LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Even Flow, BookcluB, And Tym Morrison) & The M1 Concert Preview!!

An unusually busy Tuesday & Wednesday lie ahead in terms of hard rock/punk concerts in Sault Ontario, so today's post mostly focuses on them, including LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (two on SHORT NOTICE), so here's what you should know for this week and beyond!

Local punk/alternative cover sextet BookcluB have announced a new concert slate that kicks off TOMORROW NIGHT as the second band at this year's Summer Concert Series at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion! Apologies for the short notice, the full band schedule was only announced on social media on Thursday. Following an Elvis Presley tribute on Saturday, BookcluB (replacing Mid Life Crysis for unannounced reasons, source here) will kick off the usual Tuesday/Thursday evening schedule for this annual City of Sault Ste. Marie-booked concert series running through mid-August, and hopefully there's a good turnout under the big tent TOMORROW for this talented group and their often unexpected covers! The photo used by the City for official promotion is old, remember that ex-Hails guitarist Carmen Muto has replaced Brandon Ruch. TOMORROW's concert is FREE and all ages from 7:00-9:00 PM, as standard in this series.

9&10 News is calling for partly cloudy skies tomorrow (tent acknowledged) with temperatures of 26-27°, so please prepare for the warm and humid conditions even at this later point. The rest of BookcluB's summer calendar was (oddly) only announced via their Instagram page, and it includes their already-known Rotaryfest Stage 1 set next Saturday, plus shows coinciding with Downtown Street Party #3 and the returning Wolf Fest, so I'll hold comment on them pending full announcements from organizers. See above for more details, and here's BookcluB live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has announced his annual return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage beside The Trading Post for another regular concert arrangement, and it actually began this past Wednesday, continuing THIS WEDNESDAY and running every Wednesday through mid-September! Apologies for missing Tym's Canada Day gig and for the short notice on show #2 THIS WEDNESDAY, I only heard about his return to the Mike Case Stage yesterday via his batch Facebook event page for this residency. Tym is a regular summer sight at the outdoor 1332 Great Northern Road stage beside the Big Moose Ice Cream Parlour, but this year, he is scheduled every Wednesday like clockwork for 2½ months, a schedule that is obviously weather permitting. As we usually do when Tym announces a glut of regularly scheduled shows at one venue at once, we'll go month by month for our calendar.

As such, his July 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th shows are all now listed, and we'll roll the August ones in later in the month. WEDNESDAY'S concert (as well as the rest of them, and last week's) runs from 6:30-8:30 PM with no age limit or cover charge. Be advised that 9&10 News is currently calling for a 60% chance of rain from 6-7:00 PM on WEDNESDAY at the tail end of likely rain from the morning onwards, so check with Tym and/or follow your preferred weather forecast if you are at all concerned (temperatures are projected to be 21°). Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for missing show #1 last week, and here's Tym live!

Before we wrap up this batch of mid-week concert previews, here's one more new show for the aforementioned Roberta Bondar Pavilion's Summer Concert Series, and in the only other scheduled show that crosses our genre radar, newer local Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow will take the stage there on Tuesday, July 28th! Last seen at Downtown Street Party #1, this concert gives the Summer Concert Series an unusually grungy and alt-edged collection of covers from this talented supergroup, and if you've seen Rob, Steve, Cameron, Mike, and Derek in concert since their debut last fall, you know they have a good handle on Pearl Jam classics, including many cuts that aren't among the usual FM radio suspects! Of course, I do hope that the recent heatwave breaks well before this Tuesday evening concert at month's end, which is the fifth of eleven in the Summer Concert Series for 2026, so fingers crossed that it is cooler out!

Like with BookcluB there TOMORROW NIGHT, the Even Flow concert in three weeks is a FREE & all ages concert from 7:00-9:00 PM, and potential rain shouldn't screw things up given the tent. Visit the above links for more on Even Flow's next headlining date! 

Finally for today, we'll travel back to this week, as there's one more mid-week show to preview, albeit one that had lots of advance notice, as Calgary-based Motorhead tribute band M1 will play their second local concert on WEDNESDAY NIGHT at Beck's Bar! Fans of the British rock legends will remember seeing M1 debut here exactly 52 weeks prior to their return on Wednesday, and while this being mid-week again isn't ideal for many, at least it's not a school night for most! M1 don't exactly look like Motorhead, but they pay strong homage to Lemmy and crew with their take on their classic back catalog, so look for a fun night of gravelly vocals and fast rock & roll in their local encore! Like last year, they're easing into the metal ahead with an acoustic singer/guitarist as opener, with recent Dive Gastro Pub regular and Soo's Got Talent alum Arin Karki leading off on Wednesday.

Myself, I'd have a proper electric band to set the tone, but Arin does cover the occasional hard rock song, and hopefully he leaves a good impression beforehand! While last year's show had no cover, this year's will cost $5 at the door, which still beats what Crazy Babies cost! Arin leads off the night at 7:00 PM, and this is a 19+ concert as usual. Visit the above links for more on what should be a fun concert for Motorhead fans, and here's M1 live!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS this week! Thanks everyone!

Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween Concert Review, Plus A New Concert Video!!

In this post, we have a review of a Halloween concert from this past weekend, and a video of a separate local show from that same night, so here's what you should know on this Monday evening!

Apologies for the delay in this making the site, but I (in a Calvin & Hobbes costume) was able to go to most of Piecing It Together Shows' Halloween concert a the Fraternal Order of Eagles club at 246 Wellington Street West on Saturday night! Just down the road from the Primavera Hall, the Eagles Club definitely felt like a tale of two venues when we first arrived, with the right half being where the concert was set up and the left being more where Eagles regulars were mingling at the bar and watching the Leafs game, but this got mixed up as the night progressed. Definitely didn't feel like a traditional concert venue (likely because it's not one), but kudos to the Eagles Club for hosting some P.I.T.S. events this year Unfortunately, we were running late for the concert and missed the opening set by local electro/synth musician Owen Kjiersdam, a.k.a. Owen MK, so I do apologize to him for not seeing him live!

Owen did post a brief clip of him (dressed as Jack Skellington) singing on Saturday night on his personal Facebook page, so seek that out if you're curious. It's at the end of a "Reel" that starts with video of him at The Soo's Got Talent's last week. From what little I heard, he was singing with confidence and enthusiasm, but it's not a long watch, so I don't know if things got as intense as the bands ahead in unfilmed portions of the night. I do think he does better when he leans more into how his studio material sounds, but hopefully we see Owen back out there soon!

The middle act last night was hardcore punk/crossover thrash quartet Hails, who unleashed an eleven song set of aggressive and fast-paced original music! With the non-Muto members in costume (albeit with items shed as the set wore on), Ha!ls tore through an eleven song set featuring originals like "Serf City" and "Such Desperate Joy" and a few songs carried over from frontman Brenton Ellis' acoustic solo project Slumshine like "BiPolaris" and "Sole Crusher", though surprisingly, nothing from their EP "Rock & Rolls" (despite it being on sale on CD and cassette). The guys were on brutal form on Saturday, with a very fast and heavy sound that pushes their earlier descriptions of being a skate punk band way to the backburner, with Brent full of confidence and honesty on vocals and bass, while Mikhal & Carmen Muto both shone on guitar with some impressive solos, and Keeghan McAllister kept up well on drums!

I do like how many songs had changes in structure and tempo that made you feel like the song was going to end, but it kept going while still feeling natural (I hope that made sense). The Vanity First side project delivered a brutal set for gathered fans, so don't bypass them if you like thrash metal!

Your headliners on Saturday were Toronto grunge/alternative trio Skoff in their local concert debut, and they definitely delivered a fun set to end the night with! You can see proof in my video of theirs, as a bunch of costumed fans hit the floor to dance and rock out mid-song (fan of the night is whoever was wearing the chicken mask!) It was often hard to hear the vocalist introducing songs, but they played tracks like "Cancel Culture", "F.A.F.O.", and "Let Me Out", sometimes using an old telephone headset as a microphone, which was neat!  While not a fully packed house, assembled fans definitely took to Skoff's aggressive, 1990s inspired sound, and the band was dressed up for the occasion, so everyone definitely had a good time to end the night. Skoff are still a relatively newer band, but their future is bright, and hopefully they come back to the Soo in the near future!

Overall, this was a fun concert and it's nice to see a multi-band show taking place for the Halloween season again! Hopefully there's more along these lines in 2025. You can see our photos and videos of Skoff and Hails (apologies again to Owen MK) at this link or at our Facebook page, but here's our videos of Ha!ls playing the Slunshine holdover "Pink Clouds Of Density" and Skoff playing an original that may be titled something like "Guess When I Die"! Let us know if you can help title it.

We'll close this post with a video from another Saturday night concert, albeit not a public one, as newer Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Dirty Musky posted a video of them at a private birthday party event at Three One Three On Ashmun onto their Facebook page! The video sees Dave, the Blackwoods, and Jamie covering White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65", which is awesome just in concept, as Rob/White Zombie isn't tackled much up here! Uploaded in funny vertical dimensions, the lighting isn't fantastic, but this is a well played and lively cover, though Dave's vocals could be a little grittier to better match the original. Check it out for yourselves below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review and more news and notes on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Sault Pridefest Loud & Proud Family Fun Day Concert Review!!

The day after I saw eight bands in under four hours at Rotaryfest, I headed back downtown for one more free outdoor(-ish) concert yesterday, namely the annual Loud & Proud family fun day that kicks off Sault Pridefest every year, pandemic willing! I can't compare first-hand to how Loud & Proud was at the Bushplane Museum, but yesterday's entertainment was under the big tent of the Roberta Bondar Pavilion, and while it was another warm July afternoon, the shade and provided tables/chairs helped along with drinks and refreshments from vendors! Despite an advertised run-time of 1:00-4:00 PM, musicians didn't begin their formal sets until 2:00 PM, giving attendees lots of time to check out the vendors, crafters, and businesses supporting Pridefest, and of course, I'm fully supportive of the local LGBTQ+ community and the causes they're fighting for, so I was glad to be there! I wish it wasn't so muggy, but that's out of their hands.

After introductions from Sault Pride chair Amanda Zuke, the first band up yesterday was local hard rock quintet HeadFirst, fresh off of their Rotaryfest Stage 2 debut the previous day. I was unable to see them at Clergue Park, but this was a fair make-up date! Their eight song set included six covers, including Joan Jett and Weezer songs with bassist Claire Jeffrey on lead vocals (trading roles with singer Red Jettison), as well as covers of Green Day, The Pixies, and The Flobots. They ended with two originals from their debut EP "Head Trauma", which was indeed on sale in limited physical copies at Pridefest! We'll have more on the EP in the coming days, but they played "Don't Care, Don't Mind" and "Take You Down", the latter seeing guitarist Liam Dinsmore and drummer Anthony Boudreau trading roles. Everyone put in a good and energetic showing for the all-ages audience, and Red was more animated when playing bass here!

Raine Rancourt had some strong lead guitar work, and while I'll hold comment on the originals pending next month's review of "Head Trauma", the guys had a tight set with strong musicianship and some good crowd banter! Of course, if you want to hear a lot more from HeadFirst, including more originals, come see them at Shooters Downstairs Lounge for their EP's proper launch party this Saturday night! In between the musical acts at Loud & Proud, two local drag perfomers came to lip sync and dance throughout the pavilion while interacting with attendees. The two performers were Lana Von Archer (who lip synced to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and Robyn's "Dancing On Your Own" and Luke McAnally-Gore-Shadow (who lip synced to Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse's "Valerie" and Busted & Hanson's "MMMBop 2.0"), with each doing a song after the first two acts.

I'm very new when it comes to drag, so I apologize if I sound ill informed, but Lana definitely showed off some impressive moves when making her way through the pavilion (those splits and tumbles got a strong fan reaction!), while Luke's dancing was much more casual and jauntier, but still fun all the same, and a perfect fit for a Sault Pride event! The middle performer yesterday was local folk singer/ukeleleist Giimiwan Ikwe, who I have seen perform in less formal settings than this, but never at an advertised & scheduled concert. Giimiwan (who uses they/them pronouns) mostly played acoustic covers of songs by the likes of The Four Tops, Jason Mraz, Tom Petty, and Otis Redding, with their cover of The Animals' "The House Of The Rising Sun" being greatly altered with new & longer lyrics. Only a couple of originals here, including the set closer featuring drumming from their sister and shaker percussion from their daughter.

Giimiwan (whose father is a family friend on my dad's side) sounded good on these minimalistic but authentic performances, with a good singing voice and quality messages to convey, and they added some strong variety and culture to the proceedings! After the last drag performances, Loud & Proud ended with a short five song set by local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, who don't play live all that often, so it was good to see them back out there! Famous for featuring no guitar at all, they covered songs by Say Anything, Millencolin, and Metric, though I wasn't 100% certain if their set opener was an original or not. Frontman Paul Stanghetta (of Smeltzer and The Fury renown) added some edgy zest to these heavier and more abrasive songs, and now featuring prolific local punk guitarist Mikhal Muto (Vanity First, Hails, et al.) on second bass, the distorted and locally unique sound won over some new fans!

Paul's wife Amanda kept the beat well on drums, and their more aggressive takes on some unexpected covers ended things on a cool note for this reviewer, but I can see why their guitar-devoid sound will be an acquired taste for some. Strong finish, and hopefully we see The A.A. back at it (and with better social media advertising) soon! Overall, this was an entertaining community event that the LGBTQ+ community, allies, and/or music fans in general could find something to like at! I just wish that Sault Pride did a better and more consistent job with advertising the scheduled musicians by name, as they are a pull for attendees to come out, but I only heard about the lineup from the performers themselves. You can see our photos from Loud & Proud at this link or via our Facebook page, and I also shot videos of the three musical acts! I didn't film Lana & Luke because Facebook's copyright bots won't play ball with their backing tracks.

In order, here's HeadFirst covering Judas Priest's "Breaking The Law", Giimiwan Ikwe covering The Steve Miller Band's "The Joker", and The Apocalypse Afterparty covering Foster The People's "Pumped Up Kicks"!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert fallout by other people/sites on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (BookcluB) & Their Brand New Facebook Page!!

Today's post is almost entirely devoted to one local band in particular, and one that I no longer have to include the "online page-less" qualifier for in write-ups! LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS lie within as well, so here's what you should know on this rainy Sunday morning!

We have a new-ish local band to add to our links, and they are BookcluB, at long last! Despite debuting on stage at Outspoken Brewing's Oktoberfest concert in 2022, it took over 20 months for the band to launch a Facebook page, so now we can link them here and they can publically promote gigs on social media! As you may know, BookcluB is the current live project from former Inner City Surfers/Rising Tide bandmates Mikey Hawdon & Dustin Jones, albeit in different roles (Mikey on vocals & guitar, Dustin on bass). Since debuting, they have been joined by drummer Allan Watson (ex-Room 206) and trumpet player Erin Antonello, while Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling came on board by last fall to round out their horn section. Handsome Sandwich/ex-Generations guitarist Brandon Ruch is the band's newest member, joining over the winter to replace fellow Surfers/Room 206 alum Dave Bahun.

Rather than sticking to most members' punk backgrounds, BookcluB specialize in alternative and indie rock covers, often songs that other local bands don't play. There's enough here to cross the SMS' radar based on their complete playlist and background, and of course, they'd theoretically do a bang-up job on ska punk with Josh & Erin around! BookcluB have played numerous festivals and community events since debuting, far moreso than traditional bar gigs, including sets last year at the Fringe North and Summer Moon Festivals, a Queen Street block party last August, Mikey's pre-wedding concert at Soo Blaster featuring multiple bands of his, and two December headlining dates at LopLops, among other events. Recently seen at the Great Lakes Outdoor Show and Searchmont's Spring Bash, BookcluB's next show (weather permitting?) is at Thomson Farms today at 1:00 PM during their first ever teddy bear picnic.

Other previously announced dates from them ahead include their second straight Rotaryfest Stage 1 set at Clergue Park on Saturday, July 20th, before playing at the second annual Salty Marie Trails Fest at Hiawatha Highlands the following week. It is newly confirmed that local pop rock cover band The Dead Stops (featuring Garden of Bedlam & Sense of Truth alumni) will be opening there, so look for them at the Trails Fest too! Three dates (one oddly not referenced on the band's Facebook page yet) are new to us, including a reported set this weekend during Poutine Feast, which moves to the new Downtown Plaza this year after previously being held outside of the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site. Given the relatively late notice, I'll hold off on formally going into details at this juncture, but we'll have more for our Canada Day weekend concert previews (last year, Poutine Feast organizers only announced the full entertainment lineups on the Tuesday prior).

The next date is the one that BookcluB didn't mention (yet), as they'll return to The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Thursday, August 8th! This show takes place during the city of Sault Ste. Marie's annual Summer Concert Series under the big tent, with musicians again playing there on Tuesdays and Thursdays in July & August, though BookcluB are the only real SMS-amenable band scheduled for 2024 (click here for the full performer lineup). BookcluB played in this series last summer too, and hopefully they get a solid crowd and non-humid weather for the occasion! This Thursday nighter takes place at 7:00 PM, it's definitely all ages, and there is no cover charge. Lastly for today's BookcluB announcements, they will hit The Machine Shop on Saturday, September 28th when they play at The ARCH Bucket List Ball, a returning charity event to support the Algoma Regional Community Hospice.

The ball will feature "an abundance of alluring adventures", including dinner and refreshments, caricature portraits, a magician, tattoos, and more entertainment to support ARCH, and hopefully there's a great turnout for the cause this fall! Note that organizers have not confirmed BookcluB's involvement online, let alone possible other musicians. A 5:00 PM start time is advertised for this all ages event, but given the charity ball nature and all you get for going, tickets cost $125 (you can buy them and 10-person table seating at this link). We'll pick things back up for BookcluB with our Poutine Feast late notice preview later this week, but see above for much more on them now that they have social media! Thanks everyone!

HeadFirst Concert Review, Plus The Latest Mikey & His Uke Cover Videos!!

I hope everyone is having a good Family and/or Presidents' Day! This post leans more to readers who have Family Day off, specifically via a surprise Sault Ontario concert review and an ambitious new punk cover project, so here's what you should know!

For my first concert review of 2024, I went to see local hard rock quartet HeadFirst's solo headlining debut at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on Saturday night, also the first time that I've seen everyone except drummer Anthony Boudreau in concert. We saw the band's first two sets, in which HeadFirst covered multiple songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Tragically Hip, along with songs by the likes of The Band, The Cranberries, Pink Floyd, Green Day, and... The Flobots? I did get the sense from the set contents that HeadFirst were backloading their heavier/metal-leaning songs for the end of the night, perhaps to appeal to a wider audience when things were busier early on. While pictured instrument roles were largely unchanged from their promotional materials, singer Red Jettison showed his multi-instrumental skills by playing guitar, bass, and keyboard on select songs, with bassist Claire Jeffrey took over lead vocals on three tracks.

Performance-wise, HeadFirst impressed with a strong talent base, with Raine Rancourt's lead guitar work & Liam Dinsmore's rhythm playing showing a lot of promise, and Anthony's drumming was as solid as fans should expect from his 2010s metal bands. As a pure frontman, Red exuded stage presence when he was just singing and not playing an instrument, which is instantly welcomed and will definitely help set HeadFirst apart locally! Much of that was negated when he was playing an instrument though. The rest of the band could be more animated too, but Raine & Anthony aside, they're new to me in local bands, so that should improve in time. On the songs with Claire singing lead, she did showcase a good voice, but I do think that they could pick songs better suited to her range, especially not The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up", which I find to be exceedingly overplayed by local bands, even ironically.

Overall, HeadFirst have a strong talent base and old school-leaning set to attract an audience, and I know the best is yet to come from them, so be sure to see them live to see what they bring to the table, including this weekend at Jay's and back at Shooters on June 1st! While an official band photographer got some much better/closer pictures of them on Saturday for their Facebook page, you can check out mine at this link or via our Facebook page (I hate being that guy in everyone's road). I also got a video of HeadFirst covering The Arctic Monkeys' "Do I Wanna Know?", so check that out for yourselves below!

Next up, it's been a while (4+ months!) since we've seen new content from local punk supergroup project Mikey & His Uke, but there may be a good reason for that in progress. As you may know, February 1st of this year marked the 30th anniversary of the release of Green Day's breakthrough studio album "Dookie", which founder Mikey Hawdon has noted as being a highly influential release that was his gateway into not just punk music, but towards playing and writing music of his own. To honour "Dookie" and Green Day for the anniversary, Mikey plans to record and release all-star covers of every single song on this album, which will add up to fourteen covers when all is said and done (fifteen if Mikey & crew decide to tackle the bonus song "All By Myself"). Each song is being released in order of the album's track listing to the project's YouTube channel, and three have made their way there at press time, spaced 7-8 days apart each.

Given the circumstances of this being a wider project covering the same album by the same three-piece band, each of the songs (so far?) has the same three instrumentalists. Mikey is on guitar and (initially as always) ukelele here alongside Buck-O-Nine bassist Andy Plafoot and ex-Goldfinger drummer Darren Pfeiffer, both no strangers to Mikey & His Uke. Each of the "Dookie" covers will feature a guest singer, and on the first three songs (the deep cuts "Burnout", "Having A Blast", and "Chump"), the respective vocalists are Loved Ones/Falcon alum Dave Hause, Pulley singer Scott Radinsky, and Ataris frontman Kris Roe. The "Burnout" video is mostly in black & white, albeit with some post-production filters, with Darren wearing a Soo Greyhounds jersey for his footage (nice touch!) On "Having A Blast", things are in colour, and Scott is filmed singing in multiple unique locales and angles.

"Chump" is also in colour and is moreso a straightforward remotely performance clip. In all three, watch for nods to Green Day, plus more hockey jerseys from Darren, and a newly shot outro/Patreon plug at the end of each, featuring Mikey and his baby daughter. As a fan, I think my favourite of these is "Having A Blast" (it helps that I was already a Pulley fan), but all three are tightly performed covers that Green Day and Mikey & His Uke fans won't want to miss! If the release pattern of 7-8 days between videos continues, then look for "Longview" later this week, and look for the rest of "Dookie" to crop up into early May, but give "Burnout" and the rest (so far) a watch above and below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bookclub) Plus Some New Video Uploads!!

I hope that all of our Canadian readers had a good Canada Day, however you chose to celebrate! The long weekend isn't over yet, so here's some all-Sault Ontario content to check out, including a bunch of new videos, and to lead off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local alternative/Punk cover quintet Bookclub will take part in this year's Summer Concert Series at the Roberta Bondar Pavilion when they take to the stage under the big tent THIS TUESDAY! Apologies for the short notice, the schedule was only announced on the Roberta Bondar Park & Marina's Facebook page this past Tuesday. As Bookclub are kicking off the concert series, this was always destined to be covered on short notice here, Bookclub's lack of an online page to publically promote their own shows with acknowledged. Surprisingly, Bookclub are the only band of a hard rock/punk-leaning persuasion to play at this year's summer concert series, which sees local bands (typically covers-centric ones) rocking out at the Pavilion on TUESDAY and Thursday evenings throughout July and August. If you want to see Surfers and Room 206 alumni playing some unique covers on TUESDAY evening, head downtown!

This FREE & ALL AGES concert has a 7:00 PM start time on TUESDAY, with the show ending at 9:00 PM, and chairs will be provided to sit on if desired. The tent will obviously provide protection from the elements, but 9&10 News is calling for the warmest temperatures of the week ahead that day, so look for weather in the low-mid 20s Celsius, and the chance of rain is 10% that night, if at all, as of today. This should be a fun excuse to get some free live music if you're up for going to the Pavilion tent on a school/work night, so visit the above links for more on TUESDAY'S show and the rest of the Summer Concert Series, and here's Bookclub live!

Next up, let's stick with Bookclub frontman Mikey Hawdon, namely the latest cover from his Mikey & His Uke project! Surprisingly, the newest cover choice (as uploaded to the project's YouTube channel this past Tuesday) is not of a Canadian band for a Canada Day tie-in, as he opted for "Amoeba" by American hardcore punk legends The Adolescents, tying in with the fifth anniversary of bassist Steve Soto's death. As always, this is a remotely filmed cover from Mikey and a one-off supergroup, with the lineup here comprised of Voodoo Glow Skulls singer Efrem Schulz, his Death By Stereo bandmate Mike Cambra (an Adolescents alum himself) on backing vocals, prolific television cartoon composer Ego Plum on guitar, Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, Dickies drummer Adam Gomez, and Mikey himself on guitar and (initially) ukelele. Ego is originally credited while in a gorilla costume, but he performs out of it too via a separate camera.

Other scenes are pictured as well that don't necessarily feature the credited musicians, including someone on keyboard and a cameo by someone that Adolescents fans will instantly know. Strong cover with intense vocals from Efren and a nice unique array of visuals (vertical camera-work for Ego acknowledged), and note that Mikey is back performing in another industrial area for his clips, which has been a theme as of late. Good stuff, so check out Mikey & His Uke's newest cover below!

Also today, here's a new video from local psychedelic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley's YouTube channel! Their first sign of public activity of any kind since last fall, this is a music video for their song "The Village", presumably from their long-gestating debut album (the 2021 date at the end of the video despite this being 2023 would be proof of that!). The video features assorted live clips of the band (not directly synced up with the song though), as well as assorted stock footage/newsreel clips of what appears to be a small European village from the 20th century, with post-production effects to add old television grain and whatnot. Assuming that this is a positive sign towards the album getting released at some point, I'll hold comment on the song pending our album review, but the video isn't badly done at all, if often washed out for the colour band footage. Check out The Uncanny Valley's new music video for yourself below!

Let's close today by acknowledging some videos from the i.o-headlined concert at The Drawing Club on Bruce Street last month, courtesy of promoters Dryer Fire's Facebook page, and by videos, I mean "Reels". While their page has posted a couple of scatted live performance "Reels" dating back to last summer, a company rep filmed all three acts at the i.o show on June 5th as such, meaning that they are all vertical & short by design, unplayable in background tabs, and unembeddable on external websites. Not ideal for SMS purposes, but alas, I'll have to make due, and at least here, the vertical camera angle means less when the show only had solo performers! i.o's "Reel" is of project leader Max Patterson in the midst of a chaotic drum solo (note where his tambourine is located) while local/Toronto outsider folk musician Shae Tull's "Reel" is filmed from further away, and gives more of a view of The Drawing Club's interior space.

Vanity First/Hails guitarist Mikhal Muto's emo/folk punk solo project Agnosticism's "Reel" was filmed at a side-stage vantage point, but it is the closest of the three to the artist, and it captures his passionate, slow-building song well! This would translate to a full band nicely if he took Agnosticism back down that road! Entertaining watches, if still way too limiting compared to just normal video uploads (or even YouTube "Shorts"), so visit the above links to watch them, and stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

Handsome Sandwich CD Release Party Review!!

It's time for our admittedly belated review of Saturday night's Handsome Sandwich CD release party at The Loft at the Algoma Conservatory of Music! This is the first concert of a remotely heavy persuasion that I know took place at The Loft, so what is it like to attend a show there? First off, the Conservatory is located in the old St. Mary's Paper office building at the end of Huron Street right by St. Mary's River, right beside The Mill Steakhouse. The Loft is on the third (and top) floor of the Conservatory, and being inside the building honestly reminded me of being at the courthouse downtown, especially the stairs. Yes, there is an escalator too, something I didn't know about until when I left the show. As a concert venue, The Loft is very nice with good acoustics, a unique layout, and neat sightlines, especially with the slanted roof and industrial beams. Pictures make the space look bigger than it is and obscure the layout a bit.

While photos on The Loft's website show thick seating, these are movable & were pushed against three walls to varying thicknesses to allow for a proper floor section. Rooms are adjacent to The Loft for the connected recording studio, and the bar section for anyone wanting a potent potable was well in view from the main door. Yes, HD video cameras were rolling, seemingly for both bands, and I did notice a camera slowly panning left to right beside the drumkit on the stage, though what we'll see and when, I don't know. My biggest issue with The Loft was the lack of air conditioning, and if that's not practical, at least turn the fans up! Regardless, it's a very nice space for concerts, and I hope more local bands take advantage of it!

The openers were local alternative/indie rock quartet Man Feelings, who were lucky enough to get an hour long set, which is impressive for a support band! As such, they played a lot of unreleased songs, plus material from their "City Friends" EP like "Modest Spouse" and "Long Winter's Night". I don't believe that I've seen Man Feelings live before, and when listening to them, comparisons to The Black Keys came up often, if that band had more instruments and variety to their sound. While bassist Tyler Willson handled most lead vocals, all of his bandmates got turns to sing, which is encouraging from an original band in terms of giving everyone an identity. Not a heavy band, but they have good songwriting, and everyone made the most of their instrumental roles, with B.J. Swire's keyboard work adding an extra element throughout, and Paul "Gabby" Gabrylewicz had some strong guitar melodies!

I will say that Man Feelings were slow to engage the crowd at first, and they had a few too many songs that just... ended, without a big finish. Not really abrupt endings so much as anti-climactic ones. Still a solid set that helped set the tone for the handsomeness to follow, and of course, how fitting is it that Man Feelings opened for Handsome Sandwich, thereby swapping roles from Man Feelings' CD release show last year? Also, shout-out to Ricky the juggler, who even got to "perform" for a song!

And your headliners were local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich in their release party at least seven months in the making! True to prior teasers, their set comprised of their entire debut album "Deconstructed" in album order, with an intermission separating the main program from a six song mini-set including four newer/omitted original songs like "No Idea", and two covers: Tones & I's "Dance Monkey" and an encore cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" featuring solo spots by all four instrumentalists. While I have seen the original three-piece, covers-only Handsome Sandwich live, this is the first time that I've seen the version relaunched in 2021, and they definitely have a crowd-pleasing set that rarely sticks to one style for too long, including glimmers of funk, hard rock, punk, indie rock, jam rock... basically anything that they want to play, and the audience was here for it!

Frontwoman Taylor "Tea" Emlaw brought a very unique stage presence to The Loft on Saturday, with lots of unpredictable movements and an infectious enthusiasm that was great to see! Her vocals remind me a lot of the American jazz/blues singer Beth Hart (listen to "Stay" to hear what I hear), and that alone helps this band stand apart from the local pack. Rafael Medina proved that his Algoma University music program training was well utilized on bass, the twin guitar attack of Jesse Cook and Mitch Sirie never hurt (even if I'd have liked to have seen more soloing), and drummer Johnny Belanger kept the rhythm as well as you'd expect, while also filling in the gaps for crowd banter, helping keep things in a loose and carefree spirit despite the anticipation and setting of this concert. Good stuff all around, and if this is the kind of show fans can expect from Handsome Sandwich, then who knows how far that they'll go?

Overall, this was a fun show aided by the unique and high-end locale, and on a kinda-related level, it was awesome to see Mitch & Johnny finally get to have a proper release concert like this after their old death metal band The Bear Hunters' planned release show for their higher quality second album "The Dead Testament" never went through due to the pandemic and the band's own decline in activity after 2017, leading to it getting a digital-only release on Bandcamp in 2020, and only one further live set. 2+ years later, they finally had their big moment, and hopefully Nik and Justin get theirs in some form! You can check out our photos from the show at this link or at our Facebook page, and I shot a video from each band, namely Man Feelings playing "Bring Me Home" and Handsome Sandwich playing "Better Off"!

Due to the length of this review (which went longer than normal already), I'll hold comment on Handsome Sandwich's newly released "Deconstructed" album for an upcoming post, but I did buy a CD copy on Saturday night and it will be reviewed on the SMS in due course! That's all for now, but a new news post will be hitting the SMS later today! Thanks everyone!

Sandman/Fort Creek Concert Review!!

Here's something I haven't posted in way too long, a concert review (and not a drive-in one!), as I went to the Sandman-headlined concert at Soo Blaster last night! This was my first time seeing a concert at Soo Blaster, and while the layout isn't ideal when people aren't on the floor, a decent crowd showed up and got much closer to the Soo Lounge stage for the headliners! Good sound too from Mike Blair and 705Live (not the dormant promoters Live705), and things ran smoothly and very much on time from advertising! If there were obvious pandemic measures, they were well hidden, but things are better now.

I showed up slightly late, but I did catch the vast majority of Fort Creek's opening set, marking my first time seeing them live, and they delivered a very solid covers-heavy set! If there was a merchandise giveaway, it was over by the time I showed up. Much like contemporary locals Bone Yard, Fort Creek definitely lean to hard rock covers with a southern influence, tackling bands like Judas Priest, Seether, Guns N' Roses, and Three Doors Down, while also playing at least one original from their upcoming EP. Of course, Fort Creek were supposed to make their public debut opening for Sandman in 2020 at The Canadian before the first pandemic lockdown scuttled that concert, and the two year delay absolutely helped Fort Creek develop strong chemistry together! Justin Grayson's melodic vocals were a constant alongside Shane Biron & Matt Sibilo's quality guitar work and Bones Lee's steady low-end bass,

Also nice to see Anthony Fabiabo back behind the kit, he's always been a welcome sight in local bands for many years! Impressive first set for a Fort Creek show that I was there for, and don't miss them at Rotaryfest!

And of course, your headliners were Toronto-based Metallica tribute band Sandman in their (at least) third local concert appearance and first in seven years! I did see them live way way back in 2008 (my first ever 19+ show), but between the 14 year gap and my own growth as a blogger, reviewer, and photographer since, I approached this one as its own animal without a distant comparison. Sandman's officially licensed Metallica tribute went over very well with assembled fans, courtesy of a set comprised exclusively of songs the self-titled black album and prior releases, with everything from "Seek & Destroy" to "Harvester of Sorrow" to "Sad But True" on offer. Musicianship was no issue, a sudden P.A. outage during "The Unforgiven" excepted, but fans picked up the slack nicely! Frontman Rick Van Dyk (who looks more like Jason Newsted) was not a 100% vocal match to James Hetfield, but he had the essence & mannerisms down very well.

His self-deprecating, deadpan style of humour was welcomed, and it's clear that Sandman have great chemistry, with Rick and guitarist Joe DiTaranto particularly laying it down to make James and Kirk proud! Vocals did get strained as the show went on, and some verses were mixed around, but Metallica fans were on very firm hands with Sandman, with some very solid crowd responses, and hopefully the guys come back to the Soo again in the next seven years! Overall, this was a fun concert for old school metal fans, and everyone seemed to have a good time, so hopefully there's a lot more to come at Soo Blaster and elsewhere in the near future! You can check out my photos from last night at this link or via our Facebook page, and I got one video from each band, so here's Fort Creek playing their new original song "Hammer Down" and Sandman playing "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Uncanny Valley & The Wyld Stallyns), New Videos, And More!!

Before we get into today's post, I just wanted to briefly acknowledge that today is the 15th anniversary of The Sault Metal Scene's launch in 2007! No big speech or changes or anything like that, things have been too busy for regular posts this summer for me to work on anything special, but I just wanted to thank all of the vast majority of our readers and supporters for the support and readership over the past decade & a half, and fingers crossed that nothing changes for the negative (for the scene at large or myself) any time soon! Now, today's post is devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and related updates for an upcoming downtown concert series, so without further ado, here's what you should know!

After a two year break for very obvious reasons, the City of Sault Ste. Marie's Recreation & Culture Division has brought back their Summer Concert Series at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion, so what should you know about this? With one exception, all shows in the series will take place on a Tuesday or Thursday at 7:00 PM under the big tent (as such, weather cancellations are very unlikely), all are FREE & ALL AGES, and a nice mixture of established and newer names, some with original material, will be hitting the Pavilion between tonight and Thursday, August 18th! The poster will obviously give you names of artists coming during the series, an act to be announced next Tuesday aside, but before we get into the hard rock shows, just a clarification: The show on Thursday, July 28th is headlined by Forty Creek, the veteran local country cover band, not Fort Creek, the southern hard rock quintet. I forgot that their names were almost identical!

The two shows that definitely fit into our metal/hard rock/punk-centric coverage take place in August (in the same week, no less!), and we'll start on Tuesday, August 9th, when local funk/hard rock quartet The Wyld Stallyns return to the Pavilion! Just seen there (if partially, more in a minute) on Canada Day, this should be a fun and stress free way to spend a couple of hours with this talented four-some, whose varied and often heavy covers should set the right tone under the tent next month! This is a good time to bring up that The Stallyns' Canada Day show (if not their Poutine Feast gig too) was sort of a merger with Handsome Sandwich, as Rob, Christina, and Jesse joined forces with bassist Mitch Sirie and drummer Johnny Belanger for the set (Jesse is in both bands). No word on why Jonas missed out, but nice to see a full plugged in set again, and it is interesting seeing three former Jack Spades alums rock out nowadays with a very different set!

There is a video from Canada Day of The Wyld Sandwych (how's that for a merger name?) on personal Facebook accounts, but unless it's posted/shared publically, I'll refrain from linking to it here. No matter who is joining the Speers, you can enjoy The Wyld Stallyns on August 9th at 7:00 PM, and this is a free & all ages concert. Visit the above links for more details! Meanwhile, just two days later on August 11th, local classic hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley will make their debut at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion for a Thursday evening gig of their own! A busy month of July for this rising young band has already seen them rock Soo Blaster, with Rotaryfest and Go North Music Festival sets ahead, but how will they do in a solo headlining date next month? The Valley's old school, psychedelic-influenced brand of hard rock (including originals and covers) should appeal to a wide audience!

Again, this show is a free & all ages affair with a 7:00 PM start time (only tonight's opening show by Mustang Heart deviates from the pattern, as it begins at 8:00 PM). Visit the above links for much more on these and the other shows at The Pavilion this summer, but we're not quite done!

I wanted to also bring up a new-ish local rock band named Westridge who are playing at The Pavilion on Tuesday, August 2nd. I only first heard about this band via the series schedule, and while I wouldn't say they play enough heavier/punk songs to cross our threshold for full coverage, they do have a few covers of note! Launched in 2020 but only making their Facebook page in January, their lineup is comprised of Luke Provenzano, Kieran Fitzpatrick, Mike Meraglia & former Quite Frankly drummer Adam Pettenuzzo. I'm not familiar with most of the members of Westridge, but they are talented in the videos I've seen, and have improved since their 2020 video slate. Among their more SMS-amenable covers are Jimi Hendrix's "Fire", The Foo Fighters' "Everlong", and Bowling For Soup's "1985", but be advised that Facebook videos are typically incomplete. Embedded below is their YouTube cover of Live's "Lightning Crashes".

Courtesy of Luke's YouTube channel, this is the full song, and it's well handled! Westridge have a good ear for melodic and wide ranging rock covers, and they should be a crowd pleaser at the Pavilion next month in their own right! If any more hard rock or punk covers from them surface, I'll let you know, but give their Live cover a look below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for another news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!