New Concert Videos, An Inactive Band, And Much More!!

Now that I'm back from Detroit (the city), we can get back to normal business on the site, including a new video of Detroit (the band), a recent Kewadin concert video, a band that we're likely moving to our inactive band links in the coming days, and more assorted notes. Read on below for what you should know, and yes, we have some big (and somewhat overdue) feature posts to come before the month & year are out, so keep an eye out!

Did you miss the Detroit reunion concert on Tuesday night at The Algonquin Pub? I sadly did, but if you want a video of the proceedings, Bad Back drummer Nathan Sauve has you covered! He uploaded this video of the local/Toronto hardcore punk quartet (including two of his old Lion Ride bandmates) onto his YouTube channel on Christmas Eve, which is definitely a nice Christmas gift of sorts! Nathan shot Detroit playing their songs "Blue Collar", "Lord, Beer Me Strength", "Fortress" (complete with guest vocals from singer Brent Ellis' Destroilet bandmate Adam Larocque), and "Shithouse Ratt", though the first and last songs are incomplete. Nathan had planned to shoot more of their set but forgot his backup battery, though what we get is a solid sampling, especially if you liked their "Let The Hammers Fly" EP, as all but "Fortress" were on that one! Filmed from a stationary side stage angle, the guys have great energy (and generally longer hair than 5 years ago), but the audio can be muffled.

Very nice overall, and the familiar drum intro is great to hear one more time, so give the new Detroit video a look below, as who knows when/if you'll see Brent, Curtis, Mark, and Mikey back together again? Also, keep an eye out in case more media turns up from Tuesday night!



Next up, we have one more band to likely add to our inactive band links in 2014, that being local metal cover trio Caveman Morrison. While frontman Tym Morrison indicated in June on their Facebook group that there were "not a lot of places to play" for them and he didn't know what the future held, the guys have not played a live public concert since New Year's Eve last year at the former Roosevelt Hotel, so we're approaching a year's inactivity for them. Caveman Morrison had been a fairly frequent sight at numerous local concert venues since reforming locally in 2009, following successful stints here and in Calgary through the mid-2000s. Joined by many different musicians in assorted lineups, Caveman Morrison were best known for cover-only shows, but did play Tym's own original material on special occasions. In the past year, Tym has transitioned to a regular weekly solo concert run at The Harp Bar & Grill, while recent members James White & Johnny Belanger remain active in multiple metal & punk bands each.

The sudden halt in new Caveman Morrison concerts was surprising, but if the venue drought is accurate (plus the continued success of Tym's Harp shows), immediate future plans for Caveman Morrison don't look too promising. Tym and company had a solid sound and knew lots of classic metal & hard rock songs, and given that he plays similar material at his solo dates, a Caveman return likely wouldn't be hard to orchestrate! Until then, best of luck to Tym, James, Johnny, and all of their other past members in the future!

Also today, we have a new video of a hard rock cover from a recent Kewadin Casino concert, once again coming from the Aaron Lewis show at The Dreammaker's Theater in Sault Michigan last month! As you may remember, Aaron is best known as Staind's frontman, but he has been carving a solo career in country music in the early 2010s, which was the main focus of this tour, though he's been covering Staind songs like "It's Been Awhile" and "Outside" in the process! This video is of Aaron tackling another Staind hit, "Right Here", as uploaded by YouTube user Melissa McNamara on her YouTube channel 2 weeks ago (which also has a video from last year's local Shinedown concert.) Though filmed on the vertical cell phone camera angle, Melissa is much closer to the stage than when she saw Shinedown, and the audio quality is nice on this cover, which is familiar to the original song but has a country feel. The visuals can be a bit bright, but it's a solid video, so give it a look!



Finally, here's three assorted shorter items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or venue name:

• Sault Michigan nightclub The Back Door is apparently closing early next year, as per posts on their Facebook page this month hyping their New Year's party as their "final" such event. If this is true, a reason for the impending closure has not been posted there. We mention this on here because The Back Door experimented with booking live bands last year (including Banned & Power Slug), and if the club's days are indeed numbered, I know many in the area will be disappointed! We'll keep you posted if anything else is said.
• Local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver will make their Quebec debut (and first live appearance of 2015) when they play a concert in Montreal on January 16th! Awesome news, and hopefully it's a success for them! Click here for more details!
• The Tidal Records Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub in March will have individual awards for the best individual performances and original song, with prizes being provided by event sponsors, as per promoter J.D. Pearce on the Facebook event page last week. Though most recent battles haven't featured individual awards, 2012's Humane Society Battle and the old Case's Music Battles both utilized the idea, and it's a nice idea to give competitors something extra to try for! Stay tuned for more updates on this battle as we hear them!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile next! Thanks everyone!