We'll start today with a surprising lineup departure, as guitarist Tiffany Stocco has left local metal/punk band Jack Spades. The band hasn't acknowledged her departure beyond quietly removing her from their Facebook page's lineup, but she didn't play at last night's Anti-Queens show at The Rockstar Bar, and won't be joining them on their upcoming tour. In a personal Facebook post yesterday (which I won't detail in full out of respect to it's personal nature), Tiffany said that she "loved my band more than anything", and wishes her ex-bandmates the best, but "big personal changes" led to her decision to leave, and she wants to have "fun with music again". With that said, Tiffany apparently has a new band in the works, so we'll keep you posted when that makes it's way to our radar! Tiffany was an original member of Jack Spades dating back to their 2013 debut, playing at all of their shows and on both their EP & the "Fed Up!" split, and had previously played with their covers-centric predecessor band T-Rex Manning from 2011-2014.Tiffany's been a fixture in local metal and punk concerts in the 2010s, whether as a guitarist or as the promoter of Skull Fist's local gigs, and while it's disappointing to see her exit Jack Spades, hopefully this truly is the right move for her, and that we hear more from her musically soon! And yes, when/if Jack Spades add a new second guitarist, we'll let you know!
The Gore Street Cafe has really grown in prominence for the local arts scene in recent years, especially with their accessible "pay what you can" model for most concert and food events there, and while it's not a steady sight for metal and punk acts, the ones that have played there have spoken highly of the environment and atmosphere! Hopefully Nicole, staff, and customers can push through these difficulties and continue to prosper as redevelopment of Gore Street continues, and consider attending Tuesday's consultation to see if you can offer anything for the cause!
Also today, I wanted to acknowledge a deletion from our "Other Local Metal Links", that being for the Swampstravaganza, the van fundraiser-turned-all ages concert marathon that was held annually mid-year from 2011-2015. It's website (and only online page) has been deleted from it's host site Wix for unannounced reasons, and a rumoured sixth installment for this year likely isn't in the cards, given promoter Steve Mozarowski's move back to Toronto last year, and that it's intended timeframe of early May (where the last two were held) has came & went. The Swampstravaganza (a.k.a. Swampfest) was a fun event that saw 9 or more bands play all day at The Oddfellows Hall (or The Canadian last year), with band merchandise & even some refreshments on sale some years. Though attendance varied as the day wore on, a diverse lineup of metal, punk, indie, and more could be seen throughout each installment, with 38 different acts playing scheduled sets across the 5 years, plus 8 open mic artists in the last two.Frequently seen bands included The Bear Hunters (the only band to play each Swampfest), and three-timers RedD Monkey, Sykotyk Rampage, and Haggith, while Steve himself played each year in varying projects (with RedD Monkey through 2013, solo during 2014's open mic block, and with the one-off Faceityoureametalband in 2015.) I was lucky enough to be at all 5 Swampstravaganzas, which could make for a long day, but they always delivered musically, and even if their website doesn't return, hopefully Steve hosts Swampstravaganza VI in the future if possible!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
- Local doom metal trio AlgomA have parted ways with label Dead Beat Media and have signed a new deal with Indian metal label Transcending Obscurity Records! A reason for their split with Dead Beat Media hasn't been publically announced, but AlgomA bassist Boyd Rendell did thank them on his personal Facebook page yesterday, so it sounds amicable. AlgomA plan to release their second full length album through Transcending Obscurity, though no word on if that will come before or after the Hooded Menace split (which is through that band's label, not AlgomA's.) Read the full press release at this link!
- A press release for the aforementioned Jack Spades' upcoming "Disastour" can now be seen on SooToday at this link! The press release doesn't break any news that we didn't know before, but it features some good promotion for the tour, particularly their return to Spiderfest in Meyersburg next week, as well as a quote from guitarist Jesse Cook, so check it out below!
- In a late update for TONIGHT'S Ride For Sight musical entertainment at Stokely Creek Lodge in Goulais River, we can now confirm that country rockers Bone Yard (returning from last year) and blues musician Paul Dellavedova will join The 3 Day Millionaires on this year's music lineup! Bone Yard confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page yesterday, while drummer Ric Datson's personal Facebook page verified that Paul was also performing. I wish organizers had announced the full music lineup well in advance, but it's great to see everyone fighting the cause against blindness, so don't miss these acts at 8:30 PM TONIGHT!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
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