The Latest From A Dire Setback & Tarnished, And More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Canadian Motor Hotel founder Carmen Marrelli, who passed away on Monday at the age of 85. You can read his SooToday obituary at this link, and he is survived by his wife Yolanda, sons Albert, Joe, and Rick, three sisters, four granchildren, and many others in his extended family. An emigrant from Italy, Carmen's resume as a local business owner is extensive, but many will be most familiar with him for his original ownership and familiar presence at The Canadian Motor Hotel and it's related businesses (such as the downstairs nightclub), and many friends and past employees have shared their remembrances of him this week. Public services will take place tomorrow at 10:00 AM at Northwood Funeral Home, albeit with COVID-19 restrictions, and a tribute is planned in The Canadian's parking lot at 2:00 PM during the procession. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the Kidney Foundation.

I have never met Carmen, but I have heard many great things about him as a businessman, boss, and person, and he deserves much credit for founding The Canadian and helping grow it into a successful hotel, nightclub, restaurant, and concert venue (in spite of the occasional flood or pandemic), and his son Albert has followed nicely in his footsteps there. R.I.P. Carmen!

Now, this is our first proper news post of November 2020, as news remains exceedingly slow at this relatively late stage of the pandemic. As such, our overall post count remains low as of late, and that is why Facebook is starting to remind me to update our Facebook page! If there's not much to say or report on by Saturday, I may bump this month's Defunct Local Band Profile up a few days, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We'll start with the latest from Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished, including an apology, as they played an admittedly late notice gig this past Friday (Halloween night) at the Pickford Township Park! It came out afterwards that the show was tied in with a wedding, but it was publically announced just minutes before the set began. Apologies for missing it, but hopefully the show was a blast for the happy couple and attendees alike! Beyond that, Tarnished have been staying busy making their first ever music video!

The guys have been working with Jay London Photography on the video for their song "Metalyn", which will star Malia Lefebre in an acting role (pictured with Alex, Josh, and Gary above). This teaser video was shared on their Facebook page yesterday featuring clips of the band setting up for a performance on a rooftop which will be featured in the video, and while it doesn't show us much about how the actual video will look, we will allegedly see the final product "by mid-December." Unfortunately, the teaser video cannot be embedded here due to it's privacy settings, but give it a look at this link or above, and stay tuned for more from Tarnished's camp!

Next up, here's an 11 minutes-long new video from Sault Ontario punk trio A Dire Setback's Facebook page, so what can be seen and heard there? Shot by bassist Matt Quinn at a bonfire this past Friday, he tells viewers that they are about to record and release "some stuff" now that they can work together safely again, and they will "do something together on the internet", while also acknowledging that they're putting their family's health and safety ahead of playing concerts where available. Matt ended by teasing other big news, perhaps a new band member, but a lot of the reveals here were teasers that didn't give a lot away. More of the video is spent observing the bonfire while Matt talks abou a variety of colourful subjects with others present, including bandmates and their family members. Nice to get some updates from A Dire Setback's camp, and hopefully their plans hold up in the near term, but check the video out for yourself below! 

 

 

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• The Buckcherry-headlined concert at Soo Blaster has finally been rescheduled, and it will now take place on Tuesday, May 11th, which is six months to the day of the original date, which was obviously cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No changes are listed on the Facebook event page re: local openers or ticket prices, but I presume anything bought for the November 11th date will be usable in May or refundable at point of purchase. There's a long ways to go before May 11th, but hopefully things level out by then!
• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades are indeed featured on Toronto independent label Cursed Blessings Records' new double-length compilation album "Reinventing The Safety Pin", as released on Friday! Despite the label's advertising that the album is made up of "previously unreleased songs", Jack Spades' contribution ("Motorwolf") was released on the 2015 split "Fed Up!" with The Ripcordz (who are also on this compilation) and fellow locals Destroilet (who are not). Maybe the label meant the songs were previously unreleased by them? Either way, buy or stream "Reinventing The Safety Pin" above for loads of entertaining Canadian punk rock from dozens of talented bands!
• This probably goes without saying now, but I have removed the rescheduled Mike Haggith CD release concert at LopLops Lounge on Friday from our concert calendar. Mike hasn't verbally called the show off at press time, but LopLops is not among the few local nightclubs hosting concerts right now, and the odds this one will magically happen in two days are extremely slight. Hopefully Mike returns to the Soo next year, assuming the climate improves!
  

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new post of some kind by Saturday! Thanks everyone!