The Triumph/April Wine Concert Preview, Plus Fallout From The BAG's Album Release Party!!

I have a packed news post for the SMS on this Tuesday morning, which includes a big preview for a mid-week concert tomorrow night, and some notes on what went down at another downtown venue this past weekend, including an album release and videos of an opening band, so without any further ado, here's what you should know!

We'll lead off with a major concert preview for TOMORROW NIGHT, as reunited Mississauga, Ontario hard rock legends Triumph will kick off their 50th anniversary reunion tour here at GFL Memorial Gardens! Alongside a touring lineup including Bon Jovi guitarist Phil X and members of Slash's solo band The Conspirators, original Triumph members Rik Emmett, Mike Levine, and Gil Moore will join forces for this milestone tour, with tomorrow's local stop being Triumph's first here since they rocked the old Sault Memorial Gardens in 1985. As this is the first show on the tour, we will be among the first to see and hear how Triumph sound in 2026, let alone how involved Rik, Mike, and Gil are throughout, so look for classic hits like "Hold On", "Magic Power", and "Say Goodbye" during their set! Opening tomorrow are Halifax hard rock veterans April Wine in their first local gig since rocking Sault Michigan in 2013 and their first in Sault Ontario since 1999.

Since we last saw April Wine in the area, Marc Parent has succeeded the late Myles Goodwyn on vocals, and he has the right voice and presence to handle "You Could Have Been A Lady", "Roller", and "Enough Is Enough"! This all ages concert goes down tomorrow at 8:00 PM, and there are limited tickets available at this link and at the arena box office for the floor and in sections 108-109 and 117 from $60.50, with VIP passes also available. This should be a great time for fans of vintage Canadian hard rock, so see above for more details, and here's Triumph live in their pre-tour kick-off in Orlando!

Next up, here's some fallout from Saturday night's album release party from local metal trio The BAG, so let's talk about their debut album "Sacculus", which did indeed drop on major streaming platforms that night! CD copies were on sale at the concert at Soo Blaster, but they did not specify what those cost on social media, or if they will be available at any brick-and-mortar stores. You can stream "Sacculus" on YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and Qobuz, though Google searches don't list other platforms, so poke around elsewhere if you're curious. No, it is not on Bandcamp, but you can buy the album on iTunes for $8.91. "Sacculus" features nine songs, all with titles capitalized except "6", which (confusingly) is track #5. The album does not feature their 2022-2023 singles "Roadkill", "Get Out", "Our Rock", and "Eccentric Refuge" for unannounced reasons.

It's not unheard of for some local bands to exclude prior standalone singles on their eventual full album (ask Jonesy Land and Heavy Lies The Crown for proof), but I'd have included them, if only to lengthen the album and get those songs on CD! The producer of the album is credited solely as "Gene" on streaming services. Two songs have a guest performer, including A.S.D.P./Agnosticism singer/guitarist Mikhal Muto (who promoted the release concert) on "Emergency Room Mayhem (Break Through The Gates)", and Jordan Alexander (who I'm not familiar with musically) on the "gurd version" of "Dream Machine". Did they intentionally misspell "good"? Regardless, that and the original version are on the full album if you want to compare the two. With all of the above said, and some blanks still left to fill, when can you expect our review of the full album? Believe it or not, it's currently scheduled for a review on the SMS in January.

This is our current queue for new album releases for the rest of the year (by release date order): The Realignment Project, Pillory, Viscera, Mike Haggith, A.S.D.P., Heavy Lies The Crown, The Realignment Project again, X's & Y's, and finally, The Sole Aggressors. We've been blessed with new albums in recent months, and you can see the conundrum that has developed! It is coming, I promise, but congratulations to Spencer, Austin, and Bradley/Ben on finally getting "Sacculus" out! Listen to track #1 ("Braindead") below!

To close today's post, I wanted to share some videos from the release party, and while The BAG and most openers have not done so publically that I'm aware of, Pillory have, courtesy of drummer Bret Shuttleworth's personal YouTube channel! Bret posted six videos from the show there, including four videos from an attendee of the back half of their set, but I'll embed the full 33+ minutes long drumcam video that Bret uploaded here today. In performance order, the death metal trio played started with their usual intro ("End Of Small Sanctuary" from Silent Hill 3) before playing their originals "Specimen Of Egotism", "Abhorred Apprehension", "Curse Of Eternal Sickness", "The Angst Of Existence", "The Passing", and "A Drop Of Shame In An Ocean Of Guilt". Of note, the latter song (which is not on Pillory's new full-length album "Old Soul") was separately uploaded as a cropped & vertical video on Bret's channel.

Pillory next headed back to their thrash metal roots to play an original intro named "The Stalker" that was the last piece of music that they wrote with original second guitarist Andres Duchesne before his passing (nice of the guys to pay tribute to him!). That segued right into a cover of Death's "Pull The Plug" to close the set. The drumcam angle isn't ideal to capture the whole view (as such, you never see Robert), but it's a ferocious half hour, and Robert's stage presence and banter is slowly improving! You've gotta love Devon's Crimson Crusade shirt too, they were a solid band, and their Death influences were always present. Check the set out below, and we'll have more of Bret's videos from this show soon!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS shortly! Thanks everyone!

The Realignment Project Updates, Plus Their Interview On The Borderline!!

It's high time that we play catch-up on what local industrial metal solo act The Realignment Project have been up to in early 2026, especially as my next EP review of theirs is coming up by month's end! In early January, "Bones & Dust" from their third EP "War Songs" was included in an episode of The Autopsy Report Rock & Metal Radio Show, a British-based podcast where host Hellwyck plays and spotlights independent & unsigned rock artists. Kudos to him for giving some attention to artists from across the pond, and click here to directly hear the episode with T.R.P.! On January 5th, project leader Matt Hicks confirmed that their fourth and newest EP "Let You Fall" would be released on vinyl via his indie label East London Recordings and ElasticStage, also confirming that both it and "War Songs" would get standalone vinyl releases with each having its songs split across two sides.

As you may recall, The Realignment Project's first two EPs were combined on one vinyl release, but as "The Frustration Sessions" exceeded 23 minutes in length, most songs were edited down to fit the limitations. Both "War Songs" & "Let You Fall" would have to have been similarly cut down to do the same, so Matt clearly decided to give each their own unedited spotlight on vinyl. CD copies of both of the latter EPs are also now on sale via ElasticStage, but at press time, you can't buy the first two EPs on compact disc. Work on T.R.P. EP #5 was ongoing in early January, with Matt teasing on the 10th that he was "working on something that's... a little bigger". Is he referencing a full length album, the scope of the music, or something else? As teased in this vertical video, Matt was interviewed about The Realignment Project on local internet radio station The Borderline, so what should you know there?

Premiering on January 21st, this was for an episode of Across The Tracks, the local musicians interview show hosted by Adrian Vilaca that last crossed SMS territory when he talked with the late Troy Isaac in 2024. The 51 minutes-long episode starts with Adrian asking Matt about the inspiration behind the Realignment Project name (he had the name in mind since 2003), his musical subgenres, his prolific EP release schedule, what brought him back to original songwriting, and the process behind writing the title track from "Let You Fall", which is played on air at 9:15. The interview resumes with Adrian asking Matt about the personal lyrical themes of his songs and his own frustrations, leading into the song "Where Did You Go?" (also from "Let You Fall") at 16:35. Afterwards, Matt discusses the background behind "Scatterbrain", which is played at 25:10 to start the second half of the episode.

Next, Adrian asks about Matt's usage of "they" as an ominous force being spoken up against in T.R.P.'s songs, and his views about original music acceptance in Sault Ste. Marie and trying to break a stigma that only cover acts can get regular attention. The next two songs played on air (at 32:45 and 38:20) are also cuts from "Let You Fall", namely "By Myself" and "The Last Time You See Me", with Adrian asking directly about the latter in between. In the last pre-song stretch, Adrian asks Matt about his vocal style and emotions in his songs, especially in regards to Matt being a father and what he's hoping for in the future. The last song heard in the episode is the last unheard song from "Let You Fall", namely "Find My Way Out" at the 46:25 mark, and this installment of "Across The Tracks" wraps up with the possibility of inviting Matt back to talk about their fifth EP in the future.

This was an entertaining interview and a personal one with Matt going into good detail about the background of his Realignment Project material! Note that, despite the description on The Borderline's website mentioning Matt's local band work in the the 2000s and early 2010s, Adrian does not ask about Dirty Virgin or Riverin in the interview proper, which is by and large about "Let You Fall". Of course, we'll be reviewing the preceding T.R.P.'s EP "War Songs" on the SMS this month, but fans of industrial rock and metal should definitely give Matt's solo music a spin and/or hear this interview at this link or at the above links! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bimbo) & Ripcordz Concert Updates!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of veteran radio host Bob Kevoian, who passed away yesterday at the age of 75 after a battle with cancer. Read more about this news at this link. Many readers will remember Bob as the long-time co-host of The Bob & Tom Show, the nationally syndicated morning zoo crew show that locals could hear on Classic Rock: The Bear throughout its 2002-2010 run on the local dial via WIHC 97.9 FM in Newberry. Long before The Bob & Tom Show began out of WFBQ in Indianapolis, Bob and Tom actually started working together much closer to here than you may think, at radio stations in Petoskey in the early 1980s. They moved to Indiana in time to debut their show in 1983, which went national in 1995. The Bob & Tom Show left the local dial when Northern Star Broadcasting took WIHC (now Strong Tower Radio) dark in February 2010 upon selling off their E.U.P. stations.

Save for a 2017-2023 spell where The Bear replaced Bob & Tom with local morning shows (it aired on sister stations then), the program has continued to air on The Bear's network, including its current tip-of-the-mitt home on WWSS 95.3 FM in Tuscarora Township, which gets fringe reception in the Soo. Bob retired from the show in 2015, but it still carries his name, and while I preferred Scott & Brian back in the day, Bob & Tom certainly had their moments, especially if you stuck with the show regularly to get their in-jokes and recurring gags. Along with Tom Griswold, Bob gave so many listeners a lot of laughs over the decades, and he will be missed. R.I.P. Bob!

Today's post otherwise mostly keeps is in the E.U.P., with a brief Sault Ontario detour, but we'll start with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for Sault Michigan, as Marquette art punk duo Bimbo will make their local debut on Saturday, May 2nd at... Pizza Hut? It's hard to be shocked about that conceit when the Ashmun Street chain restaurant hosted Permanently Pissed, Werewolf Jones, and locals in November, so why not an encore? Like then, this is expected to be in Pizza Hut's basement. Bimbo are a brother-and-sister band with noise rock influences and an minimalist yet distinct and abrasive original sound, and it will be neat to see them make their way east in two weeks! Detroit electronica musician Nicholas "R. Solomon" Sapounas will return to the Soo as well, who you may recognize as the mixer of local punk trio The Sole Aggressors' self-titled album, but he also headlined locally at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley in August 2024.

Nice to see an extra local connection from R. Solomon, and this will definitely be a diverse bill! Two local bands will open here, including the new local hardcore punk band Viscera, who you may recall making their local debut at Three One Three On Ashmun last month! For this concert, they will expand to a trio, as they have added Chris Lovins as their new bassist, as per their Facebook page. I don't know anything about Chris musically, but hopefully he compliments Blind Bob and Mitchell well next month! Another band who was a duo at the aforementioned Three One Three gig will round out the bill, namely punk/hard rock band About:Blank, though I don't know if Parker and Kade have found a new guitarist/bassist in time for this show. While I don't know if this Pizza Hut show is a Serious Business-promoted event, they did host the last Pizza Hut concert. This concert has a 7:00 PM start time, a $15 admission fee, and will have an 18+ age limit. 

While multi-band, originals-leaning concerts in the E.U.P. have been trending upward in the mid-2020s, this is still now the most common thing, especially compared to Sault Ontario, so come on down to Pizza Hut in two weeks to see this diverse array of musicians rock out! See above for more details!

We'll close this post in Sault Ontario with some notes relating to the previously announced Ripcordz show at Beck's Bar on Saturday, July 18th! The venue confirmed this show months ago, in arguably their biggest touring artist booking yet, but a Facebook event page with the particulars went live this week, including the openers, including Nanaimo, British Columbia pop punk quartet Danger Box, who first played here at the still-closed Distraction in May of last year. Good to see their hardcore punk-tinged original attack back in town this summer, so don't miss them! Local crossover thrash band Hails (who opened last year's Danger Box concert and were playing at The Ripcordz' Distraction show last year when the cops pulled the plug) will fittingly do the honours in July! At press time, this will be Ha!ls' first show of 2026, as well as their first gig since the departure of founding guitarist Mikhal Muto in January.

Unlike last year, this will presumably be a 19+ event, it will have a $10 cover charge, and bands start at 9:00 PM. Some fans will also have two chances to see Danger Box in July, as on the way east on tour before looping back, they'll actually be headlining a private house party concert on Thursday, July 2nd alongside local openers A.S.D.P. (fronted by Mikhal) and 5 Dollar Bribe. While a publically advertised event with an admission fee, the address is not public, so if you want to go, "ask a punk", and click here for more details! See above for more on The Ripcordz' return, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

The BAG & Tym Morrison Concert Previews, Plus The Last Of Crush's Live-Streams!!

Before we begin today's post, we have one more concert cancellation to take note of this weekend, as local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 are not playing at The Water Tower Pub tonight, as per the venue's Facebook page yesterday. The band never confirmed the gig on their own social media, and aside from last month's "uncorked" gig at Smitty's, they haven't played live in two months. I'm not sure if their recent break is directly related, but I do want to offer our deepest condolences to guitarist Alex D'Ettore and his family following the recent passing of his daughter Ally. I can't imagine the pain and heartbreak that Alex, Marcy, and everyone who knew and loved Ally are going through, and hopefully things proceed as naturally and respectfully as possible in her honour! Newer local blues rock band The Low Light Company are filling in at The Water Tower Pub tonight.

Today's post otherwise concludes this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, as well as wrapping up our coverage of a recent live-streamed concert, so let's start with the return of local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison to Misty's Fifties TOMORROW! It's been an unusually long 2+ month wait for Tym to play another matinee gig at the Second Line West nightclub, as he was laid up for much of that time healing a broken pinky finger, having last played at Misty's on February 7th before dropping out of that night's Reggie's show due to the injury. Tym returned to the stage on March 26th at The Dive, but he ended up cancelling his next two scheduled Misty's shows for other reasons, so if you have missed his prolific setlist of classic and hard rock cover favourites at this west end staple, head there tomorrow! As usual for Misty's Fifties, this is a matinee concert taking place from 4:00-8:00 PM.

This is a 19+ event with no announced cover charge, and while it is Tym's only scheduled show at Misty's this month, he gets back to a more typical schedule with three shows there in May. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on tomorrow's return to one of Tym's favourite recent stomping grounds, and here he is live!

Lastly for known hard rock concerts this weekend, we'll head to Soo Blaster, where local metal trio The BAG will play their first show of the year TOMORROW NIGHT by headlining their long awaited album release party! While the band has been very cagey on particulars for their debut album "Sacculus" in the lead-up, fans will get their first chance to buy physical copies tomorrow, and assuming it drops on streaming as well, I'll let you know about that when specifics go live! This will be Spencer, Austin, and Bradley's first concert in nine months, and hopefully the anticipation builds to make tomorrow's concert one to remember! Openers will include local death/thrash metal trio Pillory, newer local ska punk trio A.S.D.P. (fronted by this show's promoter Mikhal Muto), and Winnipeg folk punk musician Greg Rekus, who fronted The Inside Job here twice in the mid-2020s and is hopping on this bill mid-tour.

Remember, Mikhal is a huge fan of folk punk, so the shoe fits for the early portion of this concert! As seen in this (AI-animated?) poster from The BAG's Facebook page, tickets cost $15 in advance (via the local bands, promoters Underground Events SSM, and The Rad Zone), but admission fees jump to $25 at the door. This is an all ages show, the concert starts at 7:30 PM, and again, I don't know further details on "Sacculus" (i.e. formats, price, track listing, production details, etc.), so you may be the first to know tomorrow night. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, stay tuned for more from The BAG and the new album, and here they are live!

Finally for today, let's wrap up our coverage of Sault Michigan hard rock trio Crush's live-streamed concert at The Merchants Bar while these videos are still viewable! Remember, as per Facebook's current live-stream video regulations, these will only be left online until around May 11th unless the band converts or re-uploads them to their Facebook page, and click here for our recap of the first two sets' videos. This live-stream abruptly stopped 21:26 into its presumed half hour runtime, but it at least stopped in between songs. From what we can see from The Merch last week, you'll see the guys covering Eric Clapton's "Cocaine", Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell", and Led Zeppelin's "Rock & Roll", before playing an apparent original comedy rock song named "My Cheese" that some attendees were requesting. Kudos for answering the call from their fans when they weren't originally planning to play this one! The last song here is "Fire", an original that ended their Superior Whitefish Battle Of The Bands-winning set in Brimley last year.

Bassist Isaac "Iggy" Royer sings lead on the first two covers, singer/drummer Alex Traynor handled "Rock & Roll" and "Fire", and guitarist Josh Tyler sang "My Cheese". The stage lighting at The Merch was a little too vibrant for my liking, and like with the prior live-streams, this was shot vertically, but the performances are strong with good energy and a sense of humour, and the guys have a good grasp of their covers (you'd hope so given the obvious Tarnished links) while still showing strong original songwriting, so give Crush's third set a watch below (until May 11th?)

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck, Separate Wayz, And TNT), Plus Recent Concert Clarifications!!

Before we dive into this weekend's hard rock concert previews, we have two related notes to clear up. First, I want to profusely apologize for missing local alt-punk cover band BookcluB's concert at Searchmont Resort this past Saturday, as they were one of the bands booked to play at the C.S.R.A. Snowcross Championships festivities last week. Alas, I only found out that they were playing via a Facebook "Story" (one of the temporary vertical videos in that strip on your news feed) from BookcluB that I didn't see until a half hour to go before the concert was scheduled to end. Neither BookcluB nor Searchmont confirmed in a permanent public post that they were playing on Saturday whatsoever (I also have not seen a public confirmation of who played the Sunday matinee show during Snowcross weekend). For such a busy and well hyped weekend, why wasn't the promotion better for the bands playing at The Kiln? 

Apologies again for missing that show, I'd have happily plugged it had someone promoted it publically with even one day's notice, but hopefully BookcluB had a strong turnout! The other note relates to the band who played at Searchmont this past Friday (local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations), who announced on their Facebook page that their previously announced Water Tower Pub show on Saturday has been cancelled due to an unspecified family emergency. In lieu of that, bassist Pierre Anthony and drummer Tony Santoro will instead be playing that night with members of country cover veterans Tex Riviera & The Ride, so keep that in mind for the weekend, and I hope all's well with Valerie or Joe!

Today's previews will be broken up into two posts due to a bunch of linked SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS coming to my attention, so our previews of Tym Morrison's Saturday matinee and The BAG's album release party will be in tomorrow's post. Otherwise, let's start at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Separate Wayz will take the stage for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Monday, though the AI program that Jay's uses for concert advertising didn't nail what this weekend's bands look like. When did "Elly" and comedian Ron White join Separate Wayz? This will be Nicole and the guys' first concert since their short notice "epic crossover" with Soundcheck at Beck's Bar on Monday, March 30th. For standalone, Travis-free gigs, Separate Wayz last took the stage at The Water Tower Pub early last month.

Regardless of sister band collaborations, this will be Separate Wayz' first stop at Jay's in over six months, so expect lots of fun rocking tunes from this talented foursome TOMORROW! A rare one-nighter at the former Roosevelt Hotel (country cover band Elly McWatters & The Drifters are playing there on Saturday), TOMORROW'S concert is a 9:30 PM affair with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Separate Wayz live!

Next up, this will be a very busy weekend for Separate Wayz guitarist Terry Eaton, as he'll be doubling up on SATURDAY at Beck's Bar, starting with a matinee concert with his Soundcheck bandmate Travis Sharpe in their new acoustic side project TNT! Again, apologies for the short notice, we only learned about this show via this venue's own advertising on Monday, and I still am not aware of Terry n' Trav(is) launching an online page to promote this project or their shows. They do have an AI-generated logo to match Terry's current electric bands now, so there is that! Last seen a month ago at The Full Throttle Saloon, TNT are occasionally seen at local nightclubs, typically in acoustic-amenable matinee timeslots, and often in conjunction with shows from one/both of Terry's bands. This will be a solid appetizer for what's to come later that night at Beck's, so keep this one in mind!

As usual for Beck's Bar's (typically) unplugged Saturday afternoon acts, Soundcheck's acoustic splinter group will be playing from 3:00-7:00 PM with no cover charge, and while a 19+ age limit would make sense given that it is Beck's Bar, note that they did host the underage 5 Dollar Bribe as matinee performers earlier this month. Visit the above links for more on what might be TNT's Beck's debut, and we'll let you know when/if public videos of Travis & Terry unplugged surface for preview purposes!

Lastly for this preview post, we'll stay at Beck's Bar, where the aforementioned Soundcheck will complete the Terry triple header with a concert on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies again for the short notice, I learned about this show in the exact same way as I learned about TNT's. Last seen at Reggie's two weeks ago, this gig will allow Terry & Travis to rock out in full force with Jim & Johnny returning from TOMORROW'S Separate Wayz gig at Jay's to make up the rhythm section once again. If you like classic and hard rock covers, you have a lot of options for how you want to experience it in the west end this weekend! I am not sure whether the Soundcheck or Separate Wayz concerts are respectively due to or the result of the other band booking a one-nighter, but if you're curious, Beck's are hosting a rare live band tomorrow (new blues rock cover band Sunday & The Broken Hearts) rather than bringing in a DJ.

And as I frequently note, TNT aren't technically "opening" for Soundcheck on SATURDAY, as the two bands have 4 hour timeslots each spaced 2 hours apart, but the common lineups are absolutely acknowledged. Soundcheck are on at 9:00 PM on SATURDAY NIGHT with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more on all of Terry's short notice gigs this weekend, and here's Soundcheck live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Tym Morrison and The BAG previews next! Thanks everyone!

New Videos From Convergence & 5 Dollar Bribe!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family & friends of veteran local guitarist, luthier, and guitar tech Gregory David Wilson, who passed away on Monday at the age of 69, following a lengthy battle with cancer. Read his obituary on SooToday at this link. Greg is survived by his sister Greta, brother Jay, and nephew Wade, and he was a proud pet parent who frequently shared photos of his orange tabby cats Chloe and Buddy on social media over the years. While Greg's credits as a performer in bands and in concerts are not in easily accessible supply in 2026, he was a very talented guitarist who made his mark with numerous local musicians over the years via his work in Gregory David Wilson Guitarworks, where he fixed, restored, customized, and sold guitars and basses of many kinds, and also helped local musicians on their concert setups and other musical inquiries.

Cremation has taken place already at the O'Sullivan Funeral Home, and a celebration of life will be held at a later date. The family requests that memorial donations be sent to the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society or the Sault Area Hospital Foundation's Cancer Care Fund. While not a musician myself, I admired Greg's work with guitars, I always looked forward to his cat photos, and I actually sold him some guitar strings and related gear that I had won in a contest many moons ago. The reach and influence he had with so many local musicians from multiple generations is extremely evident, and our best thoughts are with the Wilson family at this time. R.I.P. Greg!

Today's post otherwise looks at some recent videos from Sault Ontario bands, and we'll start with progressive metalcore quartet Convergence, and after posting some amusing (if vertical) Facebook videos re-contextualizing clips from their new song "Gemini" with unrelated viral videos, they uploaded a behind-the-scenes "Inside The Chaos" video to their YouTube channel on Monday, featuring a look at the work that the guys are putting into the album, which has officially been renamed "Gemini" (as their planned third instrumental EP would have been) rather than its prior teased name "In Bloom". The video is helpfully broken into chapters and features hard-coded subtitles added in post-production. In order, you see singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio tracking vocals, guitarist Brendan Christie mixing songs at their own Woodward Avenue Studios and tracking his own guitar parts, a look at their studio gear, ...

...fellow guitarist Jake Valois going into the writing process for the album (with some amusing imagery), and drummer David Peredun discussing the songwriting process in voice-over while he drums on screen. Of note, David actually moved to Southern Ontario in recent months to further his own career and make new connections, but he is still in Convergence, is still working on the album, and he explained that they are making gigs work when he can return home. While a little piecemeal in its layout, this is an informative video that shows a lot while also not giving much away, and I really liked the tracking clips at the start, so give this a watch below!

Finally for tonight, let's wrap up our look at the videos publically shared to new local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe's Facebook page from their matinee debut at Beck's Bar on April 4th! For our coverage of the band's two own videos and what three other attendees shot, check yesterday's post. The venue's own Facebook page posted a (sadly) vertical video from that night featuring 3 minutes of highlights from the day's sets, though the cuts are very quick, and some snippets only run for around 10 seconds. In order, you will see the guys covering Weezer's "Say It Ain't So", The Presidents Of The United States Of America's "Lump", Temple Of The Dog's "Hunger Strike", Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears", Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There For You", Alice In Chains' "No Excuses" (with bassist Randy Lundigran on lead vocals), and Pink Floyd's "Money". Only the first two songs are unique here, and were not among what other uploaders shot.

I do wish that these clips were all longer (if not separate videos outright), but Becky(?) got some good close angles despite the orientation! The Ozzy cover got the most time among the highlights here, and you can see how impressed the attendees to the side of the stage were with the band/guitarist Tyler Greely's solo, and the pan shot of the audience gives a good interior view if you haven't been to Beck's since it opened last year (next weekend is their one year anniversary, even). Give their 5.D.B. video a watch below!

The other three videos were uploaded by Randy's dad Chad Lundigran for his personal Facebook page before the band shared them to their Facebook page. Unfortunately also shot vertically and all running for under a minute each, Chad filmed Five Dollar Bribe covering "Money", the Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You" (what a pull for a band this young!), and as embedded below, "No Excuses". Randy sings lead on "So Into You", for the record. It's good to get a longer look at the A.I.C. cover, and their talents are on good display here for a successful first go at the public stage, so check out Jayce, Tyler, Randy, and Chase's other new Beck's videos above & below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

5 Dollar Bribe Concert Video Showcase!!

How does another single-band post sound, especially another one relating to a recent concert? As you may recall, new high school-aged local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe made their public concert debut on Saturday, April 4th in the matinee timeslot at Beck's Bar that is usually reserved for acoustic acts, and if you missed that gig, never fear, as a lot of videos were shared to their Facebook page. Too many for one post, even! Before we get to the videos that were shared from attendees or other pages, the band proper uploaded two of their own videos the following day, namely covers of Silverchair's "No Association" and, as embedded below, the System of a Down version of Black Sabbath's "Snowblind". Kudos alone for covering a Silverchair song, especially one besides "Tomorrow"! Guitarist Jayce Albury sings on both of these covers, and doesn't play guitar at all on "Snowblind".

I don't think that cover is a particularly good choice for Jayce's vocal range, but these are well performed musically, and the camera work is good to capture the guys in action, even if both videos are only around a minute long each. It's unfair to assess their stage presences for show #1, especially at their ages, but hopefully they do loosen up more in time to match their clear talents. Give 5.D.B.'s first official Facebook videos a watch above & below!

Next up, the first videos that the band shared from external sources come from attendee Stephanie Goudreault's personal Facebook page. In a batch post also including a photo of the guys on stage, she included videos of Five Dollar Bribe covering Alice In Chains' "No Excuses" and, as embedded below, Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears". I went with that to embed because the "No Excuses" cover is vertically shot, focuses primarily on drummer Chase Chapman, and runs for only 39 seconds. Jayce (not on guitar again) struggles to hit Ozzy's high notes, but these covers are solid from what we hear with strong guitar work from Tyler Greely, so check them out above & below!

Chase's dad James Chapman filmed and uploaded the next videos to his personal Facebook page before the band shared them, and while his videos are (sadly) all vertical, he did upload eleven of them, including a handful of full songs! James filmed 5 Dollar Bribe covering System Of A Down's "Lost In Hollywood", the ending of The Queens Of The Stone Age's "In The Fade", 90 seconds of The Stone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song" (with bassist Randy Lundigran on lead vocals), Staind's "Raining Again", Primus' "Too Many Puppies"(!), Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There For You", the second half of "No More Tears" (with Tyler leaving the stage to play the solo on the floor), 82 seconds of 3 Doors Down's "Loser", 31 seconds of Title Fight's "Numb, But I Still Feel It", 83 seconds of Blink-182's "Stay Together For The Kids", and as embedded below, Pink Floyd's "Money".

Jayce plays guitar on all songs here except "Lost In Hollywood", while Randy handles the Daron Malakian vocals on that song, plus the Mark Hoppus verses on the Blink-182 cover. Even with the non-ideal aspect ratio and sometimes partial videos, there's a lot to see here, and you can not knock the band's range at all. When's the last time you heard a local band cover Primus, and if you were to name the ten most likely Q.O.T.S.A. or Staind songs for a local band to cover, would what 5.D.B. picked be among them? For me, I can't say they would! Not every song here is necessarily my thing for genre preferences, but the performances are sound, especially for their debut, so give these a look above & below as well!

Fittingly, let's wrap things up with videos from James' wife/Chase's mom Jodi Chapman, who uploaded largely the same videos to her personal Facebook page as James did (no idea if one/both were the actual filmer), but her batch of videos does include unique content, including a handful of photos and two unique videos that were 100% not in James' batch post. These (also vertical) videos include a longer look at Five Dollar Bribe's "Snowblind" cover, and as embedded below, Temple Of The Dog's "Hunger Strike". Randy does struggle to hit Chris Cornell's vocal range on the latter, but it's another promising look at what could be a key cog for the future of the local scene, so check these out above & below!

There's four more videos from two more filmers that we will get to in an upcoming post, so stay tuned for that soon, but if the above videos are any sign, the kids are alright! That's all for now, but look for much more on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!