It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, giving us another chance to spotlight a YouTube channel (randomly selected as ever) to spotlight their uploads and content for modern readers! This month's selection gives us a prominent band from the local nightclub cover circuit in their twilight, so here's what you should know!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gabe Tessaro (http://youtube.com/channel/UCPYbZUEmGXSDNN0haEuy0_g)
Owner: Obsession guitarist Gabe Tessaro, also previously known from bands like That's Chester, Agave Blue, and The Reptiles
Channel Timeline: Launched on October 12th, 2011; Videos uploaded from November 2015 until June 2020
Channel Summary: A personal use channel, all four of Gabe's uploads relate to his 2004-2016 classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester, mostly via live concert videos from their last year as an active band, plus a one-off virtual reunion much further down the road.
Why You Should Watch: This will be must-watch for fans of Greg-era That's Chester, especially given the melancholy nature of these performances both at the time and in hindsight, so don't miss out! More videos of them can be seen at drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel, and while Gabe's channel is personal use, he has not uploaded videos from his other local bands, nor as he actively used it in the past year.
Captain Walker/It's A Boy: In their last public gigs with their final full lineup, That's Chester served as the house band for the local stage production of The Who's Tommy at The Machine Shop in November 2015, with frontman Greg Simpson also acting in it. Just three weeks later, guitarist Eugene Orlando suddenly passed away, and Gabe posted this video from one of the shows that same day. By far his most popular video, this has a performance of the linked early songs "Captain Walker" & "It's A Boy" featuring vocals from other actors. These are well done (if not all that heavy at this point), and the high camera angle captures action on stage well, especially the poignant scene of Gabe & Eugene playing together during the second song!
IMG 1221: Gabe's next two uploads are of That's Chester's eighth & ninth appearances at Rotaryfest's main stage at Clergue Park in July 2015 & 2016, including their nighttime cover of Deep Purple's "Hush" from 2015 (their last non-Tommy show with Eugene). Featured here is the 2016 video, from what was both a Eugene tribute set and the band's farewell as an active group. This cover of April Wine's "Roller" features guest vocals from original That's Chester frontman Richard Fullerton (recently of the Ottawa rock bands Mothership & Trashed Taxi) as well as fill-in guitarist Dan Belanger, who has sat in with Gabe's bands at multiple Rotaryfests. Ric did upload an alternate stationary angle of this very performance later, but the moving camera give this some extra flavour, and the guys all perform strongly! Greg does not sing here, but he does come out at the end.
That's Chester Isolation WishYouWereHere: Though the first pandemic lockdown was over by the end of June 2020, life as we knew it was still very much in upheaval, and many fans were surprised when Greg, Gabe, bassist Aubrey Falls, and Ric reunited (if remotely) to cover Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" for both Gabe's and Ric's YouTube channels. Dedicated by Greg to "everybody out there who's missing somebody" as well as Eugene (as per Ric's upload's description), this cover is well handled with strong editing, if very melancholy given the optics of both where the world was in mid-2020 and the fact that they were playing again without Eugene. Greg handled the second guitar role in Eugene's place, and while this isn't my favourite Pink Floyd's song, the messages resonate regardless!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month, we're looking at multiple channels again, as the first that I randomly selected had just one video on offer. As such, we'll be looking at YouTube users quasarwaves (featuring a late period Gates of Winter sample clip), These Magnificent Tentacles (featuring their studio songs so far), and ironically given that I just discovered them, Steel Sour (featuring their lone jam session video). Look for these on or around November 26th, and for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment