The rate of new updates is thankfully starting to slowly improve as we inch towards the end of the second lockdown in Ontario, so let's break our "one post every three days" trend with a new post tonight! This includes confirmation of a drummer change in a local band that was previously rumoured by said drummer's old band publically, but first, here's a surprise archive concert video discovery from almost 32 years ago!
A few weeks back, I covered a video of Toronto classic rock cover band Ground Zero's one-off Rotaryfest reunion set in 2013, courtesy of ex-Tripod The Dog/Screwge drummer Brian Egglesfield's YouTube channel, but that wasn't all for uploads of his with a hard rock tie, as in 2016, he posted a video there from the finals of a multi-night battle of the bands at the former Eastgate Hotel back in 1989! This is very much before my time (I was only born that year), and the VHS camcorder quality is obvious, so if I am lacking or incorrect on details obvious to other readers, I apologize in advance. I truly wasn't there! Brian's video captures two of the three bands competing in the finals (omitting Swing Shift, who played second), and the MC thanked bands who were eliminated in prior weeks, including Silence, Deciever, Silent Rage, Fallacy, Night Crawler, Anxiety, and Valhalla (again, I'm sorry if I misheard or misspelled any names here.)
After the MC introduced the judges, the battle finals proper began with Tommygun (also spelled as Tommy Gun on the poster), whose set included covers of The Scorpions' "Blackout", The Cult's "Rain" & "Love Removal Machine", The Pursuit Of Happiness' "Hard To Laugh", Aerosmith's version of The Beatles' "I'm Down", Free's "All Right Now", U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" & "In The Name Of Love", Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", and AC/DC's "Sin City". Really strong & varied set, and Tommygun's frontman had great stage presence to go along with his singing! Again, Swing Shift's set was not included here, if Brian(?) filmed them at all. Spy Vs. Spy's set begins after the MC's introduction, and this band has more literature online than Tommy Gun, so I can say a little more about them, largely thanks to drummer Glen Thomas discussing them online (thanks, Glen!)
As best as I can gather, Spy Vs. Spy's lineup here included Glen (now of Soundcheck) alongside singer Ken Luxton and future Bigsuit bandmates Brian Oja (recently of Griphook) on guitar and George Ravlich (from Crank Sound Distribution) on bass. Spy Vs. Spy actually disbanded later that same year in 1989 due to creative differences, so at least they had a high local platform before they went out! Their set includes covers of Judas Priest's "The Hellion/Electric Eye", Sammy Hagar's "Heavy Metal", Kingdom Come's "Do You Like It", Tesla's "Little Suzi", Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog", "Over The Hills & Far Away", and"Good Times, Bad Times", and Guns 'N Roses' "Rocket Queen", with Rush's "Tom Sawyer" only 35 seconds in before the video ends. If bands had equal time, then that was likely their last song.
Brian did not say in the description who won this battle, and I wouldn't feel comfortable saying who I'd have voted for without seeing Swing Shift's set, but my musical tastes do lean closer to Spy Vs. Spy, who had a strong handle on these covers, with Ken's singing a good match for contemporary metal, and the crowd was into both bands! Kudos to Brian for posting this video, especially with really nice quality given the age and hardware involved, and it wasn't a chore at all to identify the covered songs! Check out Tommy Gun & Spy Vs. Spy live at The Eastgate below!
Finally for today, let's head to Sault Michigan, as local blues/hard rock cover quartet Project 906 have indeed added Gary Croad to their lineup as their new drummer, replacing Tommy Korcal (incidentally, Gary's predecessor in Tarnished as well.) Tarnished already teased Gary's new gig on their Facebook page on February 4th, but Project 906 only confirmed the news on their own Facebook page
on Friday, where they noted that Tommy left due to his enlistment in
the United States Army. Tommy had drummed for Project 906 since
replacing Will Storey behind the kit in January 2018, and of course, we
do wish him him the best of luck in his new path! That said, it doesn't
sound like he just left the band, as Project 906 noted that frontman
Billy Bernier has been singing and drumming with them in the interim. With
no concerts to play for the past year, it looks like his double role may have
primarily been during rehearsals & their long gestating EP recording plans.
Project 906 still hope to
release said EP (let alone play proper concerts again) later this year,
and given Gary's experience and skill level, he should fit in just fine
with his new band! Stay tuned for updates from Project 906 (and
Tarnished) when they roll in, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Let's cover some recent news and updates on the SMS today, primarily from a pair of notable hard rock bands in the E.U.P., but there is lots of recent stuff to touch on from a prominent Sault Ontario musician as well. Hopefully there's more where this came from, but here's what you should know!
Here's the latest (non-TikTok) updates from Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished, starting with a surprise lineup change, as they have officially parted ways with drummer Gary Croad. Unlike in their prior drummer departure last year, the band did elaborate on their Facebook page on Thursday, where they implied that Gary made the call to leave, as "he's got his own path to follow", but they praised him and the great ride they've had with him. Gary was confirmed as Tarnished's new drummer in May of last year, replacing Tommy Korcal behind the kit, and he played with them at the Rock The Block concert in July, but he only sporadically took part in their videos posted to social media. Tarnished hinted that Gary "got in with Project 906" (if true, ironically replacing Tommy again),but that has not been confirmed by Project 906's camp at press time. We'll keep you posted on if that proves to be an accurate report or not!
Gary's a solid musician, and while he did seem to be somewhat detached from their social media videos, he will be missed, and hopefully we hear from him again soon! Before Gary left, he did feature (at least) one more time with Tarnished in their fourth "Friday Sessions" appearance on 9&10 News' lifestyle newsmagazine series The Four last week! Here, they played their original song "The Path", in a similar setting to their prior CBS performances, but here with more stage lighting. Solid work as usual, and if you missed The Four on channel 10(.1) last week, check it out at the above links! I can't embed videos from 9&10 News' website here.
Next up, here's a new video from the aforementioned Project 906's Facebook page! Apologies for the delay on this clip, which was uploaded on Christmas Eve, but it remains their most recent posting there (again, no word on if they did switch drummers as of this writing). Around three weeks after posting a Chris Stapleton cover as part of a planned "Songs From The Bedroom" solo performance video series, frontman Billy Bernier returned with a new video, this time not visibly in a bedroom, and this time of a new 906 original song! Entitled "Where's The Love?", this acoustic vocal/guitar rendition is obviously incomplete from how the band will play it, but it has a bluesy rock base that fits their usual sound, and it's well sung! That said, I'd have framed the camera better, too much dead space in the top half. Give Billy's new video a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Project 906!
Now let's head north to Sault Ontario for the latest from prolific local singer/guitarist Chase Wigmore! In a lengthy post on his Facebook page on January 17th, Chase revealed that he has a new full length acoustic album ready to be recorded, and while he was in the process of scheduling record time for it, he hoped to finish it within two months. Later in the post, Chase noted that he is planning to release "The Chase James Wigmore Collection" for sale on USB sticks, featuring his entire solo discography, from raw early trials to his more refined and seriously approached work of more recent years, as part of three volumes. He is currently in "Volume 3" of his solo career, which he teased "will probably be the end" of his solo work, but he never plans to stop playing guitar. Hopefully that's not too finite, he still has a lot to offer musically! Chase also teased further work with The Strange Coyotes, who reunited in late 2019 for a one-off gig at the Dryer Fire pop-up venue, but the pandemic is obviously in the way.
At the end, he noted that he's working on writing a book about the guitar, under the title "Ars Cithara" (which stands for "The Art Of Guitar"), and Chase called it "the single most important project I will ever work on" and "perhaps even my life's purpose." No pressure, clearly, but I'd be very curious to read this when completed! The other note from this post regarded his side project Awokest's new album "Beyonder", which had recently been mixed after some prior technical issues, and two weeks later after this post was made, the album came out as promised as a free upload on his new YouTube channel! If you like Chase's electronic and industrial works with a tinge of extreme metal, you should take to "Beyonder", especially as it's free, though this is a primarily instrumental album. Give Awokest's new music a listen below, and stay tuned for more from Chase's camps when it rolls in!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week, plus our latest Defunct Local Band Profile on Monday or Tuesday! Thanks everyone!
Another month is upon us, so let's kick June off with our 77th straight daily post at the SMS! We have some new videos to touch on from a daily series of note, but let's lead off with the latest live-stream from a prominent band on the other side of the border, as well as their new lineup announcement!
Sault Michigan hard rock band Tarnished held their 15th live-streamed concert (and first in a week) on their Facebook page on Saturday night! The guys had announced that they'd only have one at-home show last week due to "planning and setting up for the summer, which will be full of our one of a kind complete band setup." Hopefully their optimism means good things re: formal public concerts of some kind later in 2020! As for the "complete band setup" line, that appears to be true once again, as Tarnished have quietly added former Half A Man bassist Gary Croad as their new drummer, replacing the already departed Tommy Korcal, as per the band's About page on Facebook. I'm not familiar with Gary as a drummer, but hopefully he's the right fit when Tarnished can finally play true live concerts again! Don't look for him or Nathan in the live-streams in the near term due to social distancing, alas.
As for Tarnished's newest live-stream, the guys returned to a 2 hour-long model (give or take 7 minutes) after the previous week's two temperature-shortened concerts. Unfortunately, the ongoing audio issues for some users (myself included) are still very much in effect, including the usual pops, halts, and loud static, so crank your volume and/or have Audacity open to manipulate the ripped audio track. The first 8 songs played on Saturday are all solo performances by frontman Alex Traynor, as bandmate Josh Fair "(wasn't) quite here yet", and they included covers of Matchbox Twenty's "Push", Days of the New's "Push, Peel, and Stand", Panic! At The Disco's "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies", Warrant's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive", The Hollies' "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress", Matchbox Twenty's "Unwell", and Ed Sheeran's "Don't". Josh finally joins the concert in-progress afterwards for covers of The Romantics' "What I Like About You", ...
...and Incubus' "Drive", before Josh trades his chair for a higher stool. The guys next tackle Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love", Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Mary Jane's Last Dance", Three Doors Down's "Kryptonite", Bob Seger's "Turn The Page", Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl", Sublime's "What I Got", and Anthrax's "Madhouse". After pausing for a couple minutes while Josh steps out, half of Tarnished finish up with covers of The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun", Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary", Alice In Chains' "Rooster", Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5", and Metallica's "Fade To Black". Nice return to activity for Alex & Josh, and if you can get past the poor audio quality, they handle these covers well all around! That said, "What I Like About You" & "Mambo No. 5" were just played in their last live-stream before this one, and they didn't break out any originals on Saturday. Check everything out below!
We'll close today back in Ontario for the three latest "Mikey & His Uke" quarantune videos from local punk musician Mikey Hawdon's YouTube channel over the last three days! All featuring special guests, these covers include Johnny Thunders' "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory", and Johnny & June Carter Cash's "Jackson" (alongside his frequent Toronto bandmate Amy Zucchetto), but embedded below is Saturday's cover of Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros' "Coma Girl" featuring Mikey's Surfers/ex-Tide bandmate Dustin Jones on vocals. This is a brief but fun and melodic cover with a nice punk spirit, so give it a look below, and hear much more above!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
