LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Riverside Stasis & The Nameless) Plus Related Updates!!

Before we get into another round of weekend concert previews, let's take a look at some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS ahead next month, plus related updates from two of the bands in question, so we'll start today in the E.U.P.!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet The Nameless have announced multiple gigs into the fall via this image on their Facebook page! Unusual to see them post a proper schedule, but I'll gladly take this over short notice plugs the week of! We already knew about next weekend's St. Ignace Car Show-timed gig at The Driftwood, and they're also playing a private party the following day, but when will you be able to see Josh, the Mikes, and Jamie after that? On Saturday, July 25th, they will be the house band at the third annual American Legion Riders' Hell To Paradise motorcycle rally, and the name is more literal than you think, as participating bikers are travelling from Stockbridge (15 minutes west of the town literally named Hell) to Sault Ste. Marie (over an hour east of the town named Paradise). That alone is a near 5 hour drive, as Stockbridge is outside of Lansing, so even over two days, kudos to everyone making that kind of trip for a good cause!

The Hell To Paradise ride is in support of post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health awareness, as those with PTSD or depression often literally feel stuck between Hell and Paradise, so click here for details on the rally proper! The rally will end with a buffet dinner & awards ceremony at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino, and with The Nameless rocking out at The Rapids Lounge, but they have not (yet?) confirmed if they'll be playing there on Friday the 24th or not. Based on the FAQ page, you do not have to buy dinner to enjoy the band, but click here if you do want to participate or donate, and this will obviously be a 21+ concert at 9:00 PM. On August 15th, The Nameless will make the 3½ hour trek west to Republic for a gig at The Pine Grove Bar, which readers may recognize from multiple Exit 808 road trips during their run. The Nameless will end the summer with gigs at a Kewadin Casino branch over the last weekend of August, but which one?

Oddly, they have yet to 100% confirm which branch (Kewadin's entertainment page isn't even updated for July yet), and while they are debuting at The Rapids Lounge next month, their only prior public bookings under the Kewadin umbrella were in St. Ignace in July 2024. The last show on the calendar is just barely outside of our coverage range, as they'll play an early Halloween party at the Paradise Inn (one guess where that is) on Saturday, October 17th, but despite being in Chippewa County, it is a 70 minute drive from the Soo. Maybe not a packed summer for truly local gigs, but it's good to see The Nameless stretching their legs, so visit the above links for more details, and we'll have more from them soon!

Next up, four newer Sault Ontario rock bands will join forces for an all-local concert at Blaster Powerhouse on Sunday, July 26th, entitled "2 Stoned Crows In The River"! The name alludes to all four bands, as two have "Stones" in their name, and two have "River" in theirs. Whether the poster and Facebook event page's band order is reflective of the actual order come showtime or not, the "River" bands are listed first, including new local southern rock quartet Eli Russell & The River Fools (featuring Sylo, Sense Of Truth, and Pesto Shirts alumni) and alternative/hard rock quintet Riverside Stasis (featuring 3/5ths of Headfirst and half of The Barbarians). The show will also feature newer hard rock quartet Stones At The Alter in their first multi-band event without their sister band Doo & The Boyos, and blues/hard rock trio Stones & Crows (featuring Riverside Stasis drummer Anthony Boudreau). There's a lot of established and newer talent here, so don't miss out!

Promoted by Underground Events SSM (check out the lovingly hand-drawn and not-at-all-AI poster that Mikhal made!), this all ages concert will have a flat $15 admission fee at the door, and no advance tickets will be sold online. While it will be on a work/school night for many, this will be an early show, running from 7:00-10:00 PM. If you want to check out some new local talent in one convenient package, then come to the former Soo Blaster for all of the action next month, and visit the above links for more details!

We'll close today with new media from the aforementioned Riverside Stasis, who posted two new videos onto their Facebook page in the last few days! The first video sees the band jamming their new original song "Love You More" to promote their live debut at another all-local show from Underground Events SSM at Blaster Powerhouse on June 27th, though the beginning has no vocals, and Liam is nowhere to be found in frame (if he was there, this is another point in favour of shooting horizontally!). If you want more of "Love You More", let alone with Liam present and in view, then check out their newest video embedded below, which sees Tea and the guys jamming this song in another locale for 65 seconds (if you want to see it in full, go to Blaster next weekend). From what is heard, this will obviously appeal to fans of early-mid 2020s Handsome Sandwich, and it has a catchy groove to the guitar!

I do wish that this wasn't shot vertically, but it is good to get some more previews of what Riverside Stasis bring to the table, and hopefully fans are not in stasis when they debut one week from Saturday, so give their new videos a watch for yourselves above & below!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Vern03's Channel

For our last monthly feature post of September 2025, here's this month's YouTube Channel Profile, and for our latest spotlight on a YouTube channel whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and punk artists/concerts, we're heading back almost two decades to one of the biggest metal concerts to hit Sault Ontario. Here's what you should know!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vern03's Channel (http://youtube.com/Vern03)

Owner:  YouTube user Vern03, a.k.a. j.vernz, but I don't 100% know his full identity

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 11th, 2006; Videos uploaded on March 21st & 22nd, 2007

Channel Summary: Intended as a channel to host videos from both concerts that he attended and his then-band, Vern03 only ever uploaded six videos here, all from the Heaven & Hell/Megadeth concert at the Steelback Centre (now GFL Memorial Gardens) on March 20th, 2007, capturing footage of all three bands on this night.

Why You Should Watch: As a window to one of the first major rock concerts at the new Gardens, this is a fun look back, especially given that there hasn't been much (if any) heavier shows there since! I was there and it was a really good concert, and it's hard to believe that it was over 18 years ago now, though be advised of the scratchy and poor audio quality with hindsight. Note that Vern03 explained in the description that he had a 100 MB file size limit to stay under at the time, implying that he filmed some videos longer than 4:50 that he couldn't upload at the time, though there are a few other videos from this show floating around YouTube.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

 

Black Sabbath LIVE: Mob Rules: Despite headlining this concert, Vern03 only got two videos of headlining metal supergroup Heaven & Hell at the Gardens, and just to get this out of the way now, he always labelled them as "Black Sabbath" on his channel. Heaven & Hell were a reunion of Black Sabbath's "Mob Rules"-era lineup fronted by Ronnie James Dio, renamed afer Dio's first album with Sabbath to avoid confusion the then-still active Ozzy Osbourne-led Black Sabbath. Alongside footage of Vinny Appice's drum solo, Vern03 shot Heaven & Hell playing "The Mob Rules", which has had over 19,000 views in the process. That is quite a feat given the poor audio quality, but you have to remember where digital cameras were in 2007 compared to now. It was a very loud show, but excellent to witness live, and Vern03 had a good side angle of the stage from where he was!

 

Megadeth LIVE: Hangar 18: Co-headlining on this night were Los Angeles thrash metal legends Megadeth, who Vern03 must have liked more than Heaven & Hell (or Black Sabbath) as he filmed them thrice for his channel, including playing "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Symphony Of Destruction". Featured here is the last uploaded video on this channel, of Dave Mustaine and crew playing "Hangar 18", which is the longest and most complete of his three Megadeth clips. Audio-wise, the Megadeth videos survive better than Heaven & Hell's thanks to quieter audio levels, and it doesn't hurt that Dave's singing voice wasn't impaired by the metal plate in his neck yet, so fans should take to Dave, James, and the Drover brothers' performances after adjusting for the camera quality!

Down LIVE @ STEELBACK: Vern03's only video of New Orleans sludge metal band Down's opening set is of them playing "Bury Me In Smoke". Down's presence on this tour notably meant that the still-surviving members of Pantera's classic lineup (Phil Anselmo & Rex Brown) played in Sault Ste. Marie, alongside alumni of Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, and Eyehategod, which is very neat! Unfortunately, even if the audio quality here was better, Phil's voice was really rough due to a recent illness. I prefer Pantera to Down, but there's a lot of talent in that band, and they set the tone well for who was to come on this night!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! The joys of our random selection model, as after one month looking at something else, we'll be dipping back into the waters of local "blue Chinese metal crash rock" quartet Sykotyk Rampage via another auto-generated YouTube Music channel featuring some of their studio material for the second time in three months! Like last month, this one features two recent albums of theirs, so look for that on or around October 26th, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Unfortunate Sun) & New Videos From Sault Ontario Bands!!

Now fully out of the holidays, we can settle into some more normal news posts again, and today's features new videos from Sault Ontario acts and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the E.U.P., so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Unfortunate Sun will return to Huck's Pub & Grill in nearby Rudyard for one night only on Saturday, February 22nd! The show is the only new addition on their most recent concert calendar posting from January 2nd (again featuring the screaming astronaut motif) on their Facebook page, though the poster still includes their show at The Merch last month despite already having occurred. Next month's one-nighter will be Skip, Jody, Tony, and Jason's first stop in Rudyard since headlining a "hunter's widow party" there in November, though no word yet on if this new date will have a theme. If you like varied and crowd friendly hard rock covers, don't miss out on this show if you're in the area or wanna drive to Huck's, but fans will be able to see Unfortunate Sun this month in both Cedarville and the Soo beforehand! Next month's show is a 21+ affair at 8:00 PM with no announced cover. See above for more details!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario for a selection of new videos, and we'll start with a new music video from dormant local death metal band The Bear Hunters' YouTube channel! Now, the song in question was released by guitarist Mitch Sirie's inactive solo project Sir Hell back in February 2023, and began life as a novelty song by his prior solo project April Eyes, but it is now being credited to The Bear Hunters, who memorably played it live on occasion in the early-mid 2010s. That song, of course, is the iconic "Squirrel Buddy", and the 2023 version features Mitch on all instruments aside from drummer Johnny Belanger, plus prolific local saxophonist Josh Norling for two solos. The music video appears to have been filmed as a Sir Hell video at first, complete with a (fake?) vinyl record copy of "Squirrel Buddy" being purchased, and the squirrel costume worn by Mitch in the cover art is worn by the musicians in the video.

The only on-camera tie to The Bear Hunters is their logo at the start, and the video doesn't feature Nik or Justin at all on camera (Johnny's Handsome Sandwich bandmate Rafael Medina plays bass in the video). Directed by former Gnaeus drummer Brendan Garlick, the video stars local folk/indie musician Juliana Regan as the titular squirrel buddy, who is seen working at The Rad Zone and acting like a squirrel, while also getting read the riot act from her boss (Big Finish Band/ex-Gnaeus bassist Matt Fronzi). The heavy death metal parts are basically presented as the squirrel's existential crisis, with dark mood lighting accentuating the musical performances, including Mitch & Johnny doing vocals in blue lighting, while Josh & Rafael join them to play the song proper in red lighting with the squirrel costume on. Fun little video for "Squirrel Buddy" that has some good imagination and lots of brutality from the original song!

What this video means for The Bear Hunters' 2025 activity and future is not yet public, but Mitch had posted on their Facebook page in July to tease that they were planning to release one more album and play one final concert. Given their massive slowdown in activity since 2017, you can't be too shocked that they're looking towards the finish line, but we'll have to see what the guys have in store ahead! Give the "Squirrel Buddy" video a watch below, and stay tuned for more from The Bear Hunters!

Finally, here's some new videos from local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush's Facebook group! On November 29th, the band played at Pioneer Construction Inc.'s Christmas party (complete with 705Live Sound Co. at the controls), and while this was a private event, bassist John Amendola did post two videos from it, though sadly, both are under a minute long and were filmed vertically. One has the band (minus singer John Anderson) covering Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" with the rhythm guitarist/keyboardist on lead vocals, while the other has them covering Sweeney Todd's "Roxy Roller" with John Anderson back on stage for it. The covers sound good while they last, and lead guitarist Wes Greco gets some good room to shine, but the length and orientation aren't ideal. Props to the guys for playing on despite that night's major snowstorm! If you want to see something from a public concert, Headrush have you covered too!

For their last shows of 2024, Headrush rocked The Esquire Club over the December 28th weekend, and the Friday nighter was filmed twice for their Facebook group, and in both cases, the videos are over a minute in length and horizontal! John Amendola shared their night-closing cover of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" from attendee Audrey Marshall's personal Facebook page, but embedded below is his own upload, which is a montage of clips of them covering Journey, Steve Earle, Eddie Money, and AC/DC songs (the latter is black and white for some reason, and the Steve Earle cover has John Amendola on lead vocals). I'd rather hear full songs, but what we hear sounds good, so check everything out below!

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

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: The Shaner & Sir Hell

With weekend concert previews out of the way, it's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, as we again look at randomly selected local metal, hard rock, and punk bands from the past with surviving online pages of note, in order to spotlight them and their activity for modern readers! Due to a lack of posted information, I added a second band without much to say to round things out with, so here's what you should know for our first double profile in this series in almost two years!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Shaner

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Alternative Rock/Metal

Lineup:

Shane Solomon, all instruments

Info/Analysis: Active primarily from 2010-2012 with a brief comeback in the early 2020s, The Shaner was primarily seen posting material on Reverbnation, though given how that site is set up, it's extremely hard to find dates for posted content. There's not a lot posted about Shane's music there, but he used to stream on Twitch. Over thirty songs are posted there, where Shane shows a solid base as a hard rock and metal guitarist on songs like "War", "The Jugular", and "Silks & Dangling", with some songs showing off a bluesy or funk influence. He'd be an asset to bands if he wanted to join one, and it'd be interesting to see The Shaner return, especially beyond what Reverbnation can offer!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sir Hell

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Metal/Indie Rock

Lineup:

Mitch Sirie (The Bear Hunters, The Suicide Kings), most instruments

Info/Analysis: After previously manning short-lived solo projects like Animas, By The Gods, and The Sorrow Fields throughout the 2010s, prolific local metal guitarist Mitch Sirie launched a new "vessel for my madness" named Sir Hell early last year, who released a proper studio version of his old April Eyes song "Squirrel Buddy" (as famously covered by The Bear Hunters) that February. Mitch recorded this amusing novelty death metal song at Unsalted Audio with familiar special guests, and the strong production quality and collaborations seemed to hint at a promising future for Sir Hell, but nothing has followed since. Don't miss Mitch's planned final work with The Bear Hunters ahead though!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! This series will return on or around November 10th when we return to looking at just one band, as our next randomly chosen group will be 2012-2017 classic/hard rock cover quartet Griphook. Watch for that then, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Bone Yard 225) & More Recent Updates!!

I hope that our Canadian readers had a good Victoria Day long weekend! We're picking things back up for Sault Ontario news on this Tuesday morning, including some assorted recent notes and a bunch of summer season LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard 225 have announced more summer concerts via their website's calendar, so where can you see Greg, Alex, and Warren after June 8th?  The first new shows will see Bone Yard play at the Queen Street Cruise once again on Friday, June 14th & Saturday, June 15th, marking their seventh straight appearances at this annual event and first since tacking "225" to their name. Of course, the Queen Street Cruise is the annual classic car cruise and show taking place downtown, and after moving from its home base at GFL Memorial Gardens to Roberta Bondar Pavilion last year due partly to construction and larger space, the cruise will remain at the Pavilion this year, presumably to keep using the larger locale. Bone Yard 225 will appreciate playing under the tent again in case of bad weather! Like last year, their sets will be at 7:00 PM on Friday and a 12:30 PM matinee during the car show on Saturday.

The Cruise is an ALL AGES event (aside from needing a valid drivers license and whatnot for the cruise itself) and there is no admission fee beyond the $20 registration if you are entering you vehicle for the cruise or show (click here for details). Hopefully the Cruise is another huge hit for car aficionados, let alone music fans, and there's more family entertainment there too, so visit the above links for more on what's going down next month! In terms of traditional indoor concerts, Bone Yard 225 will next return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for a one-nighter (as they host DJs most Fridays) on Saturday, June 22nd, in their first show at the Dennis Street nightclub since playing there three nights ago. If you'd rather see them elsewhere downtown, they will be rocking Reggie's Place for full weekends on June 28th-29th (for this year's Canada Day long weekend) and on July 26th-27th, so keep all of these dates in mind!

Yes, they will be at Reggie's on Saturday, June 1st too, but that one-nighter was already announced by the band. Lastly for this batch of shows, Bone Yard 225 will go "uncorked" for an acoustic show at The Water Tower Pub on Friday, July 12th, in their first show at the Great Northern Road nightclub since their upcoming date there on May 31st (which they also already announced). Remember, The Water Tower Pub hosts different acts nightly by rule. Sounds like a busy summer ahead, so look for Bone Yard's hard rocking classics at multiple venues in the coming months! Of the bar shows, all are 19+ with no cover charge, and all have 9:30 PM start times except at The Water Tower Pub (8:00 PM). Conspicuous by its absence from their schedule is a gig at Rotaryfest Stage 1, but note that A. the full schedule is not out yet (it was unveiled on May 26th last year) and B. they didn't play at last year's Rotaryfest.

We'll let you know when we know who all is playing at Rotaryfest this year, but in their four Stage 1 appearances from 2017-2022, Bone Yard were a nightly closing band, so one assumes they'd be well positioned if they do come back. Visit the above links for more details on Bone Yard 225's summer slate so far, and don't miss them at Gateway Casino this Saturday!

Finally for today, here's three shorter recent news items, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

 

• Local folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore reportedly dropped out of the Hails concert at The Distraction this past Sunday, as per Ha!ls frontman Brenton Ellis on his personal Facebook page earlier that afternoon. A reason for Chase's withdrawal wasn't given beyond that he "can't make it tonight", and he was not replaced on late notice. Hopefully all's well with Chase, and that Hails still rocked the old barbershop in style!
• Prolific local alt-rock musician Dustin Goodall has received two 2024 Northern Ontario Film & Music Award nominations for Outstanding Engineer, respectively for his work engineering/co-producing The Northwest's 2022 EP "All In" and Handsome Sandwich's 2023 debut album "Deconstructed" at his studio Unsalted Audio. It's rare when NOMFA nominations cross our radar, but it is very cool to see Dustin recognized twice over for his work in the mid 2022-mid 2023 voting period! The awards ceremony takes place in Sudbury late next month, so click here for details on that and the complete nominee list!
• I have moved local metal solo project Sir Hell to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. Led by Bear Hunters/ex-Handsome Sandwich guitarist Mitch Sirie, this was his newest solo project after prior attempts across the 2010s under differing names, with Sir Hell releasing a proper studio version of the Bear Hunters live favourite "Squirrel Buddy" to their Bandcamp page in February 2023. I was definitely curious to hear more from Sir Hell, but nothing has publically emerged since the "Squirrel Buddy" re-release, and hopefully Mitch resurrects this "vessel for my madness" when the time is right!
   

 

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The BAG), A New Local Solo Project, An Album Release, And More!!

Packed news post for you guys on this Monday night, and it includes a new video performance, an album release, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, but first, a familiar face is back in solo form after a few years of focusing on his bands, so here's what you should know!

We have a new local metal act to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they are Sir Hell, the newest stab at a solo project from Handsome Sandwich/ex-Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie! Long-time SMS readers and fans/friends of Mitch's may be familiar with his prior solo exploits under the project names Animas, April Eyes, By The Gods, and The Sorrow Fields, with the latter recording unreleased studio material as recently as early 2019. In this case, Mitch appears to be further into Sir Hell than on those acts for an initial splash (lost MySpace uploads acknowledged), as his first song on the project's Bandcamp page is the long awaited studio re-recording of his epic comedy metal song "Squirrel Buddy"! As memorably heard during many Bear Hunters shows, Mitch fittingly got his then-and-now bandmate Johnny Belanger (credited as "John Belanger") on drums and backing vocals.

This was recorded at Unsalted Audio (presumably during the sessions for Handsome Sandwich's upcoming debut album), and as such, producer Dustin Goodall also provides backing vocals, and Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling even turns up! Veteran local punk musician Mark Rand mixed the track in Peterborough. As for the song proper, this "vessel for my madness" delivers the amusing clean vocals and jarring tonal shift into death metal aggression that fans will fondly remember! Josh comes in via a couple of sax solos, one basically replacing Mitch's lead guitar solo of old, and one being the outro. Fun brutality, so give it a listen above, and stay tuned for more from Sir Hell when it rolls in!

Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local metal trio The BAG will return to The Esquire Club for one night only on Friday, March 3rd! This show was announced via the band's official Facebook event page yesterday, and while the venue has not confirmed the booking, it would appear that The BAG are replacing Mid Life Crysis that night, based on The Esquire Club's concert calendar for the first quarter of 2023 (I have no clue if Mid Life Crysis are still playing on Saturday the 4th or if they've pulled out of that weekend outright). These will be The BAG's first shows of the year, last being seen at Reggie's Place and The Esquire Club in consecutive weekends in December, and hopefully their blend of hard rocking originals and covers find another solid audience next month! Expect a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit as usual. Visit the above links for more details on this show next month!

Now to something that would have toplined a post on a quieter day, as local hard rock solo guitarist Mike McCleary has released his long-teased instrumental album "Fallout From Midnight Tides"! His first new studio album since returning from hiatus and de-listing most of his back catalog, it came out on his Bandcamp page on Wednesday, albeit sans one song that Mike cut as "I just wasn't happy with where it was and no matter what I tried, it just felt forced." The song he removed from the album (actually closer to an EP) was one of the shorter ones, as his teased three 7-ish minute tracks are here as planned. While this is instrumental with no vocals or lyrics, Mike noted that the songs each represent "something I find interesting in life, or is based on something that kind of reflects a certain part of me", and he details the thematic inspiration on each song's individual link on Bandcamp.

Also note that each song has unique single artwork based on the album artwork that he created using an AI art generator. "Fallout From Midnight Tides" is on sale on a "name your price" model, so you can download it for free, but consider buying it to support Mike's work! Yes, a review of this album is planned but it likely won't hit the site until April, as a new Sykotyk Rampage album is already planned for this month, and Forever Will Be's debut album is pencilled in for next month. It is coming though, and buy/stream it for yourself at the above links!

Finally for today, here's a new video of PROV3RB5 guitarist Benjamin Roswell playing a song that the local/Toronto progressive metal band collaborated on last year! Uploaded to their Facebook page last month, the video sees Benjamin covering "Distant" by the Minnesota metal project Stelliferous, who have returned to favour to appear on a PROV3RB5 song as well. The 59 second clip oddly starts with 11 seconds of Benjamin waiting for his part to come in, but it's as technically sound as you'd expect given PROV3RB5's chops, and the multiple camera angles add to the visual impact, so check this one out for yourselves below!

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

Wyld Stallyns Concert Preview, Plus West Of Hell Concert Videos!!

In what will likely be our last news post of the month, we have some overdue videos to share from a recent extreme metal concert, but leading off, here's a preview of a concert taking place tomorrow at an unfamiliar venue!

Local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns will make their second appearance at The Whiskey Barrel at 113 Gore Street for a special mid-week concert TOMORROW! After debuting at this Scottish-themed nightclub on April 19th, the Elements side project will return to the former Konoba location tomorrow for this special Tuesday nighter, which will take place during the venue's "Kilt Night", with drink and food discounts awaiting attendees, so how's that for an extra pull beyond their varied and often heavy cover selection? Luckily for a school/work night, this is a matinee concert taking place at 6:00 PM tomorrow, and while there are no announced age limits or cover charges, remember the early evening timeslot may preclude a usual concert atmosphere. Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's The Wyld Stallyns live!

Next up, here's the videos shot by Christopher Paci (for his great YouTube channel) at last week's West of Hell concert at The New American Pub! Apologies for the delay in these making the site, but with his new videos from the Killer Dwarfs show on Saturday night, I don't want to get any further behind regarding his channel. The videos all turned out well, kudos to him once again! Based on the order he uploaded the videos, it looks like rapper Conika closed this concert, presumably due to scheduling considerations, and she is performing in this clip with guest rapper Kodex. Both are talented MCs, and hip hop fans will want to give these a look! Moving to the metal bands, Chris filmed Vancouver thrash metal band West of Hell playing their originals "Water of Sorcery" and, as embedded below, "Hammer & Hand".

Intense performances here with some old school flourish, the quality is suitably nice here for fans who attended and missed the show alike, but other fans' cell phones can get in the way. Strong work overall from West of Hell in their long awaited local return, so give their videos a look above & below!



Chris also filmed fellow Vancouver thrashers Expain playing two original songs in their set last week, including "The Worst Is Yet To Come" and as embedded below, "The King". Oddly playing with much more natural house lighting compared to West of Hell, these videos capture Expain's arguably more ferocious, extreme metal-tinged sound nicely, and the crowd's definitely into both tracks! Check Expain's videos out above & below as well!



Finally, Chris captured one video of Tyler Gibson's cybergrind solo project Malignant Neoplasm in what may have been their live debut (still surprised this wasn't a C.T.W. set.) Aside from maybe some added backing effects, this doesn't feel much different from C.T.W., for what it's worth! Chris got 7+ minutes of Tyler in action here, so fans of his minimalist extreme metal will enjoy the lengthy clip, but of course, pig squealing vocals aren't for everyone. Honestly, he seems fairly reserved on stage, though the lack of fans on the floor may be partly to blame. Hopefully we see more of Tyler's bands soon, and give Malignant Neoplasm's video a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review to close April out next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Random Killing) & West Of Hell Concert Videos!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this Monday night, which is divided between two topics: New videos from a recent death metal concert, and a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this summer that should get punk fans very excited, so here's what you should know!

Toronto hardcore punk legends Random Killing will return to Sault Ste. Marie when they hit The Rockstar Bar on Friday, July 5th! Fans packed the same venue back in September 2014 when Random Killing (led by Sault native Andrew "Drool" Kiteley) headlined the Hardcore Homecoming concert, and another huge night of fan favourite originals should be in store for this opening stop on their 35th anniversary tour. After an almost 5 year wait, it's awesome to welcome Random Killing back to town, and this should be another can't miss concert for punk fans of any stripe! Local support will include two bands who opened Hardcore Homecoming, including punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, who are joining Random Killing for the entire tour in July, including their annual stop in Spiderfest in Meyersburg, so keep that in mind if you attend that festival! As well, hardcore punk veterans Destroilet will play their second show of the year, and they're a perfect fit at a show of this magnitude, so don't miss them either!

A local band named "The Filthy Dadicals" are also advertised as opening, who will reportedly feature Bankshot alum Lucas "Sal Velinus" Schmiedendorf in their lineup, but is this a new (one-off?) band, or are they a reworking of his late 2017 punk supergroup The HTs? We'll let you know if anything comes out! Note that the above poster credits reunited Toronto hardcore punk rockers Armed & Hammered as also playing on this tour, but they are not part of the Northern Ontario leg. Also, the Facebook event page did briefly list Sudbury groove metal quintet Archelon as opening earlier today in their local return, but they have quietly been removed since then. Admission for this 19+ concert is $15 via advance tickets which go on sale this Friday, while admission at the door jumps to $20, and one would assume that a 9:00 PM start time is in effect. This should be one of the summer concert season highlights locally in the punk scene, so visit the above links for much more details!

We'll close tonight's post with some videos from Wednesday's West of Hell-headlined concert at The New American Pub, courtesy of live streams from promoters Six, Two, Oh.'s Facebook page that same night! There's more videos to come from this show, including of the local openers, so stay tuned for them this week. Surprisingly the first Facebook videos from Six, Two, Oh. since their live in-studio series from 2016, the guys filmed five videos of the touring Vancouver death metal bands, albeit all on the vertical cell phone camera angle, and only one exceeding a minute in length. I'm not having a lot of luck of identifying these songs from the fragments filmed, but Six, Two, Oh. filmed two of West of Hell's songs, one embedded below, and one linked here. Showcasing some nice dramatic clean singing throughout, the mosh pit looks active and lively on the former, and the overall audio quality holds up! Give these West of Hell snippets a look above & below!



Finally, Six, Two, Oh. also filmed three videos of thrash metal quintet Expain's supporting set, including clips linked here & here, and the 1:45-long video embedded below. Capturing a faster and more ferocious portion of the night on these uploads, Expain look like they won over lots of fans, even if the pit wasn't as active yet, and hopefully their technical intensity will resurface out here! Give their videos a look, and stay tuned for more video footage from this concert in the coming days!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Body Lens), West Of Hell Concert Preview, And Much More!!

(Review note: Links on this post exclusively go to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Blogger links except one, which was changed to an Amazon link as a precaution. If that wasn't it, I fear that this may have been a false positive, as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Blogger are all active sites that I use frequently on this blog, and I do not intentionally post malware links in my posts. If I missed something, I'll be happy to address it according to Community Guidelines if someone tells me what the offending link(s) is/are.)

Here's a new news post to check out on this Tuesday evening, and it includes a new concert video of sorts, a new compilation album release, and a preview of a special Wednesday night metal concert, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month at an unexpected locale!

Lethbridge, Alberta post-punk/art rock quintet Body Lens will make their local concert debut on Wednesday, May 8th when they play at local concert promotion agency Dryer Fire's new summer pop-up venue at 128 Bruce Street! A throwback in ways to Gnaeus with their indie-tinged post punk sound, Body Lens' sound isn't too aggressive, but it has enough punk attitude to go around while also harbouring some darker goth influences, and they should be a good fit for a Dryer Fire-hosted event! A new local "dungeon synth" project named Hot Goblin will open this concert, who I know nothing on, hopefully we can fill in some blanks at some point. In lieu of the former Gore Street Cafe and the soon-to-be moved M.S. Norgoma, Dryer Fire owner Nicole Dyble will open her own temporary venue near The Farmhouse Collective on Saturday, May 4th, and there are more concerts coming there over the summer season, while vendors like Oosik Records will be on hand for events.

I like the idea of the temporary summer space for Dryer Fire events, and while they only infrequently book punk and hard rock concerts, this should be an interesting run to see if this leads to a longer stay and/or permanent location elsewhere! Click here for details on the grand opening. As for May 8th's Body Lens show, it has a $10 cover and a 7:00 PM start time, and it is an ALL AGES event (no word on what "notaflof" means though.) Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details!

Next up, here's our preview of a special mid-week metal concert TOMORROW NIGHT, as Vancouver death metal quintet West of Hell will return to the Soo when they headline at The New American Pub! This will be West of Hell's third concert appearance in Sault Ste. Marie, and their first in over 5 years, so their brutal and melodic originals have been a long time coming for their fans, and they should be ready to melt lots of faces at The New A tomorrow! Fellow Vancouver metal quintet Expain will bring their own thrash-laden brand of original music to the stage in their own local debut as the direct openers, and extreme metal fans should take to them nicely in the lead-up! A diverse local opening roster will include the apparent live debut of Blood Shed Productions cybergrind solo project Malignant Neoplasm, who were previously known for their studio demo output. I'm very surprised they're playing rather than C.T.W., but this should be an interesting set!

Despite event advertising saying that this show has "1,000% Metal", the opening act is local rapper Conika, who's no stranger to being a musical outlier on an otherwise rap-free concert. She's a skilled MC and should set the tone well tomorrow! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh. in their first concert booking of 2019, tomorrow's concert has a 19+ age limit, $5 cover charge, and 9:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more on this extreme metal Wednesday night blast, and here's West of Hell live!



Also today, we have a new compilation album release to take note of from a prominent artist, namely local/Thompson, Manitoba solo musician Mike Haggith, though in this case, it's the soundtrack to the film he contributed to! As you'll recall, songs from Mike and his old local band The Din comprised the official soundtrack to the Windsor-shot independent film Ashes of K, with Mike's involvement announced in 2017, preceding it's premiere last year, but the soundtrack was only released through Mike's Bandcamp page yesterday. The 11 song soundtrack features all of the tracks from his 2015 solo album "The Warinside" except "The Snake", "Candy Is A Hooker's Name", and "Of Cars & Criminals", plus 4 songs from The Din's 2016 debut CD "Give In To The Din" This does include both the solo and Din versions of "A Drive Through The Peninsula", as both are in the movie. The Ashes of K soundtrack is available at the above links on a "name your price" model.

As this is a compilation, it does not jump Mike's unreviewed & future studio albums in line for CD review consideration on the SMS, but if you really want to see our thoughts on the 11 songs, check out our reviews of "The Warinside" & "Give In To The Din", both written shortly their initial releases. It's great to see the soundtrack finally on sale/to stream, but might Ashes of K get a local screening at some point? See above for much more, and stay tuned for updates on his new album "Bridges"!

Finally for today, let's close up our coverage of Soundcheck drummer Glen Thomas' new live videos from his YouTube channel, as the last of the 11 recent uploads is the 15 minute compilation of live clips that he has (mostly) posted to YouTube already. As such, you get a lot of bang for your buck here, but if you prefer full videos, visit Glen's channel. The compilation begins with Soundcheck and then-drummer Scott McLurg at the Wawa drag races last August, with the 2nd-5th songs from their regular cover medley, including Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time", and Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", albeit cut off. The compilation continues elsewhere with concerts featuring Glen behind the kit, including covers of Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" at The Esquire Club, Kenny Loggins' "Footloose", Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and John Mellencamp's "Wild Night" at Toystock, and Keith Urban's "Somebody To Love" at Reggie's West.

The big scoop here is a previously unseen clip of Soundcheck covering Def Leppard's "Hysteria" (with Travis on lead vocals) at The Esquire Club, courtesy of a vertical cell phone camera angle at a crooked angle. Visuals aside, the cover is well done and melodic, if a little slow, and it's worth a special look! The video closes with their previously seen cover of Greta Van Fleet's "Highway Tune" at the Reggievelt. There's a lot to take in here, so if you want a sampling of Soundcheck at the top of their game, give this video a look below, and see most covers in full on Glen's channel!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and last month's poll results soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Go North Music Festival & West Of Hell), The Ozbourne Concert Preview, And More!!

As promised, we're capping off this weekend's hard rock concert previews today, but to fill things out, we have a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming months, and leading off, a surprise band discovery from about 14 years back, so here's what you should know!

While this will hardly make up for the 50 or so bands removed from our band links earlier this week (thank you, Myspace), we do have a newly discovered band to add to our defunct Sault Ontario band links, namely Nowhere Fast! A young all-female alternative/punk trio that was only visibly active for a brief period from April-May 2005, their lineup was comprised of singer Andrea Crofts, guitarist/bassist Rhiannon "Rhi" Jones, and drummer Jess Walls, none of which I'm familiar with from other local bands. No word on if "Kel" in the band's sole picture is a former band member or a nickname of Andrea's, as I don't know any members personally. Their Tripod page is inconsistently detailed (only Rhi has a full biography or thank-yous here), and their sole blog posting isn't musically related, but they had a clear sense of humour throughout available posts. Nowhere Fast had planned to write original songs, while covers were listed from bands like Switchfoot and Rise Against to Edwin McCain and Sarah MacLachlan, among various others.

I have no way of knowing how Nowhere Fast would have sounded as a live band, and Rhi's shared band roles indicate that they may have still needed to add a full-time bassist before then anyway, but an all-female band was a local rarity in the mid-2000s, and it would have been interesting to see where they would have went! Give them a look at the above links!

Next up, here's a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, starting with the first true concert of 2019 from local metal promoters Six, Two, Oh., as Vancouver death metal quintet West of Hell will make their third local concert appearance on Wednesday, April 17th when they headline at The New American Pub! Last seen over 5 years ago at The Oddfellows Hall, this show will take place during their Infidels Tour of Canada, and their melodic brand of extreme metal will still be well primed for face melting next month! Fellow Vancouver metal quintet Expain are joining them for this tour, and they'll be bringing their own explosive blend of progressive thrash metal to the The New A as well, so be sure to check them out! Local openers will surprisingly include local cybergrind solo project Malignant Neoplasm (led by C.T.W.'s own Tyler Gibson.) I can't recall if Malignant Neoplasm have ever had a formal live concert set, so I'm curious to hear how their noise attack translates live!

The surprise opening act will be local rapper Conika, who may seem like a major outlier on an concert billed as having "1,000% Metal", but she is a talented MC, and Six, Two, Oh. are no strangers to booking musically disparate acts on the same bill. Hopefully she sets the tone nicely! A $5 cover charge is in effect for this 19+ concert, which has a 9:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for full details on what should be a brutal night of extreme metal intensity, and stay tuned for potential updates!

Also newly announced, local Celtic punk quintet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide will hit the road for Richards Landing on nearby St. Joseph Island (45 minutes southeast of Sault Ste. Marie) to take part in the third annual Go North Music Festival on Saturday, July 13th! As far as I know, The Tide are the first punk, metal, or hard rock band to ever play at this one-day festival, and with their folksier Celtic side, they should fit in well! Held at the Centennial Grounds at 1511 Richards Street (previously the site of Cornfest), this family-friendly event will feature food vendors, craft beer, local artisans, children's activities and entertainers, and overnight camping, so be sure to visit the official website and/or Facebook page for full non-musical details. The diverse musical lineup will also include Toronto alt-folk band Birds of Bellwoods, Juno-winning local country singer Crystal Shawanda, Toronto indie rock quintet Sun K, Toronto folk singer/songtwriter Skye Wallace, ...

...London rock singer/guitarist Sarah Smith, Hamilton indie rock quartet Another Crush, and local indie rock solo artist Jesse Merineau & his solo band, with The Rising Tide listed as the festival openers. Tickets run for $30 until March 30th, $40 in advance afterwards, and $50 at the gate, while youths 13-18 in age can get in for $15, and kids 12 and under are FREE. You can buy tickets and camping packages at this link or at regional merchants to be announced. Sounds like a fun time, especially if you love folk and indie rock, and hopefully Dustin & company set the tone well in Richards Landing this summer! Visit the above links for complete current details!

Finally for today, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews, as Winnipeg-based Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath tribute band OZbourne will make their Sault Ste. Marie debut TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock The Canadian Nightclub! 8 years removed from Blizzard of Ozz's show at the same venue, we can finally take in some more touring tribute action with OZbourne, whose sound is faithful in sound and visual appeal to satiate any Ozzy fan, so be sure to give them a look before you head to The Canadian tomorrow! The local openers are blues rock trio The Paul DellaVedova Band (replacing The Bearded Lounge) in a rare support appearance from them at a non-festival, and while they may not be your first thought as openers for an Ozzy tribute, remember that Paul and company have some hard rock songs in their setlist, and blues music was a big influence on Black Sabbath, so they should deliver strongly to kick things off!

Moved up to tomorrow from it's original March 29th scheduling, this 19+ concert has a likely 10:00 PM start time, and admission will be $15 at the door. If you love Ozzy and/or Sabbath, you'd be well served to check out Ozbourne tomorrow night, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's Ozbourne live!



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