Choking On Appendages - "Macabre" EP Review!!

It's now time for our 181st monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at a band whose only public footprint so far is via the album in question, namely local hardcore punk solo project Choking On Appendages' debut EP "Macabre"! A brand new addition to our band links (I haven't talked about them in a normal post yet because there isn't a lot to say that wouldn't fit the album review), C.O.A. is a new project from Agnosticism frontman, Vanity First/Hails guitarist, and Apocalypse Afterparty bassist Mikhal Muto, with no other musicians credited. He independently released "Macabre" on May 30th on their Bandcamp page, and it can also be heard in a single video upload via Mikhal's personal YouTube channel. On the former, you can buy this album on mp3 for $3, but it can be streamed for free on both platforms. With six tracks running for just eight minutes, let's begin this quick album review!

"Macabre" leads off with its title track, which runs for just 50 seconds, and there's one shorter song than that on here! This is more or less an intro track to the second song, leading directly into it if played back to back, and it's primarily a noise recording with isolated piano keys, harsh background noise, and ominous narration (if Mikhal got that from a movie or show, I couldn't place it). I'd have just smushed this into the start of "Life Altering Drug" and called it a 2:19-long song, but that's just me. As for "Life Altering Drug", it has proper vocals by Mikhal, and very evocative ones at that which are very reminiscent of gory horror-influenced death metal. Musically, Choking On Appendages are basically what would happen if Mikhal was the full frontman of one of his bands, but ramped up the speed and aggression a lot, and while this is accurately described as hardcore punk, he did includes some backing death metal growling, foreshadowing a song to come.

This song paints a ferocious picture with strong vocal versatility, and while it is very short, it never lets up, so if you like crossover thrash, speed metal, and violent lyrics, you should take to this! Third on the EP is "When Violence Sets In (The Culling)", which paints more vivid imagery about death and "the body tree" in its short 78 seconds-long runtime. Vocally, Mikhal seems to be taking some Ha!ls inspiration here, and while not as in your face and aggressive as the preceding track, it gets the job done with passion! The cymbals are a little overdone, and it ends super abruptly too. Not an improvement for my musical tastes but subgenre fans won't be thrown off! Fourth on "Macabre" is "Safe Room", which is the only track on offer to exceed 2 minutes in length. With lyrical themes about vengeance and the death penalty, this song takes us further into death metal territory, with growled lead vocals and screamed backing vocals.

Given the short song lengths and one-man nature, this feels the most like something that could have been released via Blood Shed Productions, with a more death metal-inspired structure, breakdowns, and more impassioned, anguished screaming that doesn't really call to mind the hardcore punk stylings earlier on the EP. Mikhal's versatility (especially for his age) is on solid display here! I just wish the song didn't end so abruptly. The penultimate song is "Psyche Ward" (sic), which seems to be about experiences in a psychiatric ward while having severe delusions. During its sub 2-minute runtime, we return to crossover thrash territory, if with very intense screaming and lyrics, where it really sounds as if Mikhal is speaking from experience! The overall musicianship adds to this ripper, but again, it ends before I expected it to. Not an abrupt end, just a fade out when the song seemed like it had more life to give than it did.

"Macabre" ends with "Lights Out", a very brief 36 seconds-long track which is basically the companion to the opening title track, with the same voice announcing "Lights out, everybody!" while ominous music plays and fades out. Unlike on the track named "Macabre", this doesn't directly run into the adjacent one, but it doesn't really serve a purpose beyond signing off.

So, how do I grade Choking On Appendages' debut EP? Definitely the heaviest original music that Mikhal Muto has put out so far, and while it's a brief listen, it's a shame that he came around when he did, as he'd have fit Blood Shed Productions like a glove with this material, especially "Safe Room"! While the closest spiritually to Hails of his other active bands, C.O.A. definitely skew heavier and more intense, both musically and lyrically, with Mikhal showing some serious versatility that fans of his other local projects may not expect, especially given how he is only the lead singer of Agnosticism, an acoustic act. These fast and vividly painted songs will please hardcore punk and extreme metal fans, but they are mostly very short, and given how there's only four full songs here, it's a shame that abrupt and sudden song endings are so common. Also, when you only have 8 minutes of music here, it doesn't seem like a huge ask to record more songs.

I don't know if Mikhal has more plans in mind for Choking On Appendages given how busy he already is with full bands (remember, their only social media presence is this album), but if he takes this further, there's nowhere to go bu up given his age and existing talent levels, so if you like blistering hardcore punk with a dash of death metal & lyrics to match, see what he's cooking up with this project! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review (our third straight of one of Mikhal's projects, incidentally), but we'll deviate from him for next month, when we look at local hard rock quintet HeadFirst's debut EP "Head Trauma"! Watch for that in August, and for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest 2024 Fallout & Videos (Part 2!!)

A few days after our first Rotaryfest recap post, here's our second post featuring videos and news coverage from the Sault's Summer Festival! For the known public videos and articles about Stage 1 on Thursday and Mike Haggith's Friday set, click here for our initial post. The Sault Star was present for Friday bands on both Stages 1 and 2 at Clergue Park, and while the photographer wasn't credited, you can see shots from The Luxury and The Rhythm Sections's Stage 1 sets, plus That There Blues Band's set on Stage 2 at this link. The next known public videos from the Friday bands on Stage 1 come from the Rotaryfest debut of local classic rock duo Frankly Speaking, but this wasn't just a normal set of theirs. Festival promotion never even addressed them under the Frankly Speaking name, rather as "Frank & Frank" or "Frankeeproductions", presumably because this was their special themed set known as "Rock On To The Sound Of Change".

In this performance (which is also done for other community events), singer/guitarist Frank Gioia and keyboardist/accordionist Frank Greco paid tribute to rock n' roll history while emphasizing the original musicians' social impact. A 7 minute video featuring highlights of Frankly Speaking's set was shared to the Frankeeproductions YouTube channel, capturing portions of 13 songs (likely every one played that day), but as each clip only runs for an average of 33 seconds, it'd be a lot of text trying to link to each individual portion when you can easily scan the video timeline on YouTube and see the post-production titles thusly. The set did end with two Elton John and Beatles covers each, while hard rock fans will want to see how Frank & Frank handled Rush's "Closer To The Heart" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". Note that there are some typos in the titles, like how the Coldplay song is labelled "Ticking Clocks" (it's just called "Clocks").

I wouldn't have put this video in such a washed out post-production filter, but I gather that the Franks were aiming to have the highlight video look old fashioned given the themes. These minimalist covers are performed with zest and enthusiasm, and the stationary camera is zoomed in tight on the guys so we get a good side view of Frankly Speaking in action, though if you like seeing more of the stage/audience, this may not be ideal for you. Strong stuff, even if I'd rather see full songs in full colour, so check out "Rock On To The Sound Of Change" below!

Friday's other known public videos are of new local funk/pop rock cover quintet The Rhythm Junction, who are basically the side project of Stage 2 band The Eight Seventies, only with Jason Gasparetto swapped out for singer Marisa Valois-Christie and her brother Jacob Valois (as also seen on Stage 2 with his solo jazz band). On their Facebook page, The Rhythm Junction uploaded a video of them covering Blondie's "Call Me", while videos filmed by attendee Aidan Valois (no doubt family) of them covering Haddaway's "What Is Love?" and The Killers' "Mr. Brightside" were also shared there. Alas, all three are vertical, but The Rhythm Junction are talented, and Marisa's smooth voice carries them well, so give them a watch above, and see more from them on Facebook! Now, we'll head to the final day's music on Saturday, July 20th, so what is public from then?

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's Stage 1 debut set did get some official video footage courtesy of their Facebook page, where you can see their set-ending cover of Guns N' Roses' "Welcome To The Jungle"! Two problems though: It's a "Reel", so I can't embed it here, and it's one of those "Reels", where a normal landscape horizontal video is pillarboxed into the vertical dimensions, rather than cropped to fit, so it's tiny. It's a strong performance with good energy from Jess, but I may never understand why so many Facebook users intentionally limit their videos by making them "Reels". Later on the Saturday program, local country band The Way Backs (featuring two Rhythm Junction members in their ranks) performed on Stage 1, and while not a formal live video, you can see photos from their set in this Facebook upload! It's set to The Highwaymen's "Live Forever", and it does look like everyone had a good time!

Lastly for this post, Sound Of Sting frontman Mike Ferfolia was interviewed by The Sault Star's Brian Kelly in advance of the Toronto-based Police/Sting tribute band's featured Saturday night set, and it's a good interview that explores his musical career and Sting's influence on him, so read the whole thing at this link! Unless belated new media comes out, our last Stage 1 content will be of the final band on Saturday night (which wasn't Sound Of Sting), and we do have some Stage 2 videos and such to look at also, so stay tuned for all of that next month! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Among Legends), HeadFirst EP Updates, And New Videos!!

For today's post, let's cover some recent news and notes and break from, our recent single topic posts to fill in some lost ground! Along with recent festival fallout, we have some new videos, updates on a new album release, and more, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this year!

Waterloo, Ontario pop punk quintet Among Legends will make their local concert debut on Friday, October 4th when they rock Soo Blaster! Quietly announced on the venue's website, this show has (so far) gotten more promotion via bulletin boards at grocery stores than via social media, but it is 2+ months away, so a lot can happen before then. A relatively newer group who put out their debut album "Take Good Care" (produced by Siegfried Meier of "Woods 5" fame) in 2022, Among Legends' melodic brand of modern punk has many catchy qualities, strong percussion, and well written lyrics, so punk fans should find a lot to like from them this fall! The local openers are fast-rising metal trio The BAG (last seen in Leeburn this past Saturday), and while they're not a genre match, they'll inject some heavier energy to kick things off on a good note! Tickets cost $15 in advance and $20 at the door for this concert, which is likely 19+

You can buy advance "early bird" tickets at this link and presumably at the venue (no word on if The BAG have any), and this show has an advertised run-time of 8:00-10:30 PM, so it'll be an early-ish night. Punk and metal fans should find a lot to like with this double bill, so visit the above links for more details on Among Legends' local debut in October!

Next up, here's some details on local hard rock quintet HeadFirst's debut EP "Head Trauma", which was released on July 20th in limited quantities at Rotaryfest before its wide release at its launch party at Shooters Downstairs Lounge this past Saturday! I bought my copy at Loud & Proud on the 21st (#10 of the limited run of 20 discs that weekend). "Head Trauma" is very much a DIY production as far as physical pressings go, with burned CD-Rs with handwritten labels, and staples holding the cardboard packaging together, including the (mirrored) gatefold image of HeadFirst performing in concert at Reggie's Place (Saige Burch shot the included band photos). Lyrics are included for the four tracks via four individual lyric sheets in the sleeve, and while there are no guests, "Take You (Down)" does feature Liam & Anthony trading guitar and drums as also seen when played live.

Writing credits go to the entire band on "Hot Blooded Woman" & "Little Darling", all but Liam & Claire on "Take You (Down)", and just Red & Raine on "Don't Care, Don't Mind". Major streaming services like YouTube, Spotify, and even Boomplay have the album available, and physical copies will be on sale at future concerts, next including their return to Shooters on August 17th. Our review of "Head Trauma" will hit the site next month, as I'm reviewing Choking On Appendages' debut album tomorrow, but check out more from HeadFirst's... first EP above, and here's track #1!

Also today, here's some fallout from this past weekend's Go North Music Festival in Richards Landing, courtesy of the festival's Facebook page! Normally, these would get a fuller feature on the site, but alas, the page's administrator chose to upload all videos from Go North as "Reels", meaning that I can't embed any of them here (they're also vertical, short, and unplayable in background tabs, but my laments about "Reels" are well known by now). Videos from Centennial Grounds include Daniel Romano's Outfit beginning their set with "Field Of Ruins", Bleeker (née Bleeker Ridge) playing their song "Highway", and two "Reels" of The Trews' headlining set. This one features the end of their set, including guest appearances from fellow Go North performer Terra Lightfoot and Treble Charger guitarist Bill Priddle for the ending jam, while the other one has the band literally going into the crowd to perform their folksier classic "Ishmael & Maggie".

That must have been a thrill to have The Trews literally join their fans to sing this one together, and the sizable crowd definitely knew the song! "Reels" or not, the videos are solid quality and capture the stage setup on St. Joseph Island well, and it's great to see that lots of fans made the trip for the festival, whether making the hour's drive from the Soo or if they lived closer by! Check out the Go North clips above, and we'll let you know if any other public videos surface!

Finally, here's the latest from local skate punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails, whose next local concert will see them open for The Ripcordz on August 10th, but they will also hit the road for another show in Bay City, Michigan at The We/Us House there on September 21st! This will be a one-year anniversary event at this venue, and will feature eight other metal/punk acts. I don't know how Brent & crew made the connections to be playing Michigan (let alone downstate), but clearly their debut in Bay City in April went well for them to come back! Unlike then, they'll be arriving as a four-piece thanks to new second guitarist Carmen Muto, and Ha!ls showed him off in this new video from their Facebook page, where he's playing the guitar solo that he wrote for their newer original song "Ghosts" alongside his unseen bandmates. I usually don't make a big deal about musician ages, but Carmen is 14 years old, and he has serious skill level already!

Unfortunately, this video was shot horizontally but framed into vertical dimensions with pillarboxing, meaning that it's tiny. Why do some Facebook videos get that treatment? It's just Carmen, so it'd have been better to just crop it into the vertical orientation! Embedded below however is a horizontal new video from Hails, specifically of them playing their newer original song "Crustal Displacement" at Queen Elizabeth Park for last month's Go Skateboarding Day festivities, and the filmer used the placement to the side of the big ramp to get a lot of focus on skaters as well as the band. Mikhal is mostly hidden behind amplifiers, but it's an intense performance, and long for a Ha!ls video, so check it out below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's CD review tomorrow and more news and notes soon!     Thanks everyone!

Matthew Good & Hazytones Concert Video Showcase!!

Today's post is devoted to recent concert videos shot for Christopher Paci's awesome YouTube channel, as he was in attendance for two big hard rock shows in April, but surprisingly only uploaded the videos earlier this month! No word on why they were delayed so much, but better late than never, and at least he got them up at last! Chris also filmed two videos at Giovanni's Italian Festival earlier this month, but neither are of heavier artists. The first of the two April concerts that Chris filmed at was the Matthew Good concert at The Machine Shop, where he filmed seven songs from the headlining Coquitlam, B.C. musician alt-hard rock musician's set. Songs from his old Matthew Good Band that were recorded include "Apparitions", "Load Me Up", "Hello Time Bomb", and "Tripoli", while solo songs filmed include "Born Losers", "Alert Status Red", and as embedded below, "Weapon".

Matthew's voice did show some strain at points, but the performances here are generally solid with a quality backing band! The audience seems healthy and enthusiastic, especially singing along with "Hello Time Bomb", and while Chris did have to content with many audience member heads from his spot on the floor, he did have a reasonably close vantage point to capture things as clearly as possible! Check out his Matthew Good videos above & below, and I am glad to see that the demons of 2007 have finally been exorcised after over 16 long years!

Next up, Chris also filmed two songs from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's opening set, where they were late replacements for Vilivant for the local stop. While the band did post an unembeddable "Reel" of clips from their set at the time, Chris' videos are of Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve covering Blink-182's "All The Small Things" and, as embedded below, most of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" (he comes in during the first verse but it's still longer than the Blink-182 cover). Chris was standing at a different spot to film Silent 9, thankfully where that pole isn't in the way of the band, but he still had a good view of their lead-off set, so check these out above & below, and look for them back this fall!

Chris' other new rock concert videos come from Montreal stoner/hard rock band The Hazytones' local return on April 25th, this time at The Distraction on East Street! For their first local set in seven years, Chris filmed them playing "Night Is Young", "Light Of The Day", this sub-two minute clip that is either the end of a song or an instrumental jam, and as embedded below, "God Told You". The Hazytones' doom rock sound has definitely gotten heavier since fans last saw them at The New A, and while the lighting in the old barbershop is quite red, you get a good look at the unique surroundings as the guys pound out these cuts from their new album "Wild Fever", so definitely give them a look above & below!

Finally, the local openers on this night were local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich in their Distraction debut and their first local concert with Brandon Ruch on second guitar, though he is often hidden behind that post with the mirrors and coat hooks. Chris filmed two songs of theirs, namely "No Entry", and as embedded below, a heavier song that I couldn't successfully title (it's likely one of the songs on their upcoming EP, if not newer still). Looks like Handsome Sandwich had a successful first gig at the barbershop here, and they put in lots of clear energy and enthusiasm to go along with their original rock attack, while Brandon fit in well, if often not in view! Check out their videos above & below!

That's all for now, but look for more news and notes on the site soon, including this month's CD review, and thanks again to Christopher for filming all of these videos! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: WeAreTheBearHunters' Channel

After a few days' delay during a very busy month, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, as we again look at a YouTube channel whose video uploads are at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk musicians/concerts! This installment's randomly selected channel takes us to to one of the most prominent local extreme metal band of the 2010s, so here's what you should know!

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WeAreTheBearHunters' Channel (http://youtube.com/@wearethebearhunters)

Owner: A member of local death metal band The Bear Hunters, exact identity unclear (my best guess is guitarist Mitch Sirie)

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 22nd, 2011; Videos uploaded from that day until December 2018

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for The Bear Hunters, it features 33 videos, all but four of which being live videos from three concerts of theirs from the early 2010s, including an Oddfellows Hall headlining date in October 2013. The channel is bookended by three audio demos (including their live favouite "Squirrel Buddy", as later adopted by Mitch's solo project Sir Hell) and their only music video to date.

Why You Should Watch: If you were there for and enjoyed The Bear Hunters' early run as a quintet, you should be very interested in seeing the ample live footage on their channel, and the demo tracks are an interesting look at songs in progress before they saw their final form! Their music video is also a quality realization of earlier activity, though be advised that it's this channel's only upload since 2014, and with the band teasing this summer that they plan to disband after a final concert and album, who is to say that this channel will see any further content.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

The Bear Hunters - Casualties of War (live at the Odd Fellows Hall, 01/28/2011): On January 28th, 2011, The Bear Hunters joined four other local bands for a show at the former Oddfellows Hall in honour of then-rhythm guitarist Mike Vincent's 20th birthday party, with their entire set filmed by yours truly at the band's request! Due to camera limitations at the time, I did have to split some songs in half. The songs recorded include their own "Dominate", covers of Slipknot's "Psychosocial", Amon Amarth's "Guardians Of Asgaard" and "Pursuit Of Vikings", Arch Enemy's "End Of The Line", and Metallica's "Master Of Puppets" (parts 1 and 2), their originals "Bloodthirst" (parts 1 and 2), "Condemned" (parts 1 and 2), "Overthrown", "Succumb To Eternity", "Casualties Of War" (the longest of the single video originals), and "Collapse The Sun", before closing with a cover of System Of A Down's "Fuck The System". The video quality isn't amazing, and singer Nik Deubel is often hard to hear, but this full set is a neat watch, both for Mike's presence and to see where The Bear Hunters basically began, especially via many covers that didn't stick around in their set long-term!

The Bear Hunters - Karma: The Bear Hunters' other concert videos here come following Mike's exit from the band in May 2011, with Bring The Fallen frontman Josh Stephney replacing him. Josh debuted with the band at The Roosevelt Hotel (now Jay's Piston Broke Pub) when they headlined the eighteenth Thursday metal night there on June 2nd. While I was present for this show too, someone else filmed their full set this time, including "Overthrown", "Condemned", "Bloodthirst", "Casualties Of War", "Karma", "Succumb To Eternity", their cover of "Guardians Of Asgaard", "Dominate", "Collapse The Sun", and "Render This Void". A more distant but higher quality angle captured The Bear Hunters in strong early form here, with much more audible growling from Nik to boot, and Josh acquitted himself well on night #1, so fans of prime Bear Hunters should like how brutal they were sounding at this point!

The Bear Hunters - I Fear No God: After Josh moved out of town in 2014 and left the band outright in 2016, The Bear Hunters pressed on as a quartet, whereupon they released their second album "The Dead Testament" in November 2020. However, the advance single and music video for "I Fear No God" was released back in December 2018, becoming their last and most popular YouTube upload (so far?). Also featuring ex-Jack Spades bandmates Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger on bass and drums, The Bear Hunters filmed the music video at Robbie Adamson's church in Leeburn, where they'd eventually play a formal set at a private event last summer. Filmed by Johnny's Golden Scoundrels bandmate Josh Penno at Spacebag Productions, it features the guys entering the church and performing among candles for mood lighting. This is an expertly shot and edited video that captures the late-era four-piece Bear Hunters at full power!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series should be more on schedule next month for a post closer to August 26th, when our next randomly selected channel to profile will be DogRun Stray's channel, featuring lots of Chase Wigmore's original music from a few years back! Look for that then, and for much more news and notes this week as we end a very busy July! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest 2024 Fallout & Videos (Part 1!!)

It's been a week since this year's Rotaryfest concluded, so let's begin looking at the local news coverage and public videos from this past weekend's live musicians at Stage 1 at Clergue Park! Both The Sault Star and SooToday were on hand for day #1 on Thursday, July 18th, with the former's Kyle Darbyson taking photos of Generations and Brendan Hodgson's sets that you can see at this link, while the latter's Dylan Taylor got pictures of Pegasus' set for this article. Both also got other photos of the day's festivities beyond the bands, and the photos are nice as you'd expect! Regarding Pegasus, The Sault Star's Brian Kelly interviewed keyboardist Jeff Holmes for this article last month, where the classic rock veterans revealed that their reunion shows at Rotaryfest and The Water Tower Pub the next day would be their last. Hopefully they had a good sendoff to local fans across both nights! Now, let's look at some videos from a couple of bands on the Thursday program!

I've only found public videos from two of the four Thursday bands, including a clip of local country musician Brendan Hodgson covering Big & Rich's "Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy" in this recap video shot by attendee Ron Boulard for his YouTube channel. Not a long glimpse, but it looks like a fine performance for country fans, if not too close to the stage! Their portion is 36 seconds into the video, running for about 20 seconds. The other Thursday videos come from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations' set, which were filmed by drummer Tony Santoro's wife Dawn and posted to their Facebook group later that night in a batch post also featuring photos of their set. Within the post, you'll see Generations covering Concrete Blonde's "Joey", Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" (with guitarist Tony Kajnar on lead vocals), and as embedded below, Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet".

Alas, all three videos are vertical, with "Joey" and "The Middle" being filmed at more a skewed angle at that, but Dawn was right close to the stage, and she had a good look at Generations knocking out these three covers with ease! Check them out above & below, and don't miss Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre at Shooters Downstairs Lounge in two weeks!

Moving ahead to the Friday, July 19th program, the very first artist that day was local/Barrie alternative hard rock musician Mike Haggith in his third straight solo set on Stage 1, but this was definitely a chance to make amends for last year, when he suddenly dislocated his knee in a freak accident early in his set, and had to be brought to Sault Area Hospital by ambulance for treatment shortly afterwards. In advance of this year's return, Mike was interviewed by the aforementioned Kyle Darbyson for this Sault Star article on July 11th, where he talked about his mental processes after what happened (especially for his CD release on a big stage), his physical rehabilitation and recovery since last year's accident, his songwriting process & themes, how he has handled the accident publically since, and how he wanted a "shot at redemption" via returning to Rotaryfest for a full set without a similar mishap. Very solid article, so click here to read it for yourselves!

If you missed Mike's set with his newly named Big Finish Band last Friday, you can watch the complete live-stream below courtesy of Mike's YouTube channel, and I am happy to confirm that Mike played the whole set and his knee did not blow out again! This year, ex-Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi took over for Jacob Quarrell, while past guest backing vocalist Elly McWatters joined as a permanent member on rhythm guitar and/or backing vocals on most songs. Perhaps due to Elly's expanded role, Mike only played guitar himself on the opening song and tracks #7-9 of the 11 song set, though note that Mike was playing guitar when Kneegate happened last year. Brought to the stage by one of the EMTs that helped Mike last year (nice full circle moment), the set began with Mike's original song "Carousel", which did not feature Elly at all, followed by a surprise cover of Taylor Swift's "Anti-Hero".

That song featured just A Dire Setback's Chris Nielsen on guitar, with Elly on backing vocals only, but she debuted on guitar for the follow-up cover of "Missing" by Mike and drummer Brandan Glew's old band The Din. It was actually Brandan's birthday that day, so what a way to celebrate! The next two tracks appear to be debuting new originals named "I Really Hope This Gets To You" and "No Love", Established originals resume next with "Hot & Cold" (the song that they were playing when Mike's knee gave out last year), with Mike picking up his guitar late in time for "If Ever Comes The Day" and "If Only You Could Hear Me". Mike gave The Big Finish Band a break to do a solo cover of Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "In Your Time" in honour of his aunt, who passed away a few days prior to Rotaryfest. She was a Bob Seger fan, and this was a nice touch on his part to pay tribute to her! 

The band returned to end the set, with Mike setting his guitar back down for a surprise cover of Louis Tomlinson's "Silver Tongues", before closing with his own "All The Best". From what I gathered in this 40 minute set, Mike and crew definitely made up for last year with a fun, energetic, and even poignant set! Mike seemed in good spirits (and on steady joints), and those two new songs had a strong full sound to them! Elly is clearly developing as a guitarist but she certainly didn't detract from the set, which was shot in high quality (and in landscape!) despite being very skewed to not be in the fans' road. Check out the full live-stream below, and don't miss Mike & the band at next month's Northern Vibe Festival!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next, and we'll have much more news and notes on the site next week, including more Rotaryfest fallout! Thanks everyone!

Neither Could Dylan, Salty Marie Trails Fest, And HeadFirst Concert Previews!!

Given that one of the remaining un-previewed hard rock/punk concerts in the Soo area this weekend is an afternoon matinee tomorrow, let's get our last weekend concert preview post up tonight to avoid putting things off any further! This last preview post looks at three shows tomorrow of varying appeal levels, so here's what else you should know!

We'll pick things back up TOMORROW with the second annual Salty Marie Trails Fest, which returns to Hiawatha Highlands with a bigger and better installment, now including live music! While the Trails Fest proper is a mountain biking/foot racing event featuring local vendors and family activities (click here for full details on how to attend or participate in the festivities), two local covers-centric bands will grace the "salty stage" tomorrow afternoon! Coverage of the bands hasn't been paramount in the recent festival promotion, but alt-punk cover sextet Bookclub are your headliners in their first show since Rotaryfest Stage 1 last week, and they should provide a fun soundtrack of scarcely heard covers for fans at Hiawatha tomorrow afternoon! No word on if bassist Dustin Jones (who missed Rotaryfest while on vacation) will be back in time for the Trails Fest or not, but note that ex-guitarist Dave Bahun returned to fill in for him last week.

Newer local pop rock cover band The Dead Stops (led by ex-Garden of Bedlam frontman Erik Boissineau) will open at 12:00 PM, and hopefully they leave a good impression! The "salty stage" will be set up behind Hiawatha Ice Cream at 780 Landslide Road, and 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather of around 16-24° during the Salty Marie Fest, so weather should be great for the outdoor bands, running, and biking, humidity aside! Attendance is free for spectators (click here to see what race events have openings, but most are booked solid), and while things begin in the morning, both bands play in the afternoon. Visit the above links for more on all of tomorrow's action, and here's Bookclub live!

Next up, after a quiet two months with only sewing events being promoted there, The Distraction on East Street returns to host a formal concert TOMORROW NIGHT, as Vaughan, Ontario "punkabilly" solo project Neither Could Dylan will be making their local concert debut! Neither Could Dylan blend many disparate genres into their original material and live show, with punk, power pop, and indie rock all being detectable in their live show, and it'll be interesting to see how Jaimee goes over to Saultites tomorrow! Sylo frontman Eli Russell will open with his indie rock project launched between Raincourt/Sylo's 2023 hiatus, so if you heard his solo album or saw him solo already, prepare for some talented singer/songwriter material! This concert takes place at 7:00 PM, there is no age limit, and admission is "$10 or pay what you can". Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Neither Could Dylan live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts this weekend, we'll head to Shooters Downstairs Lounge, where local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will headline their EP release party TOMORROW NIGHT! While attendees of last week's sets at Rotaryfest Stage 2 and Loud & Proud had first crack at buying advance copies of "Head Trauma", tomorrow is the full wide release of the EP beyond the 20 copies brought to the downtown festivals for early birds. If you didn't buy a copy last week (like I did), they cost $15 and feature four songs: "Hot Blooded Woman", "Take You (Down)" (which Liam & Anthony trade roles for live), "Little Darling", and the advance single "Don't Care, Don't Mind". At the moment, "Head Trauma" is exclusively available at their concerts, with the band noting on their Facebook page on Monday that there's "no online store yet", but availability of the full EP on major streaming services is expected tomorrow or soon after.

For the record, "The Walk" is not on the EP (singer Red Jettison told me that it's more intended as a live jam for now), but the band will be playing multiple non-EP originals tomorrow along with the four included songs and some covers, as this is a four set deal a'la weekend headliners on the cover band circuit. There will also be giveaways of signed gear and free CDs to "three lucky winners who rock out with us", so if you want to win some swag, stay until midnight for the reveal! Remember, Shooters hosts DJs on Fridays this year, hence why this is a one-nighter. Tomorrow's concert has no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 9:30 PM start time. See above for more details on HeadFirst's big night, and note that the official trailer for the EP release is online, and it happens to feature live performance footage of the guys at what appears to be Robbie Adamson's old church in Leeburn!

No, this wasn't from a public concert (that I know of), but HeadFirst aren't the only band to use the church for a shoot. Remember The Bear Hunters' music video? Opening with lit firecrackers, the video (uploaded to their Facebook page on Tuesday) features clips of the guys playing live there, but "Hot Blooded Woman" aside, the songs seem like they were edited to look synced up and actually weren't. Lots of post-production graphics and effects (including a filmstrip motif) spice things up, and it's a good teaser of what's to come tomorrow, so check it out at this link! I can't embed it here due to Facebook content matching the studio material clips, but for a preview, here's HeadFirst live at Shooters!

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

Go North Music Festival & Bone Yard 225 Concert Previews!!

Here's post #2 of this weekend's hard rock concert previews! Due to the high amount of events this weekend, we'll hold our previews of tomorrow's Salty Marie Trails Fest, Neither Could Dylan, and HeadFirst concerts for a post either tonight or tomorrow morning, so don't worry, they are coming! Today's post is devoted to a major returning summer festival and a prominent veteran local band's weekend gigs in town, plus some linked new updates, so here's what you should know on both!

We'll start at Reggie's Place, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will return to the stage TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! After skipping Rotaryfest for a second straight year, these will be Greg, Alex, and Warren's first traditional plugged-in gigs since rocking the same venue three weeks ago, with their only interim date being an "uncorked" show at The Water Tower Pub on July 12th. Good to see this talented veteran trio back at it, and hopefully they deliver more fun and hard edged classic and hard rock covers for fans downtown this weekend! As usual for their dates at Reggie's, this weekend's shows have 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of your local 225 at Reggie's on July 5th! This live-stream from their Facebook page captures the guys covering Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show's "Cover Of 'Rolling Stone'".

Sadly as usual, this video was shot vertically, helping accentuate the lack of fans on the floor at this point in the night (one of my main issues with vertical orientation of concert videos), but the cover is sound, as fans who've seen this song done live or in past videos will know! My mom loved Dr. Hook, so she'd have gotten a kick out of Bone Yard's cover! The overly red/purple lighting won't be for everyone, but check this video out below, and don't miss Bone Yard 225 back at Reggie's this weekend!

Next up, the summer festival season continues with the sixth annual Go North Music Festival, which returns to Centennial Grounds in Richards Landing on St. Joseph Island TOMORROW! Well, it actually started yesterday with David Francey's sold out show at Richards Landing Town Hall, as part of the festival's expansion to a multi-day event coordinated with the town's Community Night weekend, but the main multi-band program is tomorrow at the former Cornfest homebase. This annual concert festival features local craft and food vendors, overnight camping, and good vibes in general, so be sure to visit the official website for complete non-musical details on what to expect whether making the hour's drive as a music fan and/or camper! Unusually, organizers have not released timeslots for the Saturday program, but gates open at 3:00 PM, and I can't assume an identical timeslot placement to 2023 given that there's one more band this year, so I'll address the bands in descending order of how Go North promotes them online.

If there's a kids stage again featuring scheduled acts playing mini-sets in an alternate locale, organizers haven't said. Tomorrow night's headliners are Juno Award nominated Nova Scotia alt-hard rock quintet The Trews in their first local date since opening for Marianas Trench in the Soo in 2022, and their first headlining date up here since 2009. With songs like "Not Ready To Go", "What's Fair Is Fair", and "Hold Me In Your Arms" in their back catalogue, it will be great to see The Trews' diverse but hard rocking sound back on a local stage, and I do like many of their songs, so this will sure be a different way to experience them! Orillia garage rock band Bleeker will co-headline tomorrow in their first local date since opening for Airbourne in the Soo in 2013 under their old name Bleeker Ridge, back when they played an overall heavier style of music. They're still talented, and their current sound is a better Go North fit!

Juno nominated musician Daniel Romano and his solo band Daniel Romano's Outfit will also make their way to St. Joseph Island with their Welland-based prog rock stylings, as will Hamilton folk/blues singer/guitarist Terra Lightfoot. Three local bands will take the stage tomorrow, including local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich (last seen at Poutine Feast), indie/pop rock standouts The Hollow Heads, and Central Algoma Secondary School's Mustang Sally-esque student band CASS FM (surprisingly this year's only returning act from any prior Go North Festival). It's worth noting that both Bleeker and Handsome Sandwich took part in local news interviews to promote Go North, the former with Bleeker singer Taylor Perkins by SooToday's Chris Belsito and the latter with Handsome Sandwich drummer Johnny Belanger by The Sault Star's Brian Kelly, so what should you know on each?

The Bleeker article is good to reintroduce the band to local fans, and Taylor sounds excited to play at Go North! In the Handsome Sandwich article, Johnny (credited as "John") talks about their recent push to play more shows out of town, implies that they chose the Handsome Sandwich name to spark audience curiosity (I'd say that worked!), and their recent studio work with Treble Charger members. Brian notes in the article that the seven new songs being worked on at the Algoma Conservatory "will likely be released as singles", but whether that is a shift in approach from earlier EP plans or just noting that they're being released individually alongside, I don't know. Handsome Sandwich will also be playing an Ottawa date on September 12th, which I believe was first announced via this article. Good promotion to get the word out about Handsome Sandwich, even without them at Rotaryfest this year!

Also, the expanded Go North Music Festival will host a free concert at Centennial Grounds TONIGHT featuring local pop rock cover quartet Lime during the main Community Night celebrations, so don't miss that if you're on the island! The main festivities at Go North VI take place tomorrow with gates opening at 3:00 PM, and while timeslots are not out, note that The Monowhales' headlining set last year was at 9:40 PM. Admission tomorrow is $60 for attendees 13 years of age & older (kids 12 and under get in free), while $140 camping passes for two are also available (otherwise, camping is a separate $20 rate for those with a tent, $35 if you are bringing a trailer). If you're not paying at the gate, click here to get your tickets online! Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for 26° temperatures and partly cloudy weather during Go North tomorrow, so it'll be warmer than last year but will have less of a chance of rain.

Between getting The Trews this year and the move three weeks ahead in the calendar to line up with Richards Landing's Community Night weekend, this is shaping up to be a great time for fans of live music, especially indie and folk-leaning bands, but there's enough hard rock on tap to keep a multitude of fans invested! Visit the above links for full details on what to expect on St. Joseph Island tomorrow, and for a preview, here's The Trews live at GFL Memorial Gardens two years ago!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

The First Of This Weekend's Metal/Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

This concert weekend isn't as busy as last week, but it will still take three posts to get through everything with metal, hard rock, and punk bands in the Twin Saults and area! This first preview post looks at most of the heavier-leaning shows taking place tomorrow night (all thankfully with advance notice), with Bone Yard 225 and Saturday-only events coming in the next two posts. Here's what you should know to start off!

Four local metal bands will descend upon Robbie Adamson's old church in Leeburn TOMORROW NIGHT! This special concert is the replacement event for Crucifest, a planned metal festival promoted by Deciduous Events & Decor that was cancelled due to health concerns with the main organizer. As such, the five planned touring Ontario metal bands (Beguiler, Salem Trials, Seagrave, Drugwolf, and Dead Roots) will not be here tomorrow, but the four local openers will rock on, including the long awaited return of death/thrash metal trio Pillory in their first show in almost five years! Robert, Blair, and Bret's comeback has been teased a few times, so hopefully they melt many faces tomorrow! Skate punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails (who played in Leeburn at the It's The Pits festival last month) and metal trio The BAG (fresh off of opening for Vaegon at Jay's) will also keep up their recent local momentum by making the hour's drive east.

Finally, the debuting (and online page-less) Sault Side Squad will open things tomorrow, featuring As It Stands' Justin "Nadj" Pregent, A Dire Setback's Chris Nielsen, Jack Spades alum Anthony Orazietti, The Haze's Jordan Wardlaw, and Winkstinger's Jonas Gasperas in their stacked lineup. This concert has no age limit, a 7:00 PM start time, and a $20 admission fee (camping tomorrow night is encouraged as you'd expect at 5756 Highway 638). If you love local metal and you're able to drive out to Leeburn tomorrow night, you won't want to miss this stacked concert, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Pillory live!

Next up, let's head to Sault Michigan for another Friday nighter, as local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to The Merchants Bar TOMORROW NIGHT, but in a relatively unusual twist, they'll be sharing the stage with another band for a nightclub gig! For this latest stop on the "#summerof906", the guys will be performing alongside Ann Arbor power pop trio The City Lines, who are fronted by Saultite Patrick Deneau. It's always good to see relocated local musicians come home for concerts, and while I'm not overly familiar with Patrick, he seems thrilled to be playing in the Soo once again, so don't miss The City Lines' upbeat indie rock-leaning originals tomorrow at The Merch! It's not clear who's headlining, as even the official poster lists both bands first in different spots. Note that, according to fellow local hard rock band Exit 808's Facebook page, their drummer Jackie Moon will be filling in for Jason VanLuven tomorrow, but 906 have not publically confirmed that. If true, Jackie should fill in nicely!

This show has a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Project 906! This (sadly) vertical video comes from their outdoor show at The Well Diggers Watering Hole & Feed Lot in nearby Kinross on July 13th, and was posted to their Facebook page the following day. It features 51 seconds of the ending jam from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird", which notably features guest hand drums from Paradise Excuse alum Brian Duford (no word on if he was present for more than this song but he has guested with 906 before). No Billy to hear here, but this is a fun snippet off what went down two weeks ago, so give it a look below!

Back to Sault Ontario now, as local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison will continue his weekly summer arrangements at The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TOMORROW NIGHT and Misty's Fifties on SATURDAY! No Gino's gig this week, so if you want to see Tym's vast array of unplugged covers, you'll have to head to the outdoor stage beside the ice cream parlor at The Trading Post tomorrow or the Second Line West nightclub for his weekly Saturday matinee. Either way, fans will get a good show! As usual, tomorrow's show is at 7:00 PM, Saturday's is at 4:00 PM, the former is all ages, and neither has an announced cover charge. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy weather at about 26° tomorrow, so prepare for a warm one if you're seeing him then. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and for a preview of these shows, here's Tym live!

Finally for these previews, let's head back to Michigan for local hard rock quintet The Nameless' St. Ignace debuts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at The Northern Pines Lounge at their Kewadin Casino! Last seen two weeks ago at the aforementioned Merch, this weekend's shows will be The Nameless' first at a casino (Kewadin or otherwise), and hopefully the guys get a good response with their hard rocking covers, even if they don't have hair metal fans outside to make up the numbers later on like last week! No frills to mention here beyond the usual, with 9:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charges. Despite their lack of public videos (their unembeddable debut concert livestream aside), The Nameless are a talented group with familiar faces in their ranks, so keep these shows in mind, and visit the official Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our previews of Bone Yard 225, Neither Could Dylan, and HeadFirst's shows this weekend, along with the Go North Music Festival and the Salty Marie Trails Fest, in some form or fashion in the next day or two! Thanks everyone!