Local Metal/Punk Video Showcase!!

Before we resume our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage, let's tackle some other recent videos from unrelated events on the site today, so we don't fall too behind on everything else going on! These include live footage from two big concerts that took place last month, but first, here's a new cover song featuring a very familiar face... and his uke!

After skipping October, local/Toronto punk covers project Mikey & His Uke's newest collaboration was posted to their YouTube channel earlier today, this time being a cover of AC/DC's "Shoot To Thrill"! In their fourth video since project leader Mikey Hawdon moved back to the Soo, he plays ukelele (at first) and guitar here, alongside Mikey's old Merves/Gabba Heys bandmate Amy Zuccheto (a.k.a. Amy Gabba) on lead vocals. If you haven't followed her since her last turns covering Joan Jett and The Runaways with Mikey's otherwise Ramones-centric cover bands in their local gigs, Amy has since fronted an AC/DC tribute band named AMY/DC that Mikey also played in while still living on Toronto, so she's a natural choice for this cover! Other performers are Frenzal Rhomb guitarist Lindsay McDougall (who also featured in August's NOFX cover), Chats bassist Eamon Sandwith, and past Frenzal Rhomb touring drummer Kye Smith.

As usual for the Mikey & His Uke series, this video is very well edited, and everyone is clearly having fun with this remote collaboration! Amy handles the verses slightly more leisurely than the original, but she has a great voice for Bon-era AC/DC, and the instrumental performances are all exactly what you'd hope for. Nice to see Mikey dip into heavier waters here too, so give the newest Mikey & His Uke cover a watch below!

Next up, let's dive into a pair of videos that I'm three weeks late to talk about on here (my apologies), as prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci was in attendance for the two closing bands at Outspoken Brewing's second annual Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 15th, uploading four videos to his YouTube channel the next day! No luck on The Wyld Stallyns, Nein German Guys, or Frankly Speaking, alas. Chris' videos at The Rink outside of The Machine Shop include two of headlining psychedelic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley, who he filmed covering Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and as embedded below, the back half of their original song "Stuck In Rotation". The audio is a little tinny, but Chris got a good vantage of the stage, and it looks the like the crowd turnout and the weather were both good for Oktoberfest! Solid performances from Adrian & crew, so give The Uncanny Valley's new videos a look above and below!

The other new videos take us back to the aforementioned Mikey Hawdon, as his new local old school indie rock cover band Bookclub made their live concert debut as the Saturday co-headliners at Oktoberfest! Still online page-less, this band features 3/4ths of The Inner City Surfers in mostly shuffled roles (Mikey on vocals & guitar, Dave Bahun on guitar, and Dustin Jones on bass), plus Dave's old Room 206 bandmate Al Watson on drums, as well as trumpet player Erin Antonello. Very odd seeing a trumpet in a non-ska band, but as we've seen with Josh Norling in numerous local rock bands, a little brass never hurt anyone! Despite early teasers of Bookclub covering 1980s-1990s indie rock bands that you don't tend to see tackled around here, both of the songs that Chris filmed are ones I've seen performed locally, including The Refreshments' "Banditos" and, as embedded below, Cheap Trick's "Reach Out".

While not a full-on punk band like we're used to seeing from most of the Bookclub members, power pop like Cheap Trick specialize in is not far removed, and their established talents are on full display on both songs! The recording quality is similar to the Uncanny Valley video, so keep that in mind, and Erin wasn't always very audible in the mix, but it'll be interesting to see where Bookclub go from here, especially as Mikey is actually in town full-time again, not commuting from Toronto steady. Give their videos a watch above & below, and stay tuned for updates!

We'll close today with some more recent live cover action, this time from local classic/hard rock quartet Obsession, who made their local & public debut with new lead singer Jessica Amadio at The Esquire Club on Halloween weekend! Two videos from the Halloween party on October 29th were posted to their Facebook page since, including a 44 second clip of them covering Trooper's "Raise A Little Hell" that was posted yesterday bunched in with live photos, but embedded below is the longer 90 second clip of them covering Poison's "Nothing But A Good Time". Yes, Obsession had costumes for the occasion, with Jess going as Kiss' Paul Stanley and Gabe as AC/DC's Angus Young, but I am not 100% positive on if Jim and Steve had a specific person that they were dressed as. This video was edited with Capcut and has lots of professional cuts to different camera angles with post-production effects, and views of the costumed attendees.

The Achilles heel with this video is that it was compiled and uploaded in portrait orientation despite a heavy use of landscape footage, so big chunks of it are tiny unless they fill the space with post-production effects. That said, Obession sound good in both videos, and Jess is definitely at ease on the stage and has a strong voice to match! Good first public outing for the new lineup, so look for them back at The Esquire Club next weekend, and give their Halloween weekend clips a look above & below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our continuation of our Soo's Got Talent finals coverage next! Thanks everyone!