Monday, March 30, 2020

Live Streams From A Dire Setback & The Hair Scare, Plus More Assorted Updates!!

Here's another new post on the site today, and while I am running dry on topics to start the week, I guarantee we will have a new post each day through at least Thursday! This post has some assorted shorter stories of note, and a live-streamed video from a popular local radio show, but leading off, here's even more big updates relating a recently released punk album!

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and widespread concert cancellations may have wrecked A Dire Setback's plans for a CD release show at LopLops on Saturday, but the guys made due by live-streaming a release party on their Facebook page that night! As preluded by Facebook posts about their plans to get the gear set up for live-streaming, the local alt-punk trio ensured that the show went on (albeit from their jam room), and while an actual release concert with CDs in hand is still planned for the future, fans got the next best thing on Saturday! The whole thing is embedded below, though the video began rolling 19 minutes before the promised 10:00 PM start time, so fast forward as such to get to the actual start of the set. In performance order, the guys played "Everlasting", "Faded", "Forget This Memory", their cover of Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" with bassist Matt Quinn on lead vocals, "Catastrophe", "A Dire Setback", "Endless Dream", a cover of Green Day's "Longview", "Drop Dead", ...

..."Kicking & Screaming", "Nightmares", and covers of The Misfits' "Last Caress" & Iron Maiden's "The Trooper", both with Matt singing lead again. One thing I noted way too late while watching is that "Drop Dead" is actually the renamed version of one of A Dire Setback's earliest originals, "Wasting Away", apparently at the suggestion of producer Bill Priddle to make the song angrier. I should have caught on to that way sooner, apologies for sounding ignorant! Performance wise, the analog audio recording setup & warm lighting aren't ideal, and this is a very casual performance, but in light of what's going on in the world, how can you nitpick? The guys are clearly having fun, and I've never seen Chris so talkative between songs! The new covers ("Ace of Spades" aside) are nice surprises too, so fans will definitely enjoy this live-streamed set, as well as this thank you video for fans who watched, where they also reiterate plans for a real release concert, show off their gear, and ask for feedback.

Also, A Dire Setback's self-titled debut CD dropped on other services beyond Spotify yesterday, so you can now stream it on Apple Music and YouTube, and buy it on Bandcamp and Google Play (the latter two for around $9). Whatever your preferred source, definitely buy or stream it A.S.A.P., especially with the CD release in limbo! See above for much more the album, read our review of it in yesterday's post, and here's their full live-stream!



Next up, let's head to Sault Michigan, where long-running Rock 101 program The Hair Scare finally has it's own official Facebook page! Their official Facebook group is still alive & well, but that is more of an officially recognized fan club, compared to the new page, which host Scott Cook created back in January. Of course, The Hair Scare provides a 3 hour blast of hair and glam metal classics from the late 1970s-early 1990s every Saturday at 9:00 PM on 101.3 FM, and you can now see an hour-long glimpse of Scott at the controls from the newest episode via the live-streamed video embedded below, so if you've ever wanted an insider look at The Hair Scare in action, this will do it! In order, you'll hear Scott play Sven Gali's "Under the Influence" (joined in progress), Ugly Kid Joe's "Everything About You", Poison's "Look What The Cat Dragged In", Skid Row's "Sweet Little Sister", Slaughter's "Mad About You", Bon Jovi's "Bad Medicine", Trooper's "Raise A Little Hell", ...

...Whitesnake's "Judgement Day", and much of Tesla's "Modern Day Cowboy", plus all of the breaks in-between where Scott takes requests, reminisces about the Soo area and past concerts, and talks to fans tuning in. This is an entertaining inside look at this popular Rock 101 staple in action, if not as clear for audio as the actual show would be! If you're a hair metal fan, The Hair Scare is appointment listening every Saturday, and if you like when Rock 101 diverts from their standard playlist, both The Hair Scare and Scott Cook In The Morning are your best bets for anything with local DJs! Give this Hair Scare live stream a look below, and don't forget to tune in on Saturday!



Finally for today, here's three assorted Sault Ontario news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
  • SooToday previewed the Facebook live-streamed Coronafest event on March 21st via this article earlier that day, featuring remarks from organizer Brian Cattapan and fellow performer Cory Murchison. The article neglects to mention that there were more than two Saultites on the bill (Brian, his wife Krista and Jason "J Wyza" Wysynski are all from here too), but it's great to see Coronafest get some local news attention! A sequel on April 18th is also in the works for Krista's birthday the next day, so click here for details.
  • If Mike Haggith's CD release concert at LopLops goes through on May 15th, then his live backing band that night will include one more musician, as local folk/alternative solo artist Jacob Quarrell (formerly Shit Creek Survivor) will be the lead guitarist on this night, as per the Facebook event page last week. Jacob opened for Mike at his Outspoken Brewing acoustic concert in August, which Mike credits as "the show that kicked off this album in the greatest possible way." While his solo music isn't hard rock, Jacob's very talented and should deliver well with Mike and crew in May... I hope!
  • Local hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will be interviewed tonight at 9:00 PM on The Taxi Passenger Revue, a radio show hosted by Mike Robillard on new local internet radio station The Borderline. The series features in-depth conversations akin to what you would have with a cab driver, hence the name, and if the Facebook event page is anything to go by, the interview with Tym will heavily deal in his recent conversion to Christianity. This should be an enlightening listen for fans, so check it out tonight at 9:00, especially if episodes aren't posted to stream afterward!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our second installment in our seven part WLS0 9O.1 FM retrospective series tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

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