Habitat Shuffle - "Sober Drift" Review!!

Let's end August in style with our 62nd monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and our first since formally adding punk bands to our full coverage on the site, so all of our monthly features are officially up to date for what they can and will cover! This month's review is of "Sober Drive", the debut release by new local alternative rock quartet Habitat Shuffle, who suddenly released the album on their Bandcamp page on August 20th. The band itself are basically the successors to Free Beer (M.O.B. or Sarah's Valley if you prefer), with singer Christian Lemay, guitarist Dustin Goodall, and bassist Ryan Gray being joined by Dirty Few drummer Blair St. John. "Sober Drive" was recorded at Tidal Records earlier this year with producer Dustin Jones, and was later mixed in Toronto by guitarist Simon Head (The Fairmounts.) You can buy the EP on a "name your price" model right now at this link, so while you can get it free, consider buying it to support the band's work! Plans for a physical CD release are coming "soon and/or never" as per their Facebook page, so take that for what it's worth.

A short EP with just 4 songs clocking in at under 10 minutes in total length, let's begin with a look at the first song, "Soda Date"! Lyrically about debating spending all of one's money on a date, fans of Free Beer might be surprised right off the bat to hear that Habitat Shuffle do not retain their earlier ska-punk sound, as this song instead takes on more of a laid back alternative rock style that doesn't sound unlike a mid-late 1990s alt-rock band. Christian's vocals here are grittier and bluesier than you may be used to also, creating an interesting grungy quality! Honestly, this song is a bit too laid back in some respects, as it meanders and seems to lose it's structure and pace at times, though Blair's drumming keeps up with the swings, and the last 20 seconds are much faster and more of a punk style if that's your preference. "Soda Date" isn't a bad song, and it has a mellow groove that I appreciate, but the song itself is a bit too loosely written and all over the place.

The longest song on "Sober Drift" is next, and it's "Only On The Weak Ends", which appears to be about a desire to leave home and go to a favourite beach instead. It's louder and more up front than "Soda Date", with more prominent bass work from Ryan, and the structure and overall melody of this song is tighter and easier to follow! At the same time, the song doesn't have the catchy melody of it's predecessor, but I do like Dustin's guitar ability here, and the vocals have more of a musical match for the grit and style. I like "Only On The Weak Ends" better musically, and fans of heavier music will likely take to it more, but it seems too deliberate at the same time. Third on the EP is "Resort", a song that seems to use vacationing and hotel motifs in regards to a relationship. This track has a bouncy early melody, effective singing, and a fun guitar track from Dustin, and it's definitely the best song on "Sober Drift" for marrying the best elements of the first two songs! The low grit to the vocals can be an odd fit for such a happy sounding song, and the end of the song seems too out of place, but hopefully Habitat Shuffle can build on this song in the future!

"Sober Drift" concludes with "Dice", a 30 second punk rocker whose lyrics (primarily shouted between instrumental sections) are basically of Christian enthusiastically playing craps, though I won't spoil how he did (listen to find out!) This is the heaviest and fastest song on the EP, and everyone's firing on all cylinders, though it's far too short, and I was hoping it'd run longer, perhaps with other casino games being played? As for my final thoughts on this EP, I do like what Habitat Shuffle are doing here, and it's an interesting switch-up from most of the guys' earlier Free Beer work, but there's work to do. The 1990s-esque alt-rock style gives a nice grungy quality to many of the songs, and I like Christian's singing style (which is reminiscent of grunge singers on the full songs), but "Soda Date" had a jumbled structure, and "Only On The Weak Ends" lacked it's catchiness. Things ended strongly with the fun "Resort" and the hardcore punk-esque "Dice", so hopefully Habitat Shuffle can build on these songs for future songwriting sessions!

Free Beer fans may be disappointed by the lack of ska and reggae themes, but Habitat Shuffle are off to a good start, there's ready-made chemistry between Christian, Dustin, and Ryan, and I'm interested to see where things go from here, so pick up "Sober Drift" at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, but what's coming in September for our next review? Likely a new release, and one possibility is Telephone & Address' new CD "Need Not Apply", which is in post-production and may be available at the IDNS show that they're playing at on September 6th, but that's pending it's release. If nothing new comes out though, we'll review an archive metal, hard rock, or punk CD tied to a live performer at a show next month. Stay tuned for updates either way, and for our Soo Band Roulette review shortly! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Hard Rock Band, Sykotyk Rampage's New Music, And More!!

In our last news post of the month, we have new media and plans from a local punk project, plenty of new material from a popular veteran hard rock band, and first, a new local band, so here's what you need to know! (Updated at 2:07 PM)

We have a new local hard rock band to add to our listings, and they are Long Shot! A newer local quartet that formed as early as January of this year (months prior to their Facebook page's launch), their lineup is mostly comprised of artists that are largely unknown from other recent bands, including singer/guitarist Evan Dawe, guitarist Nathan Muto, bassist Adam Dawe (presumably Evan's brother?), and drummer Jeremy Ganuelas. Long Shot have largely played at unfamiliar venues and corporate events so far in their run, including debuting at a Sault Community Career Center function in January (Evan and Nathan both work there), playing private gigs in Heyden & Echo Bay, and even playing at two functions relating to the Soo's new ultimate frisbee association, most recently at LopLops. For a taste of Long Shot's sound, the band has uploaded six (generally incomplete) cover videos onto Facebook, including bass-less covers of Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman", Velvet Revolver's "Fall To Pieces", and The Darkness' "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"  at their debut in January, so click each link to see them!

The videos are rounded out by a cover of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" at The Bellevue Park Bandshell to launch the SUPA ultimate frisbee association, and covers of the Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper" and "Baba O'Riley" again at a private birthday party in Echo Bay (both sans Jeremy, but with cowbell for the former clip!) From what I've heard so far, Long Shot have a good sound that doesn't stick to predictable covers, and Nathan's a very solid guitarist, but Evan's vocals could be a bit more forceful on louder songs. I'm curious to see what Long Shot are up to next, so check them out above, and here's their Darkness cover from January!



Next up, local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage released their newest "albums" to their Reverbnation page between August 11th & 13th! I apologize for the delay on these, as we were both waiting to make sure the songs went up in full, and making sure that every album went up. Originally, Sykotyk Rampage had indicated plans to release seven albums in February, but 4 of the previously announced albums ("Wyrd Radio", "Padre Pwj with Ready for Revival", "Santa's Night Out", and "Double LIVE) have either been cancelled or postponed for unannounced reasons. The three of those albums that actually did come out this month (the band's 44th-46th) are "Kitty Farts & Other Play Full Noises", and two sequels to earlier concept releases, those being "Environ-Mental Suits 2: Anvil of Antioch" & "Captain Awesome Sex & Chastity Boy Episode 3: Who's Driving Spaceship Earth?", though I'll note that a fourth separate release that wasn't announced in February entitled "Bring The Heavy", is still listed for a September release, but has no online songs yet.

The second batch of new Sykotyk Rampage original songs with current bassist Tony Briglio, each album is fairly long as far as SKR releases go, with none having less than 17 songs, and "Who's Driving Spaceship Earth" having 24, so that might make up for the dropped albums! "Kitty Farts..." appears to be a general new release, while the other two albums exploit the conceptual nature with between song "scenes" to explain each album's storyline, and both are humorous and irreverent, just like long time Sykotyk Rampage fans should expect! Of the songs I've heard, fans can expect Sykotyk Rampage's usual improvised crash stylings, and like on prior releases, drummer Paul Becker appears to sing on most tracks. Now, like Sykotyk Rampage's other post-2011 albums, all three of these are available for free streams without a full album purchase option (though certain songs can be bought), though I will note that according to a recent e-mail that Reverbnation users (like myself) recieved, Reverbnation's store is being discontinued on September 30th, so a sale posting there wouldn't have done much good anyway.

The reason for the move is due to Reverbnation's new relationship with MerchOutfitters, who they encourage bands with stores on Reverbnation to switch over to for merchandise sales, but it's unclear as of yet how many local bands will launch presences there. Regardless of the release nature of Sykotyk Rampage's new "albums", fans have a lot to like, so give them all a listen at the above links, and stay tuned for more new Sykotyk Rampage song uploads on Reverbnation!

Finally for today, here's the latest media from the revived local pop punk solo project For July! Frontman Dave Hunter uploaded a work in progress clip of a new original song onto their Facebook page on Tuesday which has a definite emo/power punk sound going for it, and a bit more aggression to it than some of For July's earlier songs! Also, Dave's YouTube channel has been recently updated regarding For July, which included a video looking for donations to crowdfund their debut album, but it's since been privatized for unknown reasons (though I'll note that Dave was very hard to hear in the video.) I liked the idea of a Kickstarter-esque funding model, hopefully Dave still pursues that for an album! Instead, embedded below is their new YouTube posting of their original "The Emo Song", which is basically what is says on the tin, but fans of mid-2000s pop punk should be right at home with it, and it's well recorded! Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more on For July!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review TOMORROW, and I'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Rockstar Bar for Soo Band Roulette, the most unpredictable battle of the bands that Sault Ontario has ever seen! Thanks everyone!

Banned Concert & Swearnet Movie Previews, Plus More New Videos!!

Before we kick off this post, I have a note on a concert cancellation (maybe a mistake?), as Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm are apparently NOT playing at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino this weekend. While Kewadin pages still list the local dates, Scarkazm's own pages list this weekend's gigs as taking place in Cadillac instead, with their next St. Ignace shows coming in October. Not sure whether these were tentatively local once or erroneously announced, but best of luck to the guys this weekend, and fans can see Scarkazm back in the U.P. in the fall!

As a result of the Scarkazm switch, we'll instead look at The Chippewa County Fair, as the annual Kinross family festival is putting smiles on faces once again this year, and while the Rock Till You Drop battle of the bands is not advertised to return in 2014, Kinross hard rock trio Banned are still playing their own solo set TOMORROW! As announced on their Facebook page on August 19th, they'll be playing at the pavilion near the Lion's Club building at 4:00 PM tomorrow, so battle or no battle, Banned will be rocking their hometown tomorrow around supper time! Note that the fair's own website lists the 4:00 Pavilion timeslot as "to be announced", which is likely due to it not being updated since Banned's confirmation. Fans of ALL AGES can check out Alex & Don Traynor with new bassist Wayne Lawrence at the fair tomorrow among other events like stock car racing, animal shows, a tractor pull, and more, so click here for all details relating to tickets & admission fees!

As of right now, this is Banned's last scheduled gig of the summer, so keep it in mind if you're at the fair or in the Kinross area for some hard rocking entertainment! For a preview, here's Banned's recent video slideshow of their current lineup covering Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride & Joy"!



Next up, here's a preview of a different sort, as a movie filmed here with a metal connection opens TODAY, that being Swearnet, the new film from the stars of the Showcase (now Netflix) mockumentary comedy series Trailer Park Boys! As you may remember, Swearnet (which is about T.P.B. stars Robb Wells, Jean-Paul Tremblay, and Mike Smith forming their own uncensored online TV network) was filmed locally in Sault Ste. Marie in late 2012, and scenery from the Soo is readily seen in trailers! This fits on the SMS however due to ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach's cameo role in Swearnet (following his own Trailer Park Boys guest part), which some of you guys may remember from some Sebastian sightings during filming, including a karaoke night appearance at The Canadian! A little birdie also told me that some familiar band paraphernalia will also be seen from time to time. Yes, Swearnet is showing at Galaxy Cinema at The Station Mall, and it will open there TODAY at 2:10, 4:45, 7:25, and 10:10 PM, with similar screenings times in the following days, though like with any other movie, it's longevity at the theatre will depend on it's overall box office performance.

It's not often where a major movie makes it way to Galaxy Cinema with a ties to both the Soo and metal, and knowing how much many readers like the Trailer Park Boys, I'm sure many of you won't want to miss Swearnet on that basis either! Early reviews are good, and I do hope to check out Swearnet soon myself! I will advise though that Swearnet (which is 112 minutes long) is rated 18A for it's content, so fans under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. For a preview of Swearnet, here's the official green band trailer!

Also, here's a bit of a surprise, as local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements recently made the 8 hour trip north to Moonbeam for this year's 16th annual Hempfest! As you may remember, the annual marijuana culture/concert festival made the full time move to owner Robert Neron's hometown this year due to rising costs and shrinking attendance in Ophir, contributing to the local summer concert festival dropoff this year. Though advertised as "The Hip-Hop Year", The Elements (who haven't played a public local gig since the Jack Spades EP release show in May) played sets yesterday and will again on Saturday, making them the first heavier local band to play Hempfest since 2011. Nice to see a local connection this year, and a slight variance from the rap theme, so hopefully their sets went over well! It's not much of a glimpse of their set, but Hempfest's official Facebook page features this 28 second cell phone video of The Elements' set from yesterday of the guys covering The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Soul To Squeeze", so what can we see within?

Not a lot due to the length, but there's solid event lighting (the venue in Moonbeam is indoors) and I like the inflatable aliens! The lack of a crowd is concerning, but it may be due to when they played, as they opened the Thursday music lineup at 4:00 PM. In terms of critiquing The Elements' performance, there's not much as I can say due to the length and slow pace, but everything sounds fine compared to the original song. Check out The Elements live at Hempfest (albeit 8 hours away) below, and see more 2014 Hempfest videos at the above links!



Finally for today, here's a short new video from new local rap/metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty, as uploaded to their Facebook page on Monday! It's of members X & Z "partying before their set on Saturday" (referencing their between-band involvement at Soo Band Roulette at The Rockstar Bar), though it mainly features X answering a question about if they're ready, and Z dancing to a live rapper's track. Interesting watch, but of course, you'll see the real Apocalypse Afterparty experience on Saturday night, so don't miss Soo Band Roulette, and give their new video a look below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, plus this month's CD review shortly as well! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Beaumont Avenue & The Apocalypse Afterparty) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Hey guys, sorry I couldn't make it to the Endast show, more personal commitments for me got in the way. This has been a lost month in many respects given some of the bigger concerts that I've missed (i.e. Late & Loud's farewell, Das Bunkerfest, anything at The Rednecks Saloon), but things will quiet down for me on a personal level in the fall, and I WILL be at Soo Band Roulette on Saturday, no questions asked! Due to the length of this weekend concert preview post, we'll focus on Sault Michigan-area dates in our next post, so  for now, here's the heavier shows going down this weekend in Sault Ontario, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

Local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue (formerly The Suicide Kings) will return to the local stage TOMORROW for a one night only concert at The Rockstar Bar, though there may be a level of finality to this show. Apologies for the short notice, drummer Ben Boudreau only announced the gig on their Facebook page on Tuesday, where he revealed that this will be his last concert with the band "for a very long time", as he's moving to Hamilton for school commitments. This lines up with the band's drummer search to replace him for their Urawk live band karaoke series at The Rednecks Saloon, but what does this mean for Beaumont Avenue as an active band? According to the band's Facebook event page, this will be "the last guaranteed show" for Beaumont Avenue until next summer, though they will attempt to book gigs if Ben comes back home over weekends or holidays, which indicates that they are not replacing Ben in the band, or enlisting the next Urawk drummer for that purpose. Note as well that the Rockstar Bar's own Facebook event page is titled "Beaumont Avenue's Final Show", but don't worry, it likely won't be!

The show itself will be the guys' first since their Spanish road trip for the Rock 'N Roar festival, and it's a one-nighter due to Soo Band Roulette, which we're addressing next. Admission will likely be $5 for this 19+ show, and a 10:00 PM start time is in effect, so check the above links for more details! Definitely consider attending to send Ben off in style, and no matter how long he's away, his drum talents will be missed around here! Given that the band's not replacing Ben, it might be a while to see the guys live (unless you take in some Urawk karaoke), but we'll let you know when their next shows take place! For a preview, here's the former Suicide Kings at The Canadian!



Speaking of The Rockstar Bar, remember the Soo Band Roulette event taking place THIS SATURDAY where local musicians will be randomly paired up to play half hour sets, and then will be voted on by attendees to determine a winner? Well, we can officially add it to our concert listings now, as new local rap/metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will make their public concert debut during the event! They're among the entertainment playing between roulette bands, and while they have played some private gigs this month, this will be your first chance to see X & Z (plus their Smokin' Heroines supporters) in public confines! Among between-band performers, they'll be joined by DJ Seith, ex-As It Stands drummer John Mignacca's techno solo project Dillinger, and at least one open mic block hosted by Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan, so keep their short sets in mind! Of course, this is "Soo Band Roulette", which is the main focus, so here's a rundown of what to expect!

Promoted by The Apocalypse Afterparty's Steve Mozarowski, signed up musicians (singers, guitarists, bassists, and drummers) are drawn at random each hour to make up an impromptu band that will then be sent to a secret location to decide on a band name and jam three cover tunes from a provided list (though original jams aren't outlawed.) Then, the band will be introduced and will play in front of fans, with a vote being held at night's end (likely closer to 2:00 AM) to determine the winning band, who will get a cash prize! Artists who sign up early on Saturday will have more chances to play, so keep that in mind as well. This 19+ event begins at 8:00 PM on Saturday night, so given the configuration of the event, I'd expect up to 6 random bands to be playing during the band roulette. Admission is $5 unless you're a drummer for the roulette, then you get in free, and click here for more details!

This is the closest we've seen to a battle of the bands in Sault Ontario so far in 2014, but the nature of it leaves a lot of unpredictability, and you should definitely check out Soo Band Roulette, as you never know what could occur! I've seen a lot of verbal confirmations and pondering from local artists, but I won't give names here as I want to preserve the random nature of the roulette. This should be an awesome and unique show, and hopefully it replicates the success similar events have had in other cities! I will definitely see you guys there on Saturday night, and for a preview of the between-band acts, here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live at Das Bunkerfest!


 

We'll close with a more central gig, as Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison kicks off his 39th straight week of his ongoing arrangement with The Harp Bar & Grill with his usual hosted jam night TOMORROW! The last of his August dates at the former Madison's Pub, we do expect him to be back at The Harp in September too, but like usual, we take Tym's Harp shows a month at a time due to the immense length of listed bookings on his website. While his acoustic hard rock covers will be surely enjoyed as usual tomorrow in between potential jam performers, Tym was not listed for a Saturday gig this weekend for unannounced reasons, but remember that he has had some gigs in recent months called off for external bookings. Note as well that the calendar on his website does not list Saturdays at all for future weekends, or most past weekends, but it's unclear whether this is a giant mistake or if it's a reduction of his Harp series to it's old Friday-only format. We'll let you know if we hear anyhing!

Tym's show tonight will start at around 10:00 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, check the above links! I'll also note that Tym didn't create a Facebook event page for his shows at The Harp last weekend, but hopefully all's well with the series, as his acoustic covers have seemed to have done well over the past 9 months! Keep tomorrow's gig in mind, and here's Tym live at Mill Square!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for Sault Michigan weekend concert previews either tonight or early tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Meet The (Inactive) Local Punk Bands!! Part 7

Today, we likely conclude our roll-in process of defunct and inactive punk bands from the Sault Ste. Marie area into our band links on the SMS, as it's getting far harder to find distinct surviving pages for local punk bands now, so I can't promise we'll have enough to populate their own post in the near future. That said, our seventh and presumably last of these defunct punk band "introductions" do feature some strong notable names from the scene's past, so let's take a look at our remaining additions to our links, in alphabetical order!

We'll start with defunct skate punk quintet Bankshot, who were among the most prominent local punk bands in the Sault area at the turn of the millennium! Though only active from 1998-2000, the guys accomplished quite a lot during their run, which saw them share the stage with the likes of Strung Out, Treble Charger, and (in their very first show) Our Lady Peace, releasing their only CD "Angst For The Memories" in 1999, while also being semifinalists at the YTV Achievement Awards (or YAA!) and playing live on the old CBC talk show Jonovision during their height. Bankshot's lineup included Ten Brick Limit alums Ron Pelletier & Christian Pasiak on vocals & guitar alongside rhythm guitarist Lucas Schmiedendorf (a.k.a. Dr. Sal Velinus), bassist Neil Vallee, and drummer Clint Wilson (currently of Northwest & Late Shift.) I own a hard copy of Bankshot's CD, and I enjoy their fast paced modern punk sound, which had a solid spark and clear talent from the guys, and it's a little surprising that such an accomplished band didn't last for more than 3 years!

It should be noted that their online biographies (which look written by a band member) teased a potential 10 year reunion, but I don't recall a Bankshot return in 2010, so fans are still waiting. Check out some rare photos and four songs on their MySpace page, and here's Bankshot's full "Angst For The Memories" album to stream for free!



Next to add (finally) is Bin Hawdon & The Taliband, the notorious local punk supergroup that have made occasional well recieved concert appearances since from (at least) 2003-2008! Often timing their shows with the Christmas holidays, you may best remember the guys from headlining shows at The Oddfellows Hall and at the former Foggy Notions. Despite the Middle Eastern links with the name, The Taliband didn't play that up live that I've seen, though they did generally wear irreverent costumes at their shows, which were all 100% cover-centric. Fronted by band namesake Mikey Hawdon on vocals & guitar (just like his current role with Toronto bands like The Fairmounts), their lineups tended to also feature his Lion Ride bandmate Mark Rand on bass, and while I believe there was some fluidity to their lineups, the only full online lineup that I've read also featured the aforementioned Lucas Schmiedendorf on guitar and Aaron Mooney on drums, I think. The Taliband have a ton of videos on YouTube via three different channels (here, here, and here), and therein, you can see a fun, carefree, and intense take on punk classics!

While not as refined as Mikey's other bands generally are, Bin Hawdon & The Taliband were there for fun and just a straight up punk show, and it shows nicely in their videos (despite many being very dark.) Check out more at the above links (their MySpace page has some audio recordings too), and here are the guys covering The Misfits in August 2006!

Also today is Busted, a short lived local punk band from the mid-2000s that didn't accomplish much, but they have a fairly extensive biography on their Tripod page! It just needed a lot of proofreading. Formed by then Bawating Collegiate classmates (all of whom I remember from going there at the same time), their lineup featured singer/guitarist Ben Crackel, lead guitarist Ryan Poluck, and current Asylum Country drummer T.J. Case (pictured), with a bassist not acquired at last update. According to their page, Busted played live at a Bawating talent show where they covered Blink-182, and got a positive reception despite not being very loud. I was on friendly terms with all 3 guys (I was once a classmate of Ben's at River View too), but I admit not remembering Busted at the time, which might be due to a short runtime as a band or just a lack of expansion beyond school events, which paled in prominence compared to the Dunnplugged gigs at Sir James Dunn. Note that I can't date Busted's run either, but it was at some point between 2003 & 2007. It'd be interesting to find media of Busted, and we'll let you know if anything ever turns up!

Lastly for our defunct punk band additions (that I know of) are The Hangdowns, a Sault Ontario punk quartet that fans may remember from their own local run from 2003-2006! Essentially the predecessors to local indie punk band Bondar, their lineup featured future Nebraska Arms singer/bassist Guy Thiffault alongside Gutwrench alums Jordan Cumming and Marc Muto on guitar & drums, while the band briefly enlisted Bondar's Mark Rand (later Marc's Lion Ride bandmate) after a return from hiatus. Recording a debut album in 2004 (that I'm unsure on if it ever came out), The Hangdowns had a faster and more aggressive skate punk sound than the guys' later bands tended to have, which fans got a good glimpse of at shows everywhere from The Oddfellows Hall to the old Foggy Notions, along with being one of the last bands to play at the Club Princess in January 2005.Compared to Nebraska Arms, The Hangdowns will be a more intense sounding band, with solid levels of humour and aggression throughout, and fans of the members' other bands will definitely want to give them a look for their strongly written original material!

The Hangdowns have some solid original songs on their MySpace page (I really like "Separation Anxiety"), and there's a handful of YouTube videos making the rounds as well, including this Oddfellows concert clip of their original trio lineup, courtesy of The 705 Video Magazine! Check out more from The Hangdowns above!



I hope you guys liked our "introductory" posts to defunct local punk bands, and while I'm fully aware that I'm missing plenty from back in the day, these posts were strictly to add punk bands with surviving online pages, as I wouldn't want to clutter our site links with dead, non-informative, or fake links. We'll be sure to touch on many punk bands not featured in our inactive punk roll-in posts when we start featuring archived punk videos on the site next month as we continue to get caught up, so watch for those in the coming weeks, and stay tuned for concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: The Fairmounts

It's now time for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile, and in this ongoing monthly profile series on out of town bands with past or present Saultites in their lineup(s), we've finally added punk bands into our full selections in this series, via our addition of punk genres to our full coverage on the SMS last month! To kick off the new era of sorts, we're looking at a recently prominent Southern Ontario punk band featuring a very familiar face up front, so read on below for what you need to know! (Updated on November 27th)
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The Fairmounts (Toronto, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED)

Mikey Hawdon (vocals/guitar)
Simon Head (guitar)
Phil Page (bass)
Andrew McMullen (drums)

Official website: http://www.fairmounts.ca
Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/fairmounts
Official Bandcamp page: http://fairmounts.bandcamp.com
Official Twitter page: http://www.twitter.com/fairmounts
Official YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/fairmounts
Official Soundcloud page: http://soundcloud.com/fairmountsofficial

Local Info: Fairmounts frontman Mikey Hawdon is extremely well known in local punk circles for his extensive and skilled band work here and in Toronto! Best known locally as a drummer with The Inner City Surfers and as a singer with local metal standouts Lion Ride, Mikey has also lent his talents to Bin Hawdon & the Taliband, Detroit, The Bombed Squad, and various other older local projects. Since moving to Toronto, Mikey has established himself in various bands there, including local/Toronto celtic punk rockers Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide, Green Day tribute The Dookies, and Ramones/Joan Jett tribute The Merves, who share all but one member of the current active original band that he fronts, The Fairmounts! 

Band Bio: Launched by Mikey Hawdon and Simon Head in 2010, the pair recorded and released the first Fairmounts EP "Unfinished Business" that year, before adding Mikey's Merves bandmates Phil Page and Andrew McMullen for a full live lineup that began playing concerts in early 2011. The Fairmounts kept up a solid presence in concerts from Southern Ontario to Illinois since then via both headlining concerts and sets opening for the likes of SNFU, C.J. Ramone, and Face to Face. Mikey brought The Fairmounts home to the Soo in October 2012 as part of J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween party at The Algonquin Pub, while the band shot their music video for "I Don't Wanna Go To The Hospital" locally during that trip as well. The Fairmounts released their first full length CD "Kiddo" in February 2013, and followed that up with a split single and an appearance on a Methadones compilation album that same year. Recently jamming towards new originals, look for more from The Fairmounts in the coming months!

The Fairmounts will appeal to any ardent pop punk fans with their high energy originals and fun live shows, and if you like Mikey's other local bands, The Fairmounts won't deviate from what you're already a fan of! Mikey proves to be a solid frontman with nice gritty vocals that Lion Ride fans will appreciate, and I honestly find that his singing fits originals better than on his tribute band work, while he has great chemistry and songwriting with the rest of the Fairmounts! Phil Page's bass work standing out especially, and Simon and Mikey are a nice compliment on guitar. Recent songs like "AA Oh No!" and "Behind My Back" have a fun catchiness that improves on their original EP, and it's easy to see why The Fairmounts have attained a solid following since their debut! For reference, if you've ever wanted to hear The Merves play original songs, this would be the band you'd want to check out. Keep following The Fairmounts for more solid originals, and hopefully Mikey brings the band to the Soo in the near future!

There's plenty of media online from The Fairmounts via their website's store, where you can buy physical copies of all of their CDs (not counting The Methadones tribute compilation), while you can also buy "Kiddo" and their split single with Plan 37 on iTunes. Soundcloud offers "Kiddo" as a free stream, while numerous videos and songs can be seen and heard on assorted YouTube channels, including Mikey and Andrew's own personal channels, among others. Here's The Fairmounts' video for their song "I Don't Wann Go To The Hospital", as filmed here and directed by Tidal Records' Dan Nystedt!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month in this series, we're staying punk with a band who will make their long awaited homecoming in a few weeks, that being Toronto punk quartet Random Killing, featuring the Soo's own Andrew "Drool" Kiteley on lead vocals! Watch out for that on or around September 26th, and stay tuned for more news soon (and don't miss Random Killing's local return on the 13th!) Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (IDNS), The Endast Concert Preview, And More!!

As August's last week presses on, let's get to some news today, including new videos (and a related apology), a local punk project's return, and a preview of a special Wednesday night show, but first, here's a cool LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next weekend!

Heavy North Entertainment will not be ending their concert promoting days, as they're bringing a new ALL AGES concert to The Oddfellows Hall on Saturday, September 6th that will be headlined by Toronto crust punk quartet IDNS! Short for "I Don't Need Society", IDNS have a brutal death metal/punk hybrid sound, many short originals, and an aggressive stage show that should fit in very well next weekend, so be sure not to miss their set! Two more out of town bands will be making their way to The Oddfellows Hall that night, including the return of veteran Sudbury blackened death metal quartet Catharcyst to our neck of the woods (nice to see Paul and company finally get a new local booking!), as well as a set by the explosive Winnipeg hardcore punk quintet Bring The Fight (not to be confused with Bring The Fallen), so be sure to check out both of them A.S.A.P.! Local support will include Blood Shed Productions goregrind acts Crucify The Whore & Rotopsy, as well as local doom/punk trio The Revolution (formerly the second Brutaly Fatal) in their first set at a Blood Shed-affiliated concert since their split from the label, so it's nice to see that things are being patched up!

The local openers will be rounded out by new local rap metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty (in their public concert debut) and local grunge/punk solo act Telephone & Address' first known public set of 2014, so be there early for their sets too! This concert (which was briefly linked with J.D. Pearce before handing it over to H.N.E.) will have a $10 admission fee and an announced early start time of 6:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be another solid show from H.N.E., and I'm glad to see that Tyler's not stopping his concert promoting just yet! Stay tuned for updates on this show over the next couple of weeks!

Next up, here's a preview of a special mid-week concert going down THIS WEDNESDAY, as Montreal thrashcore quintet Endast will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario for a headlining show at The Rednecks Saloon! Last seen locally 4 years ago at the former Foggy Notions, it's been way too long to see Big James and the guys back in the Soo, and their technical and very intense originals should be welcomed back with open arms at this concert, so be sure not to miss out on the return of Endast! Local support will come from two PaperClip Productions artists making their debuts at the former Nicolet Tavern, including local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith (making just their third live appearance since their reunion, and second with new bassist James White) and the aforementioned Revolution, who will be playing their first live set since opening for Anciients in June. Interesting choices, especially given the brutal thrash and death metal to follow, but the locals should make a solid impression! This show is being promoted by Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie, marking his return to booking out of town headliners after (I think) a 2 year break, which is cool to see again!

This 19+ concert goes down this Wednesday at 10:30 PM, and admission is FREE, so why miss out on all of the action? For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's been far too long to see Endast back on a local stage, so kudos to Mitch for getting them back here, and I hope to see you guys there for all of the brutality at The Rednecks Saloon THIS WEDNESDAY! For a preview, here's Endast's music video for their song "Soiled Hands"!



Also today, remember the pop punk/screamo band For July that we rolled into our coverage on the site last month as part of our features on defunct and inactive punk bands? Well, they appear to be back as an active project! Frontman Dave Hunter has recently launched a new For July SoundCloud page and posted some audio tracks there, and while three of the songs ("Change Is", "Fable", and "Don't Hold Your Breath") are re-posts from their MySpace page, two new "work in progress" songs ("I Let Go" and "The Emo Song") have also been uploaded there. Dave notes on SoundCloud that he recorded all the instruments and wrote, recorded, and mixed all of the songs by himself, which currently points to For July becoming a solo project without ex-members Jordan Latour & Ryan McLaughlin, but whether Dave plans to build a new live band down the road or not isn't publicized yet. If you liked older For July songs, you'll probably like the new "work in progress" songs, with "The Emo Song" having an explicit fast pop punk sound, and "I Let Go" being more emotional and slow paced.

It's nice to see Dave bring For July back, and hopefully things pick up and succeed in their current incarnation, so follow the band above for new and old media, and For July are now in our active Sault Ontario band links!

Lastly for today, here's some more new videos from local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back! Uploaded to drummer Nathan Sauve's new YouTube channel over the past few days, one of the videos is of Nathan playing a drum solo (a'la his old "Nathan Sucks" videos) from a top down angle, interspersed with him imitating a ringing phone, I think. Short, but a solid performance, so click here to check it out! The other video comes with an attached apology on our part, as this comes from the private concert last week that Bad Back played where they opened for out of town punk duo Bardos, but when we plugged Nathan's earlier cover videos from this show, we erroneously said that the show in question was Das Bunkerfest. Blame the dark lighting, I couldn't make out too much, but our sincere apologies for the screw-up, and all 3 of Nathan's newest concert videos were from the private Bardos show! This video features the full set that Bad Back played that night, so what songs made their setlist on this night?

The video includes their originals "Breeding Weak", "Lung Bucket", "Drum My Way Home", "Party Bus", "#1 Hit Single", a cover of The Foo Fighters' "I'll Stick Around", originals "Shirt Tucker" & "Oh!", and the previously uploaded covers of Tom Petty's "American Girl" and NOFX's "Linoleum". Strong 37 minute video for fans of Bad Back, though the covers can be messy, and while the lighting was brightened a bit this time, the colours are a bit more washed out this time. Nice and intense, if from a far camera angle, so see Bad Back's set at the Bardos private gig below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on The Fairmounts TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

Bear Hunters & Apocalypse Afterparty Album Previews, Emergency Festival Fallout, And More!!

While we wait for Jackyl concert fallout, here's a new news post on this Sunday morning, as we have big updates regarding two upcoming albums, some long overdue fallout from a local summer festival, and more assorted shorter updates! Now, here's what you need to know!

Local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters have finally released a full track from their forthcoming debut album "Eternal Hibernation"! Posted onto their YouTube channel on Friday to coincide with what would have been late guitarist Andres Duchesne's 25th birthday, the band chose "Bloodthirst" as the first public demo from the album as it was the first song that Andres and The Bear Hunters' original lineup wrote together. The song is "mostly mixed" and "not fully refined", but it's nice to hear the full track! The cover artwork for the CD can also be seen on your right and below, as designed by singer Nik Deubel's Chronic Demonic bandmate Kevin Powe, though it remains to be seen whether The Bear Hunters' logo and/or the album's name will be added. I find it evokes more of a black metal essence, but Kevin did strong work as always on the design! As I expect to be reviewing "Eternal Hibernation" on the site soon after it's release (and no, a firm date for it hasn't been announced yet), I won't comment yet on the song, but check out the unfinished studio version of "Bloodthirst" below, and stay tuned for more updates!



Next up, here's some long awaited fallout from the first annual Emergency Festival that took place at the old Rotaryfest Second Stage's stomping grounds two weeks ago! SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand to cover the festival and take photos of some of the bands, though of the three acts with an SMS-fitting sound, only The Pixo Control (complete with animal facepaint) are included in the album. Strong photos either way, and it looks like the festival was well attended, so click here for the full article and photos! The album also confirms that Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook was on hand to MC the main stage, which is pretty cool also! For The Music Inside were also on hand for their own coverage, though aside from this photo of Gnaeus, their Facebook photos largely focused on acts and fans at the main Emergency stage. Nicely taken in their own right too, it's good to see F.T.M.I. showing up to get media at more concerts! Moving back to Village Media properties, Local2 have been teasing The Emergency for their next episode of Tuned, but before that, this video on the festival is now online, so what's within?

Along with performances by main stage artists Kalle Mattson, Lindi Ortega, and The Treasures, the video features an interview by the aforementioned Donna Hopper with Emergency organizer/LopLops Lounge owner Stephen Alexander about why the festival was launched, their artist selection, and the biggest surprise about the festival. No acts from other stages are featured here, but maybe more will turn up in the forthcoming Tuned episode, and we'll let you know when it is posted! See above for more on The Emergency!

Also today, here' the latest from new local metal/rap duo The Apocalypse Afterparty, including the revelation that they're apparently already working on a debut EP! As revealed on their Facebook page on Thursday, they were apparently beginning recordings for the first track on Friday with producer Jamie Vincent (AlgomA, Bad Back), and they're planning to work with "another great local talent" on the second song, with a third also to be included. The guys are hyping this as being "disgustingly raw & tight", so we'll have to see where things lead! Optimistic news for sure, especially seeing as X & Z haven't played a public concert yet, but some readers may have attended a private house party show that they played at last night (along with Bad Back and some Blood Shed Productions artists), so media from that might be forthcoming. Lastly relating to this new band's EP sessions, this Facebook video was posted yesterday that features a sneak peek of their song "The Crowd", so how do things sound?

Again, I hope to review a finished EP down the road, so I'll hold my thoughts for now, but the recording sounds good in this form (straight from the computer), and look for some cameos from band associates! Remember, "The Crowd" is very similar in structure to (if not the same as) a song from Paul Stanghetta's old(?) band The Fury, so if it sounds familiar, that may be why. Interesting stuff is on the horizon, so see more above & below from The Apocalypse Afterparty!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• This is just a late addendum to our piece on defunct local punk band The Bottom Half, as I recently came across their old MySpace page! It has improvements on their PureVolume page via this band photo from the former Sault Music Scene, and 4 songs ("Open Up", "How Far", "Friday Night", and "Mistakes") from their planned "Beginnings Change" album. Like before, they have an energetic pop punk sound, though one could argue that members' later work has matured considerably. Check out more from The Bottom Half above though, and their link on our listings is now from MySpace!
• A local musician named Rob Charlebois is looking to find a drummer for a rock band that he's currently with, though he didn't specify a genre beyond just "rock", and jam sessions would take place once or twice a week. If you're interested in trying out (especially if it leans to hard rock or punk), message Rob at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from two weeks ago!
• Local/Toronto indie punk veterans Treble Charger will be playing a free acoustic concert this Thursday at Speakeasy 21 in Toronto! As it's an acoustic gig, I assume just Greig & Bill will be playing a'la their older acoustic shows since their reunion, but I can't 100% verify that. Sounds like a good way to end the summer, keep it in mind if you're in the Toronto area this week! Our source is the band's Facebook page.

That's all for today, but stay tuned  for more news and features this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Banned & Exiled), A New Local Band, And New Videos!!

Busy day for me yesterday, but now let's touch on some back news items as we get up to speed! Today's post mostly relates to the Sault Michigan area, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS. a brand new local band, a new video, and a bassist change, but we have a cool Sault Ontario update to cap things off with. Now, here's what you need to know!

We have a new local band to add to our Sault Michigan band links, and they are a new hard rock trio named Exiled! Based out of nearby Rudyard, their lineup features former Absolute & NoXcape bandmates Donny Newell (most recently of the original Full Throttle) on vocals & bass and Justin Lawless on drums, alongside guitarist Johnny Mayer, who is presumably related to some of the other Mayer family members with regional music ties. A likely cover-centric band that tackles both classic & modern rock material, I assume they'll be musically similar to Donny & Justin's past collective bands, but no media is online yet to prove that. Exiled debuted at Dan's Place in Rudyard at some point earlier this month (apologies for missing that show), and in some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, their next announced concert will come on Saturday, September 6th when they play at The Bunker Bar & Grill at The Oaks at Kincheloe Golf Course (obviously in Kincheloe), which they'll follow with a full Friday-Saturday weekend back at Dan's Place in Rudyard on November 14th & 15th, so keep those in mind too!

Each show has an announced 9:00 PM start time, all are presumably 19+, and none have an announced cover charge (though for the sake of clarity, I'm not familiar with The Bunker as a concert venue at all.) Nice to see Exiled off to a quick start, and if the guys can recapture past magic and chemistry from older bands, things should be alright going forward! Check the above links for more details (and here for the Facebook event pages for these shows), and don't miss their unique golf course show in Kincheloe in a couple of weeks!

Next up, Kinross hard/classic rock trio Banned will return to the Chippewa County Fair in their hometown for a set THIS COMING FRIDAY! You may remember that the guys have played the fair in past years both by themselves and as part of the Rock Till You Drop charity battle of the bands, which I don't think is back this year (at the very least, it's not on the fair's schedule), but we'll let you know if we hear otherwise. It's good to see the guys back for this year's fair, so look for them at the pavilion near the Lions Club building on Friday at 4:00 PM! This is definitely ALL AGES, and click here for info on admission and ticket packages. While we're on the subject of Banned, singer/guitarist Alex Traynor has joined the wave of people participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS research (click here to see the video, hopefully more local musicians take part!), and a new video relating to their concerts is also on their YouTube channel now too, so what's there?

A cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride & Joy" that was uploaded to their YouTube channel on Wednesday, this is an audio recording from a recent show at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, as set to photos of their set by Holly Traynor (a relative of both Alex and drummer Don Traynor.) The video also confirms that Banned's current lineup no longer features bassist Jim Pentland, with former Bad Side bassist Wayne Lawrence taking over in his place at some point in recent months. A reason for Jim's departure hasn't been announced, but he was last visibly depicted online with Banned in April. Hopefully all's amicable, so best of luck to Jim going forward, and it's nice to see Wayne back in a local band again! As for the video itself, it's well put together and edited, but I do have to nitpick the cover in one aspect, as the vocals don't have the bluesy soul or deep tone that really "fits" a Stevie Ray Vaughan cover, but all's good otherwise! It's at least heavier than their recent modern indie rock postings. Check out Banned's new slideshow video below, and good luck in Gould City this weekend!



Lastly, we have a video of defunct Sault Ontario classic metal quartet Late & Loud from their farewell(?) concert at The Rockstar Bar three weeks ago! Courtesy of local music promotion company For The Music Inside (who also took many photos that you can see at this link), this is of the guys playing their original song "Fast As A Bitch" with a guest appearance by former Lust Boys guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds (a.k.a. Benny Blitz), who some of you may remember as a bandmate of bassist Benn Garside's in both The Glass Statues and in older CASS Cafe-era bands! Great to see Benny back in the area, and he looks and plays the part even in a guest role! The video's solid and close to the action, though the colour is very warm and almost too "red" from the lighting, but other than that, no complaints! I'm just surprised this took 3 weeks to make it to F.T.M.I.'s YouTube channel, but things relating to this show did come slowly to their online pages. It's here now though, so give it a look below, and watch for a cool solo from Benny at video's end!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for some more big news and updates shortly! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: suavij's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our monthly feature post to take a look at 1-3 YouTube channels with at least a 50% concentration of metal, hard rock, and now, punk videos! Thanks to our full punk integration that began last month, we now have our biggest selection pool yet for YouTube channels to randomly select from (219 as of today, and counting!), and hopefully we'll have much more on the punk side of things to come as we close in on 2015! This month's random selection comes from a recently prominent drummer and his local music work both recent and dating back to the mid-2000s, so read on below for this month's profile!
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suavij's channel (http://www.youtube.com/suavij)

Owner: Bad Back drummer Nathan Sauve, also known from previous work with bands like Fuller and as Lion Ride's original bassist (under the stage name "Lionel Itchy")

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 16th, 2007; Videos posted from that week through November 2013

Channel Summary: Coinciding with the early days of Lion Ride's run, Nathan's original YouTube channel covered his late 2000s local band work originally, including 6 early Lion Ride videos, 3 live Fuller concert clips from their earlier run, and 7 solo drum performance videos, with his early content rounded out by this solo audio track from 2009, a live video of a Sexual Vigilantes concert in the Soo the previous year, and two jam videos from a short lived band named "Loud Shirt Aaron & The Plain Looking Crew". After a 4 year hiatus from new video postings, Nathan uploaded 7 videos of his current band Bad Back live in November of last year, though he's since focused newer uploads towards his new solo YouTube channel.

Why Should You Watch: You should check out Nathan's original channel as it covers a lot of diverse ground relating to his local music work since the mid-2000s, and the videos are all generally well recorded also! It's better than it was too, as Nathan un-privatized his Lion Ride videos (plus the Sexual Vigilantes clip) in 2012 after a stretch where they were unavailable for unannounced reasons. His drumming and bass skills are present throughout, and there's a fun carefree spirit on most of these as well, so don't bypass his old channel (though remember, he's focused on his new channel linked above for newer Bad Back footage.)

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Fuller - Love Is Always: Uploaded at least a year after their breakup, Nathan posted three videos of his older alternative/punk trio Fuller onto his channel in September 2007 from an undated concert at The Oddfellows Hall. Then also featuring Bad Back bandmate Jamie Vincent on vocals & guitar alongside Nathan's then-Lion Ride bandmate Mark Rand on bass, the uploaded videos include Fuller playing their songs "Batteries", "Dance Jamie Dance", and below, "Love Is Always". Though far lighter in sound than Nathan & Jamie's more recent work, Fuller's energetic indie punk sound had a solid audience in their heyday, and you get a good sense of that on these videos, albeit with muffled sound and somewhat washed out colour. Nice glimpses at Fuller in their heyday though, and worth checking out to see the guys' older material!



Cocaine Crazy - Lion Ride: Courtesy of his tenure as Lion Ride's original bassist alongside singer Mikey Hawdon, guitarist Mark Rand & Marco Pedalino, and drummer Marc Muto (a.k.a. Mikey Lion, Marky Lion, Marco Lion, and The Italian Stallion.) Nathan's videos come from shows at the former Foggy Notions in late 2007, including videos from their live debut that July of "My Baby's Bad", "Lazer Lover", and "Cocaine Crazy" (this channel's most viewed video), and of "Cocaine Crazy", "Sneak Attack", and "Slapdance" from their show there that December. The latter three are all full concert videos with the actual audio, with dark lighting and mixed audio quality, but the first three are edited as music videos from The 705 Video Magazine using audio from Lion Ride's early studio demos, which are notable in part because "My Baby's Bad" & "Lazer Lover" didn't make it to the "Awesome" EP the next year, which "Lionel Itchy" did play on. Well put together, and a great early glimpse at Lion Ride's excellent live concert experience, though click here to see Nathan play "Slapdance" in a solo video too!



bad back - drum my way home (live): Nathan's last videos on this channel come from their all ages show at The Moose Lodge last fall where his current band Bad Back opened for Biipiigwan. Capturing most (if not all) of their set that night, the videos include their songs "Party Bus", "Two Tongues", "#1 Hit Single", "Lung Bucket", "Breeding Weak", "Oh (Nothin' In My Pocket)", and (as embedded below) "Drum My Way Home". Presumably as an attempt to lighten the videos, the colours are incredibly washed out, but Jamie & Nathan are up to their usual recent tricks with an aggressive minimalist set that alternative and hardcore fans should take to (but Fuller fans should tread with caution, Bad Back are very different.) Remember, for newer videos of Bad Back in concert, visit Nathan's new channel linked above!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month, through 100% random selection, we'll be looking at multiple channels for the first time since March (2 in fact, for just the second time in 2014), so what's coming next? Sault Ontario punk trio The Northern Tragedy's channel (featuring videos from two of their shows), and to fill things out, we're adding YouTube user filghtmaster's channel, which features one Bring The Fallen concert video! Watch out for all of this on or around September 22nd, and stay tuned for more news and notes shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Stiffler's Mom) And Weekend Concert Previews, Including Jackyl!!

Today on the site, we're covering this weekend's metal and hard rock concert previews in the Sault and close surrounding areas, and there's a few big shows going down, including a certain huge show in Sault Michigan! For reference, yes I do know of Banned's show in Gould City this weekend, but that's a bit outside of our coverage range (1 hour of drive time from either of the Twin Saults), though look for some other Banned news on the site in the coming days! Now, here's what you need to know, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Local party hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom will take the stage at The Rockstar Bar TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed the show on their Facebook page last night, though it had been displayed on the marquee outside of the venue as early as Tuesday. This will be Greg, Mike, and Jon's first public concert since rocking the same venue late last month, and following Greg's show with That's Chester last week, the guys should be in fine form to deliver a fun night of hard rocking classics for their fans tomorrow! Remember, this is a one night only gig due to the Red Rails/Danger Cats show on Saturday that we'll touch on in a bit. Like usual for Stiffler's Mom's Rockstar Bar shows, this will be a 19+ event with a likely $5 cover charge, and a 10:00 PM-ish start time is to be expected. For more details, check the above links, and for a preview, here's Stiffler's Mom covering Golden Earring at Rotaryfest!



Moving to previously announced concerts, the last hard rock show of the summer at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino's Dreammakers Theatre goes down TONIGHT, when Georgia heavy metal quartet Jackyl & New York glam metal favourites Winger make their way to our neck of the woods! This will be the second local stop for Jackyl following their great (though poorly attended) Essar Center show in May 2008, and their chainsaw-laden classics like "The Lumberjack" and "When Will It Rain" should be more than welcomed tonight, so if you're a fan of their AC/DC & southern rock hybrid sound, don't miss out on their local return! Of course, Winger had their own string of late 1980s and early 1990s hits like "Seventeen" and "Heading For A Heartbreak", and hair metal lovers will be sure to enjoy Kip & company's set to open tonight's proceedings as well! This ALL AGES concert still has tickets available from the second row and back, but judging by seating charts, Jackyl will have a much fuller house than they did six years ago, so make sure to get your tickets A.S.A.P. at this link, 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in person box office!

Everything starts at 7:00 PM tonight, and there is no announced local opening band. For more information, visit the above links! This should be a fun night of metal from two of the more popular bands from the turn of the 1990s, and fans who saw Jackyl in Sault Ontario should agree with that especially, so don't miss out on tonight's action, as who knows when we'll get another Dreammaker's Theater hard rock/metal show! For a preview, here's Jackyl playing "I Stand Alone" live earlier this summer!

Heading back to Sault Ontario next, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has a busy weekend on his hands, as he returns to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill once again TONIGHT for their monthly customer appreciation night, before kicking off his 38th straight week in his ongoing weekly arrangement with The Harp Bar & Grill with yet another hosted jam night TOMORROW and a normal unplugged concert on Saturday night! Tonight's show coincides with free food and specials at The Roadhouse (a venue Tym has recently returned to play a monthly show at), while his ongoing run at the former Madison's Pub will be business as usual from what I can tell this weekend, but does precede a weekend where he'll only be playing next Friday, so if you prefer Saturdays, don't miss Tym's second show this weekend! TONIGHT's show has an earlier supper start time of 5:00 PM, and is likely all ages as a result, but the regular Harp shows are at around 10:00 PM with 19+ age limits, and in any case, there's no announced cover charge. For more details, check the above links, and for a preview, here's Tym covering Metallica!



Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend within our distance range, we return to The Rockstar Bar THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, where local all female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats will take the stage as openers for Ottawa rock trio The Red Rails in that band's second local appearance! This will be the girls' first live set since opening for Late & Loud at the same venue earlier this month, and they should be in fine form after that show (albeit likely without the guest performers), so don't miss out on their opening set! As you may remember, The Red Rails are the current band from former Driving Dave Home drummer Steve Brogno, and their blues-tinged alt-rock sound will surely be welcomed this weekend, so give Steve a nice return home if you're in attendance for this next stop on tour for their new CD "A Living Fiction"! A higher admission price of $7 if in effect for this concert, you must be 19 to attend, and there's a likely 10:00 PM start time as well. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Nice to see Steve playing locally again, if only for one night, so check out The Red Rails to see what you think, and come early for The Danger Cats! For a preview, here are the girls live at their most recent concert!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this weekend, plus this month's YouTube Channel Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!