Lopstock III Coverage (Part 3!!)

It's been too long already, let's continue our extended look at Lopstock III at LopLops Lounge on July 29th today via the middle two acts who played at the 8+ hour "bohemian conclave! Firstly, just some unfinished business from our coverage of Bold Noize's set in part 1 from last week, as we can now officially title the three new songs from his debut punk album "God Save Me" that he did not introduce by name. In order, they are named "Hopes Up", "New Man", and "The Taurus", and while I will talk more about this album/its punk quota on the site soon, Tristan would perform five of the nine cuts from "God Save Me" at Lopstock. Now that we have more details, give those songs a look/listen above! As for Lopstock III in progress, we pick things back up with the fifth of ten acts from two weeks ago, namely local rappers Mykey "Sawbé" Preston and Ethan Stoneburgh (who typically performs under just his last name).

The two MCs have performed together frequently since at least 2019, and have rapped in joint sets often in 2023, Lopstock among them. They're introduced by promoter Brendan Garlick at 2:44:37 of SooToday's multi-camera live-stream embedded below, during which time Brendan defended the local rap scene as being quite real (I guess there are people who don't think we really have one). Sawbé & Stoneburgh led off with their joint single "NFR Cyphers, Pt. 3", before curiously going in reverse to do "NFR Cyphers, Pt. 2" next (albeit sans Mic Swiff from the studio version). They next perform "We Ready", afterwards doing a brief song that I couldn't identify by name (possibly called "Stages"?), before Stoneburgh traded places with the aforementioned Bold Noize for one of his joint songs with Sawbé, "Sand Castles". Stoneburgh returns for another brief song that wasn't introduced (perhaps these are transitions by design?)

Next, the two MCs are joined by fellow local rapper Grief and (from off stage) Bold Noize again, uniting all four performers on "Rust", which Stoneburgh is the lead rapper on rather than a featured performer. A brand new song (possibly named "Hellbound"?) is performed by Sawbé & Stoneburgh next, before they do another song not introduced by name. Grief returns to the stage next to join in on "All Eyes", whose hook was sung in studio and at Lopstock by Handsome Sandwich frontwoman Taylor "Tea" Emlaw! Nice to see her involved, especially as this is Sawbé's most popular song on Spotify! Taylor trades places with Bold Noize for this set's closing song, with all four No Filter Records MCs joining in for Sawbe's "Burning In Hell". Hip hop isn't something that I am super knowledged about, but Sawbé, Stoneburgh, and crew are talented rappers with good flow and intensity when called on!

Sawbé made use of the LopLops space well, and while Stoneburgh's stage presence was a little stiff, you can see how the two pair well on these songs, with Grief also impressing for his features, and Bold Noize making up for the lack of rap in his set to boot. Rap fans will definitely want to give this set a look below or via the song names linked above! As Lopstock started with acts with shorter sets, the sixth set from young local alternative/indie rock quartet The Hollow Heads' set concluded the first half of the festivities. If you're unfamiliar, you may recognize them from Rotaryfest Stage 2 both this & last year (among other events), and frontwoman Gabrielle Dumas was involved in the Clusterfolk Music Festival last year as a solo artist. Also, Pointless' Bill Priddle & Dustin Goodall helped produce their debut single. Gabrielle is joined here by guitarist Ethan Roode, bassist Liam "Curls" Morassut, and drummer Joseph Rosso.

You may recall seeing this set via The Hollow Heads' own YouTube channel, with the band having re-posted their songs from SooToday's live-stream there as a complete set and via individual uploads, so keep those in mind for the convenience. In order, they played "Rat Race", "I Get It", "Breakup", "Invested", "Rearview", "Gypsy", "Belly",  and "Lucy", before closing with a brand new song named "I Need Time", which featured two guest musicians, namely singer Juliana Regan from two sets previously, as well as The BAG drummer Bradley (credited as Ben) Nixon on rhythm guitar. For the record, The Hollow Heads did not play their aforementioned debut single "Complicated", and like the preceding rap set, they had no covers either. The Hollow Heads' set was nicely varied for subgenres and styles, with "Rat Race" being surprisingly heavy compared to everything after it, and Gabrielle was very much at ease on stage!

She had a knack for storytelling and crowd banter, with vocal ability to match, and this young foursome definitely showed a lot of talent across their nine song set, so don't bypass them! We have now reached the (more or less) halfway point of Lopstock III, and the full hard rock/punk acts will start being touched on next, but to see what all went down between the 2:45:00 and 4:12:00 marks on July 29th, check out the full live-stream below or via individual songs linked above!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Our Newest Metal Morpheus Episode Recap!!

Single topic post today, as another new episode of local metal radio show Metal Morpheus debuted on The Borderline on Sunday night, so what should you know about it? Following last week's heavily (and divisively) topical episode, host Josh Amendola brought back his planned series of alphabetical spotlights of the metal scenes of countries from around the world for this week, and after previously jumping ahead six countries to look at Austria for differing topical reasons, he headed back to the regular order yesterday to look at metal bands from Andorra, an extremely small (but highly developed) principality on the French/Spanish border. For context, Andorra is only barely more populated than Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario! I am surprised that Josh didn't lump Andorra in with the next A countries in line, which also have small metal scenes, but he made Andorra alone work by playing local bands for almost half of the episode's runtime.

The slightly shorter 55 minute episode begins with Josh noting that you can now hear The Borderline on FM radio locally at 107.5 FM, which is news to me! In checking around for details, they launched an FM transmitter downtown on or by January 22nd, and it is low power with an estimated distance of 5-7 km from the originating source, presumably their 527 Queen Street East home base. From my checks of the CRTC's website, there has been no public application for a new FM station at 107.5 FM, so the short range may indicate that their transmitter is the biggest they can get without needing a federal license. For the record, I did try to pick up The Borderline at 107.5 FM from about 2.5 km away, and the signal did not come in (disclosure, I didn't test it downtown), but if 5-7 km is just the furthest reported signal, the range could be comparable to the transmitters used at drive-in theaters. Your mileage may vary!

In any event, you can hear The Borderline 24/7 online at this link, but FM availability is great for anyone in range, and who knows what this could lead to! Back to the Metal Morpheus episode proper, Josh next gives some statistics about Andorra & its native music, before moving into the country's very small roster of prominent metal bands, so much so that the first FOUR songs come from the same band, namely melodic death metal sextet Persefone, including their songs "In Lak'ech" (3:00), "Underworld: The Fallen & The Butterfly - Act I: Clash of the Titans" (10:35), "Mind As Universe" (17:00), and "The Demise of Oblivion" (21:50). Josh finishes the Andorran half of the episode with a song from ambient black metal solo project De Veneficas Inferi, namely "Daemonic I, Stone Witches" (30:05). The final 21 minutes of this episode belong to local metal acts, so who got played in the back half?

In order, Josh plays defunct hardcore punk band The Harsh Heads' song "Carolly" (35:15) from their kinda-released album "First Hated Then Forgotten", three songs from mysterious mid-2000s extreme metal solo project Recognition (their self-titled track [39:05], "Flying Ashes" [43:00], and "First" [45:05]), late 1990s hardcore punk band Proposition 86's song "Another Lost Cause" from their EP (47:15), and defunct Sault Michigan groove metal band Lower S.E.S.' song "Bold" (51:00) from their EP. Before playing the final song, Josh did hint that he wants to do more themed episodes apart from the alphabetical country series once he finishes with the As, and for reference, 6 countries that start with A come after Andorra (obviously excluding the already-covered Austria), with Angola next in line if Josh stays in alphabetical order. Solid episode overall that takes Metal Morpheus back to its 2021 form with quality music all around!

Some of Josh's pronunciation of Catalan terms wasn't great (points for trying, of course), and for variety's sake, maybe he should have stretched out to include more than two Andorran bands, but Persefone are a strong and heavy group in their own right, and the locals on offer were fun to hear again! Hear this and other back episodes of Metal Morpheus at the above links, and tune in for the next episode (Angola or otherwise) on Sunday night at 9:00 PM and/or on-demand after the fact! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Ontario COVID-19 Restriction Update, New Videos, And More Assorted News & Notes!!

We're back with a new news post on this chilly Sunday afternoon, and it includes a new live concert video, some assorted updates, and more local hard rock musician exposure in a popular YouTube series! Before we get to topics about music, here's what you should know about a major news story and what it means for live music in Ontario in the short term.

We might as well start today with the province of Ontario's re-opening plans following the roll-back of restrictions on January 5th due to the highly contagious omicron wave of COVID-19, which put concerts to a screeching halt once again. In a news conference on Thursday, Premier Doug Ford revealed that the current modified Stage 2 restrictions will remain in place until this coming Friday. Starting then, the re-imposed restrictions will be incrementally scaled back at three week intervals, but specifically regarding concerts, venues & nightclubs can re-open with 50% capacity as of Friday, and will be lifted outright on February 21st (Family Day). All remaining capacity and gathering limits will be removed on March 14th, bringing us back to where we were to end 2021, though these are all subject to change if COVID case counts warrant a reversal. Vaccine passports and indoor masking requirements remain mandatory until further notice.

Read more about the provincial re-opening plans at this link or via your favourite provincial news outlet. As we learned following the end of the three full lockdowns in June 2020, February 2021, and June 2021, there are some musicians and venues who will eagerly book shows with capacity limits, so we should start to see limited concert announcements perhaps in time for Saturday the 29th, but we'll keep you guys posted no matter what. Fingers crossed that case counts and vaccination rates allow for no more COVID restrictions in Ontario, and stay safe out there!

Next up, here's a new live video of Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 live at The Strongs Tavern in November, as uploaded to their Facebook page at the time! Notable as their first publically posted video featuring new drummer Odin Osogwin, the guys are playing their new original "Girls That Bleed" here. Between the side-stage camera angle, overly bright stage lighting, muffled vocals, and placement of the band members (you can barely see Dustin), this isn't an optimal look at the band, but the song does have a harder edge and good melody, so fans will definitely wanna check out the new Project 906 video below, and don't miss them in Hulbert next month!

Also today, here's some more recent appearances on the YouTube series You Rock! with Thomas Christ, which Sault Ontario/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith got good mileage & exposure out of in episodes #11-#15, but he was not in episode #16 from December 22nd. However, former No Arrow frontman Dann Pichette was (no doubt encouraged by his old bandmate Brad "Gortium85" Griffith), submitting his 2012 solo track "Swass" for a live review! You can check it out at the 2:26:48 mark (this episode is over 4 hours long). Beforehand, Thomas reads remarks from Dann about the inspiration of "Swass", and yeah, it's quite a description! Thomas compared the song to something he'd record under the influence, but he called it a fun track and said it was interesting, and you can tell that it intrigued him! Embedded below is episode #17 from December 29th.

Here, Dann submitted "Trial & Error" from No Arrow's unreleased album "Souls For Sale" (1:46:14), while the 3 hour episode ends with Mike Haggith's live cover of Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain" from his virtual CD release party in 2020. Thomas liked the lo-fi four track recording quality and punk energy of "Trial & Error", calling it "kick ass", while the "Purple Rain" cover was also praised for it's production values and professionalism. I have a feeling more local talent will get looked at by Thomas in 2022 episodes, but give his last two from 2021 a watch above & below!

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

 

• I have moved local hard rock band The Bridge Heads to our inactive band links, having not made a public post since new band photos appeared on their Facebook page in September 2020. Effectively the successors to Eclipse, this band launched in January of that year, and played just two concerts before the pandemic began. They did plan to press on as a trio after guitarist Daniel Horton moved out of town, but nothing really came of that. It's a shame The Bridge Heads didn't do more, but best of luck to Curtis, Daniel, and Caleb in their next moves, and R.I.P. Chris!
• Former Winkstinger guitarist Jason Ladouceur has moved back to the Soo and is looking for "someone to jam with" towards forming a heavy metal/rock band, specifically mentioning a drummer. It'd be great to see Jason back playing live again in the Soo, so message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last night for more details!
• Vanity guitarist Mikhal Muto posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday himself, looking for a "serious bassist to join a punk/alternative rock band" that plays originals and covers. The description heavily implies that he's looking for a new bassist for Vanity, and while they have not publically confirmed if Nick McClelland left the group, note that Vanity's Facebook page has not been updated in almost two months. We'll keep you guys posted when more comes out on Vanity, but message Mikhal at this link for more details on the bassist search!
  

 

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

Another Episode Recap Of Metal Morpheus On The Borderline!!

As you may have gathered following the reversion to Stage 2 of re-opening in Ontario and the usual January hangover following the holidays for the local scene (even pre-pandemic), news has definitely slowed down to start 2022, so let's use today's post to further catch up on Metal Morpheus episodes on local internet radio station The Borderline! While there hasn't been a public statement that I've seen, it looks like host Josh Amendola has at least went on a holiday break from the show, as every episode since the heavily revised Soo Metal episode on December 5th has been a rerun. The fact that it's still airing Sunday nights at 9:00 PM is a good sign that it will return, perhaps as soon as this coming Sunday, but we'll let you know if anything is clarified about it's current/future status. Due to the December reruns, we're only behind on three new-to-us episodes of Metal Morpheus, so let's continue on by looking at the November 21st installment!

That episode was the third in Josh's planned series of spotlight features on the extreme metal scenes of various countries from around the world in alphabetical order, and for non-disputed regions, third up was indeed Algeria, a large country in northwestern Africa. Clearly, there wasn't a ton of metal bands from Algeria to source bands from, so this episode only addresses them for just over half of it, and the episode proper runs for just 57 minutes. Starting things off with some information about Algeria and its native music, the first band played on air is progressive metal quartet RiverGate's song "Tears of the Machine" (4:30), followed by black metal band Orcus' song "Death Is Everywhere" (11:15). Active Algerian death metal group Lelahell are up next with their 2018 track "Insiraf/Martyr" (16:10), followed by the more technical death metal band Devast with "Chaotic Proliferation" (22:10)

The fifth and final Algerian band played on November 21st was the black metal project Berzek with their very long original track "Mourning In Oblivion" (25:30). After wrapping up the trip to Algeria, Josh flies back home to look at songs from four inactive local metal bands, starting with classic hardcore punk band The Harsh Heads' song "You're Pawning Your Mind, Asshole" (37:00) from their kinda-unreleased album "First Hated Then Forgotten", followed by the more contemporary grindcore trio Shit Liver's song "Liverated" (42:55) from their 2017 album "Hitting The Fan". We next get a live cut from 2010-2011 local metal band Sativa Rose (who never released an album), specifically their original "Fall From Grace" (47:15), and the episode closes with early 1990s metal band Amethyst's song "You've Been Caught" (53:00), which opened their 1992 CD "Innocent As Hell".

This was another solid episode of Metal Morpheus, and those Algerian bands were definitely intense and brutal in both expected & unexpected ways! As was the case with the Albanian episode from earlier that month, Josh was clearly struggling to give information on these bands, but giving them some exposure like this can't hurt their cause, even if some are not active anymore. Nice to see lots of local acts getting the spotlight too, and I never expected Sativa Rose to turn up, though the audio quality from the source video was definitely rough by comparison. We now have just two episodes of Metal Morpheus from 2021 to recap on the SMS, namely the revised Soo Metal episode and the next country spotlight one, but Josh curiously skipped six countries in alphabetical order to instead look at Austria.

While some of the six in between would seem hard to get enough bands from (especially the tiny Andorra and Antigua & Barbuda), I would have thought Australia at least would have had ample bands to pull from, and Argentina, Armenia, and Angola are not lacking themselves. Josh did also tease at episode's end that he wants to do episodes themed around international metal subgenres (methinks Japan would lend itself well to that). Tune in to The Borderline this Sunday at 9:00 PM to see if Metal Morpheus is back from their winter break(?), and we'll have more episode recaps soon, I hope, plus more news and notes in general! Thanks everyone!

New Video Uploads From Three Local Solo Musicians!!

We're back after a couple of quiet days with a new post devoted to recent videos from local solo musicians, and we'll start with local punk musician Mikey Hawdon's conclusion of his 100 days worth of quarantune videos on his YouTube channel! If you didn't catch the references in his descriptions on Facebook and YouTube, the daily videos of "Mikey & His Uke" ended yesterday with video #100, but he is not hanging up the ukelele, just dropping to a wider release schedule so he can work on new installments without a rushed deadline (and this is presumably easier with day jobs resuming too). As for the last three daily videos, Sunday's is of Blink-182's "Dammit" with guest musicians, while Monday's is of Goldfinger's "Wayne Gretzky" (fittingly as video #99) with that band's drummer Darren Pfeiffer on hand drums and his best full hockey equipment. Embedded below is video #100, a cover of Pennywise's "Bro Hymn" with a lot of special guests!

Like last week's cover of Operation Ivy's "Unity", this cover (Mikey's longest one yet) drops the ukelele pretense very early, and it has Mikey on lead vocals alongside members of Pennywise, The Offspring, Anti-Flag, Pulley, Good Riddance, and No Big Deal, plus Darren again, George Stroumboulopoulos (seriously), and lots of familiar faces providing the chorus "Whoas", including Mikey's old Lion Ride/Detroit bandmate Brenton Ellis (now of Slumshine.) Fittingly stacked closer to the series under it's original scheduling, and it's great to see how much it has grown over three past 3 months, so check out 'Bro Hymn" below, and see much more above!

Next up, Bridge Heads/ex-Haggith frontman Curtis McKenzie has thrown his hat into the live-streamed concert arena with an hour-long performance video on his Facebook page on Monday! Over three months after hyping a Twitch live-stream that never came, Curt began by making sure everything was in working order with his setup, and introduced his set by noting that he was open to taking questions (primarily about his music career) and requests from viewers. His set began with a cover of Weezer's "In The Garage", before mentioning his renewed promotion of his music and past band pages (he even reactivated PaperClip Productions' Facebook page!) Curtis next covers The Stone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song", before discussing the current status of The Bridge Heads, who only played live once before the pandemic hit and guitarist Daniel Horton moved out of town for work reasons. Curt noted that The Bridge Heads are currently planning to proceed as a trio.

While he would ostensibly be their lead singer and guitarist short term, Curtis is open to focusing on one or the other should they bring on a fourth band member. Sounds like an adaptable plan, and hopefully we see Dan back on a local stage down the road! Curt covers Collective Soul's "December", Three Days Grace's "Wake Up", and Alice In Chains' "No Excuses" next, before reiterating his current music plans, which are primarily around The Bridge Heads rather than fully resuming his solo project (he noted earlier in the video that this live-stream was more to get updated content out there.) The set resumes with covers of Lifehouse's "Hanging By A Moment", Weezer's "My Name Is Jonas", and NOFX's "Bob", before Curtis reflects on his work with the band Haggith, running through a brief Cliffs Notes version of their history. He plays their original song "Clifton Hill" from their "Deuce" album, as well as the untitled bonus track at the album's end.

Curt moves back into covers to close, including The Stone Temple Pilots' "Plush", and two System of a Down songs ("Lonely Day" & "Toxicity"), as dedicated to his 2015-2017 hard rock band Eclipse. Overall, this was a fun set with lots of strong performances, but you can tell Curt is new to a live-streamed set like this, and a sequel should be smoother for between-song banter. Also, the flashing stage lighting is very distracting for an hour-long video, and I would scrap it or at least slow it down next time. Give Curt's whole live-stream a watch below!

Finally, fellow local hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison live-streamed his 23rd at-home concert on his YouTube channel yesterday! After an unusually long 10 minute wait past the "Starting Soon" screen, the show begins, but viewers will notice that the visuals are choppy once again, which won't bode well if you're expecting a 2 hour set. Tym starts by covering Richard Marx's "Now & Forever", Air Supply's "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)", and Frozen Ghost's "Dream Come True", after which Tym starts acknowledging the video issues. He plays an instrumental song next, followed by Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" and Roxette's "It Must Have Been Love", but Tym spends the rest of the runtime attempting to fix the video before bailing on the stream after just over a half hour. This is the fourth straight Tuesday night show from Tym to be cut short due to technical difficulties, alas.

The audio quality was just fine, and Tym sounded as solid as ever, but the laggy video issues were never in doubt. I do like that yesterday's covers (Roxette aside) were all debuting in his live-streamed series, as far as I can recall, and hopefully tomorrow's show goes off without a hitch! Thursdays seem to have a better success rate. Give yesterday's a watch below!



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

Bridge Heads Concert Preview, Cancellations For This Weekend, And New Videos!!

Before we begin today's post, just a heads-up that tonight's Wyld Stallyns concert at The Water Tower Pub has been cancelled. The band confirmed the news on their Facebook page this morning, but did not give a reason publically for their withdrawal. Veteran local blues rock band Smokehouse will step in on short notice, so genre fans might want to consider seeing them instead! This means that two separate Stallyns' concerts this weekend were called off, which is very unfortunate, but keep reading for details on a late notice gig from them! Now, here's one more hard rock concert preview for this weekend, more apparent cancellations, and new videos!

New local hard rock quartet The Bridge Heads and guitarist Daniel Horton's new acoustic pop rock band Big Mistake will join forces for their second announced concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! Fans saw both bands at the Acoustic Heartstrings event at the now-closed Room 21, and while this sequel event will not feature Handsome Sandwich, it will have new songs from both bands, and (for the first time) electric instruments for The Bridge Heads, so old Haggith, Eclipse, and Project 421 fans will definitely not want to miss out on their set! Of course, Big Mistake are the advertised headliners, and while not a heavy band, they have familiar faces with established names locally in prior musical pursuits, and this should be a well received second gig for them as well! Plus, in an update that just broke this afternoon, the aforementioned Wyld Stallyns will play a set as well tomorrow, helping fill the void from the postponement of tomorrow's Docs & Food & Beer & Bands event.

Fitting choice to add to the bill, albeit on late notice, and they compliment Big Mistake's unplugged format and The Bridge Heads' heavier sound well each! Visibly promoted by Daniel once again, this is a 19+ show with a $5 cover charge and a 9:30 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's The Bridge Heads live last month!



Next up, I was planning to tackle Sault Michigan classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63's advertised return to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino branch tonight & tomorrow night, but I am reluctantly opting not to cover them on here, as the most recent posting on their Facebook page does not paint an optimistic picture for the short term. As shared from frontman Henry Switzer's personal Facebook page, he noted that he recently had a heart ailment repaired that apparently remedied a vocal issue that had been persisting for 9 months. While Henry was hesitant about getting back on stage, his bandmates convinced him, and he called it "the best therapy anyone could give me." The post ended by saying that "it's gonna take some time before I can do a full show, but you can expect to see Hw63 in the near future." Highway 63 last played an advertised concert (that I know of) in November, and haven't played at The Rapids Lounge since October, a weekend split with side project Mackinaw Trail.

Henry's health is a priority first and foremost, so unless otherwise stated, I'm not going to formally call these shows as taking place (Mackinaw Trail wouldn't be the replacement act either, as Henry is their frontman too.) We'll let you know when Highway 53 resurface, but here's a new solo cover that he shared to the band's Facebook page in December! Here, you can see him sing Dishwalla's ballad "Angels & Devils" (selected for a challenge by his cousin), and it's a strong showcase of his vocal range, even if his voice was still impaired when this was filmed! Give it a watch below!

Let's head back to Sault Ontario now to cover some new videos, starting with a long awaited update from The Wyld Stallyns' funk/hard rock sister band The Elements, who have finally shared a studio track from their long gestating debut EP! Almost four years after frontman Rob Speers first told me about their CD plans and gave the green light to mention them on the SMS, the guys quietly shared their studio copy of their original "I Need A Friend" onto their Facebook page last month, itself their first posting there (a cover photo update aside) since March of last year. Given the band's spotty Facebook usage, I don't know how much they'll post there (or how fast) regarding the EP, but band members' personal Facebook accounts have elaborated more, so if you know the guys, you may want to seek them out. I don't want to step on their toes regarding the EP plans, so I won't divulge the meat of those discussions without permission, but I think I can say a couple of things that wouldn't get me in any trouble.

For one, "I Need A Friend" won a poll among Facebook friends to determine the first full song release, and the tracks appear to have been produced in-house by bassist James White, presumably at White Wreckords or it's modern-day equivalent. Hopefully more information goes public soon, but it's great to finally see The Elements' EP taking public shape, and fingers crossed it makes it's way onto physical and/or digital storefronts soon! I'll hold comment on the song proper for now, pending a possible album review, but give "I Need A Friend" a listen below!



Finally for today, here's the latest from local power rock quartet Re:Born, who we haven't heard from since Toystock in late November, so what's new to report from their camp? As per their newest Facebook page post on February 26th, the guys revealed that personal life circumstances "forced us into hibernation for the winter", but they are getting back into activity in time for the spring, and they plan to have "a rock n' roll summer." They teased a return to the stage in May, since confirmed to be the final opening slot for the Anti-Queens concert at the aforementioned Rockstar Bar on May 23rd, which will end a six month stage hiatus. While not a punk band, Re:Born are a fitting choice to open, as guitarist Blair Burch did open for The Anti-Queens locally back in 2016 with Project 421, so they should deliver a hard hitting set of their own in two months! To cap off their new updates, Re:Born posted a new (if belated) video of them at the Killer Dwarfs show at Soo Blaster in April!

A cover of Iron Maiden's "Wasted Years" (one of my favourite songs of theirs), this is a well done rendition, if somewhat laid back and reserved, but this was just their second live concert. Everyone performs strongly, and it's nice to see this video finally, so give it a look below!



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

Acoustic Heartstrings Concert Videos, Plus A Solo Musician's Return!!

As we did yesterday, this post is largely devoted to musicians who played at Acoustic Heartstrings at the now-closed Room 21 this past Friday night, but in this case, we're actually looking at the show proper, courtesy of videos live-streamed from the venue's Facebook page that night! We also have a video to close from a resurgent local solo musician, but to start, let's relive that Valentine's Day unplugged concert at Room 21, albeit without videos of pop rock quartet Big Mistake. Even if they tackled a hard rock cover, they weren't filmed that night for Room 21's page, alas. We'll start with local punk/alternative trio Handsome Sandwich, who were filmed twice that night, including covers of 'N Sync's "Tearing Up My Heart" (you read that correctly) and, as embedded below, Blink-182's "Aliens Exist". Much more casual than their regular sets, especially in regards to Johnny's drum setup, but the guys are clearly having fun with these renditions, and that 'N Sync one took me a bit to register, so good work on their part! Give these a look above & below!



Next up, Room 21 also filmed debuting local hard rock quartet The Bridge Heads covering System of a Down's "Lonely Day", which won't be a shocking development for fans of these musicians, given that their predecessors Eclipse's last show was as a one-off S.O.A.D. tribute band at J.D. Pearce's annual Halloween party in 2017. A short 78 second clip, this won't be representative of their electric sets to come, but everyone adapts well for the occasion, and they are well dressed too! Unlike Handsome Sandwich's Johnny Belanger, drummer Chris Thompson played his part on a cajon. Give The Bridge Heads' first public video a look below!



Finally from Acoustic Heartstrings, this isn't of any of the actual scheduled bands, but this video was filmed before Big Mistake's headlining set, and it's of Handsome Sandwich bassist James White in a rare vocal/guitar appearance! Here, he and an uncredited percussionist are covering the second half of Alice In Chains' "Nutshell" followed by Rise Against's "Hero of War". The vocals are a little rough, but this has an authentic yet laid back nature despite the heavy lyrics, and it'd be interesting to see James in this mode more frequently! Give both covers a look below, and see more above!



Finally for today, a prolific local progressive/hard rock solo guitarist has re-emerged with new music, namely Mike Cliffe! While his Audiofumes podcast remains on visible hiatus, Mike has quietly been uploading new music onto his Reverbnation page over the winter, and while Reverbnation's usual lack of providing dates on material and posts is one of my pet peeves of that service, the first four listed songs there appear to be new. The songs include the experimental "Space Junk", the self-explanatory "Blues-In-T", and two songs with out of town collaborators. If I had to point to one for hard rock fans, it'd be "BWH1" featuring Washington drummer Bill Ray, but if you recall Mike's diverse influences and technical nature, there will be a lot to like if you crawl through his posted songs, new and old. As well, Mike posted his first new video in almost two years onto his YouTube channel last week, and it's entitled "Rock Funk Fusion", which features four different small windows of Mike recording separate tracks.

I like the funk sound and upbeat melodies here, and this is an easy track to like, but is this just the tip of the iceberg for Mike's return to his solo music in 2020? In any case, he's back in our active band links. Give Mike's new songs a listen above and below, and stay tuned for more from him and/or Audiofumes when any news rolls in!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll on the site next!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Anti-Queens, The Apocalypse Afterparty, The Bridge Heads, And Handsome Sandwich!!)

Today's news post is 100% devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (all with plenty of advance notice too!), and there are a lot of familiar faces to go around here, from prominent local musicians to previously seen touring acts. Here's what you need to know in chronological order!

Local "no genre" (if alternative/punk-leaning) trio Handsome Sandwich will play a pair of solo headlining dates at The Rockstar Bar on Friday, February 28th & Saturday, February 29th! Fresh off of their unplugged set at the (reportedly) now-closed Room 21 on Friday, this will be a rare advance notice opportunity to see Johnny, Jesse, and James on stage in a weekend bar band capacity with no advertised opening acts. What kind of set will be on display from this curiously named trio at month's end, and will it be as irreverent in humour and cover selection as their other post-return gigs? Be at The Rockstar Bar next weekend to find out! As usual for single band local gigs at this venue, these are both 19+ engagements with no cover charges and likely 9:00 PM start times. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more from their camp as it rolls in (they even updated their Facebook page for the first time in almost 2 years yesterday!)

Next up, the other two bands from Friday night's Acoustic Heartstrings concert will join forces the following week at the same venue, as new local hard rock quartet The Bridge Heads and acoustic pop rock quartet Big Mistake will rock The Rockstar Bar on Friday, March 7th! Both bands (each featuring Jack Spades guitarist Daniel Horton) made their public live debuts on Friday, so this will be a way for fans to see how both bands are developing. Big Mistake will likely not be too different thematically from night #1, being acoustic by design, but this will be our first chance to see Haggith/Eclipse successors The Bridge Heads with plugged in instruments and a full drum kit. This should be an intriguing way for fans to see two new (yet familiar) bands on stage in one fell swoop, so don't miss out! While this is also a 19+ event, the Facebook event page unfortunately lists a $5 cover charge, as well as a later 9:30 PM start time. Should be an entertaining yet diverse night of music, so see above for more details!

Also new next month, the aforementioned Handsome Sandwich and rap/metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will hit LopLops Lounge on Friday, March 13th as the local support for Thunder Bay post-pop mainstay Jean-Paul de Roover and his backing band The Bandaid Solution! Self-described as "alt rock prog pop", the backing band is new to me, but Jean-Paul is no stranger to the Soo, having played here solo at least six times since 2009, most recently at LopLops last October. I wouldn't say Jean-Paul crosses the hard rock line, but he is renowned for his energetic live sets and diverse blend of styles in his original material, including pop rock, acapella, and electronic influences. It's great to see him back in the Soo once again! Of course, the local acts will provide some heavier and punk styles, with Handsome Sandwich getting a tune-up before opening for A Dire Setback there two weeks later, while this will be The Apocalypse Afterparty's first public concert set not affiliated with The Soo's Got Talent since their minimally advertised pop-up gigs in 2017.

No word on if Alice will be back on second bass next month, but this should be a solid showcase for The A.A.'s own energetic genre blending sound! For what it's worth, the Facebook event page lists Jean-Paul and his band in the middle slot, implying that The Apocalypse Afterparty are closing that night, but there's been no elaboration on that front. A 10:00 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ concert, which has a $10 charge at the door (no word on online ticket availability.) This sounds like a fun concert with something for everyone, so visit the above links for more details!

Finally for today's new concert post, all-female Toronto punk/grunge quartet The Anti-Queens will return to Sault Ste. Marie when they headline at the aforementioned Rockstar Bar on Saturday, May 23rd! This will be The Anti-Queens' first local concert appearance since headlining at this same venue back in July 2016, though they headlined on short notice after guitarist Valerie Knox's other band Black Cat Attack had tour van issues. Four years later, The Anti-Queens are the featured headliners from the start, and their hard hitting brand of modern punk should get a solid audience at The Rockstar Bar in three months! While not yet listed on the Facebook event page, it was created through local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades' Facebook page, heavily implying that this will be their first concert since their tour run with Random Killing in September. Surprisingly long layoff (Tiffany moving acknowledged), but they opened for The Anti-Queens last time and should do great again here!

Another opening act is to be announced, but for reference, the second local band in 2016 was the now-defunct Project 421. Promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce, this 19+ concert has a $10 cover charge (up for $5 in 2016) and a 9:30 PM start time. Punk fans will want to circle this date on their calendars, and with this one in close proximity to my 31st birthday, this might be a good way to celebrate! See the above links for more details, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Half Of This Weekend's Hard Rock Concert Previews, Plus An Apparent Venue Closure!!

Before we begin today's weekend concert preview post, just two quick notes. One is that The Rad Zone re-opens at 721 Queen Street East (the former Foch Cleaners) TOMORROW at 10:00 AM, so head downtown to see how the new storefront looks and to buy some wares once again! I hope to be in myself shortly. The other note relates to this busy weekend's concert previews, as we'll be holding this weekend's Theory of a Deadman, Eric Martin, and Peril concerts for tomorrow's post due to their relatively later scheduling. Look for them then, and now, here's what you should know for half of the hard rock shows this weekend, all with advance notice!

We'll start in Sault Michigan, where local hard rock band Tarnished (or members therein) are expected to continue their "every Thursday" run of matinee concerts at Biggby Coffee TODAY! Alex and company have yet to post an update on their Facebook page in the month of February, and the venue hasn't newly plugged an acoustic matinee for this week either, but "every Thursday" means what it means unless otherwise stated, and both band and venue have went weeks between advertising gigs in this arrangement. As such, expect Alex (and Josh or Nathan?) to be on hand with more unplugged hard rock covers for tips and coffee, so don't miss out on their well received tunes this afternoon! As usual, this show has an early 12:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and no age limit, but mind the locale. See above for more details, and here's Tarnished live!



Next up, a handful of familiar faces will gather at Room 21 TOMORROW NIGHT for a Valentine's Day-themed concert called Acoustic Heartstrings! What originally began as just a seasonal concert has developed extra resonance this month, as Room 21's sister barbecue restaurant Low & Slow (located downstairs) have announced that they are leaving 480 Albert Street West after Friday. The restaurant will re-open on February 21st at 648 Queen Street East (the former J. Caroline's location), and while their announcements did not elaborate on Room 21's future, Acoustic Heartstrings co-promoter Daniel Horton indicated on the Facebook event page that he believes that "this is the last night for Room 21", which has been open since the fall of 2017. I don't know if Low & Slow plans to host concerts in some form in their new location, but hopefully the downtown locale is a boost for their business and operations, even if concerts don't continue there!

As for the concert proper, the three acts are advertised to take part, with the advertised headliners being Big Mistake, the new local acoustic pop rock quartet featuring the aforementioned Daniel Horton on guitar alongside singers Robert Nevitt (ex-Re:Born) & Taylor Emlaw, plus fellow guitarist Rick Atkins. You can hear Big Mistake cover Justin Timberlake's "Say Something" at this link, and while they are a big departure from Dan & Rob's better known projects, they have a lot of talent on hand! Resurgent alternative/punk trio Handsome Sandwich are fittingly sandwiched in the middle slot for this rare unplugged set, and the guys should adapt themselves well to the more intimate setting! Finally, the advertised openers are another debuting new band from Daniel Horton, they being his new hard rock quartet The Bridge Heads, reuniting him with his old Haggith and/or Eclipse bandmates Curtis McKenzie, Caleb Cachagee, and Chris Thompson after 2+ years apart.

While not a fully representative debut set for The Bridge Heads (see them plugged in opening for First Jason in April), this should be a fine way for them to shake off the stage rust, so don't be late! This 19+ concert has a $5 cover, and doors open at 9:00 PM tomorrow. It's sad to see Room 21 close up shop after 2½ years as a reliable source for live musical entertainment in a more casual locale, but hopefully Acoustic Heartstrings sends the venue off on the right notes! See the above links for more on the move/closure and this concert, and here's Handsome Sandwich live!



Finally for today's previews, we'll head downtown to Gliss Restaurant, where prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return for his usual acoustic matinee concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY! After a busy weekend with four shows at three locales, Tym is only visibly scheduled to play at Gliss over the Valentine's Day weekend, and given that the big day is tomorrow, might Tym have some love songs ready to cover for the occasion? In any event, his covers always deliver a positive reception, so if you want some dinner-time cover action, you know where to go! As always, tomorrow & Saturday's Gliss shows are 6:00 PM matinees with no cover charges or age limits, but mind the locale, this isn't a nightclub. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Tym live last year!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Theory of a Deadman, Eric Martin, and Peril concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, Peril Concert Previews, And Blood Shed Productions Updates!!

Let's get one more news post in before February rolls around, and we focus on our first CD review of 2020! Tonight, we have some assorted news and notes from two linked metal solo projects, the last of this weekend's publically advertised hard rock concert previews, and leading off, a new addition to our band links, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are The Bridge Heads, a very familiar quartet for fans of local hard rock in the 2010s! Confirming prior performer teases towards the third act at the Acoustic Heartstrings concert at Room 21 on Valentine's Day, this band is simultaneously a reunion of 3/4ths of inactive local bands Haggith and Eclipse, specifically featuring singer Curtis McKenzie, Jack Spades/Big Mistake guitarist Daniel Horton, bassist Caleb Cachagee, and Frightlight drummer Chris Thompson. Musically, The Bridge Heads will at least start out covering songs from the 1990s and 2000s, though they have no shortage of originals from Curt, Dan, and Caleb's collective prior band work to dip into if need be. Their live debut will be in the aforementioned acoustic show next month, but their first announced electric set will be at The Canadian Nightclub on April 26th, as they are the final opening act for that night's First Jason concert, meaning Chris is pulling double duty here.

That will be a huge platform for this new yet established group, so keep their addition in mind! It's a wonder why this new band doesn't just recycle the Eclipse name, given the identical lineup (sans Caleb) and similar set descriptions, but this could be seen as a fresh start, especially as Eclipse disbanded over two years ago. It's great to see everyone back under the Bridge Heads moniker, so check out more from them at the above links!

Next up, here's our last known and publically advertised hard rock concert previews for this weekend, as Traverse City, Michigan classic metal trio Peril will return to The Rapids Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for erroneously listing these as being in St. Ignace in prior advertising, these are definitely in the Soo. This will be Peril's first weekend booking in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of 2020, and their first Rapids Lounge bookings since the fall, so this should be another fine opportunity for fans to see Jeff, Adam, and Brooks' hard and classic rock cover onslaught! If you can't come out this weekend, don't worry, as Peril will be at the St. Ignace Kewadin in two weeks, which is an unusually quick turnaround for them in our area. As usual for Peril's Kewadin dates, these are 9:00 PM affairs with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more information, and here's Peril live!

We'll close today back in Sault Ontario with some new videos, starting with the full release of local goregrind solo project Crucify the Whore and folk punk/metal musician Chase Wigmore's second "A Couple of Degenerate Bastards" split! As released via Blood Shed Productions, the whole album can be bought on C.T.W.'s Bandcamp page on a "name your price" model, with Chase's 7 featured songs newly added, and you can stream his half on YouTube as well. Musically, Chase's material here is extreme metal in tone, similarly to "One Last Act of Defiance", so it's a fine match with C.T.W. on the final product. We just reviewed a Chase solo album on the site last month, so another one isn't in the immediate cards to review, but if you like brutal extreme metal and goregrind, and aren't easily offended, you should find something to like on this sequel split! Give Chase's half a listen below, and buy/stream the whole thing at the above links!



Finally, here's some more assorted notes from both Chase and C.T.W.'s camps as of late. Last week, Chase revealed on his Facebook page that his long-gestating rock opera was 4/5ths done, and ran for (as of the 22nd) 6,479 words. Sounds like a real labour of love, hopefully the final product lives up to the hype! Four days later, Chase posted this video to make a "special announcement" teasing "big stuff" in 2020, with the aide of a clipboard with key phrases written on it. Shades of "Subterranean Homesick Blues", anyone? This video was definitely tongue in cheek, and while he doesn't give too much away, it's an amusing watch! Meanwhile, C.T.W. head Tyler Gibson teased on the Blood Shed Facebook page that their material on the split was a teaser towards their planned third full length release, and have since posted two videos there. One is a short (and presumably long since pre-taped) video of Chase fishing, believe it or not, and the other is a 22 minutes long C.T.W. jam video, not unlike what Chase has posted!

Heavily filtered in post-production, the video features Tyler playing guitar and setting up backing tracks. There's not a lot to look at, filtered or not, and the lack of pig squealing will not be to Blood Shed diehards' liking, but the performances here are consistently brutal and right at home with existing material, so give it and more a look above & below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: The Cola Heads

Hey guys, it's now time for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile, but we have a change in band to start the year. We originally planned to profile newer Toronto sludge metal band Larval Host (featuring RedD Monkey's Joe Bumbacco) today, but in all honesty, I can't do their profile justice at this point due to some needed biography information and no known public media of their songs. It'd be very incomplete if we looked at them now, so I've opted to postpone their profile in this series until we can write a fuller, more complete profile of them, but they won't be forgotten! In their place, I've chosen another Toronto band with a local member to spotlight for SMS readers this month (hence the day's delay), so read on below for what you should know this time around!
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The Cola Heads (Toronto, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics. This lineup information may be incomplete. Let us know if you have any additions or corrections!)

Julian Swift Phillips (vocals/guitar)
Liam Jaeger (guitar/originally drums)
Curtis Faux (bass)
Hank Richards (drums)

Wesley Dixon (bass)
Nick Sewell (bass)

Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/thecolaheads
Official Bandcamp page: http://thecolaheads.bandcamp.com
Official Twitter page: http://www.twitter.com/thecolaheads
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/thecolaheads

Local Info: The Cola Heads' only local member is bassist Curtis Faux, who is definitely a known commodity from bands back in the day and Toronto-area punk and metal projects! Local fans may best know him from his extensive band work with current Destroilet vocalist Brenton Ellis in bands like Maximum RNR, Detroit, The Labour Of..., and The Sexual Vigilantes, most recently being seen in the Soo at last month's Detroit reunion concert, though all have played here at least once with them in the fold. Aside from the above bands, Curtis is staying active in separate projects like The Cola Heads and thrash metallers Chainbreaker, so don't miss out on his bands! 

Band Bio: Originally launched by Julian Swift, Liam Jaeger, and Wesley Dixon in 1997 when they were around 14 years old, The Cola Heads made some waves in the Toronto area opening for bands like The Vapids before falling inactive for well over a decade, with members focusing on other projects through the 2000s. In 2012, Julian's older brother Nick Sewell suggested that The Cola Heads should reform, which they did that June. The band quickly released a self-titled demo of older material the following January, and quickly re-integrated themselves into the Southern Ontario concert scenes. In the past two+ years, The Cola Heads have opened for the likes of The Nailheads, Guttermouth, and The Saigon Hookers, while recording more original material, and finalizing their current quartet lineup, with Curtis Faux joining circa early 2014. Still hard at work with new concerts, look for more from The Cola Heads in the coming months!

The Cola Heads' skate punk sound harbours a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and compared to Jules & Curtis' past work together in The Labour Of..., this band will arguably be more up punk fans' alleys in general, and I myself like them a lot more! Strong edgy vocals, catchy riffs, and good chemistry populated both their recent shows and what I've seen from 1997, though they've considerably improved their stage presence in the years since their debut. You don't see too many bands reunite after 15 or so years apart (one offs aside), but The Cola Heads have made it work, and Curtis fits in nicely in their current lineup too! It'd be interesting to see him bring the band north to the Soo, and give The Cola Heads a listen for some strong punk rock!

The above links feature videos and audio from The Cola Heads, including their full 2013 demo, while there's plenty of other videos of theirs on YouTube to check out, including videos from at least two 1997 concerts of theirs, and plenty on guitarist Liam Jaeger's own YouTube channel, like this video of their current lineup playing two songs at The Bovine Sex Club last fall, so give it a look below, and check out much more from The Cola Heads at the above links!


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I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month in this series, we'll stay in the realm of Toronto punk for 2015 with a look at The Tight Ship, a new age punk band featuring Sault Ste. Marie native Valerie Calam on drums! Look for that on or around February 26th, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!