LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck), Weekend Concert Previews, And New Videos!!

Before we begin today's post (including weekend concert previews), just a heads up that SooToday's events calendar is still advertising a Wyld Stallyns show at Gateway Casino on Saturday, despite the casino being closed since April 16th due to a system outage following a cyber attack affecting all Gateway locations in the province (visit your preferred news outlets for details). Though never announced on Facebook, the SooToday listing predated the closure. Gateway Casinos are expected to re-open in phases starting later this week, but there is no current timeline on when the Soo branch will re-open. I don't expect that The Stallyns' show will take place on Saturday, but I'll let you know if I'm wrong!

Now to the post at hand, featuring weekend concert previews for another light weekend for hard rock shows in the area, and some new videos to round things out with, and we'll start with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these shows were first announced via venue owner Jay Scott in a post shared to the pub's Facebook page on Monday. Yes, these follow tonight's regular Thursday jam night, and they mark Soundcheck's first traditional concerts since rocking Jay's three weeks ago, having filled time since at private gigs. In Jay's promotion of this weekend's gigs on Monday, he implied that one (if not both) of these dates will double as their Bring Back Summer Party, so what does that entail, waiting for June to arrive aside?

Giveaways for Molson and Labatt products were plugged, as well as some sort of draw or contest for a floating island. The conceit of a themed gig TOMORROW and/or SATURDAY is not new for Soundcheck at the Korah Road venue, as they have played a few such gigs at Jay's in 2023. Themed or not, you can enjoy Soundcheck's classic and heavier covers TOMORROW & SATURDAY at 9:30 PM with no cover charges and 19+ age limits, and note that singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver will pull double duty on SATURDAY with an acoustic country matinee set at 2:00 PM. Visit the above links for more details, and here's a new video of Soundcheck live! This was uploaded to drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel after their Esquire Club gig on St. Patrick's Day, and it features clips of them covering Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" and Big & Rich's "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)".

The former is vertically shot and features singer/guitarist Terry Eaton on vocals, while the latter is in horizontal orientation and has Cameron singing lead (the two videos are also from opposite sides of the stage). Saying that this upload has "video snippets" undersells them a bit, but if you like Soundcheck's country covers, you'll like these even with the mixed audio quality. I prefer their more frequent rock stylings, but the fans on the floor were digging them! We'll have more from Soundcheck soon, but give these a watch below, and don't miss them at Jay's TOMORROW & SATURDAY!

Next up is this weekend's only other known and announced hard rock/punk show in the Twin Saults, as local punk trio Vanity First will rock Reggie's Place for one night only on SATURDAY NIGHT! Announced three weeks ago but oddly not plugged on the band's Facebook page since, I believe this is Vanity First's.... first crack at a weekend nightclub show on the cover circuit, where they'd have a four hour block with four sets and breaks and whatnot. It'll be interesting to hear how Andrew, Mikhal, and Keeghan do in this setting, especially at Reggie's, a venue not known for punk music despite the current regime's efforts to expand their reach. Speaking of which, Vanity First aren't playing there tomorrow due to or resulting in The Hip Hop Chronicals' concert there. Rap at Reggie's, who'd have ever thought they'd see the day?! This is a 9:00 PM & 19+ event with no cover.

With 2/3rds of the band recently forming Hails, it is good to see that Vanity First are still active and gigging, and hopefully their up-tempo originals and covers can adequately fill four sets and deliver lots of rock for fans on Saturday! See above for more details, and here's Vanity First live!

 

There's a fair amount of big stuff in our backlog that I don't want to bury at the end of the post, so let's end tonight with something a little unexpected, namely a cover of Linkin Park's "Given Up" by Half Past bassist Arthur Lacasse! The first uploads on his YouTube channel since posting Half Past jam session videos over a year ago (no word on where that band has been), this is the first solo video to show up on his channel. You don't see a lot of local bassists doing this, surprisingly, but Art handles this song (my favourite cut from "Minutes To Midnight") very well and with clear poise! The camera angle is a little tight, but good stuff, so give it a watch below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck), New Tarnished Videos, And Much More!!

I hope our American readers had a great Thanksgiving! For the first time all month, I am breaking our "one post every three days" pattern, but more because of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and less because of a sudden influx of news and updates. To fill things out, we have some new videos, an archive song from a prominent band, and asssorted updates to take in. Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place for headlining dates TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this booking was only announced on the venue's Facebook event page yesterday, and while it only lists TONIGHT'S show there, Soundcheck's Facebook page confirms that they are playing "this weekend", presumably meaning the usual double nighter. Intriguingly, Soundcheck and fellow pandemic-defying rockers Fort Creek have flip-flopped Reggie's bookings in consecutive weekends, with Fort Creek playing at Reggie's West TONIGHT & TOMORROW themselves, and the two bands played the other Reggie's location last week. If you prefer the downtown Reggies, TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S Soundcheck gigs are their first there in almost two months, so head there for lots of hard rocking covers!

9:00 PM start times are advertised for these 19+ shows, which have no announced cover charges, though be respectful of Reggie's current social distancing policies, bring your face mask, and use common sense. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, here's more new videos from Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished's Facebook page! On Wednesday, the guys shared a second "After Hours" video, which notably features drummer Gary Croad, in his first appearance in any of their recent video uploads since the "Metalyn" music video teasers. This is a lighter clip featuring jokey discussion about upcoming plans, what they're thankful for, and other topics, though Alex does hint that they plan to record new singles in studio and teased another appearance on 9&10 News. The fast pan transitions between band members get old quick, but there is amusement to be had, and watch for the fox! Gary narrated a new parody commercial afterwards where he was allegedly volunteering to help the Disabled Under Many Banners program (read the capitals), and it puts music video shoot B-roll to amusing use! Lastly, the guys have taken to Facebook (by way of TikTok) to acoustically cover a couple of songs, so what should you know there?

While both are very short (as is standard for TikTok uploads), you can see Alex and Josh cover the opening of Metallica's "One" and, as embedded below, The Police's "Every Breath You Take" with Gary joining on on a cajon. No sign of Nathan on either one, for the record. Well done renditions while they last, so give these and much more a look above & below! Yes, the video works, ignore the black & white thumbnail.

Also, remember how I discussed local/Toronto indie punk quartet Treble Charger's now obscure cover of Neil Young's "Albuquerque" from a 1994 tribute album a couple of weeks ago? Well, that is not the only time they appeared on a compilation album with a song not otherwise on one of their own CDs! In July 1996, independent label Squirtgun Records released a compilation CD called "More Of Our Stupid Noise", and it just happens to feature a then-new Treble Charger song with the curious name "Bubble & Star (Here's Where The Guitars Come In)". Note that this song does not appear on the album's 1998 re-issue, one of six to not be included there. "Bubble & Star" proper is a live recording with Greig on lead vocals, and it feels a little like an early bridge to the punk sound that would start emerging on the next year's "Maybe It's Me", though it's more of a power pop song with a fun upbeat energy. It's a shame this only exists (publically) in live form, it'd be nice to hear a true studio copy of it.

Unlike the Neil Young tribute CD "Borrowed Tunes", Squirtgun have put the original version of "More Of Our Stupid Noise" on sale on major streaming and download services, but there are CD copies floating around Amazon and eBay too, and regardless, there's a nice array of 1990s alt-rock originals from a lot of talented Canadian bands there, including future one-hit-wonders Len. Give Treble Charger's cut a listen below, and thanks to YouTube user redstar7000 for uploading this back in 2011!

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

• Isolation Sessions/ex-Half Past bassist Arthur Lacasse is looking for a drummer for a band who plays "all kinds of music" ranging from The Black Keys to Green Day to The Tragically Hip. Whether this relates to The Isolation Sessions or a new band wasn't stated, but note that The Isolation Sessions haven't posted on their Facebook page in a month, and have not confirmed anything regarding Chris' status on drums. We'll let you know if we hear anything, but message Arthur at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Sunday for more details!
• This is extremely belated by now, but I wanted to make an acknowledgement of it on the SMS: The sixth annual Go Skateboarding Day concert at Queen Elizabeth Park did not take place on June 21st due to the ongoing pandemic. I don't believe promoters Tidal Records ever made an announcement to confirm the cancellation, but even outdoors, a late-June 2020 show with 4 live bands probably wasn't advisable in the current climate. Fingers crossed that we'll see a skatepark concert on Go Skate Day in 2021!
  
• Skull After Betrayl/Bear Hunters alum Mike Vincent and an uncredited bassist are looking to join or launch a "productive band" that is "open to lots of genres". Mike noted that their "previous band was a classic rock/hard rock band", but his more recent groups that he's advertised band member searches for haven't gotten too far off the ground. Hopefully something sticks this time out, Mike is a talented musician, and message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday for more details!
  

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile to absolutely end the month with by Monday! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Solo Project & New Videos From Local Solo Guitarists!!

On the penultimate day of the month, we're keeping our daily post streak going, as we have lots of new video content to check out, including solo musicians on both sides of the border, one being a new addition to our band links! Here's what you should know!

We have a new-ish solo project to add to our Sault Michigan band links, courtesy of Heavy Lies The Crown guitarist Ted Olson! Much like his St. Ignace metal band, Ted's Facebook page flew under the radar for way too long, as he launched it back in June 2018. Despite that, Ted mentioned in January that this was his "new artist page", and his only prior updates related to Heavy Lies The Crown imagery and a riff lead video upon the page's launch. Ted stated that he plans to post "crappy idea videos" (his words, not mine), and self-deprecation aside, he has uploaded three short videos since then to demonstrate progressive guitar techniques. What he calls "a little thumpy poo" is embedded below. Ted's a skilled guitarist, and he shows it here, but these are short glimpses that don't give a lot away. He may be saving fuller compositions for Heavy Lies The Crown, after all, so definitely check them out as well, but hopefully he posts new song fragments or ideas on his solo page in the near future!



Next up, let's head to Sault Ontario for local hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison's eighth live-streamed concert, which took place on his YouTube channel last night! Tym's set starts 8:30 or so in with an original instrumental (not the Spanish guitar one), followed by covers of Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver" & Metallica's "Enter Sandman", before leaving to change his light setup to synchronize with his programmed drum tracks and check a phone message. After returning, Tym tackles Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee", White Lion's "When The Children Cry", Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'", Little Texas' "What Might Have Been", The Beatles' "Blackbird", The Eagles "Desperado", and finally, an untitled original song. If this seems like a shorter set than normal, it's because his set didn't even run past one hour due to technical difficulties with the live-stream, as the video frequently has a choppy quality, which Tym blamed on his internet connection. Thankfully, the audio quality is not affected.

I was worried the issues were on my end, but Tym started acknowledging them midway through the abbreviated set, and the last 5 minutes of the stream featured him trying (in vain) to improve the streaming quality. Hopefully he irons out the kinks come the likely next episode tomorrow, as the previous six episodes looked fine, and at least the audio is reliable and clear as ever! Give his solid sounding performance a watch below!

Also today, here's some new videos from Isolation Sessions/ex-Half Past guitarist Arthur Lacasse's YouTube channel! Unlike prior uploads there, these two videos do not feature Jordan, but he does have help on the one clip. One video is of Arthur covering Nirvana's "About A Girl" on acoustic guitar, and it's a solid instrumental rendition! No vocals of any kind, so no need to make a Puddle of Mudd comparison in this case, but I admit that I don't like the heavy filter he put on the video. Embedded below is a video of Arthur and his son Gage covering Three Days Grace's "Animal I Have Become", with Art filmed separately and filter-free. Gage is using an electric drumkit, so the percussion doesn't sound exact, and I think the original song is too loud, but the Lacasses seem to have a good handle on this one! Give it a watch below!



Finally for today, here's a new cover of The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give It Away" by former Intrepid/Midnight Logic guitarist Nick Pavlat! This is the first upload on his YouTube channel since deleting his 2013 uploads there at some point in the late 2010s. As I recall, they weren't bad covers, and it's a shame they were taken down! That said, he has definitely progressed as a musician since then (he has moved out of Sault Michigan to further his music career), and I think this video is higher quality than those were. The original song is a little loud again, but he knows the song very well, so Chili Peppers fans will want to give this one a watch below!



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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (View To A Kill), More Rosie Metal Night News Coverage, And Lots More!!

Here's some more news for your Sunday, and we've got some big stories today, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, more awesome news coverage on a popular element of the scene, a local band's bassist search, and some more assorted news stories from the last little while, so here's what you guys need to know! After a one week absence, the relaunched Roosevelt Hotel metal nights are back THIS THURSDAY! I'm not sure whether they're now bi-weekly or not (hopefully I'll hear more about the scheduling for them soon) but this will be the second Thursday metal night under booker Stephane Vincent and the 39th overall. Three Algoma District bands have been signed for this Thursday, including, in the metal night debut, View To A Kill! The new local metal band featuring Sativa Rose, State of Misery, and Chillum alumni will play just their second local concert this Thursday, so look for some solid deathcore sounds from this rising new quartet! Joining them will be Thessalon death metal quartet For All That Is Lost, in their first metal night appearance in three months! Nice to see them back, so prepare yourself for some brutal face melting sounds in their local return! Rounding out the lineup is classic metal quartet Late & Loud, who'll continue a busy and very heavy autumn with some high energy originals and covers that fans will surely enjoy! As usual for the metal nights with all local/Algoma bands, there will be a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a start time of around 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Nice to see a varied and high impact lineup of bands for this Thursday, and as some possible added incentive to go, Late & Loud's Facebook page has hinted towards possibly releasing a 9 song demo soon! Might we see it on Thursday? I have no idea, but if I hear anything, I'll let you guys know! And because I'm on the American Thanksgiving break this weekend and have no Friday classes, I can actually hit the next metal night! I'll hopefully see you guys there! That said, the return of Roosevelt Hotel metal nights continues to attract attention from local media, as The Sault Star's Jeffery Ougler was in attendance for the relaunch on November 10th, and he has another article in the paper to show for it! Entitled "Bang Your Head - Heavy Metal Night back with a vengeance at The Rosie", the article (which was posted on Friday) features Jeffery's thoughts from Shit Liver's set, the environment and attendees, and interview snippets from Stephane and Bear Hunters members Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger, who also featured in a short video embedded with the online portion of the interview! It's short and Jeffery's voice comes off very low, but on the whole, the article and video are very complimentary and open towards our metal scene, The Rosie, and the metal nights! Now, sadly, the errors & omissions I pointed out when I covered his last Rosie metal night article were included without changes again this time around, but a couple of new things should have been fixed as well, like where it's said that The Bear Hunters have been gigging for two years (they only played their first show last year.) The lack of footage of the other bands or any direct references to Redundant is noticeable too, but overall, it's awesome to see local news media giving the scene some long overdue press coverage! Check the above links for more, and thanks to Jeffrey for plugging the SMS in the article too, that was nice of him! Here's hoping there's more major press coverage of the scene to come! Thirdly today, it looks official that local hard rockers Half Past have parted ways with bassist Arthur Lacasse for a second time. The band still lists him on their lineup on their Facebook page, but Arthur put the word out on the local "Musicians Wanted" Facebook group that they're looking for a new bassist. A public reason for the split hasn't been made, but I know that this is a 100% amicable decision similar to when Arthur originally left last year. Arthur had been a member of the band as rhythm guitarist or bassist for most of their existence, (save for Ryan Disano's brief tenure last year), last appearing with them at Hempfest in August, with Harley Syrette filling in temporarily at their concert at The Rockstar Bar last month. It's a shame to see Arthur leave again, as he is a talented musician on both guitar and bass, but I know that he's making the best decisions for him right now, and best of luck to Arthur in whatever comes next! So with that said, if you play bass, consider trying out for Half Past, they could use another talented bass player so we can see them on a local stage again! Check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for updates! Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or artist name:

• Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids metal quintet End of Existence have posted a new black and white version of their "Sun Is Gone" music video onto their YouTube channel last week, so click here to check it out! It's no different from the original, just in greyscale. Maybe it's to make it look darker? I don't know, but it's a solid song, so check the above links for both versions of the video!
• Local guitarist Jordan Koski is apparently starting a new local metal band! He's looking for a singer & bassist to round out the lineup, and I believe he has a drummer already. If you're interested in trying out, click here for more details! This could be very interesting, so I'll keep you guys posted if I hear more on Jordan's new band!
• Local punk trio Redundant have been added to the lineup for November 29th's Unbelievers-headlined punk show (also featuring the return of classic metallers Sativa Rose & the debut of the potentially-metal T. Rex Manning.) Nice addition, hopefully this show is a big hit! Stay tuned for updates!

That's all for today, but if there's no new news posts in the interim, stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on Garden of Bedlam guitarist Josh Belleau's old YouTube channel on Tuesday! Thanks everyone!

A Possible Upcoming Concert, Plus News From Half Past & Mark Rand!!

Hey there, metalheads! We have some big updates to get to today before the Total Chaos show, continuing a stretch full of big news stories in the local scene! Today, we have a possible upcoming concert that needs a booking, a bassist switch in a local band, updates to an intriguing concert next month, and the return of a local band's material to the internet, so let's begin today's update! (Edited at 4:17 PM) Yesterday, I recieved an e-mail from Alexandra Raine, who's looking to get a local booking for a pair of Canadian metalcore bands on their upcoming Canadian tour! As you can see on this poster, a local date is penciled in for December 17th (disregard the misspelling of Sault Ste. Marie) on their "WinTour Sucks" tour! The bands that are scheduled for this potential local date are Palms To The Sky and The Breathing Apparatus. Palms To The Sky are a melodic metalcore quintet from Saskatoon who have some hard hitting moshable music in store, while The Breathing Appartus are an experimental breakcore act from Ottawa who throw their own spin into their extreme metal sound with nice melodic sections as well! Check them both out, hardcore fans will be right at home with these bands! Now, here's where you guys come in. Alexandra asked if I could book this show, but because I'm not a booker, I forwarded her some contact info, and I'm letting you guys know as well in case you have interest in helping them secure a local show on December 17th! If you would like to book Palms To The Sky & The Breathing Apparatus for this show, or just want to help the cause in any fashion, e-mail Alexandra Raine at her personal Facebook page! This would be a cool hardcore package, hopefully a booking comes out of this! Stay tuned for updates if I hear them! Secondly, here's some updates on the planned Marky & The Motherfuckers show on December 29th at Coch's Corner! A Facebook event page for this show was launched yesterday, which will feature Lion Ride guitarist Mark Rand (a.k.a. Marky Lion) and some of his local musician friends playing the songs from Marky's solo project live for the first time. Firstly, the band's name has been changed to The Mark Rand Band, as evidenced by the poster on the left. Mark was discussing a possible name change on his personal Facebook page for personal reasons, so that's why there's a new name. It works well enough! Also, the opening bands have been announced, including local punk/metal quintet Destroilet! This will be their first live concert in seven months, and it's great to see them back after such a long break, so expect some raw and aggressive songs from them on December 29th! The other announced opening band is local punk band The Scary Uncles, making their long awaited local return after over a year away from the stage! I've been a fan of theirs for a while, and they feature Quims frontman Justin Langlois & former Fitswitch bassist Andrew MacDonald, so there's some good stuff to be had with them! A 9:00 PM start time is listed, and the 19+ age limit and lack of a cover remain from our past thoughts. Check out the above links for more details on what should be an awesome show! Thirdly, local hard rockers Half Past have announced the return of bassist Arthur "Chicky" Lacasse to the band, replacing Ryan Disano. Arthur announced his return by stating "I'M BACK BITCHES" on the wall of their Facbook page, and has since been re-added to their lineup on there. Of course, Arthur has played either guitar or bass for Half Past from their inception as Fingerbone to his initial departure in July, after which he was replaced by Ryan Disano two months later. A reason for Ryan's departure has not been posted, and though I did hear about why the change was made through personal discussions, I won't publicize anything unless the band does. I have to say, it's nice to see Arthur back! He's a nice guy and a very good bassist, and though I was interested to see Ryan with the band, it's great to see the classic lineup back together! Now, we wait for their live return and their debut album! Check out the above links for more on Half Past!  

 That's all for today, but I have more news to come very soon, along with our "Where are they now?" feature on past bands from our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile Series! Thanks everyone, and I'll see you guys at The Oddfellows Hall TONIGHT for Total Chaos and local metal openers!

Frightlight Concert Review, A New Local Band, And More Bassist Departure News!!

Happy Sunday, local metalheads! As you're aware, I was at the Frightlight concert/CD recording session last night, so my review of that is top story for today's post! I was hoping to tweet a bit more during Frightlight's set, but I was rocking out too much up front, so my apologies! Afterwards, stay tuned for a newly discovered local metal band and ANOTHER local hard rock band's bassist search!

Good crowd last night at Coch's Corner for Frightlight, everyone looked ready to have a good time, and the openers, Marshmellow Gun, kept everyone rightfully entertained as the openers! Remember when I said that they had a "punk meets Tom Waits" style after seeing their jam videos? Nothing's changed, but I think playing live brings out the best in them, cause I honestly wasn't really digging their videos. Live, they had more energy and they shown off a couple of songs that deviated from form a bit, so they have some versatility! At points, frontman Eric Priest sounded a bit like Dirk Becker from Sykotyk Rampage, which was oddly cool! My biggest complaint about Marshmellow Gun's set was that most of their songs sounded exactly the same, the songs with different styles were minimal and mostly near the end of their set. Even still, they weren't bad for a first time seeing them, we'll have to see what's in store for them next! (Sorry for the photo quality, I was in a far booth.)

Frightlight were next, and despite some false starts for amp issues (remember, they wanted this perfect for the CD recording), they were great! Decked out in their best horror costumes and with a whole bunch of originals, they were on top of their game last night! It took them a bit to get their energy going, but eventually, band members were mingling with the crowd mid-song, jumping on chairs and tables, and generally having a great time! J.D. Pearce sounded as good as ever on lead vocals with a good punk energy and heaviness, well complimented by Rick White on guitar, who definitely knows his pink riffs and managed a couple good solos! I was also really impressed with Mike Gingras on bass, his lines were catchy and audible and he was clearly enjoying every minute of the concert! And of course, you can't forget about Jeff Richards on drums, he was awesome throughout the night! I don't think anyone's going to put Frighlight high on the list of the most technical local bands, that's not their style. They're horror punk/metal, and they nailed that!

The majority of their set was originals like "Fright Night", "Dead Town", and "Scream", which you'll no doubt here on their upcoming debut album, literally! But a good portion of their set was focused on covers from bands like The Misfits, The Ramones, and G.G. Allin, and it was during the covers were I felt transported back to the good old days of seeing J.D. and Rick's old band Fitswitch rocking out at The Oddfellows Hall! Hell, they even played "When Eagles Dare", which was a hidden track on Fitswitch's "Rust Angel E.P."! During the covers, everyone seemed to join in with the band to help sing, from former Fitswitch guitarist Andrew MacDonald to former D.O.T.H. drummer Johnny Lowrie, and others! It was just a pure party atmosphere during the covers portion, and that was awesome, though I wish I knew more Misfits songs so I could have sang along better. Now if they played some Danzig, I'd be all over that, but it was pure raw fun regardless!

Overall, it was a fun concert, and it was great to finally see Frightlight live after over eight months of waiting and bad timing! It's the next best thing to a Fitswitch reunion, but with enough horror additions to make it stand out even brighter! If you missed them, don't worry, they're playing a special benefit concert at Foggy Notions this coming Saturday at 5:00 PM, so head on down there before you go to Rotaryfest for Garden of Bedlam! And of course, I'll keep you posted for when their album comes out! Yes, I got photos, click here to check them out, and I of course got a video! So here's Frightlight playing their original song "Dead Town"!



Now, two more news stories to cap today's update, and firstly, I have found another local metal band! They are Moss of Eckerman, a defunct metal band from Eckerman, Michigan, which is just outside of the Soo! Eckerman's also the home of inactive local bands B3nt Rollercoaster and Life's Eclipse, and Moss of Eckerman are another very talented band to come out of there! They were a five piece metalcore band that appear to have only been active in the mid-2000s, but from what I'm hearing on their PureVolume page, they have promise! Reminds me a bit of Sick Of It All vocally, and the two songs they uploaded ("Undefeated" & "Dreams and Nightmares") have nice grooves, though the production doesn't effectively show their heaviness. Their page suggested they were working on pre-production of a CD, but they haven't updated their page in a few years either, so it looks like they've broken up, but they are a promising band! Check them out at this location!

And finally, throw another local hard rock band onto the list of bands searching for bassists! Half Past have parted ways with bassist Arthur Lacasse. Frontman Luke LeBlanc confirmed with me on Facebook that it was due to personal commitments of Arthur's, and there's no bad blood at all. Arthur was originally the band's rhythm guitarist when they began as Fingerbone, and eventually switched to bass after the departure of Harley Syrette from the band. Sad to see him go too, he's a great musician and a very nice guy! So the band currently are on the hunt for a new bassist, and unlike with Stillbroke and Sneaky Pete, the band haven't launched a public bassist search yet, though Luke told me that they have a couple names floating around. Still, if you play bass and would be interested in playing for Half Past, message the band on Facebook, it'd never hurt! I'll keep you posted on the Half Past bass situation as updates come in! Oh, and just to add, I've recieved word on the reasons for the bassist departures in Stillbroke and Sneaky Pete. Apparently, Kyle McKey wants to explore some non-musical ventures right now, and Dave Grimaldi moved to Sudbury. Thanks to Laurie Frigault and Brian Cattapan for the updates!

That's all for today, here's what's coming up on The Sault Metal Scene! Tomorrow will be the second-last entry in our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series, as we take a look at the sorta defunct local hard rock trio Sin Stereo! The series concludes on Thursday, you'll wanna be here for that too! And yes, lots of news and updates will come throughout the week, along with a review of the Frightlight benefit show AND Garden of Bedlam at Rotaryfest in exactly one week, and the new SMS poll will be up that day as well! Keep your browsers pointed here!