Rotaryfest 2021 Concert Review!!

(Updated on Monday at 10:13 PM) For the first time in well over a year & a half, I have a review of a local concert on The Sault Metal Scene, as I went to check out the final bands at this year's pandemic-adjusted, drive-thru edition of Rotaryfest! Moving to the parking lot outside of the former Lowe's at the corner of Great Northern Road & Northern Avenue, organizers did note/recommend that most attendees would only stay for two bands, so I figured I could probably swing seeing three bands before anyone got annoyed with "that guy" snapping pictures, so I do apologize for not coming early for The Northern Jazz Ensemble, Spyder's Web, The Uncanny Valley, or Greg MacLachlan's sets. However, I had my vehicle's radio tuned to 107.1 FM well and early to have it ready and to see how far the transmitter reached, and despite the advertised 1 kilometer range, I can confirm that I got fringe reception from about 3 kilometers away. It cut in and out, but I was able to hear Greg MacLachlan's last song!

If you're curious, Greg and his backing band (including K.I.C.K.'s Aaron Dunn on drums) did an extended mash-up of The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication" and a number of songs by rappers or featuring rap verses, everything from MC Hammer & Vanilla Ice to Beck and the C&C Music Factory. Definitely amusing to hear, especially from the unexpected rap interludes (a close comparison would be Redundant's "El Scorcho"/"No Scrubs" crossover). Greg doesn't have social media accounts, but give his stuff a listen if you can find it, he did release a new folk album last year! Upon arrival at Rotaryfest there was no one taking donations, so I just drove around slowly until I found the best parking spot, and I ended up in the third row, but perfectly dead center with the stage (I was able to get into the second row for Obsession's set). The stage was placed about in front of Value Village, with bands looking out towards Pennington's & Great Northern Road.

After a string of Bob Marley songs over the transmitter and an introduction by returning host Andrew Steutz, the first band I actually saw last night was the debuting Jonesy Land, featuring the non-Jaaskelainen members of The Rising Tide and The Lake Effect's Frank Deresti playing songs from across frontman Dustin Jones' local career and outside covers. About half the set was Dustin's songs from The Inner City Surfers (like "Won't Belong") and The Rising Tide (like "Molly Malloy"), plus his 2020 solo song "Counting The Days" & the debut Jonesy Land song "Sunshine Parades", but despite the event advertising, I didn't catch any Conspirators songs (granted, they are not as familiar locally). The rest were covers of country and pop artists, including the four mid-set songs they did with Dustin's daughter Jett on guest vocals. Jett did come across as nervous, but as you saw in her videos with her dad, she can carry a tune!

Notably, their cover of "I've Been Everywhere" was the Surfers-era version with a verse listing Northern Ontario locations, and Jett handled vocals nicely for it! As you'd expect for a modern day Dustin Jones band, everyone performed well, merging punk and folksier/poppier sentiment nicely, with Dustin's vocals as familiar as ever and Liam Seymour shining on guitar, but it felt like Chris Johns' drumming wasn't meant for the transmitter, as his live playing almost sounded delayed from 107.1 FM. This wasn't his fault, just an observation. Fun set from Jonesy Land, and time will tell if this band continues beyond Rotaryfest!

Co-headlining yesterday were veteran local classic rock band Obsession in their eleventh Rotaryfest set since 2008, and they had a familiar face filling in on second guitar (Alex Trecroce left the band a few years ago and wasn't replaced). Sound tech Dan Belanger joined in for the set, much like he did with That's Chester (also featuring guitarist Gabe Tessaro) during their two Rotaryfest reunion sets after Eugene Orlando's passing, so Dan fit in like a glove! Nominally, Obsession's all-covers set was blocked out by decade, going from the 1960s (Chuck Berry, Janis Joplin) to the 1970s (AC/DC, Steve Miller) to the 1980s (Pat Benatar, Loverboy), but when they realized they were ahead of schedule, the end of the set became a free-for-all of songs they'd rehearsed. Obsession delivered a strong set, with Valerie Powley's powerhouse vocals delivering on all facets (especially for Janis Joplin renditions), while Gabe picked up the slack for between-song banter well and via lead vocals on two songs.

He and Dan paired well on guitar, while Jim Michaud and Steve Porco handled the rhythm end as smoothly as you'd expect, and with a more "rock"-based band than Jonesy Land were, the misaligned drum timing with the transmitter wasn't as obvious, but you could still hear it. If you love classic rock, Obsession delivered the goods last night, and look for them at nightclub gigs later in the year when the pandemic is hopefully even less of an issue!

After thanking everyone for coming out and helping put on Rotaryfest, a special dedication to stage manager Shaun Antler, and the $40,000+ 50/50 draw announcement, (not to mention sunset and nightfall), southern rock cover quartet Bone Yard hit the stage to close out Rotaryfest, and while they played less songs than the preceding bands, they also had longer songs on offer. Continuing to signal their departure from country covers, Bone Yard's set was classic rock-centric, with covers of everyone from Golden Earring & The Tragically Hip to The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, while bassist Brad Stephen & guitarist Alex D'Ettore respectively handled lead vocals on their set-closing Don Nix/J.J. Cale & Marshall Tucker Band covers. Another strong set with no real stage rust visible, with Greg Simpson's vocal and guitar work more than impressing, as did Ric Datson's tried and tested drumming!

I think there could have been some more banter between songs, but Bone Yard delivered in their seventh Rotaryfest appearance (not counting the virtual set last year), and if you ever wanted to see That's Chester with more of a southern rock edge, you'd be right at home! Overall, Rotaryfest 2021 was a very interesting experience, and it was great to see live music in Sault Ste. Marie again! I've been hesitant to go see cover bands in pandemic-limited conditions at bars in the past year, but this was a fun attraction, and very comfortable given that we could use our vehicles for seating and air conditioning! The FM transmitter worked very well in spite of drum timing, but the live speakers were still loud enough for anyone from the second row of cars to hear the bands without compromise. Good thing too, as I wanted to be outside to get photos and videos of the bands, and yes, I did wear a face mask when not in the vehicle.

Most other attendees didn't mask up outside (I am not judging anyone), but I won't be getting shot #2 until this coming Saturday, so I didn't want to take any needless risks just in case. You can see my photos at this link or at our Facebook page, while for this special occasion of a major multi-band concert in the Soo during the pandemic, I filmed two songs of each band for Facebook! My plan was to film two straight songs from each, which worked for the first two (Jonesy Land covering The Inner City Surfers' "Screwed" & Michael Buble's "It's A Beautiful Day, and Obsession covering The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman" and Bob Seger's "Rock and Roll Never Forgets"), but my camera had a low battery warning for most of Bone Yard's cover of the Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing", a long song by itself. As such, I didn't film their next song, Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here".

However, with fresh batteries, I did film the song after that, fittingly also by Pink Floyd ("Young Lust"), so if you watch that video, that explains why there is a sudden break and a change in location. Give my Rotaryfest videos from last night a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!