LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Buddy Repperton & The Camaros), A New Local Band, And New Videos!!

Here's another news post on this Friday morning, including a pair of new videos from Sault Ontario, but let's lead off in Sault Michigan for a new local metal band with some very familiar faces and a nice & heavy sound, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT regarding their first show!

We have a new Sault Michigan metal band to add to our band links, and they are Buddy Repperton & The Camaros! The name is a reference to the Stephen King book/movie Christine, no one in the band is named Buddy Repperton. Launched in February of last year, the band's lineup consists of former From The Ashes Of Angels singer/guitarist David Waite, Half A Man/Tarnished alum Doug Reed on guitar, and 415E bandmates Brett Blackwood (also of Rhythm & Brews) on bass and Jason VanLuven (formerly of Chump Change & Paradise Excuse) on drums. David & Jason were the founders of The Camaros, and they have been working on original songs since their debut. Videos of them playing their own tracks and some covers made up most of their social media updates last year, and you can see those videos on their Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Instagram page. That all said, how do Buddy Repperton & The Camaros sound?

Not bad at all, and if you've wanted a unqualified "metal" band in the E.U.P., as opposed to hard rock or hair band covers, these guys will fit the bill! David's vocals remind me of Kirk Windstein from Crowbar at times here (good to see him move back to the area), and their sound has a heavy driving sound with very solid riffs that go very well on songs like "Say Their Names" & "One More Round"! Props to any local band for covering Sacred Reich too, they're an awesome thrash metal band who deserve more attention! You can hear multiple takes of their originals (at least 5 are posted between YouTube and Facebook, some featuring just David & Jason early on), but when will Buddy & The Camaros make their live concert debut? Well, how does Saturday, April 23rd sound? The guys will rock out at Three One Three on Ashmun (the former Back Door) that night, marking the first heavier concert there that we've covered since 2018!

With a year to prepare and dial in their setlist and originals, hopefully David, Doug, Brett, and Jason will rock everyone's socks off next month! An opening band called The Nameless are also advertised, of whom I know nothing, but I will let you guys know if anything is announced. Expect a 21+ age limit, 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a skateboard giveaway(?!), so visit the above links for current details on this show and the new band! Hope to hear more from them soon, it's great to see another original metal band in Sault Michigan, and here's The Camaros playing another new song of theirs, "Total Annihilation"!

Next up, we've let this slide for a little too long, but young Sault Ontario punk quartet Vanity First (née just Vanity) released their full studio version of "Playboy Magazine" onto Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music on Wednesday, April 16th as scheduled! Of course, all are free streaming platforms, but if you do want to support the band by buying a physical CD, contact them to see if their pre-name change demo EP is still available (it has the prior version of this song). I'll hold comment for now, as I plan to review the original take of this song when I review the EP in likely May, but the recording quality at Mission Control Studios is obviously far improved. Give "Playboy Magazine" a listen below!

Finally, here's a new/old song from defunct local grunge trio No Arrow! Presumably uploaded to frontman Dann Pichette's YouTube channel towards submission for an episode of You Rock! with Thomas Christ (yes, I'll be covering more episodes of that show soon), this 2009 recording is called "Lighter", and it was uploaded on March 8th. A solid quality recording, this song has more of a laid back, 1970s feel while still having that 1990s alternative essence, and while I like my No Arrow more aggressive, I can see this catching on with No Arrow's new fans! Check it out below, and look for more from You Rock! next week!

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