LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906, Soundcheck, And The Wyld Stallyns) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

A busy weekend of hard rock concerts is ahead, so let's break things up into two posts as we bridge June & July! To spread things out, this weekend's Bone Yard, Rhythm & Brews, and Tym Morrison shows will be previewed on the site tomorrow, so do not worry, they are coming (as is our Rotaryfest Stage 2 lineup coverage, check back on Saturday for that!)

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT as part of their Canada Day party! Apologies for the short notice, this was announced via the official Facebook event page on Tuesday, June 21st but it slipped us by at the time.  Last seen at the car show at the new A&W this past weekend, Soundcheck are definitely no strangers to Shooters in 2022, and clearly their gigs there have went well to warrant them getting called for a big holiday event like this! Shooters will also be hosting a costume contest TOMORROW, with a secret prize going to the best dressed attendee (as in, Canada-themed attire). If you're interested in taking part in that, keep it in mind! TOMORROW'S festivities begin at 8:00 PM, there's no cover charge, and there's a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, local acoustic funk/hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns' busy summer schedule continues with two big outdoor gigs this weekend, including their previously announced Poutine Feast set on SATURDAY, but before then, they'll be playing at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion TOMORROW during the official city Canada Day celebrations! Again, apologies for the short notice, a schedule for the day's events only made its way to Facebook earlier this week. The Stallyns will actually be the curtain jerking band under the tent on SATURDAY, so if their fun and often heavy cover selection is your main focus, you don't have to wait long to see it, and with them being covered from the elements (intentional pun), the show won't be called off! Of course, the music is just part of the family friendly entertainment downtown on SATURDAY, including food vendors, kids activities, tall ship tours, and more, so definitely check out the official poster for the full itinerary!

The band schedule features classic rock cover quintet Encore headlining at 8:00 PM (expect fireworks at the waterfront after 9:30 PM once dusk occurs), an apparent one-off Abba tribute band with local members at 6:45 PM, Peterborough ventriloquist Tim Holland (who will also be busking in the afternoon) at 5:45 PM, young local pop singer Tianna Legacy at 4:45 PM, Tim again at 3:45 PM, and The Wyld Stallyns at 2:45 PM, with the formal opening ceremonies taking place at 2:00 PM. This is absolutely FREE & ALL AGES, and while the bands are under the tent, the forecast calls for sunny 18° weather. See the above links for more on this show, but again, that's not all, as The Stallyns' will also be on the bill on Saturday during the Poutine Feast outside of outside of the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site at 800 Bay Street! Not only does the touring poutine/food truck festival finally return for the long weekend, there will be live music each day!

As you can see above, the live music (sort of a mini-preview of this year's Rotaryfest lineup) started earlier this afternoon with day 1 of the Poutine Feast, but Christina, Rob, Jesse, and Jonas hit the outdoor stage on Saturday at 11:00 AM, preceding a headlining set by DJ Seith at 2:00 PM. Like Canada Day, the Poutine Feast is FREE & ALL AGES (only pay for what you buy), and as this will be fully outdoors, the weather will thankfully be steady from Friday.  Best of luck to The Stallyns on this busy community weekend with their shows TOMORROW and Saturday, so see above for full details, and here they are live at the Pavilion!

Finally for today's previews, let's head to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for new dates from local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906's Facebook page, including a show at Bird's Eye Outfitters in Sault Ste. Marie THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, the band only announced that date on their Facebook page on Monday, though they did specify that the venue "invited us" to play. Project 906 had been taking a break since February to work on new songs for their set, and so hopefully their 4+ months away paid off with an entertaining set of hard rock covers on SATURDAY and beyond! Aside from a private party next week, the guys will play rare hard rock concerts at The Islander Bar in Hessel (which we last previewed a show at in 2015) on Friday, July 22nd and Saturday, August 20th, interleaved with shows at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman on Friday, August 12th & Saturday, Septemebr 24th.

While only one of these dates (THIS SATURDAY's) is in the Soo proper, E.U.P. fans of Project 906 now know a bunch of upcoming chances to see Billy, Joe, Dustin, and Odin in action, so fans won't want to miss out! SATURDAYs Bird's Eye Outfitters show has a 7:00 PM start time, the Islander Bar shows start at 8:00 PM, and their Strongs Tavern return dates kick off at 9:00 PM, but all are 21+ events with no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more on these shows, and for a preview of their Bird's Eye show, here is 906 live!

That's all for today, but we'll be back for more weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Chase Wigmore - "Sonic Apocalypse" Album Review!!

It's now time for our 156th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and keeping with our ongoing backlog of new metal, hard rock, and punk album releases, let's look at prolific local extreme metal/folk punk solo artist Chase Wigmore's newest album "Sonic Apocalypse" today! Released on April 6th, this is Chase's twenty-fifth album by release date on his Bandcamp page (note that not all of his prior albums or EPs are there), and it's the first one that was immediately on sale from it's online premiere since 2019, which is why it's taken me almost two years to review another one of Chase's albums. Independently recorded last year and into early 2022, "Sonic Apocalypse" was "recorded passionately" by Chase alone using candidly sub-optimal equipment, with him on all instruments, vocals, and programming. "Sonic Apocalypse" is on sale on Bandcamp on a "name your price" model, so you can get it for free if you so choose.

You can also stream the album for free there, but of course, consider buying the album to support Chase's work! No word on physical copies, but note that Chase hasn't played formal public concert sets to sell them at since the pandemic began. With seven songs running for about 37 minutes, let's begin this review with the kinda-sorta title track!

The album opens with it's shortest song, "The Apocalypse Of Sound", which immediately signals that this is an extreme metal album, with Chase breaking out his black metal-inspired vocals to boot! The song, however, has more of a leisurely paced rhythm with a bouncy riff and a traditional verse/chorus structure, it's just the vocals that take this off of a conventional road in the first half. A bridge does lead into a more chaotic (if still melodic) stretch that lets Chase show off on guitar, but the song does get messier at this stage. The atypical structure won't be for everyone, but it's a fun & varied track! Next is "Angry & Jealous God", which immediately lets Chase's guitar skill take center stage with some fun melodies and solid riffs, but his distorted vocals here are very ephemeral to the experience and just add noise to the audio.

The pacing and rhythm keep up their melodic edge, if in a way that better serves the genre, and the song improves as it goes with more strong soloing to demonstrate Chase's talents! Better song than the opener, though it seriously could have been an instrumental. Third on the album is "Mad Scientists & Witch Doctors", whose lo-fi recording methods and programmed drums show in the audio quality the most here compared to earlier tracks. A slower and more deliberate song, Chase does sing clean on this one, albeit with obvious effects to add a sinister overtone, and the song plods along in a dark, ominous tone until his guitar solo (fittingly rough in tone) pops in. More vocal effects and laughter also pepper the bridge, but it ends on a cleaner, upbeat fade-out. Interesting experimental song whose ups make up for its downs!

The middle song on offer is "Black Storm", which is the purest black metal song yet based on the structure and intensity of vocals, but Chase still lays down a very classic rock-inspired guitar riff underneath it all that almost feels like it's playing at a different speed than the vocals. I like how they contrast here, and this song has Chase's best vocal performance yet, but the second half is purely an instrumental, and the song gets darker in tone while still keeping up with the nice guitar melodies of earlier. One of the best songs for me, I like the differing styles mixed up here! Next is "Sacrifices", which is the album's first instrumental. It opens with a minute-long sonic collage before getting into metal territory, albeit with some more casual guitar strumming breaks, and while not a shredder's valhalla, it does have strong instrumental showcases throughout! "Sacrifices" doesn't strive for more than what it is, but it's a strong instrumental that fans will enjoy!

The penultimate song is "The Algorhythm Of Soul" (any relation to the local cover band The Algo Rhythms is unintentional), and this one makes heavy use of post-production effects and techno-inspired elements, so fans of Chase's work as/in The Black Lodge Masters will appreciate this! There are vocals in the mix, but this is effectively another instrumental, and it's organized chaos for the duration. If you like chaotic drum & bass/techno music, this will do the trick, but it's not my cup of tea compared to Chase's preceding metal songs. The album closes with (by far) its longest track, "In The Name Of The Master", which runs for over 13 minutes! As such, this is a hard song to succinctly break down, but Chase does bring back vocals briefly, as well as the most prominent keyboard part yet. The song starts slow and deliberate, moves into dark territory, and gets fast and brutal quick, with the midsection delivering Chase's most blistering guitar work!

The keyboard playing does seem very out of place when it more obviously re-enters the song, but this song is effectively just a long showcase of Chase's multi-instrumental talents, especially on guitar, and while long, it's never boring. I do think the song does suffer a bit from a lack of structure as it goes, but as a pure talent display, Chase delivers the goods! So, what are my final thoughts on "Sonic Apocalypse"? Overall, it's a fun album that will appeal to fans of Chase's metal material, while also containing enough lead guitar flourish to appease fans of his solo video uploads! Compared to his previous album (to have a paid release upon launch) "One Last Act Of Defiance", this mostly focused on contrasting black metal & distorted harsh vocals with atypically melodic guitar work, and while that mix had its ups & downs, "Black Storm" balanced the line very well, and the epic closer shows us why Chase's playing is must-see!

Production-wise, Chase was candid about how "Sonic Apocalypse" came together, but with minor exceptions, it sounds fine aside from sometimes too-obvious drum machine work. In terms of things I'd change... the processing on Chase's vocals could be overdone (especially on "Angry & Jealous God"), songs sometimes lacked in structure, and if you're not into industrial music, "The Algorhythm Of Sound" will not be as appealing. Still, as a dark slice of extreme alt-metal, Chase delivers the goods for fans of his metal work, and definitely consider buying or streaming it for yourself at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and our run of backlogged new album reviews continues in July, and it will be a new album by revived local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage, but which one? I originally planned to look at "Hell Bent Heaven Sent", but as it turns out, it's not a newly released album.

The canon release date on Bandcamp is January 1st of last year, despite the delayed Reverbnation release, but there is another. On June 1st, the band released "Wyrd Radio 2: Kype The Jesus Boots, Gospels According To Sykotyk Rampage", a triple length concept album that I will be covering in an upcoming post, and that is new. It will probably be our longest album ever reviewed on the site, but it is next in release order, so that will show up likely later in the month! That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Wednesday Night Concert Previews, Plus New Videos!!

A busy week for local hard rock concerts is getting an early start tomorrow, so today's post is half devoted to previews of two Wednesday night shows, plus new videos to wrap things up with. Here's what you should know!

The current weekly concert arrangement for local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post will continue for its fifth straight week TOMORROW, but we'll also add Tym's presumed Wednesday nighters in July there to our concert calendar as well! Unless otherwise stated for weather or other conflicting issues, Tym should be back at The Trading Post at 1332 Great Northern Road on July 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th, so if you're up for some Wednesday evening hard and classic rock covers at this busy spot, you know when in July! Remember, The Mike Case Memorial Stage hosts live music seasonally through September. Before all that, Tym will be rocking out acoustically tomorrow night at 7:00 PM with no age limit or cover charge (the same applies next month), and 9&10 News is calling for cloudy weather at around 18° tomorrow. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, here's another mid-week concert preview, as Toronto pop punk quartet Wasting Time will play Sault Ontario for the first time with a headlining date at Soo Blaster TOMORROW NIGHT! A relatively newer punk band touring in support of their new album "Once More Without Feeling", Wasting Time's brand of skate & pop punk will definitely find a willing audience in this city, so if you can swing coming out on a work/school night, don't miss Wasting Time's energetic style of punk rock tomorrow! Rising young hard/psychedelic rock quartet The Uncanny Valley will also perform tomorrow in their first public concert set of 2022, after dropping out of the Clusterfolk Music Festival on short notice. While not a punk band, The Uncanny Valley have a lot of talent and promise so far, and definitely don't bypass them! Be advised that the Facebook event page lists The Uncanny Valley above Wasting Time, despite being the local band.

Whether this is accurate (perhaps reflecting Wasting Time's scheduling crunch given their Thunder Bay gig on Thursday night) or just a result of The Uncanny Valley's own maintenance of the online marketing is not clear. Either way, don't be late! $15 advance tickets are still on sale at this link or presumably at the door, but the door charge will jump to $20. This is a 19+ event, and doors open at 8:00 PM. The mid-week scheduling is very unfortunate, but them's the breaks for many touring acts in many markets, and hopefully a sizeable crowd of punk and hard rock fans come out for this double bill tomorrow! See above, and here's Wasting Time live!

We'll close today with new videos, starting with videos of local punk band Vanity First's... first public concert set (Korah events aside) at Queen Elizabeth Park for the Go Skateboarding Day festivities last week! Uploaded to their YouTube channel the following day, three videos were uploaded from their set, including a cover of Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name" from a closer vertical camera angle, and two videos from a more distant hill-top, namely their own "Playboy Magazine" and as embedded below, a cover of Catch 22's "Giving Up, Giving In" (solid choice!). It should be noted that these videos and Vanity's photos from their Relay For Life gig at Korah earlier this month show them playing as a trio with singer Andrew Beggs doubling up on bass. This would seem to confirm that bassist Nick McClelland has left the band, having last been pictured with the group in March.

A reason for Nick's apparent departure hasn't been announced, but guitarist Mikhal Muto had posted about a bassist search on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, so it looks like this is why. Hopefully nothing bad happened with Nick, he wasn't a bad bassist from what I've heard! As for the videos, they are solid for sound quality, and while the video quality is variable (either for distance or orientation), you do get a nice view of the stage in proximity with the ramp and the skating action! Give these a watch above & below, and stay tuned for more from Vanity First!

Finally for today, let's head to Sault Michigan for a new video from local classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel last week! The black & white video features guitarist Steve Giles playing guitar alongside a MIDI guitar string ensemble track. The performance may not seem like much is going on, but Steve's deliberate strumming is changing the notes of the strings. Very slow and drawn out, but it fills the minute-long runtime, and it'll be interesting to see how things progress for Theatre of Night's non-Christmas material! Check it out below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rotaryfest Stage 1!!)

As you may have seen since last week, the official lineup for Rotaryfest's Stage 1 at Clergue Park has officially been unveiled! The festival's Facebook page did so via separate Facebook event pages for each act, primarily between Tuesday and Friday, but I held off on announcing anything in an SMS post until the last open timeslot (Saturday at 2:00 PM) was filled, which belatedly occurred earlier today. After being reduced to a delayed virtual concert setup in 2020 and a drive-in format at Lowe's Plaza last year due to pandemic restrictions, Stage 1 is back at the familiar pop-up stage at Clergue Park outside of the Centennial Library from Thursday, July 14th-Saturday, July 16th, and with the pandemic at a much better state in 2022, it looks like we're back to normal or close to it for live music at Rotaryfest! Of course, visit the official website for continuing non-musical details, and we are awaiting the reveal of the returning Second Stage's full lineup (the Friday schedule is out already).

Like every year from 2001-2019,  Stage 1 (presented by the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation) will have three days of covers-leaning live music, though as has been the case since 2018, select scheduled bands will have original music in their repertoire and are not stuck on Stage 2 as a result, though I believe original acts remain the Second Stage's focus. This year's Stage 1 lineup has 20 acts, up from 15 last year at Lowe's Plaza, so here's what you should know via three LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Unless there's a late addition, Thursday, July 14th will only have four bands this year, the first time Stage 1 at Clergue Park hasn't had five announced acts since 2014, and this is the only night without a 10:00 PM act. As such, the advertised 9:00 PM headliners are classic rock cover quartet L!me in their second Stage 1 set, last seen there in 2019. Featuring Id Iota and Rising Tide alumni, L!me are a talented young group seen often in the Soo, and while not a hard rock band, don't bypass them! Co-headlining that night are local funk/hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns in their second straight Rotaryfest appearance, though no word on if they'll be plugged in again or back to acoustic. The Speers and company should entertain fans with their accessible but often heavy cover range! Vintage classic rock trio Flathead Ford will hit Stage 1 for the fifth time and first since 2017 with a set at 7:00 PM, while The Northern Jazz Ensemble will open the day at 6:00 PM.

The only band to play the last three Stage 1s, this jazz/pop collective have entertained Rotaryfest attendees twelve times since 2001, and they should kick things off well on the former jazz night for the main stage! Thursday's action is FREE & ALL AGES as usual, so visit the above links for more on the opening evening's musical entertainment!

Friday, July 15th's lineup is back to the six act setup of 2017-2019, and will be headlined at 10:00 PM by Rotaryfest newcomers Angry Joe & The Growlers, an established classic rock quartet who you may have seen on the weekend cover circuit since 2018. The most common Stage 1 band in the modern era will co-headline, as classic rock quintet Mustang Heart are on at 9:00 PM in their seventeenth Stage 1 set in the past eighteen years! Mustang Heart do cover hard rock in their vast setlist, so don't write them off! In a surprise reveal last week, local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith will return home for his Stage 1 debut at 8:00 PM! This is effectively the long delayed realization of his planned 2020 full band concert at LopLops, with the same band from his Steeltown Sessions video (A Dire Setback's Chris Nielsen & Matt Quinn plus his old Din bandmate Brandan Glew) backing him up.

It's great to see Mike back home for a non-acoustic gig, and with the Stage 1 platform to boot (The Din only got to play Stage 2), so fans won't wanna miss this one! Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession precede Mike in the 7:00 PM timeslot, in their twelfth Rotaryfest set in the past fourteen years, but first public concert in over two months after two cancellations. A special guest named Jessica Amadio will be joining them for at least part of the set, though I don't know what instrument she'll handle. Hopefully Valerie, Gabe, Jim, and Steve deliver a strong and hard rocking set once again! Classic rock cover veterans RPM will return to Rotaryfest in the 6:00 PM slot for their second appearance, last playing Stage 1 in 2016, The opening band at 5:00 PM will be Stage 1 newcomers Ladies Sing The Blues, a classic rock/R&B project led by Obsession's Valerie Powley and Spyder's Web's Shirley Kominos.

Both ladies are obviously talented singers and they should set the tone well on Friday, if a change of pace from the heavier set that Obsession will bring in a couple of hours! Again, everything is FREE & ALL AGES for music fans on Friday, so see above for more details!

Like usual, the Saturday, July 16th lineup is the longest and has the featured touring headliners, so what ten acts can you expect? As has been the case since 2015, a local band will actually close Saturday night, and like last year, it'll be southern hard rock cover band Bone Yard, in their eighth Stage 1 set since their festival debut in 2010, but first with their current trio lineup. Another solid opportunity for Greg, Alex, and Warren to rock out on the big stage, so don't miss them at 10:30 PM! This year's featured touring headliners are Montreal-based Queen tribute band Queen Flash in their local debut, but Queen fans are quite spoiled locally, having just seen Queen: It's A Kinda Magic in May! Two tributes in two months may seem like too much too soon, but Queen Flash will be free, and while still very faithful to the Queen sound, they are their own animal entirely, so don't miss them at 8:30 PM!

Classic rock cover veterans Mid Life Crysis will hit Stage 1 for third straight year & ninth time overall at 7:10 PM, but before them at 6:00 PM is a surprise second touring act, namely Toronto roots/folk musician Julian Taylor, a Juno Award nominee who you may recognize from the rock band Staggered Crossing, as seen locally at the former Foggy Notions and on 2003's "Foggy Style" compilation CD, so it'll be neat to see him back in town with his accomplished solo material! Local country singer & Summer Thunder alum Brendan Hodgson will return to Stage 1 for the second straight year at 5:00 PM, while four consecutive Stage 1 newcomers precede him, including new local classic rock cover trio The Sidekicks (featuring ex-Griphook bassist Dan Beaupre) at 4:00 PM. Also playing Rotaryfest for the first time are local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek at 3:00 PM in one of their biggest shows yet, though no word on another merchandise giveaway.

New local classic rock/blues cover band All The Tired Horses (featuring Treble Charger's Bill Priddle and Id Iota alumni Robert Sartini & Blair St. John) will hit the stage at 2:00 PM, while local country duo The Jeff & Jeff Show (who opened for Bone Yard at the Queen Street Cruise) will perform beforehand at 1:00 PM. Saturday's lineup opens at 12:00 PM with a surprise reunion of nine-piece horn-laden classic rock band Pegasus, who debuted in 1973, and came back for the Rotaryfest anniversary year in 2018. Once again, Saturday's music is FREE & ALL AGES, so absolutely check the above links for more on this stacked Stage 1 lineup, and stay tuned for more news & notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: soanso77's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we're again looking at a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts, in order to spotlight their content for current readers! This month's channel takes us back to YouTube's early years for quite a prominent local band at their absolute peak, so here's what you should know!

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soanso77's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/soanso77)

Owner: As far as I can tell, Inner City Surfers guitarist Dave Bahun, also known from many past local bands like Room 206 and Brad Example & The Role Models

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 2nd, 2006; Videos uploaded from that day through October 1st, 2007

Channel Summary: While the channel isn't branded to the band, soanso77's uploads all revolve around inactive local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers from the height of their local fame in the mid-2000s, all preceding the release of their fourth CD (the self-titled "black album") in the fall of 2007. These include two live performance videos, a music video, a blooper video, and short clips of Dustin & Mikey singing a Meat Loaf song on the road and making loon calls outside.
 
Why You Should Watch: There's not a ton of content here, but it's spread across a lot of different types of videos that will definitely appeal to fans of The Surfers from a time when their momentum was higher than ever, and fans of their classic era will find a lot to like (and laugh at) here, despite the 15-16 year old video quality obviously lacking as time progresses! Note that an official Inner City Surfers channel existed at this same time period, albeit also containing just six videos, and neither was updated through the end of this run of the band in 2013, nor their 2019-2020 reunion.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

The Inner City Surfers - The Fall Guy: Dave's first upload is, despite appearances, a rehearsal blooper from Foggy Notions (now Coch's Corner) in mid-2006 when they were trying to play "Booze N' Doobs" from 2002's "Laughing On The Outside" (with a black album re-recording ahead). Things are amusingly derailed when bassist Brad "Example" Lacell tried to take a jump off of a floor monitor and literally became "the fall guy", leading to some amusing reactions from his bandmates! This is expanded to 4 minutes with self deprecation at the show proper where Brad notes that he's now a stuntman, time shifted replays, and post-fall reactions from the band & onlookers, with subtitles & audio overdubs of the intended song as well. Funny diversion, though audio clarity is obviously a concern in 2022.

Inner City Surfers - Panama (cover) Live at Foggy's: The two full concert videos on this channel come from a Foggy Notions concert in September 2006 as filmed by the now-defunct Killing Television Productions. One features The Surfers (also including singer/guitarist Dustin Jones & drummer Mikey Hawdon) playing their heavier original "10 Commandments" from their 2000 self titled CD, but featured here is a rare cover of Van Halen's "Panama" (as their covers go, this is a huge change from "I've Been Everywhere"!) While the video quality 16 years later obviously suffers, Killing Television shot both of these videos with lots of disparate camera angles in Foggy's, and the audio is still respectable! While it was clearly hot based on their lack of shirts, everyone performs strongly, and "Panama" was a good pick to let Dave let loose with a killer guitar solo!

Inner City Surfers - "What A Life": soanso77's final upload was also his most popular by quite a lot, with over 14,000 people seeing the official music video for "What A Life" from their October 2007 self-titled album (and last studio album to date). Curiously uploaded in extreme widescreen (we're talking Ultra Panavision 70 here) and stretched to these dimensions, the video features the guys playing the verses to accompany the people being sung about in the song during their daily lives (yes, that is Studio 10 in the first chorus), alongside performance clips of The Surfers at the lakefront with some ladies in bikinis/beach wear, and eventually, rocking out at Foggy Notions once more. Well made video of this laid back and very casual original song that remains a Surfers favourite to this day!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, we'll look at multiple channels after a run of single channel installments, as our first randomly selected channel only has two band videos from one concert, and ditto for my second try, so we have three different channels next time out. Coincidentally, all are of Sault Michigan bands in concert, believe it or not! Those are via YouTube users wirelessguy6969 (Abstract, a.k.a. Tantrym Tyme), LondonGentlemenn (The London Gentlemen, obviously), and Pacoheadley (Banned), so look for those on or around July 26th! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison & Soundcheck), Plus New Videos!!

Today's post took big detour from what was originally planned due to SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, both regarding Sunday matinee gigs, and new video footage of one of tomorrow's acts, but some recent videos from another local band will still cap things off as planned from before. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will be playing at a car show TOMORROW outside of the A&W at 659 Great Northern Road! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this gig via their Facebook event page this morning, but it was acknowledged previously on personal accounts. This might seem atypical for Soundcheck at first, but you may recall seeing the guys playing outside of the new A&W for car shows in mid-2019, so now that the pandemic is in a much better state, those can happen again, and bands can play them again! TOMORROW'S car show is Cruisin' The Dub car, bike, and jeep show, and as the poster indicates, expect games, raffles, and refreshments along with the vehicles and live music. Soundcheck's wide ranging but often heavy setlist should provide a solid musical backdrop TOMORROW!

All proceeds from registrations and purchases on site will go to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada (great cause), but this is a FREE & ALL AGES event for general attendees, and the show runs from 1:00-3:00 PM. However, be advised that 9&10 News is calling for light rain TOMORROW during showtime, and the band's own event page says that the concert is "weather permitting", so hopefully the forecast comes up lucky for the band and attendees. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's some brand new videos of Soundcheck at Shooters Downstairs Lounge this past Saturday! Live-streamed by the venue's Facebook page, one is a short clip of Soundcheck covering Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" with guitarist Terry Eaton on lead vocals, but embedded below is a full video of them covering Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" with fellow guitarist Cameron Oliver singing lead instead.

Unfortunately, both are in the vertical cell phone orientation, but the audio quality holds up, and the filmer from Shooters got some nice angles of the band rocking out and the attendees dancing and enjoying the music, so if you're curious as to how Shooters looks on the inside, these will help you out! The monitor that displays relevant band logos above the drum kit has always been a nice touch. Check these out above and below, and if the weather cooperates, don't miss Soundcheck outside of the new A&W down Great Northern TOMORROW!

Next up, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for another Sunday matinee concert TOMORROW as well! Again, apologies for the short notice, the venue only announced this show via their Facebook page on Thursday, with Tym following suit with a Facebook event page yesterday. This is an unusually quick turnaround for Tym at Reggie's, having just played there this past Sunday too, and when he is booked for their Sunday matinee series, it's appears to be mostly on a once-a-month basis, so could this show be as a late fill-in? In any event, if you missed Tym at The Mike Case Memorial Stage on Wednesday (or can't make it to see him there next Wednesday), his deep setlist of classic and hard rock covers will keep the entertainment going TOMORROW! This 19+ show has no cover charge and a 3:00 PM start time. See above for more details on this matinee gig, and here's Tym live!

Let's wrap things up today, with a lot of new TikTok videos from St. Ignace metalcore quartet Heavy Lies The Crown! Singer Brandon West launched a TikTok page for the band way back in December 2020 (apologies for missing it), and there's way too much ground to cover with it, but let's at least sample what he's uploaded there. Posts on TikTok aren't normally promoted on their Facebook page, but Brandon's last two were acknowledged there teasers of him opening a box and asking fans to guess what it was (it's glowing, briefcase in Pulp Fiction style, but they're clearly teasing something with them). Otherwise, H.L.T.C. on TikTok is a mixture of preview clips, duets & stitches with other TikTok videos, and content shared from/more amenable to Brandon's personal TikTok page, including videos featuring his kids. The band's mascot Iggy Duck also appears, with Brandon donning that duck mask seen in Facebook teaser clips for some distorted vocal covers.

I wouldn't say TikTok is the source for Heavy Lies The Crown's major updates, and it looks more like a lighter diversion for fans of Brandon specifically and/or supporters who are better versed in the TikTok platform, but there is a lot to see, if not always 100% devoted to the band at large. Diehard fans should be curious though, so give everything a look above! The embed code for TikTok videos has never worked for me on the SMS. That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Alien To The Ignorant & Handsome Sandwich), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

After a recently rare day off for the SMS, we're back with this weekend's hard rock concert previews, including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know! (Yes, I am aware of the Rotaryfest lineup announcements in progress, stay tuned for more when Saturday's lineup and/or Stage 2 are revealed!)

Saskatchewan post-hardcore trio Alien To The Ignorant will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! Apologies for the short notice, this concert was only just announced via its official Facebook event page on Wednesday, and this is legitimately a late notice booking too. As you may recall, Alien To The Ignorant debuted here at local party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty's private venue Mellow D's Underground in October, and clearly good connections were made, as The A.A. have been working to get them a local date on their way back out west. There was apparently a venue change before The Rockstar Bar was locked in, but kudos to them for helping out, especially for a recently rare Friday night concert there! If you didn't request the new locale of Mellow D's last fall, you'll have missed Alien To The Ignorant's lively modern hardcore sound, so good thing they're back TOMORROW!

Like last fall, the aforementioned Apocalypse Afterparty will open in their first announced public concert of 2022, so look for more upbeat rap-influenced hard rock originals and covers from the Stanghettas! TOMORROW'S concert is a 19+ affair with doors opening at 7:00 PM, and despite the touring headliners, there is NO COVER CHARGE. If you can make it out TOMORROW, a diverse night of heavy music lies waiting, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Alien To The Ignorant live!

Next up, local alternative hard rock quartet Handsome Sandwich (or members thereof) will make their Shooters Downstairs Lounge debut TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was quietly announced on Wednesday the 15th on the band's Facebook page, but I didn't hear anything about it until this past weekend. While arguably better known from multi-band events, Handsome Sandwich have played solo headlining gigs on the weekend cover circuit before, and TOMORROW'S show at the Dennis Street nightclub fits in with that! The official poster notes that "members of Handsome Sandwich" are playing, with the name "Ourselves" given at the top, and that they'll be playing "radio hits", but the band proper have been plugging the show like normal on Facebook with no caveats, the full lineup is pictured in the poster, and they were an all-covers band before their pandemic hiatus anyway.

If the poster's very specific verbiage is accurate, does this mean that they're playing short-handed and/or with a guest fill-in, hence the Ourselves name and advertised covers focus? You can find out for sure TOMORROW at Shooters! A one nighter due to or resulting in classic rock cover quartet L!me's show there on Saturday, Handsome Sandwich (or "Ourselves") are on TOMORROW at 8:00 PM, expect a 19+ age limit, and there's no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Handsome Sandwich last year!

Lastly for currently known & announced hard rock concerts in the Soo this weekend, let's head to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to the stage for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! The last of the second-quarter-of-2022 dates that the band announced back in April via this schedule, these will be Bone Yard's first gigs since their outdoor sets at the Queen Street Cruise last week, and for what it's worth, the band revealed on their Facebook page this past Friday that local country duo Jeff & Jeff (featuring Jeff McNiece) opened for them both days, an aspect never announced by event organizers. Apologies for missing that, hopefully the Jeffs set the tone well! Bone Yard last played at the downtown Reggie's over a month ago, and their hard rocking brand of southern fried covers should go over well once again this weekend with fans & regulars alike!

While we're on the subject, Bone Yard's next show after this weekend will take place on Saturday, July 2nd, when they return to the aforementioned Shooters Downstairs Lounge! That show was newly  announced via the venue's Facebook event page yesterday, and will be their first show there since June 10th. Yes, it is a one nighter, as Shooters' Canada Day event on Friday the 1st is separately booked and I hope to cover that on the site shortly! Both this weekend's Reggie's shows and next Saturday's Shooters gig have 19+ age limits and no cover charges, and while the advertised start time at Reggie's is 9:00 PM, they're on at 8:00 PM at Shooters. Visit the Reggie's gigs' Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a new live-streamed videos of Bone Yard rocking out outside of GFL Memorial Gardens for the Queen Street Cruise this past Saturday afternoon!

The seven+ minute video starts with Bone Yard midway through a cover of Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show's "The Cover of "Rolling Stone" (my mom would have loved that) before playing their last song of that set, Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" with definitely more of a hard rock base as you might expect. Despite the vertical camera angle, the filmer did move around to get closer and more varied angles, so you can easily see where the stage was set up at the Cruise and how fans were enjoying the music. Nice quality too, and Bone Yard were on their game, so check it out for yourself below before you see them at Reggie's this weekend!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Kim Mitchell & Marianas Trench) And Details On The Mocha Concert Series!!

A special five day concert series will take place at GFL Memorial Gardens in September featuring major Canadian headlining acts for five consecutive nights! Named The Mocha Concert Series, these shows are fundraisers for The Mocha Fall Ceremonial, an annual convention for the Mocha Shriners Masonic society, who are based out of London but are affiliated with the Sault Shrine Club on Albert Street East. I'm not well versed in the Shriners outside of their fez hats and tiny cars, but they do great community work for local charities, children's hospital care, and sponsoring youth sports teams, and it is neat that the Mocha Shriners are holding their Ceremonial six hours north! If you're curious as to non-musical events at the convention, the program and the above links will fill you in, but of course, many of the events are primarily geared at Shriners members rather than the general public (there will be a parade though).

The Mocha Shriners clearly have the right connections to make a big deal out of the Ceremonial, partnering with national concert promoters F7 Entertainment to make all five of these shows happen, though be advised that the Facebook event page for the concert series says this is an "online event" despite tickets going on sale at the Memorial Gardens' box office tomorrow. If there is an online streaming component, I can't say, but these are in-person concerts. Of the five concerts, two have hard rock performers, the first truly heavier shows at the Gardens since the Offspring/Sum 41 show in late 2019, so these have been a long time coming! The three non-hard rock shows include Burlington indie pop band Walk Off The Earth & indie rock trio The Monowhales on Monday, September 19th, Calgary country singer Paul Brandt & Toronto country artist Owen Barney on Wednesday, September 21st,...

... and former Guess Who frontman Burton Cummings closing the concert series on Friday, September 23rd. Huge names for three very different genre ranges, and Owen aside, all have won Juno Awards, so definitely keep all three in mind if they interest you! That said, what about those two hard rock-featured concerts? Here's what you should know on them!

On Tuesday, September 20th, prepare for a wild party from a wild party, as former Max Webster frontman Kim Mitchell will return to the Soo for the first time in over fourteen years when he headlines at GFL Memorial Gardens! Well known domestically for hit singles like "Go For Soda", "Lager & Ale", and "Patio Lanterns", Kim has been a staple of Canadian rock radio for decades, and with his fun live show and excellent guitar work, fans won't wanna miss out in three months! Hard to believe he last played here at the Bell Border Jam at Runway Park in 2008. British Columbia alternative rock quintet 54-40 (of "Since When", "Casual Viewin'", and "Lies To Me" fame) will open in their first local concert appearance in recent memory, and while not as heavy, their own familiar and accessible range of hits should appeal to a wide array of fans this fall! Shame that all of these shows (Burton Cummings aside) are work/school nights.

The other concert during the Mocha Concert Series will see Vancouver pop punk quartet Marianas Trench return to the Soo for the fourth time when they headline at the Gardens on Thursday, September 22nd! You could call this the long delayed rescheduling of their planned November 2016 show there before an in-band illness forced it to to be cancelled (as such, this will be their first show here since playing at the then-Essar Centre in April 2013). I admit that my punk tastes lie elsewhere, but Marianas Trench have netted lots of familiar hit songs in Canada like "Shake Tramp", "All To Myself", and "Haven't Had Enough", so long-time fans will be chomping at the bit to see Josh & crew's pop rock stylings in town again! Nova Scotia hard rock quintet The Trews will open on September 22nd in their first local concert appearance since an acoustic gig at The Grand Theatre in 2009!

However, Trews fans have been waiting since their May 2008 gig at The Canadian to see them in their plugged-in splendor (Kim Mitchell fans can relate!) Well known from hit songs like "So She's Leaving", "Hold Me In Your Arms", and "Highway of Heroes", The Trews' rootsy and melodic brand of hard rock has been making fans for 20 years, and as someone who got into them relatively late, I'm glad to see them finally coming back to the Soo, even as openers! All shows in the Mocha Concert Series are all ages with announced start times of 8:00 PM, and while individual ticket prices are not out yet, this Sault Star article announcing the shows says that they will be in the $60-$80 range apiece. Written by Brian Kelly, the article features remarks by Shriners representative Dylan McLay, and it notes that concerts have replaced circuses in their event strategies, which seems like a good move.

Brian did incorrectly say that Marianas Trench did play the cancelled 2016 show here, but its a good article that paints an optimistic picture for this unusually stacked week of concerts this fall, and I hope these shows do well for the local concert scene and the Shriners alike! Any reason to encourage major touring headliners to stop here and play shows rather than drive straight on through to Thunder Bay or Sudbury! Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM at this link & at the in-person box office, and note that Shriners members will not get priority ticket availability. Visit the above links for much more on The Mocha Concert Series, and stay tuned for more on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Go Skateboarding Day 2022 & Tym Morrison Concert Previews!!

To start another work week at the SMS, here's another mid-week concert preview post, as we have hard rock/punk shows to spotlight over the next two days, including a major returning annual event with a stacked lineup, so here's what you should know!

After a pandemic-induced two year hiatus, Tidal Records will bring back its annual Go Skateboarding Day festivities and attached concert TOMORROW at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Center!  Of course, Go Skate Day is a special holiday to encourage people (especially youths) to, well, go skateboarding, and safely indulge in other extreme sports activities, and Tidal Records held local Go Skate Day events from 2013-2019, including live bands atop the ramp from 2014 onward. It's great to see Dustin and company back for a belated eighth year, and hopefully there's a great turnout of skateboarding and music fans tomorrow! Skate games, refreshments, and other family friendly activities are to be expected, partially thanks to presenting sponsors. The expanded five band lineup includes headlining punk/alternative quintet These Magnificent Tentacles, who should turn some skater heads to close the day!

Promoter Dustin Jones' own online page-less punk cover quartet The Cover-Up will return from their own pandemic hiatus as co-headliners, in their first announced show since their turn as "You First & The Givee Givees" at a tribute concert in December 2019. The Cover-Up are this year's only returning band from any prior Go Skate Day, so you know their upbeat skate punk covers will be a fitting soundtrack! Unplugged roots/ska group Unorganized Township will chill things down in the middle slot tomorrow, while two rising young alternative bands will open the proceedings, including punk quartet Vanity First, who will be making their first announced public concert appearance outside of Korah C&VS tomorrow! The guys actually played a set at Korah's Relay For Life cancer fundraiser event on the 9th, and the band shared photos on their Facebook page to end their three month break from posts there.

If that was a publically attendable event beyond Korah students & staff, I apologize for missing it, but again, Vanity First never plugged their involvement. Lastly, hard rock quartet Raincourt will open in their first announced show outside of White Pines C&VS, and with their new Tidal-assisted studio recordings making waves, hopefully they kick things off on a strong note! Go Skate Day 2022 is a FREE & ALL AGES event that is projected to run from 4:00-9:00 PM, and be advised that while 9&10 News projects partly cloudy weather of 24-28° during showtime, there is a chance for thunderstorms around 8:00 PM. If you love skateboarding and live punk-leaning music, head to The John Rhodes Center for all of the action tomorrow, and remember to bring the kids if they want to shred at the skatepark or even learn how! Visit the above links for full details, and here's These Magnificent Tentacles live!

Finally for today, here's one more mid-week concert preview, as local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post for a fourth straight week on WEDNESDAY NIGHT! My pre-call last week that Tym would be back at the Mike Case Stage this week was accurate, as even if he hasn't firmly said so on his Facebook group, as he launched a Facebook event page earlier today for this week's stop. As such, he does appear to be on a Gliss-esque weekly arrangement for Wednesday evening gigs there, so if you're up for some classic and hard rock covers way down Great Northern Road in two nights' time, you know where to be! Night #4 of Tym's Trading Post series has a 7:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and no age limit, and 9&10 News is projecting a sunny evening with temperatures of 12-15°. See above for more details, and here's a full concert of Tym's from back in 2020!

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