LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Soo's Got Talent Round 2) & First Round Footage!!

As promised, here's our second weekend concert preview post for this week, and it is 100% devoted to a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT concerning an ongoing local talent competition's next installment, and fallout from the opening night! Here's what you should know!

Local rap metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty have advanced to the second round of this year's Soo's Got Talent competition, and thusly will return to The Grand Gardens Verdi Ballroom at 455 Queen Street West TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the one week-turnaround left me opting to hold our night #1 results for this weekend's previews. Last Friday's opening round saw the first cuts, with Des & M.J. Barry, Tyson Bastos & Jordan Palahnuk, Debbie Graham, Serge LeBlanc, and Leila Rabanez all not moving on to TOMORROW'S second round action, but The Apocalypse Afterparty will join the other 14 surviving acts as they continue their quest to win this city-wide contest, and 10 semifinalists will be chosen to return next Friday. Come on down to The Verdi Hall to see all of TOMORROW'S action from this talented roster of artists! Like last week, this is an ALL AGES event at 8:00 PM with a $10 cover charge for adults, $5 for kids 16 and under. With all of that said, what can we show you from last week's performances?

Unlike last year, The Soo's Got Talent has a television outlet, courtesy of ONNtv, SaultOnline's over-the-top subscription TV service, which is worth considering if you miss MCTV-era local television, and they aired night #1 of the competition on tape delay on Monday night, with future rounds scheduled for the following Monday at 6:30 PM save for a Wednesday, October 9th episode. This intentionally glitchy commercial hyped the ONNtv airings as well, but if you aren't an ONNtv subscriber, you're not left in the dark, as the 2+ hours long video was posted to SaultOnline's YouTube channel on Tuesday! Each performer is featured here and linked below, complete with judges remarks afterward, and all have singers doing a cover unless otherwise stated. In chronological order, we have Andrea Dantzer (the title track from "The Sound of Music"), Coulson Perri (Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love With You"), Des & M.J. Barry (PowerSource's "Dear Mr. Jesus")...

...Serge LeBlanc (Metallica's "Motorbreath"), Colin Gasparelli (Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up In Blue"), The Dancing Divas (Katy Perry's "California Gurls"), Tyson Bastos & Jordan Palahnuk (an instrumental cover of The Beatles' "Come Together"), Lauren Kroll (Alanis Morrissette's "Hand In My Pocket"), Leila Rabanez (the hymn "Amazing Grace"), Juliana Regan (Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind"), Madison Blair (Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus' "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart"), Marilena Blair (Trisha Yearwood's "The Song Remembers When"), Cameron Oliver (Morgan Wallen's "Whiskey Glasses"), Ciara Pelletier LeBeouf (Rachel Platten's "Fight Song"), Bethany Pelletier LeBeouf (Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"), Debbie Graham (Jo Stafford's "Make Love To Me"), Killabeatz doing an original beatboxing performance, Adrian Sullivan (The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood"), Greg McLeod (Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars"), and lastly, The Apocalypse Afterparty playing their inactive sister band The Noochin' Lanterns' song "Drop the Gloves".

Note that advertised performances by Madi Schomogyi, Michaela Skagen, and Marcie Tremblay are not featured here for unannounced reasons, but hopefully nothing bad happened with them to force their withdrawal! Regarding the two metal performances, I will say that I think Serge would be better accentuated with a live band and a stage setup more used to metal acts, but it's neat to see him bring that style to the table! As you can see at video's end, The Apocalypse Afterparty appear to have dropped wearing masks on stage for their return, and as such, I think it's safe to finally say that X and z are indeed "songwriters" Paul Stanghetta on vocals/bass and his wife Amanda (née Brown) on drums rather than the MPC, while Paul's ex-Keep It Lit bandmate Alice Rose (in full Tune Squad gear) has joined on the second bass.

I'll remain impartial regarding the competition here, but if you love Paul's old work as a frontman in The Fury, not to mention The A.A. and Noochin' Lanterns past runs, this should be right up your alley, and the judges give interesting feedback! Don't miss all of the action TOMORROW NIGHT at The Verdi Hall, and here's all 20 of last week's acts in action! Good luck!



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

R.I.P. Luke LeBlanc (1972-2015)

The Sault Metal Scene sends it's deepest condolences out to the family and friends of former Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc, who reportedly passed away last week from serious medical complications, at just 42 years of age. Luke is survived by his daughter Shaun, his parents, three siblings, and six nieces and nephews. His obituary was posted on SooToday yesterday, where it was revealed that his services will be held this Thursday at The O’Sullivan Funeral Home at 7:00 PM with Reverend Eric Pannike presiding, and visitation will begin at 5:00 PM. Luke's family is requesting that donations be made to the Canadian Mental Health Association or the charity of your choice. In the local music scene from recent years, Luke is best known for fronting defunct local hard rock band Half Past from 2009-2011 during their local peak and brief CD plans, before his departure from the band in February 2011, largely remaining outside of major public music work after that.

From when I knew Luke during the Half Past days, he was a funny and personable guy, and a very talented singer, and hopefully that's what people who knew him can look back on despite some of the troubling stuff we'd heard in recent years. He had musical gifts that it's a shame were never fully fleshed out, but hopefully he's at peace now, and I hope his daughter and family are staying strong at this difficult time. Here's a video of Luke covering Tool and Helmet songs at the former Foggy Notions in 2010, and R.I.P. Luke, you will be missed!

Shinedown Concert Preview, Cancer Fundraising For Luke LeBlanc, And A New Video!!

Finally, here's our fourth and last post covering this very busy weekend in hard rock and metal concerts, as arguably the biggest of the weekend is going down tomorrow night! Our extended look at that leads off today's post, but we also have news on a local musician's major cancer fight, and a recent live concert video, so read on below for what you need to know!

In the second of two major concerts from Allstar Promotions this weekend at The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino (following TONIGHT'S Daughtry concert), multi-platinum Jacksonville hard rock quartet Shinedown will make their Sault-area debut TOMORROW NIGHT! Touring in support of their new CD "Amaryllis", Shinedown have been one of the most successful modern hard rock bands of recent years, with hits like "Second Chance", "Save Me", and "Bully" keeping them as staples of rock radio, and they have a lot of popular and memorable songs that are sure to strike a nerve tomorrow night! They'll be joined by Memphis hard rock band Devour The Day (featuring two members of Egypt Central) as openers for tomorrow's show, and their energetic and upbeat hard rock sound should suit them well as they hit the Soo themselves! Note however that Detroit hard rockers Fifth Way (featuring Rudyard native Zak Stelmaszek on guitar) will NOT be opening this show anymore, as per their Facebook page last week. A reason was not announced, but note that Allstar Promotions never publically confirmed that they were playing.

Disappointing news to be sure, especially knowing Fifth Way's local familiarity and talents, but no matter why they're out, they WILL still be opening for Tesla on July 27th (one week from today), so keep that in mind! The Shinedown concert (which is ALL AGES) will go down at 7:00 PM TOMORROW, and as of this writing, only a handful of center section tickets (mostly in the fourth row) were available, so this is a near-sell out. If you want to try for tickets, click here, call 1-800-KEWADIN, or visit the Kewadin box office! Also, I have no idea on the protocol for a potential meet & greet, so call ahead just in case. Check the above links for more details! This should be a very successful concert, especially knowing Shinedown's popularity and success in recent years, so if you have tickets, have a great time! Myself, I don't mind a few of their songs (like their "Simple Man" cover), though I admittedly find a few of their songs overplayed, but they have a lot of talent, so don't miss their local debut TOMORROW! For a preview, here's Shinedown's video for their newest single "Unity"!



Next up, another fundraising campaign has been launched to help raise money for former Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc's battle with cancer. Launched by Denise Armstrong on May 21st on the website GoFundMe, the links above explain that Luke and his family need financial assistance to help him at this time of need, along with noting that the cancer has spread to his stomach, spine, kidney, and one eye. The main goal is to raise $20,000 for his fight and related expenses, though as of this writing, only $120 had been donated. Luke's a very nice guy, and I commend him 100% for his brave battle with cancer in the past year, as well as keeping his trademark sense of humour through every up and down! He's also a talented singer, as Half Past fans and his old bandmates should attest to, but right now, his health is what's most important. If you can even donate a few dollars, that would mean a lot to Luke and his family right now, so keep this fundraising campaign in mind, click here for information, and help out if you can! Get well soon, Luke!

Finally for today, here's a new video from the second Golers concert at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 4th! Filmed by AlgomA singer/bassist Kevin "Marty Chase" Campbell & posted on his YouTube channel on Tuesday, this is of the Vancouver crossover/thrash band playing their original song "This Is Not A Test", as filmed on a stationary camera on one of the long tables near the stage. Good angle of this short original track, and the audio quality's solid, but the video is fairly dark. Still very solid, so check out this new Golers concert video below!



That's all for today, but I'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre for Bushplane Musical Madness II, and if weather and timing permits, you might spot me at the Tenaris Second Stage in the evening before or during Sailor's Tongue's set, especially with their hyped CD availability! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Garden Of Bedlam), A New Local Metal Project, And How You Can Help A Local Musician!!

We have quite a busy week in store at the SMS, one that will push our streak of consecutive days with SMS updates to at least 54 on Saturday (barring computer meltdown), but what's in store today? A regular news post, more or less, including a new local band and recent updates from their label/studio, along with fundraising to help a local hard rock musician through recent medical & financial issues, but first, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT marking two talented metal bands' long awaited returns to the concert stage, so here's what you need to know!

Garden of Bedlam will finally play their first show of 2013 next week, when they return for a headlining gig at The Rockstar Bar on April 26th! Last seen there (or anywhere) in late October for The Rad Zone's birthday bash, this prominent metal quartet have been missed in recent months, and the guys are very anxious to get playing again, so don't miss Buzz, Josh, Evan, and Derek back on stage one week from Friday! Might there be some new material or covers in store come next week? However, unlike their past Rockstar Bar gigs, this won't be a solo concert, as Garden of Bedlam have an opening band next week who've been waiting even longer to play another show, that being local hard rock quintet Skeyes of Seven! You may remember them as the opening band at last July's Anvil concert at The Canadian (also featuring Garden of Bedlam), but they've been in a nine month break from new concerts since, though that has helped lead to writing at least 6 original songs according to their Facebook page. Featuring Sense of Truth, Half Past, Tripod The Dog, and Cherry Crush alumni, how will Skeyes of Seven do in their first Rockstar Bar appearance and second live show? We'll find out next week!

This show (which was previously advertised on marquee boards inside The Rockstar Bar, but not officially confirmed) will take place on April 26th at 11:00 PM (with doors opening at 9:00 PM), you must be 19 to attend, and I'd assume a cover charge in the $5 range would be in effect. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a huge concert, even with the sorta late notice, and it'll be great to see both bands back at it after too long of a break! I'll definitely see you guys there, so don't miss the returns of Garden of Bedlam and Skeyes of Seven next week!

Next up, we have a new local metal project to add to our band links, and it's Brutaly Fatal, one of the recently launched metal/goregrind projects from upstart local label/studio Blood Shed Productions! As previously alluded to on here, Brutaly Fatal (which appears to be misspelled intentionally) is a solo project led by label co-owner Austin McRae (who handles vocals & bass), and though it appears to have been active since late last year, their Facebook page has only been up for a week. Since the project's launch, Austin has released one demo named "Acidic Sky's" (which can be bought by request through the links above), though like the other Blood Shed releases, I think it's essentially a hand written demo in a paper sleeve. Future plans include at least one more full length disc this summer, and a split release with fellow Blood Shed artist Crucify The Whore (more on them in a bit), which I'll try to keep you guys updated on! Brutaly Fatal's only posted media so far is this unembeddable Facebook video for their song "Fall", and while this song does sound very unfinished, I think Austin's work is probably my favourite of the goregrind projects through Blood Shed Productions that I've heard!

Austin has growling ability and bass skill, but I'd like to see him fill out the project with other musicians and see where it goes. Since I found the Blood Shed Productions artists, I've wondered why they don't just band together and make a full goregrind/death metal band, rather than a bunch of incomplete sounding solo projects, but maybe there's a method to the madness that I haven't heard yet. Give Brutaly Fatal a look above, and they're now in our Sault Ontario metal band links!

Also in updates from the Blood Shed camp, fellow label artists Crucify The Whore & Tomgrindy (both featuring Blood Shed co-owner Ringsnaps Gibson) have been among the acts hard at work on new music to be put out through the label, alongside signed horrorcore/rap artists. Among the plans are C.T.W. split albums with both Tomgrindy & the aforementioned Brutaly Fatal, and a full Tomgrindy demo, and while it remains to be seen if these will have full proper packaging, there are photos on Blood Shed Productions' Facebook page hinting towards more detailed artwork and possible hard cases on future releases. Via the C.T.W. Facebook page, the artwork for their split disc with Tomgrindy, likely titled "Grindshed", is also posted (albeit on a sideways angle.) As for new material, a few new videos have been posted onto the Blood Shed Productions YouTube channel in the past week or so, including Crucify The Whore's debut demo in full (whose title & art may offend Amanda Todd supporters), and a short teaser for "Grindshed" that actually features some video footage!

Featuring Ringsnaps introducing the material (including a barely visible track listing), the included song (which band is unclear) is an incomplete instrumental take, but despite a muffled quality to this recording, it sounds somewhat fuller musically than earlier songs from either project did. We'll have to see how the new material turns out, but for now, give this preview video of the planned C.T.W./Tomgrindy split demo a look below, and stay tuned for updates from Blood Shed Productions' death metal & goregrind artists!

Finally for today, a local musician needs your help with a major medical battle, so here's what you should know! As some of you may know, former Half Past frontman Luke LeBlanc has been battling kidney cancer in recent months, and according to a post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group by his friend Zenith Lillie-Eakett on Friday, his current treatments are considered too experimental by OHIP to be covered, and related struggles are contributing to financial issues. To help with his bills, local artists are coming together to raise money to help out through a campaign on Etsy being led by local craft/clothing company Washboard Bill's Wonder Emporium, where any purchases on Etsy (which were all donated) will see all proceeds go to helping Luke at this time of need, including straight donations through "good vibes" and "bear hugs". We don't usually talk about personal matters of local musicians on here (good or bad, we're not TMZ), but when it comes to helping someone in the local scene in times like this, it absolutely has to be mentioned, so please consider buying something to help him out!

Luke's a talented singer (as he proved with Half Past from 2009-2011) and a very funny guy, and he deserves many kudos for his positive outlook and his hard fight so far! It'd be nice to see old bandmates & friends of his organize a benefit concert too, as I imagine that would be a big help for Luke's treatments and bills right now, but if you can help out in any way, buy or donate something on Etsy to give Luke a hand, and hopefully he'll beat cancer before you know it! Get better soon, Luke!

That's likely all for today, but stay tuned for our preview of Wednesday's last night of the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands Semifinals tomorrow! Who's competing, what's at stake, and what do attendees need to know? Find out tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sneaky Pete), New As It Stands Songs, And New Videos!!

Sorry this post is later than hoped, yesterday wasn't my day. A lot of (pardon my language) shit happened yesterday and this got pushed back as a result. I ended up missing the metal show at The Rosie, which I was NOT thrilled about, but I will make it up to you guys! I plan to hit another show this weekend to make up for missing Thursday, though it probably won't be the We, The Undersigned show on Sunday because it's an important school night for me. I'll be out somewhere tomorrow, so I'll get back on track one way or another! So today, we have a lot of notable news to share, including two new videos, brand new songs from a prominent local band, and kicking things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Over a year after their local launch, hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete have FINALLY announced their first ever concert! On April 8th, the band featuring veteran local musicians Bill Brouillard, Mario Carlucci, Sean Berlinguette, and Mike Oakley will descend upon the stage at The Rockstar Bar for a night of classic and modern hard rock covers! It's about time, great to see them finally taking this step! With everything from AC/DC to ZZ Top in store, this show should be worth hitting, so make note of it! A 10:30 PM start time has been announced, there's no known cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I imagine the long wait for Sneaky Pete to debut has been a long time, but if you've been excited for their debut and wanna enjoy some good hard rocking music from this talented foursome, you know where to be on April 8th! Hopefully I can make it to this show, and you guys should consider it as well! Stay tuned for Sneaky Pete updates as they come in!

Next up, Sault Ontario hardcore quintet As It Stands have unveiled two brand new studio-quality songs, which you can now stream at their official MySpace page! Both songs were recorded at a studio in Stoney Creek during one (or more?) of their recent Southern Ontario concert trips. Not sure of the studio or producer on these songs, but the quality's up there with their last studio work, which was done in town with Miguel Gauthier last year. One of the new songs is "Conception", which has led off a few of their more recent sets. It's not their heaviest song, but I love the intro, and I'm impressed with how Justin Pregent's singing has improved to the point where he can sing alright on the choruses! John Mignacca's drumming stands out as well, it almost seems like the main instrument at parts! Good heavy song all around! The second song, entitled "Big Problem, Little Lock City", features Straight Reads The Line frontman Blake Prince on guest vocals. As It Stands have supported Straight Reads The Line before at a few concerts, so that's a good link there! The singing as a whole doesn't sound too distinctive between Justin and Blake, but the song's heavier than "Conception" and it has some good charging riffs! Solid stuff, I wonder if As It Stands' newest studio material will ever find a CD release? Click here to check the new songs out, and stay tuned for more A.I.S. updates!

Thirdly, here's one of two new videos to share! This is a new music video of sorts from local blackened doom metal quartet Woods of Ypres, and it's for one of the softer songs on the album, "You Are Here With Me (In This Sequence Of Dreams)"! The song, which features guest guitar by Ottawa classical musician Musk Ox, isn't even two minutes long, but the video below is over double that in length! The video was filmed by frontman David Gold in early 2008 while still in South Korea during his time there in Necramyth and as a teacher, and it's basically David's line of sight during a trip to what looks like South Korean temples in the middle of winter. I'm likely wrong or underinformed here, I'm just calling it as I see it. The camera work is a bit shaky, but remember that David's walking with the camera for the duration of the video. He gets some good footage of everything, but I wish he would have looped the song or something to help fill the time, as the last three minutes are almost silent save for background noise from the original footage. Nice work though, there's some very cool building designs in South Korea, and the song suits it! Check it out below, and more from Woods of Ypres and David's other bands at his official YouTube channel!



(Yes, I have more Woods of Ypres news to share soon as well, I just wanted to get the video on here first.)

And finally, here's this week's weekly classic video! A bit later than I'd have liked, but it's a good one! This week, we're tying it in with another performer at a concert this weekend, and this week, it's Tym Morrison! Videos of his solo acoustic concerts are hard to come by, but I did find one on Facebook from a concert at The Big Cheese in Heyden circa November 2008 (he's playing there TONIGHT as well, don't forget!) This is of Tym covering the Extreme ballad "More Than Words", with special guest Luke LeBlanc (ex-Half Past frontman) on guest vocals! They harmonize well on vocals, Luke's sense of humour is on display at the beginning, and Tym pulls this one off pretty faithfully to the original! This video was filmed by attendee John Wood-Salomon and he later posted it onto his Facebook page. The original video can be viewed at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=98424400435. Because Facebook videos aren't widely seen, and to help get this video well deserved exposure, I ripped it with Freecorder and uploaded it to our YouTube channel! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! John, Tym, and Luke did all the hard work, they deserve absolute credit for this video and performance! So check out our newest classic video below!



That's all for tonight, but I WILL see you guys at The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT for The Saigon Hookers and Brad Example & The Role Models! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sykotyk Rampage), Half Past News, And More!!

Hey guys, here's one more post before I return home to Sault Ste. Marie! Today, we have news from a local music site (or two), some upcoming concert updates, and a major lineup change in a local hard rock band, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

A month after their successful return to the stage at the second Roosevelt Hotel punk night, local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage will return to The Rosie for the third punk night! This will be the first of two straight Thursdays featuring the "punk night" banner following the upcoming two week streak of metal nights there (more on those in a second), and given that it's taking place around St. Patrick's Day, Sykotyk Rampage are dubbing Thursday, March 17th "Sykotyk Paddy's Day" in honour of this show! Additional bands for this show have yet to be confirmed, but other prior punk night veterans could well return, so stay tuned for updates on that front! As with prior shows of this type, I'd expect no cover charge and a 9:30 PM start time, with a 19+ age limit as well. For more details, visit the Facebook event page! Sounds like fun, and yes, I should be at this one! I wanted to see Sykotyk Rampage this past Thursday, but with my Detroit trip, I couldn't swing it. Pencil me in as an attendee for this show, and you know this will fit the St. Patrick's Day theme well! After all, Sykotyk Rampage have tons of songs referencing alcohol and drinking, they'll fit just fine! Stay tuned for updates as they come in!

Next up, here's a major lineup change for a local hard rock band that, frankly, I never saw coming. Yesterday, it was announced that Half Past have parted ways with frontman Luke LeBlanc. This news came just two days after the band returned to the stage for a very well recieved concert at The Rockstar Bar, making the news even more shocking than it would have been. The news was broken in a note on the band's Facebook page yesterday afternoon, and though a specific reason for Luke's departure wasn't stated, I can guarantee that the split was amicable. I do know why he left, but out of personal respect, I won't publicize it unless the band does. Luke originally joined Half Past (then known as Fingerbone) in mid-2009, replacing ex-Driving Dave Home frontman John Barber as the band's singer. With Luke up front, Half Past played some notable shows like the 2009 Coch's Corner Halloween Party and Garden of Bedlam's website launch concert last spring. I have to say, Luke leaving is a big shock, as he's a great singer and a funny guy who really added to Half Past over the last 16 months. Hopefully we'll see him another band in the future!

With that said, Half Past are now on the hunt for a new singer. If you'd be interested in auditioning to join Half Past, message the band at their Facebook page, or e-mail bassist Arthur Lacasse on Facebook by clicking here! Remember, Half Past play mostly modern hard rock songs, with some really exciting originals as well, and I imagine they'll be after the best candidate possible to front the band in the future! I'll keep you posted on their singer search as news comes in!

Thirdly tonight, here's the latest lineup news on three upcoming metal concerts courtesy of local promoter Rich Moreland, who deserves lots of props for the high volume of shows he's been booking in town! Firstly, THIS THURSDAY'S metal night at The Rosie's lineup is now complete, as local hardcore quartet Changing Waves will join As It Stands and Desbarats death metallers For All That Is Lost on the bill. My source is Rich's personal Facebook page, and it looks like Changing Waves will be headlining this Thursday as well! Interesting to note that this will be the third straight Thursday that Changing Waves will be rocking The Rosie, following the last punk and metal nights there, so if you're a fan of theirs, then you've gotta be excited! Then, there's the We, The Undersigned concert at The Vibe Lounge on Sunday night, which is also being booked by Rich. He confirmed on his personal Facebook page as well that local grimecore trio Shit Liver will be one of the opening bands on that show, with WinkStinger potentially being the second opening band, though this is NOT confirmed officially yet. Sounds good to me, hopefully The Vibe becomes a more frequent metal stomping ground!

Finally on the subject of WinkStinger, they may have been added as a third local opening band for the Woods of Ypres show at The Rosie on March 10th. Though event or band pages don't verify this at present, WinkStinger guitarist Jason Ladouceur posted a comment saying "With Winkstinger!" on a Woods of Ypres Facebook posting about the March 10th show. That suggests what you think it suggests, but until something more official comes out confirming or denying this, I won't get too much further. It'd be cool to see them playing too though!

Finally, here's the latest on two well known local music sites run by Flat Stanley/Wishbone drummer Glen Thomas, those being the music site The Barking Eye and his long-running (but often controversial) forum Freq's Music Planet. In his latest news posting on The Barking Eye, Glen announced that he's planning to shut down the Freq's Music Planet forum at the end of the year due to a lack of time to properly maintain the forum due to expanding musical commitments. He's planning to focus on writing, recording, and graphics more, but has said that he'll decide at the end of the year whether he wants to shut down the forum or give it to someone else. The Barking Eye news site itself may be shut down as well due to lack of interest. Things will operate as usual for the remainder of the year though. I'm sure some of you might not shed a tear if either leaves, but regardless of content, Glen does deserve credit for starting a message board like this, maintaining it for this long, and attracting a decent sized group of users without major promotion. I can attest to how hard it is to start and maintain a forum, my attempts at SMS forums crashed and burned. I hope Glen doesn't shut down Freq's Music Planet, as there's some interesting stuff there that shouldn't be deleted, and I think there are uses for it in some form. Time will tell though!

As for The Barking Eye, I wanna say a little something. A news site like that isn't easy to find an audience for, and I can attest to that. When the SMS started as a Facebook group, it never took off very far, but with time and patience, look at where we are now! Sure, readership isn't at an ideal level, but Glen's a great writer and knows a ton about the scene, and I know people would be interested in checking The Barking Eye out if they knew about it! That's just me though, but do check out the above links to see what's up at both sites!

That's all for tonight, but I hope your March has kicked off well! Our next post will be our latest "Where Are The New Albums?" post, so stay tuned for that, and more! Thanks everyone!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: The Disciples Of Rock & Violet Fuse

As promised, it's now time for our sixth monthly installment of our Saultites in Out Of Town Bands profile series! This month, we look at two Ontario hard rock bands with local connections, one from Northern Ontario, one from Southern Ontario, both of which are well worth discussing! Let's begin this month's profiles, and of course, if there's something incorrect, missing, or lacking info/details, please tell me! (UPDATED: November 25h, 2014)
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The Disciples of Rock (Blind River, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics)

Yves Rock (vocals)
Aaron LeBlanc (guitar)
Preston St. Jules (guitar)
James White (bass)
Jamie Labreche (drums)

Terry Lantaine (bass)
Roger Landry (drums)

Official MySpace page: http://myspace.com/thedisciplesofrock
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/disciplesofrock
Official SoundClick page: http://soundclick.com/disciplesofrock
Official CBC Radio 3 page: http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Disciples-of-Rock
Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/pages/Disciples-of-Rock/6911548158

Local Info: Two Saultites would find their way into The Disciples of Rock as later additions to the band, starting with James White in July 2006, replacing Terry Lantaine on bass. Later, Aaron LeBlanc joined as the lead guitarist, making the band a five-piece. Both Aaron and James were born here, but both moved to Blind River in their youth. Since the band's apparent hiatus, James moved back to Sault Ste. Marie, and now plays bass in local punk band Redundant and funk rockers The Elements, along with tenures with bands like Caveman Morrison, Browbeat, The Northern Mudsliders, Haggith, The Quims, and as a guest with Frightlight since re-entering the local scene, plus work as a producer and concert soundman with his company White Wreckords. As best as I can tell, Aaron still lives in Blind River, though I could be wrong. I haven't heard if Aaron's been in a band since The Disciples of Rock went on hiatus, but it'd be nice to see him gigging again, as he has real talent!

Band Bio: The Disciples of Rock were founded in June 2006, with their classic lineup being completed not long after their formation. Only frontman Yves Rock and rhythm guitarist Preston St. Jules remained in the band from the start. Consisting of 5 musicians of widely varying ages and styles, The Disciples of Rock quickly gained a solid reputation in the Blind River/Elliot Lake area, and released their first and only CD, "Nasty Habits", in May of 2007, which was recorded at Blind River's EFR Studios. Playing sets of their originals and select covers, The Disciples of Rock gave Blind River a good dose of hard rock before their 2008 hiatus, but they did reunite for occasional one-off gigs through July of 2009. I don't believe the band ever played in Sault Ste. Marie, but I bet their concerts were must see events no matter where they were!

I've always liked The Disciples of Rock, I remember hoping they'd play locally when I first heard of them, but no such luck. Good thing they have tons of pages online, cause they've got some solid stuff to check out! There's a definite classic rock influence in a lot of their songs, but at the same time, they know how to keep things heavy, and there's an equal mix of metal-ish stuff and bluesy classic tunes on their album! Yves Rock has a nice melodic rock voice that has a lot of soul and melody to it that works nicely, and I'm impressed with the band as a whole! Four of the members were between the ages of 16 and 22 when they released "Nasty Habits", and they were really playing beyond their respective years! I'm particularly impressed with Aaron LeBlanc's guitar work, I'd love to see him back in a band, cause he's got some awesome guitar skills! They're not the absolute heaviest band in Northern Ontario, but they have enough heaviness to get by, with a nice classic rock twist! Here's hoping they reunite down the road once again!

While there are places online to buy "Nasty Habits" in it's entirety (Amazon has it for $9.99), the band's various internet pages have the full album for free to stream too! If you wanna support the band (never a bad idea), buy it today, but feel free to listen to the whole thing whenever you want on one of their pages! I recommend their CBC Radio 3 page for audio quality, but it's up to you! And yes, they have plenty of videos, click here to visit their YouTube channel, which features live performance clips of originals and covers, as well as some songs straight from the album! I'm embedding their Halloween 2006 performance of "Hey DJ" here, check it out below, see what you think, or see more from the band at the above links!


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Violet Fuse (London, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics)

Kyle Mayer (vocals/bass)
Scott Vincent (guitar/backing vocals)
Thom Edwards (drums)

Tim Vujicic (vocals)
Unidentified members (bass, drums)

Official website: http://www.violetfuse.com
Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/violetfuse
Official MySpace page (1): http://myspace.com/violetfuseband
Official MySpace page (2): http://myspace.com/violetfuse
Official YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/violetfuse
Official Reverbnation page: http://reverbnation.com/violetfuse

Local Info: Drummer Thom Edwards was born right here in Sault Ontario, but was raised in Mattawa. Sure, it's not the strongest local connection, but Thom was a Saultite, that can't be denied! His dad being a rock drummer, Thom picked up on drumming early, at the age of 11. This led to him joining some high school bands and being a roadie for his dad's bands. Thom moved to London to further his music career when he was 20, and recorded an EP with London hard rockers The Bumps in 2006 before their breakup. The next summer, Thom joined Violet Fuse, though he's most recently been seen in the pirate rock collective The Gypsy Ghosts.

Band Bio: Violet Fuse were formed in late 2006 by college classmates Tim Vujicic and Scott Vincent on vocals and guitar respectively, along with an unidentified bassist and drummer who have since left the band. Thom Edwards and bassist Kyle Mayer joined in June 2007, playing their first concert two months later. Tim left the band in April 2008 to pursue other genres, which led to Kyle Mayer taking over on vocals as well as bass in time for their return shows in August 2009. Violet Fuse have since became a fixture of the London music scene, playing frequently at area bars, and kept busy recording their self titled debut album, which was launched at a CD release party in London in August 2010, and the album's now on iTunes! Violet Fuse have never played in Sault Ste. Marie, but they were briefly advertised for Hempfest's local return in 2011 before dropping out. Activity persisted on a steady basis through December 2012, though public updates didn't follow, and the band quietly fell inactive the following year.

Violet Fuse describe their sound as "classic rock inspired, with a modern rock sound", and I can see where they get that idea! They're by no means the heaviest band in the world, but they rock pretty hard, and they're right about having classic rock inspiration! Hard to explain, but they have the kind of sound that would fit well with fans of new and old hard rock! Really nice melodies combined with some hard riffs and good singing! Scott Vincent's a good rock guitarist, I like his riffing and his rhythm, and Kyle Mayer's a great bassist! Good singer too, but to me, his bass shines through more, but on songs like "Castle Walls", he's particularly great vocally! Thom Edwards holds down the drums effectively, no complaints there! For some nice melodic hard rock that music lovers new and old can get into, check out Violet Fuse!

The above links have lots of music from Violet Fuse, notably their self-titled debut album and a live EP, which you can purchase at this location! Material is also available on Reverbnation, Soundcloud, and on their official website, which sound pretty good! Check them out, but if you want lots of Violet Fuse material, head to their YouTube channel, where the band has uploaded 14 concert videos featuring both originals and covers! Here's one of their better originals, "Be Confident", from a May 2011 show in London!


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Hope you guys enjoyed this month's profiles! Next month, I have decided on two metal bands to profile that have/had a Saultite in their lineup! I think you'll like my choices! They are Thrawsunblat, the Fredericton, New Brunswick black metal project featuring the Sault's own David Gold on drums (alongside current Woods of Ypres guitarist Joel Violette), and Jar., the Vancouver metal band that originally featured Wishbone bassist Chris Smith! Look out for that late next month! Stay tuned later tonight for another packed news post (I've been swamped with news lately) and tomorrow evening marks the kick-off of our GarageBand Profile Mini-Series! Stay tuned!