Amethyst - "Innocent As Hell" Review!!

It's now time for our 28th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and a little Halloween treat for you guys, especially if you remember this band from their heyday! With no new albums available to review from local metal acts, I've dipped into the archives this month for our oldest CD review to date, and it's of "Innocent As Hell", the last album from defunct local metal band Amethyst! It's the band's only CD, but it followed at least one cassette tape from the late 1980s, which I don't have yet (Any help?) Released in 1994 through Sludgemonkey Music, "Innocent As Hell" was recorded with producer John Hartman at Atomic Sound Studios in Sudbury in 1991 & 1992, and was later mastered by George Graves at Lacquer Channel in Toronto. The band's lineup on this album included singer Rick "Widow" DellaVedova (now of CML Productions), guitarists Jose "Wales" Temporao and Mike Haas (who also supplied keyboard parts), bassist Chipp Robb (now musically active in the Calgary area), and Jose's brother Phil (a.k.a. "Phily S. Tempo") of Meatplow & Sebastien 6 fame on drums.

"Innocent As Hell" is currently out of print (remember, this came out 17 years ago), but you can buy it in mp3 format for $9.99 at this location, with individual tracks going for 99¢ each and $2.49 each for ringtones. I also uploaded the whole album onto our YouTube channel before it was posted for sale again (thanks again to Arthur Lacasse for the CD!), so though I've linked the song titles below to my uploads for streaming, support Amethyst and pick the album up! Featuring 11 tracks with around 45 minutes of music, let's begin this month's review with the opening song "You've Been Caught"! (Updated on September 29th, 2012)

"You've Been Caught" opens with a nice keyboard intro that gives a grand entrance feel, and it shows Mike Haas' skill well for other instruments! Then the hard rock kicks in in full force with Brian Johnson-esque vocals from Rick Widow and some very catchy riffs to go along with it! A definite late 1980s feel is present on this song, and in the verses, Rick shows off good hard rock singing even when he's not channeling AC/DC in the choruses! Melodic and harsher when need be, but never out of tune with the song's sound. Written about what sounds like a criminal stalking and catching someone, it's heavier than the production would imply, and I wish it was ratcheted up a bit to service the band's hard rock talents here. I also found that the guitar solos were way too short and didn't show off Jose Wales' skill as well as later tracks likely will. Overall though, this is a very entertaining opener to "Innocent As Hell", and a good harbinger of what's to come! Agressive, familar, and well played all around, even if there were a few things to correct!

Next is "I'm The One", and after an odd intro that eventually leads to (fittingly) kids trick or treating, and the violent result you wouldn't expect, the metal kicks off in a slower and heavier pace than on the previous track. Sort of a Pantera vibe, kind of, but with much more melodic vocals. Rick had a very nice range, I was surprised! The song is lyrically a love song "of sorts" (note the quotation marks) and it's a cool track with a low groove while still being heavy, though it's not as good as "You've Been Caught". It's not as energetic, the chorus gets very reptitive, and the lack of a guitar solo is disappointing, but it's still an entertaining song that'll interest classic metalheads who like stuff a little darker in sound! Things pick up though with track #3, "Don't Run Away", which is basically about trying to keep a woman around for romantic needs, instead of letting her run away. Much higher tempo and it makes good use of another heavy and catchy guitar work and nice melodic singing from Rick! This time though, the backing vocals are to the service of the song, and Phily's drumming adds nicely too the pacing! The guitar work here isn't too fast, but it's sure done well, and Jose's guitar solo is long and varied, which I like! I'd have sped the song up a bit though, and the end was drawn out too long, but this is still a really nice song and easily better than "I'm The One" in both sound and energy!

The fourth song on the CD is the longest and one of my favourites, entitled "Guilty By Suspicion"! Seemingly about being blamed and judged needlessly, it starts well with some very catchy instrumentation and some nice hard rock singing from Rick that flows excellently with the song, with very complementary backing work in the chorus! The guitar riffs are awesome, but again, the production could have been tightened up, as it's heavier than it sounds for quality. Nothing too ricky here, just some old school metal with a nice groove, solid lyrics, and an awesome guitar solo, Jose's best of the CD so far! Not as heavy as "You've Been Caught" but for my money, it's more listenable, and we got some more AC/DC-esque vocals to end this standout track with! One of my favourites for sure on "Innocent As Hell", Amethyst were at their best here for sure!

Then comes "Presence of Mind", which starts heavy with a slow pounding riff and some interesting walkie talkie-esque speaking before launching into a solid hard rock riff with great drumming and some interesting keyboard wipe effects that add a shine effect onto the track, it's hard to explain. I'm not digging the chorus too much, particularly the effects on the backing vocals, which drags down my enjoyment of the rest of the song, which is otherwise really good! The riffing is heavy and has a nice beat to go along with it, with cool and tense vocals, and they show good chemistry here, but the chorus isn't on the same level. Really good though! Sixth on the CD is the intentionally misspelled "Hardwear", which opens with a nice rapid-fire electronic drum intro from Phily before launching into more AC/DC inspired vocals (which are present throughout the track) and continued solid drumming! Rick can handle the AC/DC singing well, and it flows with the material, adding to his vocal arsenal in the Amethyst heyday! I like that this song doesn't copy the others too much, and Jose's guitar solo is varied enough to keep fans happy! Another excellent song on a so far quality release, and nice use of external samples too!

"Long Time Comin'", which is the album's shortest track, follows in the seventh spot, and the guitar work from Mike and Jose is great from the get-go, even with some nice pinch harmonics here! This song feels like a David Lee Roth-era Van Halen track in some respects, and they pack a lot of lyrics (though repetitive in the choruses) into just over 3 minutes, including very nice backing singing in the choruses! The instrumental section midway through starts oddly though, it feels too mechanical and doesn't flow with the track, like it was taken from a different song. Nice catchy classic metal number, though I'd have lengthened it and made it flow a bit better throughout the whole song. Then we have "Snakeye Strut", a gambling-referencing hard rocker that is also pretty good! The riffing has a classic rock tinge, Rick's singing is as melodic and old school-cool as we've came to expect, and Chipp's bass work is really good here, some of his best on the CD! It doesn't add anything too new to their arsenal, but it has that cool swagger going for it that will keep your head bobbing, and that works just fine!

"Callin' Spells" is ninth on "Innocent As Hell", and it starts with a nice hard rock intro riff that feels different than anything we've heard so far, and it's got a darkness going for it! The song has sort of a combined Southern rock/hair metal sound, and though it has an upbeat tone throughout, it's not one of the heavier tracks on the CD. The singing is top notch though, and Rick and the backing vocals suit the mood of the track nicely, along with some cool guitar parts. I prefer heavier tracks like "Hardwear" and "Guilty By Suspicion", but this stands out on it's own! This song is followed by "Sky", which is bascially the album's ballad. It start with a slow and soft guitar opening with some softer and higher pitched singing from Rick Widow overtop before it picks up a bit with more instruments. The song seems to be about the sadness of losing someone, despite the sun always shining on the world, which is a good topic for a ballad! I dunno if this is an accurate comparison, but "Sky" reminds me of "Hole Hearted" by Extreme by it's sound, though that could just be a general thought. It's well performed, and you'd never guess it was Amethyst by the sound. It honestly doesn't even sound like the same band that did the earlier songs, but that just shows what range they had! Good song, but being a metalhead, I naturally wouldn't prefer it to Amethyst's heavier material.

"Innocent As Hell" concludes with "Over The Limit", which is the only song on the CD with every band member credited for writing it. After a low Pantera-ish intro, it builds to a hard rock sizzle with even a funk-ish bass line from Chipp Robb and solid singing from Rick about a woman who's good at... "romantic satisfaction" (that'll do!) Not a lyrically strong track, but it has stellar bass and some nice hard rock riffing, including a solid guitar solo and very nice drumming, so I can forgive the slightly minimal lyrics. It's a solid capper for the CD, and though it kinda feels empty at points, it has enough hard rock goodness and classic sounds to appeal to most fans of older metal, so don't let it slip by either!

So how do I grade Amethyst's last album? Well, without comparing it to their debut cassette (would love to get it though, hint hint), I'll say that it's a very entertaining classic metal album that I hope did really well in it's intial release! The 5 members of Amethyst clearly had talent as a metal and hard rock outfit, and they had clear chemistry on "Innocent As Hell", from Rick Widow's varied and rangy lead vocals to excellent lead guitar work and solos from Jose Wales! His brother Phily was great on drums, and his skills from recent local work were clearly present back then, while Mike Haas' had tons of good riffs, and Chipp Robb proved to be more than capable on bass on this album! I have a feeling this was a pretty definitive cross-section of Amethyst's sound, but part of me thinks it's a shame that they released this in 1994, as I have a feeling their 1980s-skewed sound would have been seen as dated in the scene back then. Luckily, I wouldn't say that's so now, and I know their high energy 1980s metal sound would be sure to gain a lot of fans if their material was spread farther, and if they were played on "The Hair Scare" on Rock 101, it sure would fit well!

As for flaws, I'll say that the production could have been altered a bit. John Hartman did a good job to make everything clear and sounding nice, but at the same time, most of the songs don't sound as heavy as they probably did live. Note that I own and listened to a SIGNED copy of the original CD, so this isn't a quality loss issue from mp3s. Some songs also got slightly repetitive or had empty stretches, the quality seemed to slightly drop in the second half, and I naturally prefered heavier songs instead of tracks like "Sky" or "Callin' Spells", but that's subjective. On tracks like "Guilty By Suspicion", "You've Been Caught", and "Hardwear", Amethyst showed their heavy metal chops and high talents equally, and I can easily see myself headbanging to them at their concerts if I could have! Overall though, this is a great time capsule look at one of the more prominent local metal bands of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and hopefully their album gains some posthumous recognition! Who knows, maybe they could reunite down the road? I can't see it happening, but it would be something else! Stream or buy "Innocent As Hell" at the above links!

I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! So, what album is getting reviewed in November? Of course, it will be a new album if one comes out from a local metal or hard rock band, but will any? We've thought many were coming out soon in recent months only to be kept waiting, so who knows. Stay tuned for our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post on Wednesday to see what could be on the horizon soon for albums, as there are a bunch in the pipeline! If no new albums come out, we will look at an old album from the local archives, hopefully tied in with a band or artist playing locally next month. Of albums I own or have access to for possible future reviews, I'll say that next month's review will NOT be of a Foothill Road, Sykotyk Rampage, or Woods of Ypres CD, as it's too soon from my last reviews of theirs (the same would apply if I obtained Amethyst's cassette next month, it's too soon yet.) It could be of Theater of Night's album "Christmas Night" to kick off the holiday season, depending on album release schedules. So whether we review something old or something new, look out for our next CD review likely between November 24th and 30th! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Late & Loud Concert Preview, New Videos, And TODAY'S CD Review!!

Happy Halloween, SMS readers and metalheads! We've got two posts to end the month and the Halloween season on a high note today, starting with a new news post! We've got new videos and material from a pair of heavier area acts, and the identity of this month's CD review (fittingly to be reviewed TONIGHT), but first, here's a preview for a concert going down tonight as well, so if you're in the mood for Halloween metal, here's what you need to know!

Continuing a busy stretch of local concerts, classic metal quartet Late & Loud will headline a Halloween bash at The Speak Easy TONIGHT! This will be their third local concert in a six day span, and second headlining set at the Algoma University bar in the same amount of time, so if you've missed them over the last while, here's a good chance to check them out! Details are scant on this show, but aside from the obvious Halloween setting (bring your costumes!), it should mostly be similar to Late & Loud's other Speak Easy shows, which don't often get a lot of advance promotion from the band. Still, a Halloween night metal concert is sure to be memorable, especially as you don't see them too often on non-weekends! I'd expect a cover of some type, so bring cash, while a 10:00 PM start time and a 19+ age limit should be expected as well (though underage students at the university may be allowed in too.) Check the above links for more details! If you crave metal, this is your last chance to rock out with a local metal band over the Halloween season, and with a band of this talent and recent prominence, you don't wanna miss it! Make it out if you can, and for a preview, here's Late & Loud covering Airbourne's "Runnin' Wild" at The Oddfellows Hall in April!



Next up, here's some new material from some local acts, and first, here's a new cover from Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids metal quintet End of Existence! As was being hyped on their Facebook page over the last couple of weeks, this is an intriguing cover of the country classic "(Ghost) Riders In The Sky: A Cowboy Legend", perhaps popularized by Johnny Cash, but now "ruined" by End of Existence! Myself, being a metalhead and admittedly not a country fan, I dig this version more than any others! I'd like to have seen them speed it up a tad, but Bob Helsten's vocals suit everything well (though it is odd to hear death growling the words "Yippie-yi-yay"), and the band do a solid job of converting a country standard like this. Posted onto the band's YouTube channel on Friday, give End of Existence's cover of "(Ghost) Riders In The Sky" a listen below, and watch out for some amusing captions and comments on the video as well!



Also new for local hard rock/metal material is some new songs from prolific Sault Ontario guitarist Mike Cliffe, who's posted a handful of new solo tracks onto his Reverbnation page! Two of them have also made it to his YouTube channel as recent uploads, but one new track isn't in video form yet. Entitled "Angel", Mike added the subtitle "(OMG its more than 8 minutes long)", which is amusingly honest! The track itself is a slow building progressive rock instrumental with a spacey feel at points, and some nice exotic sounding moments late. It's not terribly heavy, and maybe it's a bit overlong, but it's well played, and give it a listen at the above links! The other new songs include one entitled "October Angel (Angel 3)", which implies it's in the same series as the song "Angel" above. It's a softer and shorter prog rock instrumental that also has some nice moments, but it may be more affecting to listen to. The YouTube video also features spacey & starry effects that suit the track well, so check it out too at the links above!

What I'm sharing here though is Mike Cliffe's new track "Blue Moon Beach", which is a harder rocking new song with nice bouncy effects and a progressive jazzy vibe that shows off Mike's talents well! Accompanied by various blue visualizations and assorted camping photos in the video, it's a solid track and my favourite of Mike's newest solo songs, so check this (and more) out at the above links, and here's his video for "Blue Moon Beach"!



And finally, are you still wondering what this month's CD review will be on the site, or if there will be one at all? Well, there will be one TONIGHT, so don't fret, but what CD are we doing? With no new local metal/hard rock CDs in my possession this month, and a lack of gigging bands whose members released eligible albums I have access to (recently reviewed bands aside), I'll dip into the general archives this month. For this album, now's as good a time as ever, so tonight, we're reviewing defunct local metal quintet Amethyst's second release & only CD "Innocent As Hell"! Released way back in 1994, this will be our oldest CD review ever on the SMS, but well worth a posthumous look! I'd typically have liked to have reviewed their debut cassette first (that featured "Waste of Time" on it), but local cassette tapes are hard to come by even before converting them to newer formats, so I'll work with what I have for now. This'll be interesting regardless though, whether you saw them in their heyday or not, so watch out for our review of their only CD tonight, and much more news this week, including next month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on Wednesday! Thanks everyone!

The 2011 Coch's Corner Halloween Party Review!!

I'm back from last night's 6th annual Coch's Corner Halloween Party (and the second one I've attended), so naturally, here's my review! Coch's Corner was decked out pretty well for the season, but maybe a bit less than last year. Maybe it was just the lack of spider webs on the stage area. Lots of people were decked out in their Halloween costumes, and there were a lot of highlights to be seen! The most metal that I can remember were two women dressed as Wayne & Garth from "Wayne's World", which was excellent! I got a laugh out of the guy dressed as Alex Trebek too (with a picture of him and eye holes instead of actual face makeup), and there was some other very creative and funny costumes to be seen. Myself, I was an old timey British gentleman, and people seemed to like it! The lack of a costume contest like was advertised was disappointing though, I would have entered! The floor area for the concerts wasn't as packed though, they should have moved a table or two to encourage fans to get closer. Everything worked well though, kudos to the Coch's Corner staff!

Opening the show was local punk trio Redundant (replacing "T. Rex Manning"), who were dressed as Green Day for their Halloween costumes last night! Fittingly, they threw in a bunch of Green Day covers that fans seemed to enjoy, including "Brain Stew" and "When I Come Around", among others! At least they didn't go with newer Green Day, not a fan of their newer stuff. For the most part, their set was a straight up punk fest without a real metal cover, but they seemed to be on form from when I last saw them as Motion Carried earlier in the year! Covers ranged from NOFX & Rise Against songs to their lyric-adjusted variant of "Folsom Prison Blues", and though frontman Justin Langlois took some self-deprecating shots at them sucking and sounding better if drunk, I thought they had it together for the most part! His vocals were at their punk best, drummer Rick White kept up his end really well, and his brother James (who replaced Jamie Whalen since I last saw them) shown tons of skill on bass throughout, and was very consistent! I would have liked to have heard Redundant cover some old Scary Uncles tracks, but overall, they delivered a fun set of punk rock that fans appreciated, and hopefully I'll be seeing them again soon!

Following them on the bill were The 151s, and yes, this was the exact same band that played Coch's Corner Halloween parties in past years under different names, personas, and genres. After turns as Glamoween in 2009 & the punk-covering Mothermakers last year, I had no idea what they'd be playing this time around. Much to my pleasant surprise, they took on the persona of an early 1990s rock band, complete with grungy clothes and a setlist covering everyone from Nirvana & Pearl Jam to R.E.M. & even Chris Isaak! If you know me well, you'll know that I consider the early 1990s to be the absolute best time period for music quality, so I enjoyed that aspect of The 151s' set & look! That said, like last year, their sound was underwhelming in ways. The singer's voice was too nasally for songs that called for deeper vocals, there was some timing issues on a few songs, and when they went a bit heavier, the band seemed to make more errors. That said, on songs like "Losing My Religion" & "Breaking The Girl", they definitely had good things going, and Halloween revelers partied up front with them, which was fun to see! Hit and miss set overall, but The 151s rocked when the right song hit, and who knows what genre they'll tackle next year?

And finally, your headliners were local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight, fresh off of their opening set for The Misfits in Toronto on Wednesday, which by all accounts was a huge success for them! Their set was mostly similar to your usual recent Frightlight sets, including originals ranging from "Dead Town Everywhere" and "Fright Night" to "World War Z" and "C.H.U.D.", along with Fitswitch, Misfits, and G.G. Allin covers. Most surprisingly, they covered the old Fitswitch track "March of 1,000 Corpses", which I've been calling for them to play live for ages! It is a much better fit for their theme and sound than "Rust Angel", after all. Along with new Black Label Society-esque patches for their stage gear, new drummer Chris "FreakNStein" Thompson made his local debut with Frightlight last night, and he was on fire! He has good chemistry with the members from the Fitswitch days already, and he already seems to be settled in as a key cog in the Frightlight machine! Singer Johnny Pints' voice was a bit rough around the edges, but after opening for The Misfits, I can understand that.

Oveall though, Frightlight sounded great with few messups, and if you love horror flavoured punk & metal, they sure brought it to cap off a great Halloween party! It was another great time, though I'd have liked to have seen more Halloween decor and a costume party next time around. I'll certainly be back to rock out on October 27th, 2012! I did get photos last night, so click here to see them, or visit our official Facebook page! I also got a "Tag Yourself!" crowd photo, so click here to see if you're in it and tag yourself if you wanna! And I did get a couple of videos, so here's The 151s covering Nirvana's "Breed" and Frightlight playing their original "She Screams"!





That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tonight which will include a preview of tomorrow's Late & Loud concert and the identity of this month's CD review, which will also be reviewed TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Monkey's Uncle & Swayze Train), Sue Inside's Return, And More!!

Let's take a break from concert previews for a bit to get some news on the site! Today, we have videos from a re-activated local band, some new solo demos from a local guitarist, and leading things off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for you Sault Michiganders, so here's what you need to know!

Kewadin Casino's entertainment page has been updated to reflect concerts at The Rapids Lounge through the end of the year (and River Witch's name change to Powerslug), so thanks to that, we have four new concerts to announce, starting with the return of Monkey's Uncle to Kewadin Casino's bar & concert venue! Though already scheduled for Kewadin dates on November 25th & 26th, this talented hard rock quartet will also hit The Rapids Lounge two weeks earlier on November 11th and 12th to rock fans with their originals and covers! I believe these shows replaced a cancelled booking, but I don't recall who was originally listed for that weekend. As I sadly expected, Monkey's Uncle haven't confirmed these new dates, but Kewadin Casino's own site is as good a source as any! Admission should be free for both of these new concerts on the 11th & 12th, you must be 21 to attend, and both should have start times of around 9:00 PM. Check the above links for more details! Even if they only update pages sporadically to not at all, Monkey's Uncle have a lot of hard rocking tunes to show off at their shows, and they've now got four in a 15 day span, so get your fill of Monkey's Uncle next month for sure! Stay tuned for updates if they come in!

Also newly listed, Sault Michigan hard rock quintet Swayze Train are coming to our local Kewadin Casino for the first time(?) in December! Though no strangers to the Kewadin Casino in St. Ignace, the local quintet featuring Clownsack, Electric Motor Fish, Slackjawed Rats, and Insipid Brutality alumni will make what I think are their first ever weekend appearance there for New Year's weekend on December 30th & 31st! What better way to send in 2012 then with this talented new band? Like with Monkey's Uncle, Swayze Train have yet to publically confirm these dates, but I have more faith they'll acknowledge these in advance, so something's probably coming! The same house rules as the Monkey's Uncle shows above will likely apply here, so nothing's too different (21+, no cover, after 9:00 PM, etc.) Check the above links for more details! It's nice to see Swayze Train branching beyond The Frog for some local shows, and though I still don't know how they definitively sound, the band is very accomplished all around, so keep these shows in mind for your New Years weekend plans! As always, stay tuned for more from them and the casino as everything comes in!

Next up, have you been curious lately as to the whereabouts of Sue Inside, the Oil Springs metal project that originated locally in 2007? We hadn't heard anything major from them since January, but as it turns out, the band returned to activity for at least one live gig in August, and the videos from it are online! These come from a live acoustic outdoor concert that bassist Adam Veen played under his solo project pseudonym Dr. Jeremiah Rabishi on August 12th in Oil Springs, and Sue Inside bandmates (and ex-Sault Ontario residents) Shane Lipsit-Fraser & Jeff Vogel joined in for some live originals and covers! The posted videos include acoustic covers of Five Finger Death Punch's "Far From Home", The Foo Fighters' "Skin & Bones", and Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire", and they do a good job! I continue to like Adam's singing too, he should do vocals on more Sue Inside originals, as in all honesty, he has a better range than Shane does. These videos come from Adam's solo project's YouTube channel, which mostly features Dr. Jeremiah Rabishi material, but there's also an actual video of his & Shane's old band Paricide, a promising acoustic Sue Inside audio demo named "Get Busy", and yes, one live video from August of the band playing a Sue Inside original song!

Entitled "Saved On T.V.'s", it's a live acoustic jam that I haven't heard before in other versions, and it has promise to it! Much of Sue Inside's non-local output has been unplugged, but it's a well played track with some nice acoustic guitar work from both Shane and Adam/Dr. Rabishi, and I missed hearing Jeff's drum work too! Good stuff, so check out some new Sue Inside video footage above and below, and if I hear anything new on them from Southern Ontario, I'll have it here!



And finally, local solo artist (and awesome Napalm Death filmer) Neno Jovanovic has uploaded two more solo guitar demos onto his YouTube channel earlier this week! Both have also been posted on his Reverbnation page. Following his trend of playing the guitar tracks over the original song, these newest tracks are of Neno covering The Police's "Message In A Bottle" and (as featured below) The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop"! Not the heaviest songs, but hey, he plays them well! I'm no Police fan, so I can't say how it compares, but it's well performed. The Ramones cover isn't bad, he knows and plays the song well, but the pacing seems too hectic during the singing. Good stuff though, Neno has lots of talent,. and hopefully we hear some more originals and covers from him soon! Check out these and more audio demos at the above links, and here's Neno's cover of "Blitzkrieg Bop"!



That's all for now, but in case there's no new news post later today, I will see you guys TONIGHT at Coch's Corner for this year's Halloween party (with Frightlight and more!) Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Sault Ontario Halloween Weekend Concert Previews (Part 2) And More!!

Alright, it's time to continue this weekend's Halloween concert previews, and all but one will be cleared out on the metal/hard rock side of things after today! I'm gonna wait to preview Late & Loud's show on Monday, as it's kinda early to do it yet, so for today, we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, a longer preview of a major Halloween tradition's return tomorrow night, and to fill things out, some big news from Woods of Ypres, so here's what you need to know!

After an off weekend, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will return to Service Grill Pizza TOMORROW NIGHT for a night of acoustic hard rock hits! While his Caveman Morrison bandmates rock Coch's Corner with Redundant (more on that in a second), Tym will have lots of metal and hard rock covers in store for his fans at The Service Grill tomorrow night, as he often has this year! Apologies for the short notice on this show, it was just announced yesterday. If you want some good pizza and beer, or if you just want some lighter entertainment for the Halloween weekend, Tym will be sure to fill your needs tomorrow night, so keep his show in mind! There's no announced cover charge, he'll be on at 8:00 PM, and though I don't believe there's a cover charge, be wary just in case. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like fun to me, so hopefully lots of people turn out tomorrow night to rock out with Tym Morrison! For a preview, here's him and former Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc covering Extreme's "More Than Words" a few years back!



Now to the other Saturday nighter for your Halloween weekend activities, and it's the 6th annual Coch's Corner Halloween Party TOMORROW NIGHT! Presented by Johnny Pints & Coch's Corner, this yearly tradition has rocked the Days Inn bar since 2006, and the spirit of the Halloween season will be in full force tomorrow night with decorations, the right ambiance, a costume contest, and so forth for you Halloween revelers. And yes, there's music to be had, with your headliners being local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight! Just days after opening for The Misfits in Toronto, these local mainstays will rock the stage with their trademark horror-injected originals for a third straight year, so don't miss them! Also, this will be their first ever local concert with new drummer Chris "FreakNStein" Thompson (Half Past), so welcome him to the band in style tomorrow night! As for openers, one of the bands will be local punk trio Redundant, who'll have a series of exciting punk covers to rock fans with tomorrow night! Note that Redundant have replaced the previously announced 'T. Rex Manning" on the bill, as per this Facebook event page. No reason was announced for the change, but given that I couldn't find a single thing on T. Rex Manning", maybe they're one & the same as Redundant? If I find out, I'll let you guys know!

The other opening band is named The 151s, but aside from a likely Bacardi reference in the name, I know nothing about them. I wanna say that they're one & the same as The Mothermakers from last year, who seem to only play at Coch's Corner Halloween parties under different names and genres, but I don't know for sure. If I find anything, I'll let you guys know! With this special Halloween theme and all that's going on, there will be a cover charge of $5 tomorrow night, which isn't typical, but it's well worth it! You must be 19 to attend, and it all starts at 9:00 PM. Check the above links for more details! I guarantee I'll be at this year's Halloween party, and how could I miss it after how good last year's was! It's slightly more punk-centric than last year's, but there's tons of good music to go around, so hopefully I'll see you guys there to rock the Halloween weekend the right way! Hope to see you guys there, and for a preview, here's Frightlight playing their song "World War Z" at last year's Coch's Corner Halloween Party!



Alright, with the next couple of concerts previewed, I'll close with a really cool find for you guys today, and it's a brand new Woods of Ypres song! This was uploaded onto their label Earache Records' YouTube channel yesterday, and it's called "Career Suicide (Is Not Suicide)" from the forthcoming "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light"! This is an advance mix of the track, and it's the first audio sample of the album we've heard in advance of it's planned release on January 30th (that's new too!), but how does it sound? I'm holding my complete thoughts until I review "W5" in early 2012, but I will say this: It's slightly different in sound than you may expect. Not as gloomy and doomy as much of "The Green Album" was, but David Gold's voice goes places it hasn't before, and Joel Violette's guitar solo sounds great! For the record, it's higher in the mix than Bryan Belleau's usually were on "W4", which is promising! I'll say nothing more for now, but if you're craving some new Woods of Ypres material, give "Career Suicide (Is Not Suicide)" a listen below, and stay tuned for more "W5" updates as they roll in!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, along with our next CD review (we're probably going really old school this month), possibly a review of a concert tonight, a definite review of the Coch's Corner Halloween Party, our Late & Loud concert preview, and much more! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Full Circle), Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews (Part 1), And More!!

The weekend concert previews keep coming today, and honestly, because there's so much going on over the weekend (Halloween weekend is always a busier concert stretch), I'm going to break up the Sault Ontario previews into two posts: Bands playing shows tomorrow night first, then bands playing only on Saturday or later in a post tomorrow, just to make sure things aren't buried and overposted. So today, we have five concerts to preview from three headlining acts, but I've thrown some assorted extra stories at the end to round things out. Let's begin with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for THIS WEEKEND!!

After another off weekend, local classic hard rock quartet Full Circle will rock The Nicolet Tavern TOMORROW AND SATURDAY NIGHT for Halloween weekend! Apologies for the short notice, the band only officially confirmed these dates earlier tonight. It's always good to see the former Turner Up back out there, and with the Halloween season fully upon us, look for them to deliver some great classic hard rock covers for their fans all weekend long at The Nic! They'll be on at 10:00 PM tomorrow night and Saturday night, you must be 19 to enter either show, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! We haven't been seeing Full Circle as frequently this fall as we have been this year, but you know they'll pull out some great tunes for the holiday weekend, so don't miss them! For a preview, here's Full Circle covering "Alone" by Heart at this year's Rotaryfest!



Now to the previously announced concerts that at least partly take place tomorrow night, and first, metal returns to Feedback Nightclub & Bar tomorrow for the first tine since Napalm Death, courtesy of Toronto metal trio Laugh At The Fakes! In what I believe is their local debut, this unique and wide ranging outfit will surely rock the Feedback stage tomorrow night, and they have a little something for everyone while remaining very heavy, so make note of this show! Kudos to Dismembertainment for bringing them in! Joining Laugh At The Fakes tomorrow is local classic metal quartet Late & Loud, in their Feedback debut! It's always good to see them back on a local stage, and in this busy stretch of shows for them, hopefully they bring lots of talent and great music to the table tomorrow night! Nice package of metal, especially if you're not into more aggressive harsher vocals, so absolutely consider this show in your Halloween weekend plans! There will be a $3 cover tomorrow night, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is expected. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This should be one heavy concert, so don't miss it tomorrow night, as you know the bands will deliver! For a preview, I have no full videos of L.A.T.F. in action, but here's a video slideshow set to their song "Better Than You", so give it a look/listen, and head to Feedback tomorrow night for all the metal!



Lastly for bands playing tomorrow night, local hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete will return to the stage for the first time in almost two months to rock The Roosevelt Hotel all weekend long! This talented band continues to make their name on the local concert scene, and in their first Rosie stops since June, you know they'll be ready to rock with some great heavier covers tomorrow night & Saturday night! Tomorrow's show looks to be your usual Rosie fun times, but Saturday night will give us a Halloween bash with awesome music and costumes encouraged, so don't show up in street clothes and be left out! That all said, they'll be on at around 10:30 PM both Friday and Saturday, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no likely cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's always good to see Sneaky Pete bring their hard rock show to a local stage, and who knows, I might be there this weekend! I'm debating which band to see tomorrow night, if any (I'm torn a few directions), but hopefully I'll get out there! Regardless, go see Sneaky Pete this weekend for some classic and harder edged sounds! For a preview, here's the band's audio mashup of two classics from Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest, and if I find an embeddable video of them, I'll let you guys know!



And finally for today, you know how we often feature three shorter stories from the last while together as bullet points at the end of a post? Well, let's double that today, as I have a lot of smaller news stories to get out of the way that have been pushed aside for far too long lately. So, here's SIX shorter stories from the last little while, in alphabetical order by band or channel name!:

• Local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison have quietly launched a new Facebook page! It's barely updated beyond featuring a band logo and a link to their website, but maybe in time it will be filled up! In the meantime, become a fan at the above links!
• Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids metal quintet End of Existence have revealed plans earlier this month to cover the country classic "Ghost Riders In The Sky" AND release a full length debut album this fall! Details are scant on both projects, but keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates as they come in!
• Local hard rock quartet Half Past are looking for fan input on which local concert venue they should play at next. A poll has been launched on their Facebook page where you can pick between Feedback, The Roosevelt Hotel, their Thursday metal nights specifically, or you can add your own choices. What do you guys think? Vote today to help them choose!
• I've edited our YouTube Channel Profile of YouTube user myangels1266's channel to edit the references to her son Chris Hubbard's local bands Nixxon Dixxon & Splitshot, mainly to refer to bandmate Jake LaLonde's current work in Splitshot. Not a huge change, but worth mentioning!
• New local metal trio Social Suicide have announced the addition of former Bear Hunters guitarist Andres Duchesne to their lineup, replacing Storm Perry. The news was broken on their Facebook page on Tuesday. Nice to see Andres back in a local band, he had promise from his brief Bear Hunters stint last summer, and hopefully this pays off all around!
• Local classic hard rock quintet That's Chester announced last week that they have finally begun working on their first ever original song! You'd think a band that talented would have originals by now, but better late than never! Stay tuned to their Facebook page for updates on this and other future band developments!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the Halloween weekend concert previews (including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT) and possibly more! Thanks everyone!

Sault Michigan Halloween Weekend Concert Previews!!

With a typically stacked Halloween weekend for concerts, I've been left no choice but to separate this weekend's concert previews by city, and because I'm waiting for additional confirmation on a pair of dates in Sault Ontario, we'll start the previews with the Sault Michigan metal and hard rock shows over the next two nights! If you want to know where the heaviest Halloween shows are across the river, this should tell you, though a couple of the shows are kinda iffy on their statuses. That said, here's what you need to know for the announced Halloween weekend shows across the river!

First for Halloween weekend metal concerts in Sault Michigan is the return of local hard rock quintet NoXcape to the concert stage tomorrow night and Saturday night! These are the first scheduled concerts for the band featuring the classic Absolute lineup and Krosswalk guitarist Joey Beairl in over a month, but they're listed on band pages to return to The Satisfied Frog for two hard hitting Halloween weekend shows over the next couple nights! I'm slightly concerned though, as band pages have not been updated since September, and there's been no advance promotion for these concerts in recent weeks, so part of me is worried that these bookings are or were in jeopardy. Unless I hear otherwise though, I'll treat these shows as still on, but I'll keep tabs on them! That all said, there's no announced cover charge for either night, you must be 21 to attend, and I imagine they'll be on at 10:00 PM or later for both shows. For more details, check the above links!

Saying that these shows go down as scheduled, I'd expect NoXcape to rock The Frog with some awesome covers and (maybe?) originals, so keep these shows in mind for your Halloween weekend plans! Though there's no videos of NoXcape to my knowledge, get a preview of their sound by clicking here to see old Absolute videos from their heyday!

Next on the weekend schedule across the river, it's two metal bands for the price of one at The Merchant's Bar for their Halloween bash, as local hard rock acts Scofflaw and Powerslug will join forces for two consecutive nights! The two bands, who both share drummer Ivan Schliska, will play their first joint gigs since LemmaFest (when Powerslug was still River Witch) this weekend, and look out for some different but always entertaining varieties of hard rock from both bands over the next two nights! The Merch has Halloween plans for the weekend as well, including a Halloween costume contest for $100 on Saturday and Halloween-themed drink specials, so keep those in mind for if you head there this weekend! There's no announced cover charge, you must be 21 to attend, and though the announced start time is 7:00 PM, I expect the bands wouldn't actually take stage until after 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's nice to see Scofflaw back, and it gave us more and fuller concerts for the holiday weekend to boot, so hopefully their grungier hard rock style and Powerslug's newer covers mesh well this weekend! Go see the two bands rock The Merch if you can, and for a preview, here's Scofflaw playing their song "Love Destroyer"!



The other metal/hard rock Halloween weekend shows that I know of across the river take place just outside of town, but they're certainly not far from Sault Michigan, so keep these shows in mind! Firstly, local hard rock quintet Splitshot will rock The Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill in Barbeau, Michigan tomorrow night & Saturday night! The band featuring Nixxon Dixxon alumni Chris Hubbard, Kyle Beaumont, and Jake LaLonde (along with Dave Menard and Kyle's dad(?) Gary) will play for what could be the first time at the Barbeau restaurant & concert spot this weekend, and yes, there'll be lots of Halloween stuff going on this weekend as well, including a costume contest on Saturday night as part of The Cozy Corners' own Halloween party! And yes, Splitshot are sure to have lots of hard rock covers in store for you hard rockers, so don't forget about the music! There will be a 9:30 PM start time both nights, there's no cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. Check the above links for more details! Though I still can't tell you much about Splitshot's sound, they'll be sure to rock you guys all weekend long, especially for the Halloween party on Saturday night, so keep these shows in mind as well for your weekend plans!

And finally, Kinross hard rock trio Banned are scheduled to return to The Sundown Lounge in Pickford, Michigan on Saturday night only for that bar's own Halloween festivities! This show was originally scheduled for tomorrow night, but the band confirmed it was moved to Saturday last month, so don't get thrown off! Now, I'm slightly wary of this concert's status too, for a couple of reasons. Banned still haven't announced a replacement for bassist Alex Schrovenwever, who left the group a few weeks ago, and the status that confirmed this show was deleted from their Facebook page. However, other statuses there still reference it, as does the promo video that guitarist Alex Traynor's sister Ashley uploaded two weeks ago, which is still online without changes. Are they playing on Saturday, and if so, who'll be playing bass? I can't say for the latter (former live guest bassists Steve Jacobus or Eric Cairns are good guesses), but with no official retraction of the date, I'll treat this show as on unless I hear otherwise. If they're on, they'll hit the stage at around 10:00 PM, a Halloween costume contest with prizes is planned, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details!

If Banned are indeed rocking The Sundown Lounge this weekend, they'll deliver some great hard rock covers for sure, so head to Pickford on Saturday night if you know they're playing and wanna rock out for the Halloween season! For a preview, here's Banned covering Led Zeppelin's "Rock N' Roll" in Pickford last month!



That's all for now, but our next post should have Sault Ontario weekend concert previews, so stay tuned for all that! Thanks everyone, and have a spooky good weekend of Halloween concerts!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Laugh At The Fakes, Scofflaw, Late & Loud, And Skull Fist) Plus The Return Of Rosie Metal Nights?!

Alright guys, we have a STACKED news post to cap off this busy Wednesday with, including a pile of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and the potential return of a recent weekly concert event you metalheads loved over the past year, so let's not waste any time! Also, check out the two posts from earlier today below for a preview of TONIGHT'S Late & Loud concert, new Joan Jett videos, this week's classic video, and this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on The Lust Boys! (Edited, Friday at 9:20 AM)

The first metal concert at Feedback Nightclub & Bar since the Napalm Death show is now official, and like he used to do at The Rosie, owner Rich Moreland has brought a talented out of town band in for a high energy metal show! On Friday night, Toronto metal trio Laugh at the Fakes will play Sault Ontario for the first time for a high energy set of wide ranging originals! Very heavy and catchy material, with unique higher vocals too that remind me of Axl Rose at points, you guys should dig them! The local openers will be classic metal quartet Late & Loud, fresh off of their headlining show TONIGHT at The Speak Easy, so look out for some proficiently played originals and covers from them in their Feedback debut on Friday night! For the record, the Facebook event page doesn't hint towards anything Halloween related for the show itself, but I know the spirit of the season will be around! Apologies for the short notice too, promoters didn't officially confirm this show until earlier today. This show will have a 19+ age limit and a $3 cover, and it all starts at 10:00 PM on Friday. Check the above links for more details! Sounds like a fun show, hopefully lots of people head to the former Foggy Notions to enjoy the metal!

Also new this weekend is the return of Scofflaw to the local stage THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY! The Friday show is newly announced, while they've been added to an existing date on Saturday, both of which will be at The Merchant's Bar in Sault Michigan. From what it looks like, Scofflaw will headline both nights, with drummer Ivan Schliska's other local rock band Powerslug opening both nights (they were originally the only confirmed band for Saturday only.) This will be the first time that both of Ivan's bands have shared the stage since LemmaFest, and with the punk inspired rough hard rock sounds of Scofflaw always welcome locally, you won't wanna miss them during Halloween weekend at The Merch! Like Feedback, there will be drink specials for the season, and there'll be a costume contest for $100 on Saturday night as well, so make note of that! There is still no announced cover charge for either night, you must be 21 to attend, and everything starts at probably around 10:00 PM both nights. For more details, check the newly updated Facebook event page! It's awesome to see Scofflaw back for a beefed up Halloween weekend at The Merchant's Bar, so make note of these shows if you can for your Halloween weekend concert plans! Stay tuned for more in our weekend concert previews!

Next up, are you guys in the mood for more seasonal Halloween metal action? Well, how about a show on Halloween night itself? On Monday, classic metal quartet Late & Loud will play their third concert in six days when they headline a Halloween bash at The Speak Easy! This will be the band's second non-weekend show at the Algoma University bar in a two week span, and their second costumes-welcome concert of the fall, following a superhero costume pub there last month. That said, if you want a heavy metal good time for Halloween night, you know exactly where to be! A cover charge hasn't been announced (I'd expect one though), you must be 19 (or an Algoma student if underage?) to attend, and I presume they'll take the stage at around 10:00 PM. For more details (scant as they may be), visit the band's Facebook page! Late & Loud are sure ramping up the bookings lately, aren't they? Don't miss them on Monday night if you need something to do, they'll deliver some hard rocking good times to send out the Halloween season with a bang! Stay tuned for more updates if they come in!

And finally for new shows, Toronto old school heavy metal quartet Skull Fist are returning to Sault Ontario on November 6th (one week from Sunday!) After a memorable local debut last August that gave us the SMS YouTube channel's most popular video, this high energy blast from the past will return to The Canadian Nightclub for what should be a memorable headlining set! Unlike last year's show which featured fellow touring favourites The Isosceles Project and Thekillingfield as openers, this show will instead feature two local opening bands, those being Sativa Rose & (once again) Late and Loud! Nice to see them so busy, hopefully they keep this up! This concert will have two notable firsts, one of which is that this will be the first metal concert at The Canadian Nightclub since the massive flood in July, so us metalheads can see how the Pim Street bar looks after the seven week long renovations! Also, this will be the first concert appearance by Sativa Rose since adding singer Marisa Valois to the band in the summer, ending a four month hiatus from the live stage for this talented classic metal quintet! The show itself is a late addition to Skull Fist's "Head of the Pack" tour, but what better place is there to end this tour than here in Sault Ontario?

This show will have a $3 cover charge, it will likely be ALL AGES, and though the Facebook event page lists an oddly early start time of 8:00 PM, expect it to start later at around 9;30 PM. Stay tuned to the above links for updates, and thanks to promoter Tiffany Stocco for some added information! This should be an awesome concert with a very entertaining headliner and some great local talent, and I live right near The Canadian, so I should be able to hit this one! Stay tuned for updates as we inch closer to this huge concert!

And finally for today, here's some notes relating to Roosevelt Hotel metal nights. As you may remember, last week saw no Thursday night metal show at The Rosie, and there won't be one tomorrow night either, following promoter Rich Moreland's purchase of Foggy Notions (now Feedback.) Occupied with his own bar now, the Dismembertainment-promoted Rosie metal nights have ended after a successful 11 month run on Thursdays, but is this the permanent end of Thursday metal concerts at the Korah Road bar? It doesn't look like it, as Roosevelt Hotel manager Stephane Vincent formally announced last night on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group that he was taking over concert bookings for both Thursday metal nights and other weekend gigs. By request, I sent him a list of bands that would fit on metal nights (including a few punk bands), and he's open to answer questions and take bookings from any interested acts at stephane.vincent71@live.com and through his personal Facebook page.

No word yet on if the metal nights remain weekly, or when they could return, but Stephane did tell me it would be a few weeks. I'll always support more metal concerts, so hopefully Stephane and the crew at The Rosie make the right moves and the best decisions to run Rosie metal nights smoothly if they do return! Stay tuned to the SMS for updates, and best of luck all around!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews tomorrow, and with the Halloween weekend upon us, there's no shortage of concerts coming up! Stay tuned!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: The Lust Boys

As promised, here's this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! As we do each month, we're taking a look at a metal or hard rock band from out of town that features at least one former Sault Ste. Marie-area resident! This band is a newer find on my radar, but if you like your metal old school and a little glammed up, you should dig these guys, so let's get this profile going! (Updated on November 26th, 2014)
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The Lust Boys (Victoria, British Columbia)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last full lineup in italics)

Colin "Tommy Thrust" Stuart (vocals/guitar/ex-bass)
Ben "Benny Blitz" Kemp-Reynolds (guitar)
Derek Dufresne (bass)
Stefano "Doc Sxdryv" Pasta (drums)

Jayme Daniel "Gypsy" Black (vocals)
"Dallas Dagger" (guitar)
Johnny "Blade" Nuttall (guitar)
Cody "Codine Vandal" Vidito (guitar)
Shawn "A.C. Desylva" Thackeray (guitar)
Brian "Goat" Comeau (guitar)
"Rex Razor" (bass)
Jesse "Hep J" Anderson (drums)
"Nikki Neon" (drums)
"Coldhands" (???)

Official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/lustboys
Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/lustboysofficial
Official Facebook group: http://facebook.com/groups/lustboysofficial
Official Reverbnation page: http://www.reverbnation.com/lustboys
Official YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/lustboysofficial

Local Info: The only former Sault Ste. Marie resident in The Lust Boys that I know of is guitarist Benny Blitz, who you'll likely better recognize under his real name Ben Kemp-Reynolds. A Sault Ontario native, Ben made waves in the area as a guitarist in the CASS Cafe-frequenting Dedbeats (videos here), followed by a short but memorable run in the local blues rock quartet The Glass Statues, who also featured Late & Loud members Benn Garside & Josh Hatherley in their lineup! In their 10 months together, The Glass Statues placed 3rd at the YMCA Battle of the Bands in March 2009 and also played at Rotaryfest that year before disbanding that August due to Ben's move to British Columbia. He's been there ever since, but you can catch him there bringing back his metal roots with The Lust Boys!

Band Bio: Originally a technical metal band named Lust, The Lust (or "Lus‡") Boys were formed by founding members Jayme Black & Tommy Thrust in 2006. Playing a 1980s inspired style of sleaze rock, the band has became a frequent & unique sight at British Columbia concerts, including headlining a yearly "Lustapalooza" concert in Victoria, releasing two CDs (including a 2012 full length album), and even filming an official music video for their song "Spred Yur Legz" in 2009. I believe Ben Kemp-Reynolds joined The Lust Boys in early 2010, taking on the "Benny Blitz" stage name shortly after. After major early 2013 lineup changes, the band continued to rock B.C. concert stages often since returning that June, but the band amicably broke up in February 2014, with Tommy & Stefano later forming the new hard rock band Hell Camino.

1980s inspired metal (hair or otherwise) always has a wide appeal, and The Lust Boys definitely deserve some of that attention! There isn't a lot of local bands to compare them to (maybe Dirty Virgin), but if you like bands like Motley Crue, you should really appreciate the sleaze that The Lust Boys bring to the table! Vocally, Jayme Black's harsher punk-edged vocals worked well, but from what I've heard of Tommy on vocals, he was a better fit for the glam metal side of things! High quality videos of their last lineup weren't easy to come by, but both Ben and Brian have the necessary guitar chops, and Ben even threw some bluesy influences into his material here and there! Very energetic sound overall, and aside from the vocal style, they'd fit right in with 1980s metal bands! Tommy Thrust's bass work also flowed really nicely, as does the drumming! Their old studio material is really good for this genre, so if you love yourself some 1980s sleazy rock n' roll, definitely give The Lust Boys a spin!

The Lust Boys have a decent amount of videos online, and you can check out many recent ones at their official YouTube channel, which also features their entire "Purple Leopard Print" EP for streaming. Their MySpace page has a cool unreleased demo track named "White Trash Superstar" as well, so give that a look, along with more audio tracks on their other pages! YouTube has many videos from their live concerts as well, along with their "Spred Yur Legz" music video, but for a somewhat recent look, here's one of the band playing their song "Wingin' It" in Victoria in 2011, so check it out below!


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I hope you guys enjoyed this month's profile! What's happening in this series next month though? Well, I've decided to take a mini-break with it like we did last November to dedicate a post to just updates of past profiles in this series. As we focus on local bands more often than out of town ones, many of the profiles in this series are outdated, have broken links, or need changes to make them accurate and more informative. So around November 26th, I'll have a post updating you guys to all the changes made to our past out of town profiles, and then we'll be back with another proper band profile in December! I'm leaning towards Repetitions from Windsor, but time will tell! Stay tuned for that and more over the coming weeks! Thanks everyone!

Late & Loud Concert Preview, More Joan Jett Videos, And This Week's Classic Video!!

Let's kick off Wednesday right with a new news post, and in this one, we have a bunch of new videos from the Joan Jett concert on Friday, this week's classic video, and leading the charge, a concert preview, so here's all that you need to know!

We have a midweek concert to preview today, and it's the return of Late & Loud to The Speak Easy TONIGHT! Details are scant on this show, but it will be the talented classic metal quartet's first headlining show at Algoma University's campus bar in over a month, and first concert of any type since a Rosie metal night in late September. The band mas only minimally plugged this concert since announcing it last week, but I assume it will be mostly similar to their usual Speak Easy concerts. For the record, I have no clue if this show will have a Halloween tie-in, but if I hear anything more official on this concert, I guarantee you'll hear it here! That said, I expect this show will be a 19+ affair (except maybe for underage Algoma students), a 10:00 PM-ish start time is likely, and I'd bring cash in the event there's a cover. Check the above links for more details! Regardless of a lack of information, Late & Loud's word is good, and with past members of Stillbroke, The Glass Statues, and Losing Ground in their lineup, you know there's plenty of talent to go around! Check them out tonight at The Speak Easy if you can, and for a preview, here's Late & Loud covering Witchcraft's "Chylde of Fire" at what is now Feedback earlier this year!



Now to some more new Joan Jett & The Blackhearts concert videos from this past Friday night at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino, and first, here's four brand new ones from a new video source! These come from YouTube user Gwen Walker, who uploaded four videos from the show onto her YouTube channel over the last two days. Her videos were all shot on a cell phone camera, and they feature Joan playing her song "Fake Friends", her covers of The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" & The Runaways' "You Drive Me Wild", and in the video we're featuring below, her encore songs "Little Liar" and a cover of Sweet's "A.C.D.C."! Gwen got a decent angle of Joan and the band from the left of the stage, but on a narrow cell phone camera, you don't get the best view. The audio works well enough though, and everything sounds about as clear as you'd expect! Nice videos overall, so check out all 4 of Gwen's videos from the Joan Jett concert above, and here's the encore from the show!



Also new from the concert are four more videos from YouTube user scott45044, who had previously uploaded videos of Joan & The Blackhearts playing their two newest songs "T.M.I." and "Hard To Grow Up" on Monday. Well, Scott followed those up with four more videos yesterday, and if you saw how good of a quality the first two videos were, you'll definitely wanna check these out! In the new clips, you'll be able to see Joan play her cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" again & her classic "I Love Rock N' Roll", as well as her songs "Go Home" (or part of it), "Love Is Pain", and "The French Song"! The quality's as good as before, and Scott deserves a lot of props for giving us such good videos from the Joan Jett show! Lots of good stuff here, but note that the audio is out of sync with the video at points. Because it's a hard rocker, was recorded in full, and wasn't embedded on here before from another user, here's Scott's video of Joan playing "The French Song", but check the above links for the rest of his videos from the show! Also, it's still odd that no videos of "I Hate Myself For Loving You" are out, but maybe it wasn't in the setlist. Oh well, what we've got works really well!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! With two huge shows of theirs coming up, it made perfect sense to tie in this week's video with local horror punk quintet Frightlight, who are of course opening for The Misfits in Toronto TONIGHT, then headlining the Coch's Corner Halloween party this Saturday! That said, this is another video from a recent Fitswitch reunion concert, and remember, every Frightlight member except Mike "Eddie Fright" Gingras were in past Fitswitch lineups. Like our classic video of Fitswitch covering Frightlight's "She Screams" from August, this comes from the very same concert set at The Elks Hall on March 22nd, 2010, in honour of guitarist Kevin Powe's stag & doe. In this video however, the classic Fitswitch lineup (including four past or present Frightlight members & Andrew MacDonald on bass) fittingly covered The Misfits' song "Dig Up Her Bones", and they don't do a bad job! On the original video (which guitarist Rick White uploaded to Facebook shortly after the show), there is some self-deprecating jabs at the lack of practice for the set, but it sounds pretty good still, even if some parts are messy! They know their Misfits and they pull them off well!

The original video can be seen at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=408246021302, though after posting it to YouTube, I did edit the lighting to make it a bit brighter and less washed out looking. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Fitswitch and Krista Kelly, who filmed this and other videos from this set. They did all the hard work, I'm just sharing this video with a wider audience! With that said, check out Fitswitch covering The Misfits last year below, and go see Fitswitch members OPEN for The Misfits as Frightlight TONIGHT in Toronto if you have tickets! It'll be a good one!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our next Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on The Lust Boys (featuring Glass Statues guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds) later today! Thanks everyone!