Chronic Demonic & Blood Shed Productions Updates, Plus New Videos!!

For this Saturday morning post, we're clearing out some of our recent assorted news items, so what's on tap? We have a pair of new solo performance uploads, the latest news from a local label, and to kick things off, here's some recent status notes concerning a band you may have seen on stage briefly earlier this month, so here's what you need to know! (Updated at 1:17 AM)

To start, here's the latest updates from newer local punk/metal quartet Chronic Demonic, but they are somewhat negative. As revealed on their Facebook page by guitarist Kevin "St. Mayhem" Powe on Thursday, the band has parted ways with singer Ririe Lavoie (a.k.a. Sabrina Strange), and though a reason wasn't publicized, she is apparently working on a new project with local bassist James Watterworth and Asylum Country/Jack Spades drummer T.J. Case, which Kevin seemed to eagerly hype in the posting, so we'll have to see what comes of that for sure! Chronic Demonic is interested in signing on a new lead singer (message the band at the above links if you're interested), but Kevin did note that the band is in a "state of limbo" due to work schedules and personal issues. Namely, he cited bassist Ryan Gratton's work commitments as one of the roadblocks, and he may put the band on hold for a few months until Ryan's schedule is clear (or perhaps end the project entirely), but nothing's confirmed at present.

As you may remember, Chronic Demonic (also featuring Kevin's Frightlight bandmate Rick "Styles" White on drums) launched earlier this year, but only played live once at The Rosie on August 1st, covering The Misfits' "London Dungeon" during the "Kid Who Made The Face" fundraiser. This is disappointing news, especially with the promise they had from early postings, but hopefully Ririe's new project takes off, and I hope Chronic Demonic stays together & toughs it out, as it'd seem anticlimactic to throw in the towel after playing just one song live. The talent's there, and I hope we'll have hear happier news soon!

Next up, here's the latest news from local grindcore/rap label Blood Shed Productions! While no YouTube postings have popped up lately, the Ringsnaps Gibson-led label is slowly getting busier and more prominent, and they've now added some new artists to their roster, including local alternative/acoustic solo artist Chase James Wigmore and local rapper Gnostic (a.k.a. Chris Downey.) More demo CD releases are planned from them and other projects, including the yet-revealed Spitneck, though I'll note that their current listing of artists doesn't include Tyler St. Amour's Social Suicide project for some reason or another. Recent postings have also indicated that Ringsnaps' grind trio Tomgrindy are currently on hiatus, and while a definite reason hasn't been stated, the band hadn't heard from co-vocalist Jacob Tombari (who the band was likely named after) as of August 16th, and they weren't sure where to go from there at the time.

Hopefully nothing bad has happened with Jacob, but Tomgrindy gave a fuller sound to some of Ringsnaps' earlier solo output, so hopefully this isn't the last we've seen of them! For now though, we won't list them as inactive, as the label's still selling copies of their demo, and I'd need to see 2/3rds of their lineup in new primary projects. Sounds like things are staying busy for the other acts (I'm curious to hear more of Chase's originals too), so stay tuned for updates on Blood Shed's grind & heavier work as it comes in!

Also today, here's the latest solo performance clips from Ashes to Dust guitarist Alex Hemy! With the school year approaching again, band news may return in the fall, but in the interim, he's uploaded two videos to his YouTube channel this week, and (keeping with recent trends for his uploads) they are vocal & guitar covers of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and, as embedded below, The Refreshments' "Banditos"!. The Tom Petty cover is minimalistic in tone, but his vocals fit the original song, while he also does good on the Refreshments cover (but as a past Ashes to Dust cover, I figure he'd know it well!) I will say that "Banditos" sounds empty without other musicians, and it'd be nice to see him tackle heavier material again, but overall, he's doing solid work, so give Alex's Refreshments cover video a look below, and see more at the above links!



Finally, here's the latest original song upload from Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison! Entitled "Into the Light of Darkness", this was just posted on his YouTube channel yesterday, and it's an instrumental that he wrote back in guitar class in high school. Despite the name, it's fairly upbeat and pleasant in tone, though I did notice Tym lament on his personal Facebook page that the bass doesn't come through on this upload. I think he's right, I don't hear it that much, but it's well written all the same! Note that the song isn't 6 minutes long, there's about 90 seconds of dead air at the end for some reason. Check out "Into the Light of Darkness" below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as we barrel into September! Thanks everyone!

Tym Morrison & 415E Concert Previews, Plus A Couple Of Band Member Searches!!

As promised, today's post covers the rest of our weekend concert previews (namely, ones not featuring bands at this year's Chippewa County Fair), but we also have a pair of Sault Ontario musician searches to check out, so read on below for what you need to know!

We'll start our previews with Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's last show of his weekly August arrangement at The Road House Bar & Grill TONIGHT! Tym's brought his unplugged acoustic show there every Friday this month (save for the week of their Thursday customer appreciation night, which he played instead), and it sounds like things have went well at his favourite recent acoustic venue, so help cap off a fun month of hard rock covers at The Road House tonight on this otherwise slow weekend for heavier Sault Ontario gigs! Like usual, he'll be on tonight at 10:00 PM, there's a 19+ age limit in effect, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I assume Tym has fall solo dates in the works (along with new Caveman Morrison shows), so be sure to stay tuned to the SMS as we hear more, and don't miss his diverse and prolific cover blend at this Trunk Road tavern TONIGHT! For a preview, here's Tym and ex-Half Past singer Luke LeBlanc (we're pulling for you, Luke!) covering Extreme's "More Than Words"!

Also in previously known heavier concerts this weekend, local classic metal quartet 415E are scheduled to return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! I will note that the band hasn't updated their Facebook page in a month, and have no further Kewadin dates listed for the remainder of the year, so your guess is as good as mine if anything's going on concerning their status. I'll let you know if I hear anything! Featuring 2 members each of Splitshot & The Highest of Fives, 415E's Van Halen-inspired blend of originals and covers should be welcomed back to The Rapids Lounge this weekend, so don't miss the action if you're up for it! Admission should be free for these 9:00 PM concerts, and you must be 21 to attend either. For more details, check the above links! Even if this is the last time we see 415E for a while, they've been quite prominent in recent months, so keep tonight & tomorrow's shows in mind, and for a preview, here's 415E playing their self titled song in January!

Moving to some other recent news, starting with a notable band lineup change, as local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison have apparently parted ways with bassist James White for a second time. James revealed the news on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday, and though he didn't cite a reason for his exit, it's definitely under amicable terms. James originally replaced Jacques Marceau in the band in the fall of 2011, and after leaving the following spring, he returned to Caveman Morrison (taking over for his replacement Dutch Vanderploeg) earlier this year. This is disappointing, but at least he's keeping busy filling in with Frightlight, so best of luck to James going forward! With that said, his Musicians Wanted group post is advertising for a bassist search for Caveman Morrison, so what should you know if you're interested? Their sound of course varies from classic to newer metal & hard rock songs (such as ones by Metallica, Megadeth, and Judas Priest), and the band reportedly has at least two gigs planned this fall at The Water Tower Inn, so the sooner the better for a replacement to be secured.

If you're interested in trying out for Caveman Morrison as their new bassist, message band members Tym Morrison or Johnny Belanger on Facebook, and hopefully we hear news on an addition soon, as I don't wanna officially plug their next show until the bassist situation's finalized, just in case that show is changed in some form. Stay tuned for updates!

Finally for today, new local hard rock quartet The Side FX have announced the departure of guitarist Alex Walls, as per their Facebook page on Tuesday. The reasoning is that Alex (who only played live once with the band last month) is apparently moving to Toronto to try work as a studio guitarist, and the split is completely amicable. This is disappointing, especially coming not long after their debut gig, but best of luck to Alex going forward, and I hope he succeeds at whatever's next! As a result, The Side FX are now looking for a new guitarist that is able to learn their setlist and play live A.S.A.P., and they want someone who can have fun and party while playing their songs well, while also being able to play solos on everything from Volbeat to Sublime, among others. If you're interested in joining The Side FX (featuring singer Rob Speers and Papa Fogals Chair alumni Mike Bird & Derek Turner), message the band at the links above, and stay tuned for updates on both the guitarist search and their next work!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a special all-video post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Banned & Tantrym Tyme) And Most Of This Weekend's Sault Michigan Concert Previews!!

The last concert weekend of the summer holidays is upon us, so today's post will largely focus on previews of most of the shows! To avoid it getting lost in the shuffle, we'll preview Tym Morrison & 415E's previously announced shows tomorrow, but I promise they're coming! All Sault Michigan-area previews for today, and we'll start with some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

Kinross hard rockers Banned have added to a very busy stretch of shows this weekend with two shows at Golanka's Bar (a.k.a. The Bird) in Sault Michigan TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! I apologize for the short notice, Banned announced these shows on Sunday, but I held them until now to avoid a redundant double post in a short span. Fresh off a set in Gould City this past weekend, these add to their existing Chippewa County Fair sets on Thursday (which we'll get to in a minute) and Friday afternoon's solo set at the fair in Kinross, which Banned even admitted might be a record for them on their Facebook page. Ever the prolific band for their scheduling, I have no doubt that they'll be on fire at the fair and The Bird this weekend, so keep all 4 dates in mind! As best as I can tell, the Bird shows will be Banned's first at that venue since March of last year, while their Friday matinee at the Chippewa County Fair will be their first non-battle performance at this yearly event. Banned will be on at 4:00 PM on Friday in Kinross, with the Bird shows going down at around 9:00 PM.

No cover charges are announced, but click here for fair ticket details, and while the fair is obviously all ages, you must be 21 to attend their Soo shows this weekend. Check the above links for more details! Nice to see Banned keeping busy (perhaps on an accelerated scale this weekend though), so don't miss their varied hard rock sound at The Bird or the fair on Friday and Saturday! For a preview, here's the newest live video courtesy of the band's official YouTube channel two weeks ago! Filmed at their battle of the bands performance at the Charlevoix Venetian Festival last month, this is their first video upload in 4 months, and it features band members Alex Traynor, Jim Pentland, and Don Traynor, with Alex's former TraynWreck bandmate Sam Lalruatpuia filling in on guitar for Denny Smith. I'll assume Denny just sat out this song/gig (as he's pictured in more recent live photos), but I'm starting to wonder if singer Tara Starr left Banned? If I hear confirmation, I'll let you guys know!

The video is of Banned playing a new original song named "Deadbeat Dog", and while the lighting is very dark despite the daytime setting, it does fit with past original songs of theirs, with the chorus showing solid aggression that the laid back choruses lack! Nice to hear some new material from Banned, so give their new video a look below, and don't miss them at The Bird this weekend or at the fair tomorrow night!



Also in short notice concert announcements, young local metal cover quartet Tantrym Tyme will play at The Malamute Saloon at 3047 West Mile 80 in Kinross THIS SATURDAY for a second straight week! I apologize for the short notice again, but the guys only announced this show on their Facebook page yesterday via the poster on your left. I'm not sure if this is part of a new regular run there or not, but last weekend's show must have been a hit for Tantrym Tyme to get the call for a second show at The Malamute Saloon! The poster sells this talented young band well, and hopefully there's a good turnout on Saturday on the outdoor patio (which I assume is where they played last weekend also.) The show starts at 9:00 PM on Saturday, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details! Hopefully Saturday's show goes well for Tantrym Tyme, who continue to make waves as they get more experienced, so don't miss out, and for a preview, here's Tantrym Tyme covering Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" last year!



Speaking of shows involving Tantrym Tyme, TONIGHT marks the return of the Rock Till You Drop battle of the bands, where three local bands will gather to compete for the top prize at the annual Kinross fair! Like in past years, winners are determined in a busker style, with money donations placed into a bucket after the bands' sets, with the winning band being the one who raised the most cash. Donations will be given to Team Jessica to help support local student Jessica Jorgensen's battle with leukemia, which is an awesome cause (as Pop Evil attendees will attest to), so don't be stingy with your donations, as it all will help! This year's three competing acts include two returning bands from last year, including the aforementioned Banned and Tantrym Tyme (who won in 2011 as Abstract), while new local hard rock quintet RamWagon will replace 2012 participants Missy & Chelsea as the final band for tomorrow's battle. Rock Till You Drop goes down at 7:30 PM tomorrow, it is definitely all ages, and click here for more details, including how to get tickets for the fair in general!

I believe Missy & Chelsea won last year (don't quote me on that though), though this year's lineup is still high quality and should be ready to entertain fairgoers tonight! Will Tantrym Tyme win their second Rock Till You Drop in 3 years? Can Banned claim top spot amidst their busy concert weekend? Or can RamWagon make a big first impression in their Kinross debut? Find out TONIGHT, I'll have fallout if it comes in, and check out the bands above! (I'd preview a RamWagon video here to keep things fair, but I don't think they have any embeddable ones yet.)

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Tym Morrison & 415E concert previews (and more) TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Haggith & Plastic), A New Local Band, And More Updates!!

One more post before we preview this weekend's metal/hard rock concerts (mostly in Sault Michigan), as we're touching on a few different topics today! Along with some updates to one of our monthly feature series, we have the first confirmed local bands for an annual Halloween tradition, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the fall, and first, a new addition to our local band listings, so read on below for what you need to know!

New Sault Michigan hard rock trio Plastic have a Facebook page now, so we can officially add them to our local band links! It was launched last week, but only started getting major updates on Monday. As you may know, Plastic debuted at LemmaFest in June, and they feature Half Stupid's Zac Crook, Cherubic Red's Nick Moreau, and Bent Rollercoaster's Paul Burns in their lineup, with their page's biography outlining much of their past band work & connections (including a band named The Clam Jammers that Zac & Nick were briefly in.) In terms of other things we didn't know, they reportedly formed after just three rehearsals, they're influenced by everyone from Black Sabbath, Nirvana, and Pantera to Ray Charles, Feist, and Frank Zappa (how's that for diversity?), and in a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, they'll indeed be playing a solo gig at Dan's Place in Rudyard on Saturday, September 7th! This was one of the concerts that Paul had made event pages for on his solo Facebook page, but the Soo, Alpena, and Rogers City dates this fall are still unconfirmed as Plastic shows.

The Rudyard show should be a 21+ event with a 9:00 PM start time, while a cover charge isn't known. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I'm intrigued by Plastic, especially after what we've seen from their LemmaFest set, so stay tuned for updates, and remember, contact band members to get tickets to their surprising Misfits opening set in Detroit in October! (Note that the YouTube tab on their page won't open for me on Firefox, but it just features live videos from Zac's YouTube channel.)

Speaking of bands with new concerts, Sault Ontario alternative/grunge quartet Haggith will play a special benefit concert on Thursday, October 3rd at The Rockstar Bar to benefit the family of the late Jack Bryant, who passed away in July at the age of 71. Haggith's connection is that frontman Curtis McKenzie's girlfriend April is a granddaughter of Jack's, so it's great to see the guys coming together to help raise money to help cover final expenses for the Bryant family! Curtis also said that other bands will be playing, and though none are explicitly confirmed yet, one of the many side bands featuring Haggith band members could be likely. The event will also feature a door prize, raffles, and complimentary dinner, and as best as I can tell, it is publically attendable if you buy a ticket. They're $20, and you can buy them from both the band and Bryant family members in advance, while I assume you can get in at the door too (and the event starts at 6:00 PM.) For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Also, apologies for this being so late to get on the site, I wasn't sure right away if there'd be a public ticket push. This should be a nice way to help out the Bryants at this time of need, and kudos to Haggith for pitching in to help get the word out and provide entertainment on October 3rd, so if you want to contribute or attend as a fan or friend of the band/family, get your tickets A.S.A.P.!

In other concert news, the first two local bands have been confirmed for this year's 8th annual Halloween Party from local concert promoter Johnny Pints, which makes it's first ever Roosevelt Hotel appearance this year! As confirmed on the Facebook event page yesterday, local horror punk/metal standouts Frightlight will make their fifth straight appearance at this yearly event on October 26th, and you know that with their aesthetic and songs, they'll fit perfectly! No word though on whether Eddie Fright or Slim Cadaver will handle bass, but Slim's played at all but one of their 2013 concerts. The other confirmed local band is hardcore punk quintet Destroilet, who should be raring to go for another high profile local concert this year (let alone in their own Halloween Party debut), so they should fit in well! A fourth band is to be confirmed, keeping with last year's theme of three local bands and one out of town band, and for reference, last year's other local acts were Sykotyk Rampage & Redundant, so there's a pair of ideas.

Headlined by Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz in their second local gig of the year, tickets will cost $10, which is higher than past years, but with The Ripcordz back, the price fits! They go on sale on October 1st, with the door price jumping to $15. For all other details, check the above links, and hopefully this year's Halloween event is the biggest of them all!

Finally for today, here's some more updates to our past Defunct Local Band Profiles to keep them more accurate & current (and remember, MySpace link changes & deletions and YouTube video enlargements are common across the board, so I'll just mention truly new edits!) On both our Cherubic Red & Bent Rollercoaster profiles, I added links to the aforementioned Plastic when noting members' other bands, as they now have a Facebook page. Back to Sault Ontario for the rest, I replaced The Scary Uncles, Faithess Sin, and The Belmonts with The Thrill Junkies, Winkstinger, and Stutzgummer when noting SIGHdEFECT's members other band work on their profile, while I made a number of edits to Bring the Fallen's profile, including adding ex-members Aaron Gasparetto and Joey Graham to their lineup, and adding references to both their reunion gig last month at The Oddfellows Hall & their EP release that took place that same night. Finally, I switched SIGHdEFECT with Winkstinger to reflect ex-No Arrow bassist Jason Bourcier's more recent work on our No Arrow profile. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this weekend's metal/hard rock concert previews tomorrow morning! Thanks everyone!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Cross Dog

I'm sorry for this being a day late (I'm spreading out posts a bit due to the slow stretch we're in), but here's this month's last feature post, our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! As usual, posts in this series look at a band that is based out of town, but does/used to feature one or more Sault Ste. Marie-area residents (past or present) in their lineup, basically to give the band some deserved local exposure! This month's selection is to time in with their local debut in two weeks, and there's a very familiar face within, so read on below for this month's profile, and if something's missing, let me know! (Updated on November 27th, 2014)
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Cross Dog (Peterborough, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED)

Tracy Aᵴhenden (vocals)
Mark Rand (bass)
Mikey Reid (drums)

Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/crossdog
Official Bandcamp page: http://crossdog.bandcamp.com
Official Twitter page: http://twitter.com/crossdog666

Local Info: Cross Dog is the newest project from prolific Sault Ontario native Mark Rand (a.k.a. Marky Lion), who's played in various hard rock, punk, and hardcore project both locally and in Southern Ontario for many years! You may best remember him recently as Lion Ride's rhythm guitarist from 2007-2012, but he's also had roles as guitarist, bassist, and occasional singer with bands like Detroit, Bin Hawdon & The Taliband, The Merves, Fuller, hackthemodem, Pumpkinseed, The Lumbermen, Kidshit, Bondar, DDPBB, and The Mark Rand Band in the past decade, along with leading at least two solo projects. Though now living in Peterborough, he's still seen fairly often in the Soo for concerts!

Band Bio: Though quietly launched last year, Cross Dog first appeared with public online pages this spring, and they recorded their debut self-titled album this year as well, releasing it last month. The band made their live debut in Peterborough on July 6th alongside The Saigon Hookers, and have since played at and scheduled a bunch of other Ontario concerts, including their local debut at the Dayglo Abortions concert at the former Roosevelt Hotel on September 9th, and shows opening for the likes of The Misfits, Fuck The Facts, and Public Animal through 2014, with much more to come. Uniquely for their genre, they feature no guitar work in their shows or studio recordings, but their female-fronted hardcore punk blend comes through well even without! Picture Detroit, The Fury, and Die Mannequin blended together, and you'll have a good idea! Tracy's vocals have the right aggression and attitude for the material, Mark's bass work is solid and full enough to forget about the guitar's absence, and Mikey's drumming fits the songs well and gives a good rhythm!

Hardcore punk fans will have nothing to worry about with Cross Dog, who pack enough fast paced aggression and unique qualities to attract deserved attention, so don't miss them live! A solid amount of YouTube videos from their short live run are now online, but embedded below is this music video for their song "Black Hole", so give it a look, and stream and/or buy their debut album at their BandCamp page linked above!


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I hope you guys liked this month's out of town profile! Next month in this series, we're gonna look at a band who used to feature a Saultite (but is still active), that being Kitchener metal project Malicious Side Effect, whose guitarist at one point was Machines Dream/Blues Harvest's Keith Conway! That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, New Airbourne Concert Videos, And Much More!!

After a couple of news-free days at the SMS, we're back with some big updates for this Monday morning, so what's on tap? A lot of assorted shorter recent updates, but first, we have a few more Airbourne concert videos and (leading off) a new addition to our band links, so read on below for what you need to know!

We have a new local hard rock band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, as The Thrill Junkies have finally launched their own Facebook page! Originally plugged on the SMS in March, they're essentially the successors to both Turner Up & Havadder, with all but two members of their last lineups forming this new act earlier this year. Their lineup includes singer Travis Sharpe (formerly Turner Up & Havadder's bassist), guitarists Jason Nisbet (Havadder only) and Robert Brown, drummer Scott McLurg, and new bassist Justin Langlois (Redundant), who replaced Jamie Cameron in the band earlier this summer. Described as "five guys who love to party & bring the rock", they'll cover everyone from Alice In Chains & The Foo Fighters to Slash & Volbeat, but they'll also apparently be working on original material, something that their predecessor bands weren't known for. While their first public local show has yet to be announced, they debuted in Spanish at the battle of the bands in April to find openers for this year's Rock 'N Roar Festival, and after following in Havadder's 2012 footsteps with a 5th place run, they opened for Loverboy & Lee Aaron at said festival last weekend!

Note that the cover photo on their Facebook page features former Turner Up singer Krista Marshall along with the band during their Rock 'N Roar set, but she's not credited on the page, so I assume she was a guest performer. I'm very curious to hear some media or local shows from The Thrill Junkies finally, especially with Travis singing in a local band again and the core of Turner Up living on for this new project, so stay tuned for updates on their local debut and upcoming news!

Next up, here's some more new videos from last week's Airbourne concert at The Canadian Nightclub! Filmed by attendee/local guitarist Neno Jovanovic and uploaded to his YouTube channel on Thursday, they're of Airbourne playing their songs "Diamond in the Rough", "Runnin' Wild", and (as embedded below) "Live It Up", so click each link to check them out! Neno had a great first row angle of the Australian hard rock standouts in action, but all but the "Live It Up" video are noticeably abbreviated, and the "Runnin' Wild" video was filmed on a sideways angle for some reason (but we get good footage of Joel O'Keeffe smashing a beer can into his head and spraying it on the front rows!) The audio on each is hit & miss, with heavier stretches often sounding choppy, but the angle and closeness to the action is very welcome, so give Neno's Airbourne concert videos a look above, and here's "Live It Up"!



Finally for today, here's six assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or company name:

• Local film company 62nd Chamber Productions (ran by AlgomA's Boyd Rendell) revealed on their Facebook page last week that they filmed Giwakwa & Shit Liver's full sets at last month's Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mash-Up on multiple camera angles, but the audio quality was described as "a farty nightmare", so it will instead be re-purposed for stills in upcoming projects. I was wondering what happened to those videos, but I trust their judgement, and hopefully we'll get to see new videos soon!
• Among some other event pages for upcoming punk-headlined concerts, local promoter J.D. Pearce launched one for his eighth annual Halloween Party yesterday (making it's Roosevelt Hotel debut on October 26th), and while full public details are minimal, the previously announced Ripcordz are still headlining, and he confirmed that there will be at least 3 other bands, so the larger post-Coch's lineup will be back. Stay tuned as more updates come in!
• Local bassist Jason Lang (who recently posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group looking for a new band) is now in a new "rock & hard rock" project with a guitarist & female vocalist, but now they need a drummer. Like before, this is just a bar cover band for the fun of it with no tour plans, and for age range, all he said was that the current members are "older working players". If you're interested in trying out on drums, message Jason at this link or at the Facebook group linked above!
• Former Valentine's Day Massacre/Chillum drummer Kyle Umgeher is again looking for a new local music project on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, but this time, he's preferably looking for a funk band with a jam space. Funk could have heavier applications, but either way, this could be a unique addition to the scene, so message Kyle at this location or at the group above if you're interested!
• Sault Ontario acid jam/hard rockers Mike Haggith & The Din have officially added talented local solo musician James "Delusionair Lionhair" Watterworth to their lineup as (believe it or not) a saxophone player, making them a quartet. My source is Mike's solo Facebook page on Thursday, and James already contributed at their last couple of live dates. This should be an interesting addition for a heavier band, so stay tuned for more as we hear it!
• Wondered why we haven't covered local recording studio The Smoke & Oak Room much over the summer? As it turns out, owner Dave Pihlaja moved to Toronto with the studio in May (as per postings on their Facebook page), which is disappointing, but hopefully Dave succeeds further down south, and at least we got some quality work from Crimson Crusade & Late and Loud there beforehand!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Cross Dog in our next post, either tonight or tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

RedD Monkey Video Showcase (Part 1)

Today's post marks our first of two all-video posts dedicated to one of our newest additions to our band links, local/Toronto hardcore punk/classical trio RedD Monkey! Now over 5 years into their run as a band, their unique and blistering sound has carried them to a number of successes locally and across Canada (incdluding their current Southern Ontario tour run), and now that we're covering them in full, we're definitely overdue to showcase some of their YouTube videos! I've broken up the ones I know about (ones I filmed aside) into two posts, with the first 4 coming today, so read on below for some long overdue video glimpses at the Mozarowski brothers and Joe (or Kevin) in action!

We'll start today with a Shaw TV Sault Ste. Marie news piece/interview with RedD Monkey that you may remember from it's televised run! I can't 100% date it, but I'm fairly certain that it was shot prior to their set at the first annual Sewer Swampstravaganza at The Oddfellows Hall in April 2011 (but don't quote me on that.) The video & interview was actually done by Shaw TV contributor Jasmyn Pozzo (not Sarah's Valley frontman Christian Lemay), who asked RedD Monkey about how they described their music, their influences, how they formed (and how drummer Joe Bumbacco joined), if there were challenges breaking into the local scene, their career highlights, their future touring & album plans, and the best part of playing in RedD Monkey. The video also features some interspersed footage of RedD Monkey playing their song "The Friar's Ire", edited in a similar way to the Shaw TV piece on As It Stands from that year. The guys don't seem 100% comfortable in an interview setting, but we get some good insight into their run and background, and it's a well put together video, so give it a look below!



Next up, here's a pair of RedD Monkey videos from a local concert from way back in October 2010! Shot at the first annual Soo Zombie Walk afterparty (held for the only time at Foggy Notions, now Coch's Corner), the videos are of RedD Monkey covering Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" and (as embedded below) playing their songs "Zombie Epoch" & "The Friar's Ire"! Notably, this was one of their first local shows with Joe Bumbacco on drums, and the Motorhead cover features Joe's The Fury bandmate Tony Briglio (now of Sykotyk Rampage) on guest bass, hence the joint credit as "RedD Monkey/The Fury" on that clip. Filmed by YouTube user cammicam (whose only other video was of The Fury from that same show), the songs sound good, especially with the fittingly timed "Zombie Epoch" showing off their faster & heavier side, but the sound is somewhat muffled, the camera can be blurry & oddly angled at points, and the first song is cut off by about 15 seconds. Very solid though, so give RedD Monkey's originals from the afterparty a look below, and I know the picture's not from the right show, I couldn't find a good one from it.



Also in RedD Monkey videos, you can't ignore what I assume is their official YouTube channel, which saw uploads of almost all of the original songs from their two albums earlier this year, including 2010's "Thought Control Tower" and last year's "All Baroque"! For the former, which featured Kevin Overton on drums, all 7 songs are featured on this channel (including the bonus cello rap number "Fo' Dozen Cookies", which often ends their shows), while the "All Baroque" songs have noticeably seen a couple of edits. The song "Dr. Fatty" isn't featured at all for unknown reasons, "Monkey's Paw (5th Wish of the Swamp Donkey)" is only credited as "5th Wish", and the CD's bonus 12th track ("That 13 Min. Song") is broken up into the three songs that were in it originally ("ODIN!", "NCO Song", and a cover of One Day As A Lion's "Wild International".) However, I'll note that the "Wild International" cover isn't listed on their BandCamp page for the digital version of "All Baroque", but I don't know if the newest CD pressings have it in any capacity. The quality on these uploads is as good as you'd expect, so if you wanna stream RedD Monkey's first CDs before buying, check the above links, and here's the opening track on "Thought Control Tower", that being "The Clock's Dement"!



Finally, we have a pair of videos from RedD Monkey's September 2009 stop in Halifax, Nova Scotia courtesy of YouTube user softsoftersoftest, where they played outdoors to accompany fire dancers during their routines! One video had a Francois Couperin composition laid over it for one reason or another (even though RedD Monkey are visibly performing), while the other (embedded below) is by the waterfront in Halifax with cellist Pete Mozarowski accompanying Kevin Overton & Sarrah Elizabeth Becker (daughter of Sykotyk Rampage's Dirk Becker) during their fire dancing performance. Very nice work spinning the fire, sort of puts you in a trance after a while, so give it a look below, especially with the partial RedD Monkey performance!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile hopefully TOMORROW, with more news imminent as well! Thanks everyone!

Crimson Crusade - "Upon The Eve Of War" Review!!

It's finally time for our (believe it or not) 50th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and for the fifth time in six months, it's of a new release, as this month's focus is on local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade's debut EP "Upon the Eve of War"! Independently released on June 3rd after their set at that night's Skeletonwitch concert, the EP was recorded this past winter at The Smoke & Oak Room Studio with producer Dave Pihlaja. "Upon the Eve of War" features Crimson Crusade's current lineup, including The Dirty Few's Devon Lucier on vocals & guitar, Robert Sartini (of Pillory & The Issues) on guitar, Riley Marshall on bass, and former Inhuman Methods drummer Robert Crossley. Copies of this EP can be bought at Crimson Crusade shows for $5, and though you should buy it to support their work, all 5 songs (coming in at around 20 minutes in length) can be streamed at the band's Reverbnation page & Devon's YouTube channel. With all of that said, let's look at the EP's tracks, with each one linked to it's official YouTube posting!

"Upon the Eve of War" opens with "Vanquish the Tyrant", which immediately opens with crushing riffing and solid bass work from Riley Marshall, slowly building to the first verse, where Devon Lucier's locally unique vocals kick in, which should instantly recall the late Chuck Schuldiner of Death (if raspier), ad they give this material an extra kick! I like the melodic guitar contrasting with his vocals in the verses, and the band are firing on all cylinders for one of my favourite original tracks of theirs! Nice guitar solo too, but it comes oddly late in the track, and it feels like it ends too soon afterwards. For an EP opener though, this is brutal, fast, and well paced, and it's a good introduction to Crimson Crusade's studio work!

One of the band's first originals ("Left For Dead") is next, which opens softly with a slowly building guitar-centric intro before the full band kicks in with guns blazing! The song reminds me of a less melodic "Vanquish the Tyrant" in structure, if less melodic and slightly messier at points, but it's still very heavy and ready to get mosh pits going live! The guitar solo also comes across as too short, and while I like the track and the displayed talents, it feels too similar to "Vanquish the Tyrant" after the intro to really stand out compared to it, especially as they directly follow each other. The band's self titled song "Crimson Crusade" (also the EP's shortest) is next, with brutalizes with a very fast opening riff and full band assault, and while it has structural similarities to the first songs, it's more to-the-point and intense, and I like Devon & Robert Sartini's guitar work especially here (despite the lack of a full solo.) An improvement on "Left For Dead" despite it's sudden end, their eponymous tracks packs in their heaviest collective work nicely!

Fourth on the EP is "Pillage", which instantly sets itself apart with chant-like backing vocals lain in with their pre-verse intensity, and Devon's vocals are slower paced than on previous tracks, helping give the song more of it's own identity, but the backing vocals just got lost when thrown into the chorus. While not as blistering of a track as it's predecessors, it has a darker feel that doesn't detract from their established sound, with Robert Crossley's drumming standing out technically, but the guitar solo seems way too short, and it's almost an afterthought. It's not my favourite track on the EP, but it's the most original so far, and the darker and slower feel doesn't cost them any heaviness! "Upon the Eve of War" closes with it's longest track "Consumed", which returns to a fast metal attack with solid guitar melodies thrown in, and it does distance itself more from past tracks with very slow paced choruses contrasting with the heavier verses, and while I like the change, the vocals never change with the mood. Standout drumming and bass on this track late, but I wish there was a guitar solo and a bit more variance to their sound than we get, but it's definitely a strong closer to the EP, and a very cool song in it's own right!

So, what's the final word on "Upon the Eve of War"? Personally, I enjoy it and think it's a solid first effort from Crimson Crusade, but there's room to grow and expand their sound. Talent wise, the guys have it, with heavy and crushing riffs from Devon Lucier & Robert Sartini, skilled bass work from Riley Marshall, and fast & often technical drumming from Robert Crossley, but Devon's Death-inspired vocals arguably give them a lot of their unique local identity, and when you hear them, you instantly know what band it is, which is nice! The production is pretty good, if cluttered occasionally, but what Crimson Crusade need to work on is varying their sound. The first three songs are all very similar in structure, and when they do shift to slower & darker pacing like on the "Consumed" choruses, the mood doesn't change to go along with it. Some live favourites are also missing that the disc has room for (like "Lost Memories" & "Here We Lay"), and I'd like to see more guitar solos (and not only in the songs' last minute), but for a first recorded effort, Crimson Crusade's first EP delivers the death metal goods, and I hope they build on their promise in future recording sessions! Buy it at their next shows!

I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! Next month (hopefully earlier rather than later), we'll be reviewing Bring The Fallen's posthumous EP "Stand Before", as released at Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mash-Up last month, and coming four years after the original recording sessions! Does it live up to the hype? Find out in early September, and stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

New Airbourne Concert Videos & Assorted Sault Michigan Updates!!

Keeping the news rolling on this Friday afternoon, we have some more fallout from a big recent concert to touch on, along with some recent Sault Michigan updates, so read on below for what you need to know!

A bunch of Airbourne concert videos from Sunday night have turned up online yesterday, so we'll start with six from YouTube user Christopher Paci's channel! A frequent uploader of videos from Kewadin Casino hard rock concerts in the past year, the Airbourne concert was just the second Sault Ontario event he's uploaded footage from (following one video from the Tragically Hip show in February) Four of Christopher's videos are from Airbourne's set, including "Ready To Rock", "Diamond in the Rough", "Raise the Flag", and (as embedded below) their extended closing number "Runnin' Wild", so click each link to see the clips! Chris would have a good angle, but The Canadian Nightclub was very packed, so attendees' heads are definitely in the way often, but I imagine this was a problem many people had unless they were very tall or in the first few rows, so I won't judge. The audio is also a bit scratchy, but it's not unlistenable. Solid attempt to catch the action, so give "Runnin' Wild" a look below!



Christopher's other videos are from openers Bleeker Ridge's set, as he filmed them playing their originals "Shine" and (as embedded below) "Last Cigarette", so again, click each link to check them out! They have a better and more central view of the Orillia hard rockers, and Taylor Perkins is definitely easier to hear from Christopher's angle, but front row fans do block some areas of the stage, albeit not as much as the crowding for Airbourne. These actually don't sound as scratchy either somehow, so give Bleeker Ridge playing "Last Cigarette" a look below, and see more of Chris' Airbourne concert videos at the above links!

Closing today's post, we'll head to Sault Michigan starting with some news relating to newer local hard rock trio Plastic (who, like Power Slug, still don't have an online page.) In rather surprising news given that they only first played live two months ago, they'll apparently be opening for The Misfits at Harpo's Concert Theater in Detroit on October 21st! I have no idea how that came about, but my source is drummer Paul "Dorothy" Burns' new solo Facebook page, which he recently started to keep fans to date on his music projects (Plastic or otherwise.) Paul also launched a number of Facebook event pages there for gigs all over Northern Michigan (including in Alpena and Rogers City), along with the Misfits/Detroit show and a pair of local dates (Dan's Bar in Rudyard on September 7th & The Merchant's Bar in the Soo on September 20th), but I can't verify at present if these are all Plastic dates or not, as he uses the page for all of his music work. If I hear more, I'll keep you posted, but if you want tickets to see Plastic open for The Misfits, message members Zac Crook, Nick Moreau, or Paul Burns on Facebook!

Finally for today, it looks like Sault Michigan classic hard rock quartet Sir Charge have dissolved. This hasn't been officially confirmed (their Facebook page hasn't been updated in almost 3 months), but members Henry Switzer, Ray Mayer, and Ruseell Mayer have apparently reformed their pop rock cover band The Mama's Boys, re-debuting at at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on August 5th. My source is Ray's personal Facebook page, and like before, I believe he sings lead rather than Henry. Also, with Sir Charge guitarist Nathan Switzer taking on their existing Kewadin Casino dates for his other band RamWagon,  that helps lead me to think that Sir Charge have at least ceded focus to the Mama's Boys' reunion. Sir Charge had been active since succeeding Henry & Nathan's similar earlier band Monkey's Uncle last fall, playing a number of gigs at regional bars through at least June of this year, and while it is disappointing to see Henry-fronted bands end locally, at least everyone from Sir Charge is still active in local music, so best of luck all around!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more this weekend, including a few more Airbourne concert videos! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tantrym Tyme & RamWagon) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Today's second post largely focuses on previews of this weekend's metal/hard rock concerts, and compared to some recent weeks, it's relatively quieter, but there's a good amount going on! We'll start it with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (including a short notice show), so read on below for the details on each new and old concert, and check out this month's YouTube Channel Profile on MrJohnveale's channel in the post below this one!

Young local metal quartet Tantrym Tyme will apparently be playing a concert at The Malamute Saloon in nearby Kinross, Michigan THIS SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, they only just announced the show on their Facebook page on Monday, and I held it until this post to avoid redundantly plugging it twice in a few days. This is a venue that I don't think we've ever plugged for heavier shows on here, but it's a bar and restaurant located at 3047 West Mile 80 (roughly a half hour from both the Soo and St. Ignace), and while concert announcements there aren't plentiful, The Malamute Saloon's own Facebook page never seems to identify bands by name, so who knows what we've missed. A 9:00 PM start time is likely if past live band plugs for this venue are consistent, I have no idea if there's a cover, and you must be 21 to attend. Check the above links for more details! Tantrym Tyme's fast improving metal covers are always fun to hear live, so keep this Kinross show in mind for Saturday night, and for a preview, here's the guys rocking out at a middle school talent show this spring!



Next up, newer Sault Michigan hard rock quintet RamWagon have announced 10 new concerts at the Sault Michigan & St. Ignace Kewadin Casinos for the last four months of the year on their Facebook page, so if you've liked their summer gigs, they've got you covered! The Sault Michigan dates will see them make their Rapids Lounge debuts on September 6th & 7th, with further dates coming there on September 27th & 28th and November 1st and 2nd. As for St. Ignace, they'll return to The Northern Pines Lounge at their Kewadin Casino on October 4th & 5th and December 6th & 7th, so keep those dates in mind for their modern hard rock sound! Note that all of these dates (save the September 27th weekend) are listed as concerts for local hard rock quartet Sir Charge (featuring RamWagon guitarist Nathan Switzer) on Kewadin Casino's entertainment page, but now RamWagon have taken them on. I believe I know what Sir Charge's current status is, and we'll elaborate in an upcoming post, but at least one of Nathan's bands is still playing these shows!

All of the new RamWagon dates have 9:00 PM start times, no announced cover charge, and 21+ age limits. Check the above links for more details! RamWagon have been making a good impression since their LemmaFest debut, so keep their next Kewadin Casino gigs in mind, and don't miss their Rock Till You Drop battle set at the Chippewa County Fair next weekend!

Now to previously announced shows, starting with Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's latest Sault Ontario concert, albeit moved to a different day, I believe. Though announced originally as a series of gigs each Friday at The Road House Bar & Grill on Trunk Road, Tym only has one show lined up this weekend, and it will be TODAY for their monthly Thursday customer appreciation nights! I apologize for any date confusion (unless he has a late notice event page for tomorrow in the works), but the customer appreciation nights have been a frequent sight for Tym's solo acoustic dates, and attendees apparently get a free meal with a drink purchase, so how's that for a deal? I believe it starts at around 5:00 PM TODAY, there's no likely cover charge, and given the time, I can't see there being a strict age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Tym's unplugged acoustic metal covers have been a reliable and successful sight at The Road House Bar & Grill in recent months, so keep this special customer appreciation night in mind TODAY, and for a preview, here's Tym live at Mill Square in June!



Finally for this preview post, Sault Michigan hard rock trio Power Slug will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! The space in their name isn't a typo, all recent official photos of the band have listed the name as two words, so I take it that's the official spelling. Last seen at The Rapids Lounge in March, this should be a good time to see Chris Leask, Chris Gurnoe, and Bob Helsten rocking out once again with their varied hard rock covers, so keep these shows in mind for your weekend concert plans! Like the RamWagon dates above, these shows should have no cover, 21+ age limits, and 9:00 PM start times. For more details, visit the Kewadin links above! Sounds like a fun weekend to chug your mug with, even if Power Slug's online presence is still way more minimal than you'd expect, but head to The Rapids Lounge tomorrow or Saturday for all of the action!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for another news post! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: MrJohnveale's channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our monthly look at 1-3 YouTube channels featuring at least a 50% concentration of local metal/hard rock-relevant videos! After a packed look at David Gold's channel last month, we're keeping with another randomly selected channel with a good amount of videos this time, one that fans of classic metal and deathcore should appreciate if you regularly hit up local shows in 2010 & 2011. Read on below for videos, information, and recommendations from this month's profiled channel!

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MrJohnveale's channel (http://www.youtube.com/mrjohnveale)

Owner: John Veale, father of former Sativa Rose/Valentine's Day Massacre bassist Adam Veale

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 29th, 2010; Videos posted from then until March 2013

Channel Summary: John's channel largely focuses on videos that he shot of his son Adam's local music work in the early 2010s, including 14 live videos from Sativa Rose concerts in 2010 & 2011, two from a Valentine's Day Massacre show (when they were still known as View To A Kill) in December 2011, and two videos of Adam covering 1990s rock songs on vocals & acoustic guitar from the past year. The concert videos come from assorted local venues (including a Ratt cover at The Oddfellows Hall in January 2011), though 9 of the 16 came from shows at Foggy Notions/Feedback (now Coch's Corner.) Note that one of John's videos is of a February 2011 pre-game ceremony during a Brock University Badgers women's hockey game, and it has no direct musical connections.

Why Should You Watch: Mainly, you should watch because this is the best source for live Sativa Rose concert videos, including some of their only public footage with guest singers (like Tym Morrison and Rich Moreland), and videos of some of their earlier solo dates! John's video quality was always really good, and the View To A Kill videos maintain that trend, so fans of Adam Veale & longtime bandmate Andrew Angelic's local music work will want to check out this channel! Note however that John didn't upload any videos of Sativa Rose or View To A Kill's original songs, and there hasn't been a concert video uploaded there since since December 2011, so no videos of the renamed Valentine's Day Massacre are featured.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Sativa Rose Live Talk Dirty To Me: With over 4,600 views, this live video of Sativa Rose covering Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" is easily the most viewed on John's channel! Filmed at their headlining concert at GLOW on Gore Street from September 18th, 2010 (notably the last metal show at this venue to date), it was uploaded along with clips of Sativa Rose covering Dokken's "Dream Warriors" and Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell" at this show. Featuring their original lineup of guitarist Andrew Angelic, bassist Adam Veale, and drummer Alex Palmer on all three, the Poison & Pantera covers also feature ex-Havadder frontman Jason Roy on guest vocals, who is a noticeable improvement given how much Sativa Rose needed a permanent singer (a'la Late & Loud.) The lighting is inconsistent, but the videos are a nice glimpse into Sativa Rose's peak months, especially at a missed local venue!



Bark At The Moon by Sativa Rose: John's last Sativa Rose videos came from their last show at The Roosevelt Hotel on November 29th, 2011, when they were among the openers for Toronto punk trio The Unbelievers. Now featuring The Hydra's Teeth's Anthony Orazietti on second guitar, this show marked their only live appearance with singer Marisa Valois & guest drummer Steven Flint (now of The Suicide Kings) in lieu of Alex Palmer, who was out of town. John's videos featured Sativa Rose covering Iron Maiden's "Aces High", Van Halen's "Panama", and (as embedded below) Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark At The Moon", and while Marisa's vocals are also an improvement on Adam & Andrew's, she doesn't seem 100% comfortable on heavier material. I'd be curious to hear how they'd sound had she played with them longer, but this is the fullest Sativa Rose have ever sounded, so these videos are a good way to go out on!



View To A Kill covers Black Label: Prior to Sativa Rose's dissolution, Andrew Angelic & Adam Veale joined forces with State of Misery frontman Steve Rhodes and Andrew's ex-Chillum bandmate Kyle Umgeher in late 2011 as the new deathcore band View To A Kill, who John filmed at their headlining gig at Feedback (now the current Coch's Corner) on December 3rd, 2011. John's last concert videos to date, the clips are covers of Parkway Drive's "Carrion" and (as embedded below) Lamb of God's "Black Label", which are generally faithful to the originals, very brutal, and a nice precursor to their improved early-mid 2012 shows as The Valentine's Day Massacre, and Steve & Andrew's current work in the London death metal band D3athcharg3r!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Through completely random selection, we're sticking with a single Sault Ontario-area channel next month, as we're profiling former Durera guitarist A.J. Biron's YouTube channel next! This one's loaded with CASS Cafe hard rock performances and some solo performances, so look out for this profile on or around September 22nd, and for previews of this weekend's hard rock concerts later today! Thanks everyone!

Airbourne Concert Fallout, New Destroilet Videos, And More!!

Today's news post a mix of stuff from each side of the border, including updates to one of our monthly feature series, the latest from Theatre of Night, a new video from a recent hardcore punk concert, and leading off, some fallout from a huge recent Sault Ontario concert, so read on below for what you need to know!

We'll start with some fallout from Sunday night's Airbourne concert at The Canadian Nightclub, starting with a SooToday article and photo album from the show! Written and shot by Donna Hopper (and posted online yesterday), she mainly focused on Airbourne's overall set in the write-up, saying that despite the AC/DC comparisons, they do what they do "exceedingly well... for a no frills, all punch live concert experience", along with commmenting on the volume and promoting J.D. Pearce's next show (The Dayglo Abortions at The Rosie on September 9th.) As for her photos (which are awesome as usual), she got 29 shots, including 12 of Airbourne, 9 of Bleeker Ridge, and 8 of Garden of Bedlam, though none of The Suicide Kings sadly. Great work all the same, so click here and check the above links for more! Also in Airbourne notes, one more video from the show has turned up, so what should you know about it?

Uploaded to Wing-Its/ex-Lion Ride guitarist Marco Pedalino's YouTube channel yesterday, this is also of Airbourne's set-opening song "Ready To Rock", although Marco was noticeably further back on the floor, so while we get a good scope of the attendance, the band are somewhat hard to see. The audio quality is a bit scratchy too, but it's nice to see more videos from the show, and hopefully more pop up! Check out Marco's video of Airbourne on Monday night below!



Also in new videos, The 705 Video Magazine's Fred Kember shot this video (at least partially) of local hardcore punk quintet Destroilet covering The Billy Bastards' "Mile 58" at the Bunchofuckingoofs concert at The Roosevelt Hotel last week, only just uploading it to his personal YouTube channel on Saturday! Visibly appearing to be stitched together from two cameras, the audio quality is better than on some of Fred's past video postings, and the different angles show Destroilet's fury and the mosh pit action well! Check out the full cover below, and see some of Fred's photos from their set at this link!



Transitioning across the river, here's the latest from Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night! On August 1st, they revealed in this Facebook picture that they are currently working on recording material for an original symphonic metal album that won't have any "trendy bullsh*t" (they censored it originally), while this preview video (which is Facebook exclusive) features 12 seconds of Greg Giles' drum tracks for one of the songs being worked on. No word on if their planned "Christmas Night" re-recording with vocals is still forthcoming, but the hyped album will be their first all-original effort with singer Gaby Koss, a noted German soprano vocalist. I'm curious to hear how their original material sounds, be it brand new songs, older re-recordings, and/or End of Existence adaptations, so we'll of course keep you guys posted as we hear more! Also, be sure to check out the Theatre of Art, a gallery/online art store where you can buy artwork from Greg and keyboardist Craig Harrison, along with original pieces by Ohio-based artist Mairin Roberts!

Finally for today, here's some more updates and corrections to our past Defunct Local Band Profiles (MySpace link changes/deletions and video expansions aside!) In our Analog Deficiency profile, I replaced Monkey's Uncle & Focus with Sir Charge & RamWagon (both featuring guitarist Nathan Switzer) to the bands listed that members were also in, while I also mentioned RamWagon (who actually feature 3/5ths of Analog Deficiency's last lineup) in the actual profile when noting their post-breakup work. I made a similar addition to our Cherubic Red profile to note member Nick Moreau's current bass role with Plastic, while (transitioning to Sault Ontario edits) I replaced Fitswitch with Chronic Demonic when noting ex-White Knights drummer Rick White's later band work on their profile. Finally, I updated our Divinity Collapsed profile to note that we finally know who exactly led this project! As revealed in a Facebook conversation last month, it was a solo act by local musician Joshua Culbert, who intentionally had a low profile for it, but recorded the tracks with GarageBand during his senior year of high school. Stay tuned for more updates to our Defunct Local Band Profiles soon!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and hopefully this month's YouTube Channel Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Airbourne/Bleeker Ridge Concert Review!!

It's now time for my review of last night's Airbourne concert at The Canadian Nightclub, so here's what to know from last night! Great turnout, and though I heard attendance was a bit below expectations, it'd be hard to tell with how packed the floor was by the night's end! Crank Sound Distribution was on hand to tackle sound, and while they did a great job, vocals were hard to hear if you were close to the stage, a problem I'm told didn't affect fans further back. The usual layout wasn't too affected by the stage setup, so aside from the crowd, it was easy to maneuver, but how about the bands?

Opening the show straight at 9:00 PM was rising local hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings, who played an abbreviated set of six songs for the gathered fans! I'll admit that I got there slightly late, so I missed their first couple of songs, but they played mostly (if not entirely) originals like "Into The Fray" and "King of the World, with Steven Flint and Mitch Sirie swapping guitar & bass duties for a couple songs (and no, they haven't added a full time bassist yet.) Compared to their set at Bushplane Musical Madness II, the guys seemed more focused and energetic, despite the lack of fans on the floor, though that slowly improved as the night wore on. Maybe the restricted stage movement was an issue, but everyone was on their game musically, with Mike Gaetano's vocals and Ben Boudreau's drumming coming through well, and here's hoping they keep up the momentum with their next shows!

Following them was the first local concert set from metal standouts Garden of Bedlam in 4 months, and they definitely haven't lost a step since April (maybe the Quebec City concert helped keep the gears turning in the interim!) Also a short set of 6 originals (including "Shallow" and "Your Disgrace"), there wasn't any real surprises for song choices, so if you've seen recent Garden of Bedlam concerts, the songs will have been familiar, but the guys sounded as good as ever and played well to the growing number of fans on the floor! Buzz even made the most of the time by climbing the speaker during "New Rain", which created a neat visual! Josh & Evan Belleau were really solid on guitar & bass, Derek Turner's drumming was as varied and fast as ever, and Buzz's singing was stellar as usual! Though it'd be nice to have seen something a little different from past gigs, you can't beat a quality Garden of Bedlam set, and hopefully we'll see them on stage again in the fall!

Co-headlining in their local concert debut was Orillia, Ontario hard rockers Bleeker Ridge, and even if their debut is late following their Buckcherry show exit from last year, they made up for it with an energetic melodic sound that got a lot of positive attention! If they were unknown before the set, they won a lot of new fans on songs like "Last Cigarette" and "Go Home", with constant movement and clear talent throughout, and I like how enthusiastic the guys seemed to be just to be on stage! Very solid modern hard rock material, with guitarists Dan Steinke & Cole Perkins particularly impressing, but from where I was on the floor, singer Taylor Perkins was almost inaudible on heavier stretches. I like their chemistry and cohesiveness, and while I would like to see a bit of an extra edge and risk to their material, Bleeker Ridge impressed fully, and here's hoping we see them in the Sault again at some point!

And of course, the headliners were Australian hard rock standouts Airbourne in their own local debut, and they proved their reputation and success is not just hype with an extremely entertaining set of classic metal originals, and even some brief cover throwbacks during their encore-capper "Runnin' Wild"! The O'Keeffe brothers, David Roads, and Justin Street plowed their way through memorable songs like "Diamond in the Rough" and "Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast", with the on-stage antics like beer showers, an air raid siren, and a beer can-assisted guitar solo only adding to the action! Musically, the AC/DC comparisons are bound to be made, but these guys have more of a youthful recklessness that sets them apart, and fans were too busy rocking out to notice! Joel O'Keeffe in particular kept the fans hanging on every note with blistering vocals and piercing vocals, and the whole band was eager to leave the Soo wanting more! There's a reason why Airbourne have a #1 rock single in Canada, and the local fans definitely want more Airbourne, so hopefully this won't be the only time they run wild through Sault Ste. Marie!

Overall, this was an awesome concert, and kudos to promoter J.D. Pearce for bringing Airbourne here! Great show and a great atmosphere, and he's doing great work bringing major acts to the Soo! I imagine this was the last big Sault Ontario metal show of the summer, but it was quite a bang to end the season with, and we'll of course see The Dayglo Abortions and The Creepshow from J.D. next month, so don't miss those early fall dates if you can help it! Check out my photos from last night at this link or at our Facebook page (which also has a "Tag Yourself!" crowd photo), and for videos, here's The Suicide Kings (sans crowd obstructions this time) playing "Way Out Of Hell", Garden of Bedlam playing "New Rain", Bleeker Ridge playing "Small Town Dead", and Airbourne kicking things off in style with "Ready To Rock"!









That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for more Airbourne concert fallout and other updates! Thanks everyone!