LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), More Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

(Updated at 5:51 PM) One more post before we end the month, and with a matinee show today to preview, let's not dilly dally before it gets too late! Along with remaining hard rock concert previews for this weekend, a new video, and some assorted updates, we're leading off with another SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Merchants Bar for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced on their Facebook page on Saturday, with a Facebook event page only following yesterday. Fresh off of a well received show in Eckerman this past Saturday, TOMORROW'S concert will be Project 906's first show in memory at the 108 West Spruce Street nightclub, which only sporadically hosts heavier bands but did welcome Tarnished (more on them in a bit) earlier this year. Always good to see 906 in Sault Ste. Marie city limits, and hopefully their hard rocking covers find a solid downtown audience TOMORROW! Expect a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a brand new live video (well, one of them) of Project 906 at The Strongs Tavern in Eckerman this past Saturday night!

Two videos from the same filmer were actually shared on the band's Facebook page earlier this week (one posted there outright, one shared from guitarist Joe Jenkins' personal Facebook page), and they include a minute of the instrumental jam from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" and as embedded below, a full cover of Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer", complete with more of a guitar solo than the original song had. I'm more of a fan of the Ataris cover myself, but 906 put their own spin on this classic rock staple with good energy, and the filmer had a nice and close angle of the band on both videos! Give them a look above & below, and don't miss Project 906 at The Merch TOMORROW!

Next up, let's preview two shows taking place TONIGHT that had lots of advance notice, starting with local hard rock quartet Tarnished's debut at Northern Light Cannabis Co. in nearby Dafter! Concerts at cannabis dispensaries are not common for the SMS to cover, but this isn't completely out of left field, as Tarnished had teased possibly playing there in July. Tonight's show coincides with Northern Light's existing weekly Fire Up Fridaze celebration, including an open consumption lounge, board games, and product discounts, so definitely keep all of that in mind if you are a marijuana user who also happens to like Tarnished's hard rock covers & originals! The first tribally owned cannabis provisioning center in the state, Northern Light Cannabis Co. is located at 2736 West M-28 in Dafter (15 minutes south of the Soo). This is obviously a 21+ event (you must show valid photo ID), and there is no advertised cover charge.

Official advertising gives a 12:00 PM start time, but that reflects Fire Up Fridaze specifically, not Tarnished's set, which the band has confirmed will begin at 4:00 PM (still a matinee though). Note that the Facebook event page credits "Gene Check" as also appearing today to provide information on the cannabis industry in the E.U.P., so crediting him thusly implies that he'll be speaking on stage before/during the band's set. It will be very interesting to hear how things go for Tarnished at a very atypical venue, but a lot is planned with and aside from the music, so see above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Finally for this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, let's jump north to Sault Ontario, where local rap/metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will hit Soo Blaster TONIGHT as mildly surprising openers for American underground rap icon Tech N9ne! Last seen at Glambition in June, tonight's show will return The A.A. to their old Soo's Got Talent platform with their locally distinct brand of drum-and-bass rap rock, and hopefully they set the tone well! In fact, they're one of many local openers on the final poster that has been circulating on local rap Faebook accounts, more in a second. Of course, Tech N9ne is the featured attraction here, a hip hop legend from songs like "Face Off" & "Like I Ain't" whose hardcore stylings and skilled rhymes should not be bypassed by genre fans tonight! Tech N9ne's fellow Strange Music rapper King Iso and Guelph MC Robbie G will also open this show, and both are ALSO talented artists!

The other advertised local openers include Strangers, MJR League, Conika, Lumberjack Pat, and Bold Noize, and while I don't know some names, look for some fast rising local hip hop to start the evening! A co-presentation of The Diamond Mine Agency, this 19+ show has an 8:00 PM start time, and tickets run from $51-$57 7 on Eventbrite or at the door, with VIP packages also available at this link. This is more of a rap show than a rock one, but The Apocalypse Afterparty will inject a little of that flavour into the proceedings before ceding the stage, and this should be a fun time for anyone into hip hop, especially given Tech N9ne's profile! See above for more details, and here's The A.A. live a couple of years ago!

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

• Local cybergrind/gorenoise solo project Malignant Neoplasm have revealed that they have a by-demand compilation of their eight (or ten) albums now on sale on a "pay what you can" model, as per their Facebook page on September 16th. No word on future activity otherwise, as they haven't been up to a lot publically since releasing "Hugz" in April of last year, but hopefully Tyler has some more music up his varied sleeves, and contact him if you want the MxNx compilation!
  
• Local/Barrie punk/metal band Spades GT will open for Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz and Hamilton punk band Artificial Dissemination (both of which the former Jack Spades have opened for in the Soo) tomorrow night at The Queens Nightclub in Barrie! Shame this isn't local, it's been too long since The Ripcordz played here. Spades GT have revealed on Facebook that tomorrow's show will be their last of 2022 before apparently hitting the studio, which should be exciting, so stay tuned for updates!
  
• This entirely slipped me by during our Rotaryfest coverage, but local funk/hard rock quintet The Wyld Stallyns & guest saxophonist Josh Norling were photographed by The Sault Star's Brian Kelly for two photos shared online at this link, alongside pictures from fellow Thursday performers Flathead Ford and The Northern Jazz Ensemble. Solid pictures, too bad there weren't more shared of the bands! Give them a look above, and don't miss The Wyld Stallyns at Shooters TONIGHT!
   

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison, Soundcheck, And Bone Yard), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Busy concert weekend is ahead to send September 2022 out and welcome October, so our previews of tomorrow night's Apocalypse Afterparty/Tech N9ne and Tarnished shows will be in our next post. Schedule-wise, the amount of Friday nighters is very imbalanced compared to Saturday this weekend, and the amount of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS didn't help in that regard, but here's what you should know to kick things off with!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to Reggie's Place for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via this promotional image on their Facebook page earlier this evening. TOMORROW'S concert will be Bone Yard's second in a week's span, following another one-nighter there this past Saturday. Good to see Bone Yard playing public shows a little more frequently in the fall season, and hopefully they deliver the hard rocking goods at the downtown Reggie's TOMORROW NIGHT! This is a one-nighter due to or resulting in another late notice show coming up in a bit. As was the case this past weekend, TOMORROW'S show has a 9:00 PM start time, a 19+ age limit, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new live concert video of Bone Yard at Reggie's from this past Saturday!

A cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man", this was filmed by an attendee and live-streamed to their Facebook page during their first set. Not a bad performance, with Greg's lower-register clean vocals an interesting approach compared to the original versions, and while the video is shot vertically, the band is captured in frame throughout! Give it a look below, and look for much more from Bone Yard TOMORROW NIGHT!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's West for normal concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band has not confirmed these shows publically at press time, but drummer Glen Thomas confirmed them in personal Facebook postings this week. While Soundcheck are certainly no strangers to the Reggievelt via their Cameron-less hosting duties at the venue's Thursday jam nights (yes, they'll be playing tonight), TOMORROW & SATURDAY'S shows will be normal four-piece concerts for Soundcheck, their first such at the Korah Road nightclub since the end of July. Hopefully a solid crowd turns out TOMORROW & SATURDAY for Soundcheck's hard rocking cover selection, and tonight for the jam night too! Expect 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Also this weekend, who's playing at Reggie's Place on SATURDAY, October 1st? Local acoustic classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison, that's who! Apologies again for the short notice, Tym only announced this show via it's Facebook event page this evening. Though Tym's best known at Reggie's for playing in their Sunday matinee rotation, he is not a stranger to playing standard nighttime shows there, most recently on Friday, September 2nd (though a Sunday matinee was his last show period there on the 18th). Speaking of matinees, might as well roll in Tym's previously announced matinee gig at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on SUNDAY here too, his first in three alternating Sundays in October, so if you want to enjoy his unplugged cover attack at this recently prominent nightclub, you know where to be later this weekend! SATURDAY'S Reggie's concert has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit, as usual for their nighttime gigs.

As for Sunday at Shooters, that event is at 3:00 PM with no cover charge and a presumed 19+ age limit. Visit the above links and the Shooters Facebook event page for more details on both of his shows this weekend, and here's Tym live!

Finally for this preview post (another hits the site tomorrow, don't worry!), here's a show that had lots of advance notice, as local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns will make their Shooters Downstairs Lounge debut with a one-nighter TOMORROW NIGHT! After an off weekend, this show will be The Stallyns' first public concert since rocking The Whisky Barrel two weeks ago. Shooters is not too far down the road, so hopefully some of their regular fans there come to Dennis Street for all of their varied but often hard rocking cover action tomorrow! A one-nighter due to or resulting in Mid Life Crysis' own Shooters debut on Saturday, tomorrow's Stallyns show has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Should be a good time, so welcome the Speers' and company with open arms tomorrow night, visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here they are live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Apocalypse Afterparty & Tarnished previews (and more) tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Molten Imp - "Frustfressenkummerspeck" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 159th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at local industrial metal project Molten Imp's third digital 7'' single "Frustfressenkummerspeck"! Yes, that is the title, it's an artificial compound word made up of two German words for types of overeating. Released to their Bandcamp page on August 10th, this is their final single before their teased addition of members for live performances (see them opening for Garbageface on October 21st), but founder/frontman Boyd Rendell is the only credited performer here. Mixed and mastered in Peterborough by veteran local punk musician Mark Rand, the single only contains two songs period with no bonus tracks for paid buyers like we saw on "Double Dose (Me)" or "Constable Sewage". Boyd confirmed with me in a Facebook conversation that he had planned to get two more songs finished for the single, but they weren't up to his standards, so he just put out the two-track, seven minute single we have here.

In other words, ignore the now-erroneous reference to a "Track 4" on Bandcamp, these songs are all there is, but note that former Winkstinger/Twistory frontman Josh Amendola wrote the lyrics for both released tracks, albeit based on Molten Imp's own concept. You can buy "Frustfressenkummerspeck" for $6 on Bandcamp, but both songs are available to stream there for free as well (consider supporting Molten Imp in any event!) "Side A" of "Frustfressenkummerspeck" is the title track, which opens with what appears to be sampled dialogue of Fat Bastard from Austin Powers in The Spy Who Shagged Me (the single's title isn't just cosmetic). Arguably the heaviest song yet from Molten Imp, it makes good use of distorted bass and sampled drums, plus guttural death metal vocals that come off well enough for genre fans!

I'm used to Boyd's harsh vocals being much higher than this, so if that's him, good to see some extra range! This reminds me of tack you'd hear from a Blood Shed Productions act, if longer & refined, but the ending was too abrupt for my liking, and the guitar felt like an afterthought in the composition. Solidly pounding four minutes though, and worth a listen for fans of both death metal and drum & bass! "Side B" is via the song "Planetary Smegma Magma" (they titled it!), a sub-3 minute track that leans a little to Boyd's 2010s work in the local doom metal band AlgomA in the first half, albeit with sampled vocalizations, before breaking down into aggressive death metal once again, with the same vocal style as on the opener. If anything, this is faster, which will please extreme metal fans, but the project limitations are more apparent, especially with the lack of guitar emphasis and the obvious drum programming, not to mention another abrupt ending to the track.

Your mileage may vary, especially if you love drum & bass/techno music, but I think Molten Imp's sound fit the slower opener better. Still a solid track for what it is! So, what are my final thoughts on "Frustfressenkummerspeck"? Overall, this is absolutely the heaviest of Molten Imp's three virtual 7'' singles so far, which I do appreciate, but just for my own musical tastes, I'd up the metal content while keeping the industrial aspects as a compliment. The guttural vocals and more intense pacing are very welcome, and even if the lyrical concepts are a little unexpected, the lyrics Josh wrote fit the themes! Of the three virtual singles so far, this one will appeal most to fans of Boyd's prior local band work, especially those who miss AlgomA, with the industrial effects and samples adding some zest not often seen from other local acts.

That all said, the quiet guitar work, abrupt song endings, and increasingly obvious programmed drums were not always to my taste, and of course, the short length (be the planned two extra songs paid bonuses or not) will make this feel less substantial than the prior singles. Still, "Frustfressenkummerspeck" will deliver the goods for industrial metal fans in a city where that isn't a common sight, so buy or stream it for yourself above, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! Now, what are we reviewing on the site next month? For the first time since last year, I honestly don't know, as we've finally ran through our long list of major new metal, hard rock, and punk albums in the past year with nothing new left to look at (Sykotyk Rampage's two new albums aside, as they're still within our six month anti-bias buffer period from our review of "WYRD Radio 2" in July. So, what could be reviewed on the site in October?

A possible new album aside (look for our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post for ideas next week), if we have to dip into the archives, tie-ins with bands playing live would be preferred, and one possibility would be The Bear Hunters' single "Collapse The Sun", which came out on physical CDs in 2014, remains unreviewed on the SMS, and features Mitch Sirie & Johnny Belanger, who are both playing live next month with The Soo Fighters. Could be that, could be something else, we'll keep you posted, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site net! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Paul Stanghetta & NassieT

After a slight delay, it's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, continuing our monthly spotlight on YouTube channels whose public and current content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts! As usual, channels are randomly selected, but with our first selection having just one SMS-relevant video, I randomly picked another channel that only has one type of local video (albeit via twelve similar uploads) to fill things out with. Here's what you should know!

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Paul Stanghetta (http://youtube.com/channel/UCkKU0BdcAwyXVLfWHQsolkg)

Owner: Apocalypse Afterparty singer/bassist Paul Stanghetta, also previously seen with bands like Smeltzer, The Fury, and The Noochin' Lanterns

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 21st, 2012; Videos uploaded in November 2021 and January 2022

Channel Summary: Paul's personal use channel features just two current uploads, including a birthday greetings video for his daughter, but the only SMS-relevant one is the official music video for his current rap/metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty's cover of Saul Williams' "List of Demands (Reparations)". Well publicized & promoted upon its premiere last fall, this was filmed by ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno's Spacebag Productions, and features Paul and his wife Amanda (on drums) playing the song in cramped quarters before smoke bombs start going off. Well shot and performed on visual & auditory fronts, witb the Stanghettas getting a lively & rocking sound out of their minimalist setup, and Josh has some solid angles despite the locale! However, other YouTube channels have more plentiful A.A. content, like Amanda's own channel.

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NassieT (http://youtube.com/nassiehysteria)

 Owner: YouTube user NassieT (a.k.a. Nassie Hysteria), real name unclear, but I don't believe she is locally based

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 11th, 2010; Videos uploaded from the following month until September 2018

Channel Summary: Aside from an introductory "Welcome to my cringefest" video in 2018, Nassie's channel is devoted to seventeen lyric videos of songs she liked from late 2010 and early 2011. With the exception of four songs by Marvelous 3 and one by their frontman Butch Walker, the lyric videos are of a dozen songs from local/Toronto indie/punk quartet Treble Charger's last three albums, including three songs from 2000's "Wide Awake Bored".

Why You Should Watch: These uploads will interest Treble Charger fans who like access to the lyrics as they appear in the song, albeit not in direct time a'la karaoke., but the simple presentation has it's plusses! As a source of Treble Charger music though, there are far more substantive and complete channels on YouTube (not to mention official ones), as it does look like Nassie stuck to her favourite songs from these albums, including a larger emphasis on songs featuring Bill Priddle on lead vocals.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Treble Charger - Takes Me Down: No Treble Charger album got more love here than 1997's "Maybe It's Me", which bridged their indie rock beginnings with their impending shift to pop punk to great acclaim. Nassie's five picks include "Forever Knowing", "Mercury Smile", "Scatterbrain", "Left Feeling Odd", and as featured here, "Takes Me Down". Three of the five songs are sung by Bill, for the record, with "Takes Me Down" capturing some of their most punk stylings yet for a Bill song! It'd suit Greig better (proof's in the backing vocals), but it is a solid track with relatable lyrics!

Treble Charge - Don't Believe It All: By far the channel's most popular upload (with over 18,000 views) is the lyric video for "Don't Believe It All", which was the second single from Treble Charger's fifth and final album (so far), 2002's "Detox". Despite some sleepy verses, the extremely catchy chorus saves this Greig-sung hit, which is well performed by Greig, Bill, Rosie, and Trevor, so punk-era fans should be on board with this one! The other three "Detox" songs on Nassie's channel are "Over My Head", "Tired Of It Anyway", and "The Downward Dance", with Bill singing lead on the latter plus on the bridge in "Over My Head".

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around October 26th for another randomly selected channel profile, specifically Obsession guitarist Gabe Tessaro's YouTube channel, featuring four videos from his old classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester, so look for all of that then, and for more news and notes on the site in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Hard Rock Project, A New Album Release, And Marianas Trench/Trews Concert Fallout!!

After a weekend trip out of town, I'm back home to play catch-up with recent news and notes as we enter September's final week! Today's post is half devoted to fallout from a major recent concert, but we're leading off with a new band and a new album release you guys should hear about, so let's get things rolling before the day drags on any longer!

We have a new local hard rock solo project (for now) to add to our band links, entitled Less Than Zero! This is the new project from former Winkstinger rhythm guitarist Jason Ladouceur, who has moved back home and has been working on Less Than Zero since at least July via their page on Bandlab (no sign of a Facebook page yet). Surprisingly, Less Than Zero are a rap rock project, which might seem like an odd concept in 2022, but it's not unheard of nowadays. Remember, The Apocalypse Afterparty already fly that flag, and the now-inactive Stoned To Deaf favoured the sub-genre also. Jason has been very enthusiastic about Less Than Zero as of late, as Facebook friends will attest, and he does hope for this to expand beyond a solo studio project, with a Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on September 3rd looking for band members so they can play live in town.

Over a dozen original song demos are on Less Than Zero's Bandlab page, plus an off-subgenre cover of Megadeth's "Sweating Bullets", so head there to check those out. Jason handles vocals for the project, and he uses sampled drums at the moment. The songs on offer vary in heaviness, with some having a mild techno beat and others being straight up hard rock, and while there is definitely promise here, I do think Jason needs to dial in how his vocals sound, which often come across like overly processed spoken word than the more aggressive rapping that some of these sounds would seemingly call for. Interesting ideas though, and a change of pace in many respects, so give Less Than Zero a listen above!

Next up, here's a surprise new album release, as local alt/blues hard rock veterans Sykotyk Rampage surprisingly released their 67th canon studio album (and third of 2022) on Friday to their Bandcamp page! No sign of a matching Reverbnation upload yet, but their prior album "Scott's Pub & Crash Music" (also from this month) hasn't gotten one yet either, Entitled "Love Muffin", the album has a dark cover image reminiscent of some of their earlier releases in layout, if without their usual irreverence (for that, listen to the songs!) The album is another long one (if not as long as "WYRD Radio 2") with 20 songs that would require two CDs if released physically. Three of the songs are labelled as "Live22" at the end, implying that they are live re-recordings at The Cave, and with new songs on offer like "Doodahoopaloo" and "Circus of Konfusion" on offer, you know their usual blue Chinese metal crash punk stylings will be on full display!

As I said when I mentioned the release of "Scott's Pub & Crash Music", an SMS review of a new Sykotyk Rampage album is not imminent, as we only just reviewed "WYRD Radio 2" in July, but one or the other is tentatively pencilled in for January 2023. In the interim, "Love Muffin" runs for $7 on Bandcamp , and can be streamed for free there as well, so fans of the Beckers, Shane, and Tony won't wanna miss out above!

We'll close with news coverage & media from a major recent concert, namely the Marianas Trench/Trews show at GFL Memorial Gardens on Thursday night! I don't believe SooToday were on hand to cover the show, but the Sault Star's Jeffrey Ougler and SaultOnline's Mike Chikoski were present to get pictures for their respective publications, For SaultOnline's article (otherwise written by Craig Huckerby), Mike snapped 26 pictures, with thirteen being of Marianas Trench, seven of The Trews, three of local openers The Northwest, and three of front row fans during the headliners' set. The Sault Star's article has a little more said about the show itself, but less pictures (23), and not in the exact performance order, but there are nine of Marianas Trench, seven of The Trews, five of The Northwest, and two of fans. Solid pictures on both fronts with some really good angles!

In terms of videos, there is surprisingly only one public YouTube video that I've found at press time, and it's from The Northwest's set! This was filmed by the ever-prolific Christopher Paci for his YouTube channel, and while it was uploaded on Friday, further videos have not followed from the touring bands. He has staggered uploads before, so if more surface, we'll let you know. Chris filmed the local indie/punk quintet playing what appears to be either a new original song or a cover (if the latter, I couldn't make out the lyrics). Regardless, it features guitarist Greg Callaghan on vocals for the verses with Wayne Watkins on choruses, which is reminiscent of "Lights" from "All In", but not a match. The audio isn't overly crisp through the camera, which can be a hazard of shows at the Gardens, but Chris had a strong angle, and I'm curious to hear this song in studio form! Check it out below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week, plus this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rhythm & Brews), A New Video Interview, And More!!

I wasn't planning to double up with posts on this Saturday, but a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT came to my attention, and we'll fill things out with a lengthy new video interview with a familiar face, and the surprise cover songs he was involved with! Here's what you should know!

Local hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will return to The Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill (well, outside of it) in nearby Barbeau to cap off their Oktoberfest celebrations TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced their involvement via their Facebook page on Wednesday, but the venue's Facebook page had been plugging the band as headlining for well earlier than this week. Rhythm & Brews debuted at The Cozy Corners at 6800 East 15 Mile Road in July for the Dunbar Dirt Road Dash, and TONIGHT's show will similarly be for a special event, with this Oktoberfest being a fundraiser for the Hospice of the E.U.P. in Sault Ste. Marie, so don't bypass that wonderful cause! Rhythm & Brews' established hard rock covers and likely Van Halen flourishes will be capping off Oktoberfest TONIGHT at 9:00 PM outside of the venue, and a bonfire, cornhole tournament, stein hoisting contest, and more will be ongoing from 2:00 PM onward

Also don't forget the smoke-off that began this morning, and again, sorry again about the late notice! I believe admission is free for Oktoberfest, with donations and funds from the smoke-off and internal events going to the Hospice, and of course, expect a 21+ age limit given the beer emphasis. 9&10 News is calling for cloudy weather from 9:00 PM-11:00 PM before showers are projected to set in, so hopefully Rhythm & Brews and the crowd escape the rain! No preview videos of Rhythm & Brews yet, alas, but visit the above links for more on TONIGHT's festivities!

Next up, here's a 50 minutes long video interview with former Gates of Winter/Woods of Ypres guitarist Bryan Belleau! Conducted remotely last month by Tyler Fleming of the Pensacola, Florida doom metal band October Noir, he hosts a YouTube interview series called The Noir Hour, which launched in the summer and has roughly posted an interview a week since. The interview is primarily based around Bryan's two year stint with Woods of Ypres (though Gates of Winter come up), and includes questions about Bryan's life in British Columbia nowadays, how Bryan met David Gold & joined Woods of Ypres with the rest of Gates in 2008, experiences working with & learning from David, Woods' influence and reach in the past decade, how he got involved in a cover of "Wet Leather" featuring Bam Margera (more on that at post's end), his folk/jazz music with his wife Melinda out west in the last few years, seeing bands cover Woods of Ypres songs at the Ypres Metal Fest in the Soo in 2012, ...

...his reactions to David's death the previous year, his relationship with David after leaving the band, Bryan's thoughts & perceptions of his album with the band (2009's "Woods IV: The Green Album") and some songs individually, the emotional impact of Woods of Ypres' late-period songs, the personal qualities & positive impact of David's mother Esther (a.k.a. Mama Gold), his musical development while recording with Woods, what Bryan knew about the "Home" single (he was told that the songs were "Woods IV" leftovers), the personal reasons that led to Bryan amicably leaving the band before their 2010 American tour, the wide-ranging friends Bryan met through Woods of Ypres, his views on the impact of his stint with the band, and how involved he wants to be in metal nowadays, especially now that he is a father with different priorities.

Solid interview with Bryan coming across as very humble & appreciative of both his time in Woods of Ypres and the kindness he's felt from fans of his, the band's, and David's in the past decade, and while Tyler was an acknowledged late bloomer to Woods fandom, you can tell he was thrilled to talk to Bryan and get his insight! Some more talk about Gates of Winter, even if just some more details on the Gates of Ypres 2008 tour and/or why Lee, Brian, and Steve progressively left, would have been interesting, but Bryan definitely hit most notes non-local Woods fans will wanna hear. Give the interview a watch for yourself below!

To close, what was that about Bryan recording a cover of "Wet Leather" with Bam Margera that I mentioned earlier? I assume this flew under the radar because Bryan isn't locally based anymore, but in April of last year, Bryan collaborated with Matt Lidwin of the Milwaukee goth metal project 616 to remotely cover "Wet Leather", with Bryan on guitar and Bam (formerly of Jackass fame and his band Fuckface Unstoppable) singing chorus vocals, alongside former HIM drummer Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen. 616 have strong HIM overtones, and Bam was a major fan of theirs already, so the shoes fit! Clearly a good working relationship was also established between Matt and Bryan, as the two worked together on another 616 cover earlier this year, tackling Type O Negative's "Everything Dies" last month, a song that Bryan mentioned in the Noir Hour interview was tentatively planned for a Woods of Ypres covers album that never made it to the studio.

Both 616 covers are on all major streaming services, I have them linked/embedded here via their YouTube channel. Great hearing new metal material from Bryan for the first time since Gates of Winter's last public "Perhelion" teasers in the mid-2010s (I miss them), both songs suit Matt's (and Bam's) vocal ranges well, and the covers are faithful but with some extra flourish and effects to help them stand out a little. Well recorded and produced, and if you don't mind the lyric repetition of "Wet Leather", it'll be easy to hop on board with that cover. Give them a listen above & below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Oktoberfest) & New Concert Videos!!

Two topic news post to check out on this Saturday morning, including some new live concert videos, but let's lead off with big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month regarding a notable fall event!

Local psychedelic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley and funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns will both be on the lineup for this year's Oktoberfest outside of The Machine Shop on the weekend of October 14th-15th! Oktoberfest is not a foreign concept locally, as fans of LopLops' version from the 2010s will attest, but LopLops has only been open on a limited basis during the pandemic. Outspoken Brewing hosted their own pandemic-affected Oktoberfest last fall, and with life much more normal now than it was last year, things are scaled up to where Outspoken had always envisioned them, including a two day lineup for fans of live music, family entertainment, and yes, beer. German frills are to be expected, with Oktoberfest proper taking place once again at The Rink, which is the ice skating rink at the Canal District, transformed next month into a Munich biergarten. Click here for current non-musical details!

The Uncanny Valley are the headline act on Saturday, October 15th, rocking out at the 11:00 PM timeslot, so look for their old school hard rock attack then! Co-headlining that day at 9:00 PM are Bookclub, a new local band featuring all of the Inner City Surfers (except Brad Example) and former Room 206 drummer Al Watson. Despite the punk provenance, the description on the website says that Bookclub will be playing indie rock, covering acts like Devo and Weezer. Very interesting, seemingly leaning more to 1980s and 1990s acts from what I've gathered, it'll be interesting to hear how they sound! The Wyld Stallyns are playing on the 15th at 7:00 PM & on Friday, the 14th at 8:00 PM, with the description noting that the full lineup will be on hand, including guest saxophonist Josh Norling (they don't call him a guest, but he doesn't play every Stallyns gig). Hopefully they knock it out of the park both nights as usual!

Other local bands scheduled for Oktoberfest in three weeks include Friday headliners The Hustle Brothers covering classic soul & R&B music at 10:00 PM, new(?) traditional German band Nein German Guys both days (6:00 PM on Friday, 5:00 PM on Saturday), and classic rock cover duo Frankly Speaking on Saturday at 3:00 PM. Note that Friday's schedule of events is shorter and more focused around beer/partying (starting at 5:00 PM), while Saturday's has an extended afternoon block from 12:00 PM onward of family entertainment before getting back to brass tax. Tickets for Oktoberfest run for $45 for a single day or $70 for the full weekend, and can be bought at this link. Aside from the 12:00-5:00 PM block on Saturday, this is a 19+ event, but if you want to bring the kids when able, their tickets cost $5. Adult tickets also include an official Oktoberfest glass mug (stein, if you prefer) and a free 20 oz. draught.

Definitely a lot to take in for Oktoberfest's second go-around under Outspoken Brewing's curation, but fans of Oktoberfest, beer, and a good time should be up for all of that next month, and hopefully the weather holds up! Nicely varied lineup hitting both traditional and more contemporary boxes, so definitely visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for ongoing details on Oktoberfest 2022!

Finally for today, here's some new videos of a band known to plug shows on the promise of having a beer (or as they call it, a "wobbly pop"), namely classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck! Drummer Glen Thomas had the camera rolling for their Reggie's West jam night on Thursday the 15th, and he uploaded three guest jammer-free videos to his YouTube channel two days later. As usual for their jam night hosting duties, singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver was absent, but so was bassist Paul Belair (or Rob Gilmar, for that matter), with Terry and Glen instead enlisting Cory Valentine, a Toronto-based Saultite who has guested off and on with Soundcheck since at least 2019. The three videos include covers of Men At Work's "Who Can It Be Now?", The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking", and as embedded below, an extended "winging it" jam of Bryan Adams' "Run To You". 

The sharp corner angle with Cory & Terry at the extreme edges of the video frame isn't super ideal, but these are fun performances of these 1980s rock staples, and even as a three piece with a guest bassist as jam night hosts, you can see why Soundcheck draw in a crowd! Give these a watch above & below, and don't miss them tonight at The Esquire Club!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bone Yard) & The Rest Of This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's the rest of this weekend's known hard rock concerts in the Soo area, minus the $onny Vybe$ benefit in Desbarats and last night's Marianas Trench concert, which were both covered yesterday. Here's what you should know, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will return to Reggie's Place for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this date via its Facebook event page on Tuesday, with the venue also first mentioning it on their Facebook page then. Surprisingly, this will be Bone Yard's first show at the downtown Reggie's since early July, with the guys focusing on Shooters, Rotaryfest, and an unusually busy private event slate in the two+ months since. Hopefully their southern fried brand of classic and hard rock covers are a huge hit with Reggie's regulars and existing fans alike on TOMORROW! A one-nighter due to or resulting in classic rock band RPM's show there tonight, TOMORROW'S concert has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Esquire Club for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, before returning there for newly confirmed dates on Friday, November 4th & Saturday, November 5th! Fresh off of their usual hosting duties for open mic night at Reggie's West yesterday, this weekend's shows (which thankfully had advance notice) will be Soundcheck's first at the Second Line West nightclub since November of last year, with the band not taking part in The Esquire Club's "Buckets, Bands, and Birds" matinee series earlier this year. It looks like the venue's return to nighttime bookings has enabled Soundcheck to return to this west end favourite, so look for their crowd friendly covers tonight & tomorrow! As for the November dates, these were the ones that the venue originally listed pop rock quartet L!me as playing on this poster.

Looks like singer/guitarist Terry Eaton's inquiry about why they weren't listed for that weekend was not in vain, so look for him, Cameron, Paul, and Glen then as well! As shown above, L!me are still playing at The Esquire Club next month. This weekend's and November's Soundcheck dates have no cover charge, 9:30 PM start times, and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

We'll head to Sault Michigan and area to wrap up this weekend's previews, starting with Traverse City classic metal trio Peril's return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Oddly, no graphic for this weekend's shows, but they are absolutely on, marking Jeff, Adam, and Brooks' first shows at the St. Ignace branch since June, though they did rock Sault Ste. Marie last month. Hopefully Peril's classic-leaning hard rock covers find another strong audience north of the Mack this weekend, so don't miss out tonight or tomorrow! For the record, no word at press time regarding Kewadin's lounge schedules past October 1st, we'll let you know when their entertainment pages are updated, As usual for Peril's E.U.P. stops, these shows have 21+ age limits, no cover charges, and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Peril live a few years back!

Finally, local hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! The first show following the conclusion of the #summerof906, fans out west in Eckerman will have just seen the guys rocking out last month, but remember that The Strongs Tavern has proven to be a favourite venue of theirs. Hopefully tomorrow's show continues in that trend, and that Dustin, Joe, Billy, and Odin make some new fans while reinforcing existing ones! No word on when we'll see Project 906 on stage after tomorrow, the band has not announced any further dates as of this writing. You can enjoy Project 906's hard rock-leaning covers and select originals tomorrow at 9:00 PM with no announced cover charge, and this is a 21+ event. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Project 906 live!

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