LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Vanity Updates, And New Cover Videos!!

I wasn't expecting to have a new post on the SMS today, but a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT came to my attention, so I wanted to get this up just in time before I missed the show entirely! To fill things out, we have a couple of new cover videos and big updates from a rising young punk band, so here's what you should know!

Local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for a matinee concert TODAY! I profusely apologize for the short notice, this show was originally announced via its Facebook event page on February 27th, but it completely slipped us by at the time (note that the event page was through his personal account, not his proper solo project's Facebook group). Tym was last seen at the downtown Reggie's exactly one month ago, and if you're familiar with his unplugged classic and hard rock covers and very prolific setlist, you should expect lots of entertaining music from Tym TODAY! Yes, this is a matinee as usual for his Sunday gigs at Reggie's, and everything starts at 3:00 PM (again, I'm sorry for the late notice!) Expect a 19+ age limit and no cover charge, and while this will be Tym's first public show since vaccine passport rules were lifted, face masks are mandatory for one week longer, with that mandate lifting on March 21st.

While restrictions are loosening, please respect any posted health guidelines and recommendations at Reggie's to ensure that everyone has a safe time TODAY! See above for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, here's the latest from local punk quartet Vanity, who have quietly modified their name to Vanity First circa March 6th, as per updates across their online pages & channels. A reason for the name change was not announced, but it could be related to the Vanity name being extremely common, with eight bands on Bandcamp using the name Vanity alone, including two who give punk as a genre. Tags used on Facebook since seem to indicate that they might use Vanity as a shortform name still, and the name change does not apply to their demo EP from last month. I'm cool with the extended name, especially as it's more distinct! While still just Vanity, the guys had been teasing recording a song at Mission Control Studios with producer Dustin Jones last month, and they confirmed on Monday that the song in question is their existing original "Playboy Magazine", as featured on their demo.

The proper studio version of "Playboy Magazine" will be released on Wednesday at 11:00 AM, and it will be Vanity First's Spotify debut, so keep that in mind in case it's not imminently posted elsewhere! The guys documented the sessions on their TikTok page, with videos including this slideshow of the guys recording in studio alongside a very chipper backing track and a female announcer (and a katana?!), plus this short clip of them recording backing vocals. Most recently, they posted this preview of the "Playboy Magazine" re-recording, so let those 15 seconds tide you over until Wednesday! The vocal recording clip aside, all were cross-posted on their Facebook page, but Vanity First have uploaded a couple of Facebook exclusive videos in the past week, including a black & white clip of guitarist Mikhal Muto covering the guitar solo from Megadeth's "Tornado of Souls". I love that song, and he did a good job with it, shame the video doesn't have the whole track!

Embedded below is Vanity's last video before announcing the name change, a multi-camera music video cover of Green Day's "When I Come Around" from March 4th featuring multiple angles of the guys performing in studio intercut with frontman Andrew Beggs singing the verses while walking to the right, destination unclear. I wouldn't have had the aspect ratio switch from landscape to portrait orientation for the Andrew walking scenes, and the colour of the clips is too inconsistent as cameras change, but the editing and performance are solid otherwise! Give all of Vanity First's updates a look above & below, and look for their new single on Wednesday!

Finally for today, here's a new cover video from prolific local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page on Wednesday, here featuring Chase tackling Black Sabbath's "N.I.B."! This video features heavy post-production filtering, adding a green tint and a mirrored background layer, with the performance proper being acoustic with reserved yet increasingly ominous vocals and lots of crazy fingerwork on the solo (alas, out of frame). Solid and creative stuff again from Chase, so give this cover a watch below, and visit Facebook to see his detailed response about what his musical background and influences were!

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