LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Apocalypse Afterparty), A Tribute Song, And More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Die Mannequin frontwoman Caroline Kawa (a.k.a. Care Failure), who just passed away according to numerous social media postings at the age of 36. Read her obituary at this link. A standout presence on the Toronto alt-rock scene from Die Mannequin's launch in 2005 onward, Care will be familiar to SMS readers from her set with Die Mannequin at the former Roosevelt Hotel in May 2012, when they and Dearly Beloved stopped in town on their Danceland Tour, but a planned June 2014 return gig at The Rockstar Bar was cancelled. Die Mannequin peaked in the late 2000s and early 2010s with songs like "Bad Medicine" and "Dead Honey", and would land songs on the final two Big Shiny Tunes CDs in the process. Care also had a well received turn as an actress in the 2010 film Hard Core Logo 2, with the band factoring into the plot & soundtrack of the long-awaited film.

I wasn't at Die Mannequin's local concert, nor can I find public videos from it, but Care was an original and a very talented musician who crossed punk and alternative genre boundaries to strong effect, and it's a shame to lose her at such a young age like this. Do check out Die Mannequin's original material and live videos, and consider donating to Musicares in her name to pay tribute. R.I.P. Care! Now, here's a new tribute song to another musician we lost, and first, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local rap/party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will be among the openers at TOMORROW'S Madchild-headlined concert at Soo Blaster! Apologies for the short notice, organizers R-Evolution Media only confirmed The A.A. for this show in promotional materials posted online this week, though the Stanghettas were previously teasing their involvement on their personal Facebook pages. This marks a trilogy for rap concerts at Soo Blaster with The Apocalypse Afterparty as the lone rock band outpost, following their appearances at last fall's Tech N9ne and Afroman gigs, and clearly things went well for Paul & Amanda's minimalist hybrid sound to get called back TOMORROW NIGHT! Madchild is the Vancouver rapper best known from the Juno and MuchMusic Video Award winning rap group Swollen Members, who were easily one of the biggest domestic rap acts of the 2000s, so fans will want to note that aspect!

I don't know that Madchild does many Swollen Members songs live, but it'll be interesting to see him in town TOMORROW, and he has a deep solo catalog that dips into horrorcore now, even! Guelph rapper Robbie G (who also opened for Tech N9ne & Afroman here) is the top billed opener, and the other opening acts include Sound Syndrome, Sawbe & Stoney, RyxnNick, Ille$t, and Superskunk Lucas. For reference, Sawbe & RyxnNick were also seen at the Afroman show, and there may be other ties to the Tech N9ne and Afroman lineups if you count solo rappers who were seen in groups or ensembles (and vice versa). While uncredited on the poster, Madchild's own Facebook promotion of TOMORROW'S concert confirms that his DJ on this tour is Dow Jones. A later 10:00 PM start time is in effect, and tickets run for $34.11 online at this link or $25 if bought through local openers. 

Note that at there are higher priced VIP packages for meet & greets and signed posters and whatnot, plus a deal on a booth for 6 people, while at least The Apocalypse Afterparty were selling two tickets for $40. Also note that the online sale page says that this is all ages, but use your best judgement on that given the locale and timing of the concert. Should be a fun night for hip-hop fans, with The Apocalypse Afterparty back to bridge the gap between the rap and bass-led metal worlds, so keep TOMORROW'S show in mind, and here's The A.A. live at Soo Blaster!

We'll close today with a tribute song to a local musician who passed away two years ago, namely former Highway 63/Monkey's Uncle frontman Henry Switzer. A staple of the Sault Michigan scene since the 1990s, Henry died in February 2021 after a heart ailment at just 49 years of age, and he would have turned 52 this past Monday. In honour of his birthday, Soundcheck drummer Glen Thomas (who played in a band with Henry back when he taught guitar across the river & remained friends long afterwards) posted a song in tribute to Henry named "Forever Highway 63" on his YouTube channel. Glen had actually been working on this song since the spring of 2021, as Facebook friends of his may recall, and he elaborates about how quickly the song came together and what he went through writing it in the description (yes, it is a lyric video too). His old Flat Stanley bandmate Tony Kajnar provides lead guitar in the outro.

Other than some directly music-centric lyrics late, the song isn't hyper specific to Henry, but it comes from a place of loss and respect, and it shows in Glen's voice. He's not a skilled vocalist and he admits as much in the description but the mood is right and I'm sure Henry would appreciate Glen's gesture here! Glen has other original songs with him singing on his YouTube channel, and while they're generally not musically heavy, his talents are present! Give "Forever Highway 63" a listen below!

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

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Evil Gobi

It's time for our last monthly feature post of March 2023, namelty this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This monthly feature series looks at YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists and/or concerts, in order to spotlight their uploads and encourage readers to check them out and maybe subscribe for more! This month's channel isn't the most plentiful out there but its content spreads a diverse and entertaining range for local rock fans, so here's what you should know about it!

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Evil Gobi (http://youtube.com/mrevilgobi)

Owner: Former Oh!No Collective representative Alex Moore

Channel Timeline: Launched on July 1st, 2011; Videos uploaded from November 2016 through August 2020

Channel Summary: A personal use channel without overt Oh!No ties, Alex's channel is mostly devoted to local concerts & albums, with three videos of the former type (including a clip of touring rapper Garbageface at The Canadian in 2017) and two of the latter. His last two uploads are of EPs by defunct Toronto "drunk 'n roll" quartet Ultraviolence, who played here a few times at Coch's Corner at the turn of the 2010s

Why You Should Watch: Local music fans should at least give Alex's channel a look, both from the out-of-print local albums on offer and the concert videos, and the lack of a genre focus ensures that there's a little something for many tastes, even if the local bands featured aren't around these days! While not local beyond being bought at shows here, the Ultraviolence EPs are a fun reminder of their wild stage show from their run too.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Stiffler's Mom - The Demo: Alex's first (and most popular) upload is a YouTube copy of inactive local hard/party rock trio Stiffler's Mom's EP "The Demo", which was released in 2004 and hadn't surfaced online before Alex posted it to YouTube twelve years later. Featuring Bone Yard singer/drummer Greg Simpson and future Buzzsaw Jaw bandmates Michael Davies & Jon Ferguson on guitar & bass, the four song demo features a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" and three originals ("Yesterday", "Pearl's Necklace", and the Sin Stereo carryover "Enjoy The Show"). While somewhat inconsistent (especially on the cover), Stiffler's Mom delivered a fun batch of songs here, and it'd have been interesting to hear more of an original presence later on!

Gianni Gagoots Live 2: Two of Alex's three concert videos feature Gianni Gagoots, the mid-2010s funk/hard rock band known for their jokey Italian stage names and improvised jam instrumentals during their too-brief local run. The videos come from their LopLops Lounge headlining concert on April 15th, 2017, and feature ex-Redefined bandmates Matt Sibilo & Josh St. Amour alongside Rising Tide alums Liam Seymour & Frank McCormick, percussionist "Bergio the IceBurg" (they never gave his real name on their pages), and an unidentified guest congo player. Between these two videos (click here for the shorter of them), you get some unlabelled but fun and carefree jams, and it's a shame that the Gagoots didn't have a longer run, let alone that their Facebook page and most videos have been taken down!

Redefined (Sault Ste Marie) - Risk and Uncertainty: In August of 2020, Alex posted a copy of defunct local hard rock quartet Redefined's ca. 2002 studio album "Risk & Uncertainty" to his channel, bringing that album to a mass online audience much like with Stiffler's Mom's demo! The independently released CD featured future Gianni Gagoots bandmates Matt Sibilo & Josh St. Amour alongside Parabol singer John Barber and My Son The Hurricane drummer Danno O'Shea. All 10 songs (including "Foggy Style" cut "M.T. Bundies") are linked by clicking here, though the song names were retrieved from the Oocities archive of their old Geocities page due to the album's liner notes not giving the titles. Redefined's Tool-influenced modern hard rock goes over well on this album, even 20+ years later, so fans from back in the day and of John's later groups shouldn't bypass this CD!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series will return on or around April 26th for a big one, as I have randomly drawn St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown's YouTube channel, featuring over three dozen uploads from their run to date! Watch for this profile next month, and for more news and updates on the site in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Local Hard Rock/Punk Video Showcase!!

Got a new post on this Monday evening to check out, and it is devoted to some recent videos from hard rock and punk bands playing and/or from here, so let's get things rolling!

Let's start with videos from Hamilton-based Pearl Jam tribute band Leash's headlining concert at Soo Blaster on March 4th, as Christopher Paci's YouTube channel has us covered with videos from that night! Apologies for the three week delay in these making the site, I didn't notice he posted videos from it until after I found his Pop Evil videos. Chris filmed eleven videos at this concert, including eight of the headliners, who he filmed tackling the Pearl Jam hits "Given To Fly", "Even Flow", "State Of Love & Trust", "Jeremy", "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town", "Daughter", "Corduroy", and as embedded below, "Alive". More of a musical tribute than visual, but at least in these videos, they are closer to Pearl Jam in total sound than some of their videos implied. Interesting how he holds the whole microphone stand up over the crowd to let fans sing along!

Visually, the stage lighting can mess with the clarity a bit, especially on more rapid flickering (watch and you'll see what I mean), but the quality is more than serviceable, and the audio is less tinny than how things came across at the Pop Evil concert. Good stuff for grunge fans, so give Chris' Leash videos a watch above & below!

Chris also filmed/uploaded three videos of opening local punk trio Vanity First, who can be seen here covering Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name", Weezer's "Say It Ain't So", and as embedded below, most of their original "Playboy Magazine". While definitely filmed from further away, Chris zoomed in well to capture Andrew, Mikhal, and Keeghan's set, and their clear talent and lively set looks like it got the evening off on the right foot, so check their videos out above & below also!

Now let's head four hours east to Sudbury, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard ventured this past weekend for rare out-of-town gigs at The Coulson Entertainment Centre! Delayed a couple of weeks, Bone Yard made the most of their road trip for media on their Facebook page, starting with this "Reel" where the guys hyped that they were coming to The Coulson and encouraged Sudburians to be there. In another "Reel" on Wednesday, they teased making new shirts with new designs that would go on sale at these gigs. Photos from the Friday nighter were posted to Facebook, and four videos that aren't "Reels" (despite all being vertical) were posted between the two shows that can be embedded on external websites like this. One features bassist Warren Reville showing off a "magic trick", so to speak, but the other three are proper concert videos, with the one from the Friday nighter seeing Bone Yard covering The Rolling Stones' "Miss You", but the filmer oddly focuses on the floor of the stage for most of it.

Two videos were uploaded from their Saturday concert, including covers of ZZ Top's "La Grange" and, as embedded below, Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" (yes, the band is in frame for the duration on these). Entertaining covers from Greg, Alex, and Warren across the board, and while more fans on the floor would have been nice, southern and classic rock fans were in good hands, so check out their Sudbury videos above & below!

Let's close with a mild bit of unfinished business from yesterday's review of local pop punk project Forever Will Be's debut album "Dead and Dishonest", as I mentioned there that they also recorded an acoustic version of the closing track "Downsides" that isn't on the album, but was posted to their YouTube channel in December. This is also a good time to state in a normal post that the vocalist heard on Forever Will Be's studio material is not project leader Ryan McLaughlin, rather session vocalist Billy Douglas, who fronts the British punk band Colosseums, a fact that wasn't overly prevalent in all of the band's social media marketing initially. Ryan found a strong vocalist to bring his lyrics to life, but you'll already know that if you've heard the album, and don't sleep on Colosseums either! "Dead & Dishonest" didn't have a traditional ballad, but of what was included, "Downsides" is one of the better fits to an unplugged format.

The minimal screaming and less varied structure adapt fairly well, though I will say that the guitar work can be a little repetitive at points as Ryan plays a punk song meant for electric instruments in this way. Interesting change of pace, so do give this a listen below, and hopefully we hear more material and updates from Forever Will Be in 2023!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Forever Will Be - "Dead And Dishonest" Album Review!!

(Updated at 9:15 AM) It's now time for our 165th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at newer local pop punk solo project Forever Will Be's debut album "Dead And Dishonest"! Released to major streaming services on November 17th of last year, this is the home project for former As It Stands/For July guitarist Ryan McLaughlin's independent studio/label Relentless Audio, who previously worked on original material for other acts as well as Forever Will Be's original guise as Great West Falls. "Dead And Dishonest" was recorded over the preceding year, and while Ryan is the only credited band member, vocals were provided on a session basis by Billy Douglas of the British pop punk band Colosseums. You can stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora (US only), or Deezer, all handily linked on Hearnow. If you actually want to buy the album and own the mp3 files therein, the album runs for $7.92 on iTunes, so consider that option to support Ryan's work as well!

With eight songs running for around 27 minutes in length, let's begin this review with its first song, "Former Self"!  Opening with an extended drum intro, the rest of the instrumentation and Billy's vocals come in slowly with intent, building to a screamed half-verse and melodic choruses. He has the pop punk/screamo balance down nicely, but the music definitely takes a back seat to the vocals, more keeping time with the lyrics than standing on their own. Still a good opener for pop punk fans, and with good lyrics to boot! Next is the album's longest song, "Afflicted", which opens with a solid guitar riff but it stops dead in its tracks for the verses, though not in a bad way, setting the tone for the lyrics well. This actually builds up the vocals better for me, and they work in concert with the music better!

Billy lets loose with the screaming on the choruses to strong effect, and if he did all of the vocals in one take, then he switches from screaming to clean singing seamlessly! The fade-out at the end feels like it came out of nowhere, but an improved and more prominent instrumental section and some passioned vocals put things on an upward trajectory already! Third up is "Shadow Of Myself", which makes use of a good spacey guitar riff before the full song kicks in, and it is the heaviest and fastest song yet, so screamo and post-hardcore fans will definitely be drawn to this one! No reinventing the wheel here, but the up-tempo energy and enthusiasm is sure fitting on this track, and Billy's varied vocals fit the mood whether screaming or singing, so this album definitely continues improving track by track! Fourth on the album is "Antihero", which is not nearly as aggressive as the preceding but has another catchy intro going for it.

Interestingly, he seems to skip an initial chorus, but it still structurally works for pop punk fans, and the bass pokes through the best on this song of the ones so far! I will say that some of Billy's harsher vocals sound a little forced compared to earlier songs, and the opening guitar riff should have repeated itself more than it did, so the song is a dip in quality for my tastes but certainly still worth hearing. The second half leads off with the album's shortest track, namely "Conversations In The Dark", which is a 2+ minute instrumental piece. Until the last 35 seconds, we just get spare guitar work with muffled background dialogue (the title conversations, no doubt) before the full band kicks in for a heavier-leaning punk attack. For me, it's a shame that the closing stretch wasn't longer, as I honestly wasn't feeling this song until then, but I understand that it was probably intended to break things up on the album.

We're back to traditional songs from Forever Will Be next, with "Nosedive", which honestly reminds me a bit of early Fall Out Boy aside from the screamed vocal parts (which are less prevalent here than on the first half). Admittedly, I don't like Fall Out Boy, but emo punk fans will like the comparison of styles here! The higher vocals and more vibrant playing help this song stand out, and it is well performed, but for my genre preferences, I do prefer the album's first four songs for aggression and guitar work. The penultimate song is "Drown", which does return to the style of the first half of the album with more screaming, more of a punk edge, and more of a freewheeling attack that accentuates the solid guitar work. The big addition is actually voicemail from an unidentified woman during the bridge, which makes more sense in context. Definitely a return to form for "Dead & Dishonest" overall, and not a moment too soon!

The album closes with "Downsides", which you may also know from its later acoustic version (Forever Will Be's newest release at press time). This is a more melodic song on average with limited screaming, but unlike "Nosedive", this isn't as Fall Out Boy-esque. At the same time, the vocals are (on average) sung safer and without as much energy and changes in tempo or pitch. Not a bad closer to the album that is well within the ballpark for subgenre fans, but also not as lively and intense as earlier songs, but listen for yourself to see what you think!

So, what are my final thoughts on Forever Will Be's debut album? It's inconsistent for what I go for in punk rock, but fans of pop punk, emo, and/or screamo will find a lot to like here! Ryan shows clear multi-instrumental talent, while Billy uses his voice in lots of different ways to get across the sounds and styles on offer, and if I had to compare the songs here to a known band from the mid-2000s glory days of emo-leaning pop punk, I'd say The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus would be a reasonable choice. The production quality helped this album stand out despite its independent trappings, and you can tell that this comes from a place of love for these subgenres (if Ryan had put this out twenty years ago, it'd have been huge locally). "Afflicted", "Shadow of Myself", and "Drown" were my favourite songs based on the aggression and guitar riffs in particular, but there are things to address.

"Conversations In The Dark" was filler until it wasn't, "Nosedive" (despite being the single with music video) was a little too emo compared to what I like, and I do think the album started and ended on songs that were a little too direct and vocal driven despite not having the peaks & valleys of other songs in the vocal department. Still, for a first solo effort, Ryan (and Billy) impressed with Forever Will Be's debut, and if you like early-mid 2000s screamo and pop punk, do check this out for yourself above! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and look for our review of Mike McCleary's new solo EP "Fallout From Midnight Tides" on the site next month, and for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Pop Evil Concert Videos, Plus More From Sault Michigan!!

Before we begin today's all E.U.P. post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this weekend's previews, as local hard rock/metal band Tarnished played a solo headlining gig at The Savoy Nightclub last night. Of course, they were among the openers there for Scotty Austin/Redburn on Thursday night, but the band announced that they were playing "round 2" there on their Facebook page two hours before showtime, and the venue's Facebook page never posted that Tarnished were pulling double duty. Maybe the idea of Tarnished playing last night came together quickly after how things went on Thursday, but I do profusely apologize for missing this show on here, I'd have covered it had I gotten more notice!

That said, The Savoy's Facebook page does have a couple of relevant videos to the big show on Thursday, one being this brief promotional clip from February where Scotty Austin himself plugged the local date. He even mentioned playing in the Soo previously and that Redburn have been up here before (they opened for Saving Abel here in 2015), and little details like that make a video like this seem less cookie cutter and more personal, so kudos! The other video comes from the show proper, as a Savoy staffer(?) filmed who I believe to be opening local hard rock band The Nameless, specifically the (vocal-devoid) last 20 seconds of their third-to-last song. The video quality isn't great, with the filmer panning around quickly to show the packed house more than the band, not to mention the vertical camera angle, so we never see enough of the band with any clarity. If you told me I was wrong and that this was Tarnished, I wouldn't be shocked!

In any event, I don't know off hand what song this is based on the instrumental snippet on offer (The Nameless were covers-centric upon their debut last year, and if this was Tarnished, it doesn't match any of their or Alex's studio originals). For what little we hear, it sounds good, and the solid audience at this early stage is encouraging, so give it a look below, and we'll let you know if more videos turn up!

The rest of today's post is devoted to the Pop Evil-headlined concert at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on March 17th, as the ever-prolific Christopher Paci's YouTube channel has us covered with videos of all three bands from last week! As far as I have seen so far, Chris is the only person to upload videos from this show on YouTube, at least publically. Yes, I am aware that he filmed videos at the Leash show in Sault Ontario earlier this month, check back for those next week. As for the Pop Evil concert, Chris uploaded 12 videos from that night, including seven of the Muskegon hard rock mainstays' headlining set, those being "Breathe Again", "Torn To Pieces", "Footsteps", "Skeletons", "Dead Reckoning", "Paranoid (Crash & Burn)", and as embedded below, "Eye Of The Storm". The audio quality on his camera/this sound setup is fairly raw, but Chris had a strong central angle of the stage!

You can tell that Pop Evil are very much on their game here with good energy, and if soundboard audio existed, I can tell that it'd be fairly similar to the studio tracks, so fans of Pop Evil's ample rock radio hits should be right at home with these videos above & below!

Phoenix metalcore band The Word Alive were filmed thrice for Chris' channel, including their original songs "Trapped", "Why Am I Like This", and as embedded below, "Nocturnal Future". The same audio quality harshness aside, The Word Alive are well captured here with a nice melodic flavour on their modern aggression, and the stage lighting for their set is accentuated nicely, so check it out below!

Finally, Seattle metalcore band Avoid got two videos from Chris, namely "Song About James" and, as embedded below, their opening two songs "Gator Fest" and "Cowabunga". Avoid's electronic-tinged attack helped get this show off on the right foot with some explosively energetic songs to boot, and I can see how them opening was the best call, so check out their videos above & below, and stay tuned for Chris' Leash videos next week!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The BAG), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family & friends of Saliva guitarist Wayne Swinny, who passed away yesterday at the age of 59 after suffering a brain hemorrhage while on tour, as per the band's social media accounts. Visit your preferred music news website for more details. Local fans will remember Wayne from his set with Saliva at Muddfest at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino in November 2019, where they shared the stage with Puddle of Mudd, Trapt, Saving Abel, and Tantric in a huge concert for fans of 2000s hard rock and nu metal bands. Wayne was the last remaining original member of the Memphis-based Saliva, who had five top 10 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts in the early-mid 2000s, with "Always" going #1 on the Alternative Songs chart in 2002.

When I went to find videos of Saliva's local set in 2019 (mostly seen at this link), I actually stumbled across a video that I had not featured on the SMS during our coverage of the fallout from Muddfest, so we'll touch on that at post's end, as we do have a handful of weekend concert previews to look at. As for Wayne, he was a solid guitarist and a good & friendly person from all accounts, and I have a lot of fondness for Saliva both from some of their big hits (especially "Always") and their association with WWE in the 2000s, recording various wrestler and pay-per-view themes. R.I.P. Wayne!

Before we look back at Muddfest, here's some hard rock concert previews for a relatively quiet final weekend of March 2023, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as Sault Ontario metal trio The BAG will return to The Esquire Club for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this concert via their Facebook event page on Monday, though they did acknowledge that the show was on late notice there. According to The Esquire Club's concert calendar for the first quarter of 2023 (as seen here), veteran classic rock trio The Cloud Bandits were supposed to play there this weekend, but pulled out for unannounced reasons, including the advertised Saturday nighter. The BAG are not playing Saturday due to The Esquire Club's first ever three person team pool tournament, which presumably runs into normal band time.

The BAG have gotten good receptions so far with their Esquire Club dates, and hopefully there's more of the same TOMORROW with their hard rocking originals and covers! This is a 9:30 PM event with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit as usual. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's The BAG live at The Esquire Club!

Also this weekend is local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns' advertised return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Be advised that neither the band nor venue have visibly plugged this show on their Facebook page in the past week (not all that shocking on the Stallyns' end), but the show has been advertised since the beginning of the month on this concert calendar poster on Shooters' Facebook page. This will be The Wyld Stallyns' first show since their Searchmont gig three weeks ago, and their first stop at the Dennis Street nightclub since their "no repeat weekend" in January (no word on if they'll try something similar on Saturday). Despite the lack of recent press, hopefully Rob, Christina, Jesse, Alex, Derek, and Josh(?) have a great night of varied but often heavy covers in store for fans! This is a one nighter due to or resulting in Dorian Grey's show there tonight, as noted on the poster.

Saturday's festivities have an 8:00 PM start time as usual for Shooters, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details on The Wyld Stallyns' show this weekend, and here they are live!

Let's close with that newly discovered Muddfest video that I teased when discussing Saliva guitarist Wayne Swinny's passing above, as a 6 minute video of the three topline bands on November 1st, 2019 (ie. not Saving Abel and Tantric) was uploaded to the YouTube channel of DJ Bizick of Super Sounds By Bizick fame (catch him hosting college nights at Shooters on Thursdays) on November 9th of that year. Why did this get missed for over three years? My only theory is that it was unlisted for a time and when he made it public, it was too old to come up early in my 2020s searches for Kewadin videos on YouTube, as "Kewadin" is a regular search inquiry there. DJ Bizick primarily posts videos on hockey cards & slot machines on his channel, but at Muddfest, he filmed (in performance order) California alt-hard rock quartet Trapt playing their biggest hit "Headstrong", Saliva playing "Click Click Boom", ...

...and headlining Kansas City alternative/post grunge quartet Puddle of Mudd playing both "Psycho" and "She Hates Me". None are full songs, but you get a decent sampling of established hits from all three bands! DJ Bizick was not close to the stage but he did zoom in for Puddle of Mudd, and his sightlines were good, helped by decent audio on his camera, so fans should be into these! Honestly, Saliva sound the best of the three bands here, helped by Bobby Amaru's vocals holding up better than his tourmates, so give DJ Bizick's Muddfest video a look below, and apologies again for this being so belated to be featured on here!

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

The Scotty Austin Concert Preview, Plus New Videos From Each Side Of The Border!!

We're back on this Wednesday morning with some new videos, but leading off is a preview of a big local concert tomorrow night that I wanted to preview separately from our normal Thursday weekend concert preview post because it's that night, so giving it the extra day will be good to give it proper attention. Here's what you should know!

A rare multi-band Sault Michigan hard rock concert with touring acts outside of the Kewadin Casino umbrella goes down TOMORROW NIGHT when former Saving Abel frontman Scotty Austin makes his solo debut here at The Savoy Nightclub! The man behind the microphone for Saving Abel's last three local stops (including 2015's Superior Festival at the Savoy), Scotty returns to the Soo tomorrow in the midst of his extensive King of Rock Tour of the US. While his Saving Abel run came after that band's commercial peak, his strong vocal stylings and local familiarity bode well for his first local appearance since Muddfest in 2019, so don't miss out! Joining him on the Michigan/Ohio wing of his tour are Saginaw rap rock band Redburn (who opened for Saving Abel locally in 2015) and New Munster, Wisconsin hard rock quartet The Almas, who each have their own fun brand of modern rock to bring to the table!

Of course, Redburn have not been back to the Soo in over seven years, but The Almas' energetic original stylings are new to a local audience, and both should be worthy compliments to Scotty's headlining set tomorrow! Two local hard rock bands are playing support, including the more classic metal-leaning sound of Tarnished in their Savoy debut, and fresh off of their late notice St. Patrick's Day show at The Merch, hopefully their upward momentum continues here! The lead-off band is local hard rock quintet The Nameless in their first show of 2023 and first since opening for the dormant Buddy Repperton & The Camaros last spring, as well as their first gig since ex-Tantrym Tyme bassist/guitarist Mike East replaced Nick Fish in their lineup. How will the band look and sound after their long break? Find out tomorrow! Presented by Blowout Biker Promotions, advance tickets for this 21+ concert run for $15.

As far as I know, there's no online sale point for tickets, but you can buy them through the local openers and presumably at The Savoy proper, though note that Tarnished said on their Facebook page on Sunday that "we only have a few tickets left". An 8:00 PM start time is in effect for this show, and it should be a big one for modern hard rock fans in the E.U.P.! A lot of familiar faces and newer acts are on this stacked bill, and the price is definitely right, but how will The Savoy do in their return to heavier concert bookings? Find out tomorrow! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Scotty Austin live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario to take a look at the newly released (if delayed) second music video from local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich's forthcoming debut album "Deconstructed"! After being postponed from the single's release on major streaming services on March 15th due to unspecified "complications", the video was released to their YouTube channel on Monday, and it features the band performing their song "Better Off" (together and separately) through heavy post-production filters on a changing colour backdrop, not unlike those old Apple iPod commercials from the 2000s. As a Photoshop user, this reminds me of what would happen if the Photocopy filter came to life! I'll hold comment on the song pending our planned review of "Deconstructed" in the summer, but give it a watch for yourselves below, and look for one more advance single from the album next month!

Lastly for today, here's a clip of Heavy Lies The Crown guitarist Ted Olson playing 55 seconds of their song "A Hellbound Heart" on acoustic guitar! Uploaded to the St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band's Facebook page on Saturday, Ted asked fans if they'd be interested in hearing H.L.T.C. play an acoustic set, and while commenters more complimented the guitar/performance than answered the question, it's an interesting idea, especially if they have enough songs with clean vocals to fit! Ted's playing here (combined with the right pedal) helps this unplugged clip sound pretty nice, though I believe the video is mirrored. Check it out below, and stay tuned for more from Heavy Lies The Crown soon!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Queen: It's A Kinda Magic), The Fishbowl Festival Closing Party Preview, And More!!

After surviving the St. Patrick's Day concert weekend with no hard rock or punk stone left unturned (with one exception addressed below), we're back with a new news post on this Sunday morning, including new live concert videos and a preview of a rare Monday night concert. However, let's lead off with a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this spring!

Almost one year removed from their pandemic-delayed local debut, Australian tribute band Queen: It's A Kinda Magic will return to the Sault Community Theatre Centre on Sunday, May 21st during their 2023 Canadian tour! This one seems to have flown under the radar for where I research concerts, as I only learned about it yesterday via physical advertising at Station Mall, but it's great to see Queen: It's A Kinda Magic coming back to the Soo, especially given how well tickets sold for last year's concert despite being postponed twice across two years! Fans of Queen will be in good hands in May via this band's faithful approach to their 1980s stage show and clear talents in replicating Freddie, Brian, John, and Roger's music, so don't miss this one if you're a fan! Tickets for this show run for $72 (adults), $43 (kids 12 and under), and $67 apiece in a group of 6+ adults, though all three pricepoints are $10 higher than last year.

Plenty of tickets are still available from the third row & back in the center section, and in all rows in the left/right sections, and you can buy yours at this link or at the Station Mall's box office, though do act quick as It's A Kinda Magic sold very well last year. If you're a fan of Queen and you do indeed want it all, you should get your money's worth at the former Kiwanis Theatre, so visit the above links for more on all of the action in two months!

Next up, here's our preview of a special Monday night concert TOMORROW, as local party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty will headline the Fishbowl Festival's closing party at 674 Queen Street East wine bar/restaurant Broers Jansen! The first concert we've ever covered at the former Wine Barrel, they'll play host to the final event in the post-pandemic return of the full-scale Fishbowl Festival (ending when it does because of when Pisces ends in the astrological calendar), with Paul and Amanda bringing their eclectic rap rock stylings back for a relatively rare live set. Hopefully their lively brand of originals & covers cap off the Fishbowl Festival right! Support will come via folk rock mainstay Brian Tremblay (no sign of The Sinister Hearts) and online page-less dark synth pop solo artist OwenMK. This 19+ concert has a 6:30 PM start time with Brian playing at 7:30 & The Apocalypse Afterparty headlining at 8:30 PM.

Tickets run for $10 (on a limited basis, likely due to the size of Broers Jansen), so if you don't want to take a chance on paying at the door, click here to order yours in advance. Broers Jansen will also be offering snacks & drinks for purchase if you are so inclined. This should be a fun way to cap off the Fishbowl Festival, especially after the long pandemic road to get here, so kudos to Nicole and everyone else involved with its return, and least for a Monday nighter, it'll end early if you have work or school on Tuesday morning! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's The Apocalypse Afterparty live!

We'll close with some videos from this past weekend (none from Pop Evil yet, surprisingly), but we'll lead off there with an apology for a missed concert in this past weekend's concert previews, as local classic/hard rock musician Tym Morrison actually played last night at Tazzi's Cafe & Restaurant as well as Friday night. This was never announced by the venue's Facebook page, but Tym revealed on his personal Facebook page that they asked him back for a second straight night, so clearly the Friday gig went well! Alas, if you didn't see his personal posting (or possible physical advertising at Tazzi's), this will have flown under the radar, but apologies again, I'd have covered it had I known! As for that video, Tazzi's filmed Tym at his publically advertised show on St. Patrick's Day for Facebook, where you can see him playing 85 seconds worth of a familiar instrumental (alas, I'm not good with naming songs like this).

Usually, videos from Tym's shows that surface publically involve vocals, so this is an interesting change of pace, and it lets you get more of a look at his guitar skill and the extra production and effects that he puts into his live show so it's not just an vocal/acoustic guitar performance. Yes, the video is vertical, but as it's of one guy, it's not so bad, and you get to see how Tazzi's looks as a venue as such. Check it out below, and apologies again for missing his show there last night! 

Finally, the other new video is also from a venue's Facebook page of a concert this weekend, specifically of local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard at Jay's Piston Broke Pub last night, and remember how I said that I'm not good at identifying many instrumentals? Yeah, this is another case of that! It's good to see the band back at full strength after their three week break, and the 20 second clip sounds nice while it lasts, but the vertical camera angle does it no favours, especially from the filmer's vantage point with the dreaded post on the old Rosie/Reggie's West stage getting in Greg's way. Still neat to see more footage, so check it out below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Dayglo Abortions & Soundcheck), Plus More Recent Updates!!

Third post in two days, as there are LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to take note of on this busy St. Patrick's Day weekend, two on SHORT NOTICE! Rounding things out are some shorter items, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will reportedly return to The Esquire Club for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! I profusely apologize for the short notice, the band has not promoted these shows on their Facebook page (sadly not that unexpected), with the venue's Facebook page only first announcing them last night. That said, these dates were originally advertised to be featuring bassist Jim Michaud's old band Obsession by them and the venue alike, so the possibility that Soundcheck took on Obsession's announced 2023 bookings (schedules permitting) is noted, and if so, keep an eye on March 31st & April 1st at Shooters next. TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S concerts are definitely St. Patrick's Day themed, with The Esquire Club revealing that there will be free pool TONIGHT, drink and wings specials, green-dyed beer, and porketta TOMORROW before Soundcheck's nighttime concert.

Also, the Gael Force pipe & drum band will bring some Irish music flair to both porketta and, in a downscaled form, as rare openers for Soundcheck TONIGHT, so keep that in mind for your seasonal entertainment despite the late notice! Expect a 9:00 PM start time TONIGHT (9:30 PM TOMORROW), no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details on Soundcheck's newest entertaining classic & hard rock cover-filled weekend, and here they are live at The Esquire Club!

Next up, a big hardcore punk show was announced last night, as Victoria, British Columbia hardcore punk legends The Dayglo Abortions and Toronto hardcore punk veterans Random Killing will return to Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, May 19th at Soo Blaster! While a mid-2010s return was once teased, this show will mark the first Dayglo Abortions show here since they headlined at the former Roosevelt Hotel back in September of 2013, so if you've missed the Cretin and crew's intense, well travelled brand of old school punk rock, this will be more than well waited by genre fans! As for Random Killing (fronted by Saultite Andrew Kiteley), we've seen them twice since then via gigs at The Rockstar Bar, most recently in July 2019, so while they're fresher in fans' minds, it's still been too long to see Mr. Magoo in a mohawk dotted around a concert venue, and their explosive hardcore punk originals should be well received in two months as well in this hardcore homecoming!

Vancouver garage/noise trio Motorama will also come along for this tour in their local debut, and while Motorama take more of a genre hybrid approach, they have more than enough punk attitude and aggression to fit in on this tour, so don't bypass them on May 19th! Local alt-punk trio A Dire Setback will open this one in a rare pandemic-era live set within city limits,  and this should be a good chance to see what Chris, Matt, and Nick have been up to in studio if you missed their festival and benefit gigs in the last two years! With 2010s Dayglo/Random Killing promoter J.D. Pearce moved out of town, promotional duties have fallen to A Dire Setback's own company Live705 in their first announced booking since the pandemic began, and hopefully this is just the first of many more shows to come from them, so make this one a success to encourage more bookings!

No word on the potential Tangents concert that Live705 floated earlier this year though. This stop on The Dayglo Abortions' Upside Down Tour is a 19+ event with an 8:00 PM start time, and admission will be $20 in advance at this link or $30 at the door (for reference, the 2019 Random Killing show was $15 in advance or $20 at the door, so add in The Dayglos and the value is more than justified). Many a local punk fan has been waiting for a touring concert like this, so do not miss out on all of the action at Soo Blaster in two months, and visit the above links for more details!

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 alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich's second advance single for their debut album "Deconstructed" was released to "all streaming services" (if by "all", you mean Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, and Tidal) on Wednesday, so head to any of the four to hear "Better Off" in all of its studio splendor! A planned music video for the song has been delayed due to "complications", as per a comment reply on their post on their Facebook page about the single release. I'll hold comment on the song pending our album review this summer, but give "Better Off" a listen, and stay tuned for the video release!
• New-ish local noise punk duo No Funeral's self-titled debut album got a surprise review by Jeff Sorley of the indie/punk music website That's Good Enough For Me last week, which is as much about telling us who they aren't (as in, not other bands named No Funeral) as it is about the album contents. No rating, he just says "it's pretty good", but hey, I'm sure Jamie & Connor will take that! Give it a read above!
• Local indie/punk quintet The Northwest will play their first ever Southern Ontario gig on Tuesday, April 4th when they headline at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto! This concert is part of the venue's Nu-Music Night series, where rising bands take the stage on a Tuesday night for a free show, with The Northwest being joined here by Napanee ska punk band Master Nate & The Reprobates, Windsor rock quartet Two Years Apart, and Niagara Falls indie rock band Real Kevin. Keep this in mind if you're near the GTA, click here for details, and best of luck on the road!
   

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished) & More St. Patrick's Day Weekend Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's the second half of this weekend's hard rock concert previews, a busier weekend than normal for this time of year given that St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday! Again, if you are at all concerned about the incoming winter storm watch as it pertains to tonight's concerts (covered on the SMS or otherwise), inquire with the venues or bands in question. Now, let's look at three shows each on both sides of the border, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished will return to The Merchants Bar for their St. Patrick's Day bash TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show at 8:00 PM tonight via the short video embedded below from their Facebook page, where guitarist Nathan Webber hyped up the booking. Remember, The Merch's Facebook page does not typically promote scheduled bands, which remains true for this week, only hyping up drink specials, t-shirts, and tie-ins with "Merch Madness" (get it, like "March Madness"?). TOMORROW'S concert will be Tarnished's first since playing at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino branch earlier this month, and their first at the 108 West Spruce Street nightclub since another late notice gig there in December. If you want something a little heavier for your St. Patrick's Day revelry, a trip to The Merch TOMORROW NIGHT should do the trick, so don't miss out, despite the late notice!

This has a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no cover charge, and if you can't schedule this one into your plans given the competition over the holiday or from the late notice, remember that Tarnished are among the openers at the Scotty Austin show at The Savoy next week. Get more details on TOMORROW'S show at The Merch above & below!

Next up, let's leapfrog north to Sault Ontario for a one-nighter that did get advance notice, as local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will make his debut at Tazzi's Cafe & Restaurant TOMORROW NIGHT! The latest unfamiliar/more intimate venue for Tym to try out in a seemingly neverending list for his acoustic solo act, Tazzi's is located just up the road from Reggie's Place at 478 Queen Street East, and while by no means new to the downtown core, they have been getting into booking (primarily) unplugged musicians on Friday nights in the past year. Tym's old school blend of classic and hard rock covers adapt well to new/unfamiliar locales, and hopefully he finds a solid audience tomorrow at Tazzi's! St. Patrick's Day-wise, the holiday is promoted in the branding, but they did not hint at any promotions or frills therein. Tomorrow's show has an 8:00 PM start time, no cover, and a 19+ age limit.

By rule, this will be the mellowest pound-for-pound hard rock show of St. Patrick's Day in the Twin Saults, but depending on your taste and mood, it may be just what the doctor ordered, so don't bypass Tym's Tazzi's debut tomorrow, and regardless, he should be back at Reggie's nearby in due course. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live in concert late last year!

We'll head back to Michigan next for the earlier starting hard rock band playing both TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, as Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino this weekend! While oddly not getting a promotional push on the band's end in recent days, these shows have had lots of advance notice and are still advertised for this weekend, including via Facebook event pages linked here & here. Scarkazm were last seen at The Rapids Lounge in early December, and fans of Adam, Dave, and Jeff's hard hitting originals and covers should be raring for more from this veteran trio this weekend! Of course, they have tough competition from Pop Evil elsewhere in the casino tomorrow, but does the St. Patrick's Day allure make up for that? I'd expect some sort of holiday frills, as the casino itself is promoting them, but I haven't heard anything Rapids Lounge-specific.

As usual for Scarkazm's E.U.P. trips (their February triple header aside), tomorrow & Saturday's concerts have 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges. Fans of old school metal would be right at home with Scarkazm tomorrow night, so if you can't/don't want to get to Pop Evil, you have an alternative option on the premises, possibly with green beer to boot! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Scarkazm live!

Finally for known hard rock concerts this weekend is the return of Sault Ontario southern hard rock trio Bone Yard to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After three weeks of cancelled gigs due in part to health reasons and the guys recording in studio, these will be Bone Yard's first shows in almost a month, but they picked a great weekend to come back given St. Patrick's Day! For at least tomorrow's show, expect green beer (of course), unspecified freebies, and the return of Bone Yard's own alcoholic shot and official band t-shirts, though note that some of the advertising is ambiguous as to whether Saturday's show will be similarly seasonal or not. It's great to see the guys (presumably) back to full strength, and hopefully the luck of the Irish is smiling on Bone Yard's southern fried hard and classic rock covers this weekend!

As far as I know, these shows remain 19+ affairs with no cover charge, and you can expect 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for much more on Bone Yard's St. Patrick's Day weekend return, and here they are live!

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