LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck), A New Local Punk Project, And New Videos!!

Today's post was going to be our latest Defunct Local Band Profile, but a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (partially missed, at that) hit my desk this morning, so we're pushing the feature post ahead slightly. To fill things out, there's also some new videos and a surprise new local punk band to take a look at, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local screamo/pop punk project to add to our Sault Ontario band links, namely Forever Will Be! This act is led by former As It Stands/For July guitarist Ryan McLaughlin, though I don't know if this is the same project as his 2019 offering Great West Falls or not, or if anyone else performs on their material. Their Facebook page is mostly a shell so far, but Forever Will Be is considered "the home project" of Ryan's independent studio/label Relentless Audio, who have been covered on the SMS previously for working on his old band As It Stands' posthumous EP "The Lost Tapes" and Christopher Raginskis' online page-less punk solo project 9 Times Dark's debut album "Vicissitude", both from 2020. According to posts on Relentless Audio's Facebook page, Forever Will Be's debut album from November 17th (entitled "Dead & Dishonest") has been "a year in the making" and he hopes to take listeners back to 2004 with the songs.

You can hear the album for free on major streaming platforms linked via this Hearnow page, but it is on sale on iTunes for $7.92, so consider buying it if you want the mp3s and/or to support Ryan's work. I'll hold comment on the songs until I review the album proper (likely next month), but definitely check out the album's preview videos on the Relentless Facebook page, and here's their first music video for "Nosedive" from their YouTube channel, set to clips of people in varying states of despair. If you like Ryan's past local band work, do check out Forever Will Be above & below!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place for a concert TONIGHT, after previously playing there last night! I profusely apologize for the short notice and for missing yesterday's show in our concert preview post on Thursday, I just heard about both this morning via Reggie's Facebook page (who only announced them Wednesday night), and Soundcheck themselves have not mentioned them on their own Facebook page. Yesterday's and TONIGHT'S shows mark(ed) Soundcheck's first at Reggie's since mid-October, and hopefully their fan-friendly blend of classic, hard rock, and country covers found a strong audience last night, and will do so again TONIGHT! It is worth noting that Reggie's is now up for sale for $480,000, as per this SooToday article by Kenneth Armstrong on Monday, noting that Reggie Daigle himself actually still owns the property.

The sale "doesn't include the business", as from what I understand, Randy Lapossie is just managing bar operations, but whether the new owners would keep things as they have been since late 2020 is yet unknown. It sure seems like business as usual for now at Reggie's, but after Reggie sold Reggie's West, this can't be too surprising. We'll keep you posted! TONIGHT'S (and yesterday's) show has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. See above for more details, apologies again for missing last night's concert, and here's Soundcheck live!

Also today, here's a couple of new videos from prolific local extreme metal/folk punk guitarist Chase Wigmore's Facebook page! One is just a Facebook copy of his original song "The Guilt And Shame In Being" from his newest solo album "We Are All Going To Die", and while I'll hold comment on it pending our review of the album later this month, Chase did clarify that this is "one of the quieter ones" on the album. The new video proper from Sunday is cryptically titled "$20", and features him playing the guitar solo from Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb". The grainy black & white filter combined with a poorly placed light over Chase's face don't add to the video, but he nails the solo, helping forget about the visual deficiencies. Check it out for yourself below, and stay tuned for more from Chase!

Finally for today, here's some new videos from local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek's Facebook page, albeit not primarily focused on their "Christmas Blowout" at Soo Blaster tonight. As they have done for a guitar last year, Fort Creek recently held a raffle on Facebook for a custom jazz bass donated by Tommy Lair, with proceeds going to the Algoma Regional Community Hospice (or ARCH). That, along with a giveaway for a band t-shirt and tickets to tonight's show also took place in the past couple of weeks, with bassist Robin "Bones" Lee and drummer Anthony Fabiano appearing in this one hyping all of their draws, and more band members turned up in this video to announce the winner of the shirt/tickets raffle. Be advised that some of these recent videos have awful audio that almost sounds like an old 78 RPM record, not sure what happened there.

The draw for the bass is ongoing until December 21st (or until all 100 allocated tickets are bought, whichever comes first), so visit their Facebook page for details on how to enter! As for the videos, I'll embed the one from November 29th here, which features a clip of Bones playing the bass to demonstrate its abilities and sound for prospective ticket buyers, as preceded by a clip of their studio original "Hammer Down" and an oddly echoed audio recording of him discussing the raffle. On the gear and performer's end, everything sounds good, so definitely check it out below, get details above, and don't miss Fort Creek tonight at Soo Blaster!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!