LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Sylo & Tarnished!!)

Just before things get rolling on the SMS, today marks our eighteenth anniversary since launching the original group. No major plans to commemorate the day, but just a brief thank you acknowledgement to all of our readers and followers for continuing to stick around and read/engage with our content, and here's to another big year for local metal, hard rock, and punk music ahead! For our first batch of weekend concert previews for July 2025, we have an all-LOCAL CONCERT ALERT post, mostly of the SHORT NOTICE variety, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock/classic metal quartet Tarnished have a busy and all-short notice concert weekend ahead, and before we get into all three gigs, I apologize for the short notice on all of them, Tarnished only announced the three via their official Facebook page earlier today. Is that a record for late notice gig announcements by one local band at different venues on a given weekend? Regardless, Tarnished will kick off the Independence Day long weekend TONIGHT when they return to the annual Fourth of July parade in Sault Ste. Marie, marking their fourth straight year playing on a float during the parade! Of course, the idea of a SMS-amenable band playing during a parade is still uncommon for bands other than Tarnished, but it'll be like a brief concert coming to you, which will be neat if you're checking out the parade TONIGHT! Obviously, this is free and all ages, but where can you see Tarnished along the parade route?

As last year, the parade begins TONIGHT at 7:00 PM behind the U-Haul on Davitt Street, running until Magazine Street, and will move north along West 14th and Ashmun Streets, as well as West Portage Avenue, so pick a good spot to enjoy the parade, with some hard rocking tunes from Tarnished alongside! Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for mostly cloudy skies with weather around 70° (21° Celsius), which sounds like fine conditions for a parade! Click here for complete details on the parade itself. Tarnished will continue the rocking in short notice show #2, as Alex, Josh, Chris, and Ron will set up shop at The Savoy Nightclub TONIGHT at 10:00 PM! This will be Tarnished's first show at the 117 West Portage Road bar in over two years, and while The Savoy's modern social media presence isn't high, it is good to see that they're still open and hosting live music there! This is a 21+ concert with no announced cover charge.

Finally for Tarnished's busy long weekend, they'll return an hour south to St. Ignace TOMORROW NIGHT as part of the annual Music By The Bay summer concert series at American Legion Park at 200 North State Street, and in one more new show announcement, they'll return there on Saturday, August 16th as well! Good to see Tarnished spreading their wings and helping prove that there's more going on for St. Ignace concert venues than just Kewadin Casino, so keep TOMORROW'S show in mind! Click here for the full daily schedule at the Music In The Bay series too, it runs until the end of August. This is another free & all ages concert taking place from 7:00-9:00 PM, and while the stage is covered for the band's sake, be advised that 9&10 News is calling for a 40-60% chance of rain TOMORROW with 75° weather (24° Celsius). Visit the above links for more on Tarnished's shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and for a preview, here they are live!

Finally for this all-LOCAL CONCERT ALERT post, Sault Ontario hard rock quartet Sylo will return to Reggie's Place TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced on the venue's Facebook page on Sunday (remember, Sylo don't have an active Facebook page). This has been a long time coming, as Sylo haven't played a show on record at Reggie's since 2022, so it will be neat to see Eli, Alder, Owen, and Jakob back at this Queen Street staple for a rare solo headlining appearance! Sylo have been making the most out of their return to active gigging this summer, and here's hoping for more of the same entertaining originals and covers from this talented young foresome TOMORROW! This is a one-nighter due to or resulting in classic rock cover quartet RPM playing there tonight. TOMORROW'S Sylo concert is at 9:30 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. See above for more details, and here's Sylo live!

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

Lo-Fi Video Fanzine No. 1 Review!!

Merry Christmas to all readers who celebrate! I hope everyone is having a pleasant holiday and got lots of presents! On this holiday, I wanted to open a present of sorts, namely a disc that I found at Value Village a few weeks ago called "Lo-Fi Video Fanzine No. 1", credited on the spine as "a lo-fi film by Christopher Shoust". Long-time readers may recognize Chris Shoust as the frontman of the inactive indie/punk solo project Telephone & Address, from his work in bands like The Red & Black and Orange, and from his artistic pursuits as a painter and filmmaker, but I had no idea that he once worked on a video magazine project! Two DIY installments of this zine were made up in late 2012 (the first one is dated to September of that year), but I couldn't tell you how they were distributed at the time, as I don't remember him or performers openly plugging this on social media at all.

Interestingly, the disc is not a DVD, rather a data disc containing the 30 minutes of video in one file, so if you have either disc, your mileage will vary on if it will even play on certain devices. Given that I have only seen one of these in the wild in the past 11 years, I'd hazard a guess that their print runs were quite limited, but never fear, as Chris quietly uploaded both Lo-Fi Video Fanzines to his YouTube channel in April of last year. We'll focus on the first one today, which was largely shot across two dates in August & September 2012 inside the old Royal Canadian Legion building on Great Northern Road, aside from one performer, who was partially filmed playing on Queen Street East outside of Reggie's Place. It is worth noting that Chris said that the video is "deliberately low quality" to focus on documenting what happened rather than making the footage "look pretty". I don't necessarily agree, as our eyes see better than the camera was set up to, but Chris always liked lo-fi recordings.

I have no clue whether the Legion performances here were taken from public concerts or private events intended specifically for the zine, but if I had heard about them being public events, I would have at least covered them on the SMS at the time. The 30 minute video opens with defunct local hard rock duo Sounds From The Green Room, an online page-less precursor to singer/guitarist Brad Griffith & drummer B.J. Swire's later band Bizotic. S.F.T.G.R. even played a show in Ottawa in 2011, but their public dates in the Soo were very limited, and I didn't know they were still playing anywhere in 2012! Their song (which ended their set at the fuller Legion concert) was introduced by name, but I couldn't make out the title due to the lo-fi recording quality, though it sounded like Brad said "Fudgel". Very Sykotyk Rampage-esque sound to this song, but with more traditional melodic vocals, and it's definitely heavier than Bizotic were!

Second on the zine are two spoken word poems by Denis Robillard, though only the second ("Many Phones Sleep Here, Under The Earth") has its title introduced on camera. I'd have left in the applause after he finished, but Denis did write good thematic poems here! Next is the first appearance of fan favourite local pianist & street performer Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda, who performs some original music for 3 minutes or so, and his skill on the keys is as prevalent as ever! More spoken word follows when Cody Rydall reads a well written poem named "Like Flight", while his brother Jake (who we have covered here via the old Swampstravaganza open mic block) gets an almost six minute stretch of the zine next, where he does two original songs on vocals & acoustic guitar. Neither one has its title given on camera, but they may be called "Eye To Eye" and "Broken Guitar Strings".

Jake sings well here and has a knack for good compositions! As the second half of the zine begins, we leave the Legion for the first time to catch Spider Fingerz playing outside on Queen Street (at 3:00 AM, no less!). One wonders what nighthawks must have thought of this, but as always, Damjan's abilities as a pianist are clear as day even if the video isn't! Cody Rydall returns for a second poem next, which isn't titled on camera but only runs for about 30 seconds. Once you're done snapping your fingers to it, you can check out the return of Sounds From The Green Room's Brad Griffith, who is otherwise best known on bass with No Arrow and SBD, and for his more recent solo pursuits under the Gortium85 handle. Brad's solo section is the longest in the zine, and the only one to feature two distinct camera angles. As seen here, Brad is sticking closer to his grunge/hard rock work of the 2000s and early 2010s than what we saw later from him.

His two songs include one possibly named "Black Shadow", but I couldn't catch a candidate name for the second song, which has a livelier classic rock flair, and was filmed beside Brad rather than in front of him. Strong stuff for fans of Brad's pre-Bizotic music in particular, especially his first song! Denis Robillard returns for one more poem next, whose title sounds "Woke Flow Aerodrome" but I may be slightly incorrect with it. That ends the Legion content of the zine, and after a break with Damjan skateboarding downtown, we end with him and Chris joining forces like they did in The Red & Black, but here, it is specifically credited as an improvised joint performance between Telephone & Address and Spider Fingerz. Also filmed outside of Reggie's in the middle of the night, this is basically what happens if you let two guys play piano simultaneously, with Chris playing the high keys and Damjan handling the low keys.

Rather than play side by side, Damjan is playing from behind the keyboard while standing up, and they do pair well together to create music that one pianist shouldn't be able to do alone! While I would have filmed these with better quality cameras/settings, this was a fun watch to capture this chunk of the local music scene from a bygone era, with some good poetry to break it up, and it's a shame that this didn't have a wider release or publicity at the time, as I'd have happily covered it 11 years ago! Give Lo-Fi Video Fanzine No. 1 a watch below, and click here to watch No. 2, which is more focused on the local arts community and does not feature hard rock or punk-leaning musical acts. Thanks everyone, and Merry Christmas!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Obsession & Bone Yard), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Before we begin this early weekend concert preview post, here's a surprise concert cancellation, as Toronto metal legends Anvil's show at Soo Blaster on Saturday has been cancelled, as per this Facebook post from the venue, who cited "unforeseen circumstances" for the cancellation but didn't publically elaborate. Very disappointing, but Soo Blaster will refund tickets, and they are planning to announce a rescheduled date for the spring, so stay tuned on that front for sure! With an all-Northern Vibe Festival post dropping tomorrow, let's get an early jump on this weekend's hard rock concert previews, intertwined with some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard will return to the public stage for a one-night-only concert at Shooters Downstairs Lounge THIS FRIDAY NIGHT, but along with that previously announced date, they'll also return to The Esquire Club for new shows on Friday, November 18th & Saturday, November 19th! Friday's concert will mark Bone Yard's first truly public concert (as in, not birthday parties, weddings, or anniversaries) since July 18th at the same venue, so if you've missed Greg, Alex, and Warren's hard hitting blend of classic covers at a regular nightclub, you know where to be on Friday! As for November's Esquire Club dates, they are in lieu of what appears to be Tripod The Dog dropping out of that weekend, and will see the current three-piece Bone Yard's first ever appearances at the Second Line West venue, having not taken part in their "Buckets, Bands, and Birds" matinee series earlier in the year.

Hopefully Bone Yard deliver a knockout punch or two when they return to The Esquire Club in three months! Those dates have 9:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits, and while the same can mostly be said for their Shooters show this Friday, it starts at 8:00 PM. Also, the Saturday band this weekend is L!me. Visit the Shooters concert's Facebook event page and the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Next up, here's a couple of other new shows for later this year, as local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge themselves for shows on Friday, November 18th & Saturday, November 19th! The band's website's schedule quietly confirmed both dates, as the venue haven't gotten that far ahead yet for Facebook event page promotion. As you may recall, Obsession surprisingly parted ways with frontwoman Valerie Powley and replaced her with Jessica Amadio (the guest back-up singer from Rotaryfest weekend) last month, and while the new look Obsession did play at Poohfest in White River this past weekend, their local debut with Jess on full lead vocals is currently slated for the fall, barring anything shorter notice beforehand. They'll be at The Esquire Club for two weekends first, but this full weekend booking at Shooters will be Obsession's first there since May.

Obsession's Facebook photos from Poohfest indicate that things went well for Jessica's full debut, but with months ahead, hopefully she and the guys are in full form with no rust when they make it back to the Dennis Street venue in November! As usual for Shooters gigs, expect 8:00 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details, and don't miss Obsession at The Esquire Club over Halloween weekend!

Back to this weekend, let's head to the temporary Legion Bar downstairs at The Marconi Cultural Event Centre, where Hamilton outsider folk/punk musician B.A. Johnston will play his third local concert TOMORROW NIGHT! Fans may recall seeing B.A.'s humorous, unpredictable, "you-had-to-be-there" brand of punk rock at two different venues in 2015 and 2019, but tomorrow's concert will be in relatively unique confines, as The Legion Bar is a temporary space at The Marconi Club to basically host the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 while their proper home base on Great Northern Road is demolished and rebuilt. The Legion proper was scarcely highlighted on the SMS as a venue, but hopefully B.A Johnston leaves a positive mark there and that this leads to more concerts while the Legion Bar exists! Shortly before they head to Ophir for Northern Vibe (more on that tomorrow), local instrumental surf rock trio The Dynowaves will open this concert.

Fresh off of dropping out of Rotaryfest and (ironically) Marconi Meets World last month, hopefully The Dynowaves deliver a solid concert for fans in their return! Tickets for this all ages event run for $12 (up from $10 at The New A in 2019), and you can buy them at this link or at The Marconi Club during office hours. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and for a preview, here's a small sampling of the wild, hard-to-describe B.A. Johnston live experience from earlier this year!

We'll last trek south to Sault Michigan, where Madison, Wisconsin hard rock trio Sunspot will return to The Rapids Lounge at the local Kewadin Casino on FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT! Like last year, Sunspot are crossing state lines to play during the Michigan Paranormal Convention (or MiParacon), which is the annual gathering for fans and supporters of everything related to aliens, ghosts, sasquatches, and anything in between, so click here for full details on the convention proper! Sunspot proper are an ideal band to be in town for MiParacon, with their own brand "weird Wisconsin rock anthems" inspired by a wide array of themes and often paranormal events, and their psychedelic and power pop influenced hard rock should be a perfect nightcap to convention attendees! No, you do not need to have a pass for MiParacon to see Sunspot at The Rapids Lounge, it's an adjacent event open to everyone whether you're at the convention or not.

As usual for Rapids Lounge gigs, this is a 21+ event with no cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time. Sunspot is not an easy band to sum up briefly, so definitely look them up and their very eclectic mix of original songs to see what they bring to the table, live and in studio! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Sunspot live at The Rapids Lounge last year! Uploaded to the band's YouTube channel last September (apologies for missing it then), this is one of the better quality live videos I've seen from the Soo Kewadin lounge, and this rendition of "I Don't Wanna Be A Ghost" is fun & lively with strong musicianship, so definitely check it out for yourself below, and don't miss them at the casino!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our full Northern Vibe Festival preview (lack of a full band schedule acknowledged) tomorrow, with more news to follow over the weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (B.A. Johnston), Tym Morrison Concert Preview, And More!!

Here's a new news post that will somehow beat the long delayed rain in the forecast! It includes some new videos and updates from projects on both sides of the border, a mid-week concert preview for tonight, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Hamilton outsider folk/punk solo musician B.A. Johnston will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert on Thursday, August 25th at... The Legion Bar?! This isn't a permanent venue, it's the downstairs space at The Marconi Cultural Event Centre at 450 Albert Street West set up as the temporary home base for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, with their current building on Great Northern Road being demolished and rebuilt (details here). The Legion has hosted heavier concerts very sporadically, so this isn't completely out of line (let alone past events inside The Marconi Club), but definitely keep the relatively unique venue in mind in three weeks! B.A. Johnston previously played here at the former Cafe Natura in 2015 and at The New A in 2019, and if you saw him then, expected more irreverent, self-deprecating, and unpredictable acoustic punk originals for his third go-around in the Soo!

Instrumental surf rock trio The Dynowaves will open in their return to the stage after dropping out of Rotaryfest and (ironically) Marconi Meets World last month due to a member's major health emergency. Good to see everyone back! Tickets for this 19+ show run for $12 (up from $10 in 2019) and are available at The Marconi Club's office, while there is an 8:30 PM start time for the openers. Should be a fun and unpredictable concert, especially if you know what you're in for with B.A., so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Next up, here's a mid-week concert preview, as local classic/hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison is scheduled to return to The Mike Case Memorial Stage outside of The Trading Post TONIGHT! After not advertising his presumed show there last week with a Facebook event page, tonight's got one, so his weekly arrangement at the outdoor stage, there seems alive and well... weather permitting. Many of you will be well aware of the bad Environment Canada weather reports for today that promised heavy rain, thunderstorms, and even risk of an isolated tornado. We've dodged most of the early projections, but 9&10 News says that there will be thunderstorms and showers s during Tym's projected showtime tonight (7:00-9:00 PM), so if you are at all concerned about this concert's prospects, keep tabs on Tym's personal and music pages on Facebook to see if it is indeed called off.

If the rain holds off or if Tym does brave the elements, this will be an all ages event with no cover charge, and 9&10 are calling for 22-24° temperatures this evening. Fingers crossed that Tym's brand of entertaining classic and hard rock covers goes down as planned tonight, but if not, there's always next week... weather permitting! Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!

Also today, here's the latest from local folk punk/extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page! As of late, Chase has been working on a new studio album (according to him, one that is "actually worth listening to"), and on June 30th, he posted two songs from it as singles on his Bandcamp page, including the planned first song "Supervillain" and the fifth, "You're Dead". He noted that one song took 29 hours to complete and the other took 2½ hours, hinting that you should try and guess which is which. I'll hold comment on the songs for now pending our likely review of this album, but it will please fans of his recent metal recordings moreso than his folk punk fans. Chase also updated fans as to the progress of his book "Ars Cithara" on how to play guitar, and posted this image of quite the multi-tracked song he has in the works, so definitely check him out on Facebook for his latest updates on all fronts!

Before we move on, there is one new video that he posted there last week, and it's of him doing a falsetto vocal/guitar mash-up of Judy Garland's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and, believe it or not, "Suicide Is Painless", the theme song of M*A*S*H (movie and TV show alike). If you're not familiar with the original movie, the song had lyrics & was sung in the film. Filmed in monochrome with Chase heavily in shadow, then inverted in post, the mash-up is sure interesting, with two songs you'd never connect beyond being songs from movies, and while his frenetic guitar work is excellent as usual, the vocal style will not be to everyone's taste. Check it out for yourself below, and stay tuned for much more from Chase soon!

We'll close today with some more recent updates from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore quintet Heavy Lies The Crown's Facebook page! First, they posted this video on July 30th of them hyping their show opening for Nagazi in Battle Creek on Friday, featuring band members saying the names of other bands playing the show while hanging out, as intercut with shots of a beat up classic Lincoln car, all as set to their song "A Hell Bound Heart". Good promotion for the show, but you kinda have to be in southwest Michigan to appreciate it given the road trip this requires. From there, content mostly revolved around their show in Gaylord at Summerbash, posting two short-by-design "Reels" videos on Sunday, followed by calling Summerbash "the wildest show we have ever put on & been a part of". High praise for sure, especially for the closest they've ever came to a local gig! Pictures of the aftermath to Ted's pedals and their Iggy duck mask also went up.

The only video from Gaylord to be posted that wasn't a Reel (re: longer than five seconds) is this one from the end of their nightime & outdoor set, and you can tell everyone's having fun, with Brandon well at ease on the mic (and crystal clear compared to the band), while Christian T. has some funny dance moves! Not every band can get someone rocking out while standing on an amplifier, so kudos there! 81 seconds isn't a huge length of time, but compared to the Reels, it's an eternity, so check it out below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (CureCon), Alberta Intrusion Concert Preview, And More!!

Before our review of last night's Soo Art Rocks! concert makes the site, we have a new news post for your Saturday afternoon, so what's in store? Some assorted recent news and notes, a preview of a concert going down TOMORROW NIGHT, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for an intriguing concert event later this year that, while having a lot of blanks to fill, has a lot of promise, so here's what you should know!

Local classic metal quartet Project 421 will reportedly be on the lineup for CureCon, an ambitious convention on Saturday, August 12th where local vendors and artists will come together to support each other, donate to regional charities, and support local businesses. To be held at the Royal Canadian Legion on Great Northern Road in a rare concert at that venue, this event is a co-production of Live705 and upstart local company Ma Lady Menace, ran by local entrepreneur Douglas Ewen. I'm unsure what the company name means, but Ma Lady Menace specialize in selling "crash course crates", which are basically LootCrate-esque boxes filled with just content for fans or newcomers of a media franchise or band, and now they're experimenting with live event promotion and plan to work with Live705 on some events. Very intriguing, we'll have to see where this all goes, and Ma Lady Menace are now linked on the SMS!

As far as I can tell, Project 421 (who confirmed their involvement on their Facebook page) are the only band to publically say they're performing at CureCon so far, in their first announced concert since Halloween, though we may see them somewhere prior yet. Great to see the guys back regardless, they've been missed! Live705's involvement would suggest that A Dire Setback are playing too, but I have not heard confirmation of any other acts yet. Ma Lady Menace have noted that merchandise tables and advertising are available towards the convention proper, but I'm unsure if they're seeking bands the same way or have groups in mind internally. For more details on that end of things, click here! The live band portion of CureCon will be at 8:00 PM on August 12th after the convention portion wraps up, which itself starts at 12:00 PM. Admission will be $20 in advance or $25 at the door for the whole CureCon events, or $15 for just the convention or concert alone.

The concert itself is a 19+ event, but CureCon's prior events have $5 entry for children 3-12 years old, and kids under 3 are free, while there will reportedly attached contests and band Crash Crates, details presumably forthcoming. There are a lot of unknowns yet regarding CureCon, like what kind of convention this will shape up to be (Comics? Home show? Anything & everything?), the remaining band lineup, and more, but I like the ambition on display, and I'm definitely curious to hear more details regarding CureCon, Ma Lady Menace, and other attached entities! Stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's a pair of concert previews for shows over the next couple of nights, starting with The Alberta Intrusion, a concert featuring three touring punk bands from out west that are headlining at The New American Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Those three bands are The bands in question are Edmonton pop punk trio The Old Wives, Edmonton punk rock standouts Worst Days Down, and Calgary punk quintet The River Jacks, and they should deliver their own entertaining takes on the genre tomorrow, so be sure to check all of them out! Of note, some readers will have seen The River Jacks at The Algonquin Pub two years ago as a headlining act during their Gonqshow concert series, so if you wanted an encore, here it finally is! Local punk trio Stegadeth (replacing Talk Shit) will open the proceedings, with frontman Bill Bennett having previously opened for The River Jacks locally with Stereo North, and they should be a fine fit tomorrow, so don't be late!

Promoted by Six, Two, Oh. in their first fully promoted concert in over two months, you can apparently still get $5 advance tickets at Advance tickets are apparently now available at Northland Music, Case's Music, The Rad Zone and Big Guns Barbershop near the library downtown, though note that the price jumps to $7 at the door. A 9:00 PM start time is listed, and this is a 19+ event. This should be a great concert for punk fans, with a trifecta of intriguing Alberta acts and some local action from Stegadeth in store, so don't miss out tomorrow night, and here's The Old Wives live!



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

• Local blues/hard rock trio Electric Church are reportedly working on their debut studio album, and have been recording tracks at Mission Control Studios! We were first alerted to this when the studio shared a picture on their Facebook page of Spencer, Elijah, and Beau with Dustin Jones, and the band confirmed on their own Facebook page that they are "working up some new songs... for the album." Very cool to hear, hopefully more updates come out soon!
• The Gore Street Cafe will apparently be forced to relocate to a new venue in July, as per owner Nicole Dyble on their Facebook page on Monday. Plans reportedly called for the cafe to leave the laundromat at month's end, but for "a number of reasons", things have been extended a month. Despite many varied concerts, events, and a fan friendly business model, the cafe has had a rough go in the past year, and while Nicole hopes to find a new venue, she admitted that "the future of the cafe is uncertain." Hopefully things work out for the cafe, they're doing great things there, and fingers crossed that they find a new locale this summer!
• Were you added by a Facebook friend account called "TheSault MusicScene" yesterday? If you were curious, I am NOT behind it, and name aside, I don't believe it's related to the early-mid 2000s music website. The new page is intended to help promote & advertise local concerts of any genre, and while they haven't said who's running the page publically yet, I believe the lead administrator is a musician & former promoter.  If this page is maintained and kept up with, it could be a great resource, so keep it in mind! However, as a personal Facebook account with most posts hidden from non-friends, I can't link it here unless they relax the privacy settings so it's publically vieawable.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Soo Art Rocks! preview next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sabrina Pelchat Benefit), Highway 63 Concert Preview, And Much More!!

We're back with possibly our last post of the month, and within, we have a preview of one more Halloween weekend concert, a packed new live concert video, and where to find some media of a recently passed local musician, but first, here's a related LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

The previously hinted benefit concert for late Chronic Demonic singer Sabrina Pelchat will take place on Friday, November 20th at The Rednecks Saloon, and a number of familiar faces will hit the stage in her memory! Local doom metal trio AlgomA (in their first show in two months) will headline at 12:00 AM, and they'll be joined by hardcore punk quintet Destroilet at 11:00 PM, death metal favourites The Bear Hunters (the only band that has played at the former Nicolet before) at 10:00 PM, and alternative hard/blues rock quartet Sykotyk Rampage opening at 9:00 PM, and it's great to see all of them join forces for this show! Notably, The Bear Hunters & AlgomA were both interviewed by Sabrina for YouTube videos in 2013. Promoted by her friend Bri Sunshine, all concert proceeds will be donated to Sabrina's family to help cover the cost of final expenses, and as such, the show has a $10 cover (and yes, it is a 19+ event.) For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and e-mail benefitforriina@gmail.com to donate via PayPal if you can't attend!

This should be a great event to honour Sabrina, who has received many condolences and kind thoughts since the news broke of her passing yesterday, and hopefully it's a great chance for friends and fans to remember her gifts and contributions! I will say that it's a little odd to not see bands with ex-bandmates of hers on the lineup (like the still-active Chronic Demonic, who Nik of The Bear Hunters replaced her in), but this show is a fantastic gesture no matter what, and hopefully there's a great turnout! Stay tuned for more as we hear it!

Next up, here's the last known hard rock concert preview for this weekend (barring an extremely late notice announcement), as Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quartet Highway 63 will rock out at The American Legion TOMORROW NIGHT for their second straight Halloween party there! Though not a common concert venue in our coverage, the Monkey's Uncle successors had a great time last year at The Legion, and hopefully there's another solid turnout with lots of great costumes tomorrow night! For reference, the American Legion's hall is located at 3 Legion Drive, off East Water Street. Cash prizes await in a planned costume contest as well, but if door prizes and the all you can eat buffet are returning from last year, the band's own advertising doesn't mention them. Bring $5 for a cover just in case (though again, the band hasn't indicated a cover publically), expect a 21+ age limit, and there is a special early start time of 8:00 PM. See above for more details, and here's Highway 63 rocking out live at Kewadin Casino!



Also today, here's a packed new video of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood! Uploaded by drummer Glen Thomas to his YouTube channel on Monday, this was shot with a stationary camera at their Rednecks Saloon gig on Saturday, and gives us our best public look yet at their current lineup (at over 21 minutes long, how could it not?) Comprised of 24 song clips played that night, I can't identify three songs in the video, as Terry's vocals aren't terribly clear on the video (I'm sure it was better live), but you'll hear covers of a bluesy song, Jet, a heavier cover, Katrina & The Waves, Nick Gilder, Cheap Trick, Keith Anderson, REO Speedwagon, a country song, Fleetwood Mac, The Black Crowes, Bob Seger (with Steven Flint on lead vocals), The Monkees, Robert Palmer, The Beatles, Grand Funk Railroad, Bryan Adams...

...Duran Duran, Keith Urban, The Outfield, The Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Puddle of Mudd, and Poison, so click each link to hear the songs! While largely not direct hard rock covers until late, they do effectively add an edge to unexpected cover choices and many familiar favourites, and as Glen notes in the comments, they have internet access to pull up songs on stage to cover on the fly if there are requests not in their direct setlist! Despite the dark purple lighting, and the guys' stiff stage presences, the fuller quartet lineup sounds good, so give this packed new Mourning Wood video a look below, and stay tuned in case they do have late notice shows this weekend!



Finally, I thought it was appropriate to collect known public media of Sabrina Pelchat's music for interested readers, especially as I couldn't find anything in a quick search yesterday. She did quietly delete or privatize the vast majority of her solo & Shadowthrone media in the past year, but her Soundcloud page (under her Isla Encanto handle) survived the purge, and it features covers of Megadeth, Neil Young, and Marilyn Manson songs (sadly, that cover of "A Tout Le Monde" may hold more resonance now.) Sault Online's Mike Caruso filmed her doing a karaoke version of The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" at Reggie's Place in February during Bon Soo's annual karaoke competition, noting that she did "a commendable job", and while it's not the song you'd think she'd be covering, she sounds fine on it! And her old punk/metal band Chronic Demonic reshared their video from their live debut in August 2013 at the former Roosevelt Hotel, where they covered The Misfits' "London Dungeon"! Though still active, this lone song is their only live performance to date.

While it's very staticy, it's a sample of what could have been had any of her bands lasted longer, and kudos to April for filming this! An audio demo also exists on personal Facebook accounts if you know where to look, and it'd be nice to see Robert re-post some old Shadowthrone songs if possible, that was a promising project in it's own right. Sabrina was a talented singer that had a lot of unrealized potential, but hopefully her fans keep her memory close! Here she is live with Chronic Demonic two years ago!



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

R.I.P. Sabrina Pelchat

The Sault Metal Scene sends it's deepest condolences to the family and friends of former Chronic Demonic/Project Legion singer and Shadowthrone guitarist Sabrina Pelchat (a.k.a. Sabrina Strange, Ririe Lavoie, Isla Encanto, and Riina Rampage), who reportedly passed away yesterday, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. Details on services have yet to be publicized as of this writing, and we will let you know if we hear anything on that front, but you can offer condolences on this memorial Facebook page launched by her friend April Fogal. Sabrina had been a talented, albeit sporadic sight in local metal bands since 2013, and was a skilled singer & karaoke/open mic fan that was also very artistic, parlaying her metal fandom into a brief stint as a YouTube interviewer with 62nd Chamber Productions. In recent years, she had been more enigmatic in her online presence, most recently performing in Shadowthrone with her partner, Pillory frontman Robert Sartini, and she had been aiming to launch a new black metal band this summer.

We had our differences from how she viewed some of our coverage, but I always respected her work, and in recent months, she had e-mailed me private videos of her practicing black metal vocals towards future band projects so she could get input on them. Though she never fronted a band that made a prolonged live impression, those that know her definitely knew her talents. Sadly, most videos of her band work are either private or were deleted as she retreated from social media in the past year, but here's her interview with 4/5ths of The Bear Hunters from October 2013, which is a fun and loose interview, and it's a shame she didn't do more of these. R.I.P. Sabrina, you will be missed!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Highway 63), Dusty Tucker/Nailheads Concert Preview, And More!!

News has been slow as of late, but we're back for this Tuesday morning, so what's in store? Along with new recording session videos from this side of the border, we're mostly sticking with the Sault Michigan area today, including some new interview finds, some solo videos, and first, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you should know! (Updated on Wednesday at 7:19 PM)

For a second straight year, Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quartet Highway 63 will play a Halloween party at The American Legion on Saturday, October 31st! Though not a typical concert venue in the area, the Monkey's Uncle successors obviously had a successful Halloween show last year at the Legion (at 3 Legion Drive, off East Water Street), so keep this one in mind at month's end if you're unsure how you want to spend the holiday! The band's on at 8:00 PM, expect a costume party with cash prizes, and note that last year's Halloween show also had a $5 cover charge, door prizes, an all you can eat buffet, and no announced age limits. Also, Highway 63 will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on Friday, December 4th & December 5th, which are among the new show confirmations on Kewadin Casino's entertainment page. This will be their first announced St. Ignace concert weekend since the summer, and like usual, expect a 21+ age limit, no cover, and 9:00 PM start time.

Note that there are more hard rock show announcements from Kewadin's entertainment page that we will further outline in a post later this week, partly as one band has late notice shows elsewhere to touch on this weekend, so stay tuned for those in a few days! It's good to see Highway 63 staying busy in the latter months of 2015, so keep these shows in mind, and stay tuned for more from them!

Next up, here's a preview for a long-announced concert going down TOMORROW NIGHT at The New American Pub (more on that in a second), as Red Deer, Alberta hard rock quintet Dusty Tucker and Montreal punk trio The Nailheads are slated to join forces! Dusty Tucker's southern rock-influenced blend of heavy original music should find a strong audience tomorrow, while The Nailheads (replacing the now defunct locals The Danger Cats) will be playing the Soo for the first time since rocking a metal night at the former Roosevelt Hotel four years ago, and it's about time their old school punk attack is in our area again! The advertised local openers are post-punk quartet Gnaeus in their first announced show of the fall, and it'll be nice to see them out of the studio for this one! However, promoter Brent Ellis (replacing Mitch Sirie) noted on the Facebook event page this evening that the show had been moved from the previously announced Rednecks Saloon to The New A for unannounced reasons, so keep the late notice venue shift in mind!

This 19+ show has a 9:00 PM start time, and rather than the former "pay what you can" format, there is now a flat $5 cover charge.  Check the above links for more details! Despite the surprise late venue change (and slow recent promotion of the gig), this should be an entertaining and diverse concert with a little something for everyone, so check out all three of these talented bands, and keep this Wednesday nighter in mind for TOMORROW! Here's Dusty Tucker live in Alberta last month!



Also, here's the latest Instagram video postings from Sault Ontario death metal favourites The Bear Hunters, as they continue to record their second album "The Dead Testament" at Mission Control Studios! One is a short clip of drummer Johnny Belanger and producer Dustin Jones checking out part of the drum track for "Transcend Judgement", but embedded below is our first glimpse at "For Glory", one of two songs from the CD that we have yet to hear live (the other being the title track.) This is just a short instrumental preview from the studio tracking, but what we do hear does sound Bear Hunters-esque, so give it a look below, and see more above!

A video posted by The Bear Hunters (@thebearhunterscanada) on Oct 5, 2015 at 5:49pm PDT

Finally for today, here's some recent press materials from Dafter, Michigan hard rock solo artist Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton, including two interviews from last November! Published on the underground music website Arm The Pit, they appear to be generic questions for any artist, given the questions referencing bands and labels given to an independent solo artist, but you go get some interesting insights into his recording methods, and plans (at the time) to form a live band. One interview is about SweetKenny in general, and the other is focused around his then-new CD "Amazonian", so read both at this link! We were going to round out our SweetKenny updates with a review from Woodbangers Entertainment of his recent album "Charlie Hidelburg: Ancient Hunter", but it's either down or deleted. In any event, it's link is/was here, but stay tuned in case it comes back, and keep an eye out for more from this prolific Eastern U.P. solo musician as we hear it!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and concert previews soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), New Bear Hunters Videos, And Much More!!

I wasn't expecting to have a new post tonight, but we have a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT, so I've gotta rush one to make sure it gets some last minute promotion! That leads off tonight's post, but we also have new concert videos, lineup updates for an upcoming concert, and some more assorted news, so read on below for what you need to know, and check out our Thrill Junkies preview and much more in the post below this one!

Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will return to The Roadhouse Bar & Grill on Trunk Road TONIGHT! Apologies for the extremely short notice, Tym only just announced this show a few hours ago via this Facebook event page. Coming one week after his debut at The Harp, he returns to more familiar confines tonight for another evening of unplugged metal and hard rock renditions, and if you're up for some late notice hard rock action on this quiet concert weekend, you know where to be! There's no announced cover charge for tonight's show, you must be 19 to attend, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. For more details, check the above links! It's nice to see Tym back at The Roadhouse once again, even if word for the show is quite late, so keep this show in mind for some acoustic metal hits in the East End TONIGHT! For a preview, here's Tym and Half Past alum Luke LeBlanc (we're still pulling for you!) covering Extreme's "More Than Words" a few years ago!



Next up, here's two new videos from local melodic death metal quartet The Bear Hunters! Filmed during their headlining set at last month's Blood Shed Productions-promoted Oddfellows Hall show (and uploaded to their YouTube channel yesterday), they include videos of their new song "I Fear No God" ("I" accidentally omitted in the title) and, as embedded below, "Dominate", with their "Teddy Bear's Picnic" intro proceeding it! Likely filmed by guitarist Mitch Sirie's former Stillbroke bandmate Sam DeDominicis, he got some nice unique angles both on the stage, in the front row, and behind the crowd to capture many unique angles of The Bear Hunters in action, and the video and audio quality are both really good (quiet vocals aside!) Very floaty too, almost seamless how the camera moves around. Check out The Bear Hunters' newest videos above and below, and don't miss them at The Moose Lodge opening for Biipiigwan on the 24th!

Also today, here's the latest on the upcoming Diemonds-headlined concert at The Algonquin Pub on Thursday, November 21st! The announced opening band has changed, as all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats have apparently dropped out of the show, as per their removal from the Facebook event page. A reason for their withdrawal hasn't been publically announced, but I will note that the girls never officially confirmed this show on their own Facebook page, so that could be related. Disappointing, but we'll see them next opening at Haggith's last show at the same venue next month, so keep that in mind! Replacing them is the return of local punk/metal quartet T-Rex Manning, who we last saw headlining the Crusade cancer fundraiser at The Canadian 6 months ago! It's great to see them back after an abnormally long break, and hopefully their fun and energetic covers (and original) are welcomed back on the 21st! I will note that their drummer is Rick White, who was laid up in September with a broken eye socket after that incident at The Rosie, but I have no clue if he'll be behind the kit for this show or not. If I hear anything either way, I'll let you guys know!

Promoter/T-Rex Manning frontman J.D. Pearce is still looking for a second opening band, so if you're interested, check the above links for more details, and don't miss Diemonds' sleaze rock attack on the return of Rex Manning Day on the 21st! Stay tuned for updates!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• I've moved local/London metal band ApocalyptiCDistroyeR to our inactive Sault Ontario band links due to a year's inactivity. Their YouTube channel (ran by band leader Jesse Middaugh) last saw a music upload on Halloween 2012, with other pages last updated the year prior. Active since 2008, ApocalyptiCDistroyeR had a good prolific ambition & real guitar talent, and hopefully the Middaughs & company stay active in music!
• Defunct local experimental metal band Project Legion's Facebook page (and only online page) has been deleted. A reason wasn't announced, but it's likely due to their breakup & the formation of their essential successors The Strange Coyotes. I'm firmly against deleting pages (if only for preservation's sake), but hopefully The Strange Coyotes find more success going forward!
• According to it's Facebook event page, TONIGHT'S Thrill Junkies concert at Docks will be sans a band member, as they're "a man down", but will still be rocking it. The identity of the missing member wasn't given, but it's not Justin Langlois or Scott McLurg, as they were promoting the show on Facebook earlier today. Best of luck, and hopefully lots of ZZ Top fans stop by after that huge concert!

That's all for today, but stay tuned on Sunday for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, and for any other news as it rolls in! Thanks everyone!

A Local Band's Breakup, New Blood Shed Productions Videos, And More!!

This post may seem like deja vu from yesterday, but trust me, the content is all new! Things just fell into place in such a way where everything is roughly analogous in theme to what we posted about yesterday, hence why we have (in order) notes on a funk/metal band that you saw at last week's Oddfellows Hall show, videos of two Ringsnaps Gibson grind projects from the same show, and three assorted shorter stories once again. Everything is brand new though, so read on below to get caught up!

New local funk/metal band Project Legion have officially disbanded, less than a month after their public launch. The news was revealed on their (once again renamed) Facebook page on Monday night, and though a reason wasn't announced, the formation of The Strange Coyotes (featuring members James Watterworth & Chase Wigmore and recent live drummer Mike Haggith) is likely a contributing factor, so I'd assume some Project Legion originals will carry over to the new band as a result. Though Project Legion had more joking name changes & temporary drummers than they had official concerts, they did leave a good impression in their two gigs, including a late notice set at 180 Projects and their last show at The Oddfellows Hall last week. I will note that ex-singer/guitarist Sabrina "Strange" Lavoie (who only played live with them once) has indicated that she might re-use the name in her next band (a'la the second version of Turner Up), but that's not a definite yet. The Strange Coyotes should carry the torch well for James, Chase, and Mike's next live band work, so stay tuned for updates on them, but best of luck to Sabrina going forward, and hopefully her talents find a lasting live band soon!

Next up, here's the newest videos from the Devil's Night concert at The Oddfellows Hall last week, again from yesterday's featured bands, Blood Shed Productions goregrind artists Crucify The Whore and Rotopsy! Uploaded to the label's YouTube channel yesterday, the C.T.W. videos include this one (with a title I won't give here, again due to potentially offensive content), but embedded below is the band playing their new original song "People These Days" with guest singer Austin McCrea (Brutaly Fatal), essentially making this a "Brutaly Crucified" reunion! The lighting is poor on these, especially thanks to the light strips screwing with the camera, but this was a solid performance of one of C.T.W.'s better recent tracks, so give it a look below!



The new Rotopsy video (and the longest so far of their set) features Ringsnaps and Dylan playing another untitled track, followed by their song "Neurological Sperm Bucket", this time from a unique angle behind the stage! Good idea in theory, but the lighting is such that only their shirts and a couple of fans show up even on a medium level. If you liked Rotopsy's other concert videos, give this newest one a look below, and keep an eye out for more from this show soon!



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

• Local sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA reportedly will have to drop out of the Biipiigwan-headlined concert at The Moose Lodge on November 24th, due to a recent back injury sustained by singer/guitarist Darby Wigwaus. My source is Darby in a Facebook conversation, who gave me permission to post it on here before the Facebook event page is updated. No replacement has been finalized yet, but a band with AlgomA members is possible (maybe Bad Back?) Stay tuned for updates as they roll in!
• In their most recent posts on their Reverbnation page, newer local metal quartet The Hydra's Teeth revealed that they've already sent feelers out to record labels and companies to possibly work with and produce merchandise through, while they're also looking for fan input for what cover to add to their set next (either Judas Priest's "One Shot At Glory" or Metallica's "Disposable Heroes".) The guys really seem to be working overdrive to get noticed and big, especially after just one live concert, but here's hoping this works out well!
• The Roosevelt Hotel will be closed until Friday, November 22nd as part of an agreement from an incident in April, where a now-fired Rosie employee over-served a customer, leading to an investigation under the Liquor License Act. The news was revealed on the venue's Facebook page on Halloween, and while the closure won't affect any scheduled hard rock shows, it's re-opening coincides with the first of two Thrill Junkies shows that weekend. Hopefully this is the last bad news at The Rosie for a long while!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and concert previews in the next few days! Thanks everyone!