CASS Cafe Metal Video Showcase (Part 1)

It's time for our first of maybe four CASS Cafe video showcases at the SMS! With Desbarats now within our local range, we can now include the popular live music series at Central Algoma Secondary School, which is the school serving the Algoma District from Echo Bay to Thessalon. CASS Cafe is similar to the Dunn/Hawkplugged series at Superior Heights & Sir James Dunn from what I can tell, and bands like For All That Is Lost, Inhuman Methods, and Crimson Crusade have had notable experience at their high school's CASS Cafe events! They're not the only bands, performers, and lineups that have been a part though, and among many other videos online, there's a healthy dose of metal & hard rock performances from CASS Cafe since 2008 on YouTube, so here's the first of many we'll be sharing to get everyone caught up! (Updated on Saturday at 3:33 AM)

First, let's start with an early video from Desbarats' own For All That Is Lost! The prominent local death metal band of course got their start partly at CASS Cafe events in early 2010, and I did find one video of their original lineup at one such event circa April 2010! As filmed by YouTube user and CASS student Chrissy Paetzold, this featured F.A.T.I.L.'s original lineup, with singer Tyler Sperry, bassist Ben Deslauriers, and drummer Kameron Nicholson joined by original guitarists Allen Piche & Graeme Caughill. The song (which I can't place a name for off hand) wasn't completely filmed, and the camera work is somewhat jittery, but Chrissy got a nice angle and sound out of her camera, and even two years ago, F.A.T.I.L.'s promise was clear! A bit rough around the edges, but remember, this was early for the guys. Allen showed his guitar skills here especially, he fit well with the guys before he left! Check out this early For All That Is Lost video below, and check out Chrissy's YouTube channel linked above for a couple more non-metal CASS Cafe performances by other acts!



Next up is a video from the YouTube channel of former local guitarist/CASS student Ben Kemp-Reynolds! Though he's now taking British Columbia by storm as Benny Blitz of The Lust Boys, you may recognize him from his late 2000s work in bands such as the local blues rock quartet The Glass Statues, who are the focus of 3 videos on his YouTube channel from their 3rd place performance at the 2009 YMCA Battle of the Bands in the Soo. Also on his channel: Two live performances with his old punk band The Dedbeats, one video of a Boston cover with The Diego Experience (more on them in a second), and a couple of metal performances with drummer Mike Christie that we'll be sharing in a future CASS Cafe video post. However, the first one we're looking at is of Ben in a short lived metal band named Vendetta that played at a CASS Cafe event at the school's alumni day in December 2008, and unlike most of the other videos, Ben's on drums here. He's joined by longtime bandmate Benn Garside (now of Late & Loud) on vocals/guitar, A.J. Biron on lead guitar (more on him in a second too), and former Column Ruins bassist Travis Garside (possibly Benn's brother?), but how did they sound?

A cover of Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls", it's generally well played, with nice guitar work, but there's more feedback than this song needs, and Benn's vocals are very monotone (though his slide at the end was cool!) Not a perfect cover, but it's better than some I've seen, and it's an interesting glimpse at these musicians' earlier days, so check it out below, and stay tuned for the rest of Ben's metal videos in a future CASS Cafe video showcase!



Now, let's talk about The Diego Experience that we alluded to earlier! A six-man rock band featuring CASS students that existed from roughly 2008-2009, their lineup consisted of singers Michael Brown (a.k.a. Mr. Diego Brown) and Keegan Gjos along with members who generally seemed to swap instruments in their available videos, including guitarist/bassists Brent Hurley and Ben Eppert (also of Column Ruins), and guitarist/drummer A.J. Biron (Vendetta), with the sixth spot rotating between the aforementioned Ben Kemp-Reynolds on bass or Ty Hurley (Brent's brother?) on bass and drums. Along with the Boston cover linked above, 5 videos from Diego Experience sets have been posted on A.J. Biron's YouTube channel to check out, including covers of Bon Jovi's "It's My Life", Three Doors Down's "Kryptonite", Def Leppard's "Photograph", Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man", and Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", so click each link to give them a look! Maybe not the heaviest band ever, but they do have some hard rock covers there, and given the members' ages and the rehearsal time they mentioned in some comments, these covers are respectable! The vocals aren't terribly rangy, but they're not out of tune either, and the instrument players all show multi-instrumental talent!

If nothing else, The Diego Experience had fun during these concerts, and even though I can't find an online page for them, they're worth checking out! I'll embed their cover of "Photograph" below (featuring Diego & Keenan on vocals, Brent & A.J. on guitar, Ben Eppert on bass, and Ty on drums) below, but check the above links for more, and stay tuned for much more from A.J.'s YouTube channel featuring a number of different CASS alumni musicians!



And finally for our first CASS Cafe video showcase, here's a short video uploaded by YouTube user bffcfka in January 2010. Just 26 seconds long, it's of guitarist Brent Beaulieu (who I believe was an early member of Crimson Crusade) riffing on the CASS stage. From what little I'm hearing, I can tell he has talent, but I wish this video was longer, or that bffcfka uploaded more CASS Cafe videos. Still, this is filmed well and of decent quality, so give it a look below, and thanks to Crimson Crusade's Riley Marshall for letting me know of Brent's identity!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news shortly, including my review of last night's Roosevelt Hotel metal night later today and our second CASS Cafe video showcase, which will include three more videos from A.J. Biron's channel and some solo performances from another CASS alum's sets! And that band Column Ruins that I briefly alluded to above? You'll hear more about them in a bit as well. Thanks everyone!