It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! In our penultimate installment of this monthly feature series, we're again looking at a randomly selected local band from the past, in order to spotlight them and their run for modern readers, and this month's band were a prominent sight at bars and nightclubs for much of the 2010s and feature some very familiar faces. Here's what you should know on them!
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Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Genre: Classic/Hard Rock
Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)
Joel Syrette (Double Down, 100 Gran), vocals/guitarBrian Oja (Bigsuit, The Rainhorses), guitar/vocals
Dan Beaupre (The Sidekicks, Hollow), bass
Anthony Fabiano (Bullet Train, Gsis Murphy), drums
Jim O'Leary (Flat Stanley, That's Chester), vocals/guitar
Audio/Video: A covers-only band, Griphook were filmed a fair amount during their original run, especially with their original 2012-2013 lineup. Extant videos include two songs from their debut at Toystock I, multiple videos from Rotaryfest appearances on Mike Caruso's YouTube channel, and a bunch of original lineup videos from Brenda Roy's YouTube channel, among select others. Musically, Griphook arguably bore the most resemblance to Joel and Dan's prior hard rock bands, though note that both of their surviving videos with Joel in the group actually feature Brian on lead vocals or sharing with Joel. Here's their Rotaryfest 2015 rendition of The Arc Angels' "Living In A Dream"!
Info/Analysis: Debuting as a mystery band during the inaugural Toystock in November 2012, and possibly named after the goblin banker from the Harry Potter series, Griphook united four veteran musicians from different notable bands of the past as a new hard rock-leaning entry on the weekend nightclub cover circuit throughout the mid-2010s. Playing their first headlining concerts at the former Roosevelt Hotel in February 2013, Griphook would also be seen at that year's Rock & Roar battle of the bands in Spanish, the Ray Brown benefit concert, and annually at Rotaryfest Stage 1 from 2013-2016. The band's lineup was stable throughout their run aside from Jim O'Leary's departure in December 2013 after moving to Ottawa, with Joel Syrette replacing him. After Joel left town for university in the summer of 2016, they played that year's Rotaryfest with his future Double Down bandmate Adam King filling in for him, before going on hiatus until 2019, when they reunited with Joel to open for Kiss tribute band Destroyer.
Griphook played their last concert at Rotaryfest 2019, and quietly disbanded afterwards. While they didn't reinvent the wheel from members' past and future bands, Griphook delivered a fun blend of classic and hard rock covers, including songs that you didn't hear many other local bands cover, and they were a welcome sight at both local nightclubs and festivals in their heyday! Despite his briefer stint with Griphook, I heard more of them with Jim than Joel, but both are solid singers who added to the band in their own way. It'd be neat to see Griphook reunite if the time is right, but everyone but Brian and Jim are currently in bands, so follow Double Down, The Sidekicks, and Bullet Train to see what the guys are up to now!
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month in this series, we'll wrap up 2024 with another Sault Michigan profile as we close out another 2-1-3-1-2-1 rotation between the Twin Saults, and next month's randomly selected band will be inactive 2010s hard rock cover quartet 415E! Look for that on or around December 10th, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
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