It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, continuing our monthly spotlight of randomly selected bands who are no longer active, but deserve a look back for modern readers! This month's bands include a promising tribute band from recent years and a talented solo project with an album to their name, so here's what you should know on both!
Tiffany Stocco (Jack Spades), vocals/guitar Bill "Orthae" Bennett (Stereo North), bass Johnny Belanger (The Bear Hunters), drums Brian Holmes (Gates of Winter), keyboard
Info/Analysis: All three members of local punk trio Stegadeth (plus keyboardist Brian Holmes) paid homage to Finnish goth rockers HIM as part of night #1 of J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween party concerts at The Rockstar Bar on October 27th, 2018. Here, they shared the stage with Tiffany & Johnny's other debuting tribute band, the Distillers-honouring Coral Fang. Surprisingly, both bands would continue forward after Halloween, even with Facebook pages, but Poison Girl only played one further concert at the same venue in May 2019, alongside the debuting Stoned To Deaf covering Rage Against The Machine. Public updates on Poison Girl did not follow, later complicated by Tiffany's move out of town last fall, though her other bands are still labeled as active on the SMS. Unfortunately, no public media has surfaced from Poison Girl's gigs, and while a HIM tribute may have been more appreciated locally a decade earlier, the talent was definitely there! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe
Info/Analysis: Launched out of his London hometown circa 2010, Matt brought his solo project Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe with him when he moved to Sault Ste. Marie from around 2012, with new audio recordings posted frequently on the H.M.M. Soundcloud page and (more sparingly) on their YouTube channel. After briefly searching for a local band in late 2013, Matt released a Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe EP on Bandcamp that December, before moving back to London in 2014 and commencing work in bands there. New song uploads continued through February 2015, before the project fell inactive, but Matt did post some outside non-metal audio recordings on Soundcloud until early 2017. I enjoyed H.M.M.'s djent-laden technicality and musicianship on songs like "Whatever" & "Summit", and Matt was a musician who never got his deserved due while living here, but I would have liked to have heard longer songs with more solos. Here's Matt covering Horse The Band's "Arrive"!
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Our next randomly selected band to be spotlighted will be a big one, namely local/Toronto indie punk veterans Treble Charger! Note that their online presence since their 2013 reunion has minimal, and if they resume public activity before November 10th, I will pick a different band. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site next week! Thanks everyone!
A bit of a delay to get today's post (our 57th straight in as many days), but I wanted to tie in one of today's live-streamed concerts with one we haven't' touched on yet. Those make up the bulk of this post, but we do have some assorted news to round things out with, so here's what you should know!
...Days of the New's "Shelf In The Room", and his original "Say That You Care", before closing with "Never Going Back Again"... again. While this was more of a reprise of prior covers from his live-streamed shows this year, the music remains on point, and as always, his usage of recorded backing tracks helps give these sets a fuller feel, as they do in proper concerts! That said, the 15 minute stretch of just instrumental songs may not be for everyone. Give Tym's newest live streams a watch, and look for more soon!
Finally for today, here are three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
I have taken the Pantychrist-headlined concert at LopLops Lounge on Sunday, June 1st off of our concert calendar due to the expected extension of Ontario's COVID-19 state of emergency & related non-essential business closures until June 2nd. Click here for more on the announcement. This show had not been publically called off by the headliners, local promoters, or venue at press time, but it looks like the premier has done that for them, alas. The new end date comes just before the Alienator concert at Soo Blaster on June 4th, which has not been publically addressed on social media in recent weeks.
I have moved local HIM tribute band Poison Girl to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, having last been seen at The Rockstar Bar one year ago yesterday, with no Facebook page updates following. The Stegadeth side project played just two live sets, both at tribute band-themed concerts, and unlike frontwoman Tiffany Stocco's other local bands, they appear to have completely fallen by the wayside in the wake of her move out of town late last year. Hopefully she, Bill, Johnny, and Brian stay musically active as the year slowly crawls along!
On May 1st, local classic/hard rock quartet Soundcheck announced on their Facebook page that singer/guitarists Terry Eaton & Cameron Oliver would do a live-streamed concert that night with fan requests encouraged. Despite the public plug, that live-stream was never shared or re-posted on the band's page, which is why we never talked about it here. If Soundcheck shares or re-uploads it publically, I will absolutely cover it on the SMS!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
It's now time to dive into another busy weekend of concert previews in the Twin Saults! However, due to the length of this post, I'm holding our preview of this weekend's Fluid 5ive concert(s!) for our next post, coming either tonight or tomorrow morning, so look for them and more then! Now, let's kick things off with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!
Kinross/Mount Pleasant, Michigan hard rock musician Alex Traynor will return to Biggby Coffee in Sault Ste. Marie for another afternoon matinee concert THIS SATURDAY! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced by the venue on their Facebook event page on Monday. It appears that the Banned frontman's quietly announced show there this past weekend was a hit, as the Ashmun Street coffee shop is bringing him back for an encore just a week later, and hopefully Alex's unplugged covers play well with shop patrons and fans alike on SATURDAY! This show is a part of Biggby Coffee's expanded weekend concert schedule, with the hook being that performers will play 2 hour blocks on weekends for tips and complimentary coffee. You may have seen an open guitar case for tips in videos from last week's Alex Traynor and Tyler Dettloff shows, so it's clear those sets were part of this seemingly new series.
For what it's worth, Biggby Coffee is looking for performers for extra dates this weekend, namely a 10:00 PM set tomorrow and a 12:00 PM set on SATURDAY before Alex takes the stage, so contact the venue at this link if you're an E.U.P. artist looking to play for tips and coffee this weekend! Alex's 2:00 PM matinee on SATURDAY has no cover charge or age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Alex at Biggby Coffee!
Next up, a pair of local tribute band sets will hit The Rockstar Bar in Sault Ontario THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, headlined by the second live concert set by new local HIM tribute Poison Girl! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced via it's Facebook event page yesterday. Over six months after their debut at the same venue over the Halloween weekend, this union of all 3 members of Stegadeth and ex-Gates of Winter keyboardist Brian Holmes will finally dust off their gothic metal and hard rock renditions in this headlining set, and it'll be interesting to see how things look for Poison Girl on SATURDAY! The other band on this night is Stoned To Deaf, a new (and online page-less) local Rage Against The Machine tribute band! A Rage tribute isn't brand new around here, as Dysfunkshunal Kemistry can tell you from 2009, but as far as I can tell, this band is completely unrelated.
As per videos of jam sessions floating around on personal Facebook accounts, their most familiar member is Elements/ex-Redundant bassist James White, and he's joined in this new band by singer/guitarist William Jordan Wardlaw, guitarist Spencer McGillivray, and drummer Jamie Labreche, who previously played with James in the Blind River hard rock band The Disciples of Rock. I won't embed videos I've seen of Stoned To Deaf, as none are publically posted yet, but the guys have the sound down from what I can tell, and William's a better match to Zach de la Rocha's vocals than I saw with Dysfunkshunal Kemistry. I'll be curious to see how Stoned To Deaf perform in front of a live audience, and you can see for yourself on SATURDAY NIGHT! A presentation of (Choose) Maxx Entertainment, this concert has a 10:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 19+ age limit.
See the above links for more on this double blast of local tribute action on SATURDAY, and when videos of either band surface, we'll let you know! I don't recall public videos existing of either band at press time, sadly, not even Stegadeth covering HIM pre-Poison Girl's launch.
We'll close this preview post with the previously announced continuation of local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's arrangement at Gliss Restaurant, as he'll return there for matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY, with a nighttime gig at The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road tucked in between TOMORROW NIGHT! While fans can regularly see Tym's unplugged cover action at Gliss each week, tomorrow's Roadhouse concert will be Tym's first there in over a month. He'll be back one week after all three of these shows at the same venues, so you'll get other chances if you miss out, but Tym's diverse and prolific setlist should provide ample entertainment at the downtown restaurant or the east end bar this weekend! The Gliss matinee gigs are at 6:00 PM, the 19+ Roadhouse shows is at 10:00 PM, and none have a cover charge. Visit
the Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Tym live in concert earlier this year!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Fluid 5ive previews and more next! Thanks everyone!
Before we begin, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in last weekend's previews, as The Wyld Stallyns apparently played at The Canadian Motor Hotel on Saturday night. Given their acoustic nature, my guess is The Upper Deck Bar & Grill, but they weren't specific in their vague post on their Facebook page that same day, and there was no online promotion from band or venue that I found otherwise. I apologize again, and we'd have covered the show had it received more notice and information, but hopefully it was a hit! Now, here's some new videos, long overdue coverage of a local journalist's music articles, and a new addition to our band links!
We have a new band to add to our active band links on the site, and they are Poison Girl, another tribute band from this year's Halloween Party concerts at The Rockstar Bar! Essentially a spin-off of local punk trio Stegadeth,
that band's members (singer/guitarist Tiffany Stocco, bassist Bill
"Orthae" Bennett, and drummer Johnny Belanger) joined forces with
Machines Dream/ex-Gates of Winter keyboardist Brian Holmes to round out
this lineup, playing a tribute set to Finnish gothic rock notables
H.I.M. (the Poison Girl name comes from a H.I.M. song from their 2000 CD
"Razorblade Romance".) Unlike the Facebook page for Tiffany &
Johnny's other Halloween tribute band-turned-actual project (the
Distillers tribute Coral Fang),
there's not much written up or teased, but continued activity is
implied. After all, why would a one-off band launch a Facebook page,
especially when you could technically argue that they're just Stegadeth +
1?
I was never high on H.I.M. during their run (I
honestly prefer Daniel Lioneye), but at their peak, they were a big deal
among goth kids and Bam Margera fans around my age, and one wonders how
big Poison Girl would have been had they formed even a decade earlier.
Still, this is definitely a unique tribute band, locally speaking, and
I'd be curious to hear how they handle H.I.M.'s better known songs!
Hopefully some public media turns up, and stay tuned for more from
Poison Girl when it rolls in!
Next up, I wanted to take some time to talk about a prolific columnist for SaultOnline that we've mentioned here before, but not to the extent he deserves. If you follow that local news site regularly, you'll be familiar with writer Ernest Skinner, who has penned a series of columns there since last year like the editorial series Monet, Manet, and Mayonnaise & the Soo Greyhounds-centric Dog Treats. While Ernest had occasionally addressed music in the former (like when he covered last year's Dokken concert), he launched a full column in June devoted to rock music essays & interviews entitled Rock Talk, and he has posted 22 entries under this new title over the past 5 months. Among other artists, Ernest has interviewed the likes of ex-Queensryche singer Geoff Tate, Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, ex-Motley Crue singer John Corabi, Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner, metal queen Lee Aaron, and Helix frontman Brian Vollmer, so check these and more out above!
While primarily themed around interviews, Rock Talk has included general articles include his thoughts about Castle Farms in Charlevoix, bands Accept & The Dead Daisies, the movie This Is Spinal Tap, hard rock musicians' educational backgrounds, the Hear 'n Aid charity single, upcoming concerts in Ontario & Michigan, and lately, a lot of promotion and hype for the Steel Panther concert at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this Saturday (our preview is coming later this week!) After reading a bunch of Ernest's articles & interviews, I can say that he writes in a very relatable fashion and does a good job of explaining the impact and appeal of various rock music topics, and his formatting and editing of his interviews has improved quickly! For a freelance columnist, he's definitely secured some familiar names, and in a few select cases, he got some audio and video soundbites from them, so don't scroll too fast, just in case you miss anything!
In fact, here's one of John Corabi from August, as uploaded to SaultOnline's YouTube channel back in August (and in conjunction with the interview linked above.) Running for just 19 seconds, it's just a brief plug for Ernest's interview and Sault Online/ONNtv, but it's nice to see a familiar face hyping up Sault Ste. Marie like this, and here's hoping he can bring The Dead Daisies or another project up north! Give it a look below, see much more from Ernest above, and I've linked his SaultOnline page in our "Other Local Metal Links" as Rock Talk with Ernest Skinner!
Finally, here's some videos from local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver's Facebook page that we haven't yet covered on the SMS! Apologies for the delay in the first two, but they are admittedly brief and sans music of theirs. Both shot while on their "Hitting the Fan" release tour in April, one video is just 10 seconds of road footage in British Columbia from their vehicle, while the other is a 5 second video of "Bigfoot" being sighted (though he looks suspiciously familiar when the camera zooms in!) Embedded below is their newest video from this past Saturday, when they were en route to Toronto for their last advertised concert of the year. Another short video (17 seconds), this is filmed by guitarist Josh Penno from the passenger seat, and it features drummer Matt Baic finishing a sandwich before the band encounters roadkill. Circle of life, I suppose, but it's nice to see a new official video posting of any kind on their page! Give these a look above & below!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!
With Halloween proper fast approaching, here's a new news post for your Monday afternoon delectation, and it includes lots of shorter recent updates, and a new video from a concert this past weekend, but let's lead off with the reveal of a newer local band's new frontwoman!
Local power rock quintet Re:Born have announced the addition of Elly McWatters as their new lead singer, replacing Robert Nevitt. Fans will recognize Elly from her guest backing vocal appearances at Re:Born's last two shows (and once with The Band Camp Rejects), and as it turns out, she's already a close friend of Re:Born and a frequent presence at their jam sessions already. As revealed on their Facebook page yesterday, the band "weren't afraid to be a little experimental" with their singer choice, and by all accounts there, they are very happy with how she's performed so far! We don't have to wait for their next concert to hear Elly in action with Re:Born though, as seven videos from her formal audition were posted to their Facebook page yesterday, so what can you see there? The 7 videos include their version of Kissin Dynamite's "Sex Is War" (which is one of the songs Elly guested on already), plus the originals/421 carryovers "No One Rides For Free" & "Running Away", and four additional covers.
Those other videos are of Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town", Diamond Head's "Am I Evil", Iron Maiden's "Wasted Years", and as embedded below, Dio's "Rainbow In The Dark". While the covers overall aren't as fine tuned as they are in concert, Elly's lead singing debut is the focus, and she holds her own nicely here! She had a good range that fits melodic 1980s metal well, and while her stage presence is a little stiff yet, she has a lot of promise, and it'll be very interesting to hear her in a live concert setting! See for yourself above and below, and stay tuned for much more on Re:Born!
Next up, here's a new video from this year's Halloween Party at The Rockstar Bar, specifically Saturday night's second half, and it's of the one-off Tool tribute band playing the second half of "The Pot"! This comes from Live705's Facebook page yesterday (as filmed by co-owner/A Dire Setback bassist Matt Quinn, I believe), and he wasn't afraid to move around the floor and get some close angles of John, Steve, Al, and Anthony in action. Of course, the guys put on a great performance and had Tool's sound down pat on Saturday, so give their set another look 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 or
venue name:
I have finally added Albert Street West nightclub Room 21 to our active venue links on the SMS, belatedly acknowledging their recent busy schedule. Likewise, I have moved 180 Projects, The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center,
and (very reluctantly) The Oddfellows Hall to our inactive venue links,
as none have hosted a verified public metal, hard rock, or punk concert
in the past year. Hopefully this helps keep things updated there now!
In
a belated clarification on the makeup of the tribute bands at Friday's
opening night of "The Howling" at The Rockstar Bar, the H.I.M. tribute
(named Poison Girl) comprised of local punk trio Stegadeth
alongside ex-Gates of Winter keyboardist Brian Holmes, while the Red
Hot Chili Peppers tribute was local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements, with the previously announced Tiffany/Chris/Adam/Johnny one-off covering The Distillers only.
Apologies for any confusion from our preview of that show, coverage of
the bands' identities was personal and vague until on the days prior to
showtime. Hopefully everyone had a great night!
Following the success of Soo Blaster's
first Indie Music Showcase on October 5th (which featured new indie
rockers Man Feelings & solo artist Wes Armstrong),
organizer/veteran local drummer Anthony Fabiano is looking for two more
original musical acts for the second in this burgeoning concert series,
though a date wasn't specified. If you're interested in playing at the
second Indie Music Showcase, message Tony at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Thursday!
The Soo's Got Talent wrapped up at The Tech
on Friday, with singer Daniella Brewer being chosen by judges as the
inaugural competition's winner, earning $450 for first place.
Congratulations to Daniella, she is definitely a talented young artist,
and it'll be interesting to see where he goes from here in music! You
can see videos of her Sia and Snow Patrol covers from the final round at
the above link. No word on where the other acts finished, but
organizers have only shared videos of the acts who advanced out
of each round. We'll let you know if this event comes back in 2019!
Former Soundcheck drummer Steven Flint filled in for absent bassist Paul Belair at his old band's Halloween weekend concerts at Reggie's West,
as per his personal Facebook page. Different instrument, but
Steven knows the band well, and hopefully things went smoothly this past
weekend! No word on why Paul missed the shows, but he didn't play at the
previous week's Esquire Club gigs either.
Presumably in conjunction with the ongoing drummer search for his newest band project, former Vol.
frontman Steve Edwards is now looking for a bassist, or at least
wondering "where all the bassists at", as per the Musicians Wanted
Facebook group on Wednesday. It'd be great to see Steve finally find
some like-minded and similarly aged (i.e. 18-late 20s) musicians for
this new project, so if you're a bassist looking to jam, contact him
above or at this link!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and noes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
Just in case a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT popped up, I had stories at the ready for tonight, and one did, so we have a surprise second post tonight! Along with the latest from a local label and some new concert videos, we have details on a recent new album release, and leading off, TONIGHT'S new show announcement, so read on below for what you need to know, and check out this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on The Lumbermen in the post below this one!
As possibly expected, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will continue his newest weekly concert arrangement with another unplugged show at The Harp Pub & Grill TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only officially confirmed tonight's show a couple hours ago on it's Facebook event page. Tonight's event will be Tym's fourth straight Friday nighter at the former Madison's Pub since this newest weekly arrangement began, and hopefully his acoustic metal & hard rock covers entertain patrons at this central concert venue once again tonight! Like his other Harp shows, TONIGHT's gig will have no announced cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a 10:00 PM start time. For more details, visit the above links! Despite the very late confirmation, it's nice to see Tym continuing this regular weekly run, and I'll have to stop in one of these Fridays! Go check out Tym TONIGHT if you can, and for a preview, here's Tym covering Heart at The Service Grill!
Next up, we have a new digital album release to make note of today, as local/London metal solo project The Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe released a self-titled album on Bandcamp last weekend! A collection of instrumental compositions by project leader Matt Parr, the album has 7 songs, though two are under 50 seconds in length, an artist named Ree Zheng is credited on the first song, and the untitled sixth song was co-written by former Crimson Crusade guitarist Brock Pinder. Like fellow local metal band The Strange Coyotes' debut album, this is for sale on a "name your price" model, so while you can download it for free, I'm sure Matt wouldn't object to purchases of it, and doing so would support his material! The songs on the album join a number of other assorted works-in-progress recordings on his SoundCloud page, including a cover of Yelawolf's "Pop The Trunk" and two untitled songs. I have yet to hear the new Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe album, but given that it is on sale, it's definitely a planned CD review on the site, but when?
Not next month, as I have Pillory's new album slotted to kick off 2014, but an H.M.M. review could come as early as February depending on a successful release of Telephone & Address' "Rotten EP" at tomorrow night's Algonquin Pub concert that I'm going to. Either way, an early 2014 review is certain, so keep an eye out, and trust me, Matt's a very talented guitarist, so message him at the above links if you're interested in adding him to your band!
Also on the docket, newer local hard rock quartet The Danger Cats have some new Facebook videos online from their X-Mess concert appearance at LopLops Lounge last week! Uploaded on Sunday, the videos confirm that singer Summer Snow-Leopard was back for the event, so these are our first glimpse at the band's full new quintet lineup, though it's hard to compare to prior shows yet given the uniqueness of this one. The videos include a cover of The Ramones' "I Just Want To Have Something To Do" (featuring Summer on lead vocals) and, as embedded below, an original (I think) named "Wanted Man", with the latter featuring Kate Kougar on lead vocals, and guitarist Paula Panther playing the cowbell and tambourine instead. The videos have good angles of the band (albeit at very different perspectives), and while I do think the girls benefit being plugged in, they sound good! Summer needs more work on her stage presence though, and on The Ramones cover, you may recognize Hydra's Teeth bassist Benn Garside dancing in front of the camera for much of it, which is fun! Check out their "Wanted Man" performance below, and more at the above links!
Finally for today, here's the latest from local goregrind label Blood Shed Productions! Updates have been sparse over the last few weeks from their metal acts, but in their most recent Facebook page posting from earlier today, owner Ringsnaps Gibson acknowledged that Bloodshed activities "are going to be a bit delayed", partially due to the sudden passing of his brother Justin earlier this week. Though not a musician as far as I knew, Justin was integral in helping out Tyler and the label, as well as transporting gear for gigs, and those close to the Blood Shed umbrella are definitely feeling the loss. I never knew Justin, but our condolences definitely go out to the Gibson family and the label at this trying time, especially with the news breaking right before Christmas. Also in the post, Ringsnaps announced that going forward, metal duo Brutaly Fatal (who he recently joined on drums) will be drastically changing focus and will be playing little to no grind or death metal material going forward.
A reason for that shift wasn't announced, but it does come following the most recent Brutaly Fatal jam session video on the label's YouTube channel, which shows Austin McCrea and Ringsnaps playing a funk rock song. Is this the band's new direction, or just random experimentation? We'll find out in 2014 hopefully, so stay tuned for updates from them and other Blood Shed metal artists!
That's all for today, but I'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Algonquin Pub for Garden of Bedlam and Destroilet! Thanks everyone!
Info/Analysis: Launched out of his London hometown circa 2010, Matt brought his solo project Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe with him when he moved to Sault Ste. Marie from around 2012, with new audio recordings posted frequently on the H.M.M. Soundcloud page and (more sparingly) on their YouTube channel. After briefly searching for a local band in late 2013, Matt released a Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe EP on Bandcamp that December, before moving back to London in 2014 and commencing work in bands there. New song uploads continued through February 2015, before the project fell inactive, but Matt did post some outside non-metal audio recordings on Soundcloud until early 2017. I enjoyed H.M.M.'s djent-laden technicality and musicianship on songs like "Whatever" & "Summit", and Matt was a musician who never got his deserved due while living here, but I would have liked to have heard longer songs with more solos. Here's Matt covering Horse The Band's "Arrive"!
