For today's SMS post, let's continue playing catch-up with local/Barrie crossover thrash band
Spades GT's activity in the GTA, so where did we leave off last month? Well, we had caught up to November 18th in the timeline, the date in which the former Jack Spades were among the openers for
Random Killing at
The Lion Pub & Grill in Newmarket, but before then, their Toronto show opening for
Anvil at
The Rockpile earlier this month was reviewed by Joe Taylor of
Blast Toronto for
this article, titled "Like Father Like Son" (Anvil drummer Robb Reiner is Spades drummer Tyler Reiner's dad, of course). Joe praised Spades GT for their short and fast originals that reportedly got at least two attendees in wheelchairs to stand up, and he noted that Spades "have the right rocking attitude to take them to the next level". Nine photos from their set are also included, and while James doesn't get much love there, Joe got some good shots!
Solid article on both Spades GT's account and for the other bands on this night, so
click here to read it for yourselves! On November 24th, they posted
this picture on their Facebook page to prove that physical copies of their new album "Sewer City Radio" were in stock at
Sunrise Records in Barrie, which is encouraging, though no word on if somewhere in the Soo has CDs for sale. Planned gigs opening for
The Dayglo Abortions in Barrie and Niagara Falls in early December ended up being cancelled due to Dayglos frontman Murray "The Cretin" Acton's ongoing recovery from colon cancer surgery, but there are hopes to rebook the cancelled dates this year. Hopefully Murray heals up as planned, it'd be great to see them back on stage, let alone maybe back to the Soo at some point? To make up for the Barrie cancellation, Spades GT booked a replacement all-local (to Barrie) show at
CW Coop's on December 1st.
If you believe their Facebook page, this is Spades GT's last hometown show "for a while", and it saw them joined by guitarist Daniel Horton's other band
The Fast Life and more regional bands (including fellow Random Killing openers
G.F.U.). While no recap "Reel" was posted from the Newmarket gig on November 18th despite being hinted, they did post one from the Barrie concert! My disdain for the permanently vertical, short, and unembeddable "Reels" format is no secret, let alone the raw & unedited footage we're not seeing here, but
the "Reel" features lots of clips of the bands that night, setup/arrivals for the show, and some lighter moments, like Dan playing piano(!) and frontman J.D. Pearce shopping for sunglasses. Backing audio tracks used are The Fast Life's original "Jameson" and Spades GT's own "XS". I wish this wasn't a "Reel", but there's good and fun stuff for fans to see at
this link!
In one more early December concert exit, Spades GT dropped out of
the West Queen West Punk Fest (Vol. 2) in Toronto on December 8th, where they would have joined bands like Armed & Hammered and G.F.U. on the bill. The band cited work commitments for at least one band member as why they pulled out, but hopefully things went well at
The Parkdale Hall otherwise! In a huge concert announcement for 2024, it was announced on December 15th that Spades GT would be opening for British hardcore punk legends
The Exploited and California hardcore punk veterans
Total Chaos at
Lee's Palace on September 12th (later postponed a day to the 13th). Seeing a show like this announced nine months in advance is not typical for the SMS, but it reportedly sold out well in advance already, so you know this will be a big deal this fall! Bassist James Roy Daley teased the announcement of this concert in
a "Reel" the day before.
When we pick things back up for Spades GT on the SMS, we'll be heavily focusing on a performance and interview that they recorded in Brantford in December, and if you're impatient, you can check everything out at this link before our write-up hits the site hopefully sooner rather than later. Stay tuned for all of that, and for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!
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