In this post, we have a review of a Halloween concert from this past weekend, and a video of a separate local show from that same night, so here's what you should know on this Monday evening!
Apologies for the delay in this making the site, but I (in a Calvin & Hobbes costume) was able to go to most of Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween concert a the Fraternal Order of Eagles club at 246 Wellington Street West on Saturday night! Just down the road from the Primavera Hall, the Eagles Club definitely felt like a tale of two venues when we first arrived, with the right half being where the concert was set up and the left being more where Eagles regulars were mingling at the bar and watching the Leafs game, but this got mixed up as the night progressed. Definitely didn't feel like a traditional concert venue (likely because it's not one), but kudos to the Eagles Club for hosting some P.I.T.S. events this year Unfortunately, we were running late for the concert and missed the opening set by local electro/synth musician Owen Kjiersdam, a.k.a. Owen MK, so I do apologize to him for not seeing him live!
Owen did post a brief clip of him (dressed as Jack Skellington) singing on Saturday night on his personal Facebook page, so seek that out if you're curious. It's at the end of a "Reel" that starts with video of him at The Soo's Got Talent's last week. From what little I heard, he was singing with confidence and enthusiasm, but it's not a long watch, so I don't know if things got as intense as the bands ahead in unfilmed portions of the night. I do think he does better when he leans more into how his studio material sounds, but hopefully we see Owen back out there soon!
The middle act last night was hardcore punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails, who unleashed an eleven song set of aggressive and fast-paced original music! With the non-Muto members in costume (albeit with items shed as the set wore on), Ha!ls tore through an eleven song set featuring originals like "Serf City" and "Such Desperate Joy" and a few songs carried over from frontman Brenton Ellis' acoustic solo project Slumshine like "BiPolaris" and "Sole Crusher", though surprisingly, nothing from their EP "Rock & Rolls" (despite it being on sale on CD and cassette). The guys were on brutal form on Saturday, with a very fast and heavy sound that pushes their earlier descriptions of being a skate punk band way to the backburner, with Brent full of confidence and honesty on vocals and bass, while Mikhal & Carmen Muto both shone on guitar with some impressive solos, and Keeghan McAllister kept up well on drums!
I do like how many songs had changes in structure and tempo that made you feel like the song was going to end, but it kept going while still feeling natural (I hope that made sense). The Vanity First side project delivered a brutal set for gathered fans, so don't bypass them if you like thrash metal!
Your headliners on Saturday were Toronto grunge/alternative trio Skoff in their local concert debut, and they definitely delivered a fun set to end the night with! You can see proof in my video of theirs, as a bunch of costumed fans hit the floor to dance and rock out mid-song (fan of the night is whoever was wearing the chicken mask!) It was often hard to hear the vocalist introducing songs, but they played tracks like "Cancel Culture", "F.A.F.O.", and "Let Me Out", sometimes using an old telephone headset as a microphone, which was neat! While not a fully packed house, assembled fans definitely took to Skoff's aggressive, 1990s inspired sound, and the band was dressed up for the occasion, so everyone definitely had a good time to end the night. Skoff are still a relatively newer band, but their future is bright, and hopefully they come back to the Soo in the near future!
Overall, this was a fun concert and it's nice to see a multi-band show taking place for the Halloween season again! Hopefully there's more along these lines in 2025. You can see our photos and videos of Skoff and Hails (apologies again to Owen MK) at this link or at our Facebook page, but here's our videos of Ha!ls playing the Slunshine holdover "Pink Clouds Of Density" and Skoff playing an original that may be titled something like "Guess When I Die"! Let us know if you can help title it.
We'll close this post with a video from another Saturday night concert, albeit not a public one, as newer Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Dirty Musky posted a video of them at a private birthday party event at Three One Three On Ashmun onto their Facebook page! The video sees Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie covering White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65", which is awesome just in concept, as Rob/White Zombie isn't tackled much up here! Uploaded in funny vertical dimensions, the lighting isn't fantastic, but this is a well played and lively cover, though Dave's vocals could be a little grittier to better match the original. Check it out for yourselves below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review and more news and notes on the site next! Thanks everyone!
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