LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), More Weekend Concert Previews, And New Videos!!

Here's weekend concert preview post #2 for this busy weekend in the Twin Saults and area! Along with previously known gigs, we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and new videos from two of the local bands in question, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover band Tarnished will return to The Lakeside Lounge at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley on SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via the casino's Facebook page on Wednesday, confirming that their schedule of bands at their new-ish acoustic-leaning lounge are indeed going beyond August. SATURDAY'S concert will be Tarnished's first at Bay Mills in two weeks (albeit a one-nighter due to the new karaoke nights there on Fridays), but they have played since in both St. Ignace and downstate in Cheboygan, reportedly playing on a pirate ship in Mullett Lake this past Saturday. For the life of me, I can't find details on this event (even though it wasn't local, I'd have at least mentioned it here had someone said more), but hopefully it was a swashbuckling good time! Like Tarnished's summer shows at The Lakeside Lounge, SATURDAY's gig will be in acoustic two-man-band form.

As such, don't look for Chris & Ron, who only play their electric gigs, but they should be present for Tarnished's St. Ignace show next weekend. This concert is a 21+ affair at 8:00 PM on SATURDAY with no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a video of Alex & Josh at The Lakeside Lounge back in June! Quietly uploaded to Bay Mills' Facebook page during the show, the vertical video sees half of Tarnished covering Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" for 26 seconds. Interesting choice that doesn't really suit their background beyond Tarnished leaning to the 1980s covers lately, but Alex's singing is an improvement to me, so check out this new unplugged video from Bay Mills Resort & Casino below!

Next up, let's head north to Ontario, but an hour east of the Soo to Bruce Mines, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 will be the featured band for day #1 of this year's Central Algoma Exhibition (a.k.a. the Bruce Mines Fall Fair) TOMORROW NIGHT! Two nights removed from their special midweek Beck's gig with Spencer Pine, "the dirty three" will close out the opening night of the fair, playing immediately after the demolition derby at 6:30 PM, so a start time is not known (the intent may be so you have to see the derby prior). The bulk of the exhibition activities are on Saturday and Sunday, including a classic rock/country-leaning concert on Saturday featuring Sault Ste. Marie cover bands Sunday & The Broken Hearts, Whiskey Hippy, Out & Out Country, The Cloud Bandits, and Evinrude(?!), so be sure to visit the fair's Facebook page's AI-generated posters and schedules for the full itinerary and non-musical event listings.

Tomorrow's Bone Yard show (complete with on-site beer garden and food vendors) will have a $10 gate fee for admission to the fair/demolition derby, but the concert will have a separate $30 ticket price. This may seem steep, but included is admission to Saturday's concert, so keep that in mind! Fun little change of pace for Greg, Alex, and Warren, so if you're up for the drive east for the car smashing action, you'll get some southern fried hard rock as the nightcap! See above for much more on the Bruce Mines Fall Fair, and here's your local 225 live (videos with Spencer are coming soon!)

Now back in Sault Ste. Marie, Hamilton-based Led Zeppelin tribute band Led By Zeppelin will make their local debut on SATURDAY NIGHT at The Sault Community Theatre Centre! This show comes exactly eight weeks to the day from a different Led Zeppelin tribute band (London's Zed) serving as the featured headliners at Rotaryfest Stage 1, so Zeppelin fans will get a quality encore if so desired! I'm not one to compare tribute bands against each other, and Led By Zeppelin have a handicap in this regard, as the members don't attempt to dress like Robert, Jimmy, John Paul, or John. Musically, they nail the Zeppelin sound well, so don't miss out what should be a fun concert for classic hard rock fans on Saturday! All of the action goes down at White Pines Collegiate's on-site theater on Saturday night at 8:00 PM, and tickets are on sale for $61.02 (adults), $49.72 (seniors 65+ and students 16-25), and $27.12 (kids 15 and under).

Most center section seats have sold in the first eight rows, but left/right section seats and further back seats in the center are still readily available. The price point compared to Rotaryfest (free) will be a concern for many, but the former Kiwanis Theatre is a fancier, high quality indoor venue, so keep that in mind. Buy tickets online at this link, at the door, or at the Station Mall box office, see above for more details, and here's Led By Zeppelin live!

Finally for weekend concert preview post #2, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to Gateway Casino for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Two weeks removed from their most recent gigs at Reggie's Place, this will be Valerie, Joe, Pierre, and Tony's first stop at the Bay Street casino in over a month. This veteran group should have lots of entertaining classic and hard rock covers in store, so don't miss out if this is up your alley on Saturday! Gateway Casino gigs are all Saturday nighters at 8:00 PM regardless of band, with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of them live at Reggie's late last month! This was filmed by prolific local concert attendee and supporter Audrey Marshall for her personal Facebook page, with half of the band sharing it separately to their Facebook group afterwards.

The 64 seconds long video sees Generations covering "Your Daddy Don't Know" by the early 1980s Canadian hard rock band Toronto. Solid choice that definitely suits Valerie's vocal range, and it's a good, lively performance, though I do wish Audrey had filmed for longer than 64 seconds. Give it a watch below, and look for much more from Generations on Saturday!

That's all for now, but we'll conclude our weekend concert previews with Nate's Chow and Tym Morrison next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Who Made Who, Queen: It's A Kind Magic, Bon Jovi Forever, And Led By Zeppelin!!)

Today's news post is devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the Sault Community Theatre Centre for later this month, and I do apologize for only finding out about these in one cluster just recently. I've gotta stay more on top of S.C.T.C. concerts, and they've been pretty busy for booking notable touring shows and bands this year, even if the last attempted one (Dr. Feelgood) fell victim to "unforeseen circumstances". In an SMS-amenable context, what is first up there this fall?

Hamilton-based Led Zeppelin tribute band Led By Zeppelin will make their local concert debut at the former Kiwanis Theatre on Saturday, September 12th! If this gives you deja vu, it's likely because we just saw a different Led Zeppelin tribute (London's Zed) headlining Rotaryfest Stage 1 yesterday, so the turnaround to have another Zeppelin tribute from Southern Ontario exactly eight weeks later seems really odd. I find it's unfair to compare tribute bands of the same source act due to inevitably subjective opinions, but what I can tell you is Led By Zeppelin deliver the goods musically! Not so much visually, there's no real attempt to dress like Led Zeppelin, but as Motorhead fans saw with M1 earlier this month, you don't have to mimic the original artists' hair and clothing to deliver a good show. Hopefully Led By Zeppelin get a strong turnout in September, especially if the Zed fans last night want a kinda-sorta encore!

This concert has an 8:00 PM start time and no age limit, but unlike Zed at Rotaryfest, this will be a paid and ticketed event (unless you are under 6 years old). As such, adult tickets cost $61.02, seniors 65+ and students 16-25 will cost $49.72, and kids 6-15 will cost $27.12. Those may seem high, but given the large and fancy theatre playing host, hopefully tickets move well, and there's plenty of good seats still available. Buy yours at this link or at the in-person box office at Station Mall, and stay tuned for more on what should be a solid concert for late 1960s and 1970s hard rock fans!

Next up, if you want another tribute to a legendary British classic hard rock act of the 1970s, you only need wait until Wednesday, September 30th, when Australia-based Queen tribute band Queen: It's A Kinda Magic return to the White Pines Collegiate-based theatre! Fans of Freddie, Brian, John, and Roger have been absolutely spoiled post-pandemic, as not only has this particular tribute band rocked the S.C.T.C. three times on their global tour runs (most recently in May of last year), but they're not even the most recent Queen tribute to play here, as the Great Britain-based Majesty just headlined at The Machine Shop in March. Again, I'm not comparing the two, but It's A Kinda Magic have gotten really solid crowds and high praise in their past local stops for how well they pay tribute to Queen musically and visually, so hopefully this show brings the goods all around again!

Like with Led By Zeppelin that same month, this is an all ages ticketed event, albeit with a slightly earlier start time of 7:30 PM. The show will have adult ticket prices of $75 with kids under 13 at $45 (no senior or student rates here), and if you're curious, prices here are slightly up from Q.I.A.K.M.'s show here last year. Based on the online ticket sale link (click here), there are still lots of good seats available still, though the show is moving tickets a little faster than Led By Zeppelin. Buy yours online and at the in person box office, and while this isn't the cheapest show going (and mid-week), there's a reason why this Queen tribute comes here so much!

Also this fall at The Sault Community Theatre Centre is the return of Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever, who will headline there on Saturday, October 10th! This Thanksgiving long weekend concert will be (at least) this particular band's third stop here, following a Rockstar Bar show in 2016 and their S.C.T.C. debut in September of last year. As I recall, B.J.F. drew well last fall, and you can see proof of how that show went via videos linked here. Baz and crew sound the part and deliver enough visually for fans of both early hair metal Bon Jovi and their later, more general rock material, and he definitely sounds better than Jon himself does nowadays, so hopefully things go well in their return to White Pines in three months! The 8:00 PM start time, all ages status, and ticket prices here are actually identical to the Led By Zeppelin show in every way, so see above for the ticket price breakdown.

Of note, tickets aren't moving nearly as fast yet for this concert, but Bon Jovi Forever drew well last year, so this should tick up, and it just means that you have time to get a really good seat! Click here or visit the in-person box office to get yours, and visit the above links for more details!

Lastly for new Sault Community Theatre Centre concerts of a hard rock persuasion, Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who will return to the Soo on Saturday, October 24th in a joint concert with Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band Green River Revival! This is being touted as "the ultimate rock concert", which is quite a claim, and while the two bands aren't even contemporaries for era, the two will cover a lot of ground for classic rock fans. Both bands share management, hence why it makes sense for them to share a bill if tour paths cross, and they've both played here numerous times, including as the featured touring headliner of Rotaryfest (Green River Revival in 2019, Who Made Who last year). Repeat local stops for both is a good sign, so fans know that Who Made Who will deliver their requisite high voltage rock n' roll again, while Green River Revival's faithful take on CCR and John Fogerty hits will go well for southern rock fans in the Soo in October!

This concert has a listed 7:30 PM start time, and will be all ages like the rest. The show was literally first announced last week, so this has the most available tickets of the four, and prices are a flat $55.37 for all, which is the cheapest of the four shows, surprisingly so given Who Made Who & Green River Revival's combined name recognition. Expectations appear to be high for ticket sales too, as this is the only one of the four with available balcony section seating, so get yours A.S.A.P. at this link and/or at the in-person box office while selection is good! Looks like a lot of good 1970s and 1980s hard rock tribute action is in store for the Soo this fall, so visit the above links for more on all four concerts! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tarnished & Bookclub) & Even More New Year's Weekend Concert Previews!!

Due to SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS hitting the old news desk, I have extended our third (and final?) weekend concert preview post for the New Year's Eve weekend to cover five different events, all but one taking place on Sunday night to ring in 2024. Soundcheck aside (whose New Year's show was covered on the site yesterday), here's what you should know for the remainder of the local hard rock slate!

Online page-less local punk/alternative cover quintet Bookclub will topline Sault Noir's New Year's Eve party Saved By The Ball on SUNDAY NIGHT at The Machine Shop! Apologies for the short notice, Bookclub were announced as performing at this event a few weeks ago but it completely slipped us by until this week. The second concert event put on by ex-Gnaeus drummer Brendan Garlick's current promotion agency to feature a punk or hard rock band, Sault Noir are sparing no expense to make this a night to remember, including 1990s-themed costume and dance contests with prizes, dancers from Soo Dance Unlimited, and a honest-to-goodness ball drop inside the venue at midnight. Read more about the inspiration and expectations for Saved By The Ball in this SooToday article by Chris Belsito yesterday! Musically speaking, Bookclub will be joined by rappers from No Filter Records (only Sawbe was identified by name in promotional materials) and DJs AngelAzura, DJ Seith, and Damaging D.

Saved By The Ball is a licensed & ALL AGES event, though attendees under 16 years of age must have adult accompaniment. Tickets run for $25 apiece and include a free slice of pizza and entries for draws to win a VIP ticket upgrade or passes to all of Sault Noir's 2024 events. VIP tickets are $100 and also get you a loot bag, early entry at 7:00 PM (the event otherwise begins at 8:00 PM), and access to the upper mezzanine. A $100 group rate for 5 people also exists, and get your tickets at the door or online at this link. Proceeds from this event will worthily go to Pauline's Place and The Soup Kitchen. Visit the official Facebook event page & the above links for more details on this huge event, and here's Bookclub live!

Next up, we'll head over to Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula for the first of three known New Year's Eve concerts from hard rock bands, as local classic metal/hard rock trio Tarnished will be sending out 2023 on SUNDAY NIGHT at... The Fraternal Order Of Orioles Nest in Kincheloe? Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced that they were playing here on Wednesday. This club has sporadically been hosting live music in the latter half of 2023, and they'll welcome Tarnish(ed) there for the first time to Nest 311 for their New Year's party, which is publically attendable and not limited to existing Orioles. Hors d'oeuvres will be served throughout the festivities, and it'll be interesting to see how Alex, Parker, and Josh go over on SUNDAY in case it could lead to more hard rock-leaning concerts there! This New Year's event goes down at 4916 West Curtis Street in Kincheloe (20 minutes south of the Soo) on SUNDAY NIGHT at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!

Now back to shows that did have advance notice, and we'll take a slight detour back to Sault Ontario for a show taking place TOMORROW NIGHT, as local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will play their final show of the year when they go acoustic at The Water Tower Pub! Last seen unplugged two weeks ago at Gateway Casino and at The Water Tower Pub early last month, hopefully Greg, Alex, and Warren's classic and hard rock favourites find another strong audience at this central venue tomorrow! A one nighter as per usual at The Water Tower Pub (Angry Joe & The Growlers are playing there tonight), tomorrow's show is at 8:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, Bone Yard have four new live-streamed videos on their Facebook page to check out! These all come from their show at The Esquire Club this past Saturday.

The videos include what appear to be two original songs, something that Bone Yard has long teased but rarely post videos of. One is "a new one" whose lyrics were not especially clear, but the other one appears to be called "Fuck Around & Find Out". The two cover videos are of Van Halen's "Eruption" & The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" back to back and, as embedded below, Van Halen's "Ice Cream Man" (I embedded that here as its structure is the most amenable to being played unplugged). Alas, all four videos were shot vertically, but the filmer had a good vantage point to capture Bone Yard's set, and their originals are solid hard rock compositions, so give them a watch for yourselves above & below!

Back to Sault Michigan and area we go, and we'll next head to the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Michigan-based classic/hard rock tribute band The Rock Show will make their local debut THIS SUNDAY NIGHT at The Northern Pines Lounge! One of two touring tribute bands playing New Year's Eve parties at Kewadin's two regional branch lounges (Niagara Falls party rock cover band XPrime are playing at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo), The Rock Show will definitely give fans in St. Ignace and Mackinac County the heavier night of rock favourites on Sunday, so be sure to visit their website to find out what all they have in their back pocket! Yes, The Rock Show have an alter ego as a Journey tribute band, who will be playing a private event at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin branch tomorrow while they're in the U.P., so if you see anything about that, now you know! 

I am unsure about specific New Year's frills, but it isn't unreasonable to expect something beyond the usual cover band amenities. As such, there is no advertised admission fee/cover charge on Sunday, it remains a 21+ event, and expect a 9:00 PM start time. From what I have seen of The Rock Show, they deliver the goods for fans of classic and hard rock, so don't miss out on their 2023-capping concert in St. Ignace! See above for more details, and here they are live!

Finally for known hard rock concerts on this jam-packed New Year's weekend, we'll head back to Sault Ste. Marie, where local hard rock quintet The Nameless will end the year on SUNDAY NIGHT at The Merchants Bar! While not announced by the venue on Facebook (as is sadly far more common than not for bands who play there), this will be The Nameless' first gig since rocking The Merch for that venue's Halloween party, and they will reportedly return in March for a St. Patrick's Day weekend gig, exact date and such forthcoming. No details on end-of-year party frills were given, but hopefully Sault Michigan fans who want to enjoy some live hard rock covers will get the opportunity on Sunday! If you are at all curious, Sault Ste. Marie's annual anchor (not ball) drop will take place just not far from The Merch on Ashmun Street, so if you want to duck out to be part of the festivities, click here for full details!

Sunday's Nameless concert has a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, click here for their sole public (if unembeddable) concert video, and see above and yesterday's post for complete details on hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults known to me over the next few days! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Murder By Romance & Outshined

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, but with a late notice change. In preparing our intended & randomly chosen profile of mid-2000s punk band Mayadevi, I learned that the band is actually one and the same as Ashoka At The Show, who have newly reunited, albeit now based in Elliot Lake. We'll definitely acknowledge their revival in full on the site next week, but that means they don't fit for a profile on a defunct or inactive local band now. As a result, I've picked the next closest alphabetical Sault Ontario band we haven't featured in the series yet, and as they don't have enough for a full profile, I've randomly picked a Sault Michigan band in a similar state to fill things out. Now, here's what you need to know!
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Murder By Romance

Genre: Punk/Emo

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (This information is incomplete. Let us know if you can fill in any blanks!)

Aisha Day, vocals
Brianne Fournier, guitar/vocals
Misty ?????, guitar
Katie Niskanen, drums

Audio/Video: Murder By Romance never posted any material or played live, but their their Tripod page features an extensive potential setlist that a friend suggested (including such bands as CKY & Fall Out Boy), and given that they posted it there, it must be a decent sign as to some material that they were eyeing. Other than that, I have no hints as to their sound, as none of their members are familiar from other bands.

Info/Analysis: Publically active for just a few months in mid-late 2005, Murder By Romance were unique as one of the few all-female bands playing alternative genres at the time, similarly to Apocrytha from the same time period. As of their final public update, they were still looking for a bassist and drummer, and while they didn't get much further off the ground, frontwoman Aisha Day later became known as a local concert promoter. Given M.B.R.'s lineup and sound, they'd have been a unique attraction in their day, and hopefully there's some recorded media out there so we can hear what we missed at some point!
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Outshined

Genre: Christian Hard Rock

Hometown: Rudyard, Michigan

Members:

Jacob Zeeryp (Chained Memories), vocals/keyboard
Caleb Peters, guitar
Jacob Peters, bass
Jamie Brown, drums

Info/Analysis: Active from roughly 2007-2009, Outshined were a rare example of a Christian-themed rock band in the Soo area, and they were definitely heavier than the better known SeeKing Reverence. Aiming to "praise God and lead others to worship" through their music, the band played at church gigs here and as far as Reed City in Central Michigan, as well as competing at a Yoopers Got Talent event in Rudyard in January 2008, but remaining details are in short supply. Sonically a better fit for Rock 101 than Smile FM or The Promise, Outshined took influence from post-grunge for a good sound and chemistry, but some songs could be a little repetitive or sloppy, and the recording quality of their MySpace page's four songs varies. If you're looking for a heavier side of religious music, this might be your best bet, so check out their heaviest & fastest song "Tragedy" below, and hopefully everyone is still active in music!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, and for those hoping for Mayadevi, we'll cover Ashoka at the Show's reunion next week and their current activity going forward, so stay tuned! As for next month's Defunct Profile, our random band selection take us back to Sault Ontario for a single band profile, as we'll be looking at late-2000s indie punk favourites Nebraska Arms, just a few months removed from their one-off reunion at late frontman Guy Thiffault's tribute concert! Look for that profile on or around April 10th, and I'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Canadian for March Mash-Up! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: freakwoog's Channel

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, our monthly feature spotlighting 1-3 randomly selected YouTube channels with at least 50% of their content focused on local metal, hard rock, and/or punk concerts and artists! This month's random choice is a talented musician who you may recognize from a number of local and regional hard rock bands, so here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile!
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freakwoog's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/freakwoog)

Owner: Ex-Elipzis/RedStone Riot bassist & Riot! By Night frontman Ryan Harrison, currently known as the guitarist in the Muskegon duo R&R Acoustic

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 26th, 2008; Videos posted from March 24th, 2010 until March 5th, 2013

Channel Summary: This channel was used largely as a source for prolific local hard rock musician Ryan Harrison's covers of modern rock songs (14 in total) with him on vocals & guitar, though there are also two extra non-musical videos from 2012: this one of him spinning baskets, and this one of bandmate/fiancee Rachel Kiger's cute encounter with his cat. Many of the covers are of a personal nature, or tie back to his earliest learned songs.

Why Should You Watch: This is a solid source to check out a side of Ryan's musical talents that, until R&R Acoustic's debut this year, we didn't often see compared to his live bass work. Fans of Ryan's 2009-2010 hard rock band Riot! By Night (one of the short-lived successors to Absolute) may enjoy these especially, as no public videos survive of Ryan with that band, so if you want to hear him sing similar material, here you go! However, Ryan has since stopped actively updating this channel, and with his nice beard in tow, has posted new acoustic covers on a newer self-titled channel since February of this year, so keep that in mind for subscribing.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Evans Blue- Over (acoustic cover) by ryan: The first and most viewed video on Ryan's old channel comes from one of five covers he filmed on four different occasions in his then-kitchen in the spring of 2010. Joining covers of Sister Hazel's "Starfish", Matchbox 20's "Hang", Coheed & Cambria's "Wake Up", and Butch Walker's "Joan", this rendition of Evans Blue's "Over" shows his vocal ability and musical knowledge well, and in this form, it reminds me a bit of Benjamin Burnley's singing style! However, the video quality on these isn't as crisp looking as on some later postings.



Ugly Side - Blue October *cover*: After a two+ year break from new video uploads, Ryan (who had moved from Sault Michigan to Muskegon the previous year) posted three new covers on his channel on November 1st, 2012, including Matchbox 20's "Push", Marvelous 3's "Cigarette Lighter Love Song", and this cover of Blue October's "Ugly Side". Showcasing a higher and more melodic singing voice on this rendition, this and the other two postings were a nice indicator of some of his favourite influences, and the videos are a little smoother than what was filmed in 2010!



Breath -Breaking Benjamin *cover*: Ryan's last six videos on this channel come from his two "pajama sessions" in late February and early March 2013, including covers of Paolo Nutini's "Last Request", Story of the Year's "Anthem of Our Dying Day", Counting Crows' "Round Here", Blue October's "Worry List", Butch Walker's "ATL", and this cover of Breaking Benjamin's "Breath". Now featuring title cards, these are constant in quality otherwise from Ryan's 2012 postings, but fans of modern alternative and hard rock should like his renditions here, and it would be neat to see him fronting a band again! Remember to visit his newer channel for new covers!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month in this series, our random selection will be RedDMonkeyMusic's channel, an official channel for the now-defunct local hardcore punk trio that features seven videos from four concerts in their February 2011 Ontario tour run, so look for that on or around October 22nd!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Riot! By Night & Face First

Before we head to the fourth annual Sewer Swampstravaganza, here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! As always on the 10th of each month, we look at one or two defunct/inactive metal or hard rock bands (all selected randomly) in order to re-introduce them to current readers and outline their history, milestones, and current whereabouts. As the first band we randomly selected had no surviving media, I've added a second band with minimal info for this month, but both feature some familiar faces, and though they didn't last as long as other recent projects from their members, they're both worth mentioning, so read on below for this month's profiles!
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Riot! By Night

Genre: Alternative/Modern Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members: 

Ryan Harrison (RedStone Riot, Elipzis), vocals/rhythm guitar
Ben Huyck (Absolute, NoXcape), lead guitar
Bill Spence (Absolute, NoXcape), bass
Odin Osogwin (Oddfellow), drums

Audio/Video: None are known to exist publically at present, though Riot! By Night's MySpace page suggested that they were influenced by 1990s alternative rock, sounded like "modern rock with feeling", and had a setlist of at least 50 cover songs. For reference sake, Riot! By Night likely sounded the most similar to direct predecessors Absolute (who have a good amount of surviving MySpace media), though if you're curious on Ryan's singing/guitar ability, his YouTube channel is the best source to see him in this role. 

Info/Analysis: Riot! By Night were a short lived hard rock band that was active from August 2009 through mid-2010. Essentially the bridge between Ben Huyck & Bill Spence's similar late 2000s band Absolute and their early-2010s project NoXcape, Riot! By Night became a frequent sight at Sault Michigan-area venues (mainly The Satisfied Frog) on weekends through at least March 2010, after which the band quietly disbanded by the summer, with Ryan leaving to become Elipzis' bassist shortly thereafter. Riot! By Night's lineup was talented, their members have had noticeable success in other regional projects, and I heard good things about their brief run together, so be sure to follow members' other projects, and hopefully some live media turns up in the future!
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Face First

Genre: Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

Benjamin Kallonen (Changing Waves), guitar
Devan Lauzon (Changing Waves), drums

Info/Analysis: A very short lived metal project that only saw updates to their MySpace page for a week in February 2010, Face First played improvised instrumentals that they jokingly praised as tasting good on toast. Calls to add new band members may have led to Ben & Devan's formation of defunct local hardcore band Changing Waves (originally FallsColour Turn Spring) with the Hagerman brothers that fall, though Ben & Devan respectively moved to vocals & bass, and Devan left that band in early 2011. In any event, Face First ceased activity by mid-2010, but they left behind four original songs ("Welcome To Parts Of Yourself", "Dimension 6 String", "Enjoying The Chaos", and "Closed In Fate"), which have some interesting moments for hardcore fans, though given  their different instrument roles, it's not clear how much of an influence they had on Changing Waves. The improvised nature & incomplete lineup may also have affected the composition of these tracks, but give them a listen to see what you think, as they do have talent here, and here's the almost 9 minute "Dimension 6 String"!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! So, what's coming next month? As the first band (from Sault Michigan) that we randomly selected for next month has very minimal information surviving, we'll be doubling up on profiles for the ninth time in 10 months. With that said, we'll be looking at defunct Sault Michigan alternative hard rock project A Shade of Light and defunct Sault Ontario progressive hard rock band Route 69 (three years after we replaced them in this series on short notice due to their brief reunion), so look out for their profiles on or around June 10th! That's all for now, but stay tuned for a new news post soon, and we'll see you guys at the Swampstravaganza TODAY! Thanks everyone!

Destroilet & Toast Videos, A Concert Postponement, And Much More!!

I was wrong, we do have just enough to push our posting streak into it's 70th day! For tonight's SMS post, we have a bunch of assorted recent news items, and some recent feature profile updates, but first, we have videos from a pair of area bands, starting with this new video of local hardcore/punk quintet Destroilet's return set at The Algonquin Pub last month! Filmed by YouTube user Richard Dryfist (who Destroilet's Facebook page confirmed is AlgomA bassist Kevin Campbell) and uploaded yesterday, this is of Destroilet playing their original song "End Me" followed by covers of the Fuckin' Burnouts/Fistmagnet original "Evil God Hater" and Nirvana's "Tourettes" (all of which are on their newest CD.) The quality's good, and Kevin got a nice high angle of the proceedings, though aside from the lit band area, you can't generally see the crowd response. Audio quality's nice & clear too, and it's good to see more videos of Destroilet in action, so check out this 5 minute blitz of 3 short songs (complete with titles) below!

Next up, remember the Sault Michigan rock cover quartet named Toast that we've alluded to on here? Well, there's finally some YouTube videos of them to share, courtesy of frontwoman Melissa Strand's YouTube channel, and yes, there are some heavier songs there! As you may know, Toast are more or less the successors to the early 2010s hard rock band Swayze Train (albeit with only one guitarist and Bob Helsten on drums), though their sound strikes a more general rock tone, complete with a number of acoustic drummer-less sets in the area, but they still do some heavier material! All of the new YouTube videos were filmed by attendee Paul Steinkohl, and were originally posted on Toast's Facebook page last month (and on YouTube last week), including the Rev Theory, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Deee-Lite songs that we already mentioned on here. The other new videos are of Toast covering The Foo Fighters' "My Hero", Alice In Chains' "Would?", Seether's "Gasoline", and Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy", so click each link to check them out! (Note however that only the Rev Theory & Deee-Lite covers are from non-acoustic gigs.)

I like Toast's sound & talents, and Melissa's vocals are strong and capable on each track, but something happened in the video conversion for Paul's earlier videos, as they all look incredibly pixelated. The other cell-phone clips are better for the YouTube copies, and they help back up my earlier thoughts on Toast: A mix of the rock style of Swayze Train with the acoustic & more varied sound of Melissa & bassist Tony Rogers' earlier band Electric Motor Fish. Good stuff, so check out their Alice In Chains unplugged cover below, and stay tuned for more from Melissa's channel!



Also today, here's three assorted recent news updates, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Peterborough hardcore/stoner punk band Cross Dog (who are opening for The Dayglo Abortions locally in September) now have a BandCamp page with their first song "Black Hole" posted, so check it out at the above links! They in fact have no guitars (my apologies, Mark!), but their sound has a unique yet familiar edge to it (think a female fronted mix of Detroit & The Fury), so give Cross Dog a listen, and don't miss the Soo's own Mark Rand's return to the local stage this fall!
• The planned SNFU/Death By Stereo concert at The Canadian Nightclub on July 8th has been postponed, according to promoter J.D. Pearce on the Facebook event page tonight. A reason wasn't announced, but he will re-book the concert for a later date when the tour is rescheduled, so keep an eye out for news on that front and any possible changes!
• Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands winners The Suicide Kings posted some Facebook exclusive videos of covers they played during their finals set on April 24th onto their Facebook page late last month, including renditions of System of a Down's "Toxicity" and Velvet Revolver's "Slither", so click the above links to check them out! (I can't embed them here.) Though short and low quality, they at least give a clear view of the guys, so give them a look, and go see them at The Rosie next Friday!

Finally for today, here's some assorted updates to some of our Defunct Local Band Profiles! I updated our AtrophiA profile to note ex-bassist Ryan Gray's more prominent band Free Beer's name change to Sarah's Valley, while I restored photos on both their profile as well as the profiles on M7K & The White Knights in this series. I edited the State of Misery profile to add references to the second version of With Blood Build Character (who have featured 3 S.O.M. alumni in their lineups), along with restoring a photo, and replacing Social Suicide with The Unforgiven for lead guitarist Ray Cowan's notable other bands. Also, I updated our Detroit profile to freshen up band members' other projects (including adding drummer Mikey Hawdon's current punk band The Fairmounts and bassist Mark Rand's current projects Cross Dog & Kidshit.) Finally, I updated our Mugwort profile to restore a photo and add references to singer Bob Helsten's current work in Toast and to note the project's similarity to his older bands that he fronted. Check the above links for the updates, and stay tuned for more!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Golers, SNFU, And The Dayglo Abortions), And More!!

Well guys, we have a stacked post for huge new LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS today, as local concert promoter/singer J.D. Pearce (a.k.a. Johnny Pints) officially announced four huge metal/punk concerts taking place this summer & fall (one of which is awaiting venue confirmation) on Thursday via separate Facebook event pages, and these include some major returning hardcore punk bands from out of town, a few band debuts, at least one venue you may not expect, and some familiar local opening faces! Just to note before we get into these: Most have been mentioned, but not confirmed, through certain opening bands' online pages, but they hadn't been confirmed otherwise until Thursday. Also, I don't know which of these (if any) is/are the show(s) that the winners of Wednesday's Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands Finals will get an opening slot at, but I believe J.D. does have at least one more major concert for this year to announce, so it might not be any of these.

When I hear more, I'll let you guys know, but with that said, here's what you currently need to know on each gig (in chronological order), and check out our profile of last year's Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands in the post below this one!

We start at The Roosevelt Hotel on June 20th for J.D.'s sixth Thursday night show at The Rosie since last year, but all three bands will be playing there for the first time, including headliners The Golers! This crossover thrash quartet from Vancouver have made a big name for themselves in the past decade with dark humour, aggressive metal originals, and plenty of tour runs with major bands throughout North America & Europe, and they should fit right in for this concert on June 20th! The local opening bands include local hardcore/punk quintet Destroilet (in likely their first gig since opening for The Ripcordz last week) and new sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA, in just their second ever public concert! It's great to see Destroilet playing more frequently following the end of their 2 year concert hiatus, and AlgomA should impress in what should be a higher profile setting, as they have the talent and sound to go along with it! This show starts at 10:00 PM on June 20th, admission will be $10 (with advance ticket details forthcoming), and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This should be a very brutal metal-leaning concert, and with it's familiar placement on the old Rosie metal nights' stronghold, things will be familiar despite the newer and less frequently seen bands, so don't miss The Golers and two furious local opening acts on June 20th, and stay tuned for updates!

The biggest of all of J.D.'s newly announced shows is next on Monday, July 8th, and it involves the return of three prominent out of town bands, including no less than Vancouver hardcore punk legends SNFU and Los Angeles hardcore quintet Death By Stereo! Both were last seen here at separate major local concerts in the spring of 2009 (SNFU headlined at The Grand Theater that April, and Death By Stereo opened for Strung Out at The Canadian the next month), and this show melds the past and present of hardcore punk by their presences on the lineup! SNFU are of course legends in the Canadian punk/hardcore scene, while Death By Stereo are quite popular and prominent partly thanks to their own energetic recent concerts, so don't miss all of this action come July! The other out of town band is The Fairmounts, the Toronto punk band led by veteran local musician Mikey Hawdon, in their first local concert since the Halloween party at The Algonquin Pub, and it'll be Mikey's second stab at opening for Death By Stereo locally, as he played the May 2009 show as well with The Inner City Surfers.

Picture a full on punk version of Lion Ride, and you have The Fairmounts, who should put in a fun set of originals and covers in their local return this summer! There are slots for two local opening bands, one of which is Jack Spades, a new local band fronted by this show's promoter J.D. Pearce, though it's unclear what their genre is, who else is in the band, and anything else really beyond this almost-barren Facebook page. Will they be similar to Frightlight, T-Rex Manning, or Fitswitch, or something brand new? Hopefully we'll find out soon-ish! The other opening slot is reserved for (hopefully) a younger band, with at least three members hoped to be in high school still. This makes sense, as it's an ALL AGES concert, and I know getting underagers playing at and attending concerts will breathe some new air into the scene, so if you're in a young punk/metal band, message J.D. at this location if you want in on this show! Speaking of which, where is this massive gig being held? How's The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center sound?

The first metal/punk concert to take place at the Pim Street museum since November's Bushplane Musical Madness show, I imagine there's a huge space for a show of this size to go down in, and hopefully this is just the second of many heavier concerts to take place at the Bushplane Museum! Start times & ticket availability details haven't been announced yet, but tickets for this ALL AGES show are $30 in advance ($40 at the door), which is steep, but worth it with this high profile lineup! Check the official Facebook event page for more details, and be sure to check the above links for more on what could be the biggest hardcore punk show of 2013!

The other confirmed concert will take place on Monday, September 9th at The Roosevelt Hotel, and it will see the return of Victoria, British Columbia hardcore punk legends The Dayglo Abortions! Over two years after their most recent local date (at The Rosie in June 2011), the often controversial but highly revered Canadian punk veterans will be sure to attract another massive crowd this fall for their local return, and I know many local fans have been clamoring for their return since their 2011 date here! There will be three opening bands, including the aforementioned Jack Spades (in their likely Rosie debut) and Destroilet, but the other announced opening act will be Cross Dog, the new project from veteran local musician Mark Rand! Aside from scattered online mentions, I know nothing on them (i.e. full lineup, genre, or if they're locally based), but I'll note that Mark has lived in Southern Ontario in recent years, and he only rarely uses Facebook, so I have no idea when/if we'll hear more on the project.

Myself, I wouldn't be surprised if they're similar to his hardcore punk projects like Detroit or Kidshit, but as soon as I get any confirmation on them (and Jack Spades), I'll let you guys know! Advance tickets will go on sale in August for $10 (with $15 charges at the door), you must be 19 to attend, and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! J.D.'s done it again, and this should be another huge concert for punk and metal fans, so stay tuned for updates, including confirmation on Jack Spades & Cross Dog's lineup & genre! Now, there was one more concert announcement concerning Toronto hardcore punk band The Bunchofuckingoofs playing here in August with local opening acts, but I'm waiting for venue confirmation before announcing it on here. It's official and public, but I try not to plug announced shows on here until there's a host venue secured, hence the delay. Click here for current details on that front, and when a venue's confirmed, we'll start the SMS push, as it should be a good one as well!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes tomorrow (including Woods of Ypres/Juno Awards fallout), and this month's YouTube Channel Profiles on Monday, as our posting streak pushes into it's 56th straight day! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), A New Local Band, A 1980s Local Scene Short Story, And More!!

And today, we hit 30 posts for the month of July! Very busy month, and we have some more exciting news today, including a VERY cool local scene-relevant short story, Kewadin Festival updates, the identity of one of the bands from there, and new material from a local band! But first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has scheduled another solo acoustic date for August 6th! Once again, he'll be rocking out at The Roosevelt Hotel for a day full of acoustic metal covers to have a drink to! Note that I said "day", not "night", because this concert starts at 4:00 PM and runs until around 8:00 PM, unlike most Tym/Caveman Morrison shows. I think this show is tied to an event of some kind, especially with the "free dinner and meat draw" plugged on the Facebook event page, but I'm not entirely sure what the occasion is. What I do know is that if you wanna chill out with some great renditions of your favourite hard rock hits from one of the area's better known guitarists, head to The Rosie on August 6th! Check the above links for more details on this show and on Tym Morrison's musical projects!

Next up, I have found a VERY cool short story that fans of the local music scene from the 1980s will absolutely want to read! This was a completely random find on some Google searching I conducted the other day, and it's the second part of an (at least) five part short story from local concert photographer Paolo Colasacco. It's about the concerts and experiences at the old Centennial Lanes venue on Gore Street (Nite-Life Dance Club is now in it's old location), and it really is a cool read! Paolo discusses the genre divisions of concertgoers from shows there, the environment that Centennial Lanes gave to create a "new music scene", what it was like at the concerts in terms of what people did, what the alcohol policies were, what bands you'd typically see, and just how much fun people had! A good deal of it is spent talking about that band Riggy Zomba that I mentioned in yesterday's post, and Paolo's description of their two separate fanbases is noteworthy! He also notes that metalheads tended to frequent the Eastgate Hotel way back for concerts. The grammar and spelling isn't perfect, but believe me, this is another awesome window to the past of the local scene, and you'll wanna check it out!

Paolo uploaded this portion of his Centennial Lanes story onto The Internet Archive five years ago, and you can click here for the download link! Note that it's a WordPerfect file, but programs like Microsoft Word can also open it. Paolo has uploaded many other files onto The Internet Archive in the past, including some concert photos and the fifth part of the Centennial Lanes story, click here for more of his work! Part 5 doesn't deal much with metal, mostly concerning the walk home from a punk show headlined by classic local band The Reggulars, but read it too! This is great stuff that people should be more aware of, but I wonder what happened to the other parts of the Centennial Lanes story? I'll let you guys know if I hear more!

Next up, we have some new Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival updates to share! Kewadin's Facebook page now features tons of photos from Bret Michaels, Vince Neil, Three Doors Down, and Meat Loaf's sets, and more! Good quality, but I have one major complaint about the photos: Most of them are sideways! That is a nuisance, but they're good photos, click here to check them out! SooNews.ca also has new Kewadin Festival-related stuff online, courtesy of a new article and video from Winging It! host Tami Fremlin! The video, which isn't embeddable, features some quality performance clips from the festival of Three Doors Down and assorted other events, as well as portions of interviews with many of the acts and performers, including members of Clownsack and Nixxon Dixxon, among many others! Tami asks good questions, though she has a soft voice that can be hard to hear on lower volumes. Expect to see extended versions of these interviews and pieces when the new episode of Winging It! come online on SooNews.ca. For now though, check out the video at this location!

Yes, there's also some new YouTube videos from the festival, though none are of the metal/hard rock performers. YouTube user tishialee uploaded two videos from Meat Loaf's set onto her channel, user pltreasures has a Meat Loaf video and two Three Doors Down clips, user daliellepeters has a parking lot video that shows the festival atmosphere and tents, and user Kylerawesome has a video of his band performing at the festival, named Attaca. Judging by their apparent ages and the stage setup, it looks like these guys were one of the "Rock Camp" youth groups that performed on the third stage on July 22nd and/or 23rd. And my assumption that the youth groups were from Shift guitarist Joey Beairl's Guitar Studio was a correct one, as you can see the upper half of the Guitar Studio logo in a banner on the far left of the stage in the Attaca video. These kids do have talent, so check out the video, but don't expect metal, as they cover The Ramones, The White Stripes, and Green Day in the clip. Click all of the above links for the newest Kewadin Festival footage!

Finally today, one more Kewadin Festival-related note. Remember the local band Elipzis that played at the festival on the Saturday as one of the Meat Loaf supporting bands? Well, I now know what's up with this band, and yes, they are SMS-coverable! The band consists of frontwoman Rachel Kiger, guitarist Chris Webster from the inactive Muskegon hard rock band Kilacel, bassist Ryan Harrison (former Riot! By Night frontman, more on that in a second), and drummer Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten, who you'll best recognize as Integrated System of Machines' original frontman! They only just launched a MySpace page on July 13th, and it doesn't mention Sault Ste. Marie at all, which probably explains why it's taken me so long to find out details on this band. Musically, they list influences ranging from Stuck Mojo, Fates Warning, and Iced Earth (I heavily approve!) to The Police and Johnny Cash! Interesting, especially with a female singer, that'll give the band a different flavour! Looks like these guys have a lot of promise, I now have them in the SMS band links, and I'll definitely try to update you guys on their upcoming shows and events from here on out!

Thanks to Ryan Harrison and the anonymous commenter on my June 29th post for some of the above information, as well as the above links! I have some cool stuff coming up on some of the bands and outfits related to Elipzis members in the next while, but I want to quickly add that yes, Ryan Harrison is no longer in Riot! By Night. Their MySpace page hasn't been recently updated at all, but I have heard rumours that Absolute, the band that most of Riot! By Night was in immediately beforehand, may be reuniting. I'll keep you posted if there's any truth to that, but it sucks that Riot! By Night may have ended, cause they sounded very promising and I heard nothing but good things about their shows!

That's all for today, my next post will (in all likelihood) be my next local metal CD review! Remember, it's an album from a band that I've already reviewed an album for, so get speculating! Stay tuned for that, and more, in the coming days!

Weekend Concert Previews & Three Assorted Other Stories!!

Hey guys, it's that time again! Well, it's actually a shorter post than I'm used to, but I gotta get the weekend concert previews out of the way, and I have some assorted smaller stories to share too, so it's not a horribly small post either! Let's start with your local metal concert previews for this weekend!

Two metal shows to my knowledge each in both of the twin Saults this weekend, and we'll start in Sault Ontario, when Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison takes the stage tomorrow night and Saturday night at Coch's Corner! If you're craving to hear some great covers of your favourite metal, hard rock, and other-genre songs in an intimate acoustic setting, you'll wanna be there this weekend! Both of Tym's shows start at 10:00 PM, and if you know his shows, and Coch's Corner's inviting environment, you'll know this will be well worth attending! No admission price either, just bring beer money, or maybe order some food, the guys there make some good grub too! And yes, it's 19+. Get more information at this location! As always, a Tym Morrison show will be worth attending, especially with the recent lack of Caveman Morrison shows (possible reason for that coming up), but head on down to Coch's and chill out to some great music this weekend, you won't be sorry! Check out more from Tym Morrison's solo and Caveman catalog at his official website!

The other two metal shows this weekend that I know about enough to report come courtesy of Sault Michigan hard rockers Nixxon Dixxon! The rising young stars return to The Bird across the river this weekend on the very same days and times as Tym Morrison's upcoming concerts: 10:00 PM Friday and Saturday! No admission price to enter that I know of, I believe there's a 21+ age limit. As usual for Nixxon Dixxon shows, expect a great night of hard rock and metal covers and some high quality originals from a band that will surely be one of the area's finest bands in the coming years, as long as they keep on with what they're doing! For more from Nixxon Dixxon, including photos, concert listings, and more, visit their official MySpace page! Go see them if you can this weekend, you'll have a good time! And if not, no worries, they'll be at Kewadin Casino next weekend! For a video preview, here's Nixxon Dixxon covering the Metallica classic "Master of Puppets" from their most recent New Years Eve show!



And now, three assorted updates to help clear out some smaller stories from my newsdesk...or the internet equivalent of a newsdesk. These are in order by band name!:

• If you've noticed a new band on the band links on the left of the page named April Eyes, that's actually not a new band. That's the new name for Lorax guitarist Mitch Sirie's solo project, which was previously called By The Gods. It doesn't look like much else is different, but check Mitch's stuff out! His solo stuff is surprisingly solid, I'd love to see April Eyes play a show if he got some other musicians together! After all, music described as the product of prog and death metal raping folk and indie rock can't be all bad!
• Bad Side's return to the concert scene is being bolstered with another upcoming concert! Not local, but worth mentioning, and it is closer to here! The local classic hard rockers will be a part of L3 Lucky Lake Live, an three-day-long August concert festival in Muskegon! No word on what day they'll be on (click here for as much details as I know), but notable bands like Pop Evil and Sponge will be among the performers! Great to hear that they're on another show, fingers crossed there's a local one too sooner or later!
• You guys wondering where Caveman Morrison have been in recent weeks? Well, it appears there's been a band member changeover. According to a Facebook status update from him yesterday, Social Play frontman Dutch Vanderploeg has officially joined Caveman Morrison! Click here for my source. Presumably he's replacing Rick White on bass, but the band have not made an official announcement concerning a lineup change. Looks legit, but when something 100% verified comes out, I'll let you all know!

That's all for this quick post, my next update will include news on an upcoming new local music webzine (not mine!), assorted news on Doom Cannon, the Downtown Showdown battle of the bands, Mike Libertoski, and more! Stay tuned!