YouTube Channel Profile Series: Jeff Hagan

After a slight delay, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our monthly spotlight of YouTube channels featuring content primarily on local metal, hard rock, and punk artists & concerts, as randomly selected from our 200+ YouTube subscriptions! This month's selection features lots of concert footage from some major recent concerts, so here's what you should know!
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Jeff Hagan (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU_KmHRJvgtcTvFpNyGLgRA) 

Owner: Sault Michigan-area resident Jeff Hagan

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 12th, 2013; Videos posted from January 2014 through May 2017

Channel Summary: With one exception, Jeff's channel is devoted to videos from hard rock concerts at The Dreammaker's Theater at Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie last year, including one of Pop Evil and sixteen of Alter Bridge. Jeff's first upload, footage of a snow removal truck in January 2014, is the sole exception.

Why You Should Watch: This channel will be of primary interest to Alter Bridge fans, especially as Jeff filmed almost their entire setlist before the encore (only three or so songs didn't get filmed by him), while Pop Evil fans will appreciate his video from their concert last year too! The snow removal video may be of interest for those aware of last year's winter conditions in the area, but has no musical connection beyond it's hosted channel. Also, note that this channel hasn't seen any visible activity in the past year.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out

100 in a 55 - Pop Evil: Jeff's first concert video on his channel came from Muskegon hard rock quintet Pop Evil's headlining concert at The Dreammaker's Theater on February 26th, 2017, and it's of their early hit single "100 in a 55". Filmed at a high but zoomed angle, the washed out lighting, muffled audio, and the abbreviated length don't help matters, but it's a solid video for diehard Pop Evil fans! Other videos from this concert are floating around on YouTube, primarily at this link (which also includes this concert's opening acts.)



Alter Bridge - Intro/Writing on the Wall: Jeff's remaining 16 videos come from Orlando hard rock quartet Alter Bridge's headlining concert at the Soo Kewadin on May 16th, 2017, including videos of their songs "Come to Life", "Ghost Of Days Gone By", "Cry of Achilles", "Addicted to Pain", "Rise Today", "Metalingus", "Open Your Eyes" (erroneously uploaded twice), "My Champion", "Crows on a Wire", "Blackbird", "Slip to the Void", frontman Myles Kennedy's acoustic renditions of "Watch Over You" & "Wonderful Life", and as featured here, their opener "The Writing on the Wall" and it's preceding introduction. The audio has it's muffled moments, but this is a nice entry into Jeff's Alter Bridge uploads, and he has a nice central angle of the band from his high vantage point!



Alter Bridge - Waters Rising 5/16/17: The lone video of Jeff's not linked above is of Alter Bridge playing their song "Waters Rising", notable for featuring guitarist Mark Tremonti on lead vocals. This song doesn't reach the thrash levels of his namesake metal band Tremonti, but it's a solid performance from their "Fortress" album, and well worth a watch for long-time Alter Bridge fans! This concert was blessed with loads of YouTube videos from multiple channels (some featuring openers In Flames), so be sure to search for them on YouTube for alternate takes and songs that Jeff didn't post, including of the mid-set marriage proposal.


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, we'll be looking at multiple channels again, as our first randomly selected channel only had 3 videos of the same style, and our second only had one period, so it's another triple header for June! Our next profiles will be on the channels of former F.A.T.I.L. guitarist Brook Moreau (featuring 3 solo covers) user deresti64 (featuring a Tea Party concert video from last year), and Maltheas (featuring a Treble Charger song posting), so look for those on or around June 26th, and for more news on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Uncle Ray & Gianni Gagoots), And Still More Alter Bridge Concert Videos!!

After a quiet Monday, we are back with a new news post this morning featuring more recent concert videos to check out, and leading off, a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this year, so here's what you need to know!

Windsor grindcore quartet Uncle Ray will make their local concert debut on Sunday, July 9th when they headline at The New American Pub! Specializing in ferocious yet short original songs, Uncle Ray's brand of "grinding power violence" has left a good impression on Southern Ontario fans, and hopefully they bring the same intensity to The New A later this summer, so give them a listen! Local support will include local doom metal trio AlgomA in their second local show since the end of their European tour run. With a very intriguing new album in the works from AlgomA with another notable band (more on that shortly), the second half of 2016 should be very eventful for them, so stay tuned! The other opening act will be local death metal duo Them, in their first publically announced concert of the year, not having played live publically since opening for Dumpster Mummy last fall (apologies for missing that show in previous references to their stage hiatus.)

Solid choice, and hopefully Tyler and Anthony can pick up where the left off in seven weeks' time when they open for Uncle Ray at The New A! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh., this concert has a $7 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 9:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for potential updates as they roll in!

Next up, local funk/improv/hard rock quintet Gianni Gagoots' second show under their Like Ten Productions promotional banner will take place on Saturday, September 2nd when they open for Montreal jazz/rap/funk trio The OM Sound at The New American Pub once again! Fans may remember seeing the Gagoots open for this band at The New A back on December 30th during Six, Two, Oh.'s Holiday Funk Show, and it's clear that The OM Sound left an impression on attendees with their "hip-hop/electro/jazz funk" stylings, so if you like said genres and want another sampling, here's your Labour Day weekend booking, with some harder edged instrumental jams from the local openers to kick things off! More details may be forthcoming (the show isn't for over 3 months, after all), but expect a $5 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 9:00 PM start time. Check the above links for more details in the interim!

Finally for today, we actually have a few more videos from last week's Alter Bridge concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino to acknowledge on here! Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! Five come from Infathom manager Michael Cole's YouTube channel, as he belatedly followed Wednesday's "My Champion" video with five more clips uploaded yesterday. Five day delay or not, it's great to see these! Michael's new videos are of the Orlando hard rock quartet playing their songs "The Writing On The Wall", "Come To Life", "Farther Than The Sun", "Addicted To Pain", and as embedded below, "Ghost Of Days Gone By". Filmed at a similar angle and quality as seen previously from Michael, these videos have a great angle of the band, but slightly muffled audio. Check them out above & below, and if more videos turn up on YouTube, we'll try to acknowledge them!



Lastly, promoters Allstar Promotions's Facebook page shared two videos from owner Dave Atkinson's personal Facebook page last week that feature Alter Bridge doing their soundcheck before the show proper began! The sub-2 minute clips (one linked here) feature instrumental performances before doors officially opened, though gathered onlookers do applaud and cheer after songs wrapped up.  This is a very unique way to view this concert, especially when you combine the empty seats and lack of vocals, and diehard fans will definitely want to check these out above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as the month rolls along! Thanks everyone!

Even More Alter Bridge/In Flames Concert Videos!!

As previously teased, here's our third and presumably final showcase of videos from Tuesday night's Alter Bridge/In Flames concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Kudos once again to everyone who was filming at this concert, we were beyond spoiled! We'll start with a frequent sight for concert video postings around here, namely Christopher Paci, who shot sixteen videos at this concert, including ten of Alter Bridge's set, so what should you know? Uploaded on Friday, Chris filmed the Orlando hard rockers playing their songs "The Writing On The Wall", "Ghost Of Days Gone By", "Cry of Achilles", "My Champion", Myles Kennedy's acoustic renditions of "Wonderful Life" & "Watch Over You" in the same clip, "Open Your Eyes", "Metalingus", "Show Me A Leader", "Rise Today", and as embedded below, "Blackbird". The camera can be a little jittery at times, and heads can get in the way, but he had a solid angle of the band, and the audio's usually solid! Give his Alter Bridge clips a look above & below!



Chris also posted six videos of opening Swedish metal standouts In Flames from Tuesday, including their songs "Where The Dead Ships Dwell", "Moonshield", "Before I Fall", "Cloud Connected", "Take This Life", and as embedded below, their opening track "Wallflower". Similar quality to the Alter Bridge videos (naturally) though with not quite as much zoom, these capture In Flames' set nicely, and you can see them above & below as well!



Next up, fellow attendee Jeff Hagan (a prior filmer from this year's Pop Evil show) uploaded sixteen videos of his own from Alter Bridge's set to his own YouTube channel on Friday! Sadly, Jeff did not post anything of In Flames, but he did get most (if not all) of Alter Bridge's songs from Tuesday in at least partial form, including "The Writing on the Wall", "Come to Life", "Ghost Of Days Gone By", "Cry of Achilles", "Addicted to Pain", "Metalingus", "Open Your Eyes", "My Champion", "Crows on a Wire", "Waters Rising", "Blackbird", "Slip to the Void", "Watch Over You", "Wonderful Life", and as embedded below, "Rise Today". Filmed from a higher and further angle than the rest of the videos I've seen from the concert, Jeff got some solid videos all the same with a clear view of the band, though the audio can be a little muffled, "Blackbird" is regrettably filmed on the vertical camera angle, and "Open Your Eyes" was accidentally posted twice. See more from Jeff above and below!



Finally, we have two more clips from YouTube user Kathleen Hardy, who followed up her "My Champion" video from Wednesday with two additional videos on Thursday, those being of Alter Bridge's songs "Slip To The Void" and, as embedded below, "Waters Rising", notable for featuring guitarist Mark Tremonti on lead vocals rather than Myles. Filmed at her excellent angle from before with awesome audio and video quality, these are a nice way to cap off our Alter Bridge video showcases, so give these a look as well!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!

More Alter Bridge/In Flames Concert Videos!!

For this Friday afternoon post, we're tackling yet more videos from Tuesday night's Alter Bridge/In Flames concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! A lot of people filmed a lot of footage for YouTube at this concert, and there's more yet to be featured on the site, so thanks to everyone who filmed on Tuesday! We'll start today with the filmer we closed with on Wednesday, namely Anne McIntosh, who uploaded eleven more videos to her YouTube channel yesterday to join her prior two Alter Bridge clips! Despite the wait in between, kudos to her for putting up even more! Eight were of Alter Bridge's headlining set, filming the Orlando hard rockers playing their songs "Rise Today" (their closer, preceded by dueling guitar solos from Myles & Mark), "Slip to the Void", "Waters Rising", "Crows on a Wire", "Ties That Bind", "Cry of Achilles", "The Writing on the Wall", and as embedded below, "Show Me a Leader". Why this song? Beforehand, there was an on-stage marriage proposal!

You don't see this every day, let alone in the Soo, and while I won't spoil the details, would we share it here if she said "No"? Nice moment for sure, and as for the videos proper, Anne's new videos are even better than before, with a nice and close angle to the stage, a horizontal camera orientation, and strong performances throughout, so check everything out at the above links and below!



Anne also filmed three videos of In Flames, marking our best footage yet of the Swedish metal notables from Tuesday night, and she filmed them playing their songs "Moonshield", "All For Me", and as embedded below, "Deliver Us", one of only four songs not captured in James Jones' videos of the concert. Again, these have similar qualities and angles to Anne's Alter Bridge clips, and you get a good sense of In Flames' set and command of the crowd, regardless of band era, and as I stated the other day, their newer material sounds better live! See more above & below!



Next up, here's a pair of new uploads from Alter Bridge's set, including this one from the YouTube channel of Michael Cole (manager of Munising metal band and prior local headliners Infathom), and he filmed their song "My Champion". More of a higher side-stage angle on this clip, and while the video is clear and nicely framed the location, the audio is muffled. Not bad though, so give this perspective a look below as well!



Finally, we have a video of Alter Bridge playing "Open Your Eyes" on Tuesday night, courtesy of YouTube user Mitch MacDonald! Though there's nothing in the title or description confirming it was from the Soo show (all of his videos are titled "Mitchy" with numbers following), the stage setup and clothing match other videos I have seen. At a quick glance, you'd assume this was one of Anne McIntosh's videos given the angle and quality, which is a positive sign, as this is a very solid video of one of Alter Bridge's early hits, though the audio is a little crackly. Check it out below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates this weekend! Thanks everyone!

Alter Bridge/In Flames Concert Video Showcase!!

Today's post at the SMS is devoted to videos from last night's Alter Bridge/In Flames concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, and based on social media discussion, the show appears to have been a hit! We'll start with a substantial amount of footage from attendee James Jones' YouTube channel, as he filmed over 48 minutes worth of content from the show for uploading there! Kudos to him for the work on these videos, that's above and beyond the call of duty! First, he got the opening 14 minutes of Alter Bridge's headlining set, filming the Orlando hard rock quartet playing their songs "The Writing on the Wall", "Come To Life", and "Farther Than The Sun", so click each song name to go to each song. The performances here are very solid, and Myles Kennedy's voice is in top form, but the vertical camera angle, distance from the stage, and scratchy audio do the clip no favours. Still, this much footage is awesome, so give it a look below!



Unusually, James voiced his dislike for Alter Bridge as a band and preference for their predecessor group Creed in the description (to each their own, but why tell the world when you posted the video anyway?) However, it appears he liked opening Swedish metal band In Flames more, filming 34 minutes worth of footage from their set across two videos! Starting four songs in, James filmed In Flames playing their tracks "All For Me", "Where The Dead Ships Dwell", "Moonshield" (complete with extended intro thanking "Mike at the deli" for the request), "Before I Fall", "The Truth", "Paralyzed", and most of "Cloud Connected". All of that is in the video below, while his second video features their closing number "Take This Life", skipping "The End" in between. The quality of these videos is no different than before, but you get a nice cross-section of In Flames eras here, and dare I say, the newer alt-metal songs sound better live? See for yourself below!



Next up, here's a pair of Alter Bridge videos from from YouTube user Anne McIntosh's channel, including "Blackbird" and, as embedded below, Myles' acoustic medley of "Wonderful Life" & "Watch Over You", so click on each song name for specific tracks once again. Musically, I prefer "Blackbird", but the unplugged change of pace is nice to see! Anne was much closer to the stage, and her videos have much clearer audio, so keep them in mind on that basis, while the acoustic clip actually benefits the vertical camera angle, so give her clips a look above & below!



Finally here's our only video on a horizontal landscape angle for today, courtesy of YouTube user Kathleen Hardy, and it's of Alter Bridge playing their song "My Champion"! Despite a brief 86 second runtime, this is by far the best quality video from the show that I have seen so far, and not just because of the angle! She is nice and close to the stage, and her camera takes excellent videos, so fans would be well served to check hers out below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and last month's poll results tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Alter Bridge/In Flames Concert Preview, New Soo Art Rocks Videos, And More!!

We are back with this new news post for your Monday afternoon, so what's contained within? New videos and fallout from a recent concert, clarification and news from a new local promoter with a familiar name, and leading things off, our preview of a special Tuesday night concert in the E.U.P. with some huge headline acts, so here's what you should know!

Orlando hard rock quartet Alter Bridge and Swedish metal veterans In Flames will make their way to our area TOMORROW NIGHT for the latest Allstar Promotions concert event at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Of course, Alter Bridge have had a ton of success with rock radio hits like "Addicted To Pain", "Isolation", and "Open Your Eyes", and their fan favourite originals and soaring vocals should be very well received when they rock the Soo Kewadin tomorrow! In Flames will also be very interesting to see locally, as while they have seen a very polarizing response to their newer alternative material, they have many fans from their recent era and older death metal albums alike. Are you in this for "Clayman", "Come Clarity", or "Battles"-era In Flames? Hopefully there's a little something for all tastes, but it's great to see them here! Note that a previously announced opening set by Tennessee hard rockers Devour the Day is no longer advertised by them or Allstar Promotions.

No word on if they are indeed off the show (and if so, why), but it would be nice to see them finally play a local gig! This stop on Alter Bridge's "The Last Hero" tour goes down tomorrow at 7:00 PM, this is ALL AGES, and tickets are still available from the first row and back for $38.50, though at press time, only 15 center section seats remain. Get your tickets A.S.A.P. if you don't have any yet at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office, and check out Allstar Promotions' Facebook page for details on how to enter for meet & greet passes! This should be a great concert for hard rock and metal fans, so see above for more details, and here's Alter Bridge live!

Next up, here's some extra details from that new Facebook personal account called The SaultMusicScene that launched on Friday, so what should you know on it now? After some ambiguity about the identity of the administrator (and confusion on if I was involved), it has been confirmed that Autumn Roots frontman Jeremy Hannah is running it, and it's not just a tool to help promoters advertise their events: He's promoting shows again! Fans will remember Jeremy for his work with Big Voiced Records in the mid-late 2000s at The Oddfellows Hall, but he has dabbled into promotion and live sound since with Pure Sound Audio, Spotlight Canada, and the cancelled Music Mayhem show in April 2012, though none of those got very far off the ground. Jeremy has elaborated that he is open to working with other promoters on events, and is apparently planning to promote shows at The Canadian Nightclub and The Upper Deck Bar & Grill upstairs from that venue.

First up from Jeremy's new agency is a Canada Day weekend show on Friday, June 30th at The Canadian, which will have 6 bands to be announced, a door prize, and $5 advance admission (which doubles at the door.) Click here for more details, and we'll let you know if metal, hard rock, or punk makes the lineup! While I think the SaultMusicScene name is a little too familiar to the 2000s website of that name (especially as Scott MacLeod's not visibly involved), it is great to see Jeremy back in the promoting game, and if this lives up to it's ambitions, this will be an asset to bands and fans alike! See the above links for more, but remember, you have to be a friend to read postings on the main page, unless Jeremy relaxes the privacy settings.

We'll close today with new videos from Friday night's Soo Art Rocks concert at The Canadian Nightclub, but first, just a note from promoters Live705's Facebook page! In their latest post there, they thanked everyone making Soo Art Rocks a success, noted that their next concert will be in June (details coming this week), credited Pointless frontman Bill Priddle for helping A Dire Setback make "notable changes to polish our songs", and teased that they will be booking touring bands in the future. Very encouraging all around, so stay tuned as more details fall into place! As for the videos, A Dire Setback are the subject here, as photographer Josh Pace filmed the punk quartet playing the end of their set-closing self-titled original on Friday night for his personal Facebook page, which the band subsequently shared publically on theirs.

Though only 38 seconds long, the guys are in great form, and this is a nice showcase for bassist Matt Quinn too! The side stage angle puts him in the background on this clip, however. I do plan to film this song in full as well at an upcoming concert, but given that it's tended to be a set closer, I may have to have a backup video ready in the event of a file error, but I'll figure something out. Check this clip out below, and stay tuned for more from A Dire Setback and Live705 when it comes in!



Finally, here's a new clip from Live705's Facebook page, which is a live stream of the end of an early song during Id Iota's headlining set, including the introduction of guest cellist Pete Mozarowski to the crowd. Given the short length, vertical angle, and placement in the song's runtime, this isn't an optimal look at Id Iota, but it's nice to see some new footage of this alt-hard rock quartet, and they sound good from what we hear, so give it a look too!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Alter Bridge), Recent Concert Videos, And More!!

After a Family Day break, we are back with a new news post on the site on this Tuesday morning, so what's on tap? Some assorted recent news and notes, and videos from a recent Sault Ontario event, but first, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the spring that was just announced this morning!

The teased new Sault Michigan concert from Allstar Promotions is now official, as Orlando hard rock quartet Alter Bridge and Swedish death metal veterans In Flames will make their local concert debuts on Tuesday, May 16th at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault's Kewadin Casino! As first announced on Scott & Brian in the Morning on Rock 101 earlier today, this show will see Alter Bridge rock the Soo with their hit singles like "Isolation", "Ghost of Days Gone By", and "Open Your Eyes", and they should deliver a solid night of high impact originals  during this tour date in support of their new CD "The Last Hero"! Note that Alter Bridge feature 3 members of Creed, but they don't play any of that band's songs live. As for In Flames, metalheads will recognize them from fan favourite songs like "Only For The Weak", "Take This Life", and "Cloud Connected", and while their newer alt-metal albums have polarized many fans, they have a lot of classic songs, and it's a very pleasant surprise to see them in our area, let alone at a high profile venue like this!

Tickets go on sale this coming Friday for $38.50, and you can buy them at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, or at the in-person box office, and the show itself will begin at 7:00 PM on May 16th, with no age limit advertised. As well, Allstar Promotions' Facebook page notes that if you share the post with the event poster, you could be entered for a chance to attend a meet & greet with Alter Bridge (maybe both bands?), so keep that in mind also. This should be a massive show at the local Kewadin Casino, and will hopefully continue Allstar Promotions' momentum following Pop Evil this weekend, so check the above links for full current details!

Next up, we have some brand new concert videos to share from a recent Sault Ontario event, courtesy of Christopher Paci's YouTube channel once again! Chris has been busy lately in his ongoing solid work filming local concerts, posting a bunch from the Brad Paisley and Brett Kissell shows that country fans will want to check out, but the ones here come from the Gianni Gagoots-headlined concert at LopLops Lounge from this past weekend! It doesn't appear that Chris filmed the debuting Handsome Sandwich, but he got videos of the other two bands, so what can we observe? Two are of the headlining funk/alternative quintet, including this short clip of the band leading fans in a chant of their name (odd as it is, fans are getting behind it!), while embedded below is 9 minutes of their extended improv jamming. The video quality is a little shaky, and fans' heads can get in the way, but it's another fun look at this promising new band's unique stage show, so give these videos a look below & above!



Chris also filmed a song by new local alternative hard rock quartet Bizotic at this show, just their second live appearance total, and it is a different song than the one Bizotic themselves included in their first video, but the title isn't given. Chris has a closer look at the band in action here, and Louise Lamothe's trumpet is better accentuated here than on "Subway Delay", but the angle leaves Kevin Overton completely obscured. Solid song overall, and a little more varied and upbeat while retaining some grit, so give it a look below!



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

• Local doom metal trio AlgomA & Finnish death metal band Hooded Menace have finally posted their full songs on their new split vinyl single onto their respective Bandcamp pages, linked here & here! This is welcome to see for fans waiting for local in-person availability, or don't have a record player, while it also means that the split will absolutely get this month's CD review at the SMS! Look for that in the coming week, and stream both songs above!
• General admission tickets for the Quiet Riot-headlined concert at The Machine Shop on March 30th are now available for $45 at this link! VIP tickets are $60, and the sale page notes that having such a ticket will mean you get a line bypass and balcony overview, so keep both in mind. Act quick to get your tickets to this anticipated concert before they're gone, and if you would rather buy in person, get down to Mill Square A.S.A.P.!
• As per personal Facebook photos in recent days, Havadder frontman Jason Roy made a guest appearance of some type with bandmate Scott McLurg's fellow classic/hard rock cover band The 3 Day Millionaires at The Rockstar Bar this past Friday! I have no idea where Jason (and Havadder) have been since their most recent gig in July, but hopefully this is a sign that we'll see this veteran trio back out there at some point soon!

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