It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series returns to kick off a new year with another look at a randomly selected YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, or punk musicians/concerts, and as luck would have it, we drew an auto-generated YouTube Music channel for a second straight month! Incidentally, this act in question has become this year's first monthly album review pick due to Ha!ls' concert earlier this month, in order to tie in an archival review with a recent concert. Here's what you should know!
Owner: If anyone, Agnosticism frontman Mikhal Muto, though the channel is auto-generated to facilitate the project's catalogue being available on YouTube Music
Channel Timeline:Launched on August 7th, 2022; Videos uploaded from two days later through July 2024
Channel Summary:This
channel exists as the home of Hails/Vanity First guitarist & Apocalypse Afterparty bassist Mikhal Muto's folk punk/emo solo project Agnosticism's
studio material for YouTube Music streaming purposes, though the songs
can be
experienced on regular YouTube as normal videos as well. The project's full-length album "Happy Pills" is streamable on YouTube Music, as well as two of their EPs (one being last year's "A Letter Of Resignation"), their most recent standalone single, and three single postings of songs from other releases.
Why You Should Watch:If
you want to hear Agnosticism's studio back catalogue, this is a good (if not comprehensive) way to do it, though note that other major
streaming services also have these same songs, so pick and choose based
on your own preferences for layout, content, and subscription models. Some services, most notably Apple Music, have exclusive content, though not everything there is available for sale, just streaming. Of course, Mikhal does run a standard YouTube channel for Agnosticism, which features "Happy Pills" as well as some standalone uploads and two free EPs not on all streaming services ("Chaotic & Dysfunctional" and "Eat Shit & Die"), which both notably feature songs later taken on by Vanity First, so don't bypass that channel either.
Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:
i'd probably kill myself if i had the motivation:
This a slight teaser for our first album review of 2025, which hits the site later this week, but Agnosticism's first album released for sale on iTunes (not just to hear for free) is their September 2022 full length album "Happy Pills". Normally, I would highlight a song that I like the most in this sort of situation, but to avoid skewing my thoughts of the album in advance of my review listen, I'll instead point you to "I'd Probably Kill Myself If I Had The Motivation", a long and emotive song that lets Mikhal spread his wings as an acoustic singer/songwriter. A demo version of this song was included at the end of this album as well. For more in-depth thoughts on "Happy Pills", look for my review of the whole album on the site by Friday!
Song 3: Surprisingly, the most popular Agnosticism song on their YouTube Music channel is the basically untitled "Song 3" from their November 2022 EP "4 Hours", released less than two months after "Happy Pills" (it will be eligible for an album review on the SMS no sooner than July due to my self-imposed 6 month buffer period between reviews of the same project's albums to avoid potentially showing a bias). This spare and short song escalates well with self deprecating jabs at Mikhal's solo music and song lengths, so keep that in mind as an example of his range as a lyricist, even if it can be a little too quick to make out all of the words at points!
Light Pollution: Bypassing me at the time due to (in part) Agnosticism's lack of a true social media page beyond Instagram, their most recent original song on streaming services is "Light Pollution", quietly released on July 9th of last year, with no sign yet of it being part of a new album or EP. Curiously marketed with a picture of Mikhal under a "Happy New Year" banner despite being released 5 months prior to January 1st, this song has a folksier yet fuller structure while still harbouring his distinctive emo/pop punk-inflected vocals, and while I like my Agnosticism to be more intense than this, it's good to hear some new material from Mikhal's acoustic act, and here's hoping for more from them in 2025!
I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! This series' second installment of the year will come on or around February 26th, with next month's randomly selected channel finally giving us some actual video content (that moves), namely YouTube user CrazyCarLover1990's channel, featuring 14 videos of Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide live in the early 2010s! Look for that then, and for more news and notes (plus our "Happy Pills" review) this week! Thanks everyone!
I hope all of our Canadian readers had a great Thanksgiving! We're back with a new news post on this Tuesday morning, including some shorter assorted stories, new videos from both sides of the border, and leading off, here's a notable band who have crossed our one year's inactivity threshold!
I have reluctantly moved local doom/sludge metal trio AlgomA to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. The band has not issued a public update since changing the business hours on their Facebook page on October 6th of last year, and while the effects of the ongoing pandemic are acknowledged, they have not played a live concert since opening for Dopethrone at The New A in May of last year (itself their only concert since 2017.) Launching in 2012 before debuting on stage at 180 Projects the following March, AlgomA united BeeFMoutH and Fuller alumni into a crushing package, giving the Sault area a much slower and doomier brand of metal that immediately set them apart, as heard on their 2014 EP "Reclaimed By The Forest" and their later splits with Chronobot, Hooded Menace, and the Soo's own Shit Liver. Local fans will recognize them from opening for bands like The Archaics, Beaver Slap, Biipiigwan, Fuck The Facts, and The Golers, often playing at shows under their own promotional banners.
As well, AlgomA found a far-flung audience of fans elsewhere in Canada and internationally via concerts in Southern Ontario, Sudbury, Quebec, and even in Europe, with their albums all getting solid press attention in metal news & review websites, partially owing to their label deal with Deadbeat Media. I definitely enjoyed AlgomA's slow and hard hitting brand of original metal, with lots of dark intensity packed into their generally long songs, and it was very encouraging to see local talent get so much exposure and fan support abroad at their peak. Hopefully this isn't the last we'll hear from AlgomA, but best of luck to Kevin, Boyd, and Jamie in the future!
Next up, here's the latest from Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished, who recently got a third spotlight on 9&10 News' lifestyle newsmagazine program The Four! As you may have seen on channel 10 (Spectrum) or 10.1 (over the air) this past Friday, the guys were seen playing their original "Metalyn" for their third (and final?) appearance on The Four's week-ending Friday Sessions series of music performances by Northern Michigan artists. This was filmed in the same August sessions that gave us prior CBS-aired takes on "Cocaine Riot" & "Shortcut", but neither of those has a mandolin! High quality performances and well shot videos as you would expect, so give Tarnished's third go-around on TV a look at the above links! I cannot embed 9&10 News videos here. In the meantime, Tarnished are filming their first ever music video (also for "Metalyn") with Jay London Photography, as per their Facebook page, which should be interesting to see the final product of! Stay tuned for updates from their camp as they roll in!
Also today, here's some new solo performance videos from prolific local folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page! While uploaded on September 27th & October 1st, these were allegedly recorded at an earlier point, and serve as "COVID jams" while he can't play normal live concerts. The first video is embedded below, but the second (and much longer) video can be watched at this link. The 36 minutes of content in these videos are along the lines of his intense folk punk work, with rapid guitar work and his usual passion and irreverence, so fans of this side of Chase's music career will absolutely want to watch both videos above & below!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
New local hard rock band The Isolation Sessions quietly added guitarist Todd Kidd to their lineup on their Facebook page last month, officially making them a quartet. As a result, Arthur Lacasse has moved from guitar to bass, much like he did with their predecessors Half Past. While Todd is unfamiliar locally, he was previously active in the Windsor-area metal bands 8ight Past Nine, King Misfit, and Against All Wisemen, and if you check out his work there, you'll see that he definitely has the chops! Stay tuned for more from The Isolation Sessions when it rolls in!
Bear Hunters/Skull After Betrayl alum Mike Vincent has again posted searches for band members on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group
this month. One post on October 1st was for a vocalist (and perhaps
second guitarist) for the pop punk band he has alluded to working on in
the past, while the other from last Tuesday was looking for
country/southern rock musicians he's interested in jamming with. Message
Mike at this link or above for more info!
I opted not to cover local acoustic hard rock musician Tym Morrison's presumed Motley Market show this past Saturday, as it was not promoted in advance by him or the venue on social media. Tym's prior Motley Market booking on Saturday the 3rd was cancelled outright, and he has not signalled that his weekly run there will resume, at least not publically, so I have removed October gigs there from our calendar for now. Hopefully nothing bad happened, but we'll let you know when he plays live next!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
For our last post in a quiet month, we have two topics to get to, both relating to prominent local hard rock performers who got some prominent airtime locally on Friday, but in one case, we're dialing back a few months to make up for lost time. Here's what you should know!
As I alluded to in Friday's post, I completely forgot to cover local/Thompson, Manitoba hard rock musician Mike Haggith's post-show from #LockdownLive XIII on the site after it's original airdate on June 29th, so let's finally give it a good look, albeit two months late! Apologies to Mike for the delay, this completely slipped through the cracks. As posted on his Facebook page, this served to recap the final weekly installment of Mike's live-streamed concert series, which was themed around looking back at the prior 12 episodes and playing a song each from all of them, and you can click here to watch that episode in full. Mike starts by addressing the format & events of the previous episode, checking in with live viewers, reminding everyone of the new monthly schedule for the series, and acknowledging his then-recent efforts to get published reviews of "If Ever Comes The Day", specifically asking viewers to like Rock-N-Review on Facebook to encourage them to review it.
If that page has reviewed even a single from the album, Mike hasn't promoted it since, but he did get an 8.5/10 rating on Casey's Album Reviews & Music Discussions, and while this definitely is not Mike's debut record, Casey did strongly recommend it, noting that it "is an album that shares love, thought, memories, moments, and building relationships", and that it "is a gentle reminder to embrace life and be yourself." This is a long review, but well thought out and very complimentary of the included messages, so give it a look at this link! Getting back to the #LockdownLive XIII post-show, Mike called the winner of that Saturday's share contest to determine the fan-chosen cover song that you just heard in #LockdownLive XIV on Friday, and if you missed our post, the winner was Brandi Martel for a second time in three weeks, and once again, she went with a sincere song that Mike already liked unironically, namely Joshua Kadison's ballad "Beautiful In My Eyes".
To hear Mike cover that song in Friday's live-stream, click here. Afterwards, Mike asks Brandi to pick an original song for him to play, and she chose The Din's "In The Moonlight", before he checked in with viewers, teased plans to put Din albums on more digital platforms, and unveiled a brand new original song that was not titled at that point, but #LockdownLive XIV viewers will recognize it as "Carousel", with a title suggested by ex-Din drummer Brandan Glew. The rest of the video sees Mike wrapping up the proceedings, teasing the next #LockdownLive episode, and asking fans for input on future episodes. This was an entertaining and informative half hour, though it definitely felt odd in some respects, given the double finality (ending the weekly schedule and this being the last post-show) and the fact that I saw this one late & out of order. Fans get their money's worth though, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for #LockdownLive XV next month!
We'll close today with the other local hard rock act who had some big airtime on Friday, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished were featured again on 9&10 News' weekday newsmagazine series The Four in their "Friday Sessions" segment featuring a music performance from a Northern Michigan or E.U.P. artist. Three weeks after viewers saw Alex, Nathan, Josh, and Gary play "Cocaine Riot" on channel 10(.1), they played "Shortcut" from their new album "Down To The Wire", and this does appear to have been filmed in the same session as in their last segment. Still, this live rendition is strongly done, and the multiple camera angles add some zest! Click here or above to see their CBS-aired version of "Shortcut", and remember that I can't embed videos from 9&10 here. When plugging their first appearance on The Four, Tarnished did tease that "other songs" will be playing in the future, implying that there is at least one more song of theirs ahead.
Lastly from their camp, Tarnished have teased on their Facebook page in recent days that they are planning to finally bring back their live-streamed at-home concerts after a 3+ month hiatus, only now with Nathan and Gary involved, and with electric instruments. Yesterday, they revealed that their full-band live-streams will begin "next week and hopefully weeks to come", but have the dreaded audio issues that took over their acoustic duo shows been worked out? Stay tuned for updates, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
News remains slow as of late, but today's post is surprisingly stacked and eventful, including a lengthy live-stream, related concert cancellations, a rising young band's recent busy activity, and leading off, a band reunion almost a quarter century in the making! Here's what you should know!
Local/Hamilton alternative/hard rock band Foothill Road are back after a 24 year hiatus! In an e-mail, ex-bassist Ron Pyette alerted me to a brand new song that the band quietly recorded last year, before finally being produced this year and posted onto guitarist Mark Oliverio's new YouTube channel this past weekend. Entitled "Heard Of It", the song features Mark (last seen with Tripod The Dog) alongside original singer Ken Luxton and drummer Rick Bain, with veteran local musician Steve Cardiff on bass in lieu of Ron, though he was involved in the songwriting. Mark's former Glitch bandmate Mario Carlucci is not visibly back on guitar for the Foothill Road reunion. I have no idea if this will lead to a new album or concerts when available, but the song is promising, with a 1990s hard rock bent injected with some progressive and bluesy flourish, and their talents are still visible! It's easy to learn too, as this is a lyric video, which isn't common for local bands to post.
Just for context, Foothill Road's original run was circa 1993-1996, before members moved on to the now-defunct Hamilton-based bands Sara Inksetter & Cousin It. Time will tell how much more we hear from Foothill Road 2.0, but give their new song a listen below, and amazingly, they are now in our active band links! Stay tuned for possible updates!
Next up, let's take a detour to Sault Michigan for the latest from local hard rock quartet Tarnished, so what have they been up to since Rock The Block? On August 4th, they played a private outdoor set for a graduation party (photos are on their Facebook page), and then on Friday, frontman Alex Traynor and bassist Josh Fair returned to Eagle 95.1 FM's morning show to promote their now-released debut EP "Down To The Wire", and play acoustic versions of "Shortcut" and a Creedence Clearwater Revival song. Bizarrely, this wasn't hyped in advance on social media, but hopefully it gave them and the CD some great exposure! And yes, I meant "CD", as physical copies of "Down To The Wire" can now be bought online at this link, so if you haven't had any luck at local retailers, here you go! CDs run for $10 American, and you can see the back cover of the case there as well. Finally, Tarnished got some big exposure on 9&10 News' lifestyle newsmagazine series The Four last week!
Much like Alex had for prior solo performances, Tarnished performed "Cocaine Riot" on their week-ending "Friday Sessions" last week, and yes, this was the full band with electric gear. It's always great seeing E.U.P. talent on the local news, and kudos to our local CBS affiliate for heading north to film Tarnished in action, from multiple solid angles to boot! Allegedly, Tarnished did more songs to be included in future episodes of The Four, so tune in on channel 10 (Spectrum) or 10.1 (antenna) on Fridays at 4:00 PM to see if Tarnished are that week's artist! View last Friday's performance at this link, as I cannot embed videos from 9&10 News here.
Finally, I was planning to preview Sault Ontario hard rock musician Tym Morrison's announced return to the Motley Market on Gore Street tomorrow, but his remaining August dates there (including on August 20th & 27th) have quietly been cancelled, as per the Facebook event page. A reason for their cancellation has not been announced by Tym or the venue, but remember that the pandemic is ongoing, and the market is still very new to the downtown sector, so one or both may have played a part. At least Tym is back playing public concerts of some form, and hopefully we'll see him there or elsewhere soon! As for his live-streamed concert series, the 35th installment did indeed take place live at the Motley Market this past Thursday, and it remains his most recent episode at press time, as Tym did not film an episode yesterday for (again) unannounced reasons. We'll let you know if he has one tomorrow, but for now, how did last Thursday's live-stream go?
... Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", Yes' "Love Will Find A Way", 10cc's "I'm Not In Love", and finally, Tom Petty's "Yer So Bad". Entertaining set as usual for Tym, and it seemed like he was glad to be playing an actual concert again, but he is definitely chattier in the at-home streams. It's hard to gauge Motley Market as a venue given the camera angle, and the attendance didn't seem huge, but there were people coming and going. Note that 7 covers filmed on Thursday were already done in the previous Tuesday's live-stream. Give Thursday's video a watch below, and we'll let you know when Tym goes live next!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site by week's end! Thanks everyone!
Here's a new news post to check out on this Sunday afternoon, so what's in store? Lots of big updates from a prominent local solo artist (including an apology for a missed concert), a new live concert video from just yesterday, and leading off, big updates to a previously announced concert, which now has a brand new and very notable headline act!
Remember how Edmonton metal quintet Striker are playing at Soo Blaster on Sunday, June 9th with locals Re:Born opening? Well, we know a lot more on that show now, as Striker aren't headlining: Toronto metal legends Anvil are! After headlining at The Canadian Nightclub in 2012 & 2014 and at The Rockstar Bar in 2015, the "Metal on Metal" icons and eponymous documentary stars will finally return to Sault Ste. Marie for another night of entertaining originals from across their career, including from last year's new album "Pounding The Pavement." It's great to have Anvil back in town after a 4 year wait, so don't miss them at Soo Blaster next month! As for the teased second local openers, they will be punk/metal quintet Jack Spades (fronted by co-promoter J.D. Pearce), who opened for Anvil at their last two local dates and at a short Northern Ontario tour run in 2014, so they're a great pick to reprise that role! For what it's worth, the new Facebook event page lists Striker between the local bands.
As this is no longer just a Striker concert, the advance ticket price has doubled from $10 to $20 (or $25 at the door), and it now has a 7:30 PM start time, but it remains a 19+ event. A VIP package also exists that includes a private booth for 6 people costing $200, so keep that in mind also, and advance tickets of any stripe are on sale at Soo Blaster. Suddenly, this concert has been injected with a lot more metal, so don't miss Anvil, Striker, and locals for another big Soo Blaster concert in just over a month's time!
Next up, here's a new video from last night's Hells Bells (and Dave Evans) concert at The Rockstar Bar, courtesy of Christopher Paci's excellent YouTube channel once again! At press time, he has only posted two videos from Hells Bells' Dave-less set, but if he posts anything with the original AC/DC frontman, we will let you guys know. Chris' clips features the Barrie-based AC/DC tribute band tackling "Back In Black" and, as embedded below, their eponymous song, and while the vocals seem not as raspy as we know Brian to be with the actual band, the renditions are solid overall. Give it a look below, and keep watch in case videos with Dave Evans surface!
Let's wrap things up in Sault Michigan, starting with the latest from Banned frontman and local solo musician Alex Traynor, who recently got another local television performance under his belt! Like in March, Alex was the featured performer on the "Friday Sessions" segment on 9&10 News' lifestyle newsmagazine series The Four last week, where local viewers got to see him play the title track from his "Crazy World" EP. Similarly filmed as his March performance, this is a nice unplugged rendition of this harder rocking track, and hopefully it gets Alex lots of exposure across the Cadillac-Traverse City TV market! I can't embed 9&10 News website videos here, but you can watch it at this link, even if you're in Sault Ontario, and watch The Four on channel 10 (Spectrum) or 10.1 (antenna) on Fridays for more regional musicians! Now, Alex was back in Sault Ste. Marie this weekend for a Thursday matinee gig at Kewadin Casino, but that was't all for him back home!
I profusely apologize for missing this, but Alex played a special 2:00 PM matinee gig yesterday at Biggby Coffee at 2502 Ashmun Street, which was only announced on the venue's Facebook page on Thursday. Biggby Coffee tends to host solo acoustic performers in early timeslots, sometimes as part of open mic nights, so it's not a venue that often comes across our radar, but I do apologize again, we'd have covered it on the site had we known about it! For what it's worth, Insipid Brutality/Condemned alum Tyler Dettloff played an acoustic matinee show of his own today, though I don't know much about his music work nowadays. As it turns out, Biggby Coffee actually shot two videos of Alex's set for their Facebook page, including this distant clip of him covering Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary", but embedded below is a much closer, face-forward video of Alex covering Matchbox Twenty's "Push". Both are on a vertical camera angle, but that's fine for a solo performer.
Alex seems to be in his element with these unplugged clips, and while the cover choices are softer than his studio originals, remember that this is a coffee shop (part of a big chain, no less) at 2:00 in the afternoon. Solidly done renditions overall, especially if you can get past the distant view on "Prud Mary", so give Alex's videos a look above & below, and we'll try harder to stay on top of Biggby Coffee gigs if they happen to fit the SMS' coverage!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Before I get to a massive post concerning major developments regarding a once-popular band page website, here's a new news post for your Tuesday afternoon, and it includes new solo performance footage, jam session clips, and a local artist's television appearance from earlier this month, but let's begin with a preview of a special live event!
While not a concert in the traditional sense, I felt it appropriate to give one last preview to TONIGHT'S show from the national touring production of the hair metal/1980s rock-themed musical Rock of Ages at GFL Memorial Gardens! It's rare when a live musical play comes through here that has any direct connection to SMS coverage, but I can easily make an exception here. A jukebox musical about an aspiring singer & bartender's romance as they try to make it big in the 1980s glam rock music scene in Los Angeles, Rock of Ages was a smash hit on Broadway for six years, and later led to a 2012 feature film, and now this national tour to commemorate the original Broadway production's 10th anniversary. Expect to hear a wide array of songs woven into the plot from acts like REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi, The Scorpions, Journey, Foreigner, Quiet Riot, and many more. Tickets are still available, including on the floor, for between $49.50 and $89.50 at this link, so act A.S.A.P. to get the best seat possible!
You can also buy tickets at the in-person box office or by phone at 1-866-775-9422. An 8:00 PM start time is advertised, and this seems to be all ages. Also, check out this Sault Star article by Jeffrey Ougler from last month where he interviewed Andrew Tebo, who plays Hertz Klinemann in this production. While I admittedly didn't love the Rock of Ages film, I know that many fans of 1980s glam, hair, and arena bands will certainly enjoy tonight's play at the Gardens, so hopefully tonight's show is a home run! And for one last preview, here's two of the actors hyping up the show for this video posted on the City of Sault Ste. Marie's YouTube channel last month!
Next up, here's another new video from Kinross/Mount Pleasant, Michigan solo hard rock musician Alex Traynor, who got some big exposure on local television earlier this month! If you live in the Cadillac-Traverse City television market (which includes the E.U.P.), or if you are a Sault Ontario resident with a digital TV antenna, you may be familiar with The Four, a lifestyle newsmagazine show that airs weekdays at 4:00 PM on our regional CBS affiliate 9&10 News (channel 10 on Spectrum, 10.1 on the antenna.) Hosted by Michelle Dunaway and Charlie Tinker, this show is an entertaining snapshot of current events, helpful tips, and weather updates, and it's definitely a fun and lighter alternative to more serious newscasts! A regular feature is their "Friday Sessions", where a regional musician or band performs an original song to end the week with, and Alex got the nod on March 8th, where he performed an acoustic version of his song "Send My Soul Away" from his new "Crazy World" EP.
Unfortunately, I can't embed the video here, but you can watch it at this link, and it's not region locked, so Canadian readers can check it out too. Well filmed on multiple cameras (including one mounted on his guitar's neck), this is a strong performance that hopefully won him lots of new fans watching WWUP & WWTV a couple of weeks back! Give it a look at the above links, and watch The Four on Fridays to hear more rising Northern Michigan artists!
We'll close today with some videos that I can embed, including some more jam session clips from Sault Ontario power rock quintet Re:Born's Facebook page, with two more being posted there on Monday! One video features Elly, Blair, Fred, and Brandan tackling Project 421's old original "Running Away", but embedded below is Re:Born covering two songs, including Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me" & Kissin' Dynamite's "Sex Is War", which Elly guested on with Re:Born last year already. Solid performances all around, if a little stiff still, but it's all good hype for their return show at Soo Blaster on March 29th, so give each of these videos a look above & below!
Finally for today, here's a couple of new videos from local experimental/metal solo artist Chase Wigmore's Facebook page from the last month or so! This one was shared from his personal Facebook page last week, and it features a now-mohawked Chase playing a short original that is reminiscent of Vito Petroccitto Jr'.s "The Assumption Song". Washed out visuals, but a lively performance that isn't quite what you're expecting! Embedded below is his live-streamed video from February 28th, which has Chase playing "some of Dan's tracks" to test some new software. I don't know who Dan is in this context, but if you like Chase's technical metal side, this will satiate that need! Despite prior plans to move metal material to the Awokest banner, this showcases some heavy and complex original instrumental action for 18+ minutes, and even a surprise bass cameo at the end! More great stuff from Chase, so give these videos a look above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
So did you remember to check the SMS out at 10:00 PM last night for the all-concerts auto-post? I hope so, cause there was a lot there to get through, and even still, that's not all! Before I review Ultraviolence & The Big Four, we have another LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you need to know!
Just four months after they last came through here, Who Made Who, The Ultimate Tribute To AC/DC will be back in Sault Ontario in exactly ONE WEEK! Sorry for the short notice, I was only alerted to this show today. AC/DC fans sure have had a lot to cheer about locally in 2010, after seeing Who Made who at Nite-Life Dance Club in February and then seeing ANOTHER AC/DC tribute band, Hells Bells, at The Canadian Nightclub just last month! And just like at their May 2009 concert here, Who Made Who will be back at The Canadian themselves! What can you say, Sault Ste. Marie loves AC/DC and AC/DC tributes love coming here! The Ontario-based tribute band will bring their own authentic AC/DC sound and look once again next week that will be sure to impress, just as they did in their last shows here! The show will be on June 30th at 10:00 PM, there is a $5 cover charge, and you must be 19 to get in. You can never get too much AC/DC, so what excuse do you have to NOT go? Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page, and check out more from Who Made Who by clicking here!
Now, onto reviews of what happened last night! Well, as you guys were probably aware, me and a few dozen other local metalheads found ourselves at Galaxy Cinema in Theater 1 for The Big Four: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, live from Bulgaria! Well, it didn't turn out to be completely live, though that was probably to quicken things. Before the bands started, we didn't have to sit through trailers and ads, luckily, we actually got to see Lars Ulrich, Scott Ian, Dave Mustaine, and Kerry King talk about music and their influences and stuff, it has a nice casual interview feel! Anthrax opened to a huge raucous crowd, and I can see why, but I didn't expect them to be so into Anthrax and know all the songs! The band were fantastic and looked to be enjoying every minute of the show, especially singer Joey Belladonna, who went all out with his energy, including running around like a maniac with his Indian headdress during the song "Indians"! The highlight of their set was when they stopped mid-song to cover "Heaven and Hell" in tribute to Ronnie James Dio, that was just awesome! My biggest complaint about Anthrax was the vocals, probably cause I'm a huge fan of John Bush, and I never thought Joey's singing fit a thrash band, though I will say his voice has held out the best of the current Big Four frontmen!
Megadeth were next, and they sadly had to play about half their set during rain. I would have blamed Lars for trying to sabotage Dave and them, but that sounded cruel. Musically, they were on top of their game, with just an onslaught of thrash metal with no chit chat needed between songs! Again, like with Anthrax, my big complaint lied with vocals, it sounded like Dave Mustaine was straining his voice a lot of the time to hit higher and angrier notes. It's also awesome seeing David Ellefson back, and Chris Broderick's guitar work is just awesome, Dave did good to get him! Following them were Slayer, and I have to say, they still sound as good as ever! I was actually going into this thinking Tom Araya's singing would be the worst, cause last I heard, his singing was shot. Not last night, he sounded pretty close to their recent albums! Musically, I can't complain one bit, Kerry King's guitar mastery was obvious, Dave Lombardo laid waste to his drums (for my money, he's the best "Big Four" drummer), and the whole band played with an obvious intensity combined with joy to be playing!
Before Metallica played, we got a surprise tribute segment to Ronnie James Dio, who was supposed to play this festival with Heaven and Hell as well before he died. Lars, Scott, Dave, and Kerry reminisced about Ronnie and their memories meeting him and playing with him, which was really cool! Everyone at the theater responded to that nicely! When Metallica hit the stage, they had an awesome stage setup with a huge video screen and pyro and all kinds of bells and whistles, and luckily, their music lived up to the presentation! They played many of their greatest hits, and they sounded very tight, though I do have complaints. The fire in James Hetfield's voice isn't there as much, and it sounded like he tried too hard at various parts. Also, the downtuning was really evident on a number of songs. Still, they were awesome, and thankfully didn't play anything from their mid-90s albums or "St. Anger"! There was a moment where we could see what was on James' guitar pick, which I won't spoil, but everyone loved that! And then, to kick off the encore, Metallica were joined on stage by Megadeth, Anthrax, and Dave from Slayer (where were the rest of them?) to play Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?", and that was a surreally awesome moment! Never would I have thought I'd see James Hetfield and Dave Mustaine share the stage again, I think Hell froze over!
Overall, that was a fun way to see the four kings of thrash, and I definitely think Galaxy should show more metal concerts there, cause if something else huge is there, it'll be worth seeing too, I think! There were some general camera issues, a glitch during Slayer, and it ran long, but no worries! Hopefully The Big Four tour together in North America in the future! Can you imagine if they all played HERE? One can dream!
However, because "The Big Four" ran long (it ended around quarter to 11), I actually missed the first half of Ultraviolence's first set at Coch's Corner, but that wasn't going to stop me from going! I've missed seeing them too often already as it was! I made it there mid-song and settled into the closest booth possible and got ready for some filthy dirty drunk n' roll! Now you know how I've said that Ultraviolence have an AC/DC-ish sound? Well, guess what the first full song they played when I got there was? "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)"! And I have got to say, frontman Turi Mercuri has a great Brian Johnson-esque voice, I can see him fronting an AC/DC cover band if he wanted to go that route! But good thing they don't, cause they have some great originals and covers of other bands to go around! Their set had a number of covers from many different bands, ranging from Twisted Sister and Motley Crue to Led Zeppelin and Motorhead (bassist Jordan Beer'd handled vocals there) to even some Elvis Presley! Plus, they threw in their originals like "Hey Li'l Mama", "Queen Heartbreaker", and "Devil's Little Girl", that are full of raw hard drinking energy that the crowd ate up!
Turi Mercuri's a great frontman, and not just vocally, he was all over the place, jumping on tables, singing to and with the fans there (I got to sing along with the chorus of "Rock N' Roll"), and engaging in some funny on-stage banter! Actually, he and the rest of the band are all very nice guys, they're class acts and I got to chat with them during their first break, which was really awesome! I even got my CD autographed, thanks guys! Andrew Postlethwaite was great all night on guitar, though it seemed like he was hidden a lot of the time, maybe it was just my angle of the stage. Jordan Beer'd ruled on bass, he's gonna go far himself, and Phil Elliot kept the beat nicely on drums, he had some great licks! The crowd, thought not humongous, were great considering this was a Tuesday night concert, and everyone there was getting into it and having a good time, singing along and talking with the band, it was a great environment!
I'm dead honest when I say this: I haven't had this much fun at an out-of-town-headlined bar concert since Ministry of Zen were here last, and even then, there might be some dispute! Ultraviolence are entertaining, they have a great sound, they're nice guys, and they'll get you moving and grooving! The horns and beers were flying, and rightfully so! At points, it didn't even feel like some Tuesday concert! If you weren't there last night, you missed out big time! But keep in mind that Ultraviolence end their summer tour here on July 31st, so go to that concert, you'll thank me later! As you can tell, I took lots of photos, though excuse the quality, the lighting in Coch's Corner wasn't great for photo taking, so the setting made them grainier than I'd like. Click here to check them out, and yes, I got a video too! Here's what I got, Ultraviolence playing their original song "Devil's Little Girl"!
I'll leave this post there for today, but here's what to look out for on the SMS! Tomorrow's post is solely dedicated to previewing this weekend's local metal concerts, including the big Tesla show at Kewadin Casino on Saturday! Friday will have a news post with lots of updates that I need to get through, and also, keep an eye out for my newest profiles of out-of-town bands with local members (this month: The Disciples of Rock & Violet Fuse) between Saturday and Wednesday! And remember, the SMS' 3rd anniversary is ONE WEEK FROM SUNDAY! Stay tuned for more news and updates as they come in!
Well guys, today's the day of the big Rock 101 concert announcement, so let's not waste any time! If you weren't listening to 101.3 FM at the top of the hour, here's what you need to know! Stay tuned after for another LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, a preview of tomorrow's Ultraviolence concert, and more!
You wanted the best, you've waited patiently (or impatiently) for the best, and now, we're getting the best! Kiss are coming to The Essar Centre on AUGUST 10TH!!! The news was broken on SooToday just minutes ago by SooToday's David Helwig, the article of which you can read at this location! Rock 101's Alli J also announced the show on-air at 5:10 PM to listeners, and conducted an interview with Buzz and Derek Turner from Garden of Bedlam (who are STILL OPENING THE SHOW) on the air talking about the Kiss Battle of the Bands, the upcoming concert, and their new studio album, after which they played "The Truth Shall Set You Free"! Great interview, awesome to see Garden of Bedlam getting this kind of on-air recognition! Originally scheduled for December 15th of last year, the Kiss/Garden of Bedlam concert was postponed due to inclement weather on the way to Sault Ste. Marie from Pittsburgh, and like many of us anticipated, they have indeed rescheduled and are coming here much sooner than we were thinking, falling between the Indianapolis and Buffalo shows of their tour! The show is not listed on Kiss' tour page on their site, but the concert is definitely on for August 10th, the press release is official, THEY ARE COMING!!! Sorry, skeptics, I told you they'd honour their word!
Now, how about ticket details? Well, if you still have your tickets from the December show, they are still good and you can still use them on August 10th! That being said, if you can't or don't want to be at the rescheduled August 10th date, refunds are still being offered at the point of purchase. A limited number of new tickets will be released on Friday to purchase at either The Essar Center box office or online at http://www.essarcenter.ca! I believe the cost is no different from in December, $99.50 would be the price. Rock 101 are also holding a ticket giveaway offer on Thursday to win your own ticket before they go on sale! For more info on tickets in general, call (705) 759-5251 during the week! Full details can be checked out at this location, and as more comes in, I'll have it for you guys! Remember, KISS AND GARDEN OF BEDLAM IN SAULT ONTARIO ON AUGUST 10TH!!!
That's not all for concert news, as there's another new concert in Sault Michigan to announce too, as Cheboygan hard rockers The Darwin Project will be returning to the area for a show next month! The band will be rocking The Corner Pub Bar & Grill on July 9th at 9:00 PM! No cover charge has been announced, I imagine you must be 21 to get in. The Darwin Project are a band that I'm surprised I haven't covered properly on here before, cause they are just hard rock enough for SMS attention! They're influenced by bands like Seether, Three Days Grace, and Shinedown, they've played here a few times in the past, notably at the July 2008 "Rock Starz" show at The Soo Theater with area metal bands like B3nt Rollercoaster and Scofflaw! They have a good sound, sounds like a lot of the radio hard rock bands nowadays, but they're definitely good musicians and they hold their own! Just a familiar sound, but it's a sound that has lots of fans, so they're likely to go over very well! Check out more from The Darwin Project at their official MySpace page!
Next up, seeing as there's a mid-week concert tomorrow, we have a local concert preview today! And yes, I can 100% confirm this is on, despite the band's lack of listed tour dates on their MySpace page. Ultraviolence, Toronto's resident filthy dirty drunk n' roll band, are once again returning to Coch's Corner tomorrow night! My initial source was the ad in last week's issue of Sault This Week in the Hot Spots section, but there's since been further confirmation on Ultraviolence's Facebook page. The band confirmed there in a reply to a fan inquiry on Friday that they'll be in town tomorrow to kick off their "NeverEnderBender Summer 2010 Tour"! So the show's on, and what else should you know? Don't expect a cover charge, the typical Coch's Corner concert doesn't have one, it should start between 10:00 and 11:00 PM, and you must be 19 to get in.
If you wanna hear some great AC/DC-inspired hard rock to have a few beers to and rock out at the same time, Ultraviolence are exactly the band you're looking for! I've been hoping to see them live for months now, and tomorrow, I will FINALLY get the chance! I'll be at Coch's tomorrow night, and expect a review with photos and video on Wednesday! Mark my words, if you go, you'll have an awesome time! For more from Ultraviolence, check them out on MySpace, and here's a video preview of the band playing the song "One More Drink" from a May concert in Waterloo!
Now this isn't a local concert, but this is getting a huge buzz locally and it's taking place tomorrow night as well, so I would be remiss to not mention this here either! Tomorrow night at 7:00 PM eastern time, The Big Four: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax will share the stage for just the third time ever when they headline night one of The Sonisphere Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria! And us Saultites can see it LIVE as it happens from Galaxy Cinema at The Station Mall! Cineplex & Galaxy theaters across Canada are all showing this historic concert, which is so big, even The Sault Star has an article about it! So how would you guys like to see the biggest thrash bands of all time 2 stories high right here in the Soo? If you want tickets, it's not sold out yet! They cost $18 (believe me, it's worth the price), and they can be bought at Galaxy itself or online by clicking here! Trust me, this will be awesome, you'll want to get a tickets and head to Galaxy tomorrow night! I'll be there, I'm heading to Coch's for Ultraviolence once The Big Four wraps up! I hope to see you guys at the theater too, and remember to bring your most metal movie snacks for this thrash onslaught!
And finally for today, three more assorted stories in alphabetical order by band name:
Local hard rockers Browbeat have uploaded another song to their Reverbnation page named "Narrow Mind"! It's not a new song, Browbeat fans may remember hearing this at live concerts, I definitely remember it from the last show when they were named Social Play. Still, it's a pretty good song and it's nice to hear in clearer audio! It keeps a quick pace while also keeping things kinda deep soundwise, it actually blends well! Click the above links for more!
We know that Finding Clyde, StilrizE, and Dannison will be playing support on night two of the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival, and now we know another support band that night! Electric Motor Fish, a Sault Michigan acoustic rock band featuring Shift drummer Tony Rogers, will also be one of the support bands for Three Doors Down that night, as confirmed on their MySpace page! Strange that we haven't heard any openers for the other nights yet, or any metal bands, isn't it? More lineup news as it comes in!
Local experimental hard rock trio SBD have uploaded two new songs onto their SoundClick page! One is a new version of their song "Pow! Right In The Kisser" which is clearer and faster than the original, while the other is a slower laid back little tune named "It's For The Money". The chorus speeds up but still has the same feel throughout, oddly. Check out the new songs by clicking the above links!
Alright, so how's that for a post? Tomorrow, stay tuned for my review of Tym Morrison's solo CD, and I'll see you tomorrow night at Galaxy Cinema for The Big Four and Coch's Corner for Ultraviolence, and of course, at The Essar Centre for Kiss! Thanks everyone!
