New SooToday Videos, Plus More Recent Video Uploads!!

The last few days have been relatively quiet on the SMS, but I have an unwritten rule to try and ensure that we don't go three days on the site without a new post, so let's keep that up before I tackle my 27th birthday celebrations! Today's post is devoted to recent video postings from and featuring local artists, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with a pair of (sadly unembeddable) videos from local news website SooToday with metal & punk relevance, starting with the newest episode of Tuned with Donna Hopper, as posted online on Sunday! The second straight episode taken from last month's Motherfuckers-headlined show at The Oddfellows Hall, this one focuses on the Calgary hardcore punk headliners, with Donna interviewing frontman Dan Izzo and bassist Sean Hunter outside of the venue about Calgary's punk scene, their influence on Canadian punk music, their newest material, and what they know about Sault Ste. Marie, as interspersed with performance clips from their set. Not a bad interview, and the guys keep things light before their ferocious set, so give it a look above! The other new SMS-relevant SooToday video covers Darren Emond's Iron Maiden comic book launch at The Rad Zone earlier this month, so what should you know on it?

Darren is interviewed by an uncredited & unheard SooToday reporter about how he got on board with the Iron Maiden comic, his background and artistic endeavours, the reception of the comic so far, and his positive experiences in working with a band he loves, doing what he loves. Featuring some shots of his artwork in between, this gives Darren some nice press, so give it a look above, and pick up your copy of the Iron Maiden comic book A.S.A.P.!

Next up, here's some updates from local alternative/hard rock trio The Din's Facebook page, including reveals that they now have buttons for sale (check out their next concerts to see if they're available), they're now on Snapchat, and yes, that they have new Facebook videos to check out! One video was uploaded on May 17th (apologies for the two week delay) where The Din noted that they, at the time, were close to hitting 300 likes on Facebook. In it, they try and hit 300 likes on their own with a real foot race between band members, and without spoiling who won, they came to the conclusion that they needed our help to hit the milestone. The campaign worked, as they surpassed 300 just 12 hours later, and currently sit at 320! Another video followed last week where guitarist Tammy Hill jokingly came up with an idea for the band's merchandising plans that involves bobbleheads. I'll let you watch it to see what it entails!

Embedded below though is The Din's newest Facebook video, this time just previewing the studio version of "This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device" from their forthcoming debut studio album "Give In To The Din", with Tammy manning the controls at the computer. This should serve as a nice teaser as the album sessions slowly march along, so give it a look below, and see much more from The Din above!



Also, here's a video from Boot Hill Crooners/ex-Inner City Surfers guitarist Dave Bahun as part of a big contest that he's entered! A cover of Randy Bachman's new song "Heavy Blues", this comes from a Vintage Guitar Magazine contest where guitarists are challenged to supply guitar tracks in place of Peter Frampton's on the song in a YouTube video. Randy himself will choose the winner on Friday, who will receive a $4,000+ D’Angelico guitar & Supro amplifier, a pre-video endorsement from Randy, and a trip to rock out with him in New York City. If you know Dave's talents, you'll know he handles this blues rocker well, so be sure to check it out below, and best of luck!



Finally for today, dormant local metal quartet Garden of Bedlam are the source of background audio in this new skateboarding demonstration video from local music/skate shop The Rad Zone! Uploaded to their YouTube channel on Sunday, the video showcases three young local skateboarders (among them, Garden of Bedlam drummer Derek Turner's son Dylan), as set to their studio track "New Rain". Solid footage of the kids delivering some quality tricks, and while this doesn't directly indicate new activity from Garden of Bedlam, it's nice to see them featured here! Give it a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more updates and this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post this week! Thanks everyone!

Iron Maiden Comic Book Review, New Videos From Grindcore Acts, And More!!

Before we dive into our last weekend concert previews of the month, here's a new news post for your Wednesday, including some assorted recent notes, a new concert video, and some recent coverage of a popular local band, but first, here's a first for the SMS: A comic book review!

As you may remember, local artist Darren Emond launched the Iron Maiden comic book that he did the pencil artwork for at The Rad Zone on Saturday, and I absolutely came to get an autographed copy (this is a scan of mine), so I thought it was fitting to give it a review on here! One of a series of recent comic books from the Rock & Roll Biographies series from Acme Ink, the comic book is basically the Cliffs Notes version of Iron Maiden's band history, from the late 1970s through to the modern day, as nicely illustrated by Darren to a story by Paul Birch that covers most ground from their history. As well, the comic also explores a side-storyline on the band's mascot Eddie The Head and his efforts to protect the band and the titular Iron Maiden herself from evil forces out of the real world. The comic is solely in black & white, but the art pops, especially in the Eddie panels, and while some eras of the band are glossed over a bit in the story (the 1990s, in particular), the comic book is a fun way to explore Iron Maiden's history!

Note as well that Darren's last name is given as "Emmonds" in the credits, but everything else is well done and nicely laid out, with a tribute to late Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister even included. Overall, the Iron Maiden comic book is worth buying for $5 at The Rad Zone (if you can find it in the States, it's $3.50 there), so if you love Iron Maiden and/or comic books, pick up a copy A.S.A.P., and kudos to Darren on a job well done!

Next up, here's the latest from local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver, starting with an overdue note from their SooToday article from May 2nd, which bypassed us in our original write-up on it (my apologies), as Josh, Mike, and Matt will be performing in a Live at Six, Two, Oh. episode on Sunday! This occurs as Shit Liver return east from this latest Canadian tour, but unless there's a late notice show announcement, I don't believe they'll have a local concert this weekend. This should be a fun episode of the local recording studio's video series, so look for it on Sunday or later! Also from Shit Liver, their long awaited episode of Tuned with Donna Hopper went up on SooToday on Saturday, so what should you know on it? Filmed during the Motherfuckers-headlined concert last month, the episode features Donna interviewing all three guys about their move to St. Catharine's, what keeps them going, their work in the bluegrass band Dirtfight, and how they marry their bands' two genres, as set to video footage from both bands' tour dates last month.

Though the episode treads some of the same ground as the original article, it's a solid episode with some brutal clips from the Oddfellows Hall show, but the interview portion is badly drowned out when clips from Dirtfight's Gore Street Cafe show are featured (also, "Shitliver" is spelled without a space in the opening bug.) Still, this is some solid press for Shit Liver, so give the full Tuned episode a look above, and note that SooToday's video host still doesn't permit external video embedding.

Also today, here's some new concert footage from local goregrind solo project Crucify the Whore, as per the Blood Shed Productions YouTube channel yesterday! A 12 minute video with clips from C.T.W.'s set at the Metal Massacre 2 house party show on May 7th, the video captures some ferocious jamming from Tyler, with a receptive audience, but the video is compromised by being letterboxed when it doesn't have to be (it was already widescreen, why not upload it as such?) Give it a look below!



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

• After brief turns as Waterfront Legend & The River Cookhouse, the former Docks Riverfront Grill has again changed names & formats to the HD Sports Grill, as per this SooToday article plugging a recent job fair to hire new employees. Imee Yeun still owns the restaurant and former local concert venue, and it's unclear when the Foster Drive location re-opens, but part of the grill will include a golf simulator. Hopefully this theme and name takes for the long term at the former Docks, and we'll let you know if live bands return with it!
• Local musician Mario Gionet is looking for a singer for his new metal band that he's launched, as per his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last week. No word on what he's playing in the band (I'm unfamiliar with him), but message Mario at this link or above for more details!
• In this SooToday article from Donna Hopper last week, downtown concert venue The Machine Shop is spotlighted to reflect on it's recent full launch as a public events site, it's upcoming restaurant, and the hiring of LopLops Lounge owner Stephen Alexander as the venue's events promoter (don't worry, he's still bringing bands to LopLops!) The article also serves to avoid confusion with St. Mary's Paper site locations from their development, as the Mill Square owners sold it in January, and it's not The Yard or The Tech either. Informative article, so get more above, and The Machine Shop's new website is now linked in our venue listings!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and this month's YouTube Channel Profile next! Thanks everyone!

Bear Hunters & Banned Concert Previews, Plus The Local Iron Maiden Comic Book Launch!!

Let's finish off this weekend's concert previews today with two Saturday nighters on each side of the border for you guys to take note of, with the former being extended given what all is going on with it, but we also have a preview of a special event going down tomorrow that, while not a concert, has a unique and very clear metal tie, so here's what you should know!

Prolific local metal/punk drummer Johnny Belanger's highly anticipated birthday concert will go down TOMORROW NIGHT at The Oddfellows Hall, with a stacked lineup of local metal and hard rock bands joining forces for the occasion! At least seven bands will take the stage for "Johnny B's #Litfam Birthday Sheezy" tomorrow, which comes in advance of Johnny's 27th birthday next week, and while 100% final timeslots are not confirmed, the official poster lists most of the scheduled bands, including Johnny's death metal band The Bear Hunters (in their first public concert appearance of the year) and his punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, plus reunited extreme metal quartet Winkstinger, modern hard rockers Eclipse, Johnny's hard/pop rock quartet Heavy Head, and new death metal quintet Kaepora Gaebora (who were confirmed on the Facebook event page earlier this month, but were added after the poster was made.) Notably, the latter three bands will be making their Oddfellows Hall debuts tomorrow, so come early to see them!

Now, Johnny noted two weeks ago on the event page that "a band" will be making a "special guest appearance", and while their identity hasn't been leaked, recent postings there strongly indicate that Bear Hunters rhythm guitarist Josh Stephney is coming up from Brampton for the birthday "sheezy." Might we see the full quintet Bear Hunters lineup for the first time since 2014? Does Josh factor into the guest band in some form, perhaps via a one-off band reunion? I don't know for certain, but be at The Oddfellows Hall TOMORROW to find out! Though the poster lists a 7:00 PM start time for bands, the event page credits 6:00 PM as the start for this show, which will have $5 admission, be ALL AGES, and will also have a barbecue on site for the birthday festivities (though what form and price isn't established that I've seen.) This is shaping up to be a fun concert for local metal and punk fans, with many familiar faces to be seen, and with a guest band that fans will apparently not want to miss, so don't miss out tomorrow night, and here's The Bear Hunters' full lineup live a few years back!

Lastly for this weekend (barring a super-late notice concert announcement), classic/hard rock trio Banned will return to their hometown of Kinross, Michigan for a headlining show TOMORROW NIGHT at The Orioles Club inside of the Kinross Township Hall! The Traynors and Wayne will play their only public show of the weekend tomorrow at 4916 West Curtis Avenue in their first date at this venue since November, and while I can't confirm if there's a special event tied to this concert, it appears to be similar in scope to their debut there. In any event, an early 7:00 PM start time is in effect, and there are no announced age limits or cover charges. Banned's talented and often heavy sets should get a good reception at The Orioles Club tomorrow, so keep Banned's hometown show in mind for your plans, and here's Banned live!

Finally today, remember how Saulite and artist Darren Emond recently signed on to provide the artwork for an upcoming Iron Maiden comic book? Well, the comic book is complete and ready for release, and it will see it's local launch TOMORROW at The Rad Zone! As per their Facebook page, Darren will be on hand at the Wellington Square Mall store tomorrow, with copies on sale for $5, while personal Facebook postings indicate that for $10, he will autograph your copy and also draw a sketch of Iron Maiden's mascot Eddie the Head for you, so keep both options in mind! Proceeds will help get Darren to next month's Niagara Falls Comic-Con to promote his new graphic novel "Giiwedanon" with local author Darin Corbiere. Some of Darren's other works will be on display as well, and he will be at The Rad Zone from 11:00 AM until 5:00 PM. A handful of preview shots for the comic are floating around online, with this link confirming that the storyline is a partial biography of Eddie, while also outlining the birth of the Iron Maiden herself.

As a comic book fan who recently enjoyed some Free Comic Book Day events in the Detroit area, I definitely plan on being at The Rad Zone tomorrow to get a copy of the Iron Maiden comic book, and it must be a thrill for Darren to see this released, let alone after working with a legendary metal band! A review would indeed follow on the site too after I get my copy, so keep an eye out for that, and don't miss Darren's comic book launch tomorrow! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Griphook), New Videos, And More!!

I hope everyone's having a great day! For today's post, we're touching on a recent news article with a unique metal tie, a pair of new videos referencing two local acts, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a veteran cover band's long awaited return to the stage!

Local hard rock cover quartet Griphook will return to the stage on Saturday, January 23rd for a headlining concert at The Rockstar Bar! After a six month stage hiatus (apparently to focus on learning new material), this talented veteran band will finally unveil the fruits of their recent labour for fans next Saturday, in what will be their first show of 2016, their first of any type since Rotaryfest last year, and their first at The Rockstar Bar since 2014! Remember, Griphook are the band featuring ex-100 Gran frontman Joel Syrette, ex-Bigsuit guitarist Brian Oja, ex-Hollow bassist Dan Beaupre, and ex-Gsis Murphy drummer Anthony Fabiano, and all have the chops for heavier material, so don't bypass them next weekend! And yes, this is a one nighter, no word on who's playing at the venue next Friday. There's a 10:00 PM start time for this concert, you must be 19 or older to attend, and there's no announced cover charge (but have cash on hand just in case.) For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Griphook's recent break was a little worrisome given the lack of online updates, but it's great to have the guys back at last, and hopefully 2016 is a much busier year (publically, at least) than we saw last year! Stay tuned for more from Griphook as it comes in, and don't miss their return to the stage next weekend at The Rockstar Bar!

Next up, here's the first ever music video from local goregrind solo project Crucify The Whore! Set to a new song from their upcoming CD "The Beautiful Sounds of Nature", this was uploaded to label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel yesterday. The song's title is what it is (and comes with the territory for C.T.W.), but the video itself isn't badly put together, featuring clips from live performances, some in-studio work, and various outside antics & camaraderie. It's short, but worth watching if you love some local goregrind, so check it out below!



Also, here's a new video of local skateboarders featuring The Pixo Control's "Scratch" as the backing audio! Uploaded by YouTube user Hooksane15 on Tuesday, this is more of a skateboarding video than anything else (compiling street footage from last year as a montage), but I thought I'd acknowledge it as it's a locally filmed and edited video, featuring boarders who you may recognize from the Tidal Records skate team, and "Scratch" fits the theme well! Give it a look below!

Finally for today, here's an overdue look at a recent SooToday article on a local artist who recently got a high profile gig with a major metal band! Last week, Wawa native and ex-Sault resident Darren Emond was interviewed for an article by SooToday's David Helwig which reveals that Darren was recently selected to draw the artwork in a forthcoming Iron Maiden comic book that will be published for their upcoming Book of Souls World Tour! I won't spoil the article proper, but it highlights the personal struggles that Darren dealt with in recent years, his path to becoming an artist, his artistic influences, and how he got the gig to work on an Iron Maiden comic (sketches of which are featured with the article.) This is an in-depth piece that nicely explores Darren's career trajectory, and if you're familiar with his art, you'll know he's a talent, as the sketches show! I don't personally know Darren, but he has a bright future ahead, so check out his SooToday article at the above links, and best of luck on the release!

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