Northern Vibe Festival Fallout & Videos!!

In our final post of the month (our busiest month on the SMS for post count in over a year), let's look at fallout and belated updates from a returning concert festival outside of Sault Ontario from this past weekend! Everyone seems to have had a great time, but here's what you should know!

As you may recall, the sixth annual Northern Vibe Festival took place in Ophir this past weekend with it's heaviest Forest Stage lineup yet, but oddly, organizers never released a full schedule for either that stage or the DJ-centric River Stage. Between early advertising & social media postings after the fact, I believe I can tell you guys who belatedly played each day, if not every timeslot. The Friday, August 27th lineup was headlined by Frightlight at 10:00 PM, with Jonesy Land at 9:00 PM, The Wyld Stallyns at 8:00 PM (I think), and A Dire Setback opening at 7:00 PM. That appears to place the remaining local bands and all three Sudbury acts on Saturday the 28th, but timeslots are patchier here. The closing band was surprisingly The Soo Fighters at 10:00 PM, while I believe Harvey King & The Grindstone played at 9:00 PM given the setting of their Facebook picture from the event. 

The Dynowaves just said on Facebook that they were playing on "Saturday evening" (which I'd read being anywhere from 5:00-8:00 PM), while Lockdown's set was definitely on Saturday before nightfall, and Handsome Sandwich confirmed that they played at 4:00 PM. As for the remaining touring acts, I believe Matt Foy played on Saturday, but in a surprise announcement not reported on Facebook or the festival website, funk musician Dr. Bong was quietly replaced by Sudbury rapper Ronin705 that same day. A reason for Dr. Bong's withdrawal was not announced, but note that he hasn't updated his Facebook page yet in 2021 and thusly never promoted the festival there (granted, Ronin705 never plugged his involvement online either). Hopefully all's well with Dr. Bong, but Ronin705 is a talented MC, and hopefully he made some new fans out west!

Given the lack of internet at the festival grounds (cell phone data plans excepted), it understandably took a little bit for videos to surface from Northern Vibe VI, but the festival's Facebook page promises that videos and photos are forthcoming (so far, all that's up there is a 6 second clip of Forest Stage DJ Roost Radio's glowing rooster). On Sunday, debuting local rock cover quintet Lockdown posted four videos on their Facebook group from their set, where they covered The Arctic Monkeys' "Snap Out Of It", The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough", The Black Keys' "Gold On The Ceiling", and Elle King's "Ex's & Oh's". Not pointing to a heavier base here, but Lockdown are talented and make use of two vocalists well for a diverse setlist! I just wish the videos were zoomed in more. The same filmer also got one video of their sister band The Soo Fighters at night's end, so what should you know there?

The clip sees them covering The Foos' classic "Monkey Wrench", and given that it was very much nightfall here, the lack of zoom on the camera is painfully obvious. Visually, I can't comment on the band's new lineup at all (I can't even see Jules' Dave Grohl wig through the bright stage lighting), though the credits at the end do list Lockdown singer Nicole Ambeault too, who appeared to have provided the "Fall in, fall out" vocals in the last chorus. This is a strong rendition of one of The Foo Fighters' fastest and heaviest singles, and fans definitely seem into the song, so give it a listen below!

Finally, here's a video of local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback live on Friday evening, as shared on their Facebook page from frontman Chris Nielsen's personal Facebook page, having previously been filmed by attendee Celeste Maurer. In a bit of a surprise, this video is actually of a cover song that I don't recall A Dire Setback playing pre-pandemic, namely Anti-Flag's "The Press Corpse", which is definitely a faster and angrier song than fans of A.D.S.' originals will be used to! Solidly done though with good energy, and Celeste was much closer to the stage, whose tented set-up has a very "WWF In Your House" feel, if that's fair to say. Celeste also filmed an original from their set, but that hasn't been publically shared as of this writing, though we'll let you know if it does, and give A Dire Setback's Anti-Flag cover a watch below!

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

Cheap Trick Concert Video Showcase!!

Today's post is devoted to fallout/videos from the Cheap Trick concert outside of the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on August 19th, as lots of attendees got videos of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted quartet during their opening set! Of course, they were opening for The Goo Goo Dolls on this night, and they definitely got their fair share of videos too, but they're not a hard rock act. Still, I'll acknowledge videos shot from their set as we come to the respective channels, and if you're curious, at least two attendees (YouTube users Victoria Cherrington and The Fugitive Kind) only filmed The Goo Goo Dolls that night, and have definitely seen them live multiple times based on their channel contents! I've largely heard positive things from this concert on social media, and I don't believe it was a superspreader event, so hopefully this won't be the only major Kewadin show of 2021! 

YouTube user phoenixrising1122 was the most prolific Cheap Trick filmer on the 19th, posting seven videos from their set, but despite filming The Goo Goo Dolls at multiple prior shows outside of Michigan, none of their St. Ignace videos are of the headliners. Cheap Trick songs filmed here include "If You Want My Love", "Elo Kiddies", "California Man", "Surrender", "The Flame", "She's Tight", and as embedded below, "Ain't That A Shame". The vertical camera angle on these videos is very unfortunate, but at least phoenixrising1122 zooms in a fair amount, and the visual quality is great in spite of the orientation! Good thing the weather held out. Robin Zander's voice is a little rough around the edges at times, but he, Rick, Tom, and Daxx have a solid handle on these classic songs as you may expect, so check out all of these videos above & below!

Next up, YouTube user goochick22 filmed five videos each of both bands on August 19th (given her username, you'd expect she filmed The Goo Goo Dolls!), so if you want to see as much of the show as possible, this would be the ideal channel. Yes, she has filmed The Goo Goo Dolls multiple times in prior concerts out of state too. As far as Cheap Trick goes, goochick22 filmed them playing "If You Want My Love", "The Flame", "I Want You To Want Me", a medley of shorter clips (mostly featuring "Big Eyes" and Rick Nielsen's infamous five-necked guitar), and as embedded below, "She's Tight". These videos are shorter on average, but thankfully, goochick22 did have the camera in a sideways landscape orientation here, and the video and audio quality are smooth and very respectable! Give these a look above & below!

Also, YouTube user James Hollopeter posted two videos from Cheap Trick's set on his channel (nothing of The Goo Goo Dolls here), and his videos feature their classic songs "The Flame" and, as embedded below, "I Want You To Want Me". The former is in vertical orientation, alas, but the latter isn't, and while the visuals are jitterier than preceding channels, the audio quality is clear enough, and you get the best view yet of the fans enjoying the show and singing along, so that all works out! Give James' videos a look above and below, and stay tuned for a video from 2019's Tea Party concert in Sault Ontario that James only uploaded earlier this month!

Finally, YouTube user DeniseRenee40 also filmed Cheap Trick playing their hit hair ballad "The Flame" at the St. Ignace show, but unlike everyone else, this was her only video of their set, hence why I didn't embed anyone else's video of this song. Denise also filmed eight videos from The Goo Goo Dolls' set, and previously shot videos of them at a dozen or so concerts from around this part of the continent, so she too is clearly a fan of theirs! As for the Cheap Trick video, it's sadly another vertical upload, but you get basically the full song here. Robin's vocals are shaky here, but the fans are in the palm of his hand to sing along, and it's a well performed rendition, so give it a watch!

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

Sunspot Concert Previews, Show Cancellations, And Much More!!

I wasn't expecting to start today's post like this, but we have THREE cancelled concerts for this weekend, for different but understandable reasons. First, local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will not be playing at The Mike Case Memorial Stage at The Trading Post tonight due to the rain forecast in Sault Ontario (the stage is very much outdoors), as per the Facebook event page. Disappointing to see Tym's summer-ending weekly string of shows there end like this, but hopefully we see him again soon! I'm not going to rush a September concert schedule of his onto our listings, as the venue's Facebook page strongly hints that they only book live music in the summer season (re: late May-the end of August), but we'll let you know if he announces anything there for September. Meanwhile,  local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek have cancelled their planned (and already late notice) concerts tonight & tomorrow night at Reggie's West.

The band cited "an unfortunate medical issue with one of the guys" on their Facebook page yesterday. The shows were only announced on Monday, and thusly would have led off this post, but they will still hold their planned merchandise giveaway on Facebook. Hopefully all's well with the laid-up band member, and that Fort Creek are back on stage before you know it! Now, we have previews of a pair of still-on shows, a new video, and some assorted updates, so here's what you should know!

As part of the returning Michigan Paranormal Convention at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this weekend, Madison, Wisconsin hard rock trio Sunspot will make their local concert debuts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge! A rare touring band from outside of Michigan to play a regular lounge weekend set there, Sunspot self describe themselves as "party rock from weird Wisconsin", but they have more than their fair share of heavy and power pop-leaning songs with very distinct and creative subject matter befitting MiParacon, so definitely check them out to hear that Sunspot has in store! These concerts are not explicitly tied to the convention, so you don't need a wristband or special admission to get in, and general attendees who aren't into the paranomal can come out. As such, there is no cover charge, a 21+ age limit, and a 9:00 PM start time.

And as usual, please respect any and all social distancing measures at Kewadin Casino and/or The Rapids Lounge to ensure everyone has a safe time, and mask up where required! I'm not a huge paranormal follower, but MiParacon is always stacked for ghost and alien aficionados, so be sure to check out the huge itinerary of stuff happening in Sault Michigan at the above links, and of course, give Sunspot a warm welcome east to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan! They're a creative, diverse, and often heavy band, don't bypass them this weekend, and here they are live in concert!

Next up, here's a new video from Heavy Lies The Crown guitarist Ted Olson's YouTube channel this week, namely of another new instrumental song of his named "Pulse"! The video features heavy use of a filter that mirrors the screen in flower and circular patterns (it's hard to explain), but just as a content disclaimer, a sped up clip of a dead & decomposing fox is also included from 1:59-2:21, so don't look at the screen or skip past it if you think that may upset you. The song has a very slow ominous build into a heavy prog-metal breakdown (coinciding with the start of the fox clip, FYI), and musically, this is a nice change of pace that ends on a brutal note! Give it a watch below, but again, be cautious.

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

 

• According to photos in James Hopkin's SooToday article on Sunday, last week's Entomica Insectarium summer social fundraiser at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in Sault Ontario was kinda/sorta held outdoors. Rather than have everyone inside the museum, the bands performed just inside the open hangar doors with attendees enjoying the music outside at patio tables by the waterfront, an aspect never made clear in pre-event advertising. Fun optics that allow for more open spaces re: social distancing! There are a couple of photos of The Josh Norling Jazz Quartet's set in the photo album as well, but James didn't get any of other bands.
• In late schedule clarifications for this weekend's Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir, local punk supergroup Jonesy Land will reportedly be playing tonight at 9:00 PM, and local Foo Fighters tribute band The Soo Fighters will reportedly be closing the Saturday night bill at 10:00 PM. My sources are frontmen Dustin Jones & Jules Cote's respective personal Facebook pages (it's all we have, alas). I wish a proper schedule had been released, but these at least fill in a couple of late blanks! Hopefully someone films some videos this weekend!
  
• Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished's music video for their song "Metalyn" was submitted by director Jay London for this year's Soo Film Festival as one of seven music videos on this year's program. I believe the music video was added after the schedule was made up, but it looks to be part of the Tunes & Toons show at The Soo Theatre on Sunday, September 19th. Congratulations to Jay and Tarnished on this great exposure, and if you're in the E.U.P., consider checking out The Soo Film Festival for lots of diverse independent films!
  

 

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

Our Preview Of The Sixth Annual Northern Vibe Festival!!

The sixth annual Northern Vibe Festival returns to the old Hempfest grounds on Poplardale Road in nearby Ophir TOMORROW, SATURDAY, and SUNDAY, so here's our extended preview! After skipping 2020 due to the pandemic, things have progressed to a point where the festival can return to near normality (helped by it being in a wide open outdoor locale), and you can expect lots of musical entertainment & local vendors for food, art, and more, so be sure to check the official Facebook page, event page, and website for full public details on Northern Vibe VI! I stress, public, as organizers still have not released a schedule for the musical performers on any stage, either forgetting (there's a lot of ground to cover) or opting to go with a "you had to be there" approach. I do know the day some acts are performing, so consider this a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, which I do apologize for, but again, there has been no schedule release yet.

As usual, The Northern Vibe Festival will feature two stages of live music this weekend, including The River Stage for DJs and The Forest Stage for musicians, the latter curated by Jack Spades/Frightlight frontman J.D. Pearce in his first promotional role since the pandemic began. This means that the band lineup in 2021 is much heavier than we ever saw in the 2010s, which is great to see.... but who's playing when? First off, take the poster above with a grain of salt, as it hasn't been updated to reflect two lineup withdrawals (including Forest Stage performer DJ Fuels), let alone new additions. As best as I can tell, there will only be live music tomorrow and Saturday (the Sunday aspect is primarily for campers' benefit), so let's go through the bands like this: I'll start with bands that I know are playing on a given day, then we'll move to bands who haven't publically stated when their set is.

The only band that I have actually heard confirm a Friday set is local funk/hard rock quintet The Wyld Stallyns, as per guitarist/vocalist Rob Speers in a Facebook conversation (thanks Rob!) No word on a timeslot, but he did say that the Friday set was due to the availability of a special guest on that day, so keep that in mind if you'll be in Ophir tomorrow! As far as I know, three bands have confirmed that they're playing on Saturday, including instrumental surf rock band The Dynowaves at some point that evening (source: their Facebook page), and two bands back from extended hiatuses with new lineups, namely no-genre quintet Handsome Sandwich at 4:00 PM (source: drummer Johnny Belanger's personal Facebook page), and Foo Fighters tribute quartet The Soo Fighters at an unstated time (source: their Facebook page). For what it's worth, bands allegedly begin at 3:00 PM.

Nice to see The Stallyns staying busy, and if you've missed the three known Saturday bands during the pandemic, get ready for some surf rock action, and welcome Taylor & Mitch to Handsome Sandwich, plus Arthur & Chris to The Soo Fighters! At press time, the other seven River Stage acts have not publically stated what day or time they're playing, but keep tabs on their social media accounts, plus Northern Vibe pages for further updates, and I'll try and let everyone know if I hear anything. Three of the seven are touring acts from Sudbury, including new "northern soul rock n' roll" supergroup Harvey King & The Grindstone (who are promoted highly in advertising), alternative/world solo musician Matt Foy (replacing pre-pandemic touring favourites Dany Laj & The Looks), and funk rock one-man-band Dr. Bong, so it'll be nice to see some out-of-town attractions again after a long break!

The remaining four local bands playing in Ophir this weekend are horror punk quintet Frightlight in their first show in almost two years (they are likely to be in a nighttime timeslot), alt-punk trio A Dire Setback in their first concert since releasing their debut CD, the second live concert appearance from new (and online page-less) local punk/folk supergroup Jonesy Land, and the debut of new local rock quintet Lockdown, featuring 3/4ths of The Soo Fighters covering many other bands. Nice to see so many familiar faces back for a normal-ish concert, let alone of this scale, and it sounds like there will be something for everyone, even if I don't know when everyone is playing! Sadly, ticket sales for the Northern Vibe Festival closed this morning, but they were $100 for the full weekend experience or $60 for Saturday, and nothing was offered for Friday or Sunday alone. Yes, this is a 19+ event.

Click here for event ground rules, including directions to Poplardale Road in Ophir (an hour east of the Soo), what to bring and what not to bring, and so forth. Remember, this is an outdoor event, and the weather forecasts are calling for rain off and on all weekend, especially tomorrow, so be prepared for the elements. Of course, please use common sense re: the pandemic, and wear a face mask when seeing vendors or when not socially distancing (there will also be sanitization stations set up). Hopefully Northern Vibe VI is a huge success as they get back to bringing live music to the outskirts of Bruce Mines once again, and there's a stacked lineup playing this weekend to boot! I just hope everyone has a safe time, both regarding the pandemic and just in terms of respecting the environment, and that it doesn't rain too much. Visit the above links for current and continuing details on the festival, here's Frightlight live, and stay tuned for more weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: rubbs001's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, posted a day early to make room for weekend concert previews, especially given the returning Northern Vibe Festival. This monthly feature series looks at 1-3 randomly selected YouTube channels from our subscriptions, in order to spotlight them and their public content for potential viewers and subscribers, and as usual, channels must have at least half of their public videos devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk artists/concerts. Our channel pick for this month lets us take a trip over a decade back to one of the biggest hard rock bands to come out of the E.U.P. (and their singer solo), so here's what you should know!

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rubbs001's channel (http://youtube.com/rubbs001)

Owner: A relative or close friend of former Nixxon Dixxon/current Rhythm & Brews singer Brandon Carr (the channel is focused around him but the descriptions lead me to believe he didn't run it)

Channel Timeline: Launched on December 18th, 2006; Videos uploaded from March 19th, 2009 until April 2nd, 2011

Channel Summary: All of the videos on rubbos001's channel star Sault Michigan hard rock singer Brandon Carr in some fashion, mostly via videos from concerts at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino by his most prominent band, late-2000s hard rock quartet Nixxon Dixxon. Other videos include a comical lip sync of Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself", a solo acoustic cover of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", Brandon performing "Dentist!" in Sault High's 2010 production of Little Shop Of Horrors, and two takes of him singing at that year's International Idol competition.
 
Why You Should Watch: This is definitely worth a watch for fans of Brandon's local music work, especially during Nixxon Dixxon's late-era peak, and you also get a good look at what he was up to artistically beyond the band at the turn of the 2010s! However, there are other sources for full-band & better quality Nixxon Dixxon videos of this era, like YouTube user myangels1266's channel. Also, note that no videos are featured here from Nixxon Dixxon's pre-2009 activities, despite the 2006 launch date.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

155 pop evil: With one exception, all of rubbs001's Nixxon Dixxon videos are of acoustic performances at The Northern Pines Lounge, with Brandon performing alongside bassist Kyle Beaumont (later of The London Gentlemen and Trail's End) on acoustic guitar. One is of Brandon & Kyle covering Seether's "Broken", Daughtry's "Going Home", and Puddle of Mudd's "Drift & Die" (the latter with Jake on drums) in March 2009, while a June 2010 set yielded videos of Shinedown's "The Crow & The Butterfly" (uploaded twice), Godsmack's "Touché", and in this channel's most popular hard rock video, Pop Evil's "100 In A 55". Dark lighting on the 2009 clip isn't helpful, but Brandon and Kyle are a good unplugged match on these rock radio covers, and Brandon's strong melodic voice gets a lot of good use throughout!

Blood Pollution: The only video of Nixxon Dixxon performing a full electric song with the whole band here is also from the June 2010 St. Ignace show, where they covered Steel Dragon's "Blood Pollution" from the movie Rock Star. Also featuring 415E/Rhythm & Brews guitarist Chris Hubbard and London Gentlemen alum Jake LaLonde (now of the Nashville country rock band Miller Holler), it's nice seeing Nixxon Dixxon again, even if the video is a little grainy, and seeing as they disbanded a couple of months later, it's even nicer to have this online! Very talented young group, they deserved more!

 

Simpleman: In June 2010, Brandon was one of 29 local singers who competed in the third annual International Idol vocal talent competition at The Soo Theatre, with the winner of the 14-and-over division getting to open for Meat Loaf on the closing night at Kewadin Casino's 25th Anniversary Summer Festival the following month. Brandon lost to local singer Kellan Perron (read more about the winners at this link), though Nixxon Dixxon played that day on the second stage anyway, as well as on the main stage on night #1. Uploaded twice to rubbs001's channel at different lengths, Brandon was filmed covering Shinedown's version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man", with Brandon matching the vocal tone of the cover, if not Brent Smith's range. Solidly done and well filmed for the time, and hopefully we'll hear more from Brandon musically soon with one band or another!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, our random selection has given us a doozy of a channel to spotlight, namely Mike Haggith Music, the official channel for the prolific local alt-rock musician, which has a LOT of ground to cover from the past decade, so look for this on or around September 26th, and for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!