New Videos From Frankly Speaking, Mikey Hawdon, And That's Chester!!

Let's dive into our 89th straight daily post at The Sault Metal Scene today, and it's a video-heavy one once again, specifically around cover performances from many familiar faces. Here's what you should know!

Veteran local classic rock cover duo Frankly Speaking held a special live-streamed concert on Facebook on Tuesday night that does have some hard rock content! While their setlist is largely not on the heavier spectrum, frontman Frank Gioia and keyboardist Frank Greco have a solid talent base and an extensive setlist that you may have seen at bars and special events since at least 2012. In fact, Frank Gioia was the featured musician in Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s final "Songs & A Six-Pack" live-streamed concert last month, so check that out if you haven't already! Shame that The Wyld Stallyns never got a redo. As for Frankly Speaking, their live-streamed concert is entitled "Healing Songs By The Fire", as the Franks are performing outside around a bonfire, which is a familiar and warm locale for many readers! This was shared onto the band's Facebook page from Frank Gioia's personal Facebook page, and was promoted with this SooToday article.

The 76 minute live-stream opens with Frank Gioia introducing the band and talking about how fire represents hope and how they want to bring everyone together in uncertain times, primarily social injustice. In order, Frankly Speaking cover Bruce Hornsby & The Range's "The Way It Is", Otis Redding's "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay", Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)", Seal's "Crazy", The Tragically Hip's "Ahead By A Century", Bill Withers' "Lean On Me", Supertramp's "The Logical Song", Joe Cocker's version of Billy Preston's "You Are So Beautiful", Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful", Queen's "You're My Best Friend", Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire", Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", and John Lennon's "Imagine". Effective set overall, and Frank & Frank have a good handle on these (mostly) classic rock favourites! You can tell that they put in the care and effort to include songs reflective of the themes of hope & healing.

Frank Gioia's between-song banter is very reassuring, and with how his speaking voice sounded, was anyone else reminded of Carl Sagan a bit? Frankly Speaking delivered a fun set, and having it take place at dusk with the sun setting was a nice touch, so give the whole thing a watch below!

Next up, we have another veteran act coming together (albeit remotely) to cover a song reflective of recent times, as the surviving members of classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester's best known lineup got together to do a rendition of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"! Uploaded to drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel earlier today, this features Ric alongside singer Greg Simpson (in his now-familiar smokeroom), guitarist Gabe Tessaro, and bassist Aubrey Falls, with Greg also playing acoustic guitar in lieu of the late Eugene Orlando. The video description notes that That's Chester broke up due to Eugene's passing in 2015 (their two Rotaryfest reunion sets in 2016 & 2018 excepted), and the cover is in dedication to him and everyone who's lost a friend or family member. I'm not a Pink Floyd guy, but this is a nicely done cover, and you do get the sense that this was emotionally tough to do.

The double meaning of wishing that everyone was here due to social distancing also exists, but the tribute to Eugene dominates given the optics of this particular cover, and I know how much he was missed following his sudden loss over four years ago. Give That's Chester's reunion video a watch below, and hopefully we'll see the guys on stage again down the line!



Finally for today, here's the latest "quarantunes" from prolific local punk musician Mikey Hawdon and his uke, courtesy of his YouTube channel! Two new ones are up that we haven't plugged on the SMS, including yesterday's cover of Wilson Phillips' "Hold On" featuring guest musicians from out of town. Embedded below is today's cover (#90) of The Ramones' "She's The One", and in a first for our embedding choices on the site, this is a completely solo rendition with no guests. Of course, Mikey knows The Ramones very well from his work fronting The Merves and The Gabba Heys, and he adds a soft sincerity with the solo ukelele rendition, so give it a watch below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!