Local Punk Video Showcase (Part 3)

After forgetting to get another one of these up last week (my sincere apologies for that), here's our third local punk video showcase post, as we continue to get up to speed regarding archived punk concert and band videos on YouTube! Remember, we're only featuring videos from channels with less than 50% SMS-relevant content, to save larger channels for our formal YouTube Channel Profiles. Now, here's some more interesting punk videos from local shows and talent!

We'll start with one of a few assorted local punk videos from the channel of YouTube user Jamie Penno, whose uploads largely aren't of local shows, but he still has some interesting content from the mid-2000s! This video is of the defunct local indie/punk quartet Bondar playing their song "6 Hours" at their debut concert at The Speak Easy at Algoma University in August 2006 (as advertised in this SooToday article at the time), and though the visual quality is not good at all, you do get some good music! Amusingly described as featuring three men (future Lion Ride bandmates Marco Pedalino, Mark Rand, and Marc Muto) and a Guy (Thiffault, ex-Nebraska Arms), Bondar didn't last too long locally, but if this video is any indication, they had an upbeat and lively sound that would be reminiscent of Guy's later band work especially! The audio is muffled though, and the video itself is extremely blurry and dark, so you don't see much. It'd be interesting to hear more from Bondar (especially given that their MySpace page has long since been deleted), but give this video a look!

Next, here's a music video from local/Toronto indie punk favourites Treble Charger, that being for "Hundred Million", the first single for their last CD to date, 2002's "Detox"! Memorably featuring in-video cameos by Avril Lavigne and members of Sum 41 and the Swollen Members, this song/video topped MuchMusic's Countdown that October and won two MuchMusic Video Awards the next year. It's definitely more indicative of the punk sound that the band had in the last years of their original run, and I admit that I prefer Treble Charger's punk songs (partially because they're what I heard moreso when I was getting more into aggressive songs), so I really dug "Hundred Million" at the time! The video's energy and attitude lives up to that, but I will give an advisory warning though, as Gob frontman/current Sum 41 guitarist Tom Thacker does moon the camera near the end of the video. Multiple channels have copies of this video, but here's the largest of them, and look for more Treble Charger videos in this series to come!



Moving back to prolific local punk musician Mikey Hawdon's extensive YouTube channel, let's take a first look at one of his earliest local bands, that being the late-1990s punk trio Tha Bombed Squad! (Yes, "The" is spelled like that on each video.) In January 2008, Mikey posted no less than 16 videos of this band in action from assorted concerts between the summers of 1997 & 1998, all among his first uploads there. Featuring Mikey on drums alongside future Lion Ride/Detroit bandmate Brenton Ellis on vocals & bass, and guitatist Pat Suriano, you guys may also remember Tha Bombed Squad from their appearance on the 1998 compilation CD "Local Steel". The videos include five from a March 1998 show at the old Union Hall (now The Grand Gardens), four from a July 1997 show at The Ramada Inn (now Comfort Suites), three each from a June 1998 show at the original Bay Street Foggy Notions and at an undated jam session, and a cover of The Descendents' "Coolidge" at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion in August 1997.

Including covers of everyone from NOFX to Unwritten Law (along with assorted originals like "Two Four"), the video quality on these is obviously not great (coming from a late 1990s camcorder), but the filmer(s?) got good angles of the band in action, and the concerts seem to have great crowds for their upbeat skate punk sound! Not as refined as members' later bands, but this was over 15 years ago, things have only improved with age. Search Mikey's channel linked above (or scroll right to the bottom of the videos tab) to see Tha Bombed Squad in their heyday, and here's the guys covering The Descendants (followed by their original "Wasted") at Foggy's in 1998!



Finally for this punk video showcase is this short live clip of local/Toronto Celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide live in Scranton, Pennsylvania in July 2012 during a stop on that year's Vans Warped Tour! Awesome to see the guys making fans in the U.S., including YouTube user 4kidneys, who shot this 58 second video of the guys playing the end of their song "Molly Malloy", and despite the length, it's a solid video of this entertaining Celtic-flavoured original! It's just a shame it's not longer. Give it a look below, and remember not to miss The Rising Tide's return in December!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews in the coming days! Thanks everyone!