We have more news and notes to cover on this Friday evening, including one more known & advertised metal concert preview for this weekend, plus some Rotaryfest lineup updates and a wealth of album uploads from a quite prolific local band, so here's what you should know!
Toronto-based Metallica tribute band Sandman will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert TOMORROW NIGHT at Soo Blaster! This concert is basically a rain date for their previously scheduled Good Friday gig in 2020 at The Canadian Nightclub (cancelled for very obvious reasons), and while The Canadian is currently closed, it's great to see Sandman back at long last at a new venue! You may recall seeing Sandman (featuring Helix alumni Rick Van Dyk, Paul Fonseca, and Brent Niemi) at The Canadian in June 2008 and at The Rockstar Bar in March 2015, so we seem to be on a "once every seven years" pattern for Sandman shows here. Notably an officially sanctioned tribute band by Metallica themselves, Sandman's faithful take on Metallica's classic thrash metal hits will be more than welcomed to Soo Blaster tomorrow night, and local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek are opening the festivities, as they would have done at the cancelled April 2020 concert!
Had the 2020 show went through, that would have been Fort Creek's public concert debut, so two years of experience & original songwriting will only help things in their return from a month long break! No word on if they'll have another merchandise giveaway tomorrow or not. Tomorrow's concert has a 19+ age limit, 9:00 PM start time, and $20 admission fee (on par with the 2020 date), and you can get yours online at this link or at the door. Sandman were the first band I ever saw at a licensed 19+ concert, so I'll always have affection for them, and it's a good thing that they deliver the thrash metal goods, so expect brutality tomorrow! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Sandman live!
Next up, here's some lineup and performer clarifications/updates for Rotaryfest next weekend, courtesy of both online promotions and the physical program that showed up in local mailboxes yesterday! First, there has been a lineup change (confirmed after the program was printed), as new classic rock trio The Sidekicks have dropped out of the Stage 1 bill on Saturday, July 16th for unannounced reasons. Hopefully nothing too serious happened, they have a talented lineup! Replacing them that day at 4:00 PM is a duo set from former Pocket frontwoman (and Stage 1 director) KT Antler and Machines Dream guitarist Keith Conway, who have both played the festival multiple times in other projects. Unexpected pairing, it will be interesting to see how KT & Keith do together! As for program details not documented online, the write-up for local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns implies that they've had two big lineup changes, so what's new?
For one, they have definitely changed drummers, with Garden of Bedlam/Papa Fogals Chair alum Derek Turner replacing Jonas Gasperas. A reason for Jonas' departure has not been announced, but hopefully things were amicable, and that we see Jonas out there again soon! The Stallyns have never listed their lineup on their Facebook page, but Derek apparently played with them at the Great Canadian Roadshow last month, so he's been around for at least that long, and readers should be well acquainted with his ample drumming abilities! However, where one Soldiers of Misfortune alum leaves, another arrives, as the program also lists Alex (or Al) White on bass with The Wyld Stallyns, replacing the already departed Ben Garcia. It's great to see Xander back in a local band, especially teaming up with Jesse again, though with how many of The Stallyns' shows are acoustic, this may not be an every gig arrangement (he's not in their newest live photo).
Also, the program lists Blues Harvest alum Josh Norling as playing saxophone for their Stage 1 set on Thursday night, but as fans will be well aware by now, Josh is definitely a guest performer who only joins them for certain shows. When he's present though, it's usually a big one! Get more on all Rotaryfest bands (except KT & Keith) on the official program online and in your mailbox yesterday, and look for our previews next week!
Finally, here's something I've been waiting for over a week to discuss, and now that it is all public, here is is: All SIXTY-FIVE of local blue Chinese metal crash punk quartet Sykotyk Rampage's albums are now available online, in full, no edits, on their Bandcamp page! If there's hosting limits, they're either not met yet or they're on a premium account. Sykotyk Rampage have hosted albums online on sites like Reverbnation, Soundclick, and elsewhere, but this is the first time that all of their "Syko-graphy" is available to listen to or buy from the same source, from 2000's debut "Baked Brain Tumour On Toast" to their newest effort, 2022's "Wyrd Radio 2 -- Kype The Jesus Boots -- Gospels According To Sykotyk Rampage" (what a title!) Album prices vary from $15-$25 in mp3 format, depending on length, and if you really want the whole enchilada, the sale price for all 65 at once is $788! Yes, the albums are all available to stream for free too.
Given that "Wyrd Radio 2" is the only brand new album ("Hell Bent Heaven Sent" is actually from last year), that'll be this month's CD review at the SMS, and brace yourselves, as it is a concept album about the life of Jesus Christ (given Sykotyk Rampage's track record, do not expect Christian rock) with forty tracks, and if it was on physical CDs, it'd be a triple album! That'll be a marathon and a half, but it is new, so strap in later this month! Be they improvised originals, live tracks, or re-recordings, check out hundreds of blues, punk, hard rock, and psychedelic songs from the masters of the crash above, but you might be there awhile!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Before we get into the meat of today's post, just a heads up that today is Bandcamp Day (where Bandcamp waives their roytalty cut on music sales), but this year, a number of local musicians have pledged to give today's earnings to the Sault Area Hospital COVID-19 Emergency Fund. Wonderful cause, and you can click here to see the full roster of artists taking part, including local punk trio A Dire Setback and the first two bands we're talking about below! One's brand new, one has a new EP, and to wrap things up, we have big updates on a surprise classic album re-release. Here's what you should know, and buy local on Bandcamp today to help a great cause!
We have a new band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, namely These Magnificent Tentacles, the new Tidal Records-signed project from Slumshine/ex-Detroit frontman Brenton Ellis and former Vol. frontman/Pixo Control bassist Steve Edwards! As of this writing, T.M.T. are a two man studio project (not that they can play normal concerts yet anyway), with Brent on vocals, rhythm guitar, and bass, and Steve on lead guitar and drums. These Magnificent Tentacles publically launched earlier this week via their Facebook page, and released their debut original song "The Abyss" today on their Bandcamp page and on Brent's new YouTube channel. Mixed by Kyle Whittaker at Strange Pumpkin Studios
in St. Catharines, the song is available for purchase for $3 (or more) on Bandcamp. "The Abyss" is not easily pinned down by genre (Bandcamp lists it as an acid, garage, indie, punk, and skate rock song), but if it's representative of the band, they'll definitely fit our coverage!
Brent's vocals firmly pin this one into genres we actively cover, but the song proper is deceivingly upbeat otherwise, and very different from what you tend to hear from local bands nowadays. The song is well performed overall, and it'll be interesting to see what These Magnificent Tentacles have in store next, but give the lyric video for "The Abyss" a watch below!
Next up, we're not done with new material from Brent-led projects, as his acoustic punk solo act Slumshine released their new EP "Slumlord" to their Bandcamp page yesterday, a day earlier than advertised! Their first paid release since their debut "SLMSHN" tape almost two years ago, "Slumlord" is on sale for $5 or more., and it features six tracks, though their newly released song "Believe In Hugs" is not one of them, and two songs that did make the cut run for under 40 seconds. No word yet on the previously teased cassette tape release for album #2, but given the short run time of "Slumlord" and the missing original, is Slumshine looking at releasing "Believe In Hugs" on a second digital EP, then putting them both on each side of a tape? Just hypothesizing on my part. Without reviewing the EP just yet (maybe later this month?), what does "Slumlord" offer musically?
"Slumlord" comes across as more experimental and varied than "SLMSHN" did, including via the two short tracks, added post-production effects, and more electric instruments, with only one of the four full tracks being 100% acoustic. It's great to see Brent staying so busy right now, especially at this stage of the pandemic, and buy or stream Slumshine's new and old material above! Also, the title track was also uploaded on Brent's YouTube channel, but we just featured it's Facebook video here on Wednesday.
Finally, this is a topic that I've definitely been aware of for a few months now, but I held off on discussing it until things went unequivocally public, and here we are: Early-mid 1990s local punk band Room 206's 1994 debut cassette-exclusive album "2 Innies & An Outie" is being re-released on vinyl later this year by veteran local punk musician Mikey Hawdon's new locally-focused independent label Soolebrity Records! Note the Princess Theatre-inspired logo, nice touch! If you know Mikey well, you'll know that Room 206 were a highly influential band for him as a young music fan, and this is a labour of love to give their original cassette tape a proper remastering, which Mikey had done at Drive Studios in Toronto. Room 206 are represented here by Totally Confused alumni Mike Yorke (vocals/guitar) and Al Watson (drums) alongside Mikey's Inner City Surfers bandmate Brad "Example" Lacell on bass.
Initial public details on the re-release can be found in the video embedded below, courtesy of Mikey's YouTube channel, featuring an intense announcer telling us about Room 206 and what to expect from the vinyl copies. They will have all eight songs from "2 Innies & An Outie", plus two newly recorded bonus tracks, which were both Room 206 originals that never saw a studio recording at the time. Here, they'll be covered by guest musicians, including the other three members of The Inner City Surfers plus members of No Doubt, Goldfinger, No Use For A Name, and Movin' In Stereo (exact lineup roles to be revealed). Note that Room 206's song "Good Enough" (from the "Punk: The Next Generation" compilation) was not on the original tape. If you're interested in buying a vinyl copy of "2 Innies & An Outie", contact Mikey Hawdon at this link A.S.A.P. to pre-order your copy for $40!
If you do want Room 206's album on vinyl, act fast, as there will only be 206 copies printed (naturally), and given the limited and special release, the $40 price tag is understandable. A release date or potential digital copy weren't specified either, but remember that we are still in a pandemic, and things can easily be thrown out of whack. I love the idea of bringing a classic album like this back, and if that ends up being the raison d'etre for Soolebrity Records, then I hope the Room 206 re-issue is a huge hit to encourage more releases like this! Get more details on the band and vinyl below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site by Monday! Thanks everyone!
We're back with a new news post on this Friday afternoon, and it includes some new videos from some familiar faces, a few shorter updates, and leading off, a surprise archive concert audio recording from dearly missed local band. Here's what you should know!
The set was shorter than normal due to a noise curfew, but you get your fill of doom-era Woods of Ypres while it lasts, though I was surprised that "Against The Seasons" got more representation than the then-new "Woods IV". The audio quality isn't pristine, but it holds up well despite being over a decade old, and it's really cool to hear some archival audio of theirs! Yes, the Soo comes up near the end. Give the whole set a listen below!
Next up, here's one more new playthrough video from local progressive metal duo Kraken Mara's YouTube channel! Despite updating the description of their 2017 playthrough video of their song "Stratus" to reflect their 2021 EP plans, that video (the one outside St. Mary's Paper) was taken down and replaced with a brand new playthrough video that was uploaded earlier today! The song is identical, but the video now features Brendan and Jake playing "Stratus" in various locations inside The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre. Effectively done with nice visuals inside the museum and with the bushplanes, though I honestly wouldn't have had them sitting down in every shot, especially as these weren't at their studio. It's a shame to lose the original playthrough clip, but hopefully this is another positive sign towards Kraken Mara's album plans, so give it a watch below!
(Just as a correction from last time: Their song "Moon's Haunted" is not
the same as "Miscreant", it was just moved off of their debut EP for a
planned future release. Thanks to Brendan for the clarification!)
Also today, here's a new original song from Rising Tide/Inner City Surfers frontman Dustin Jones, courtesy of his label Tidal Records' YouTube channel on Saturday! Entitled "Ain't Dead Yet", this was acoustically recorded at Mission Control Studios, and it features on-screen lyrics as the song goes along, which do reference spirit and resilence during the new lockdown. Despite it's unplugged trappings, it definitely has a punk energy and pacing that would not be out of place in his bands, though I don't know if it will be appropriated as such. Fun song, so give it a watch 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 or website name:
As part of the annual Bandcamp Day on May 7th (where the music store website waives all processing fees for one day so that artists get 100% of proceeds from sales), a number of local musicians are banding together to donate their Bandcamp Day earnings to the Sault Area Hospital COVID-19 Emergency Fund. The Facebook event page lists local musicians who have signed on, including punk acts A Dire Setback and Slumshine, with more to be added. Wonderful and timely cause, kudos to Nicole and M.D. for the idea, and try and buy local through Bandcamp on May 7th to help out!
This is a foregone conclusion at this point, but I have removed the rescheduled Buckcherry concert at Soo Blaster on May 11th from our concert listings due to extension of the current Ontario lockdown, which will now end on May 20th (subject to change). The Facebook event page has not been updated to reflect a cancellation or new postponement, but again, we'll still be locked down then. We'll keep you guys posted if this show is rescheduled again!
Dealing Without/ex-Redundant bassist James White is looking to start a new local band that would cover acts like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool, Sublime, and "whatever you can throw at me". As per his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Wednesday, he wants "to start actually playing bass again", and to play songs he likes that aren't in Dealing Without's setlist. Given the lockdown, now may not be an ideal time to jam with new musicians, but if you're interested in working with James in a new project, message him at this link or above to get more details!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and features on the site by next week! Thanks everyone!
Happy June, everyone! After taking Sunday off from most site activity due to my birthday, we're back in full force for the first of two posts today, and yes, our review of Saturday night's Jack Spades/Destroilet concert is coming later on today! Videos and photos from the show are already up on our Facebook page though. Today, we have assorted shorter updates, a new video, and a surprise new album release, but first, here's a special Monday night concert preview for TONIGHT!
The latest Six Two Oh (the former Oh! Right Arm Promotions) concert goes down TONIGHT, as local punk and alternative rock bands will open for Edmonton garage/blues rock quartet The Archaics at The New American Pub! Essentially a reprise of last July's Archaics-headlined show from the same promoters, fans of the headliners' entertaining hybrid originals and noticeable skill will be happy to see them back, even if they're not a "heavy" sounding band! An expanded local opening lineup from last year will see The Archaics joined by local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control and post-punk quartet Gnaeus both making their New American debuts tonight, while local all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats making what will be their last regular concert appearance tonight due to their impending breakup. Though fans can still see them at The Rankin Arena on June 13th during the Border Brawl roller derby event, consider coming out to see the girls one last regular time TONIGHT before it's too late!
This 19+ concert has a $5 cover charge, and everything will start at 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a fun concert, especially to check out the talented opening roster (you know how good The Pixo Control and Gnaeus are) and to send out The Danger Cats in style, while The Archaics' blues rock sound will be a great capper to the evening! See above for more info, and here's The Pixo Control live last year!
Next up, we have a new album release to take note of, as Haggith drummer Mike Haggith's 49th official solo CD "The Warinside" is officially now on sale via his Bandcamp page! Though the physical release will still take place on July 3rd at his release concert at The Rednecks Saloon, the digital download copy is now available on Bandcamp on a "name your price" model as of yesterday, which is a nice surprise bonus for the preceding month! Now that it's on sale, what should you know about it? Still alternately spelled as "The Warrenside" to reference the ongoing inside joke in the liner notes, the album details personal events in Mike's life from last year, and each song was written entirely by Mike save for "30", which was co-wrote by bandmate Curtis McKenzie, who also guest performs as a guitarist or backing vocalist on all but 4 songs. The album was mostly recorded at Galactic Records in Windsor save for "30", Curtis' parts and all vocals, which were done locally at PaperClip Productions.
The 10 song album will apparently cost $5 in physical formats, but on Bandcamp, you can pay any amount for it (including nothing, but support Mike and buy the album!) With the early release, we'll now tentatively confirm that "The Warinside" will be our next review subject at The Sault Metal Scene, so watch for that in the coming weeks, and pick up Mike Haggith's new solo album at the above links!
Also today, here's a comical new video from local/St. Catharine's grimecore trio Shit Liver, as posted to their YouTube channel on Friday! Entitled "How To Go On Tour", the video is a light-hearted (and fast-paced) look at what appears to be frontman Josh Penno, if I have the arm tattoos identified correctly, packing up gear & possessions for their tour. Amusing little video, but I was a little surprised that it didn't lead to a teaser of future concerts given the tour theme. Check it out below, and stay tuned for more!
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:
Local rap/metal band The Apocalypse Afterparty have indicated on their Facebook page that they're "not dead", indicating that they've been busy writing an EP that will apparently come out "this year on a label you know and love" (perhaps confirming their earlier Tidal Records tease?) The band's also apparently training new members (note the plural: are they expanding, or do they need more than just a new drummer?), and are apparently writing a comic. Ambitious plans are afoot, so keep posted at this link!
Infamous/Deviant guitarist Damon King is apparently looking to join a local band, hyping himself as "an experienced rock/metal/blues/soul/alt guitarist who can do harmony." No word on if this means anything for the status of his existing bands, but he does have a lot of skill (as seen at the VM Radio Battle), so message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from yesterday for more info!
Regarding the apparent absence (or cancellation?) of recent Mourning Wood Thursday jam nights at The Rednecks Saloon, members Terry Eaton & Steven Flint's live sound company Twin City Entertainment apparently were in Blind River this past Thursday to do sound at a Garth Brooks tribute concert, which will have an encore presentation this Thursday as well (source here.) No word yet on whether this means the end or just a temporary break for Mourning Wood's jam nights, but we'll keep you posted!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our review of Saturday night's Jack Spades/Destroilet concert later today! Thanks everyone!
