LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Spun), An Inactive Band Note, And New Videos!!

Before we post our review of last night's Live705 Easter Bash, here's a new news post for your Easter Sunday, as we tackle some recent topics and discoveries in the local metal, hard rock, and punk scenes! Today, you'll find a recent concert teaser clip, a Wayne's World homage for a great cause, and a reluctant band move to our inactive links, but first, here's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for next month!

Marquette hard rock quartet Spun will make their local concert debuts with shows at The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan on Friday, May 5th & Saturday, May 6th! In case you're not aware, Spun are basically the successors to fellow Marquette rockers Nudge, who frequented The Frog during their decade-long run, and it's great to see Tim Prisk, Bob Libick, and Bob Crawford back together on a local stage! As best as I can tell, Tim is the band's primary lead singer, with Doug Pennala enlisted as their second guitarist in place of ex-Nudge frontman Danzo McCracken. Nudge fans will be right at home with Spun, whose setlist and genre ranges are very similar, and they should fit in fine at The Frog next month, hopefully the first of many shows to come out east! You can take in Spun on May 5th & 6th at 9:00 PM, there are no announced cover charges, and you must be 21 or older to attend. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and check out Spun above to hear what's in store for their first local stops!

Just as a related reminder, Danzo and ex-Nudge drummer Tim Kusmirek have since launched a new band named Reality Bites that play 1990s rock covers, though not as hard rock-focused as what Nudge or Spun play. Reality Bites are actually releasing an original CD soon, and have played here multiple times since launching, including at The Frog and at Kewadin Casino lounges. Keep Reality Bites in mind to see what Danzo and Tim are up to!

Next up, we have a band to soon move to our inactive band links, they being Sault Ontario punk/country quintet The Billy Bastards. Public updates last came to their Facebook page one year ago this coming Tuesday in a post hyping that they hit 400 likes, and beyond that, The Billys have only played one public concert since the end of 2013, when their full quintet lineup travelled to Ophir to perform at the inaugural Northern Vibe Festival in August 2015. Over their decade-long (though increasingly sporadic) run in the local scene, The Billy Bastards became a fan favourite sight with fans of punk and country alike, notably headlining The Rockstar Bar's first ever concert, opening for notable local and out of town acts, and competing at 2009's Kiss Battle of the Bands (in which many fans still think they should have made the finals.), Their three CDs were all popular releases locally as well, if elusive to find online in a full copy, but hopefully we can review one on here soon.

While I'm not an ardent fan of country music, The Billys melded it with punk as well as you can imagine, giving the punk swagger and aggression to their originals in a way that worked with fans of either genre, as attendance of their packed concerts will attest! Given the band's late-era nature, a reunion set could occur at any time, but for now, best of luck to Aaron, Greg, Paul, John and Charlie in the future, and don't miss John with Destroilet!

Closing with new videos,  here's a charity video of Case's Music employees covering Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" a'la Wayne's World! Part of the ARCH Hospice's Cartime Karaoke Challenge where local businesses and teams sing karaoke in a car a'la the popular James Corden segments, this video features Case's Music staffers Carrie Suriano, Jake Rendell (Machines Dream), Josh Norling (The Elements), and Jenny Gauvreau (Honest Job) alongside Cartime Karaoke host and LopLops bartender Leo Moore, who picked them up and drove for the duration. Competing teams will have a final faceoff at Dragonfly Day on June 17th downtown at the canal, so click here for full details on the event and how you can donate or attend. Dressed the part with flannel shirts, ball caps, and even drum sticks and a mini-keyboard, this is a fun rendition that overcomes a slightly nervous and uneasy opening, and it's well worth checking out whether you're a fan of Case's Music, Queen, Wayne's World, or The Late Late Show, and you can check it out below!



Finally, here's an amusing teaser video for last night's Electric Church headlining set at Live705's Easter Bash, courtesy of their Facebook page yesterday afternoon! Apologies for this being late on here, it came when we didn't have time to rush a post to include it. The clip features the fathers of frontman Spencer Pine and bassist Elijah Nielsen hyping the show in lieu of their sons, and while some of the information is a little muddled, this is an amusing and unexpected way to hype the concert! Give it a look below, and stay tuned for our review of the show proper next!



That's all for now, but once again, look for our review of Live705's Easter Bash on the site next! Thanks everyone!

The Next Local Battle Of The Bands, Plus One More Toystock Video!!

In our second post of the day, we're mostly focusing on a big event taking place early next year, but we also have one final video from another recent multi-band event to close things out. Give everything a look below, and also check out the first of this weekend's Sault Ontario concert previews in the post below this one!

For the first time in over a year, Sault Ontario will see a full battle of the bands on Friday, February 20th at The Rednecks Saloon! Hosted by new local sound company Twin City Sound, this will be the first formal battle of the bands (Soo Band Roulette aside) since November 2013's Viva La Battle, so if you've missed this sort of event, you'll want to take note! Promoters have revealed that the battle will take place at 8:00 PM on February 20th, and it will feature 10 bands, which would be the largest one day battle in recent memory if that holds up, but spots to compete are available on a first come, first serve basis with no holds, so if you or your band want in, message promoters Steven Flint & Terry Eaton through the Facebook event page A.S.A.P.! To sum up the criteria, each band will have a 25 minute set, and there will be house instruments supplied for bands to use (to ensure a level playing field), though individual requests can be made if you want something more personal.

The first battle of the bands to feature a panel of judges since the Rockstar Bar Battle in April 2013, they'll be judging bands based on their enthusiasm, crowd engagement & response, originality, and skill of the band's members, and while original songs are not mandatory, making covers your own will play into the scores. The judges will be Midway frontman Paul Leclair (who you may also know as the president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians union), battle co-promoter Terry Eaton (also well known from his work with Asylum Country & Mourning Wood), and.... yours truly, making this the third battle of the bands that I've had the privilege of being a judge for. As such, expect our coverage of this battle to once again be impartial to all competing bands, and I will not play favourites! An unspecified cash prize awaits this battle's winning band, and though more specific prize details have yet to be announced, we'll let you know when more is publicized on that front!

Signed up bands will have to pay a $100 registration fee to compete at the battle, but like at 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle, bands will get 10 tickets to sell for the event on February 20th, and as each ticket costs $10, you'll make your money back if you sell all 10 of the tickets! That will be the likely cover charge for the battle as well, and as The Rednecks Saloon is a bar, this will be a 19+ event. As for what bands you can expect to see, the field's wide open (especially given the gap between battles over the past year+), but local grunge/hard rock favourites Haggith have already shown visible interest in hopping aboard. All we can really say otherwise at this point is that bands affiliated with Twin City Sound and/or the judges won't be playing, but given the talent in this city, a full field of 10 bands should be easy to attain! In case you're wondering, there is another battle of the bands coming in March, and we'll address that on the site tomorrow, so stay tuned for that as well!

For full details, including complete information on the battle of the bands' rules,. sign-up criteria, and more, click here, and apply A.S.A.P. to ensure you or your band are among the 10 competing bands come February 20th! I'm excited to be a part of another battle of the bands, and even if I wasn't judging, it's been far too long for a new battle in Sault Ontario (especially following the cancelled Rock For Dimes battle), so be sure to stay tuned for updates on the first 2015 battle of the bands in the city in over the next 2 months! SIGN UP NOW, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, and stay tuned for news on the March battle TOMORROW!

We'll close this post with the last of the known public Toystock videos, courtesy of Mike Case's Junior All Stars, who did cover Joan Jett's "I Love Rock & Roll" last month in their set! The student youth band was filmed for their entire set by YouTube user dtwalker79, whose daughter Hannah is one of the band's singer/guitarists. He also filmed Mike Case's student bands at other recent events such as Toystock 2013 and Rotaryfest, and I'll look through those videos in the coming days too so we can see if they have any hard rock covers in those! Filmed at a generally stationary camera angle (though it switches to a closer view of the lead vocalists for the last 9 minutes), the lighting here isn't much and only lights up a few members very well, but the audio's solid! The Joan Jett cover is 18:29 into the video, and in order, the All Stars also covered songs by Hot Chelle Rae, One Direction, Icona Pop, Serena Ryder, Katy Perry, Miranda Lambert, and Bob Dylan.

Mike Case's Junior All-Stars are developing their musical talents and live stage experience well, and it's great to see them have a successful set for a second straight Toystock, though I concede that most of their cover selections aren't my thing. It will be interesting to see where the kids go from here, but for now, here's their complete Toystock 2014 set at The Canadian last month, and we'll let you know if dtwalker79 has any other hard rock covers!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for Sault Michigan weekend concert previews and full current details on March's battle of the bands TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Mini-Series: The Rockstar Bar Battle Of The Bands

One year ago today was the final round of the biggest Sault Ontario battle of the bands since 2009, so as promised, we have the newest installment of our Battle of the Bands Rewind series today! As in past profiles, we're taking a look at the background, events, results, and aftermath of this battle of the bands, as a way to look back on it and the competitors a year after the fact! Like in our other battle profiles, personal opinions are kept to a minimum (especially given our involvement in promotion and judging of it), so this profile will take on an informational & trivia focus. Without any further adieu, read on below for our newest Battle of the Bands profile at the SMS! (Updated on February 13th, 2016)
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The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands (April 3rd-24th, 2013)

Background: For every Wednesday in the month of April 2013, The Rockstar Bar (in association with Case's Music, The Rad Zone, local concert promoter J.D. Pearce, and The Sault Metal Scene) hosted a well advertised battle of the bands, where nine bands competed for big prizes in a staggered weekly battle format not seen in Sault Ontario in many years. On the first three nights of the battle (April 3rd, 10th, and 17th), three bands played on each night, where judges chose one winner to move on to the finals on April 24th, while the second place band with the most points on the judges' scorecards would also join them as a wild card band. Judges scored the bands on aspects of their musical ability, chemistry, stage presence, and crowd engagement (among other factors) for a total score out of 300 each night, or 100 points a judge.

Prizes: The first place band would win $1,000, 5 hours of recording time at Case's Music, and first place trophies, while the second place band got $200 and a $50 Rad Zone gift card, and the third place band won $100. Each finalist band also received framed certificates for their participation in the battle (that doubled as 20%-off coupons at Case's Music), and the second and third place bands both won individual medals for their placements. As well, the top 3 bands were guaranteed opening slots at one of J.D. Pearce's upcoming concerts, though they were decided on after the battle and were not tied to a specific event.

Competitors: The bands competing on April 3rd were local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith, classic metal notables (and defending Humane Society Battle winners) Late & Loud, and local ska-punk quartet Sarah's Valley, who were essentially a reunited Free Beer under a new name. The April 10th competitors were local punk trio The Northern Tragedy, indie/jazz quartet The Pesto Shirts, and hard rock favourites The Suicide Kings, while the heaviest lineup of the semifinal rounds took place on April 17th, which included local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, newer doom/death quartet Giwakwa, and alternative hard/blues rock veterans Sykotyk Rampage.

Results: Each semifinal round was won respectively by Late & Loud, The Suicide Kings, and The Bear Hunters, while the planned wild card slot went to both Haggith & The Pesto Shirts due to their runner-up scores being tied, resulting in an expanded five band final round on April 24th. Giwakwa were the second place band on April 17st, and Sarah's Valley, The Northern Tragedy, and Sykotyk Rampage all finished third for their semifinal appearances, though individual scores and placement were not elaborated on further publically. In the finals, The Suicide Kings claimed first place honours, while Haggith & The Pesto Shirts rose above their wild card status to claim second and third place respectively, and Late & Loud and The Bear Hunters fell short of the podium.

Aftermath: The Suicide Kings (later known as Beaumont Avenue) continued to rock local concert venues until their sudden demise in July 2015, but made many high profile appearances during their last years together! Aside from an early 2014 hiatus, Haggith remained active in varying incarnations with numerous local shows and multiple CD releases before they too broke up in mid-2015. The Pesto Shirts (now known as The Wild Iris) and The Bear Hunters have continued with more notable Sault-area shows and original releases since the battle, while Late & Loud broke up after the battle due to frontman Jon Tiberi moving out of town, though they would play two 2014 reunion gigs. Sykotyk Rampage have stayed active with numerous shows and original material releases since, while The Northern Tragedy released a couple of EPs and played live more before going inactive in 2015, Giwakwa went dormant after singer Josh Stephney moved out of town later that year, and Sarah's Valley quietly disbanded that same summer after only a handful of non-battle gigs.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock in italics, ex-members noted with an *):
The Din (Mike Haggith & Curtis McKenzie* from Haggith)
Eclipse (Curtis McKenzie & Daniel Horton from Haggith, and Chris Thompson from Giwakwa)
Heavy Head (Mike Gaetano from The Suicide Kings, Daniel Horton from Haggith, and Johnny Belanger from The Bear Hunters)
Infinity Grinder (Terrence Gomes from The Northern Tragedy) 
Jack Spades (Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger from The Bear Hunters)
Jon & His Friends (Jonathan Tiberi from Late & Loud; Based out of Hamilton) 
Machines Dream (Jake Rendell from The Pesto Shirts)
Mourning Wood (Steven Flint from The Suicide Kings)
The Pixo Control (Dustin Goodall from Sarah's Valley)
Project 421 (Curtis McKenzie & Daniel Horton from Haggith, and Chris Thomspon from Giwakwa)

Trivia:

• Judges for the duration of The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands were Case's Music owner and prolific local musician Jay Case, then-Rad Zone mainstay & local rock guitarist Len Ward, and Sault Metal Scene owner Rob Figures, all of which had judged recent prior battles (Jay at the late 2000s' Case's Music battles, Len at 2010's Downtown Showdown, and Rob at the Humane Society battle in 2012.) Jay also was the MC for the battle and announced each night's bands, rules, and winners.
• To coincide with the battle finals on April 24th, Late & Loud released an expanded re-issue of their EP "Heavy Rockin' Hard Metal" that night. Subtitled "Still Hard", the nine song disc featured two re-recorded songs and two brand new original tracks. Despite not making the podium, a copy of this EP (plus Benn Garside's smashed bass from the finals) are now on display at The Rockstar Bar.
• The Pesto Shirts' semifinal appearance on April 10th was notable as their first live concert set with new drummer Jake Rendell, after playing all of their past gigs as a trio in largely acoustic settings. 
• Haggith's sets at this battle were their last public dates with frontman Curtis McKenzie playing rhythm guitar on most songs. After the battle, he began phasing out his guitar work and soon served as just their singer.
• Among the different visual trappings from performers at the battle: Late & Loud debuted a new stage banner for their finals set inspired by Japan's Rising Sun flag, The Bear Hunters increased their hunting themes by dressing in camouflage and using a similar motif on their speakers, and fans of The Suicide Kings brought signs in support of them for the finals.
• Unlike the battle's other competitors, Sarah's Valley's involvement was done with a level of secrecy, with no public postings being made to elaborate on their lineup or sound until they took the stage on April 7th, when it was revealed that they were a reunited and renamed Free Beer. Similar secrecy occurred with Keep It Lit at Viva La Battle that fall, but they dropped out of that event before showtime.
• Two performers at this battle played in two separate competing bands, those being Giwakwa frontman Josh Stephney and Suicide Kings bassist Mitch Sirie, who both played guitar with The Bear Hunters. Adding to the double bookings, Josh's bands both played at the April 17th semifinal, both of Mitch's bands played in the final round, and Mitch performed on all nights of the battle but April 3rd.
• In an ironic coincidence, finalists (and semifinal #2 competitors) The Suicide Kings & The Pesto Shirts both changed their names the following summer. The Suicide Kings became Beaumont Avenue after negative personal events necessitated the change, though they only remained active for a year under that name, and were largely on hiatus while drummer Ben Boudreau attended school out of town. As for The Pesto Shirts, they became The Wild Iris after finding that their original name (which was initially decided on as a joke) didn't match their sound anymore, and they still play live under the new name.
• The Bear Hunters finally won their first battle of the bands that November when they won Viva La Battle, a fan-voted event at The Canadian Nightclub that was also promoted by J.D. Pearce. Though they won that battle sans guitarist Josh Stephney (who moved out of town in the summer), he came back to play with them at the Bam Margera/Fuckface Unstoppable concert in December, which was this battle's first place prize. As well, Punch (the then-new supergroup featuring two members each of The Suicide Kings & Haggith) finished in third place at this battle.
• Though not a local battle, The Suicide Kings experienced similar success in April 2014 when they finished second out of 15 Northern Ontario bands at the Rock N' Roar Battle of the Bands in Spanish, Ontario, earning the right to open for Randy Bachman at the annual Rock N' Roar festival that August, then under their Beaumont Avenue name. Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger also took the trip for the next year's battle as a guest drummer with The Elements, but they didn't place last year.
• Almost two years following the Rockstar Bar Battle, J.D. Pearce and many of the same sponsors hosted The VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub on Wednesdays in March 2015, which saw a similar round structure and judging criteria, expanded 11-band lineup, similar prizes, one returning judge (Rob Figures), and greatly expanded media coverage through Village Media's local news websites. This spiritual successor event was a success, and will be followed by a second VM Radio Battle in March 2016.
• The Bear Hunters improved on their Rockstar Bar Battle performance at the aforementioned VM Radio Battle (albeit sans Josh again) by finishing in second place, losing to winners Gnaeus by just two points, while Haggith (then with Jordan Leach on bass in place of Caleb Cachagee) finished in second place in their close semifinal, and did not advance to the final round. As well, Haggith alums participated in the third semifinal in then-side project bands (Mike Haggith & Curtis McKenzie in Mike Haggith & The Din, and Daniel Horton with Project 421), but those bands didn't advance to the finals either.
• A second battle of the bands, hosted at The Speak Easy at Algoma University, was held just a day after the first semifinal round of March 2015's VM Radio Battle, and was also won by Gnaeus. In that fan voted event, The Bear Hunters (minus Josh) took $100 for finishing in third place, while the aforementioned Mike Haggith & The Din and Project 421 did not place in the top 3 (neither did Infinity Grinder, the new hard rock duo featuring Northern Tragedy singer/drummer Terrence Gomes.)

Videos:
The Northern Tragedy playing "3 2 4" at the semifinals on April 10th
Giwakwa's first two songs on April 17th
Sault Metal Scene videos of the heavier competing bands from each night
Pesto Shirts & Northern Tragedy videos from all of their nights




Sources/More Info:
Official Facebook event page
SooToday's coverage of the April 7th semifinal
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I hope you guys liked our newest Battle of the Bands Rewind profile! Barring a mass information dump for an older battle that we didn't feature in this series, we'll next take a look at last fall's Viva La Battle, with that scheduled to make the site in November, so look out for it then, and for most of the weekend's concert previews later today! Thanks everyone!

Anvil Concert Videos, The Return Of Case's Music, And More!!

Here's one more news post for this Saturday night, and if you missed it, check out our all-Rotaryfest video post from this morning below this one! Tonight, we've got some assorted shorter stories, news on the return of a local music store and what's going on there now, and kicking things off, new videos from a major recent metal concert, so read on below for all the details!

First up today, here's one of the brand new videos from Wednesday night's Anvil concert at The Canadian Nightclub! BeeFMouTH alum Kevin Campbell (who was on hand doing film work with 62nd Chamber Productions during Frightlight's set) got some footage from the Toronto metal legends' headlining set as well for his YouTube channel, including two of their earlier songs that night, those being "School Love" and "Winged Assasins" (and yes, he filmed Lips' Ranger Lake Road story as well!) Complete with on screen titles, this is a nice video with solid audio quality, but the video quality is hit & miss. Some type of filter was on the camera which gave everything a more fluid dreamlike motion, which looks cool sometimes and too blurry at other times. That, and attendees heads & devil horns do get in the way, but Kevin did a good job shooting and compiling this video, and kudos for the footage for sure! Check out this new Anvil concert video below, and stay tuned for more from 62nd Chamber Productions' filming that night as it comes in!



Also new from said concert are two more videos of new local hard rock quintet Skeyes of Seven's set, including their original "Destination Unknown" (not pluralized as I had earlier) and, as embedded below, their cover of Stone Sour's "Come What(Ever) May"! Uploaded to the band's brand new YouTube channel earlier today, these were likely filmed on a stationary camera that the band had set up on the floor during their set, but as tall as it was, fans heads are still in the way on the original, as there was more people on the floor by then. The videos have an old look to them by the quality, but the audio's nice and it's nice to hear the vocals a bit louder than I remember at the show! Nice work, but I wonder if we'll see the Breaking Benjamin & Avenged Sevenfold covers from that night too on Skeyes of Seven's new channel? As we haven't shared this song on here before, and you can see the band better, here's Skeyes of Seven's cover of "Come What(Ever) May"!



Thirdly today, in case you haven't heard, Case's Music is officially back open in it's new home! After leaving their old Spring Street location on June 22nd, the popular local music store re-opened in the old Frame Center building at 636 Queen Street East on July 16th, and though they're still partially under construction, I've heard great things about the new larger location! Regular hours are now 11:00 AM-5:00 PM daily except Wednesdays, when they're open until 7:00 PM, and they're even planning to host weekly acoustic performers outside of the building on Saturday nights, adding to a very musical stretch of Queen that already includes The Grand Theater, LopLops Lounge, and the new Coch's Corner within walking distance. As well, Case's Music have opened up the floodgates for local bands/musicians to sell their albums and merchandise there, and though no metal artists have took them up on this yet, they're eager to support local talent and have the store as a saleground for local music, so if you're interested, message them at their Facebook page or drop in with some stock to sell! It's great to see Case's Music off to a great start at their new home, so check the above links for more on their on-sale items, instrument lessons, and much more!

And finally for tonight, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Already no stranger to the Sault area, Poison frontman Bret Michaels made a special video greeting for local Catholic summer school students on Thursday, in congratulations for those students for raising money for the Canadian Diabetes Association via a Celebrity Apprentice-themed fundraiser (Bret won that show's third season.) That's an awesome gesture, and thanks to Bret for filming that for some local kids! Click here for The Sault Star's coverage of this story from last week!
• Local solo guitarist Shane "The Shaner" Solomon has posted two newer songs onto his Reverbnation page, including a solid hard rocking instrumental named "Righteous Own" and a cover of the Storm Eagle theme from the video game Mega Man X. The latter's a well done faithful cover, but the former is heavier and has a nice groove, if it's a bit repetitive, so check the above links to hear these and much more from Shane's solo work!
• I've moved ex-Silver Dream drummer Steven Flint's solo project to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. He hasn't posted any real updates since late last July, and he's since deleted his only song "Run To You" for unknown reasons (it was good though, he should bring it back!) Disappointing, but I imagine Steven's keeping busy with his new classic rock cover band Limelight, and if I hear of anything of theirs that might fit on the SMS, I will let you guys know!

That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for some more news and videos tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Powerslug, The Valentine's Day Massacre & 3 Inches Of Blood), Concert Updates, And Case's Music News!!

It's time for our first news post of the month, and it's chock full of recent news and notes to get caught up on, but make sure to check out this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post below this one! Today, we have news on a local music store's impending relocation, and some concert lineup additions, but first, here's LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, starting with one that's very short notice!!

Sault Michigan hard rockers Powerslug are apparently playing at The Bird (a.k.a. Golanka's Bar) TONIGHT! This is the second in a two night weekend engagement at the local bar/concert spot (different from recent Saturday-only gigs), and I sincerely apologize for missing yesterday's show for coverage here. Similar story as usual for why: Guitarist Chris Gurnoe announced the weekend gigs on his personal Facebook page on Tuesday, and they slipped by me yet again (the lack of an online page still doesn't help though), but hopefully there was a good turnout yesterday! That said, Powerslug are still on for tonight at The Bird, and you know this talented band featuring End of Existence and Kilacel alumni will be ready to rock all night long with their entertaining hard rock covers! Note that in my quest to learn more on Powerslug sans online pages, I've seen nothing referencing if singer Aaron Fasel remained with the band after the name change from River Witch, and this new live photo only features members Chris Gurnoe, Chris Leask, and Bob Helsten, so I'm starting to think that Aaron left the band around the same time Ivan Schliska did last year.

If I hear anything definitive, I'll let you guys know, but go see Powerslug TONIGHT! Admission should be free, a 10:00 PM start time is likely, and you must be 21 to attend. Sounds like it'll be a fun show, so go see Powerslug TONIGHT at The Bird, and as I've said before, I'll try and stay better on top of Powerslug news in the future! May not succeed 100% of the time, but I'll try!

Next up, another new Roosevelt Hotel metal night has been announced for next month! Barring an announcement for June 28th, it looks like the series reverts to a bi-weekly schedule starting next Thursday, which would make this newly announced show on July 5th the 47th in the Rosie metal night lineage. Two bands out of a planned three band lineup have been announced so far, including headliners The Valentine's Day Massacre! This will mark the local death metal quartet's third Rosie metal night appearance and their first in almost four months, so look for a devastating set of originals and covers from them on July 5th! Joining them are local hardcore quartet Changing Waves, who haven't been seen on the local stage since January, and though this isn't the very next time you'll see them live (more on that in a second), it's great to see them back! Their energetic and diverse blend of hardcore sounds will surely be fitting at this show! A third band is to be announced for this concert, and we'll of course keep you guys posted as word comes in on that front.

Admission is free as you might expect, a start time of 9:00 or later is likely, but this show will be 19+, which was recently announced for all upcoming Rosie metal nights due to attendance & security concerns on their Facebook page, but the possibility of more all ages shows there does still exist. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be another solid metal concert, and the lineup's shaping up well, so keep an eye out for updates as they roll in!

In another new Roosevelt Hotel concert, metalheads should take notice, as a huge Canadian metal band is coming there next month! The band is the Vancouver-based power metal quintet 3 Inches of Blood, who will make their first Sault Ste. Marie appearance since around 2003 on July 9th, and they'll be sure to deliver a huge set of speed and power metal hits that harken back to old school metal at it's best, including material from their new album "Long Live Heavy Metal"! Also note that 3 Inches of Blood's lineup currently includes ex-Fear Factory bassist Byron Stroud, which is cool in & of itself! They'll be joined by Charlotte, North Carolina melodic death metal quintet Wretched on this tour, and they'll bring an aggressive and brutal mix of sounds and aggressive originals to the Rosie themselves at this Monday night concert! There will be at least two local opening bands, including local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters (nice fit) and one more to be announced, at least, so stay tuned for updates on the lineup. Doors open at 9:00 PM on July 9th for this 19+ show, and tickets will be $10 in advance, with them going on sale within the next week. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Now if this isn't a big metal show for The Rosie, I don't know what is! Kudos to J.D. Pearce from Frightlight for bringing 3IOB here next month, I know this show will be a hit! I still find that the vocals for 3 Inches of Blood are very forced, but their musical abilities and proficiency are top notch, and faces will be melted! Also note that if you have tickets from J.D.'s last promoted show (the Die Mannequin-headlined show last month), you'll get first crack at advance 3IOB tickets, so stay tuned for updates on that, and much more as word comes in on this huge concert!

Also in the news, here's updates on a couple more concerts this month being promoted by Bear Hunters/Borderline Divine guitarist Mitch Sirie! First, the aforementioned Changing Waves have been confirmed as the third band (and now, headliners) for the 45th Rosie metal night this coming Thursday! This will be their first concert in almost 5 months, and though I don't know where they've been over the spring months, it'll be nice to see them rocking the local stage again next week! For more details on this show (opened by fellow local metal acts Winkstinger & Borderline Divine), click here! The other update is that a third out of town band has been added to the all ages concert on June 20th at The Oddfellows Hall, that being the Winnipeg cyber-sludge metal trio Soul Killing Female! They bring a slow but very heavy and diverse blend of metal genres to the table, and their sound will definitely turn heads, so do check them out at the above links! Just note that their new EP "Farewell To Light" is much softer than their older albums. They're slotted third in performance order for this show, with Weak Ends, local standouts Frightlight, and The Royal Red Brigade headlining and local bands Redundant & The Bear Hunters opening. Ticket information is still forthcoming, but click here and visit the above links for more on this show, including the poster on your left!

Lastly today, here's some big news from Case's Music! The popular instrument & lessons store is relocating downtown to 636 Queen Street East on July 9th, a little over a year after they formally re-opened following renovations & an ownership change at their (soon to be former) location at 173 Spring Street. In a statement on Case's Music's Facebook page, it has been indicated that their new home (inside the old Frame Centre location) is being renovated, and they said that the move downtown is their dream. As such, a blowout sale with sales of up to 50% off everything in store will run from this coming Monday until the Spring Street location closes on June 22nd, so if you're interested in discount music equipment, keep this sale in mind this month! Check the above links for details on the move, including timeframes and information relating to their lessons and summer camp. This is bound to be exciting for Jay & Carrie to move Case's Music to a more prominent downtown spot, and for music fans, it's conveniently placed! It'll basically be across the road from The Grand Theatre and just seconds from the new Coch's Corner (formerly Foggy Notions), but I wonder if there'll be added competition with Northland Music, which is half a mile down the road? The future's looking bright, so check the above links for more on Case's Music's pending move!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as we enter the coming week! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Mini-Series: The 2008 Case's Music Battle Of The Bands

It's time for our second of seven weekly installments in the SMS' Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series! As we're doing every Friday until the Humane Society Battle of the Bands on April 20th, we're taking a look back at a notable Sault Ontario battle of the bands from between 2008 & 2010, and though I know this series isn't 100% comprehensive, e-mail me at robertfigures@hotmail.com if you can help add any missing battles or suggest a change or addition! This week's entry is for a notable battle of the bands through a local music store that received some good media notices, so read on below for all you should know from almost four years ago at this battle! (Updated on February 8th, 2016)

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The 2008 Case's Music Battle Of The Bands (May 25th, 2008)

Background: An annual spring event from at least 2007-2009 under the late Mike Case's ownership of local music store Case's Music, this battle of the bands was only well documented by local news media in 2008. Still, this battle of the bands gave young local bands and musicians (many from the Case's Music Rock Camp) a chance to compete and show off their talents with a wider audience. Nine bands in the elementary & high school divisions gathered at The Canadian Nightclub on May 25th, 2008 to perform one original song and one cover each, with judges grading the bands on musicianship, originality, presentation, and songwriting ability, among other criteria, with one winner selected from each division.

Prizes: $100 and recording time at Green Room Productions went to the winners in both the elementary school division & the high school division, with no publicized awards for the other bands. Winners of the individual awards each won a free Case's Music t-shirt.

Competitors: The lineup included 9 young local bands playing varying genres of music, though which ones specifically took part in each division can be hard to determine through available video footage of this event. This battle of the bands included no less than 5 bands fronted by female singers, including Behind Society, Horizon, Imination, The Soo Country Rollers, and Vitamin X, and all played varying forms of rock, though with some punk & indie influences scattered throughout. The other four bands included hard rock quintet Stillbroke, local indie rock trio Caddy Street Avenue, and young local metal bands Fountain of Betrayal and The Unforgiven. Note that many of the competing bands shared one or two members, an occurrence that wasn't isolated to just this Case's Music event.

Results: Stillbroke took most of the evening's awards, winning first place in the high school division, and seeing band members Jesse Frigault, Nathan Bouliane, and Joseph Kargiannakis take home t-shirts for best singer, bassist, and keyboardist respectively. Fountain of Betrayal won first place in the elementary school division, while the remaining individual awards went to The Unforgiven's Ray Cowan for best guitarist & Caddy Street Avenue's Andrew Dal Cin for best drummer. The remaining seven bands did not receive a publically announced ranking, nor did any other individual performers.

Aftermath: Despite SooToday's praise of the lineup as "the future of the Sault music scene", most of the bands who competed at this battle of the bands didn't survive beyond Case's Music concerts and functions, though a couple of the bands did have some lasting success. Notably, Stillbroke's various lineups became a prominent sight through early 2010 at numerous concerts, including opening for Helix, doing some out of town shows, and releasing their debut EP "Never Enough" in the fall of 2009. After going on a lengthy break & changing their name to Borderline Divine in late 2011, they played three concerts in mid-2012 before going inactive that summer. Caddy Street Avenue had similar success in their indie rock genre, releasing a debut EP "Is This It?" in 2009 among other notable gigs following the battle, including opening for bands like The Brat Attack, before going inactive in early 2011. The remaining bands did not do much locally outside of the Case's Music umbrella that I know of after the battle, and all were likely considered inactive by 2009. I also recall The Unforgiven playing at an outdoor metal show in August 2007 at the Bellevue Park Bandshell, for what that's worth.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal or punk in italics):
Bring The Fallen (Travis St. Amour from Fountain of Betrayal)
Five Oceans (Patrick Dal Cin from Caddy Street Avenue; based out of London)
The Glass Thieves (Adam Fortais, Patrick Dal Cin, and Andrew Dal Cin from London; based out of London)
Joseph Kargi (Joseph Kargiannakis from Stillbroke)
Late & Loud (Josh Hatherley from Behind Society)
Lazer Queen (Josh Hatherley from Behind Society)
March Into Regression (Ray Cowan from The Unforgiven and Tyler & Travis St. Amour from Fountain of Betrayal)
The Outside Lights (Nathan Bouliane, John Armstrong, and Joseph Kargiannakis from Stillbroke)
Run Coyote (Andrew Dal Cin from Caddy Street Avenue; based out of London)
Them (Tyler St. Amour from Fountain of Betrayal) 

Trivia:

• The judges for this battle were veteran local musician & current Case's Music owner Jay Case, prominent local solo artists Shannon Moan & Tracey Hilderly, noted local rock/country singer & drummer Greg Simpson, and former Bud Shamble collaborator Rob Gilmar. Greg Simpson & Jay Case notably had some battle experience of their own the following year at the Kiss Battle of the Bands, though with differing success levels: Greg made the finals with Stiffler's Mom, but Jay's band Huckster didn't make it out of the first round. Jay later served as MC, judge, and co-organizer of the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands in April 2013, echoing his uncle Mike's hosting of this battle.
• Stillbroke used their recording time won at this battle to record their original song "Sick & Tired" at Green Room Productions. The song wouldn't make the cut for their debut EP "Never Enough" the following year, but the included song "No Reason" is very similar in structure. Whatever became of Fountain of Betrayal's recording time isn't publically known.
• Photographs on an expired website from a Case's Music concert circa 2007/2008 show prolific local musician Kyle McKey playing with each band that day, including 5 of the 9 bands from the 2008 Case's Music Battle, likely implying that he worked as an instructor there at one point during the timeframe of this battle. Kyle would later become a full time member of another competing band, Stillbroke, in 2009 & early 2010.
• After Fountain of Betrayal's dissolution, drummer Travis St. Amour kept his good battle of the bands luck going with two battle wins out of three tries with his new death metal band Bring The Fallen in December 2009 & May 2010. They also won the YMCA Battle in March 2009 under the name The Undead Warriors, but Travis hadn't joined the band yet.
• Behind Society drummer Josh Hatherley would see greater battle success in the following years, placing third at the YMCA Battle of the Bands in March 2009 with his then-band The Glass Statues, followed by a close first place finish (and a "Best Ensemble" trophy) with his most recent band Late & Loud at the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands in April 2012, and another finals run with them in April 2013.
• Stillbroke's Jesse Frigault & Sam DeDominicis would later compete at the Kiss Battle of the Bands in December 2009 with Stillbroke's classic lineup (including the aforementioned Kyle McKey and drummer Jenny Hooper), but lightning didn't strike twice for them, as they weren't voted into the finals.
• A couple of bands featuring Stillbroke bassist Nathan Bouliane almost saw action in later battles of the bands at The Grand Theater, those being indie rock quintet The Outside Lights (featuring 3/5ths of Stillbroke's battle lineup) at the YMCA Battle in March 2009 and blues rock quartet The Moves at the Humane Society Battle in April 2012. However, both bands would drop out prior to the respective events.
• Fountain of Betrayal frontman Tyler St. Amour was briefly scheduled to play 2015's VM Radio Battle of the Bands (also at The Canadian) with his newer death metal project Them, but they dropped out for unannounced reasons and were replaced by local metal trio Infamous, though both bands feature Anthony Boudreau on drums.

Videos:
Clips of each band & the award presenations from SooToday (original link here)



Sources/More Information:
Review, photos, and video from SooToday
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Two down, five to go in this mini-series! Hopefully you guys enjoyed this week's look back, and as for next Friday, we'll be looking at the YMCA Battle of the Bands at The Grand Theater from March 2009! A lot of newer local bands (at the time) rocked the stage for this one, and we'll tell you guys all about what happened, where many of the bands and performers are now, and so on this coming Friday! Until then, stay tuned for more news later today, along with our next Defunct Local Band Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

The End Of State Of Misery, The Return Of Case's Music, And New Videos!!

Hey guys, I have some big news for you all today! I this post, we have a new rehearsal video from a prominent local band, the return of a notable music store, and this week's classic video, but first, here's some huge news concerning another band's demise.

Local death metal band State of Misery have officially broken up. The news was surprisingly revealed on the band's Facebook page this morning, with a short statement which said that the band "appears to be done now", and the page will now announce new projects from band members if they come along. Prior to this announcement, drummer Nick Kainula had left the band (as indicated here), but it looks like the remaining members have still pulled the plug. This concludes a tumultuous month that saw the departure of guitarist Ray Cowan and a lot of disappointing and surprising comments and rumours that I won't go into here. In their 6 month run in the local metal scene, they gained a loyal following and had some really cool originals under their belts, and opened for bands like Woods of Ypres & Dead and Divine during that span! I'm in no position to go into detail about what led to their breakup, but it's a disappointing shame all around, and they had such promise and big plans ahead of them! Check the above links for more on the situation, and I definitely wish Steve, Ray, Kevin, Devon, and Nick the best in their future plans! I know I'm not the only one who wants to see them back on stage in some form!

How about some happier news now? Well, do you remember in June of last year when I mentioned that local music store Case's Music had undergone an ownership change from Mike Case to his nephew Jay, and would be re-opening after renovations in September? Well, it looks like the renovations got delayed, but now, Case's Music is celebrating with a grand re-opening party at their 173 Spring Street location on Saturday, May 28th! What's going on that day? Well, in-store, all items are up to 50% off, but outside, there's a lot going on! From 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, bands will be playing outside for fans, including local rock quintet Blues Harvest (one of my favourite non-metal local bands), Jay Case's own funk/blues trio Big Wheel & The Spokes, many Case's Music students, and "special guests"! The first 200 people who show up will get free gift bags with merchandise and deals from Case's Music & it's contained establishments Blush & Shampoo Alley, and there will be free food & draws for varying prizes all afternoon! Click here or check the poster for more details. Sounds like a cool event, especially if you like shopping (or learning) at Case's Music! Keep an eye on it at the end of the month, you might like the store even more if you go on the 28th, and you might get some free stuff out of it! Congratulations on the re-opening!

We'll close today with some new videos, and this one should interest you Gates of Winter fans! Guitarist Bryan Belleau recently launched a brand new YouTube channel to replace his prior now-deleted channel (which had some classic Gates videos that are now gone, sadly. Hopefully they come back!) However, this new channel has a couple new videos, including one of Bryan playing the Iced Earth song "The Phantom Opera Ghost". Well played, and as a big Iced Earth fan, I approve! Click here to check it out, and note the Woods of Ypres guitar too! However, the top story here is a new Gates of Winter rehearsal video that Bryan posted, which is an awesome sign! The video, which is just under 56 seconds long, features Bryan, singer/guitarist Lee Maines, and keyboardist Brian Holmes (Steve Furgiuele & Jon Morrison are absent) jamming part of a promising sounding original from their upcoming CD! It's not much, but for their second rehearsal for the new CD, and with just 3/5ths of the band present, I'm impressed! I can't wait to hear more, but for now, check out the new Gates of Winter rehearsal video below, and check the above links for more Gates of Winter news!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! With a slightly slower weekend overall, I've picked a video from a band not playing this weekend for a change. In fact, we haven't seen them on stage in 15 months! The band in question is Sense of Truth, and I picked one of the few videos I've seen not on YouTube already, this time from the Foggy Notions grand re-opening concert on December 18th, 2009! Featuring the band's most recent full lineup, the video features Sense of Truth playing their original "Push & Pull" and covering Tool's "Stinkfist". It was filmed by an attendee of the show, and later uploaded by drummer Ryan Haryett onto the band's Facebook group. I split the video in half to separate the songs when uploaded to our YouTube channel, but the original uncut video can be seen at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=227628782303&oid=15425932126. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! I want people to see this video, it's from a good performance on a notable night for fans and staff of Foggy's, and it'll get well deserved exposure on YouTube!

The quality's about medium, with a smaller resolution and slightly muted audio, but the band sound good, and Cory Murchison's energy level's at a high here during both songs! I missed this show, as I wanted the Foggy's re-opening to be enjoyed by people who actually experienced Foggy's way back (I wasn't of age to go there until May 2008), but this looks like it would have been a great concert! Below is the video for "Push & Pull", but click here or check the above links to see their performance of "Stinkfist", featuring a special guest on vocals!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week, along with weekend concert previews & my review of "Soo Stories"! Thanks everyone!

New Kiss Videos, Upcoming Album Updates, And A Look Back At 2008's Case's Music Battle Of The Bands!!

I'm back with at least one more assorted news post before we review Sykotyk Rampage's "Bella Disgusta", and today, we have some newly uploaded videos, and some new details on a couple upcoming local metal albums, so let's start with a pair of new videos!

Hey Kiss fans, we have two new videos to share from last month's Kiss concert at The Essar Center! These come courtesy of YouTube user bigphatwilly, who uploaded these videos onto his YouTube channel on Friday. Neither are of the highest quality video we've seen compared to similar videos of either song, but here's what you should know! One is a two minute clip including the first part of "I Was Made For Loving You", preceded by Paul Stanley's crowd rallying that led to his zipline voyage to the other end of the arena. The audio isn't bad when it's just talking, but when the song starts, it does get staticy. However, bigphatwilly's seat gave him a great angle of where Paul landed for the song, so that's worth noting! Click the song's title to check it out! The other is embedded below, and it's his video of "Detroit Rock City"! It's a far angle clip that has some blur, but it captures the pyro explosions pretty well! Other than that, it's about the same audio and video quality as the "I Was Made For Loving You" video, but cause it's longer and has the full song, it's embedded below, so check it out! And for more new Kiss videos, click here or visit the above links!



Next up, here's updates on a pair of local albums! I've edited our September "Where Are The New Albums?" post to reflect these, but that was posted three days ago, and I'm not sure how many of you go back to read stuff that old, so I'll tell you guys what's new on that front! Firstly, recording sessions for Garden of Bedlam's full length debut, tentatively titled "Everything Will Die", have NOT completed yet. At Thursday's Endast show, frontman Buzz told me that there were still some vocal tracks to finish up at Stereo Soul Studios, and he said that the Kiss situation and opening for them threw their recording schedule out of whack. But never fear, they are almost done!

The other new update comes from Sykotyk Rampage, who recently made some changes to their release schedule. Rather than releasing a double album named "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of Intellect" with 25 songs, they will split the album into two separately packaged albums with 12 songs each. One, retaining the original name and album artwork, will have the first 12 songs in order, while the second half will now be titled "Genius Mushrooms With Thoughts Of Stupidity" (artwork on your left), and will feature the remaining songs, with the exception of "Silence", which was removed from the track listing. Maybe it really was just silence, explaining the removal? Both halves of this concept series which delves "into the realm of hallucinogenic musical brainscans" are still scheduled for a December 1st release, but if their last two albums are any indication, they could very well be released later than that. For more information on Sykotyk Rampage's 24th and 25th albums, check out their discography on their Facebook page!

And finally for today, here's a classic video find that I couldn't help but post online to help keep it well exposed! Yesterday, when I was researching Stillbroke bassist Nathan Bouliane's first tenure with the band, I came across SooToday's review of the 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub which Stillbroke competed in. And wouldn't you know it, there was a video attached, which was filmed by SooToday's Tyler Simpson and later edited and posted with the article! It featured 30 second clips of all 9 competing bands, including Behind Society, Caddy Street Avenue, Fountain of Betrayal, Horizon, Imination, The Soo Country Rollers, Stillbroke, The Unforgiven, and Vitamin X, followed by the award announcements from former Case's Music owner Mike Case. The winners in the high school division were Stillbroke, and the elementary school division winners were Fountain of Betrayal, with each band recieving $100 and recording time at Green Room Studios. I know Stillbroke used theirs to record "Sick & Tired", though I'm not sure what came of Fountain of Betrayal's recording time. Individual awards went to Stillbroke's Jesse Frigault for best singer & Nathan Bouliane for best bassist, Caddy Street Avenue's Andrew Dal Cin for best drummer, and one of The Unforgiven's guitar players for best guitarist, though I couldn't make out his name in the video, which I'll show you guys in a second!

It's been over 2 years since this battle, and I wanted to point out some other interesting notes from it, if that's alright! Firstly, I noticed that SooToday's above article referred to the bands as "the future of the Sault music scene", but of them, I think only two are still active under that name, Stillbroke and Caddy Street Avenue. There's lots of familiar faces though, like The Unforgiven, who I remember seeing at an outdoor show at Bellevue Park that year. Interesting to see Stillbroke's original form too, which also included current drummer Sam DeDominicis on guitar & original members John Armstrong on drums & Joe Kargianakkis on the keyboard! You may recognize John, Joe, and Nathan as members of the local indie band The Outside Lights as well. I'm really interested in what happened to Fountain of Betrayal (pictured), cause for elementary school kids, they were pretty talented, and were metal to boot! It's odd seeing some musicians in multiple bands too, but I've heard that happening before at other Case's Music functions. The bands were of varying quality and genre, but most of them had some real promise! And, it's nice to see that all of the awards except one went to the metal and hard rock bands, but that's the metalhead in me talking!

The Case's Music battles were a great way to help out young local musicians, and here's hoping they come back in 2011! Because the SooToday article isn't liable to be read frequently enough to give this video proper exposure, I decided to upload it to The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel to give it the exposure it deserves! Remember, I didn't film this video, Tyler Simpson from SooToday did, he deserves 100% of the credit, and I'm uploading this with THE BEST POSSIBLE INTENT! The original video file can be downloaded at this location, or from the original SooToday article, and I MEAN NO HARM OR INFRINGEMENT! That being said, check out the highlights of the 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands below! (The Unforgiven are 0:31 in, and Stillbroke are at 4:31, with Fountain of Betrayal and the awards immediately following them.)



That's all for now, but stay tuned for my review of Sykotyk Rampage's "Bella Disgusta", which is looking likelier and likelier to be our next post! Stay tuned for that, and more!