LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Banned), An Inactive Band Note, And New Videos!!

Let's dive back into news and updates on this slippery Tuesday morning, and here, we have some new videos from the Ontario side of the border, a note on a band moved out of our active band links, and leading off, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this summer!

Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned will return to their hometown for a pair of special post-race concerts at the Kinross Speedpark later in the 2019 auto racing season! Much like they did last year, this veteran cover outfit will rock the on-site stage for concerts on Saturday, July 13th and on Friday, September 6th, which will respectively follow the second annual Baby Show qualifier race and the Four Cylinder Friday events during the Memorial Invitational weekend. For full details on the race aspects of both days, click here! It's great to see Alex, Don, and Wayne back at the Speedpark for a couple of gigs this season, and hopefully they provide a great soundtrack to cap these nights with! The other four races with a scheduled musical performer will feature classic rockers The Whole Shabang and Rudyard country/classic rock quartet Steelhead (featuring Banned alum Alex Schrovenwever.)

Both of Banned's Kinross Speedpark gigs in 2019 have 9:30 PM start times, these are definitely ALL AGES events, and concert admission is FREE post-race, though click here to locate full admission fees regarding the races proper. Visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more!

Next up, we have a local band to move to our inactive band links, namely Sault Ontario lo-fi punk/grunge project Telephone & Address. While a firm public statement has not been made regarding their status, there hasn't been a public update from Telephone & Address' camp since the release of their album "Monster" on February 3rd of last year, now over a year ago. It's also worth noting that frontman Christopher Shoust's old website (which featured Telephone & Address information and material) has had it's domain expire, and his current website is solely devoted to his painting & visual art pursuits. A recurring presence in our coverage since 2013 (though demo albums were recorded dating back to 2010), Chris achieved a following with his varied albums, which featured acoustic, punk, ambient, drum-and-bass, and grunge influences over the years, while his unplugged solo sets were easy to slide into concerts big and small.

Plans to release an early demo compilation named "The Early Tapes" stalled indefinitely, and not a lot came of their late-period expansion to a duo, but Chris had a good thing going with Telephone & Address, and he had an eclectic range of sounds to apply to his albums, always well suited to his lo-fi production and packaging methods. Hopefully they resurface down the road, but best of luck to Chris and Jackson in the future!

Also today, here's a new video of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's set at the Soolebrity Showcase Saturday concert at The Machine Shop from this past weekend's Bon Soo festivities! Posted to their Facebook page on Sunday, this is of the guys playing their lengthy classic rock medley that long time fans will easily recognize, such as from Toystock last year. As a refresher, the 10 minute video features the guys covering fragments of David Wilcox's "Riverboat Fantasy", Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time", Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", and Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'", though it cuts off before the "Riverboat Fantasy" reprise. Like previously, Terry Eaton sings for the Wilcox, Metallica, and Van Halen covers, Travis Sharpe handles the rest, and they sing backing vocals for each other.

The vertical cell phone camera angle isn't ideal, especially as Soundcheck proper are only in the video's top half, but the guys have these covers down well, and their chemistry and energy comes through strongly enough! Give Soundcheck's Soolebrity Showcase video a look below, and stay tuned for more updates from Soundcheck when announced!

We'll close today with a new-ish live concert recording from local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock solo artist Mike Haggith's Facebook page! Though uploaded on Friday, this "from the vault" clip was recorded at MacLean Park in Thompson during the city's Concert In The Park series last July that Mike played at, and this is of him playing a stripped down acoustic version of his newer original "An Act of Strength." I presume we'll be reviewing the full version when the "Bridges" CD finally comes out, but in this mid-2018 live form, it's a solidly done number with a sense of purpose, and the recording quality is nice! Based on the video's picture, I can't confirm if Mike has plans to release this concert as a live Bandcamp album or not, though stay tuned if he does. Give Mike's live & unplugged rendition of "An Act of Strength" a listen below, and stay tuned for more from his camp!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site soon! Thanks everyone!