LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & HeadFirst) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Before we begin this weekend's previews, just a heads up that Tym Morrison's weekly Saturday matinee arrangement at Misty's Fifties appears to have ended abruptly after the October 5th concert. A reason for the series' end was not publically announced, but the Facebook event page covering all dates was quietly deleted, and Misty's Facebook page indicates that they have transitioned to hosting different acts on Saturdays, including Soundcheck's Cameron Oliver this past Saturday, while country veteran Allan Mooney will do the honours this Saturday (source here). Coincidentally, it was Tym who replaced Cameron at Jay's on Thanksgiving, so that much worked out, but hopefully all's well with Tym and Misty's, as it did seem like his weekly run there was on solid ground! We'll let you know when he plays publically next!

Now, let's preview most of this weekend's announced hard rock concert previews, and while it is a quieter weekend (perhaps the calm before the Halloween storm?), we will hold our preview of Saturday night's Blood Opera show for tomorrow's post to spread things out. Now, let's lead off with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will kick off their busy weekend with a one-nighter TOMORROW NIGHT at Reggie's Place! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced on Tuesday on Facebook on both the band's and Reggie's fronts. TOMORROW's concert is the first show on the newly announced concert calendar for the final quartet of 2024, and and will mark HeadFirst's... first show at Reggie's since early September. Hopefully this concert is a good warm-up for their support set at Saturday night's Blood Opera concert at Soo Blaster (preview forthcoming) and gets a similarly strong turnout! No word on who is playing at Reggie's (if anyone) on Saturday night. TOMORROW'S show has a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:30 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details on HeadFirst's Reggie's return TOMORROW, and for a preview, here's a new live video of theirs from their Facebook page!

Filmed by a friend of the band named Josie at one of their shows at Jay's Piston Broke Pub two weeks ago, and posted to their Facebook page this week, this 2 minute video features clips of HeadFirst covering songs by Alice In Chains, The Pixies, The Tragically Hip, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Eric Clapton, with the latter two featuring Red playing guitar and Claire singing lead on a verse on "Fortunate Son". Alas, this was shot vertically, but Josie did pan around to capture what she could, and the audio quality and post-production transition effects aren't bad, so check this out below, and don't miss HeadFirst at Reggie's TOMORROW NIGHT!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, Jay's only announced these shows on their Facebook page yesterday. These shows will also be joined by Soundcheck's return to their old weekly guise as jam night hosts tonight, presumably sans Cameron once again, so if you've missed Soundcheck jamming with guest musicians (or not at all depending who shows up), keep this in mind! Remember, we don't cover jam/open mic nights as "concerts" due to their in-built unpredictability. If you want to see the full four-piece band, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows at the former Roosevelt Hotel will offer the sound you need, so don't miss Soundcheck this weekend in the west end! These are 19+ events at 9:30 PM with no cover, jam night included. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head to Shooters Downstairs Lounge, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will take the stage for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! This will be Generations' first show since the Band Together To Rock Cancer fundraiser benefit last month, while they last played at Shooters in August. In the interim, Pierre and Tony S. have been playing gigs with Tex Riviera & The Ride, but it will be good to see them back with Generations on Saturday, and hopefully there's a solid turnout after the Leafs/Rangers game! Guitarist Tony Kajnar is advertised to return on Saturday, after missing Band Together To Rock Cancer for unannounced reasons. A one-nighter due to Shooters' Friday DJ nights, Saturday's concert also starts at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Generations live at Shooters!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Blood Opera preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Sole Aggressors) & The Second Annual LSSU Battle Of The Bands Preview!!

Today's post is devoted to Sault Michigan and the Eastern Upper Peninsula, mostly because of a battle of the bands tomorrow warranting an extended preview, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for another multi-band event next month that Yooper readers won't wanna miss!

Here's a big new E.U.P. concert next month, as Brighton LeBlanc of regional promoters Serious Business (who are now on Instagram) is hosting another multi-band concert at Pickles Bar & Grill in nearby Brimley on Saturday, November 2nd! Three familiar local bands will take the stage on this night, including punk trio and reigning (for one more day) LSSU Battle of the Bands champions The Sole Aggressors and hard rock quintet The Nameless, who both played at the Pickles concert in August. The third local band is a reunion of hard rock band The Karstens, who played at Serious Business' debut event at The Satisfied Frog in the Soo in November of last year but have not been publically heard from since on social media (lack of known online pages acknowledged). The three groups will be opening for Grand Rapids experimental/synth solo project Dick Texas, who were among the bands who played at last November's local date.

This show takes place in the basement of Pickles, it has an 8:00 PM start time, an 18+ age limit (not 21+), and admission is $10 at the door. It's great to see Serious Business booking another multi-band show like this, which is not common in the E.U.P., so definitely keep it in mind for your post-Halloween plans! Visit the above links for more details!

Next up, here's our preview of the second annual Lake Superior State University battle of the bands, which goes down TOMORROW NIGHT at the on-campus Arts Center, so what should you know therein? After four local bands and two solo artists rocked LSSU last November in their first community battle, an expanded lineup of five bands and three solo musicians will be competing, and this year's battle will reportedly have judges rather than a fan vote, so hopefully everyone is on their A-game to impress! With hardcore punk trio The Sole Aggressors not defending their title, and a whole new voting setup, the field is wide open, so who all is playing tomorrow? Returning from last year are local classic metal/hard rock band Tarnished (now with Chris Leask and Ron Suchey on bass and drums) and folk singer/guitarist Kevin Blakeney (who promises to "go heavy" tomorrow).

One year after losing first place by three fan votes, Dafter singer/guitarist Molly Escherich will return as frontwoman of Molly & The Other Guys, who she confirmed on her Facebook page will feature Exit 808 drummer Jackie Moon, Tarnished frontman Alex Traynor on guitar (so he's pulling double duty tomorrow), and guitarist Nathan Webber, who previously played with Jackie and Alex in both groups, the former under their original name Double Jack. Of course, Nathan and Jackie came in third at the battle last year with Double Jack, so will that bode well for Molly & The Other Guys' chances? A new "Reel" of everyone jamming is also on Molly's Facebook page, but it has no live audio. Also returning apart from their band last year is former Tarnished bassist Parker Talentino, who will instead bring his own acoustic folk/alternative material to the forefront, but how will this do with judges?

One more returnee from last year is former Double Jack guitarist Melvin Willis in his new band Small Town Society. who have revealed their lineup on social media but little else, so come down tomorrow to see how they do! In a mild surprise, Traverse City hard rock quartet Sonic Dayze (featuring Sault Ste. Marie native Jeremy Gates on guitar) will make their local concert debut at this battle, in a very rare occurrence of a non-local band coming here for such an event. How will they do in new surroundings against Yooper acts? Local country/rock singer/songwriter Kaleb Shannon will also compete tomorrow with presumed originals from his repertoire, and the lineup is rounded out by the debuting Unsure, and their name is apropos, as I am unsure of anything regarding them or their sound/lineup. We'll let you know when/if we hear anything, before or after the battle takes place!

I'm also unsure about this year' prizes, but last year, The Sole Aggressors won $150 for first place and Molly took home $50 for second. The battle of the bands takes place at 7:30 PM, and admission is $10 for general attendees, $5 for kids 10 and under, and free for current LSSU students/staff with valid ID. Things definitely sound bigger and better across the board for year #2 of the LSSU Battle, but what all will go down? Be at the Arts Center tomorrow to find out! No preview video from me here, as I don't want to show a bias given the competitive/no-headliner nature, but visit the above links for more on tomorrow's artists, and stay tuned for regular weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (HeadFirst & The BAG) Plus More Updates!!

Today's post is loaded with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS from later this month into December, along with some new updates from one of the bands, plus a mid-week concert preview, so here's what you should know!

Here's an intriguing new show announcement from a promising younger band, as metal trio The BAG will headline a Halloween night concert at the Downtown Plaza at 526 Bay Street on Thursday, October 31st! Announced on their new Facebook page (which has been used more for current promotion than their Facebook group), this show is kinda unexpected given that it's taking place outdoors at the end of October, and who knows what the weather will be like then (roof over the stage acknowledged), but booking the plaza is certainly one way to stand out among the crowded Halloween concert calendar! This will be The BAG's first show since opening for Among Legends earlier this month, and will see two mystery(?) bands opening for them. The middle slot belongs The Funky Monks, whose name and logo heavily suggests that they are a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover/tribute band.

Keep in mind that members of alt-rock band The Haze played as a RHCP tribute named The Psychic Spies at a Halloween party last fall at The Art Hub on Spring headlined by The BAG, so is this them renamed or different musicians? We'll let you know when we know! The opening group is named Prodigal Phase, and I have absolutely no advance info on who they are. Again, we'll keep you posted when/if we hear more! This Halloween concert is FREE and likely all ages, and starts at 7:00 PM with The BAG taking the stage at 10:00 PM. If you want some heavy live music in a relatively unique locale on October 31st, see above for more details!

Next up, local hard rock quintet HeadFirst have announced their current concert slate for the rest of the year via this concert calendar image on their Facebook page! We'll hold this Friday's show for this weekend's concert previews due to the late notice, and we already knew about their set opening for Blood Opera at Soo Blaster on Saturday night and their Esquire Club weekend in mid-December, but when else can you see them this year? After this weekend, HeadFirst (not to be confused with Headrush) will return to Reggie's Place for a full weekend on Friday, November 23rd and Saturday, November 24th, and they'll also end 2024 there on December 27th & 28th. If you like Reggie's, keep these two weekends in mind! On Saturday, December 7th, the guys will head to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only (due to Shooters' Friday DJ nights), and they have not announced a potential Friday nighter elsewhere that weekend.

These five brand new bookings are 19+ affairs with no announced cover charges and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details on HeadFirst's shows ahead, but what else have they been up to as of late? After a very quiet month & a half on social media (only barely promoting their shows at Jay's earlier this month), they posted on Facebook earlier today to apologize for their lack of updates, chalked up to being busy both in the band and in their personal lives. The guys have been writing new material, with the band member who wrote the post noting that "I think we've got something coming down the pipe that will excite". After their also-newly announced Sudbury debuts at The Coulson Entertainment Center (a'la Bone Yard 225) in mid-January, they plan on "stepping away from the live scene temporarily" for a couple of months "to develop our music and projects". What projects are they getting at? Stay tuned!

There is a new video of HeadFirst too that was shared earlier today, but I'll save that for our late notice Friday nighter preview in a couple of days. It's good to see that HeadFirst are keeping busy, and don't miss them this weekend and beyond as 2024 continues winding down!

Finally for this post, here's a special mid-week concert preview, as online page-less folk punk solo project Agnosticism will make their debut at The Stellar Door underneath The Distraction TOMORROW NIGHT! Last seen opening for The Haze upstairs at the former barbershop back in June, the Mikhal Muto-led solo project will be a part of a mixed-genre lineup tomorrow led by Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson, who should have another solid batch of vinyl mixes and mash-ups in store for fans! Also playing tomorrow is local comedy rock band The Floor Between Us, who Mikhal/Agnosticism has shared the stage with at multiple past events. and they have some creative and amusing original songs that you shouldn't bypass! Tomorrow's all ages concert starts at 7:00 PM and is a "$10 or pay what you can" event. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Agnosticism live!

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

Local Metal/Punk Video Showcase!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving on the Canadian side of the border! Before we begin this all-video post, I did want to apologize for missing a very late notice show on here, as classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison was a late replacement for today's Thanksgiving dinner concert at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, something only announced on the venue's Facebook page this morning. Apparently, Tym filled in on short notice for Soundcheck's Cameron Oliver, who withdrew from the matinee booking for unannounced reasons. Kudos to Tym for filling in, and I'd have happily covered this show on the SMS had it not been announced so late! Apologies again, and I hope everything went well for Jay's Thanksgiving!

As for tonight's videos, we'll go in alphabetical order by starting with classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down, who uploaded two videos from their Water Tower Pub show on Friday to their Facebook page yesterday! Both incomplete (but at least filmed horizontally), the covers are of No Doubt's "Hella Good" with Joel Syrette on lead vocals, and as embedded below, The Stone Temple Pilots' "Plush" with his cousin Beej on lead vocals. The former is a very surprising cover given that it's from No Doubt's dancier post-ska punk era, while the latter is (to me) not the best showcase of Beej's vocal range, though given that it's not the full song, it does avoid the repetitive back half of "Plush". Still, both covers are strongly performed, so give these new Double Down videos a watch!

Next up, here's the latest from local hardcore punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails, starting with the surprise reveal that they'll be on the "Punk Canada Vol. 4" compilation album next year! This is the next in an annual series by En Guard Records featuring many name domestic bands. Hails will have two very familiar discmates next year, including British Columbia skate/hardcore punk quartet Mean Bikini (who headlined at The Speak Easy last year) and Windsor hardcore punk band Avoid The Comment Section, one of the current bands from prolific Saultite guitarist Ash Richtig. I'd love to see Ash bring one of his bands up here for a show, but it's neat to see him on this! Keep in mind that the Punk Canada compilations exclusively feature bands covering older Canadian punk bands, so who will Ha!ls be tackling? Find out next year! In the realm of new videos, Hails did post one on their Facebook page on Friday!

The 23 seconds-long video features the guys playing "something we're working on", which they will reportedly debut when they open for Skoff at Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween party at The Fraternal Order Of Eagles Club on October 26th. The video focuses primarily on guitarist Carmen Muto playing a solo (only he and Brent are seen on camera), and it's definitely promisingly heavy for what we see, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more from Ha!ls when we hear it!

Also, here's a new live concert video from local hard rock quartet Half Past's big headlining concert at Soo Blaster on Satutrday night! As uploaded to their Facebook page, this video sees them covering almost all of Crossfade's "Cold", which is expertly timed given that Crossfade just announced that they had reunited. Alain's backing vocals could be louder but this is a solid cover that lets Jordan stretch his vocals to good effect, and it looks like they got a quality presentation for the larger venue! Check everything out for yourselves below, and look for more from Half Past soon!

We'll close today with a 52 second clip of Hamilton punk legends Teenage Head's headlining concert at The Machine Shop last month! This comes from Mike Blair at 705Live Sound Co., who manned the soundboards on this night and often films a video for their Facebook page from shows that he works on. Mike filmed Teenage Head playing their song "Infected", albeit largely when Dave Desroches left the stage mid-song, and everyone sounds good for what we hear! Nice to see a good crowd of people, especially given the mental health fundraising angle of this concert, so check everything out if you want below, and we'll let you know if more videos surface!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Headrush) & More On This Newer Local Band!!

It's high time to really talk about new local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush on here, so what should you know about them? Debuting as one of a pair of mystery bands at last year's Toystock at The Grand Gardens, Headrush (not to be confused with fellow local hard rock quintet HeadFirst, who also played at Toystock) only launched their official Facebook group in August, with former Cherry Crush/Tripod The Dog bassist John Amendola taking the lead in posting content and promoting the group there. Bizarrely, the band still hasn't listed their full lineup in writing on Facebook, but I believe I have identified two of John's bandmates. The singer is John Anderson, who made the top 15 in the inaugural Soo's Got Talent back in 2018, and I have shades of Frankly Speaking here with two band members sharing a first name & last initial! As best as I can tell, the lead guitarist is Soo Fighters/2 Minute Warning alum Wes Greco.

I'm not 100% sure on who the second guitarist/keyboardist and drummer are, but we'll let you know if we hear public confirmation! Unless they played a public gig prior, Headrush held their second show at The Water Tower Pub in July, and they just played their first ever full weekend at The Esquire Club on Friday & yesterday. They're slated to return to The Esquire Club on November 15th-16th and December 27th-28th, so consider those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Musically, Headrush describe themselves as playing "80s music at its finest" (though not all of their covers are from that decade), and multiple videos from jam sessions and live concerts can be seen on their Facebook group, so what is available to check out? On August 5th, John Amendola posted five jam session videos of them covering Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You", Bon Jovi's "Get Ready", Journey's "Stone In Love", Foreigner's "Hot Blooded", and Jefferson Starship's "Jane".

Ten days later, John posted three videos from their Water Tower Pub show in July of them covering "Get Ready", "Jane", and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" (complete with a local, if non-rhyming lyric change). All three are vertically shot and suffer from very blue lighting, so keep note of that in comparison to what else is on offer. Also that day, John uploaded more jam session videos, this time featuring uncredited guest musicians, and even a saxophone! These videos include covers of AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie", Journey's "Lights", and Foreigner's "Urgent". On September 1st, three short & vertical videos (the first two being "Reels") from a private end-of-summer party were shared by co-host Sabrina Cappelanni's personal Facebook page of Headrush covering "Whole Lotta Rosie", Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl", and "Jane". While these are all short & vertical, they are well filmed!

Sabrina also got a horizontal video of Headrush covering "Lights" at that event, but alas, it's only 11 seconds long. John Amendola also uploaded previously unseen clips of four other covers in this "Reel" to promote this past weekend's Esquire Club shows, but I'd definitely rather see the full songs than short, vertical, and unembeddable clips with overlaid text. From what I have seen of Headrush so far, they have a talented lineup across the board, and they do lean towards hard rock and AOR covers more than anything else, so fans of cover classic/hard rock bands should be right at home with this group, especially if you don't get them confused with HeadFirst! I seriously called them the wrong name a few times writing this post before fixing the first draft. John Anderson has deceptive vocal talents to hit some strong notes on these covers, and they do seem to have gotten a good response so far at their live gigs!

No word on when we'll see Headrush elsewhere, but they will be back at The Esquire Club in mid-November. Those and their post-Christmas gigs at the same venue have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more on Headrush (the newest addition to our active band links), stay tuned for more this week, and here they are covering Bon Jovi this summer! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Shaner & Sir Hell

With weekend concert previews out of the way, it's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, as we again look at randomly selected local metal, hard rock, and punk bands from the past with surviving online pages of note, in order to spotlight them and their activity for modern readers! Due to a lack of posted information, I added a second band without much to say to round things out with, so here's what you should know for our first double profile in this series in almost two years!

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The Shaner

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Alternative Rock/Metal

Lineup:

Shane Solomon, all instruments

Info/Analysis: Active primarily from 2010-2012 with a brief comeback in the early 2020s, The Shaner was primarily seen posting material on Reverbnation, though given how that site is set up, it's extremely hard to find dates for posted content. There's not a lot posted about Shane's music there, but he used to stream on Twitch. Over thirty songs are posted there, where Shane shows a solid base as a hard rock and metal guitarist on songs like "War", "The Jugular", and "Silks & Dangling", with some songs showing off a bluesy or funk influence. He'd be an asset to bands if he wanted to join one, and it'd be interesting to see The Shaner return, especially beyond what Reverbnation can offer!

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Sir Hell

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Metal/Indie Rock

Lineup:

Mitch Sirie (The Bear Hunters, The Suicide Kings), most instruments

Info/Analysis: After previously manning short-lived solo projects like Animas, By The Gods, and The Sorrow Fields throughout the 2010s, prolific local metal guitarist Mitch Sirie launched a new "vessel for my madness" named Sir Hell early last year, who released a proper studio version of his old April Eyes song "Squirrel Buddy" (as famously covered by The Bear Hunters) that February. Mitch recorded this amusing novelty death metal song at Unsalted Audio with familiar special guests, and the strong production quality and collaborations seemed to hint at a promising future for Sir Hell, but nothing has followed since. Don't miss Mitch's planned final work with The Bear Hunters ahead though!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! This series will return on or around November 10th when we return to looking at just one band, as our next randomly chosen group will be 2012-2017 classic/hard rock cover quartet Griphook. Watch for that then, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Cross Dog & Half Past Concert Previews, Plus More Updates!!

In today's SMS post, we are finishing off this weekend's hard rock concert previews with two big downtown shows tomorrow night, along with updates from a prominent local band & a new live video with some familiar faces, so here's what you should know!

We'll pick up our weekend concert previews TOMORROW NIGHT, when Peterborough hardcore punk trio Cross Dog will return to the Soo for a special headlining concert in the basement of Discover The Canvas Studio at 317 Wellington Street West! Featuring ex-Fuller/Lion Ride/et al. bassist Mark Rand and his wife Tracy Ashenden on vocals, this will be Cross Dog's first local concert since their appearances at 2018 & 2019's Oh!No festivals in Leeburn, and their first public concert in Sault Ste. Marie proper since opening for The Dayglo Abortions at the former Roosevelt Hotel in 2013. Now, another homecoming for Mark should be a big deal, but be advised that as of 6:17 PM, their tour bus broke down outside of Sudbury, and they were waiting on a mechanic scheduled to fix it tomorrow morning. Hopefully things are repaired in short order so that tomorrow's local date goes off without a hitch, but we'll let you know if something changes!

Local openers will include online page-less indie punk quartet Honest Work (last seen when they debuted at Fuller's reunion concert in December) and new local hardcore quintet The Sault Side Squad (in their third public concert), so come early for these newer supergroups! Doors open for tomorrow's public festivities at 7:30 PM with admission of $15 through local openers and $20 at the door, and there is no stated age limit. It will be great to see Cross Dog's furious and no-guitar originals back in town tomorrow, let alone in the basement of a tattoo parlor, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Cross Dog live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts this weekend, let's head to Soo Blaster, where local hard rock quartet Half Past will have their biggest headlining date since their comeback TOMORROW NIGHT! Metalheads may have last seen Half Past among the openers for Selias at the same venue two weeks ago, but this will see Half Past at the top of the bill, with their proficient modern hard rock covers sure to fill the big Soo Blaster stage tomorrow! They'll even be selling their own band t-shirts tomorrow, which is a neat sign for fans! Bullet Train frontman Cory Murchison (billed as "Cory Daniel" like when he opened for Fort Creek two years ago) will open with an acoustic set, so if you like the former Sense of Truth and Skeyes of Seven singer/guitarist's extensive local career, he should have a solid block of unplugged tunes to kick things off!

This ALL AGES concert takes place tomorrow night at 8:00 PM, and admission is $10 in advance at this link, at the venue, or through performers directly, though you will have to pay $12 at the door if you didn't get yours beforehand. Fans of modern hard rock won't want to miss out on all of the action at Soo Blaster tomorrow night, especially given the scope for Half Past, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here they are live!

Also today, here's some updates on the aforementioned Fort Creek, so what is the southern hard rock band up to nowadays! After unveiling a new band logo in May (which you can now buy official t-shirts with it on), they spent much of the summer working behind the scenes, only posting optimistic teasers about future activity. On September 1st, they revealed on their Facebook page that they were "wrapping up final vocals on our first release", namely an acoustic version of a song named "One For The Road". No updates followed until October 1st, when Fort Creek announced the addition of former Role Models/PROV3RB5 drummer Phil Greco to their lineup, replacing the already departed Anthony Fabiano. The guys talked up his skill set and professionalism, and he is a solid drummer that would be an asset to a long-term band, so it'll be interesting to hear how he factors in! We may not hear him immediately on the acoustic version of "One For The Road", granted, but we'll let you know when their new songs surface.

Fort Creek also posted the new band photo above of Phil alongside Justin, Shane, and Bill standing outside of a truck, but it remains to be seen how they'll handle their bassist vacancy (Robin "Bones" Lee left along with Tony last year). It's been a long and often quiet year for Fort Creek, but hopefully these recent updates are a positive sign, so visit the above links for more from their camp!

We'll close with a new video from (former?) Wyld Stallyns frontman Rob Speers' solo acoustic concert at The Dive Gastro Pub this past Saturday! For the record, it was indoors, so clearly the "Patio Play" conceit is done for the season. Uploaded to The Dive's Facebook page, this is our first public video look at Rob's solo concerts since he began them in earnest, and while this isn't a hard rock or metal cover, I did want to mention it today because Rob's playing with most of Handsome Sandwich here! For this cover, he was joined by singer Taylor Emlaw, guitarist Jesse Cook (Rob's old Elements and Wyld Stallyns bandmate), and bassist Rafael Medina, while the guest hand drummer appears to be local classic rock/country singer/guitarist Jeremy Logan Newman. Handsome Speerwich (how's that for a hybrid name?) are seen in this 24 seconds long clip covering Marcy Playground's "Sex & Candy".

Never a song I loved, but this group cover exudes with good vibes in what we see, and it's fun seeing everyone jamming like this! Check it out below, and look for more acoustic concerts at The Dive to come this fall!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!