Rotaryfest 2023 Fallout & Videos (Part 4!!)

To cap off the month of July, let's resume our fallout from this year's Rotaryfest at Clergue Park, so musically speaking, what else should you know from two weeks+ ago? We'll pick things back up with the one-off reunion set of local classic/hard rock cover veterans That's Chester, whose steady stream of multi-camera videos from that night has continued on a daily basis on their Facebook page! All edited together by drummer Ric Datson, the videos include covers of Doucette's "Mama Let Him Play", AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock", The Refreshments' "Banditos", Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' With Disaster", Deep Purple's "Highway Star", this two song video featuring The Knack's "My Sharona" & Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down" (plus a guest appearance from late guitarist Eugene Orlando's grandson), Harlequin's "Thinking Of You", Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz", ZZ Top's "La Grange", and as embedded below, their first two encore songs.

Specifically, they covered April Wine's version of Hot Chocolate's "Could Have Been A Lady" and the April Wine original "Roller" back to back. Along with the first four songs that we addressed in this Rotaryfest fallout post, these videos constitute That's Chester's complete reunion set, and they sound very good across the board with a nice hard rock edge and some welcomed Canadian content for fans of 1970s and 1980s domestic rock acts! Hopefully this won't be the last that we'll see of That's Chester, but check out these well shot & edited videos from Rotaryfest above & below!

Next up, we'll leap from the very last act to play this year to the very first, but not via a video. As you're likely well aware, the Thursday opener on Stage 1 was local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his local backing band in a set cut short after just three songs due to Mike severely dislocating his right knee during his second song (he finished it while laying on his back, and managed to play the third while surrounded by paramedics before the ambulance took him to Sault Area Hospital). One week after all of that happened, Mike was a guest on the podcast Inside The Village (naturally a product of SooToday parent company Village Media) to talk about his abbreviated set with hosts Scott Sexsmith (membership director) and Michael "Frisco" Friscolanti (editor in chief), plus producer Derek Turner (yes, The Wyld Stallyns' drummer). You can hear the 34 minute episode at this link or on other major podcasting services.

After bantering about Michael Amadio bringing the Stanley Cup home to the Soo and discussing some local stories in Southern Ontario (as in, local to other markets served by Village Media news websites), the Mike Haggith portion of the episode begins 10 minutes in after a brief commercial break. Here, Scott asks Mike about the beginnings of his musical career and the planning for his Rotaryfest set this year before diving into the set proper, including how things went until he collapsed, the amusing initial reactions from his bandmates (who didn't immediately know that he wasn't just being theatrical), the quick response from on-site paramedics, the decision to play "I've Seen It Before" while laying on his back with a twisted knee, the crowd response to their set, his prognosis for the knee (as of the interview, 4-6 weeks on crutches with physio and ortho), how Sault Area Hospital staff responded to everything when he was first admitted, ...

...his surprisingly early (initial) exit from the hospital, reaction to his social media accounts afterwards, his hopes to get a Rotaryfest do-over in 2024, and his set at the Northern Vibe Festival next month (where he will be seated). The last six minutes of the episode feature more discussion about Mike's injury and similar stories about persevering through injury, with Derek's musical point of view coming up here, as he drummed with the Stallyns on Stage 1 that same Saturday. Informative interview with Mike getting more candid than ever about the events of July 13th, so I highly recommend checking out the interview above (and he dislocated his right knee, Jacob's live-stream was mirrored. My apologies!)

We'll close today with some fallout from Stage 2 near the Art Gallery of Algoma, as I've barely talked about that stage at this point! Granted, the two heavier bands to play this year haven't posted videos from their sets, but what is posted publically to check out? From the Saturday program of original-leaning bands, surprisingly not too much. Machines Dream posted a video on their Facebook page of them playing the first part of "Boundaries", so fans of this exceedingly talented progressive rock band will want to give that a look, especially as this was the last of this run of shows for their reunited original lineup! The other public video that I know was shot on Saturday was a "Shorts" video uploaded by YouTube user Owerri Chic TV, and it captures The Hollow Heads (I think), though the video is confusingly titled "End of Rotaryfest" (they were the third-to-last band on Saturday). Sounds good while it lasts!

The other known public videos to date are from the Friday Night Blues program on Stage 2, and I will touch on those in some form in an upcoming post, especially if any hard rock covers snuck into the sets/videos. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Stage 1's Thursday headliners Abba Soo were photographed by The Sault Star in this article on the opening day's festivities. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next month! Thanks everyone!

Handsome Sandwich - "Deconstructed" CD Review!!

It's now time for our 169th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and continuing our healthy run of new album reviews, we're looking at local alternative/hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich's debut album "Deconstructed"! Independently released on May 6th through their Ugly Salad Records imprint, this album was recorded at Unsalted Audio with producer Bill Priddle & engineer Dustin Goodall between mid-2022 and January 2023, with mixing by Jordan Zadorozny of Skylark Park in Pembroke, and mastering by Toronto's Joao Carvalho. Handsome Sandwich are represented here by singer Taylor "Tea" Emlaw (ex-Big Mistake), guitarist Jesse Cook (ex-Jack Spades), guitarist Mitch Sirie (Far From Fine) on bass, and his Bear Hunters bandmate Johnny Belanger on drums, while Jesse's Wyld Stallyns bandmate Josh Norling guests on saxophone on "No Entry". Current bassist Rafael Medina Cruz is actually not credited as playing on the record, but he did design the album artwork.

Physical copies of the CD are on sale for $20 (I can't 100% confirm if The Rad Zone or other retail stores have them in stock), and you can presumably get them at shows and through contacting band members. You can also stream "Deconstructed" on their YouTube channel and through major streaming services like Spotify & Apple Music, and through both Bandcamp and iTunes, you can buy it legally on mp3 for around $15 (iTunes is slightly cheaper). With 11 songs running for about 39 minutes in length, let's begin this review with its first song, "Stick Up"! Lyrically about putting a romantic partner on the spot about their future, this is driving mid-tempo rocker with a bit of a jazzy progression. While not as fast paced and lively as some later songs, it gets the job done to lay out their hybrid genre sound with a well done guitar solo, and Taylor's distinctive Beth Hart-esque vocals help them stand out from other local bands!

The chorus can be a little repetitive, and the abrupt ending really made me assume that one more chorus lied ahead, but this is a solid enough opener! Next is the album's shortest song "All Or Nothing", which is about standing up for yourself and not compromising for others. A very wordy song despite running for under 3 minutes, it's an improvement on the opener for its fast paced power pop energy and spontaneity, nicely jumping from heavy choruses to more funk-inspired verses, and Jesse's lead guitar fits in nicely here! I'd have done more with the bridge, but this is a strong track that everyone contributes to well! Third is the album's second single "Better Off", which is basically about how Taylor is better off without an ex-boyfriend. While the verses are soft, the guitar attack gives the heaviest parts of the album yet on the intro and choruses, and Taylor has her angriest vocals on the album so far to match!

The spare bridge with the title being recited ground the song to a halt (I wouldn't have ended the song in that fashion either), but the all-too-brief guitar solo helped get things back on track in between! Fun song for fans of the Sandwich's heavier side, and Johnny's drumming is a nice compliment here! The album's lead single "Bitter" follows, with lyrics about rising above someone trying to bring you down, while swearing that you're not bitter about the past. This reminds me in ways of "Stick Up" from it's laid back verses and repetitive lyrics on the choruses, and while it's not one my favourites on the disc, the choruses do have a catchy sing-along quality. The spare verses do let us hear Mitch's bass nicely though, and the ending stretch (including a guitar solo) is a nice bonus when it felt like the song had just faded out for good. Good song, but I'd have added more to it to fill it out.

Fifth is "Conquest", another song based around relationship issues, this time trying to cut someone loose from their demanding nature. The softest song on offer yet, I don't think the reserved vocals and relaxed indie-inspired instrumentation on the verses are really to the band's benefit, though the choruses do amp up on the rock quota. Handsome Sandwich do experiment with backing vocals here (Johnny is credited for them on Bandcamp), and they work well enough in the mix. Not one of my favourite songs, but it will be a change of pace if you're up for it! The mid-point of "Deconstructed" comes with "Monkey", with the title referring to the proverbial "monkey on my back", and the lyrics imply a continuation of the relationship argument expressed on "Conquest". This is a better song though, with a nice hard-driving chorus with passioned vocals from Taylor and fuller power pop verses that flow more naturally,

While not as loose as some of their earlier cuts, "Monkey" is well composed and has a nice guitar solo outro, and everyone handles their end of the musical bargain, so this is a good sign leading into the CD's back half! Song #7 is the album's longest track, "Okay", which seems to be about how things will be alright after a failed relationship and how it's better for both parties to move on. This is the slowest and softest song yet, Taylor's rapid-fire vocals at points aside, which don't always fit in with the instrumental tracks as cleanly as I'd like. The choruses do amp up the rock, but for my tastes in music, this is a little too slow and drawn out compared to how I prefer my Sandwich, and the outro going progressively slower and more meandering isn't ideal. It's not badly composed, and the guitar work is high quality, but Taylor is best suited on high energy songs for me, and at points, it feels like they added her vocals onto the wrong song.

Eighth up is the album's third and final advance single "No Entry", which is about sealing yourself off from an ex so they can't hurt you anymore, citing plastic surgery and tattoos as examples of changes to facilitate the further separation. This has more of a 2000s garage rock vibe that is a definite change of pace from prior songs, with Johnny's drumming driving the verses, and Jesse's guitar solo having a bit of a 1970s prog vibe to it. Definitely a creative song compared to predecessors, with Josh Norling's saxophone part coming up after the first chorus and during the bridge and fitting in relatively seamlessly. I do prefer having more guitar in their songs, but this is definitely improvement conceptually from "Okay"! Next is "Shiver", which is about longing for an ex, if perhaps not an ideal partner given how the lyrics go. This is an improvement on the last two songs with a fuller band component and more of a full-on rock sound!

While not all-out heavy from start to end, I appreciate that this is a better showcase for the whole band, and Jesse's guitar shredding late is a nice touch, if buried under the vocals! The lyrics can get repetitive as the chorus goes on and on in the back half, but this uses everyone more optimally while still showing some creative variance, so it's a late album highlight! The penultimate song on "Deconstructed" is "Fine, Right?", which is basically about how one may not come out the "winner" in the breakup of a relationship, but they'll be fine/okay in the end. This is arguably one of the more "traditional" hard rock songs on offer on this CD, but the verses have a nice bouncy guitar riff, and Taylor uses her vocal range to good effect here! I do find that the chorus repitition goes a little too long, but if this shows their heavier side well without sacrificing what them to the dance, so to speak!

The final song here is "Darkside", which fittingly ends things on a more hopeful note towards a possible new relationship, in a "if you can't handle me at my worst..." sort of vantage point. Jesse's immediately laying down some guitar mastery to kick off this song, and this song comes together really well for a full band showcase with heavy riffs, an effective atmospheric outro, and a nice cohesive sound that helps end this album in a nice upward trajectory! This is my favourite song on the second half, and wouldn't have been out of place as a single!

So, what are my final thoughts on Handsome Sandwich's debut album? While inconsistent for what I like out of hard rock, the eclectic styles and proficiency across the board make this a solid debut outing that will please many fans more often than not! In their pre-pandemic days as a cover trio, they used to say that they had "no genre", and that can be exemplified with the sounds used here, with hard rock, jazz, progressive, funk, and punk all glimpsed at points on the eleven songs. Between Taylor's unique cutting vocals, Jesse's always-excellent lead guitar work, Mitch's solid bass playing, and Johnny's skilled percussion, everyone performs well and help most of the band show some different sides from their past metal studio work. Songs like "Better Off", "Monkey", and "Darkside" exemplify the best of their influences and performances, but this isn't perfect for what I go for.

Some songs could have abrupt endings, too reserved instrumentation at points, repetitive choruses, and somewhat buried bass, while I would have liked to have seen more lyrical variance beyond relationship strife, and it is a shame that Rafael isn't on bass on the final product for even a song or two. Anything else is more for my own metal/hard rock preferences, but again, for production quality and mix of sounds, fans should find a few ingredients of this Handsome Sandwich that they like, so definitely buy or stream it at the above links! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and look for our review of Jonesy Land's debut album "Zoom - Out" on the site next month! Thanks everyone!

R.I.P. Tony Hubbard (1955-2023)

I'd like to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran Sault Michigan rock drummer Tony Hubbard, who passed away on Monday at MyMichigan Medical Center (nee the War Memorial Hospital) at the age of 67. You can read his obituary at this link, and his memorial service took place earlier today at C.S. Mulder Funeral Home with a celebration of life following tonight at The Merchants Bar. In lieu of flowers, the Hubbard family would appreciate donations to the Hospice of the E.U.P.. SMS readers who have followed our Sault Michigan and E.U.P. coverage should be familiar with Tony for his work behind the kit with local hard rock cover bands Splitshot (from 2010-2011) and 415E (from 2014-2017), joining his son Chris to perform with both bands, though Tony didn't return to 415E when they relaunched in 2019. You may also recognize Tony from local bands like Stonewall Creation and as a former bandmate of Tim Hatfield's.

Outside of music, Tony was a skilled craftsman who owned Hubbard Interiors, and he was an avid hockey player, a loving husband and father, and a kind man who loved to tell a joke. Tony is survived by his wife Cami, four children (including Chris), three grandchildren, and four siblings. Having lost a parent myself, I can relate to what Chris and the Hubbard family are going through right now, and while public media of Tony's more recent bands was always surprisingly elusive, he was an accomplished drummer and a familiar face for many who frequented the local concert scene in the E.U.P. into the late 2010s. R.I.P. Tony!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Generations), Our Lopstock III Concert Preview, And More!!

As promised, let's round out this weekend's concert previews (barring anything on really late notice) with two events taking place tomorrow only, one a multi-band affair with lots of advance notice, and the other a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover band Generations will make their Water Tower Pub debut with a one-night-only gig TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, drummer Tony Santoro only announced this show via their Facebook group on Tuesday, and the venue's Facebook page has not confirmed this weekend's musical entertainment at press time. With a permanent replacement for Brandon Ruch not yet obtained, Generations will welcome Flat Stanley/ex-Peace Vibe guitarist Tony Kajnar as a guest TOMORROW, and he's definitely a talented hand who should fit in fine for this one! Notably, this will be Generations' first concert since Rotaryfest, as their announced Reggie's Place show last Friday was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict, with that gig & the planned karaoke night on Saturday replaced by shows from online page-less classic rock band Wheelhouse (featuring Michael Davies & Jon Ferguson from Stiffler's Mom).

Apologies for missing that last week (Wheelhouse were confirmed instead on Thursday after that day's concert preview post went up), but hopefully they had a good weekend! You can enjoy Valerie, Pierre, Tony, and... Tony's classic/hard rock cover selections TOMORROW NIGHT at 8:00 PM, this is a 19+ event, and there is no announced cover chage. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Generations live!

Next up, let's preview this weekend's final currently known hard rock/punk show of this weekend, and it's a big one, as Lopstock returns TOMORROW NIGHT to LopLops Lounge! Eight years after the second and final Lopstock took place, this "bohemian conclave" of original musicians will resume operations, with ex-Gnaeus/These Magnificent Tentacles drummer Brendan Garlick returning as promoter, this time under the banner of Sault Noir, his debuting concert promotional company. Click here for Chris Belsito's SooToday article on Lopstock's rebirth, featuring interview remarks from Brendan. This year's bill features ten local bands (no out of town groups for the return year), and while none are returnees from 2014 & 2015, there are returning musicians in new projects. Your advertised headliners are Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle's online page-less indie rock trio Pointless, and it's good to see them back on stage!

The latest blocked hard rock act tomorrow is alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich in their post-relaunch debut at LopLops (look for our review of "Deconstructed" this weekend!) Rising young indie rock quartet The Hollow Heads (who joined the Sandwich at Rotaryfest Stage 2 earlier this month) will also perform tomorrow, preceded by two hip-hop acts, including Stoneburgh & Sawbé in a joint set, preceded by Christian rapper Bold Noize. Hard rock fans will get their other block before the rappers take the stage, including metal trio The BAG and punk/hard rock quartet Far From Fine, both in their LopLops debuts. It's worth noting that Far From Fine actually parted ways with drummer Austin "Mickey" McCrae before their Rotaryfest Stage 2 set, and he was replaced by Id Iota alum Blair St. John for that set, and who will reportedly also fill in at Lopstock tomorrow.

The band explained in a comment reply on their Facebook page on the 16th that "we're going in a different direction for drums". If I'm being honest, I don't like when "a new/different direction" is given as a reason for any sort of change (not just for local bands), as it's basically a vague non-answer, but Blair was apparently secured on short notice for Rotaryfest. Hopefully things were amicable with Austin, as he is a talented multi-instrumentalist, and hopefully Blair fits in well again tomorrow night! Pop rock quartet Jupiter Marvelous & solo folk/pop rock artists Hannah Lindsay and Juliana Regan (the latter of which often plays live with Blair St. John) will round out the Lopstock III roster. Tomorrow's festivities are 19+ with a 5:00 PM start time, and tickets run for $25 plus processing fees at this link, or presumably at the door. Brendan will MC the show, and Crank Sound Distribution will be on hand to keep everything sounding great as usual!

Note that, on July 7th, Brendan teased "one more Lopstock announcement... and it's a pretty exciting one", but has not publically elaborated (I believe he noted what it was in a post on his personal Facebook page if you're his friend and want to dig there). This should be a great time for local music fans, especially to get so many musicians packed at LopLops as it continues its post-pandemic resurgence, and hopefully this is the perfect launching pad for Sault Noir! Definitely visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more on tomorrow's stacked concert, and here's Handsome Sandwich live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more on the site this weekend, including our review of Handsome Sandwich's debut CD! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

The final weekend of concerts for a busy July 2023 is drawing near, so let's kick off our hard rock previews today! Due to the still high amount of hard rock-leaning shows this weekend, we'll hold Saturday return of Lopstock and Generations' show that same night for tomorrow's preview post, while focusing on bands playing tomorrow in some fashion here. With that said, here's what you should know to kick off the weekend!

We'll start with a pair of linked Friday-only gigs TOMORROW NIGHT, including prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's fourth straight weekly acoustic gig at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post! The Nostalgic Band frontman has been entertaining patrons at the 1332 Great Northern Road outdoor stage all month on Fridays, and this should be no different, as he breaks out some acoustic classic and hard rock hits before zipping to the west end for the shows we're covering next. Hopefully this is a good warm-up for Tym, whether you're joining him at Jay's or not! While we're on the subject, those LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS entail adding his previously announced Mike Case Stage shows in August to our calendar, so look for him there on August 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th! While he has played early September shows there in the past, he hasn't announced dates for then (yet?)

Tomorrow's and next month's dates in Tym Morrison's weekly summer series at The Trading Post have a 7:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and no age limit. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy conditions at around 22° tomorrow, and while there are thunderstorms in the forecast, they should wrap up late tomorrow morning. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, once his solo show wraps up by 9:00 PM, Tym will drive down to Jay's Piston Broke Pub to join his new Nostalgic Band for a one-nighter TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be the second straight week where Tym and The Nostalgic Band double up on the same day, also the second straight week where The Nostalgic Band are playing Friday only (I am unsure who is playing there on Saturday, if anyone). Oddly, tomorrow's show had lots of advance notice, unlike their short notice gig last week, so if you've been prepping to see Tym, Dutch, and Chet's hard rocking brand of classic rock and metal covers, head to the former Rosie/Reggie's West for all of the action tomorrow! Tomorrow's festivities have a 19+ age limit, 9:30 PM start time, and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's The Nostalgic Band live at the downtown Reggie's!

Now let's head to Sault Michigan and area, as both regional Kewadin Casinos are hosting touring bands at their on-site lounges this weekend! Starting in the Soo, fans can see Traverse City classic metal/hard rock cover trio Peril back at The Rapids Lounge TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Certainly no strangers to playing under the Kewadin umbrella, this will be Peril's first concert weekend in the Soo in just over two months, and we will have more from them/Scarkazm in an upcoming post addressing August and September hard rock shows at the casino. Hopefully Jeff, Adam, and Brooks lay down lots of rock favourites for fans in the E.U.P. this weekend as usual! This weekend's shows are 9:00 PM affairs as ever with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more on Peril's return to Sault Michigan this weekend, and here they are live!

Finally for this preview post, let's head an hour south to the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Grand Rapids/Nashville psychedelic hard rock quartet Overdrive Orchestra will rock The Northern Pines Lounge TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing this band rock both the Rapids and Northern Pines Lounges in the spring of last year, and it is neat seeing Overdrive Orchestra return over a year later, especially as a rare example of a touring band playing here that isn't from the U.P., Northern Michigan, or Sault Ste. Marie. Their distinct brand of keyboard-laden prog rock with lots of hard rock flourish should get another strong reception from fans in Mackinac County this weekend, so don't miss out on Overdrive Orchestra's return! Like with Peril in the Soo, these are 21+ gigs with 9:00 PM start times and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Overdrive Orchestra's Facebook trailer video for this weekend!

That's all for now, but look for our Lopstock and Generations previews (and more) next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: 2010abstract's Channel & Chris Bardawill

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, as we once again shine another monthly spotlight on YouTube channels whose videos are at least half comprised of local metal, hard rock, or punk-specific content! There is a slight change of plans for this month, as the second randomly selected channel for this month (YouTube user ander101) is actually one that we already spotlighted back in 2016! I'm surprised that I don't err like that more often given how long this series has been going. In its place, I randomly chose a 100% unfeatured-already channel to round out this multi-channel installment, so here's what you should know!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2010abstract's Channel (http://youtube.com/2010abstract)

Owner: A member or representative of defunct Sault Michigan hard rock band Abstract (formerly Aux and later renamed Tantrum and Tantrym Tyme), exact identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 10th, 2011; Videos uploaded that day and two days later

Channel Summary: The then-official YouTube channel for the Guitar Studio rock camp graduates (aged just 10-11 upon their 2010 launch), Abstract posted two jam session cover videos here from two separate locales

Why You Should Watch: While there's only two videos here, it is very interesting to see where the future Tantrym Tyme started, and even as pre-teens, you get the sense that they had bigger and better things ahead, as fans will know when comparing their mid-2010s Tantrym Time gigs to their humble beginnings as Abstract! This channel was succeeded by their later TANTRUMzone channel in 2012, which only ever had one video, with Tantrym Tyme-era videos largely posted on Facebook or by fans.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Abstract- Back in Black: The former Abstract's first and most popular video saw them cover AC/DC's "Back In Black" in a rehearsal space, with the band then-comprised of singer/guitarist Jacob Hotlen, guitarist Kyle Burton, bassist Mike East, and drummer Ethan Twardy (all but Kyle hung on through to the Tantrym Tyme years). Their ages absolutely have to be taken into account when gauging this performance and Jasob's vocals, which all undoubtedly improved by the end of Tantrym Tyme's active run, but for kids at their age, they did very well here, and Jacob nailed the solo!

Abstract- Woman: Two days later, the band's final upload here saw them cover Wolfmother's "Woman" in a new jam space with a new widescreen camera. While shorter, this is arguably a better showcase of Abstract's skills at the time, both from the more contemporary & faster song, as well as using more of Jacob's vocal range at the time. You can see why Abstract would have turned a few heads, but of course, check out Tantrym Tyme videos to see the culmination of all of their hard work as musicians as they entered high school!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris Bardawill (http://www.youtube.com/@chrisbardawill281)

Owner: Sault Ontario resident Christopher Bardawill

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 6th, 2021; Videos uploaded that day through that September

Channel Summary: Alongside three non-musical videos of Chris and friends, his channel contains five videos from defunct local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession's set at the pandemic-restricted drive-thru Rotaryfest outside of the former Lowe's Plaza in July 2021. Obsession were represented here by singer Valerie Powley, guitarist Gabe Tessaro, bassist Jim Michaud, and drummer Steve Porco, with Rotaryfest sound tech Dan Belanger guesting for the set. The five videos include covers of Big Brother & The Holding Company's version of Erma Franklin's "Piece Of My Heart", AC/DC's "Highway To Hell", Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You", Heart's "Barracuda", and in his most popular video, their set-opening cover of Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" with Gabe on lead vocals. Solid stuff all around from this missed local band, and they made the most of a screwy time, as nicely filmed by Chris!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around August 26th for another multi-band post, with three channels this time, as the first random selection just had three videos from across two concerts from the same band, so I randomly picked a channel with just videos from one show to fill things out with. As such, we will be looking at the channels of YouTube users Danabelle39 (featuring videos of Havadder live at the former Nicolet) and kilko8011 (featuring videos of Treble Charger playing in Toronto). Look for those next month, and for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Heavy Lies The Crown & Spades GT Updates!!

Today's post is devoted to overdue updates from two prominent local bands who get most of their live concert kicks away from our area, so here's what you should know from each!

With how busy that the summer season has gotten, I have completely fallen behind on updates from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown since the end of May, so what have they been up to lately? On June 6th, they shared this commercial on their Facebook page hyping their inclusion on this year's Michigan Metal Fest in Battle Creek on August 19th, and it promotes them well while adding some amusingly lazy touches (you have to watch to see what I mean, but it's meant for humour!). Much of their June posts were to plug that festival, which is absolutely stacked, if still a 5 hour drive from here. On June 21st, frontman Brandon West modeled an official H.L.T.C. beanie (toque, if you prefer) for this picture to gauge interest in selling them officially, and there definitely was interest! New baseball caps and dice bags (yes) did come in for sale, and were modeled in pictures on July 9th. After largely being quiet from the concert stage since the end of March, Heavy Lies The Crown did return to the stage this past weekend!

As we mentioned on here when first announced, the guys hit the road for Alpena (2½ hours southeast of the Soo) on Saturday to open for Katharsys Theory at the Michigan Brown Trout Festival, which was hyped in this video featuring music video and performance clips from that night's bands. Photos have been posted from that night on their Facebook page, and eagle eyed observers will note that bassist Christian Cook was unavailable for this show for unannounced reasons. In his place, the guys called in original bassist Danny Tucker to fill in for the night, and while they didn't publically elaborate, personal Facebook posts imply that Danny was asked to help out on very short notice (he lives in Alpena nowadays anyway). Neat seeing Danny back on stage with Brandon and Ted, and hopefully the set was well received! The next day, they played a very rare local concert set in their hometown of St. Ignace, albeit a private one.

Like they did in August last year, Heavy Lies The Crown joined local classic rock cover band Aisle8 for a private outdoor concert outside of a St. Ignace residence. It's a shame that H.L.T.C. struggle to get proper public bookings in the E.U.P. (let alone can't easily play in Sault Ontario, where they would be very well liked), but at least fans in St. Ignace who are in the know have a couple of chances to see them here and there! See above for much more on Heavy Lies The Crown's recent and upcoming activity!

Next up, let's head north to Ontario for the latest from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT! Their new "Final Girl" music video has been making the rounds on punk and metal websites this month, with The Metal Voice sharing it on Facebook, and both Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and That's Good Enough For Me posting it on their websites linked above. All but the latter noted that drummer Tyler Reiner is the son of Anvil drummer Robb Reiner, which is handy for general readers who may not know! I remember pointing that out when Caym played shows here. On July 13th, they posted pictures on their Facebook page from their concert opening for Random Killing earlier this month, specifically of frontman J.D. Pearce guesting with Random Killing! Two local frontmen for the price of one, too bad there wasn't video footage!

On Sunday, the former Jack Spades noted that their song "Red" got played on University Heights, Ohio college radio station WJCU 88.7 FM on their metal-centric program Metal on Metal (another Anvil reference!). Good to see Spades get some American coverage, and it's a shame that WLSO as we knew it can't play them anymore! Upcoming Southern Ontario concert dates include another Random Killing show at The Bovine Sex Club in Toronto on September 23rd, but first, they will also rock Cornwall for an all ages multi-band hospice fundraiser concert named Cornwall Chaos on August 19th! That show will see Spades GT share the stage with (among many others) guitarist Jay Sarrazin's Cornwall-based metal band Hellrager, who local fans will be able to see for the first time at The Northern Vibe Festival one week later. Good to see Spades GT and another of Jay's bands play the same event, which happens less often than you'd think!

To close, here's new videos of Spades GT in action, courtesy of their show at Inside Skate Park in St. Catharines this past Saturday! The name is not a misnomer, the venue doubles as an indoor skatepark, and the band literally played behind one of the ramps! Filmed for regional promoters/label AP Records' Facebook page along with other bands that night, the two 20 second videos (mercifully not "Reels") feature Spades GT (minus Jay) covering parts of Turbonegro's "All My Friends Are Dead". I wish these weren't shot vertically, but you do get a neat look at how they cram a concert and skatepark into the same indoor locale, and the band sounds good while they last, so check them out below and here!

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

Details On The Private Multi-Band Concert In Leeburn On Saturday!!

As I alluded to during our weekend concert previews, there was a private multi-band concert this weekend outside of town. While some bands did promote it publically, the Facebook event page was always private, labelled the event as "exclusive", and aimed it at friends of the promoters/bands rather than a general audience, with a firm cap of 100 tickets. We can safely mention the show now, which took place on Saturday at Robbie Adamson's old church in Leeburn, the site of the former Oh!No concert festivals in 2017-2019 (yes, those were public events). The headliners on Saturday were the surprise return of local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters in their first announced show of any kind in almost two years, and just their fourth since the end of 2017! This was not a one-off reunion, with the band confirming on their Facebook page that "hibernation (is) complete" and that they are working on new music.

Drummer Johnny Belanger and his partner Nicole Lamoureux put this event on, for the record. It is awesome to see The Bear Hunters back, and hopefully their return proves more fruitful than the latter pandemic-effected years of their original run! Note that they never played at the Oh!No festival, but they did film their "I Fear No God" music video at Robbie's church, so if video never surfaces from Saturday, you can still see Nik, Mitch, Justin, and Johnny rock out there! Mitch & Johnny's main alt-hard rock band Handsome Sandwich co-headlined on Saturday, with alt-punk trio A Dire Setback billed third. Newer local skate punk trio Ha!ls made the 45 minute drive east for this, with frontman Brenton "B.G." Ellis selling his art in the "Grey Area Gallery" during the private festivities. Pop rock cover band L!me also performed, and while hip hop duo Planet Rock were advertised, DJ Seith alone appeared to perform on Saturday instead.

This is backed up by A Dire Setback's public photos from the event on their Facebook page, including this shot of the band schedule. This implies that Planet Rock MC St. James was unavailable on Saturday (hopefully nothing bad happened), so DJ Seith stayed on the bill as a solo performer, which is a fine save! As you can see on the poster, there were three mystery acts, so who were they? Skinbox is the new local rock band from former Pixo Control/These Magnificent Tentacles guitarist Steve Edwards, but despite posting images from jam sessions on their Facebook page in May, they have not identified the band members or elaborated on their sound yet. As for The Couch Crusades, who were the second act on Saturday, I have zero idea who they are. In searching the name, all I came up with was promotion for this show and this unrelated podcast. We'll let you know when/if we hear anything!

Based on the band schedule linked above, the other new-to-us act dropped out for unannounced reasons, but Shrugby (not Shrugsby) is an electronica/house musician out of Wawa. Not in our genre range, but he does have a following and solid talent in the EDM scope, so check him out if you're into these styles! None of the currently circulating public advertising for the event credits them anymore, but I am 100% certain that defunct death/thrash metal trio Pillory were listed as performing when the event page first went live last month. Hopefully we haven't seen the last of them, in any case! As you can see in the poster, camping was free and encouraged for attendees, as it was in the Oh!No days, so this would have been a fun summer event for local music fans, especially punk and metal ones! Alas, it was private (barring the bands' own public advertising if they chose), but I didn't want to step on any toes by plugging it on here just to be safe.

Yes, I was invited, but I usually don't chance covering lengthy, more distant shows like this because I want to cover everything and I don't want camera or phone batteries running out at an in-opportune time and place (this is partly why I haven't yet covered Northern Vibe in person). As of this writing, no public videos have knowingly surfaced, but hopefully someone shot something given who was playing! Above all else, I hope this concert was a huge hit for everyone involved, and that the "camping with friends" angle  went over equally well, so see above for what is publically known about Saturday's festivities in Leeburn, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest 2023 Fallout & Videos (Part 3!!)

We'll resume our Rotaryfest fallout today by heading back to the closing band one week ago today, namely the one-off reunion of local classic/hard rock cover quintet That's Chester! On that Thursday, the band posted a rehearsal video from the previous night onto their Facebook page, which actually starts with a photo montage set to Saliva's "Ladies & Gentlemen" before moving to live video. There, we see the guys toasting with tequila shots before jamming Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town" (quite literally given their five years off.) Guitarist Gabe Tessaro even showed off a picture of late founding guitarist Eugene Orlando that he brought with him beforehand, which was a nice touch to ensure that he was present! In the description, the band noted that Dan Belanger (who serves as the sound tech for Stage 1 each year, if you didn't know) is officially Eugene's replacement for their reunion gigs, not just a recurring guest.

If you recall That's Chester's use of "_____ Chester" as a jokey stage name for the whole band in the 2000s, then you'll like that Dan's stage name is Audio Chester, so now it is truly official! It'd be nice if the guys could re-post all of their stage names (including those of Eugene, Jim, and Greg), as I don't believe they're easily accessible in one place in 2023. No, they didn't give any context as to why Richard Fullerton replaced Greg Simpson for this gig, if you're wondering. Starting on Wednesday, drummer Ric Datson began sharing actual videos from their Stage 1 set at Clergue Park, and he noted that these were getting delayed from his ideal release because he had three cameras set up and was editing the videos to match. The videos are all pointing the same direction at the stage, with one at the corner of the stage, one near the audience, and one being a drumcam focusing on Ric. What can you see (so far) from That's Chester's reunion set?

 

The three videos so far include "The Boys Are Back In Town" (which fittingly opened their set), Judas Priest's "Breaking The Law", and as embedded below, two different songs, namely The Bottle Rockets' "Nancy Sinatra" and Collective Soul's "Heavy".  For production quality, these videos are great alone, and nicely edited, but That's Chester hold up just fine as musicians to match, and they have a strong handle on these songs across the board! I'd have centered one or two of the camera though, or at least moved one to the other side of the stage. Ric noted that he plans to release a video per day from this set, so watch out over the next two weeks, and give their Rotaryfest 2023 videos (so far) a look above & below!

This wasn't all for Ric Datson at Rotaryfest, as his current classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down also made their festival debut as the 8:00 band on Friday the 14th, and like with That's Chester, their full set was also filmed officially, this time for Ric's YouTube channel! Some apparent dead air between songs was edited out in post, for the record, and the corner-of-the-stage camera was used for the entire thing here, so prepare to see a lot of guitarist Adam King. Their 40 minute set features (in order) covers of Mack Rice's "Mustang Sally", Big Wreck's "That Song", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Born On The Bayou", Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Let It Ride", The Beatles' "Day Tripper", Sugarloaf's "Green-Eyed Lady", The Stampeders' "Wild Eyes", and Collective Soul's "Shine". It turns out that Adam literally shares vocal duties 50/50 with Joel Syrette, with the two alternating songs for the entire set (Adam leads off on "Mustang Sally").

While Adam did lampshade how his voice got pitchy and flat while doing backing vocals on "Shine", everything sounds fine to me, aided by the high quality video, and it is nice to see Double Down covering some songs you don't see some of their contemporaries do, including some Canadian content! If fans miss the old Bone Yard lineup and/or Mojo, they should be in good hands with Double Down, so check out their whole set below!

We'll close today with an alternate angle of most of Double Down's set, courtesy of attendee Beej Syrette, who live-streamed this for his personal Facebook page and shared it publically on the band's Facebook page. The 26+ minute video captures the first five songs from a nice central angle that lets us get a better actual view of Double Down's set, and while the pure quality of the actual video is lower, it's not bad at all and the audio is pretty clear! You get to see what Ric edited out between some songs too, as anticlimactic as that may be. Check out Beej's Double Down video below!

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