New Videos From Three Sault Ontario Bands, Plus Assorted Sault Michigan Updates!!

After a day off from the SMS following a busy weekend of late notice show announcements, we're back on this snowy Sunday morning with a batch of new videos and linked updates from three local hard rock bands, two of which fans haven't seen much of in the 2020s so far! To round things out, we have a few shorter notes from the E.U.P., but let's kick things off in Ontario!

Local power rock band Re:Born appear to be getting back into the public swing of things, and to that end, they are back to a five-piece lineup, as they have enlisted A Dire Setback frontman Chris Nielsen as their new second guitarist (replacing the long-since departed Frank McGillivray), while his cousin Elijah Nielsen (ex-Electric Church) has also joined the band on bass, replacing Fred Dunn. A reason for Fred's departure has not been publically announced, and while I do know the details, I don't feel comfortable sharing them out of respect for Fred & the band. Hopefully we see Fred back out there down the line! The new lineup can be seen playing together at their regular jam space in photos uploaded to their Facebook page yesterday, as well as this live video of them covering Motley Crue's "Live Wire" (judging by the extra attendees in frame, this was clearly more than just a rehearsal).

If memory serves, Re:Born only played one formal concert as a quintet with Elly on vocals before Frank moved, so it's nice to see a two pronged guitar attack again here, and the Nielsens appear to be holding their own on this cover, but who knows when we'll hear more, either on video or in concert. Re:Born haven't played live in almost two years, and you can guess the primary reason why not, but hopefully it won't be too much longer before they emerge from hibernation! Check out their solid Motley Crue cover below!

Next up, local Tool tribute band Parabol are back, complete with a brand new Facebook page! As you may recall, this supergroup had been a live act for about a year starting in October 2018, playing a number of well received local concerts during that span, but their original Facebook page was quietly taken down circa January 2020, and they have not played live since. If you're to believe personal discussions after the fact, the band never broke up, and the page was taken down by Facebook over copyright infringement warnings (in other words, Parabol sounded too close to Tool in shared videos). If true, it's not that far fetched, as Parabol's live shows were sonically faithful! This new Facebook page was actually created back in May 2020, and while I do apologize for only adding them back to our active band links now, they also haven't played live in over two years for obvious reasons.

Alongside photos from their October 2019 headlining date at Soo Blaster (still their most recent live appearance), Parabol shared two videos last May, including a montage of Tool covers set to live photos of the band, and the video embedded below of them playing "Lateralus" at the same concert. Strongly done rendition with nice professional stage lighting, though I'd have positioned the camera in a more central spot to better capture the band on such a big stage, especially with how hard it is to see Anthony. Still great to see him, John, Steve, and Al back, and hopefully they can play proper public concerts again when the time is right, but for now, check out both videos!

Also today, here's two new minute-long videos of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck live at Reggie's West on Friday! Posted to their Facebook page last night in advance of night #2 of their short notice weekend there, the videos appear to both be shot by singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver while on stage, effectively making these trio performances with guitarist Terry Eaton on lead vocals. One video features Soundcheck playing a song that, for the life of me, I cannot identify, partly because of Terry's vocals being very muddled through this camera, though it sounds like late '70s/early '80s classic rock. Embedded below is Soundcheck (minus Cameron) covering Golden Earring's "Radar Love". While the vantage point from front & center of the stage is sure interesting, and defeats that cursed pole that often covers up Paul, the muddy audio quality, jittery camera angle, and vertical orientation don't help.

Despite the technical issues with Cameron's camera, Soundcheck sound good on these covers, and the point-of-view angle is definitely unique, so give them a look above and below, and hopefully last night's Reggievelt show went off without a hitch! We'll let you guys know if Soundcheck are playing anywhere on late notice this coming weekend!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, all reflecting Sault Michigan bands in one form or another! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• I have moved local hard rock solo project Hubbard to our inactive band links due to a year's public activity. Led by 415E/Rhythm & Brews guitarist Chris Hubbard, his solo output has been limited to just sporadic teasers on Hubbard's Facebook page towards things going on in studio, last updating fans on October 22nd of last year. Now, Hubbard have been publically silent for longer than this before, having went 15 months between Facebook posts in 2018-2019, so Chris could still be hard at work behind the scenes. Regardless, follow his two live bands in the interim!
  
• Local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 have enlisted Oddfellow alum Odin Osogwin as their new drummer, replacing Gary Croad, as per their Facebook page on Friday. A reason for Gary's departure was not publically announced, but the band oddly didn't acknowledge a drummer change until after promoting that night's Strongs Tavern show. Gary had joined Project 906 in February, and he seemed like a good fit with the 906 camp for their return gigs from June onward, but Odin's drum skill is well established, and it's good to see him back in a local band after way too long!
• Local hard rock quartet Tarnished have finally identified their new bassist as Isaac Royer, as per videos that the band exclusively shared as Facebook "stories" on Friday night where he and frontman Alex Traynor hyped up their Rapids Lounge concerts over the weekend. Remember, Facebook "stories" can only be seen twice before they vanish forever, unless separately posted on their Facebook page, which Tarnished did not do for those clips. Isaac joined the band in August, allowing Alex to move back to guitar following their most recent trio run, and he has seemed to fit in well with Tarnished so far! Look for more from their camp soon!

 

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