This has to be the youngest band we've ever talked about on the SMS in terms of average age, and the band in question is Abstract from Sault Michigan! Formed last summer through Shift guitarist Joey Beairl's Guitar Studio rock camp, their ages range from 11 to 12! They were originally known as Aux, and I briefly mentioned them last year as a possible band to perform at the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival, which they did end up playing on. Abstract features singer/guitarist Jacob Hotlen, guitarist Kyle Burton, bassist Mike East, and drummer Ethan Twardy. They've actually racked up a lot of gigs so far, including shows in Mackinac City, a set at Oktoberfest, and even a show at The Satisfied Frog. They even have band t-shirts on sale at Pro Sports & Harmony Health Foods, which is cool! When I first found out about Aux/Abstract last year, I didn't talk much about them because the only video I found had the band covering The White Stripes & Weezer, neither of which are "metal". However, Abstract do cover The Scorpions (among likely others), they have tons of metal bands as influences, and Jacob Hotlen plays a Dean ML guitar live, which is awesome! Musically, they are very good for their age, and have a good grasp of their covers! If you're of a more critical mindset, don't be, remember the band's age.I don't know what the future holds for Abstract, but an early start into rock of any type is never bad! Don't be discouraged by the lack of metal covers on the videos on their Facebook page, I have a feeling they have more than that during their live shows! Check the above links for more, and also, kudos to Joey Beairl for his rock camps! These are giving young area musicians a great start towards hopefully bright futures in music, and some real talents have been developed through there!
Now to our LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll start with a show at The Rockstar Bar on March 4th! On that night, Kitchener hard rockers The Saigon Hookers will hit Sault Ontario for a long awaited concert! In case you didn't know, The Saigon Hookers used to feature Lion Ride bassist Carmine "Cobra Carmander" Romano in their lineup before he joined Lion Ride full time in January, and the two bands are good friends, so there is some local good will for them! Full details on this concert haven't been unveiled yet, though "friends" will join them presumably as opening bands. Doors open at 9:00 PM (I'd assume it has a 10:00 PM start time), there's no listed cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. It's nice to see The Saigon Hookers finally coming to Sault Ontario for a concert, I was wondering when they'd finally come to their Lion Ride friends' hometown for a show! Hopefully this goes well, as their punk/metal hybrid sound is sure to get fans out to The Rockstar Bar on March 4th! Check the above links for more, and I'll keep you guys posted when updates on this show come in!
Next up, here's another new concert that I have for you guys! When I was browsing the local concert listings on Reverbnation, I came across a concert scheduled for March 6th at The Vibe Lounge! The band in question is We, The Undersigned, a progressive metal trio from Fredericton, New Brunswick, and they have a good sound going for them! Chaotic energetic metal with unique vocals for their genre, they should impress on the live stage! This concert is announced to be taking place at The Vibe Lounge, the Goulais Avenue bar that has hosted the scattered metal show, on March 6th at 9:00 PM. 19+ and no cover charge are likely too. My source for this information is the band's official Reverbnation page, but note that We, The Undersigned still have the venue as "TBA" on their MySpace page, with a TBA local date for this Saturday listed as well. That show was moved to Thunder Bay though, so don't get your hopes up. I don't know a ton about this show, but if they say they're coming to The Vibe in March, then there must be a level of truth to it! I like their sound, they should pull in some fans next month! Check the above links for more!
Now, finally, it's this week's weekly classic video! It just got pushed back and back from filled posts over the last few days, but I at least got it uploaded last week! Again, I'm tying it in with an upcoming concert (well, it was upcoming last week), and it's of Sault Michigan hard rockers Monkey's Uncle! I've never seen a video of them on YouTube, and they deserve the views and attention, so I decided to upload one of their MySpace videos onto the SMS' YouTube channel! This is taken from a concert circa February 2008 at The Northern Pines Lounge at Kewadin Casino in St. Ignace, back when they were still known as Jager and had a second guitarist, and it's their cover of Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog"! The original video was filmed by a concert attendee and later uploaded onto Monkey's Uncle's MySpace page not long afterwards. The original video can be viewed at http://myspace.com/monkeysuncle3/videos/hair-of-the-dog/28440633, and I mean NO HARM OR INFRINGEMENT WITH THIS UPLOAD! Monkey's Uncle deserve extra attention, I want people to check them out more! They do a good job on this cover, no major quibbles, but I do like how Henry Switzer adapted his vocal range well to the song! Good stuff, check it out below, and I have more Monkey's Uncle news to share tomorrow!
And finally, I wanted to share some updates that I made to our links on the SMS. In the Sault Ontario concert venue info, I added The Big Cheese in Heyden and Docks Riverfront Grill, and moved The Algonquin Pub and Madison's Pub to the Other Local Metal Links, as neither have hosted a metal or hard rock concert in over a year. In the Sault Michigan concert venue info section, I added Joe's Bar in Rudyard, The Merchant's Bar, The Savoy Bar & Nightclub, and Zim's, while removing The Big Bear Arena, as I don't believe they've hosted a "metal" concert in a year either. All of the added venues include addresses, phone numbers, and internet links where applicable. I adjusted the old Sault This Week link in the Other Local Metal Links section to reflect the inactivity of the old Hot Spots section (now it links to the main page.) In the Sault Ontario music stores section, I added the new Facebook page for Gore Street music store Music Depot, and I corrected the phone numbers for Real Rock 105.1 & Classic Rock: The Bear in the local radio stations section, as they no longer share a number. I edited the Sault Metal Video Bar to remove channels with a now low percentage of local metal videos, and added 8 new YouTube channels. I also re-added a Facebook badge for our page on there, as well as a badge to link to our Reverbnation page. These were long overdue, hopefully everything's up to date now!That's all for now, hope you guys enjoy the Super Bowl (I'm going for Pittsburgh), and I'll have a new post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
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