Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Let's keep on clearing our our summer backlog in today's video-heavy post, including some concert footage from two different events, a local band's recent acoustic performance, and a related group's surprise return. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

Prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci had his camera rolling at the Cory Marks-headlined concert at The Machine Shop on July 21st, uploading ten videos from it to his YouTube channel nine days later! Apologies in the delay in addressing these here, it's been a busy month! From the headlining North Bay country/hard rock musician, Chris filmed Cory and his band covering The Steve Miller Band's "Jet Airliner", Bryan Adams' "Here I Am", and Ozzy Osbourne's "Mama, I'm Coming Home", as well as playing three originals, namely "Blame It On The Double", "Devil's Grin", and as embedded below, "Outlaws & Outsiders". It looks like Chris had a good spot on the floor, roughly from the third row of people, so to speak. While the visuals aren't crystal clear, the audio holds up, and Cory & his band sound good while blurring genre lines, and he demonstrates some strong vocals too! Check these out above & below!

Next up, Chris' other four videos from this show come from debuting local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's opening set, where they were filmed covering AC/DC's "Highway To Hell", Bryan Adams' "Run To You", Poison's "Nothin' But A Good Time", and as embedded below, Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!". Our most substantial looks at Silent 9 yet, these videos capture the range of the Obsession successors well, with Jess able to hit some solid notes across a few different styles. Give their videos a watch above & below, and don't miss their solo headlining debut on the public stage at The Water Tower Pub next Saturday!

Also today, here's some recent updates from local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek, who have been unusually quiet since opening for Josey Scott's Saliva in June, but they do have a new video to share! This past weekend, the guys (sans Bones and Tony) played an acoustic set at a private outdoor event, where they covered Alice In Chains' "Nutshell" for this video uploaded to their Facebook page. Justin Grayson doesn't hold vocal notes for as long as Layne Staley did, but this is otherwise a faithful cover, and it's good to see Fort Creek back at it, if minus the rhythm section! No word on why this was uploaded as a vertical video with pillarboxing despite being horizontally shot. It is worth noting that this unplugged gig seems to portend something else, as Justin and guitarist Shane Biron's old acoustic act Tattoos & Scars announced their reunion earlier this month! They had teased a reunion in August 2022 too that went nowhere publically. 

Tattoos & Scars were originally active from 2018-2019 as a side project for Justin & Shane's then-electric band Halfway Loaded, but neither group really got off the ground as a public live act like Fort Creek would. Their updated Facebook intro calls Tattoos & Scars "an acoustic trio out of Sault Ste Marie Ontario playing all different genres", implying that Fort Creek's Bill Brouillard has joined up here too, but this hasn't been firmly put in writing publically. The "Nutshell" cover is unequivocally a Fort Creek performance (note the skull), but it is good to see Tattoos & Scars back, and hopefully they can make more of an impression in the 2020s! Check everything out above & below!

Finally for today, here's a new video of local alt-hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich live at the Soo Soundcheck concert at The Sault Community Theatre Centre on June 10th! This was uploaded as a "Shorts" video (YouTube's version of "Reels") on the band's YouTube channel two weeks ago, though no word on why it took this long to get uploaded. The 44 second video sees the band playing their newer original song "Without You", and despite the vertical trappings of "Shorts", the video was shot across three camera angles to capture Jesse, Johnny, and the rest of the band respectively. Are there more substantial Soo Soundcheck videos from these cameras that haven't been released yet? The side-stage footage is good and clear, so despite the vertical aspect ratio and brevity, fans will get a good look at this song while it lasts, so check it out for yourselves below!

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