An Inactive Band Note, New Videos, And Much More!!

I hope all of our Canadian readers had a great Thanksgiving! We're back with a new news post on this Tuesday morning, including some shorter assorted stories, new videos from both sides of the border, and leading off, here's a notable band who have crossed our one year's inactivity threshold!

I have reluctantly moved local doom/sludge metal trio AlgomA to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The band has not issued a public update since changing the business hours on their Facebook page on October 6th of last year, and while the effects of the ongoing pandemic are acknowledged, they have not played a live concert since opening for Dopethrone at The New A in May of last year (itself their only concert since 2017.) Launching in 2012 before debuting on stage at 180 Projects the following March, AlgomA united BeeFMoutH and Fuller alumni into a crushing package, giving the Sault area a much slower and doomier brand of metal that immediately set them apart, as heard on their 2014 EP "Reclaimed By The Forest" and their later splits with Chronobot, Hooded Menace, and the Soo's own Shit Liver. Local fans will recognize them from opening for bands like The Archaics, Beaver Slap, Biipiigwan, Fuck The Facts, and The Golers, often playing at shows under their own promotional banners.

 

As well, AlgomA found a far-flung audience of fans elsewhere in Canada and internationally via concerts in Southern Ontario, Sudbury, Quebec, and even in Europe, with their albums all getting solid press attention in metal news & review websites, partially owing to their label deal with Deadbeat Media. I definitely enjoyed AlgomA's slow and hard hitting brand of original metal, with lots of dark intensity packed into their generally long songs, and it was very encouraging to see local talent get so much exposure and fan support abroad at their peak. Hopefully this isn't the last we'll hear from AlgomA, but best of luck to Kevin, Boyd, and Jamie in the future!

Next up, here's the latest from Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished, who recently got a third spotlight on 9&10 News' lifestyle newsmagazine program The Four! As you may have seen on channel 10 (Spectrum) or 10.1 (over the air) this past Friday, the guys were seen playing their original "Metalyn" for their third (and final?) appearance on The Four's week-ending Friday Sessions series of music performances by Northern Michigan artists. This was filmed in the same August sessions that gave us prior CBS-aired takes on "Cocaine Riot" & "Shortcut", but neither of those has a mandolin! High quality performances and well shot videos as you would expect, so give Tarnished's third go-around on TV a look at the above links! I cannot embed 9&10 News videos here. In the meantime, Tarnished are filming their first ever music video (also for "Metalyn") with Jay London Photography, as per their Facebook page, which should be interesting to see the final product of! Stay tuned for updates from their camp as they roll in!

Also today, here's some new solo performance videos from prolific local folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page! While uploaded on September 27th & October 1st, these were allegedly recorded at an earlier point, and serve as "COVID jams" while he can't play normal live concerts. The first video is embedded below, but the second (and much longer) video can be watched at this link. The 36 minutes of content in these videos are along the lines of his intense folk punk work, with rapid guitar work and his usual passion and irreverence, so fans of this side of Chase's music career will absolutely want to watch both videos above & below! 

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

 

• New local hard rock band The Isolation Sessions quietly added guitarist Todd Kidd to their lineup on their Facebook page last month, officially making them a quartet. As a result, Arthur Lacasse has moved from guitar to bass, much like he did with their predecessors Half Past. While Todd is unfamiliar locally, he was previously active in the Windsor-area metal bands 8ight Past Nine, King Misfit, and Against All Wisemen, and if you check out his work there, you'll see that he definitely has the chops! Stay tuned for more from The Isolation Sessions when it rolls in!
• Bear Hunters/Skull After Betrayl alum Mike Vincent has again posted searches for band members on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group this month. One post on October 1st was for a vocalist (and perhaps second guitarist) for the pop punk band he has alluded to working on in the past, while the other from last Tuesday was looking for country/southern rock musicians he's interested in jamming with. Message Mike at this link or above for more info!
  
• I opted not to cover local acoustic hard rock musician Tym Morrison's presumed Motley Market show this past Saturday, as it was not promoted in advance by him or the venue on social media. Tym's prior Motley Market booking on Saturday the 3rd was cancelled outright, and he has not signalled that his weekly run there will resume, at least not publically, so I have removed October gigs there from our calendar for now. Hopefully nothing bad happened, but we'll let you know when he plays live next!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

A Belated Look At Mike Haggith's Last #LockdownLive Post-Show, Plus Tarnished Updates!!

For our last post in a quiet month, we have two topics to get to, both relating to prominent local hard rock performers who got some prominent airtime locally on Friday, but in one case, we're dialing back a few months to make up for lost time. Here's what you should know!

As I alluded to in Friday's post, I completely forgot to cover local/Thompson, Manitoba hard rock musician Mike Haggith's post-show from #LockdownLive XIII on the site after it's original airdate on June 29th, so let's finally give it a good look, albeit two months late! Apologies to Mike for the delay, this completely slipped through the cracks. As posted on his Facebook page, this served to recap the final weekly installment of Mike's live-streamed concert series, which was themed around looking back at the prior 12 episodes and playing a song each from all of them, and you can click here to watch that episode in full. Mike starts by addressing the format & events of the previous episode, checking in with live viewers, reminding everyone of the new monthly schedule for the series, and acknowledging his then-recent efforts to get published reviews of "If Ever Comes The Day", specifically asking viewers to like Rock-N-Review on Facebook to encourage them to review it.

If that page has reviewed even a single from the album, Mike hasn't promoted it since, but he did get an 8.5/10 rating on Casey's Album Reviews & Music Discussions, and while this definitely is not Mike's debut record, Casey did strongly recommend it, noting that it "is an album that shares love, thought, memories, moments, and building relationships", and that it "is a gentle reminder to embrace life and be yourself." This is a long review, but well thought out and very complimentary of the included messages, so give it a look at this link! Getting back to the #LockdownLive XIII post-show, Mike called the winner of that Saturday's share contest to determine the fan-chosen cover song that you just heard in #LockdownLive XIV on Friday, and if you missed our post, the winner was Brandi Martel for a second time in three weeks, and once again, she went with a sincere song that Mike already liked unironically, namely Joshua Kadison's ballad "Beautiful In My Eyes".

To hear Mike cover that song in Friday's live-stream, click here. Afterwards, Mike asks Brandi to pick an original song for him to play, and she chose The Din's "In The Moonlight", before he checked in with viewers, teased plans to put Din albums on more digital platforms, and unveiled a brand new original song that was not titled at that point, but #LockdownLive XIV viewers will recognize it as "Carousel", with a title suggested by ex-Din drummer Brandan Glew. The rest of the video sees Mike wrapping up the proceedings, teasing the next #LockdownLive episode, and asking fans for input on future episodes. This was an entertaining and informative half hour, though it definitely felt odd in some respects, given the double finality (ending the weekly schedule and this being the last post-show) and the fact that I saw this one late & out of order. Fans get their money's worth though, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for #LockdownLive XV next month!

We'll close today with the other local hard rock act who had some big airtime on Friday, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished were featured again on 9&10 News' weekday newsmagazine series The Four in their "Friday Sessions" segment featuring a music performance from a Northern Michigan or E.U.P. artist. Three weeks after viewers saw Alex, Nathan, Josh, and Gary play "Cocaine Riot" on channel 10(.1), they played "Shortcut" from their new album "Down To The Wire", and this does appear to have been filmed in the same session as in their last segment. Still, this live rendition is strongly done, and the multiple camera angles add some zest! Click here or above to see their CBS-aired version of "Shortcut", and remember that I can't embed videos from 9&10 here. When plugging their first appearance on The Four, Tarnished did tease that "other songs" will be playing in the future, implying that there is at least one more song of theirs ahead.

Lastly from their camp, Tarnished have teased on their Facebook page in recent days that they are planning to finally bring back their live-streamed at-home concerts after a 3+ month hiatus, only now with Nathan and Gary involved, and with electric instruments. Yesterday, they revealed that their full-band live-streams will begin "next week and hopefully weeks to come", but have the dreaded audio issues that took over their acoustic duo shows been worked out? Stay tuned for updates, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

A Surprise Band Reunion, Tarnished Updates, Show Cancellations, And More!!

News remains slow as of late, but today's post is surprisingly stacked and eventful, including a lengthy live-stream, related concert cancellations, a rising young band's recent busy activity, and leading off, a band reunion almost a quarter century in the making! Here's what you should know!

Local/Hamilton alternative/hard rock band Foothill Road are back after a 24 year hiatus! In an e-mail, ex-bassist Ron Pyette alerted me to a brand new song that the band quietly recorded last year, before finally being produced this year and posted onto guitarist Mark Oliverio's new YouTube channel this past weekend. Entitled "Heard Of It", the song features Mark (last seen with Tripod The Dog) alongside original singer Ken Luxton and drummer Rick Bain, with veteran local musician Steve Cardiff on bass in lieu of Ron, though he was involved in the songwriting. Mark's former Glitch bandmate Mario Carlucci is not visibly back on guitar for the Foothill Road reunion. I have no idea if this will lead to a new album or concerts when available, but the song is promising, with a 1990s hard rock bent injected with some progressive and bluesy flourish, and their talents are still visible! It's easy to learn too, as this is a lyric video, which isn't common for local bands to post.

Just for context, Foothill Road's original run was circa 1993-1996, before members moved on to the now-defunct Hamilton-based bands Sara Inksetter & Cousin It. Time will tell how much more we hear from Foothill Road 2.0, but give their new song a listen below, and amazingly, they are now in our active band links! Stay tuned for possible updates!

Next up, let's take a detour to Sault Michigan for the latest from local hard rock quartet Tarnished, so what have they been up to since Rock The Block? On August 4th, they played a private outdoor set for a graduation party (photos are on their Facebook page), and then on Friday, frontman Alex Traynor and bassist Josh Fair returned to Eagle 95.1 FM's morning show to promote their now-released debut EP "Down To The Wire", and play acoustic versions of "Shortcut" and a Creedence Clearwater Revival song. Bizarrely, this wasn't hyped in advance on social media, but hopefully it gave them and the CD some great exposure! And yes, I meant "CD", as physical copies of "Down To The Wire" can now be bought online at this link, so if you haven't had any luck at local retailers, here you go! CDs run for $10 American, and you can see the back cover of the case there as well. Finally, Tarnished got some big exposure on 9&10 News' lifestyle newsmagazine series The Four last week!

Much like Alex had for prior solo performances, Tarnished performed "Cocaine Riot" on their week-ending "Friday Sessions" last week, and yes, this was the full band with electric gear. It's always great seeing E.U.P. talent on the local news, and kudos to our local CBS affiliate for heading north to film Tarnished in action, from multiple solid angles to boot! Allegedly, Tarnished did more songs to be included in future episodes of The Four, so tune in on channel 10 (Spectrum) or 10.1 (antenna) on Fridays at 4:00 PM to see if Tarnished are that week's artist! View last Friday's performance at this link, as I cannot embed videos from 9&10 News here.

Finally, I was planning to preview Sault Ontario hard rock musician Tym Morrison's announced return to the Motley Market on Gore Street tomorrow, but his remaining August dates there (including on August 20th & 27th) have quietly been cancelled, as per the Facebook event page. A reason for their cancellation has not been announced by Tym or the venue, but remember that the pandemic is ongoing, and the market is still very new to the downtown sector, so one or both may have played a part. At least Tym is back playing public concerts of some form, and hopefully we'll see him there or elsewhere soon! As for his live-streamed concert series, the 35th installment did indeed take place live at the Motley Market this past Thursday, and it remains his most recent episode at press time, as Tym did not film an episode yesterday for (again) unannounced reasons. We'll let you know if he has one tomorrow, but for now, how did last Thursday's live-stream go?

As live-streamed on Tym's YouTube channel once again, this 1:40 episode is comparable in length to his at-home shows, but well short of the 3 hours the concert proper was advertised to run for (I believe this captures the second half of the set). The captured set proper begins about 5 minutes in with covers of Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed", The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" & "Here Comes The Sun", Amanda Marshall's "Trust Me (This Is Love)", Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69", Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence", Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes", Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me", Aerosmith's "Dream On", Toto's "Hold The Line", Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love", Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise", Berlin's "Take My Breath Away", Supertramp's "Breakfast In America", Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive", Yes' "Owner Of A Lonely Heart", Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle", ...

... Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", Yes' "Love Will Find A Way", 10cc's "I'm Not In Love", and finally, Tom Petty's "Yer So Bad". Entertaining set as usual for Tym, and it seemed like he was glad to be playing an actual concert again, but he is definitely chattier in the at-home streams. It's hard to gauge Motley Market as a venue given the camera angle, and the attendance didn't seem huge, but there were people coming and going. Note that 7 covers filmed on Thursday were already done in the previous Tuesday's live-stream. Give Thursday's video a watch below, and we'll let you know when Tym goes live next!



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

Anvil's Return To Sault Ste. Marie, Plus New Live Performance Videos!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this Sunday afternoon, so what's in store? Lots of big updates from a prominent local solo artist (including an apology for a missed concert), a new live concert video from just yesterday, and leading off, big updates to a previously announced concert, which now has a brand new and very notable headline act!

Remember how Edmonton metal quintet Striker are playing at Soo Blaster on Sunday, June 9th with locals Re:Born opening? Well, we know a lot more on that show now, as Striker aren't headlining: Toronto metal legends Anvil are! After headlining at The Canadian Nightclub in 2012 & 2014 and at The Rockstar Bar in 2015, the "Metal on Metal" icons and eponymous documentary stars will finally return to Sault Ste. Marie for another night of entertaining originals from across their career, including from last year's new album "Pounding The Pavement." It's great to have Anvil back in town after a 4 year wait, so don't miss them at Soo Blaster next month! As for the teased second local openers, they will be punk/metal quintet Jack Spades (fronted by co-promoter J.D. Pearce), who opened for Anvil at their last two local dates and at a short Northern Ontario tour run in 2014, so they're a great pick to reprise that role! For what it's worth, the new Facebook event page lists Striker between the local bands.

As this is no longer just a Striker concert, the advance ticket price has doubled from $10 to $20 (or $25 at the door), and it now has a 7:30 PM start time, but it remains a 19+ event. A VIP package also exists that includes a private booth for 6 people costing $200, so keep that in mind also, and advance tickets of any stripe are on sale at Soo Blaster. Suddenly, this concert has been injected with a lot more metal, so don't miss Anvil, Striker, and locals for another big Soo Blaster concert in just over a month's time!

Next up, here's a new video from last night's Hells Bells (and Dave Evans) concert at The Rockstar Bar, courtesy of Christopher Paci's excellent YouTube channel once again! At press time, he has only posted two videos from Hells Bells' Dave-less set, but if he posts anything with the original AC/DC frontman, we will let you guys know. Chris' clips features the Barrie-based AC/DC tribute band tackling "Back In Black" and, as embedded below, their eponymous song, and while the vocals seem not as raspy as we know Brian to be with the actual band, the renditions are solid overall. Give it a look below, and keep watch in case videos with Dave Evans surface!



Let's wrap things up in Sault Michigan, starting with the latest from Banned frontman and local solo musician Alex Traynor, who recently got another local television performance under his belt! Like in March, Alex was the featured performer on the "Friday Sessions" segment on 9&10 News' lifestyle newsmagazine series The Four last week, where local viewers got to see him play the title track from his "Crazy World" EP. Similarly filmed as his March performance, this is a nice unplugged rendition of this harder rocking track, and hopefully it gets Alex lots of exposure across the Cadillac-Traverse City TV market! I can't embed 9&10 News website videos here, but you can watch it at this link, even if you're in Sault Ontario, and watch The Four on channel 10 (Spectrum) or 10.1 (antenna) on Fridays for more regional musicians! Now, Alex was back in Sault Ste. Marie this weekend for a Thursday matinee gig at Kewadin Casino, but that was't all for him back home!

I profusely apologize for missing this, but Alex played a special 2:00 PM matinee gig yesterday at Biggby Coffee at 2502 Ashmun Street, which was only announced on the venue's Facebook page on Thursday. Biggby Coffee tends to host solo acoustic performers in early timeslots, sometimes as part of open mic nights, so it's not a venue that often comes across our radar, but I do apologize again, we'd have covered it on the site had we known about it! For what it's worth, Insipid Brutality/Condemned alum Tyler Dettloff played an acoustic matinee show of his own today, though I don't know much about his music work nowadays. As it turns out, Biggby Coffee actually shot two videos of Alex's set for their Facebook page, including this distant clip of him covering Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary", but embedded below is a much closer, face-forward video of Alex covering Matchbox Twenty's "Push". Both are on a vertical camera angle, but that's fine for a solo performer.

Alex seems to be in his element with these unplugged clips, and while the cover choices are softer than his studio originals, remember that this is a coffee shop (part of a big chain, no less) at 2:00 in the afternoon. Solidly done renditions overall, especially if you can get past the distant view on "Prud Mary", so give Alex's videos a look above & below, and we'll try harder to stay on top of Biggby Coffee gigs if they happen to fit the SMS' coverage!



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

Rock Of Ages Preview, Plus New Videos From Both Sides Of The Border!!

Before I get to a massive post concerning major developments regarding a once-popular band page website, here's a new news post for your Tuesday afternoon, and it includes new solo performance footage, jam session clips, and a local artist's television appearance from earlier this month, but let's begin with a preview of a special live event!

While not a concert in the traditional sense, I felt it appropriate to give one last preview to TONIGHT'S show from the national touring production of the hair metal/1980s rock-themed musical Rock of Ages at GFL Memorial Gardens! It's rare when a live musical play comes through here that has any direct connection to SMS coverage, but I can easily make an exception here. A jukebox musical about an aspiring singer & bartender's romance as they try to make it big in the 1980s glam rock music scene in  Los Angeles, Rock of Ages was a smash hit on Broadway for six years, and later led to a 2012 feature film, and now this national tour to commemorate the original Broadway production's 10th anniversary. Expect to hear a wide array of songs woven into the plot from acts like REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi, The Scorpions, Journey, Foreigner, Quiet Riot, and many more. Tickets are still available, including on the floor, for between $49.50 and $89.50 at this link, so act A.S.A.P. to get the best seat possible!

You can also buy tickets at the in-person box office or by phone at 1-866-775-9422. An 8:00 PM start time is advertised, and this seems to be all ages. Also, check out this Sault Star article by Jeffrey Ougler from last month where he interviewed Andrew Tebo, who plays Hertz Klinemann in this production. While I admittedly didn't love the Rock of Ages film, I know that many fans of 1980s glam, hair, and arena bands will certainly enjoy tonight's play at the Gardens, so hopefully tonight's show is a home run! And for one last preview, here's two of the actors hyping up the show for this video posted on the City of Sault Ste. Marie's YouTube channel last month!

Next up, here's another new video from Kinross/Mount Pleasant, Michigan solo hard rock musician Alex Traynor, who got some big exposure on local television earlier this month! If you live in the Cadillac-Traverse City television market (which includes the E.U.P.), or if you are a Sault Ontario resident with a digital TV antenna, you may be familiar with The Four, a lifestyle newsmagazine show that airs weekdays at 4:00 PM on our regional CBS affiliate 9&10 News (channel 10 on Spectrum, 10.1 on the antenna.) Hosted by Michelle Dunaway and Charlie Tinker, this show is an entertaining snapshot of current events, helpful tips, and weather updates, and it's definitely a fun and lighter alternative to more serious newscasts! A regular feature is their "Friday Sessions", where a regional musician or band performs an original song to end the week with, and Alex got the nod on March 8th, where he performed an acoustic version of his song "Send My Soul Away" from his new "Crazy World" EP.

Unfortunately, I can't embed the video here, but you can watch it at this link, and it's not region locked, so Canadian readers can check it out too. Well filmed on multiple cameras (including one mounted on his guitar's neck), this is a strong performance that hopefully won him lots of new fans watching WWUP & WWTV a couple of weeks back! Give it a look at the above links, and watch The Four on Fridays to hear more rising Northern Michigan artists!

We'll close today with some videos that I can embed, including some more jam session clips from Sault Ontario power rock quintet Re:Born's Facebook page, with two more being posted there on Monday! One video features Elly, Blair, Fred, and Brandan tackling Project 421's old original "Running Away", but embedded below is Re:Born covering two songs, including Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" & Kissin' Dynamite's "Sex Is War", which Elly guested on with Re:Born last year already. Solid performances all around, if a little stiff still, but it's all good hype for their return show at Soo Blaster on March 29th, so give each of these videos a look above & below!

Finally for today, here's a couple of new videos from local experimental/metal solo artist Chase Wigmore's Facebook page from the last month or so! This one was shared from his personal Facebook page last week, and it features a now-mohawked Chase playing a short original that is reminiscent of Vito Petroccitto Jr'.s "The Assumption Song". Washed out visuals, but a lively performance that isn't quite what you're expecting! Embedded below is his live-streamed video from February 28th, which has Chase playing "some of Dan's tracks" to test some new software. I don't know who Dan is in this context, but if you like Chase's technical metal side, this will satiate that need! Despite prior plans to move metal material to the Awokest banner, this showcases some heavy and complex original instrumental action for 18+ minutes, and even a surprise bass cameo at the end! More great stuff from Chase, so give these videos a look above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site soon! Thanks everyone!