YouTube Channel Profile Series: Rodge MacGodge & Dave Bayles

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, as we again check out randomly selected YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and/or punk artists/concerts! This month, we drew two channels due to the first only having nine very similar uploads, and I'd only want to feature two videos here without getting too repetitive as to the video formatting, so a channel with even less footage was picked to round things out with an extra video. Here's what you should know on both sides of the border!

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Rodge MacGodge (http://youtube.com/@rodgemacgodge)

Owner: Former Swampgut guitarist Rob MacDonald

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 26th, 2011; Videos uploaded from May 2012 through April 2014

Channel Summary: The de facto official YouTube channel for inactive local "shield rock" duo Swampgut, Rob uploaded nine original songs of theirs here during their original run together, some credited as being on their unreleased(?) album "Ghosts Of The Electric Coast". All nine videos are just the songs with a static images or slideshows for accompaniment, often original artwork by singer/drummer Frank McCormick or nature photography

Why You Should Watch: This channel is worth checking out for fans of Swampgut, obviously, but if you weren't familiar with them, you'll find a nicely varied slate of hard rock with psychedlic jam elements, and while it's largely very lo-fi, there is something there! Note that this channel did not see resumed usage during Swampgut's 2020-2021 revival, with all new material recorded during that time being exclusive to their Bandcamp page.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Swampgut - As Old As These Hills: Rodge's first, longest, and most viewed video is for their song "As Old As These Hills", an extended hard rock jam featuring him and future Gianni Gagoots singer/drummer Frank McCormick (if other performers guested here, as was common for their reunion era, they aren't credited). Playing along with a slideshow of outdoor pictures by a shoreline, this is a fun number that packs a lot of styles and variance into its 10+ minute runtime, and it'd have played well in concert!

Swampgut - Factory Falls: Visually and sonically, one of the more distinct songs on offer is "Factory Falls", a bluesier number recorded in 2010 about a factory collapsing (you may recognize some local imagery with the slideshow but I don't think it's about a legitimate incident). A slower, more deliberate song that shows off some effectively deep vocals, I won't say that it's better than their more freewheeling jam rock songs, but this song is a good example of Swampgut's range!

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Dave Bayles (http://youtube.com/metalfu)

Owner: Northern Michigan resident Dave Bayles

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 23rd, 2006; Videos uploaded from that day until January 2012

Channel Summary: In between a gag movie trailer and a clip of his cat grooming his dog, Dave uploaded three videos of legendary hard rock band Kiss' outdoor headlining concert at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino in July 2007, though unfortunately, all have a runtime of just 30 seconds. One features Paul Stanley smashing his guitar at the end of a song (look at that pyro!), while the two with identifiable songs are "God Of Thunder" and most popularly, their cover of Argent's "God Gave Rock & Roll To You", with an impressive 83.000+ views. The audio quality is not good on any of these clips, but you have to remember that this was 2007 and digital/cell phone cameras were not what they are now. You can find longer and clearer videos from this show elsewhere, but Dave had a good view of Kiss in action, and most commenters were just happy to see footage uploaded from Kiss' first local concert!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around May 26th when our next randomly selected channel will be that of active local punk trio Vanity First! Look for that then, and for more news and notes on the site net week! Thanks everyone!

Kraken Mara's New Playthrough Upload, More New Videos, And Assorted Updates!!

News is predictably slow due to the current lockdown, but I have cobbled together enough content for a post on this Saturday morning, including some assorted shorter news and notes, and some new videos from some familiar faces. Here's what you should know!

As promised, local progressive metal duo Kraken Mara's newest playthrough video for their upcoming EP "Press Start" went public on their YouTube channel yesterday morning at 10:00 AM! Again, they went the "uploaded in advance for a scheduled premiere date" route. This video is for their song "The Woodward", and after sitting out their last two playthrough videos, guitarist Brendan Christie is back on camera for this one, playing alongside Jake here, albeit with the brothers-in-law filmed separately. Once again, I'll hold comment pending our review of the EP. As for it's remaining track ("Stratus"), that had a playthrough video shot in 2017 that was filmed outside of the former St. Mary's Paper building, and it's description has been edited to reflect the 2021 EP plans. "Stratus" does not appear to have been re-recorded, so I would not be expecting a new playthrough video for it.

Also, just to clear up any earlier discrepancies, their previously announced song "Moon's Haunted" appears to have renamed "Miscreant" for unannounced reasons. Now that all five songs are on YouTube and their website to stream, how soon will "Press Start" go on sale? Kraken Mara's website says that it is "now available for purchase", but that looks like a placeholder, as the band has not officially announced anything about a release. We'll let you know when more comes out, but check out Brendan & Jake playing through "The Woodward" below for some more metal action!

Next up, here's the newest videos from former No Arrow drummer/Faithless Sin guitarist Joe Falco's YouTube channel! After a three month hiatus, Joe returned last month to post eight new videos, all but one being acoustic covers. These include Pink Floyd's "Echoes", The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band's "Blue On Black", Alice In Chains' "Don't Follow", Oasis' "Stand By Me", Poison's "Every Rose Has It's Thorn", The Jeff Healey Band's "Angel Eyes", and as embedded below, Poison's "Something To Believe In". I went with that song because Joe also posted a short blooper reel video from his attempts at filming that particular cover, so give that a look if you want a laugh! Despite his self deprecating tone in the description, this rendition is solid, and as all of these covers are unplugged, his voice isn't as drowned out as on his earlier covers! You definitely hear more of his range in these.

Joe also posted an hour-long video on Tuesday of him working on his Aria Pro II STG-004 Series Stratocaster, if you're itching to see him fix and play an electric guitar. These videos are all worth checking out to see some well performed acoustic rock covers and more, so give Joe's newest uploads a look above and below, and stay tuned for more when we hear it!

 

Also today, here's a new original song collaboration from Inner City Surfers/ex-Role Models bandmates Brad "Example" Lacell & Dave Bahun! Posted to Brad's YouTube channel on Monday, this is entitled "The Nightmare's Real", and it's a gritty yet folksy number that fits more in line with Brad's modern solo work, complete with his raspy vocals (is it wrong to get a bit of an Everlast vibe from this?) Not a traditional punk number, but well done, and you can hear it for yourself below!

 

 

Finally for today, here's three shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or company name:

 

• The second annual (and final?) Coronafest live-streamed concert takes place tonight at 6:30 PM, with all relevant links and information to be found on the Facebook event page. While Coronafest is not originating locally, Saultites Kyla Becker & Jacob Baillie will play the second set, while ex-Sykotyk Rampage bassist Brian Cattapan is a co-organizer of the event, and he will perform at 9:00 PM with his current Sudbury-based band The Rhythm Section. Check it out if you need some Saturday night entertainment!
• I have removed former local concert promotion agency Dismembertainment from our "Other Local Metal Links" section due to the deletion of it's Facebook (and only known surviving) page at some point in the past year. The banner under which ex-Time of Ruin guitarist Rich Moreland promoted local metal concerts in 2011 & 2012, and for a time afterwards in his current Alberta homebase, Rich has since switched primarily to work in concert photography, at least until the pandemic. Hopefully he's doing well out west!
• Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished took a surprising trip downstate to play at the Hotel Royal Oak outside of Detroit this past Saturday! It was only announced on four days notice, oddly, but click here for details about the show. Hopefully the road trip was a blast, especially as social distance-limited concerts can still take place in Michigan! Also, note that on the Facebook event page linked above, their bassist and drummer were credited as Donny Wayne and Josh Tyler, omitting their last names.
  

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

YouTube Channel Profile Series: black cloud, Frank Thomas, and Dave Prendergast

Here is our last monthly feature post of October 2020, namely this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This ongoing feature looks at up to 3 YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and punk acts, all of which are randomly selected from our active YouTube subscriptions. This month, we drew 3 channels, as the first only had 3 audio demos, which means I only pull one to feature in the post, so I added two more channels who only had one SMS-relevant video. Still, there's some interesting stuff to see, so here's what you should know!

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black cloud (http://youtube.com/channel/UC9DYv-NpD7poW1R839JBdcA)
 

Owner: Black Cloud project leader Peytan Andreola

Channel Timeline: Launched on November 5th, 2019; All videos uploaded on July 26th, 2020

Channel Summary: The official YouTube channel for local death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud, it used to feature more content than what is currently present (including their full debut album "Abstract Sounds"), but a swath of video deletions preceded the upload of their remaining three audio demos (a self-titled song, "Bloodbaiting", and as embedded below, "Ghost Stomp"). Black Cloud's minimalist brutality is still a work in progress, but there is promise on these demos, and hopefully Peytan keeps at it into the new year!

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Frank Thomas (http://youtube.com/channel/UCSxehYsMJF-TI0DG_aZlmOw)

Owner: YouTube user and area resident Frank Thomas

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 10th, 2012; All videos uploaded on July 26th, 2020

Channel Summary: While still actively used for personal needs, Frank's only video is from California punk legends The Offspring's headlining set at GFL Memorial Gardens on November 19th, 2019, where he filmed their three opening songs ("Americana", "All I Want", and "Come Out & Play"). Despite a vertical camera angle, this relatively central video captures lively and faithful performances from The Offspring (albeit with Dexter's deeper modern voice), and this is definitely worth a watch for fans who saw or missed this show last year! There are a lot more videos on YouTube from this show courtesy of other attendees.

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Dave Prendergast (http://youtube.com/channel/UClVaIeCdzMZVVdmvnoSYL7g) 

Owner: Former Nebraska Arms, Gilmour, and Small Town Rivals guitarist Dave Prendergast

Channel Timeline: Launched on January 4th, 2009; Videos posted that day and on September 17th, 2010

Channel Summary: Aside from a 10 second video of him jousting at camp a'la American Gladiators, Dave's only video here is of his late 2000s indie punk quartet Nebraska Arms playing their original song "Clockwork" at the original Coch's Corner location on Boxing Day in 2008. The band was represented here by Dave alongside the late Guy Thiffault (The Hangdowns) on vocals & bass, Wayne Watkins (Northwest) on guitar, and Adam Sauve (Renderware) on drums. The scratchy audio is a hindrance, as can be the tight camera angle, but this was a solid performance by this talented new group, and luckily, there are more videos of theirs floating around elsewhere!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around November 27th when we look at YouTube user jonasgasperas' channel, featuring 10 videos of Jonas' old metal band Winkstinger from their original heyday! That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profiles: Denaturant & Driving Dave Home

News has been oddly slow as of late (pandemic acknowledged), so let's remedy that by posting this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles a day early! This ongoing monthly feature series looks at one or two defunct or inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk bands, in order to spotlight their run and accomplishments for current readers, and as always, bands are randomly selected. We have two bands this month due to the first random selection having minimal surviving information, so a second band in a similar state was added to fill things out, and we have both sides of the border represented as a result. With all of that said, here's what you should know!
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Denaturant

Genre: Metal/Hard Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Justin Smith (Hammerspace), all instruments

Audio/Video: Denaturant's only publically posted media during their run was a Facebook video of a brief original sample from the fall of 2011, though it was taken down when their Facebook page was deleted. The project was planned to play only original material with "the raw energy and skill that it deserves", and may have bore similarities to Justin's 2009-2012 local metal band Hammerspace, who do have surviving material online.

Info/Analysis: Quietly launched by July 2011, Denaturant appeared to have been Justin's primary music project during Hammerspace's waning months, and were at one time looking for band members to complete a full lineup to "take a specific journey through music", though nothing publically followed before their Facebook page was taken down by late 2012. As I recall, Denaturant's lone Facebook video had some promise, and Justin is a good guitarist, so hopefully we'll hear new music from him in some form!
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Driving Dave Home

Genre: Hard Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members:

John Barber (Parabol, Redefined), vocals
Matt Sibilo (Fort Creek, Redefined, Delay), guitar
Ron Baxter (Sense of Truth, Skeyes of Seven), guitar
David Grawbarger (100 Gran, Renegades), bass
Steve Brogno (The Red Rails, Down In Ashes), drums

Audio/Video: Despite this band's pedigree, no public videos are known to survive from their active run. A few 2008 videos are floating around personal Facebook accounts from shows at Foggy Notions and at Smokey's Patio, but the audio quality is admittedly rough (note that one of the Smokey's videos is of an original song). To hear music similar to Driving Dave Home's output, I recommend checking out John & Matt's prior band Redefined (who do have a CD), as well as John's newer bands like Late Shift, plus Ron's later groups.

Info/Analysis: Debuting in 2007, Driving Dave Home left a solid impression on fans while they lasted, including at the 2007 Hempfest, many Foggy Notions gigs (like their original March 2008 farewell concert), and opening for Sense of Truth's Skid Row make-up show at The Canadian Nightclub show that June. Driving Dave Home quietly disbanded by the end of 2008, though members have all been seen in live bands since, including Steve's high profile output since moving to Ottawa. In spite of the audio quality on surviving videos, D.D.H. had an energetic modern hard rock sound with clear talent across the board, and a seemingly good local following, and it's a shame that they didn't last longer than they did!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! This series will return on or around August 10th for another randomly selected profile, and staying in Sault Ontario, we drew a big one for next time, as we'll be looking at inactive hardcore quintet As It Stands! Watch for that next month, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

This Weekend's Hard Rock & Punk Concert Previews!!

After a quiet week for news and updates on the site, we're back with a busy weekend concert preview slate, and as of this writing, all are previously announced gigs to boot! In fact, we'll start with an unusually busy Thursday night slate for metal/punk concerts in the Soo , so here's what you should know for tonight and beyond! (Our preview of Sunday night's Anvil concert will hit the site in our next news post to give it a closer look.)

We'll start at The Grand Gardens North, where a handful of local music acts will join forces for a special fundraiser concert TONIGHT! As some of you may know already, local realtor & mother Shelby Kerns was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, and to fund specialized treatments out of town, this special event will help cover costs for her and her family, including partner Cory Murchison of Skeyes of Seven & Sense of Truth fame. For the occasion, there will be raffle and door prizes and a pasta dinner, so be sure to visit the official Facebook event page for full details on the non-musical events. Previously announced musical performers will include local Tool tribute band Parabol in a rare set outside of The Rockstar Bar, while their frontman will front the eponymous John Barber Band tonight as well. Who else is in the band, are they a one off, and will they take inspiration from John's past local hard bands? We'll find out tonight!

A third music act was quietly confirmed on the event page on May 22nd, namely the Tidal Records duo of Shannon Moan & Frank Deresti, who will play an acoustic set after supper. Nice way to ease into things, and they're both talented musicians in their own right! Tickets are $30 at Exit Realty Lake Superior at 207 Northern Avenue or through their employees, while you can donate $20 or more to show support without attending, which will get you a door prize entry. The event starts at 5:00 PM, and has no stated age limit. It's great to see everyone showing their support for Shelby and family at this time of need, so see above for full details, and here's Parabol live!

Next up, fan-favourite Montreal ska punk band K-Man & The 45s will make their seventh local concert appearance in the last 6 years TONIGHT! Before we get too far, just a heads-up to some late changes that broke on the Facebook event page earlier this week, including the move of the concert from The Rockstar Bar to The New American Pub. Promoters (Choose) Maxx Entertainment revealed that the show was forced to move on short notice due to a scheduling conflict with a celebration of life at The Rockstar Bar, which is totally understandable, and our condolences go out to the deceased's family & friends. Of course, The New A isn't foreign territory for K-Man & The 45s, as they've played there thrice before, including in March 2017, so regulars of their sets won't be out of place! However, the opening act has been replaced, apparently due to budgetary concerns at the smaller venue, despite The New A's K-Man shows having local bands open in the past.

As such, local punk quartet The Cover-Up are out (hopefully we see them back soon), but Planet Smashers bassist Dave "Smasher" Cooper will now be the surprise opening act, bringing him back to the Soo after the full band last played here in 2005. How will Dave sound as a solo artist? Be at The New A TONIGHT to find out! A $10 cover charge is in effect for this 19+ concert, which has a 10:00 PM start time. Changes aside, this should be a great time for ska-punk fans, and The 45s are well known for their wild live shows and Ska-Mones tribute, so see above for current details, and here they are live!



Moving to shows on the regular weekend schedule, we'll next address the ongoing weekly acoustic concerts from veteran hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison, who will play his first full concert weekend of June 2019 TOMORROW & SATURDAY at Gliss Restaurant, sandwiching his latest nighttime show at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT! Another busy month lies ahead, and you can take in Tym's extensive live setlist at the Spring Street restaurant for these two evenings, but if you like your live music at a full nighttime timeslot, head to the east end tomorrow night for his first of two Roadhouse gigs this month. Fans should get a solid sampling of Tym's skill and fan favourite nature this weekend, so keep all three gigs in mind! The Gliss shows are 6:00 PM matinees with no stated age limit, the Roadhouse show is 19+ at 10:00 PM, and none have a cover charge. Visit the Facebook event pages linked here and here for more details, and here's Tym live!



Finally for today's previews (Anvil are coming in our next post), we'll head to Reggie's West, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are advertised to return for solo headlining concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! While not newly promoted by the band on their Facebook page, These shows are listed on their 2019 concert calendar, though it is worth noting that the band has not newly promoted them online, and that the Sault Music Newsletter Facebook page lists The Bearded Lounge as playing at The Reggievelt this weekend instead, possibly as 5:00 PM matinees before Soundcheck hit the stage. If we hear any clarification either way, we'll let you know, but we'll treat these as Soundcheck shows taking place unless otherwise stated. A busy concert slate for Soundcheck should prove to see them firing on all cylinders as they kick off a new month, so don't miss out on their hard rocking covers in the west end this weekend!

Expect 19+ age limits, no cover, and a 10:00 PM start time to be in effect, as usual for Soundcheck's stops at the former Rosie. Visit the above links for more details on these shows, and here's Soundcheck live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates (including our Anvil preview) on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Fluid 5ive), Plus New Live Concert Videos!!

Let's close out this weekend's hard rock concert previews while also getting caught up on some new video postings from the last while, so without any further adieu, here's what you should know for this rainy Thursday, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Local classic/hard rock cover quintet Fluid 5ive will make their Esquire Club debuts with concerts TOMORROW NIGHT and, as missed on the site at the time, SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice on the Saturday gig, it was announced on the Facebook event page at the time in a comment, but the date given on the event page only ever said the Friday nighter, so the addendum passed us by. One week removed from their Water Tower Pub debut, this veteran group will continue their slow spread across local venues as they hit the west end tomorrow and on SATURDAY, so keep Colin, Liam, Pierre, Jeff, and Rob's shows in mind for your weekend plans! As usual for Esquire Club gigs, tomorrow's & SATURDAY's Fluid 5ive shows have 19+ age limits and no announced cover charge, and 9:30 PM start times are advertised. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Fluid 5ive live!

Next up, here's more videos from Christopher Paci's YouTube channel of last week's Dave Evans/Hells Bells concert at The Rockstar Bar! After some initial staggering of his uploads, Chris posted the rest of his videos of Hells Bells (with and without Dave) on YouTube on Monday, so what else did he get? Regarding the standalone set by the Barrie AC/DC tribute band, Chris also shot them covering "If You Want Blood (You Got It)" and "Thunderstruck", which will satiate AC/DC diehard fans nicely, though again, the vocals are a little soft. Of course, Hells Bells also served as the backing band for Dave Evans' headlining set (albeit after their guitarist changed out of his Angus getup), so what all did Chris film of the original AC/DC founder that night? Most of the videos are of Dave tackling songs by his old band, both from his early run with the group and the Bon Scott era, including versions of "Can I Sit Next To You Girl", "TNT", "Highway To Hell", and "Let There Be Rock", plus their Big Joe Williams cover "Baby Please Don't Go", so you can see how Dave handles the classics!

As well, two songs of Dave's from his own solo pursuits were filmed, including "Go Wild" from his 2017 album with the band Barbed Wire, and as embedded below, "Rock 'n Roll or Bust". Now, as you may assume, Bon Scott comparisons are inevitable, and Dave's voice has a deeper and more direct quality to it that will take some adjusting if you're not familiar with him. That said, he's a solid frontman, and it's very neat to hear the original AC/DC frontman interpreting these songs locally! Kudos to Chris again for the uploads, and check out Dave Evans & Hells Bells in the Soo above & below!



Also, here's a new video of classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck covering Styx's "Too Much Time On My Hands" at the aforementioned Esquire Club this past Saturday! This was uploaded to drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel on Monday. Fans won't get to see the Mourning Wood successors on a local stage this weekend due to a Wawa road trip, but this rendition (sung by guitarist Travis Sharpe) may help! The audio quality is fine, and the deeper singing works fine on it, but the visual quality is somewhat muddy with inconsistent lighting. Give it a look below, and stay tuned for much more from Soundcheck in the coming weeks!



Finally for today, here's a new video of local acoustic hard rock cover trio The Wyld Stallyns playing at The Whiskey Barrel... this past Friday?! Profuse apologies for missing that show on here, it was announced that Tuesday on their Facebook page but it completely slipped us by. The Whiskey Barrel (the new Scottish themed bar/restaurant at 113 Gore Street) is still very new to our coverage, I will work harder to ensure shows there are covered here! Erroneously posted to their Facebook page twice, this video was filmed by attendee Steven Hewgill (the star of the local Tommy production in 2015), and it features the Stallyns covering The Band's "The Weight" alongside a drum circle of sorts, with five different guests hitting a hand drum on this night, Rob & Jesse's Elements bandmate Jonas Gasperas among them.

Not a whole lot for Christina to do here, but it's a solid campfire-esque jam, and the visual of five drummers playing alongside is definitely unique for a band covered on the SMS! I apologize again for missing this concert on here, but take a load off and give this new Wyld Stallyns video a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck), More Weekend Concert Previews, And A New Video!!

As promised, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews before we lose track of time! For previews of this weekend's Tym Morrison, Fluid 5ive, and Alex Traynor shows (plus the We Will Rock You production), visit the post below this one! We're tackling shows on both sides of the border tonight, plus apparent lineup shifts in one band, with a new concert video too, so let's begin with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced these shows via their Facebook event page earlier today, and these gigs are not listed on their concert calendar posted on Facebook in February. Just two weeks removed from their last stops at this fan favourite west end venue, Soundcheck are promising to make up for those shows, as members were battling various illnesses that weekend. Assuming everyone is free and clear health-wise now, TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT'S concerts should provide more hard rocking good times from this talented group, so don't miss Soundcheck then! These shows have 10:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no announced cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, we'll head to the E.U.P., where Sault Michigan classic/hard rock veterans Highway 63 are slated to return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! These are Highway 63's first announced shows since rocking the Dondee in February, and will be their first St. Ignace stops since January. However, changes may be afoot in Highway 63, as frontman Henry Switzer was teasing that the band playing this weekend will feature "¾s of The Mamas Boys and half of Highway 63", a lineup that has been rehearsing for the last month & a half, and will be "one of the best darn bands in this town." In case you don't recall, The Mamas Boys were a classic rock quartet in the early-mid 2000s that (as of 2007) featured Henry and Highway 63 keyboardist Brian Drumheller alongside brothers Ray and Russell Mayer on bass & drums. No, they weren't the same band as Jager/Monkey's Uncle.

Given the hints Henry made regarding the lineup this weekend, did Highway 63 enlist one of the Mayers to replace George or Justin in their lineup? That seems like the easiest explanation, but we'll let you know when something is stated publically. You can see this new(?) supergroup incarnation of Highway 63 tomorrow and Saturday at 9:00 PM with no announced cover charges and a 21+ age limit. See above for more details, and here's Highway 63 live!



Lastly for this weekend's hard rock concert previews, we'll head back to Sault Ontario for one more big concert, as original AC/DC frontman Dave Evans will make his local concert debut THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! Though long overshadowed by his successors, Dave was AC/DC's first lead singer from 1973-1974, and was in the band for their first single release, so he is an important historical member of the Australian hard rock legends. Sonically, Dave does not resemble Bon or Brian, with a deeper yet more melodic singing voice, so how will he sound to a local audience tackling both his and Bon's era of the band, plus select originals and covers? You can find out tomorrow! Originally, Dave was advertised to be playing alongside an AC/DC tribute band named Thunderstruck, but this was changed in mid-April, as this tour run will actually see Dave playing alongside/after Barrie-based AC/DC tribute band Hells Bells, who will be familiar to readers from our past coverage!

Fans will recall seeing Hells Bells locally for shows in 2010 & 2015, though two attempts at a local booking in 2016 failed to take place as scheduled, so hopefully the third time will be the charm during their 25th anniversary celebrations! It's not clear if Hells Bells will be opening with a Dave-less set or not. Tickets for this 19+ concert are $16 in advance at The Algonquin Hotel's front desk, or $20 at the door, and an 8:00 PM start time is advertised. It will be very interesting to hear how Dave Evans goes over with AC/DC fans locally this weekend, but a good time is in the cards, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Dave live!



We'll close today with a new live concert video from local independent label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel, featuring label head Tyler Gibson playing a solo set at the West of Hell concert at The New American Pub on April 17th, but as which project? The show was advertised to feature his rarely seen cybergrind project Malignant Neoplasm, but this video is credited to his better known goregrind act Crucify the Whore. Unreported switch, belated retcon, or intentionally blurred lines? In any event, the prior video of this set felt more like C.T.W. aside from maybe some extra backing effects, so judge for yourselves. The 2 minute video features two short clips of whichever of Tyler's bands this is, with the first half featuring him shredding a solid riff, and the second half featuring his requisite pig squeal vocals, but they are quieter in the mix via this recording. The vertical camera angle works fine given that this is a one man band, so I won't nitpick the orientation here.

While I'm still not as used to Tyler without long hair, the performance is solid and it feels like C.T.W. in their heyday (if not necessarily Malignant Neoplasm!) Nice to see him playing a little more often again, so give this video a look below, and stay tuned for more on Tyler's studio work soon!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!