LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Downtown Street Party #2) & A Video From Last Month's Sandman Show!!

For our ninth post already this month, this is a two topic post, starting with a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, and ending with a video from a recent tribute band concert here. Let's get things rolling!

Over one month after the City of Sault Ste. Marie's second Downtown Street Party on Thursday, July 16th was cancelled due to that day's severely poor air quality, they will host the planned third (now second) one on Thursday, August 20th! Originally scheduled to take place on a closed stretch of Queen Street East from Elgin to Dennis Street, they're basically doubling the size of this one to include the Brock-Elgin stretch that was gypped out of last month's street party, so this will virtually take place from the former BMO building all the way down to the bus terminal. Going along with this, they will try again for the Downtown Plaza aspects of last month's cancelled street party, including re-booking Nicole Does Trivia and the live screening of Jaws 1 there. Click here for full details on non-musical activities to expect on Queen Street two weeks from tomorrow (even a rock climbing wall!)

Musically speaking, there will actually be three "stages" for Street Party #2, but sadly, none of the acts on the 20th are ones who were scheduled for the cancelled street party last month (nor were any of them scheduled for Stage 1 at Rotaryfest that same day). One stage will be up... way up atop Village Media headquarters (a space they call "The Canopy"), which has sparingly hosted live bands in recent years, and this is where SMS readers will likely be most interested, as punk/alternative cover sextet BookcluB and local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith (presumably with The Big Finish Band) will be playing on the roof at 9:30 & 8:15 PM respectively! Opening on The Canopy is Dustcovers frontman "Just" Tom Peer with an acoustic set at 7:00 PM. This should be a fun and unique experience, Mike's high elevation day job acknowledged, so don't bypass this action in just over two weeks!

As for the other stages, they will try again re: having bands at the corner of Queen & March Streets (the cancelled Brock-Elgin street party would actually have been from March-Elgin), and that stage will be headlined by prolific local folk/blues musician Jay Case with support sets from blues singer/guitarist Josh "The Preacher" McNally and his Jackleg Band, as well as folk singer/guitarist Matthew James. The bonus third stage will basically be a reprise of Stage 3 from Rotaryfest, in that it will feature EDM artists/DJs, including Skeletune, Hippie Business, and Flummoxx (all set times are identical to The Canopy's). The EDM party goes down outside of Outspoken Brewing between Elgin and Bruce Street. Downtown Street Party #3 #2 runs from 6:30-11:00 PM on Thursday the 20th, and it is FREE & ALL AGES! The third and final Downtown Street Party for 2026 goes down on September 17th from Dennis-Gore Street, as the parties move west down Queen Street.

Unhealthy levels of forest fire smoke was an unexpected wrench in last month's plans that hopefully won't rear its ugly head again in two weeks, for Northwestern Ontario's sake, let alone wherever that air drifts! Otherwise, these street parties go ahead rain or shine, but still, I do hope that there's no rain to worry about after the two month wait for another one of these! With BookcluB and Mike Haggith's rooftop involvement, this is the most SMS-friendly of the three street party lineups too, so keep everything in mind in two weeks, and visit You Belong SSM's Facebook page for more details!

To close this post, let's look back at a video from one of the concerts that we are backlogged alone in terms of just covering videos from, namely the Sandman concert at The Full Throttle Saloon! The former Primavera Hall have been oddly quiet on social media since this show took place on July 25th, but Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to man the soundboard for this hard-touring Toronto-based Metallica tribute band, and he did get a video for the 705Live Facebook page! FYI, despite running sound for Rotaryfest Stage 2, Mike didn't post any videos from Clergue Park. The Sandman video runs for 71 seconds of them playing "Enter Sandman" (complete with Rick jokingly mispronouncing "Sault"), and Mike makes effective use of the zoom lens to let us "walk up" to the stage from the soundboard!

It's always fun to see Sandman's faithful take on 1980s and early 1990s Metallica on a local stage, even if this concert's ticket prices were noticeably higher than past shows here, and the crowd looks decent from what is visible. Give Mike's Sandman video a watch below, and hopefully the Saloon proper shot something to upload when their social media break ends!

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

Mike Haggith - "Under A Moonlit Sky" Album Review!!

It's now time for our 205th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, and as we continue slowly mowing through our new album release backlog, we'll head back to Sault Ontario this month to look at prolific local/Barrie alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith's new live album "Under A Moonlit Sky"! In a brief detour from his studio album catalogue, this is his first solo live album since 2018's acoustic "From The Nickel Stage" and his first full-band live album since The Din's "Technically Live" in 2021. This was recorded during Mike's headlining concert with his Big Finish Band at The Downtown Plaza on September 25th, 2025, which was originally planned as a battle of the bands before being cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances". Now a rare Mike Haggith headlining concert in the Soo, it was recorded for posterity from the soundboard, with Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. running things.

Mike Haggith produced and enhanced the raw audio for the album proper, which was released by his own MorningStar Records on November 30th. Mike is on lead vocals and rhythm guitar here, and The Big Finish Band (in their album debut) were represented by their current lineup, including A Dire Setback/With Gunfire guitarist Chris Nielsen, ex-Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi, Mike's old Din bandmate Brandan Glew on drums, and Drifters/ex-Re:Born frontwoman Elly McWatters on backing vocals and tambourine (she didn't play rhythm guitar here due to her then-recovery from rotator cuff surgery). You can stream "Under A Moonlit Sky" on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, Deezer, Anghami, and (of course) Boomplay, while you can buy the album in mp3 download format on Bandcamp and iTunes for $10, give or take a cent. You can also watch the whole unedited concert from multiple pro-shot camera angles at this link!

CD copies were teased for "early 2026", but have not arrived at press time. Just to clarify how this review will be formatted... as this is a live album primarily comprised of re-recordings, I will only formally "review" tracks that were never previously included on a (Mike) Haggith or Din album that I have previously looked at. As was the case when I reviewed The Din's three live albums on the SMS, I will compare the performances of established songs to their studio version where possible, but if you want to read my thoughts of the songs in their original form, my reviews of those albums will be linked below. Also note that the full video of this concert is about 6 minutes longer than the album, thanks to closing credits and some minor clean-up of between-song breaks. Unlike on "Technically Live" (which omitted "Of Cars & Criminals"), no full songs from the proper concert were cut from the album.

With 19 tracks running for about 69 minutes, let's begin this review! The opening song for the album and concert was its shortest proper song "Brand New Day", which led off Mike's 2025 mailing list subscriber-exclusive album "Frequent Flyer". Aside from a slightly extended drum intro by Brandan and an adlibbed remark about the nice weather that evening, this is pretty faithful to the original song, retaining its upbeat power pop nature, but I do prefer the backing vocals on the live version, which feel more naturally included. This bleeds right into "Missing", which Mike and Brandan originally recorded for The Din's second and final studio album, 2017's "Suburban Dream". The live concert energy and Mike's improved vocal range give this some some more life and energy while still harbouring a melancholy mid-tempo vibe.

Structurally, some notes are held extra for effect, but the song is basically the same as what The Din recorded originally. I prefer more fully upbeat hard rock-leaning compositions, but it's still a good track! Third up is (technically) the shortest track here, namely "Guitar Adlib", which is literally just 40 seconds of Mike improvising on his acoustic guitar while offering some sung filler vocals and banter with his bandmates. Amusing for what it is, but this really could (and should) have been tacked on to the next proper song, "MorningStar", which was first heard on 2020's "If Ever Comes The Day". I did find that this song felt a little empty as originally presented, so filling it out with a live band,and more electric instrumentation does help it! Otherwise, the song is structured the same, aside from being played a little faster, and it's still a pleasant reflection on a lost love that fans of the original will still enjoy!

After plugging his merchandise table, Mike next plays "Carousel" (from his most recent proper "mainline" studio album, 2023's "All The Best In All You Do"), but here, the addition of a live backing band actually doesn't lead to complimentary backing vocals, which fit prior songs better here. Chris' lead guitar work has more flourish than the studio version had, but this live take is otherwise structurally similar, and it still has a soaring emotional quality that suits Mike's modern catalogue! Mike next introduces Matt on bass, crediting him for helping write their next song, "You Are The Sun" (from "Frequent Flyer"). The live version drastically shortens Matt's opening bass intro, but for the bulk of it, the composition is similar, but with extra jangly percussion. While not Mike's most "rocking" song, the live atmosphere does give it an energy boost, and it remains one of his more upbeat, casual recent songs!

The next two songs are Mike's newest originals (as of 2025), and have yet to make a studio album of any kind, so consider these full reviews. The first is "I Really Hope This Gets To You", which is basically a message to an ex-romantic partner explaining why one had to leave the relationship. A driving rocker with direct yet melodic lyrics, this will definitely appeal to fans of Mike's hard rock-leaning material, and Elly's backing vocals are a nice compliment in this setting! Brandan's drumming is a strong compliment, and while not short, it blows by at a good pace right into the other new song, "No Love", which feels like a sequel to the prior track in which Mike/the narrator gets a letter back from their ex, and stands firm about not having feelings for them anymore despite their implied remorse. Of the two, I prefer "I Really Hope This Gets To You" for its melody and edge, as the main riff on "No Love" is too relentlessly pulsating, and I think they over-harmonized the choruses.

It's not a bad song, and it compliments the preceding cut well for lyrical content and overall tone, but it doesn't feel as loose yet direct all at once. The last song of the first half of the album/concert is "Hot & Cold", as first heard on "All The Best In All You Do". This live version cuts 2 minutes from the studio copy's 6+ minute runtime, primarily extended instrumental sections, while Mike and The Big Finish Band do play it faster. As I noted in the "All The Best..." album review, I was familiar with live versions of this song before that review was written, and at the time, I preferred this song live, as the studio copy felt overproduced with added synths and keys that took away from the rocking edge. Three years later, I still feel the same way, as this live take is one of the highlights of the album, and Mike's knee held up throughout!  Next is the album's title track "Under A Moonlit Sky", which is one of three filler spoken word tracks here.

This just serves as the extended intro to the next two songs, both from "If Ever Comes The Day". Personally, I'd have just rolled this intro into the start of "Back Away Slowly" (whose lyrics contain the album name), but this is hardly the first time that Mike has included spoken word banter or setups as their own track on a live album. "Back Away Slowly" comes across as shorter and tighter than the studio version, with the full band input livening up what was already a solid song (note Chris having extra room to show off on lead guitar). Still an upbeat power pop song with personal lyrics that is complimentary of a full band, keys/synths-devoid setup! That's followed by "The Best You Never Had", which actually opened "If Ever Comes The Day". The live version here is similarly paced and structured to the studio version, but without the piano parts, it does come off more like a rock song, which is to its benefit again.

I prefer songs where Mike uses his voice moreso than the low, affecting, and almost-spoken word verses here, but it's a good song with weighty lyrics in any format! The live version is a little longer thanks to post-song banter to promote their merchandise on sale. Next up is the second of three filler spoken word banter tracks, namely "Moving West", where Mike addresses the ongoing recording of the live album from the 705Live soundboard, and then talks about his move from the Soo to Thompson, Manitoba to further his ambitions of becoming a commercial pilot, and what awaited him when he lived there and to continue striving for his ultimate goal. Again, I'd have just rolled this into the opening of the next song ("An Act Of Strength" from his 2021 studio album "Bridges"), especially as the live track is a minute shorter thanks to the intro being absorbed into "Moving West".

"Bridges" was the most synth-heavy of Mike's post-pandemic solo albums, so stripping that away for the live concert version does give it a more direct focus, but I did find the percussion to be too constant. Not my favourite of the live staples here, as it's more along one or two tracks throughout without ever kicking into a high gear, but it's well performed! The final spoken word track is next, and on "The Power Of Community", Mike explains how this show came together on relatively short notice (Mike does not directly address the planned battle of the bands), and how the community came together to make this special headlining concert come together. Mike also introduces The Big Finish Band here, with Elly doing the honours to introduce Mike (who flew in from Barrie the previous night!). They play another "Bridges" cut next, namely its first single "The Nature Of The Times", which is actually longer than the studio version is.

Despite the intro being absorbed by the prior spoken word intro, The Big Finish Band add an extended outro rather than the fade-out on the studio album. This song comes out similarly otherwise to the original, but with more of the full band oomph and less harmonic elements, but it will still appeal to fans of Mike's more indie rock-inspired material, and the band gets room to show off! Matt's bass is particularly solid here. The last two songs from Mike's solo catalogue on the setlist are played next, both courtesy of "All The Best In All You Do". Of those, first is "All The Best", which is similarly composed but longer thanks to an extended outro to replace the fade-out, and there's no synth here, so the full rock potential of the song is met. I'd still have more varied chorus vocals, but it's a solid track that capped off regular versions of the original CD in style, and it suits a full band approach!

The penultimate song here was "Twist Of Fate", which is played very similarly to the studio version aside from crowd banter & having a definite ending. The backing vocals could be somewhat overdone on the choruses, but as one of Mike's heaviest and fastest original songs of his post-move era, this is a definite highlight that largely translates well to the stage! Mike & crew return for an encore of "75", which began life when his old grunge band Haggith recorded it for "Deuce" in 2013, but The Din's cover on 2016's "Give In To The Din" shares more in common with the 2025 live take. In any form, this is a very punk-inspired track with a power pop influence, and its chorus remains as catchy as ever! The backing vocals are implemented better than they were in 2013, but it's the same song and that's not a bad thing. It's a perfect capper to the set that fans of Mike at his heaviest will enjoy, and Chris shines on the solos!

How do I grade Mike's first solo live album with a full backing band? Overall, it's a strong window into Mike Haggith's modern local concerts with The Big Finish Band, and given as high quality of a recording and post-production as they can muster, and it shows! The soundboard recording (while muting fan levels somewhat) is crystal clear, and while the presence of a backing vocalist and two guitarists does pump up the sound, things do come off bigger and better for recording quality here than on The Din's live albums. Yes, the idea of Mike and the gang playing a headlining concert rather than a short battle of the bands set was short notice, but they made the most of the challenge and opportunity, and I did find that many of the songs (for what I go for in rock) were improved via the immediacy, crowd engagement, and lack of synth backing, so Din fans will like those aspects.

Of course, I go for Mike's hard rock and power pop-tinged stuff like "Twist Of Fate", "Hot & Cold", and "75" the most from what was played live at the Downtown Plaza here, but he picked a good cross-section of his recent solo catalogue, and The Big Finish Band were collectively up to the task (see most of them in the country rock cover band Elly McWatters & The Drifters when Mike isn't in town!). I wouldn't have bothered segmenting the spoken word intros and the guitar adlib into their own individual tracks, backing vocals were inconsistently applied, and there are songs of Mike's that I'd be interested to see played live, here or in general (like "If Ever Comes The Day", "Over Indecision", and "Miles & Memories"). This is an ideal way to experience the Mike Haggith live concert experience in the mid-2020s, and don't miss him and The Big Finish Band next month at the next Downtown Street Party and the Northern Vibe Festival!

Buy or stream "Under A Moonlit Sky" at the above links, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! Next month, we'll stay in Sault Ontario for a look at local ska punk band ASDP's debut album "Atom Bombs & Lemonade" from December, as we continue hollowing out our new album backlog. Look for that by month's end, and stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Project 906), Cory Marks Concert Videos, And An Inactive Band Note!!

One more SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT has fell into my lap, so to fill out a surprise Saturday evening post, we have new videos from a big recent concert and a solo project newly moved to our inactive links, so here's what you should know on all fronts!

Sault Michigan hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will return to the stage TONIGHT at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman! Apologies for the short notice, the band first announced this one-night-only gig on their Facebook page on Sunday, but it slipped past me before our last two weekend concert preview posts went live. After taking a three month break from the stage (characterized by the band as "some much needed time off"), this will be 906's first show since rocking Hulbert Happy Hour in early March, with the band last playing at The Strongs Tavern at the end of February. Of course, this belatedly kicks off their annual "#summerof906", so more shows should be announced in due course, but since we last heard from Project 906 at The Strongs, they completed renovations in the spring, so hopefully things look as good as the rock will sound TONIGHT! Billy, Joe, Dustin, Jason, and Brian will take the stage TONIGHT at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge, as usual.

If you've missed the guys in recent months, and/or are up for the hour's drive west, don't miss out on their summer season kickoff! Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview of TONIGHT'S opening #summerof906 event, here's Project 906 live!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario for some new videos from the Cory Marks concert at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre on June 11th! Last week, Cory uploaded a highlight video from the event to his Facebook page, where he highly praised the concert, which included a sold-out meet & greet session, and some fans driving 8+ hours to see it. Cory called the the Bushplane Museum's hangar "a dream concert setting for me", and if you weren't there, the hangar doors were open with the stage was set up inside, allowing for outside light to get inside and for some nice views while the North Bay country/hard rock musician rocked out. The highlight video (set to the studio version of his song "Are You With Me?") features clips of Cory at the meet-and-greet, including of him playing acoustic for VIP fans, before we see footage of the proper concert.

Good thing that we knew ahead of time where this was, as the video only has fleeting glimpses of bushplanes, which is a testament in a way to how well everyone got the hangar looking like a concert venue for more than just local bands! I would prefer hearing raw audio from the concert, but miraculously, Facebook didn't content match the studio track, so I can embed it below!

If you do want to see raw audio from the concert proper, good news, as Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to take care of sound for Cory and crew, and a video of them playing "Blame It On The Double" was posted to 705Live's Facebook page! Mike doesn't do the "pan the camera up from the soundboard" thing this time, FYI. Alas, the video only runs for 46 seconds, but it does let us get more of a view of where exactly in the Bushplane Museum that the concert was set up at (and where the VIP pre-show area was). Of note, Cory actually grabs someone's cell phone from the crowd to film things mid-song, which would be neat for that fan! What Mike shot looks and sounds good, so if you like Cory's southern fried hard rock, you can relive a snippet of this high production concert for yourself below, and we'll let you know if Cory returns to the Soo for a fifth straight year in 2027!

Finally, I have a local metal act to move to our inactive band links, namely local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore. We have heard no public updates from C.T.W. since 2024, with their final album "Bummer" being released on Bandcamp that July, and more recent updates from their owned-and-operated indie label Blood Shed Productions dried up by the spring of 2025. Active since 2012 and led by singer/guitarist Tyler "Ringsnaps" Gibson, C.T.W. became one of the more unique underground sights among extreme metal fans of the early-mid 2010s, releasing lots of studio material online and at concerts, including many of the final Oddfellows Hall concerts, plus various private & house party events. Updates from C.T.W. (let alone Blood Shed) really tailed off after the pandemic, even for a one-man project, which wasn't helped by their Facebook pages being taken down, if not by Tyler's own hand.

C.T.W. were really a critic-proof act, as a one-man goregrind band with such explicit imagery, pig squealing vocals, extremely short song lengths, a drum machine, and an ardent "I play what I want to play" ethos made it difficult to look at them in comparison with most contemporary bands. I still believe that all of the early-mid 2010s Blood Shed 1-2 man bands had the collective talent to make a great five-piece death metal band, but Tyler did what he wanted and kept this project going for a strong length of time, with fun crowd reactions and a solid skill set as a guitarist & producer. Hopefully we hear more from him and the label down the road! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), A New Battle Of The Bands, And New Videos!!

I hope everyone is having a good Good Friday as this late Easter long weekend gets underway! In today's post, we have new videos and original material, and early details on a big returning event that we haven't seen in Sault Ontario in years, but first, here's one more imminent concert preview wrapped in with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

We'll lead off with the last of this weekend's known hard rock concert previews, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to The Fraternal Order Of Eagles Club at 246 Wellington Street West for another matinee concert TOMORROW, and in a new confirmation, he will also be playing there on the Victoria Day long weekend on Saturday, May 17th! As confirmed via a quiet date addition to the Eagles Club shows' batch Facebook event page, this will mean that Tym will play three out of the next five Saturdays at Aerie #3991, alternating weeks with his existing bookings at Misty's Fifties on April 26th and May 10th. Regardless of if you'd rather head to Steelton or the west end, you have lots of opportunities to see Tym's skilled and experienced blend of classic and hard rock covers in the coming weeks, starting at the Eagles Club tomorrow! That show and the May 17th one are at 4:00 PM.

Neither date has an announced age limit or cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, Tym has some new original music online to check out! In the past two months, Tym actually posted six songs to his YouTube channel, so what is there now?  "To Say That You Care" is a love song written when Tym was in high school, and will appeal to fans of Tym's acoustic ballads in concert! More recently for compositions, Tym wrote "Little Missy" for his wife, and it's arguably a stronger ballad given Tym's development as a musician! Lots of photos of the two of them in the slideshow too. "Lucifer Deciever" is a metal song about "Lucifer, Freemasons, and Jesus", and while I won't get into the video's content here (not that kind of site), Tym shreds it up well with some strong riffs and solos! The last two are the instrumental "Souls Of Serenity" & "We Are Damned", which were both first heard on his 2006 "Solo Project" album.

The former has a video relating to Tym's faith, while the latter is about "world issues" and has more viewpoints and political stances that I'm hesitant to discuss on a music blog. I really liked both songs musically though, so keep these new YouTube copies in mind! Embedded below is "Dungeons & Dragons", which was once planned to lead off his unreleased second album, and while I don't know if this is the original recording from those sessions or a revision, fans of Tym's more 1980s metal-inspired songs will take to it! The video features footage from or inspired by the D&D cartoon and video games. Check out Tym's new and re-posted music above & below, and don't miss him tomorrow at The Eagles Club!

Next up, here's a surprise that Sault Ontario has been without for way too long: a battle of the bands! Some readers may recall Jay's Piston Broke Pub kicking tires on hosting a multi-night battle last year, but this would be the first one in Sault Ontario (as opposed to karaoke or general talent competitions) since the NLFB Meltdown battle of the bands at LopLops in 2017. Sault Michigan has had two since then, even! This planned battle of the bands will be a one-nighter on Thursday, September 25th, and it is being held by 705Live Sound Co., who provide live sound at many local events, concerts or otherwise, but unlike any local battle held in the SMS' lifespan, this will be outdoors at the Downtown Plaza. Yes, the stage is covered, but for everyone's sake, I hope that the weather holds up! This will be a judged battle, but details on band registrations, criteria, prizes, and more are to be announced.

I know that the pandemic played a role in why there hasn't been a battle of the bands of any scale in Sault Ontario in almost eight years, but still, eight years is a long time, so kudos to Mike and the Downtown Plaza for getting this one going, and hopefully it proceeds to completion unlike the Jay's battle last year! Stay tuned for more on this battle of the bands when it comes in, and visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

We'll close today with one more promotional video for tonight's Pillory-headlined metal concert The Pit at Soo Blaster! This minute-long clip comes from Pillory's Facebook page on April 6th, and features clips of the death/thrash metal trio performing at a jam session, as well as at concerts at The Canadian Nightclub, Rockstar Bar, Robbie Adamson's church in Leeburn, and Soo Blaster. Some of the source videos are clearly from their 2015-2018 run with Jordan Leach on bass, and while most of the footage is publically available online in full elsewhere, I don't recognize the Soo Blaster clip as being publically uploaded or shared (it has to be from when they opened for The Fixer & Indigo in August). The backing audio is a recent recording and not synced up with the visuals. Nice little snapshot of death metal-era Pillory, so check it out below, and don't miss them, The BAG, Convergence, and Maynard Hayes tonight!

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

A New Addition To Our Band Links, Molten Imp Updates, And New Videos!!

After our long write-up on Thursdsay's LSSU battle, let's dive back into Sault Ontario to look at recent updates from bands north of the border, including new concert videos, the latest from a metal solo project, and leading off, a newer acoustic band. Here's what you should know!

We have a new local classic/hard rock band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are Dodge This, the new acoustic band from former Phatstick frontman Jason Taillefer and former Havadder/Band Camp Rejects guitarist Jamie July! Jamie's brother Jeff also appears at some gigs playing percussion on a cajon. An extension of Jason's return to local acoustic concerts in 2024 (most notably at The Dive Gastro Pub), the Dodge This name first crossed my radar in late August when they co-headlined the ARCH Run outside of Jay's Piston Broke Pub, with Jamie launching an official Facebook page for the project in early September, though he & Jason had played shows prior to the ARCH Run without an advertised project name. As well as at The Dive, you may have seen Dodge This at The Water Tower Pub on September 7th and October 5th, as well as at McCauley's Restaurant in Goulais River.

Described on Facebook as "not looking to get rich, just doing what we love", Jamie has posted six videos of Dodge This on their Facebook page, including three from their September date at The Water Tower Pub of them covering The Gin Blossoms' "Hey Jealousy", Collective Soul's "December", and America's "A Horse With No Name". Jeff was present on cajon for this show, and while the covers are sound (if vertically shot), the harsh blue lighting of The Water Tower Pub will impair what you see. It's good mood lighting in person, but not the best for filming videos. The other three come from their gig at McCauley's (sans Jeff), including just Jamie covering Zach Bryan's "Something In The Orange", and two of him and Jay both tackling Chris Cornell songs, namely Soundgarden's "Fell On Black Days" and, as embedded below, Temple Of The Dog's "Hunger Strike". 

While these videos were also filmed vertically, the quality isn't bad, and Jason and Jamie play off of each other well in concert, with Jamie deploying some good melodic singing where needed. Jason can still unleash some impressive heavier vocals too, as heard on the Chris Cornell parts on "Hunger Strike"! If I was running McCauley's though, I'd use the TV monitor behind them to at least display the Dodge This logo for visual effect, though I don't know if they host live music that often. Stay tuned for more from Dodge This when we hear it, and check them out above & below!

Next up, here's the latest from a band we haven't covered on the SMS in way too long, namely local industrial metal solo project Molten Imp! At some point in the past year, project leader/former AlgomA guitarist Boyd Rendell took down their Facebook page, and as best as I can tell, their primary online presence is via a new Bandcamp page (their old one was taken down too). On the new Bandcamp page, Boyd describes Molten Imp as "the sound that comes from a damp basement near a steel plant" and hopes to "carve out its own niche in the industrial metal/noise scene with a folding pocket knife". Molten Imp's posted content now on Bandcamp include their digital singles collected as the "Bloom Closing"  complilation with bonus tracks in October of last year, as well as their half of the "Pyrolytic Punishment" split with Crucify The Whore. However, Molten Imp did release a new song on Bandcamp in June, so what should you know about that?

Entitled "Diesel On The Steamship I & II" (it is one 9+ minute file), this is an industrial noise instrumental. You have to have an appreciation for noise music to get into this, methinks, but it makes a good use of distorted effects and a mechanical theme across its runtime, and it's good to see that Boyd is still actively making music, if with less of an online presence! Check out more music from Molten Imp above!

Finally, here's a new video from last night's Blood Opera-headlined Steel City Nerdcon afterparty at Soo Blaster! This comes from 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook page, with Mike filming the action from the soundboard. The 40 seconds long clip sees the Toronto "zombie glam/dead metal" band playing their song "Brundlefly", inspired by David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of The Fly. Solid turnout (if with very blue lighting) at Soo Blaster, though at this point in the set, their full horror movie/theatrical aesthetic wasn't on display beyond their punk-influenced stage attire. Fun for what we hear, so check it out below, and hopefully more videos surface!

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

Blood Opera Concert Preview, Crooked Music's Closure, And More News & Notes!!

Today's post wraps up this weekend's concert previews, explores the surprise closure of a local music store, looks at a new hard rock cover from last year, and covers some assorted recent updates, so here's what you should know on this Friday evening!

Here's the remaining hard rock concert preview for this weekend, as Toronto "dead metal/zombie glam" band Blood Opera will return to the Soo TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock Soo Blaster! For the record, this show was quietly relocated from The Queen Of Hearts Club above Shooters to Soo Blaster last month for publically unannounced reasons. Blood Opera first rocked Sault Ste. Marie in May in the afterparty to the Steel City CollectorCon, and this is basically a sequel to that event in every way, as Blood Opera are headlining the afterparty for the related Steel City NerdCon, which goes down tomorrow at the Quattro Hotel on Great Northern Road (click here for full details on the convention proper). Blood Opera's theatrical, horror movie-inspired, and very violent stage show will play very well with attendees once again, even better than in May given that this is the Halloween season!

Local hard rock quintet HeadFirst will be the local openers this time out, which will be huge for them, and if you can't make it tomorrow, they'll be rocking Reggie's tonight! Despite the gory spectacle ahead, this is an all ages event with a 9:00 PM start time, and admission is $20 online at this link or at the NerdCon proper. It'd be foolish of me to try to hype up the stage show that Blood Opera put on, so I highly recommend checking them out online if you missed the CollectorCon afterparty, and this should be a fun spectacle to cap off a busy NerdCon with! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Blood Opera live!

Next up, here's some sad news out of Sault Michigan, as local music store Crooked Music is closing at the end of the month. Owner/local musician Zac Crook made the announcement on their Facebook page on Wednesday, noting that "the benefits no longer outweigh the risks" towards keeping the store open. The costs of being a small business owner in this economy and the availability of inventory were cited as primary concerns, but Zac did thank everyone for their support and encouraged everyone to support other mom & pop businesses and locally owned music stores. For the next two weeks, all remaining store items and fixtures are on sale for 50% off during regular hours. Zac and his wife Christy had bought the former Grooves Music from Gary Hatch in 2017, moving it from 540 Ashmun Street directly across the road to 539 Ashmun in 2019, and they even expanded their repertoire to include clothing, used albums, and books.

Crooked Music serves an important purpose to musicians in the EUP, and it'll be that much harder for musicians to get equipment and lessons now (if you can't come to Sault Ontario, I think the nearest equitable stores are over an hour away). Alas, economics are a concern for many entrepreneurs and business owners, but kudos to the Crooks for keeping the store active for over seven years, and weathering the pandemic in the middle! Visit Crooked Music while you still can at 539 Ashmun Street near the Soo Theater, and our best wishes are with Zac, Christy, and family!

Let's head back to Sault Ontario for a new hard rock cover from local acoustic classic rock/country singer/guitarist Jeremy Logan Newman's Facebook page! We've mentioned Jeremy on here a few times, notably when he opened for Fort Creek at one of their original run concerts, but most of his public media doesn't point to SMS-amenable material. This is an exception, of him and veteran local guitarist/Soo's Got Talent judge Darren Robertson (who perform duo sets under the name Fog Brain) covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Mama, I'm Coming Home" at The Water Tower Pub in August of last year.  The harsh and over-exposed blue lighting is far from ideal, let alone the vertical camera angle (at least both musicians are in frame), but this is an effective rendition that lets Jeremy apply his voice in a unique way, with a tone you may not expect for this classic Ozzy ballad. 

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for these short form story blocks, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

 

• Dormant local concert promotion agency Live705 have changed their name to Algoma Underground, as per their Facebook page on September 22nd. The change was made to avoid confusion with Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co., who I believe launched after the members of A Dire Setback started promoting as Live705, but 705Live are far more active nowadays providing sound at local concert events. Obvious AI logo for Algoma Underground aside, hopefully the rebranding is a good sign that they plan on resuming work as promoters next year!
  
• If you were curious what the etymology of new local death metal band Bardo's name was, they have clarified it on their Facebook page. The name refers to a Buddhist belief in a transitional intermediate state between death and rebirth, which is definitely a deep concept, and it'll be interesting to see what slants the Them successors' original songs so far will take in that regard! Follow Bardo above for continuing updates!
• Local southern hard rock band Fort Creek have filmed their first music video for their upcoming single "One For The Road", as per their Facebook page! Golden Scoundrels/ex-Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno filmed the video via his company Spacebag Productions, and it was shot at Jay's Piston Broke Pub, with a black & white teaser image from the shoot also posted on Facebook featuring singer Justin Grayson sitting at the bar. Good sign towards Fort Creek's return to full activity, so visit the above links vor more details on the song and video ahead!
  

 

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

Two New Album Releases, A New-Ish Punk Project, And More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for missing a show in this past weekend's concert previews, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck played for a second straight year at Algoma Tree Services' annual community meet & greet outside of their homebase in Goulais River on Saturday night. Like last year, they joined classic rock band Angry Joe & The Growlers for this Kiwanis Club children's charity event, which was publically open with family activities. Also like last year, Soundcheck did not publicize their involvement on their Facebook page, though Algoma Tree Services did. I profusely apologize once again, I'd have covered it had I known, but hopefully things went well despite the forecast!

Now, today's post otherwise looks at some recent videos and updates from an array of local musicians, starting with new album releases, one being from a new addition to our band links, namely local rapper Tristan "Bold Noize" Goslow! While active locally since at least 2015, Tristan (who originally rapped as "White Noize") only crossed our radar on multi-genre events that he performed at, such as the old Sky's The Limit mental health fundraiser concerts, The Soo's Got Talent in 2018, and that year's Rotaryfest Stage 2. That changed once I started covering Lopstock III's SooToday live-stream from late last month, and whether you saw Bold Noize thusly or in person at LopLops, you'll have seen him reveal that he was working on a punk album that was released as planned to major streaming services on Thursday! It is titled "God Save Me", reflecting his faith, with his Christian rap status being more prominent in his early years.

The nine song album indeed features Tristan singing rather than rapping along with full band instrumental tracks, and while I have not seen public credit given to who played guitar and such on "God Save Me", note that he sang along with recordings at Lopstock, as he did for his four proper rap cuts that night. The music on offer definitely leans toward punk way more than nu metal, and I was reminded a bit of Machine Gun Kelly's rock output in terms of how Bold Noize approached the shift in genre. Honestly, the songs come through better as punk rock songs via the studio recordings than they did at Lopstock, owing to the pre-recorded instrumental tracks being heard & mixed as intended on streaming services. Bold Noize can carry a tune well on the punk songs, and you can hear for yourself how he handles a totally different genre on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, while the album is definitely on sale digitally for $8.99 on iTunes.

I would suggest that Tristan get a live band going, even if just occasionally, to better reflect the "God Save Me" album/future punk dalliances live, but it's hard to say what his next plans are, as he doesn't update his Facebook page all that often. Beyond "God Save Me", Bold Noize is a skilled MC with a strong flow, as local rap fans over the past decade will be well aware, but how far will he go in the punk realm? It'll be interesting to find out, but I do plan to review this album on the SMS formally in January (we're booked solid through year's end), and check out "God Save Me" above & below!

Next up, here's one more new album release, as local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage's have newly put out their 69th studio album, fittingly named "69"! The cover artwork obviously gives the title in Roman numerals as "LXIX". While this was released to their Bandcamp page on Saturday, the band gives a release date of September 6th there. hardly a new conceit for their albums since becoming a studio-only band in 2017. Production and personnel-wise, there's nothing shocking to report from their prior album from earlier this year ("Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of The Stoned Ape"), but "69" appears to be a normal album without an overarching concept. 19 songs are included, enough to force this to be a double album if printed on CDs, and there are definitely some suitably eclectic titles for longtime fans!

You can buy "69" via digital download for $15 on Bandcamp, and you can stream it for free there as well. A review of this album (if not another album if they surprise us with one beforehand) will likely hit the site in February 2024, given our continued backlog, but it's great to see the Beckers, Shane, and Tony back with more improvised & irreverent bluesy hard rock, hopefully befitting the "69" title for anyone inclined to put on their environ-mental suits! Buy or stream "69" above!

We'll close today with a new live video of local/Toronto pop rock cover veterans The Killer Hooks, courtesy of their set at White Pines Collegiate & Vocational School's 50th anniversary reunion at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre last week! Odd that they wouldn't have it at the S.C.T.C.... maybe the seats were an issue for mingling Wolverines alumni? The Killer Hooks are the occasionally seen high profile cover band fronted by Gsis Murphy's Tony Marcello, and we have brought them up on the SMS on occasion when they were filmed doing a hard rock cover, though their sets are way more pop rock in tone and focus. I really should go through their own videos at some point to see what heavier tunes they've done since we last talked about them, but this video comes from Mike Blair at 705Live Sound Co., who handled sound at the White Pines reunion.

Uploaded to 705Live's Facebook page on Friday, the video features The Killer Hooks covering Kiss' "I Was Made For Loving You", and if you want to get a dance floor going via a Kiss song, that'd be the one to use! The 42 second clip is obviously abbreviated, but Mike had a nice view of the stage with effective stage lighting to highlight the band nicely, and they handle this song pretty well! I'd have based it more on Kiss' later live versions where Paul sung the verses at full voice, but beggars can't be choosers. Give this Killer Hooks video a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more of our Lopstock III fallout tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Josey Scott's Saliva Concert Fallout & Videos!!

Today's post is devoted to Saturday night's Josey Scott's Saliva concert outside of The Machine Shop, so what should you know on this Monday evening? First off, while official promotion didn't make the exact staging of the show clear, it definitely wasn't at The Yard, nor was it completely outdoors as implied, as it took place under a roof at The Rink at The Train Station (f.k.a. The Rink at The Canal District), which sporadically hosts outdoor concerts when not serving as an ice skating rink. You may recall Outspoken Brewing's Oktoberfest being held here last fall. Luckily, it didn't rain on Saturday night, but the roof would have offered some protection that way, while still letting fans of the summer weather enjoy the warmer temperatures! In terms of videos, the only YouTube user so far to post videos is local DJ Ryan Hall, a.k.a. DJ-RJ, who uploaded eight (technically five) videos of the headlining Memphis, Tennessee hard rock band, though sadly, he did not film any of the openers.

DJ-RJ also filmed at the Summer Moon Fest, but these are his first concert videos to cross our radar. Three of his eight Saliva videos are "Shorts" (a.k.a. YouTube's answer to Facebook "Reels"), and are just vertical re-posts of his regular videos. Not sure the point unless "Shorts" are part of his marketing strategy for uploads there, given that it's mostly home to his own DJ mixes (check out this Treble Charger/Birdbrain mashup he just did!) The actual five videos see Josey and crew cover Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name" and Chad Kroeger's "Hero" (which featured Josey Scott himself), while the Saliva originals filmed were "Superstar", "Broken Sunday", and as embedded below, "Survival of the Sickest". That Rage cover is the last one that I want bands to do (exceedingly overplayed), but Josey Scott's Saliva sound good here, and while Josey did struggle to hit some higher/longer notes, he still sounds the part!

How does he compare to Bobby Amaru (who replaced him in and still fronts the original Saliva)? Bobby has a raspier voice and energy to match, and he does justice to Josey-era songs, but you can tell that Josey was the original voice when you hear him. In terms of the venue setup at The Rink, you'd be hard pressed to tell that this was technically outdoors based on the professional staging, and it looks like there was a decent turnout for this one, no doubt helped by years of Saliva airplay on Rock 101! Give DJ-RJ's videos a watch above and below!

Next up, another video was uploaded from the show by former Shit Liver frontman Josh Penno's video production company Spacebag Productions (who filmed openers Spades GT's still-to-be-released music video), which was posted to the Spacebag Facebook page. Josh says that is his "event coverage" of the show, which he filmed for free as a means of getting his name out there as a professional videographer, and he asked that people like/share the video to "get this to the right people's eyes so I can continue to find work in a creative space". This is only 33 seconds long, features the studio version of Saliva's "Click Click Boom" rather than live concert audio (despite also showing the opening bands), and oddly has no video footage period for the first five seconds, but what Josh shot looks excellent, and I do hope that he posts the raw footage online in some fashion! The bands are shown in chronological order by when their set was.

You don't see a ton of Spades GT's set here, but you can probably tell that only four band members were present at The Rink, as rhythm guitarist Jay Sarrazin did not make the trip north for unannounced reasons (at least not online). Don't read anything negative into that, as Jay has a lot of bands on his plate, and he will be coming to the Northern Vibe Festival in August with his Southern Ontario bands Sierra Pilot & Hellrager (Spades GT themselves are not playing in Ophir this year). Give Josh's well shot and edited (if all too brief) video from the Saliva concert a look below!

Finally, sound at the show was provided by 705Live Sound Co. (not promoters Live705), and Mike Blair from 705Live did film one video for their Facebook page, namely this 36 second clip of them playing "Ladies & Gentlemen" (which I know best as the WrestleMania 23 theme song, the year I went in person!)  Further back by necessity (so much so that you can see daylight at the edge of the video), this sounds strong, which is a testament to the band, 705Live, and Mike's camera! If only this wasn't just 36 seconds long. Give it a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!