Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands Video Showcase!! (Part 1)

Before we dive into this all-video post, I briefly wanted to acknowledge on here that local classic/hard rock quartet Lucky 13 did play a Rednecks Saloon gig last night to go along with their short notice Friday show, as per bassist Jeff Gray in personal Facebook posts. The band originally said that they were only playing on Friday, but had the Saturday show been announced at the time, we'd have promoted it here (out apologies either way!) Now, today's post is our first of two posts spotlighting Mike Caruso & Sault Online's videos from the Speak Easy Battle of the Bands this past Thursday, as he filmed one video of each band to go along with the earlier recap video on his YouTube channel! The performance footage in that is the same as in the full clips, but it's not completely redundant, as that video does include a brief interview with battle co-promoter Meghan Rix, so don't bypass it when browsing!

We'll look at Mike's videos in chronological order by when each act played (4 today, 3 in a later post), and remember, I won't give reviews or criticism of bands competing in the VM Radio Battle of the Bands due to my judging commitments there. The battle opened with local indie rock singer/guitarist Jesse Merineau, whose cover of Mr. Probz's "Waves" was filmed by Mike at the event. I imagine it'd be tough to gain ground in a battle of the bands as a solo artist, but Jesse has talent and a good voice for the genre, and this appears to have been a solid way to send him off before his announced move to Toronto! Not metal or punk, but check it out at the link above! Next up on Thursday were local hard rock quartet Long Shot, who the fans voted into second place that night. Their video is of their cover of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love", and while it's messy at points, and singer Evan Dawe is hard to hear, the guys show solid potential, and Nathan Muto handles the guitar solo nicely!

The multiple camera angles are nice too (as used on all of Mike's videos), but I'm seeing more tables than I'm used to for a Speak Easy concert... then again, I haven't been there in quite a while for one. Congratulations again to Long Shot on their runner-up finish, and here's their Cream cover!



Third on Thursday were local acid rock/jam trio Mike Haggith & The Din, who made their first live appearance with new drummer Brandan Glew (ex-The Revolution) that night. Their video was of their rendition of Mike's own solo song "This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device", and Mike later uploaded the same video to his own solo YouTube channel. It swings closer to the original version of the song than some of The Din's longer jam interpretations, so give it a look below, and don't miss Mike & The Din at the VM Radio Battle on March 18th!



Finally for this first showcase of Speak Easy Battle videos, we'll touch on the middle band on Thursday night, that being the debuting two man band Infinity Grinder. Featuring Northern Tragedy singer/drummer Terrence Gomes & ex-No Arrow bassist Brad Griffith, they're closer in style to Brad's past band work than Terrence's, and likely bear similarities with Brad's older duo band Sounds From The Green Room. The song that Mike filmed (which I can't place, and might be an original) has a grungy hard rock sound that has promise, but Terrence can be hard to hear vocally, and I do wonder how the song would turn out with guitar work. Solid start though, so give Infinity Gringer's video a look!



That's all for now, but look for our second Speak Easy Battle video post in the coming days, which will feature videos from the 3rd place Bear Hunters, the 1st place Gnaeus, and Project 421, along with more news and features to come! Thanks everyone!