attended February show at Foggy's, headlined by Toronto hardcore punk mainstays Maximum RNR, who just happened to feature the Sault's own Brenton Ellis (a.k.a. Diamond Brent Panther) on vocals! The former Lion Ride bassist & Detroit frontman tore it up with Maximum RNR at this show, with Frightlight & Destroilet rocking the stage as openers! I was too ill to go, but did you guys enjoy Maximum RNR? Bands: RedD Monkey, The Fury, No Arrow, and Sounds From The Green Room Venue: Foggy Notions Date: February 26th Info: An interesting mix of bands would populate "The Swamp Donkey Romp" at Foggy Notions in late February, including Smeltzer alumni in their unique local bands RedD Monkey and The Fury, the surprise return of grunge rockers No Arrow to the stage (with their Murder Playground-era lineup in tow), and the local debut of SBD bassist Brad Griffith's hard rock duo Sounds From The Green Room! Was this a standout show for you this year? Bands: The Saigon Hookers & Brad Example and The Role Models Venue: The Rockstar Bar Date: March 4th Info: Kitchener hard rockers The Saigon Hookers have been known to Lion Ride fans for years through live and friendly association, but only in March did they finally come to Sault Ontario for a concert, their first of two this year! They delivered a high energy set of punk flavoured hard rock, with local punk supergroup Brad Example & The Role Models opening the festivities with their own well recieved set! Was this your top 2011 show so far? Bands: Woods of Ypres, The Bear Hunters, and State of Misery Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel Date: March 10th Info: After 18 months away from the local stage, blackened doom metal standouts Woods of Ypres finally returned to our burial ground for a Thursday metal night at The Rosie! The first show on their "Woods IV: The Green Album" release tour (following it's re-release through Earache Records), David Gold and company brought a metal assault to fans in attendance, with some great local support all around! Was this the best show through June this year? Bands: The Great Sabatini, The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver Venue: Foggy Notions Date: April 2nd Info: Dismembertainment brought us another high quality package of metal to help kick off April when Montreal sludge quartet The Great Sabatini rolled through Foggy's! Their uniquely slow & brutal sound won lots of local fans, while The Bear Hunters and Shit Liver proved more than up to the task as openers! I heard great things about this show, but was it your favourite metal show of the first half of 2011? Bands: Sneaky Pete Venue: The Rockstar Bar Date: April 8th Info: After months and months of anticipation, local hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete FINALLY made their local debut at The Rockstar Bar on April 8th, and by all accounts, the show was a hit! This talented group of local veterans rocked the stage with some great covers, and firmly stamped their name into the local scene with further shows over the next few months, but was this the best of the half year? Bands: RedD Monkey, As It Stands, Winkstinger, Frightlight, The Bear Hunters, Sativa Rose, Late & Loud, The Tenagens, State of Misery, Changing Waves, and Skull After Betrayl Venue: The Oddfellows Hall Date: April 9th Info: What started as a show to pay for RedD Monkey's new tour van turned into The Sewer Swampstravaganja, an 11 band all ages concert full of great local talent, including 9 metal bands! The music was wall to wall, notably including the live debuts of Sativa Rose guitarist Anthony Orazietti & Changing Waves bassist Terrence Gomes as well! Amazing show full of great bands, but is it your top pick of the first half of 2011? Bands: Lion Ride & The Billy Bastards Venue: The Rockstar Bar Date: April 8th Info: There was no camping weekend in the way on April 8th, as Lion Ride made a triumphant local return to rock The Rockstar Bar with their energetic mix of punk and metal! A huge crowd took in this exciting high impact show, with country punk stalwarts The Billy Bastards delivering their unique musical blend to their fans as the openers! This show was awesome, but is it your #1 pick for 2011's first half? Bands: Dead & Divine, As It Stands, The Bear Hunters, and State of Misery Venue: The Oddfellows Hall Date: April 29th Info: Burlington hardcore rockers Dead & Divine made their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on April 29th for an intense night of hardcore and metal for all ages at The Oddfellows Hall! Three local bands opened the festivities, including promoter John Mignacca's hardcore standouts As It Stands and local death metal band State of Misery in their last local concert! Was this Oddfellows Hall show your favourite of 2011 so far? Bands: Crued, Dirty Virgin, and Motion Carried (now Redundant) Venue: The Canadian Nightclub Date: April 30th Info: If you wanted glam, you got it on April 30th, as Toronto-based Motley Crue tribute band Crued returned to The Canadian for another night of old school glam goodness! Always entertaining, a great crowd turned out to see Crued in action, with local openers Dirty Virgin (in their first show in 17 months) and punk trio Motion Carried delivering their own entertaining styles at the start, but was this your favourite show of 2011 so far? Bands: Fuck The Facts, Shit Liver, As It Stands, and Winkstinger Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel Date: May 9th Info: Ottawa grindcore rockers Fuck The Facts made their triumphant return to Sault Ontario on May 9th, headlining a brutal Dismembertainment-promoted metal show at The Rosie that night! Their return was welcomed, and all the openers (including late addition As It Stands) threw down some heavy stuff to add to this concert, but of all the 2011 metal shows through June, is it your favourite? Bands: Farewell To Freeway, No Bragging Rights, Hallows Die, and As It Stands Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel Date: May 12th Info: Who says a Rosie metal night has to have mostly locals? Three touring metal bands from two previously booked concerts joined forces on May 12th to deliver a devastating set of death metal and hardcore, including Guelph's Farewell To Freeway, California's No Bragging Rights, and Toronto's Hallows Die, with As It Stands fittingly opening the show! Was this show your top concert in early 2011? Bands: Blizzard of Ozz & Motion Carried (now Redundant) Venue: The Canadian Nightclub Date: May 14th Info: Continuing with their trend of entertaining tribute bands, The Canadian brought Blizzard of Ozz to the Soo on May 14th, and they delivered a great set of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath covers to the fans in attendance! Motion Carried again opened with their own solid set of punk rock, but did this show satisfy your Ozzy cravings enough for it to be 2011's best concert? Bands: The Isosceles Project, Thekillingfield, The Endprogram, and Winkstinger Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel Date: May 23rd Info: Three touring Ontario bands returned to Sault Ontario after earlier well recieved concerts to rock The Roosevelt Hotel on May 23rd! With widely ranging sounds from instrumental progressive metal to experimental death metal to punk, these three bands tore it up on May 23rd, with local support Winkstinger making the most of their set with their own extreme stylings! Was this your top concert of 2011's first half? Bands: Unleash The Archers, Wear Your Wounds, Abstract & The Artist, and Changing Waves Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel Date: June 4th Info: As Vancouver power/death metal quintet Unleash The Archers toured through the astrowaste, they stopped at The Rosie on June 4th for an awesome night of metal! Accompanied by Winnipeg hardcore bands Wear Your Wounds & Abstract The Artist, and locals Changing Waves, this show was a success with lots of metal to go around, but did you like it enough to pick it as the best half year concert? Bands: The Dayglo Abortions, Frightlight, Skull After Betrayl, Sativa Rose, and Shit Liver Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel Date: June 16th Info: What started as your usual Roosevelt Hotel metal night took a major upgrade when it was announced that Canadian hardcore punk legends The Dayglo Abortions would be headlining! And then it snowballed, leading to a HUGE audience, HUGE moshpits, and one hell of a concert from the legendary Dayglo Abortions! Also featuring four great local opening bands, including Frightlight's Rosie debut, was this your favourite concert of 2011 so far? Bands: Garden of Bedlam Venue: The Rockstar Bar Date: June 17th Info: After seven months away from the local stage, prominent local metal quartet Garden of Bedlam returned to the stage for just the second time since opening for Kiss when they headlined a solo show at The Rockstar Bar on June 17th! With loads of newer material and some surprise new covers (Metallica, anyone?), Garden of Bedlam returned with a vengeance last month, but did this late June concert manage to top the half year for you? Other: Perhaps your favourite concert of the first half of 2011 wasn't listed? Maybe I missed a major one, or you preferred one in Sault Michigan, or maybe even one with no metal bands? For reference sake, bands like 5150, Browbeat, Caveman Morrison, For All That Is Lost, Full Circle, Half Past, Phatstick, Sykotyk Rampage, That's Chester, Tym Morrison, Unleash The Blackened Sky, and We, The Undersigned played in local concerts not listed above, including many of the bands on the listed shows, so there's plenty of "other" options if this is your preferred choice! VOTE TODAY!! You have until August 18th to cast your votes, so do so on the voting form in red on the left of the page! I'm curious to see what show you guys pick, so make your voices heard and get voting! We'll have a new news post tomorrow featuring some more news, so stay tuned for that! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Bear Hunters), Rotaryfest Fallout, And Our First Taste Of Great Bodily Harm!!

It's time to dive into the old news desk with a packed post today, including Rotaryfest fallout (particularly the metal & hard rock aspects), and our first glimpses at a new local metal band! However, we'll lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you need to know!

All ages concerts have been popping up very rapidly in recent weeks, from July's metal-driven Titan's Eve and Sanktuary shows to next month's Alcoholic White Trash-headlined concert. Well, add another one to the schedule, as another all ages show at The Oddfellows Hall is now official for August 12th! One metal band is confirmed for the show so far, that being melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, marking their third all ages show of the summer. Awesome to see them back at The Oddfellows Hall, they'll tear it up! The rest of the lineup so far is a mixed bag of styles, but there's a lot of great stuff to be had, including the reunion of Smeltzer as the headliners! Yes, the popular alt-punk trio last featuring RedD Monkey frontman Steve Mozarowski, bassist Paul Stanghetta (of The Fury), and former RedD Monkey/Gates of Winter drummer Kevin Overton will reunite for presumably one night only on August 12th, which should be awesome! No word if this exact lineup will be back, but fans should be excited for their return, as Smeltzer were a popular and loyally followed local band in their mid-2000s heyday! Conveniently, RedD Monkey will also play this concert as the co-headliners (no word on a possible Fury return yet, though it seems like an ideal time for one), and local indie rockers The Tenagens have also been confirmed as openers. More bands are to be announced, so I'll let you know when announcements are made!

This show will have a $5 cover charge, a 7:00 PM start time, and as said above, this is an ALL AGES event! For all current and future details, visit the official Facebook event page! I used to really enjoy Smeltzer back in the day, so their return alone is worth hitting, but with the potential for a huge amount of bands (including The Bear Hunters), this show will likely get even better over the next few weeks! As more updates come in, I'll have them here!

Next up, do you remember the Sault Michigan metal band Great Bodily Harm? They're the newer local supergroup featuring former Hammerspace singer Kirk Labadie, Swampghas drummer Doug Reed on guitar, River Witch bassist Chris Leask, and End of Existence frontman Bob Helsten on drums. You may remember them as the openers for a Half A Man concert in April, followed by a slot at LemmaFest last month, but without a visible internet page or media, we couldn't say too much about them. Well, now we can, as three original demos from Great Bodily Harm are now on YouTube, thanks to YouTube user panzertera (who is likely a band member, though I can't prove which one.) These songs were actually uploaded in March & April, but without a local credit to the videos, I wouldn't have found them, so thanks to Doug's Swampghas bandmate Jason Mills for verifying that with me! So the three posted Great Bodily Harm songs are called "You Don't Even Know", "Jaw Breaker", and the intentionally misspelled "Cuntrol", and their sound is quite promising! Think of it as a mix between 1990s groove metal and hardcore, similar sounding to bands like Pro-Pain. Kirk's singing is much heavier than his Hammerspace work, and Doug's riffs are crushing! I'm eager to hear more from Great Bodily Harm, hopefully they finally start an internet page of some kind!

I'll embed "Jaw Breaker" here, but all the songs are very heavy and worth checking out, so visit the above links for your first online tastes of Great Bodily Harm! As I hear more, I'll let you know, but here's one of their first original songs, "Jaw Breaker"!



Finally for today, here's some fallout from this year's Rotaryfest stages, seeing as our annual summer festival is now in the books for another year! Firstly, local news site Local2 was on hand to film The Stage at Clergue Park, where they got video footage of almost every band from all three nights of music! Only Fusion was left out, to my knowledge, I wonder why? Lots of solid (though unembeddable) video footage was taken by Local2's Mike Caruso, though his camera made many objects have squiggly lines in fast motion. Click here to see Thursday's "Blues In The Park" bands, but if you're looking for hard rock, the video from Friday will have you covered, as it has some footage of local classic hard rockers That's Chester covering Deep Purple's "Highway Star" from Friday's lineup! It's not full (cutting off before the 3 minute mark), but the quality's great and the band are in top form! Click here for to see most of Friday's bands, and That's Chester's segment starts at 6:22 into the video. As for last night's Rotaryfest main stage lineup, there's a video for that too, which you can view at this location, and it gives us our first video glimpse at local classic hard rockers Full Circle! Sadly, they only get barely a minute of screen time, but I can tell you a few things, including that the video is from their cover of the song "Alone" by Heart!

I don't have a huge glimpse of Full Circle here to accurately compare them to the last Turner Up lineup I saw live (the Krista Marshall fronted lineup from earlier this year), but KT Antler has some real pipes on her, and Kyle McKey shows some good energy on guitar! Hopefully we get some longer video soon, but this is better than nothing! Check the above links to give the Saturday main stage lineup a look, and Full Circle's portion begins at around 13:20 of that video. Other local news sites didn't devote large coverage to the main stage, but the Tenaris Second Stage has lots of stuff to share! No metal bands played on the outdoor stage on Queen Street East this year, but SooToday's massive photo album and some more Local2 videos (viewable here) will give you some very nice glimpses into the Second Stage, where local metal alumni like Glen Thomas & Chris Smith (Wishbone), Joel Poluck (Mora Lee Sound), and Alex White (Cowboys & Indians) rocked out to a large audience! Also of note: Sativa Rose guitarist Andrew Angelic played with Cowboys & Indians on Friday as their temporary live guitarist, and you can see him in the photos and video footage as well! Looks like this year's Rotaryfest stages were big successes, so check out all of the above links for all the Rotaryfest musical fallout, and I'll have more if it emerges!

That's all for today, but stay tuned TOMORROW for the final results of last month's poll and the debut of our new poll, where you can pick your favourite concerts of the first half of 2011! Stay tuned, thanks everyone!