A New Mike Haggith Full-Set Concert Video, Bullet Train's New Song, And More!!

On this rainy Monday night, let's dive into some new videos from recent months, including a new original song/lyric video, a brief clip from a big touring headliner in the spring, and leading off, a high quality concert video from this summer, so here's what you should know!

The full multi-camera video of local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith's set at this year's Northern Vibe Festival was posted to his YouTube channel yesterday! Like last year when he and The Big Finish Band rocked the Forest Stage on Poplardale Road in nearby Ophir, Mike had a single-camera live stream posted after the fact, while enlisting Justine Chalykoff of Chalykoff Studios to professionally film the entire set with multiple high quality cameras. While the final 2023 video wasn't uploaded to YouTube until May, the turnaround to get this year's full multi-cam video was only 2 months, which is great for fans of Mike's! Still no word on if the interview shot with Chalykoff Studios last year will ever be released though. Note that I won't go into a detailed blow-by-blow of the new Northern Vibe video, as I already did that when recapping the single-camera 2024 live stream in this post from September.

Just as a reminder, this was The Big Finish Band's first show with Elly McWatters on guitar for every song (Mike just sang here), and their all-original set only had three songs held over from Northern Vibe 2023. For extra minutia about the set, see the September post linked above, but Mike and crew played the debuting "Brand New Day", "Back Away Slowly", "An Act Of Strength", Mike's newer originals "I Really Hope This Gets To You" and "No Love", "Hot & Cold", "From The 55th Parallel", "Carousel", "The Nature Of The Times", "All The Best", and "Twist Of Fate" this year. Justine used even more cameras to capture Mike, Chris, Elly, Matt, and Brandan rocking out on the outdoor stage than last year, even utilizing a drumcam for the occasion, plus more fade transitions and mirror effects than before, so kudos for the extra work to spruce up the already solid performance footage here!

Your next chance to see Mike & The Big Finish Band will be this Friday when they play a half-time set at this year's The Soo's Got Talent semifinals (preview forthcoming), so whether you want a teaser of what to expect at Soo Blaster on Friday or just want to relive the action at Northern Vibe 2024, give their multi-camera full-set video a watch below!

Next up, local hard rock trio Bullet Train released their fourth original single "Wayside" to their YouTube channel as a lyric video on Wednesday! The song had previously had its exclusive premiere in the rotation of Unity X Radio, a Canadian internet radio station that has been playing Bullet Train's prior singles already. The band's longest song yet, "Wayside" continues with its inspiration on their take of current events, with social justice and recent protests coming under their microscope here. I won't go into specifics on all of that, but fans of Cory's prior local bands won't be thrown off by the hard rock sound here, if more complex and layered throughout, so give Bullet Train's new song a listen below!

Finally for today, here's a video from the Matthew Good concert at The Machine Shop in April that totally slipped us by at the time! This was filmed by Mike Blair for 705Live Sound Co.'s Facebook page, as 705Live were manning the soundboards on that night, and he had quite a neat spot from the balcony at this point of the concert, so you get a nice overhead view of The Machine Shop's interior layout and the sizable crowd (at least until Mike zoomed in!). The video features part of the bridge of the Matthew Good Band staple "Hello Time Bomb", and while there's not much to hear in the 19 seconds-long runtime, it's a neat watch, so check it out below!

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

Matthew Good & Hazytones Concert Video Showcase!!

Today's post is devoted to recent concert videos shot for Christopher Paci's awesome YouTube channel, as he was in attendance for two big hard rock shows in April, but surprisingly only uploaded the videos earlier this month! No word on why they were delayed so much, but better late than never, and at least he got them up at last! Chris also filmed two videos at Giovanni's Italian Festival earlier this month, but neither are of heavier artists. The first of the two April concerts that Chris filmed at was the Matthew Good concert at The Machine Shop, where he filmed seven songs from the headlining Coquitlam, B.C. musician alt-hard rock musician's set. Songs from his old Matthew Good Band that were recorded include "Apparitions", "Load Me Up", "Hello Time Bomb", and "Tripoli", while solo songs filmed include "Born Losers", "Alert Status Red", and as embedded below, "Weapon".

Matthew's voice did show some strain at points, but the performances here are generally solid with a quality backing band! The audience seems healthy and enthusiastic, especially singing along with "Hello Time Bomb", and while Chris did have to content with many audience member heads from his spot on the floor, he did have a reasonably close vantage point to capture things as clearly as possible! Check out his Matthew Good videos above & below, and I am glad to see that the demons of 2007 have finally been exorcised after over 16 long years!

Next up, Chris also filmed two songs from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's opening set, where they were late replacements for Vilivant for the local stop. While the band did post an unembeddable "Reel" of clips from their set at the time, Chris' videos are of Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve covering Blink-182's "All The Small Things" and, as embedded below, most of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" (he comes in during the first verse but it's still longer than the Blink-182 cover). Chris was standing at a different spot to film Silent 9, thankfully where that pole isn't in the way of the band, but he still had a good view of their lead-off set, so check these out above & below, and look for them back this fall!

Chris' other new rock concert videos come from Montreal stoner/hard rock band The Hazytones' local return on April 25th, this time at The Distraction on East Street! For their first local set in seven years, Chris filmed them playing "Night Is Young", "Light Of The Day", this sub-two minute clip that is either the end of a song or an instrumental jam, and as embedded below, "God Told You". The Hazytones' doom rock sound has definitely gotten heavier since fans last saw them at The New A, and while the lighting in the old barbershop is quite red, you get a good look at the unique surroundings as the guys pound out these cuts from their new album "Wild Fever", so definitely give them a look above & below!

Finally, the local openers on this night were local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich in their Distraction debut and their first local concert with Brandon Ruch on second guitar, though he is often hidden behind that post with the mirrors and coat hooks. Chris filmed two songs of theirs, namely "No Entry", and as embedded below, a heavier song that I couldn't successfully title (it's likely one of the songs on their upcoming EP, if not newer still). Looks like Handsome Sandwich had a successful first gig at the barbershop here, and they put in lots of clear energy and enthusiasm to go along with their original rock attack, while Brandon fit in well, if often not in view! Check out their videos above & below!

That's all for now, but look for more news and notes on the site soon, including this month's CD review, and thanks again to Christopher for filming all of these videos! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (i.o), Matthew Good Concert Fallout, New Videos, And More!!

Before we dive into weekend concert previews and look at the recent lineup announcements for two big summer concert festivals on the outskirts of town, let's cover some recent news and notes on the site today, including new videos, recent updates, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

The first hard rock-leaning concert of 2024 from local promoters Piecing It Together Shows (née Dryer Fire) takes place at the somewhat misleadingly named March Street Stage (beside June & Friends Hair Salon at 485 Queen Street East) on Sunday, May 26th, and will see the return of Victoria, British Columbia experimental noise project i.o to the Soo! Readers may recall seeing i.o headline at The Drawing Club on Bruce Street during the then-Dryer Fire's summer concert series in June, but they're heading outdoors for their local encore. Max isn't playing alone this time though, as advertising indicates that he's performing in/alongside Pet Retina, an also-Victoria-based noise rock duo that will be an intriguingly eclectic group to take in next month! Local support includes Hinterbrane (a "noise art" project led by artist Michael Burtch) and local folk/Americana band The Tye Lawless Co., who opened for Catriona Sturton for Dryer Fire last year.

This all ages concert takes place at 6:00 PM on May 26th, and admission is under a "pay what you can" model. Definitely a diverse range of entertainment to take in next month, but it'll end heavily and creatively with i.o and/or Pet Retina (weather permitting?), so visit the official Facebook event page for more details! Also, stay tuned for updates on the It's The Pits festival that the promoters are holding in Leeburn on Saturday, June 22nd, especially if hard rock/punk-leaning bands are playing! Yes, I am well aware of Crucifest in Leeburn too, we are waiting for public promotion to start before plugging it here.

Next up, you may be wondering where our fallout coverage of the Matthew Good concert at The Machine Shop on April 14th has been. Honestly, public videos from the show have not been plentiful whatsoever, but SooToday's Donna Hopper was back to cover it for this article, picking up 16+ years after his contentious acoustic show at The Speak Easy in 2007 that she also covered. Thankfully for all involved, this concert went off without a hitch, and while Donna didn't go into great detail about the show, there was apparently "a lively sing-along" of his Matthew Good Band hit "Hello Time Bomb". It's great to see that bygones are now bygones (now if only we can get Danko Jones back here!). Donna took thirteen colour photos on the 14th, nine of Matthew and his band, and four of openers... Silent 9? Yes, the local classic/hard rock cover quartet were tapped as late notice openers three days before showtime!

They replaced planned opening act Vilivant, who is still on tour with Matthew Good but did not play at the local date for unannounced reasons, and never acknowledged why they didn't play in the Soo. After dropping out of the Big Wreck tour last fall (including its local date), are we snakebit re: Vilivant playing here? Hopefully she and the band come to the Soo at some point! Silent 9 did post a video on their Facebook page featuring clips of multiple songs from their set, but unfortunately, it is A. vertically shot and B. a "Reel", so I can't embed it here. Everyone sounds good while the clips last, co check it out at the above links!

Also today, you may have seen scattered plugs on social media that local punk trio Hails were playing a show in Bay City, Michigan on April 6th, and that event did take place! It's very rare to see Sault Ontario bands play in the US, let alone not in Sault Michigan, but clearly Ha!ls did the paperwork and followed the rules they needed to! Even if it was local, the show was not something that I likely would have covered as normal, as the venue ("The We/Us House") is not a public venue with a freely posted address. Even the other bands (Rot Knot, Piss Soup, and Unabomb) had cryptically designed logos as far as name readability. The Vanity First side project were filmed in Bay City (outside of Saginaw) by attendee "Fish" playing for 60 seconds, and while the video was horizontally shot, it was regrettably uploaded in vertical dimensions with pillarboxing, which is why it's so tiny and sandwiched by black bars.

As uploaded to their Facebook page, the video shows Hails dipping a bit into thrash with the intensity on offer, and while I wish they'd uploaded this horizontally like it was filmed, it's a strong video overall! Just watch it in full screen for best results. Hails have also announced that they're heading to Toronto for the first time to play at the Humber River Art & Music Festival on August 24th, which will be a huge opportunity for Brent, Mikhal, and Keeghan, so click here for details on that booking, and check out their Bay City concert video for yourselves below!

Finally, here's the latest from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, so what have they been up this month? Last week, they shared this image on their Facebook page that heavily implies that they're releasing a new single named "Marble Skin" in the near future, which will be their first new song since Nathan Switzer returned to the band to replace Ted Olson as lead guitarist. A string of social media application logos was included, but take that with a grain of salt re: the song's availability, as I don't think Pinterest and Instagram are known as music streaming platforms. A new video featuring drummer Jaxon Massaway (clearly before or after work) was also posted on April 2nd to hype up their next announced concert, where they will open for Born Of Osiris and many other metal bands at The Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac on May 26th.

I can't embed the video here, as Facebook content matched audio used in it from the headliners in the generic promotional video for the show at large that followed Jaxon's plug, but it gets the job done to hype what will be a huge night for fans downstate or locally who are willing to make the 4-5 hour drive! Click here to watch the video, see above for more from H.L.T.C., and look for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Blood Opera), The Matthew Good Concert Preview, And Sault Michigan Band Updates!!

Today's SMS post is divided in half between the Twin Saults, with new videos and band updates from Sault Michigan taking up the back half, but we're leading off north of the border with a big concert preview for tomorrow night and an intriguing LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month. Here's what you should know!

Toronto "dead metal/zombie glam" band Blood Opera will make their local concert debut on Saturday, May 18th at The Queen of Hearts Club above Shooters Downstairs Lounge! Billed as Canada's only "horror heavy metal" band, Blood Opera will be right up the alley of Frightlight fans thanks to their horror movie-influenced presentation and lyrics, but taken up many notches with an elaborately violent stage show to accentuate their hard hitting and melodic sound, and note their impressive guest performer list on their studio material too! This show is being promoted by Steel City Events and will serve as an afterparty for that day's Steel City CollectorCon at the Quattro Hotel, basically along the same lines as the planned First Jason-headlined concert that would have served as the Steel City Nostalgia Fair afterparty in April 2020 (one guess as to why that fair and concert were cancelled). It's great to see Steel City try a concert of this scale again, let alone another one for diehard horror movie fans!

Local support will come by way of party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty in a rare support turn for a touring band as opposed to rappers. Hopefully the Stanghettas & Mikhal deliver a fun set to kick off the night! This is a 19+ event (as is Blood Opera's stage show in general), but $20 tickets bought in advance will double as passes to the CollectorCon, and the concert proper begins at 9:00 PM. Blood Opera are the sort of band best seen rather than described, but fans of horror movies won't want to miss all of the action over the Victoria Day long weekend, so visit the above links for more on this concert (and the CollectorCon) next month!

Next up, here's a preview of a big concert taking place TOMORROW NIGHT, as Coquitlam, British Columbia alternative rock musician Matthew Good will make his long awaited return to Sault Ste. Marie when he headlines at The Machine Shop! The former Matthew Good Band frontman and political activist will be familiar to many readers from band and solo songs like "Hello Time Bomb" and "In A World Called Catastrophe", so it'll be good to have him back on a local stage! Of course, this is Matthew's first stop here since his acoustic gig at The Speak Easy in October 2007 that was... divisive, let's say. I won't rehash what happened, but clearly, he wants to let bygones be bygones with the Soo! Remember that he was supposed to play at the Sault Community Theatre Centre in March 2020, but that show was one of the first cancellations due to the pandemic lockdowns, so kudos to him for coming back to Sault Ste. Marie four years later!

Guelph hard rock solo artist Vilivant will open tomorrow in her local debut, after dropping out of November's Big Wreck show at the same venue due to "logistical issues". Hopefully there will be none of the sort for Vilivant this time, as she's got some solid tracks herself! Unusually bumped up from its originally planned date on April 25th, this all ages concert begins at 8:00 PM, and general admission tickets are still on sale for $54.50 plus online & processing fees at this link, and presumably at the door. Fingers crossed that this show is a huge hit for Matthew and fans alike, so that we're not waiting another 16½ years for him to come back! Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Matthew live!

Also today, let's zip over to Sault Michigan for a new band in the works from two rising young musicians that have been covered on the site! Attendees of last fall's fan-voted Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands will remember the surprise runner-up run by local singer/guitarist Molly Escherich, who has been increasing her profile ever since with more acoustic sets in the E.U.P., but is also working on a proper band named Aerials (System of a Down reference?). Joining her here is drummer Blaze Beairl, who is the son of Exit 808 frontwoman Amy Beach and former Shift guitarist Joey Beairl. Fans in Alpena saw Blaze fill in on bass with his mom's band at the Rock Recovery Battle of the Bands in last month, but Blaze is a drummer first and foremost, and he has his own solo Facebook page featuring him covering songs by Knocked Loose and Limp Bizkit.

While both Molly & Blaze have multi-instrumental skill sets, they are looking for a permanent bassist to fill out their lineup, and you can watch them covering The Offspring's "The Kids Aren't Alright", System Of A Down's "Sugar", and, as embedded below, Pop Evil's "100 In A 55" on Molly's solo Facebook page (Aerials do not have one of their own yet). These obviously aren't 100% indicative of their final sound, but Molly & Blaze are definitely talented young musicians with some intriguing bands in mind to cover, so check their first videos out above & below, and click here for details on their bassist search and how you can try out!

Finally, here's the latest from local hard rock/metal band Tarnished, and while the wait for the rest of their videos from the aforementioned Rock Recovery Battle of the Bands continues, they have more news to share. Remember this "Reel" from last month featuring frontman Alex Traynor and an unidentified guitarist playing the solo to Ratt's "Round & Round"? Well, the second guitarist was actually drummer Josh Fair! Of course, long-time fans shouldn't be shocked that Josh can play guitar, as Tarnished began life as an acoustic duo, with Josh playing guitar for their shows in this format through 2020, and he also played bass when the band had a separate drummer in the past. Leading from that "Reel", a normal embeddable video was shared on March 30th featuring Tarnished (with Josh on guitar) playing "Round & Round" in full, and sitting in on drums here was Rhythm & Brews/ex-Nixxon Dixxon drummer Chris Hubbard!

Tarnished gave mixed messages as to Chris' status with the band (they thanked him for "rocking out with us" in the description, but also said that they've "currently got Chris jammin' on the drums" in a comment reply), but remember that Chris and Alex filled in with each other's bands for concerts earlier this year. Whether Chris has joined permanently or not, let alone if he and Josh could switch roles if needed, I couldn't say, but he drums well on this strong cover! I've never liked "Round & Round", but Tarnished handle it as well as you'd expect, so give this jam a watch below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Matthew Good & The Nameless) Plus New Videos!!

Before we resume weekend concert previews by looking at Sunday's tenth annual Toystock, let's address some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and new videos from both sides of the border. Here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock cover quintet The Nameless will play their last show of the year on Sunday, December 31st when they rock a New Year's Eve party at The Merchants Bar! Last seen at the same venue for their Halloween party last month, this will be their third gig at The Merch in the fall/winter, so this is developing into their favourite local venue, The Merch's lack of Facebook posts about scheduled concerts acknowledged. No word yet on holiday frills for the occasion, but surely there will be something for New Years revelers to ring in 2024 with beyond just alcohol and live music. Hopefully The Nameless deliver a solid night of hard rocking covers next month, so don't miss out! This is a 21+ event with a 9:00 PM start time and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this show!

Next up, Coquitlam, British Columbia alternative rock musician and political activist Matthew Good will make his long awaited return to Sault Ontario on Thursday, April 25th when he headlines at The Machine Shop! This concert comes over four years (exactly 213 weeks, in fact) since Matthew's planned show at The Sault Community Theatre Centre in March 2020, which was one of the first casualties of the pandemic lockdown-related cancellations that spring. As such, this will be Matthew's first local date since his infamous acoustic gig at The Speak Easy in October 2007, which I won't rehash here, but click here for both sides of that dispute. 16+ years later, it seems clear that Matthew wants to let bygones be bygones with Sault Ste. Marie, so hopefully he'll break out hit Matthew Good Band & solo songs like "Load Me Up", "Hello Time Bomb", and "Weapon" for local fans!

Replacing Ria Mae as the opening act in April is Guelph hard rock solo artist Vilivant, who notably dropped out of this past Tuesday's Big Wreck show & its tour due to logistical issues. Clearly those are lesser/nonexistent with Matthew's tour, and it'll be good to see Vilivant here at last! Presented by Cabin Media Entertainment, tickets for this all ages show went on sale this morning at this link, and they run for $44.50 (first 100 seats), $54.50 (later buyers), and $64.50 (balcony), all with the usual online processing fees. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and hopefully everything goes according to plan for Matthew Good's long awaited local return in April, and that everyone makes up for 2007!

Hopping back over to Sault Michigan briefly, here's a new live-streamed promo video for local metal trio Tarnished's concerts at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, as per the band's Facebook page earlier today! The 72 seconds-long video was shot with drummer Josh Fair's cell phone, but be advised that as the video started filming while vertical, it didn't matter when he flipped it horizontally, so it's both vertical and sideways. Otherwise, the video features Alex, Parker, and Josh hyping up TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S concerts, and while we don't learn much new from them, it does mark the first time that we've heard Parker speak on camera in official Tarnished media. While we're on the subject, it's as good a time as any to remind readers that the recent departures of guitarist Nathan Webber & bassist Isaac Royer were amicable, and we have photo proof!

The band posted pictures on their Facebook page last Wednesday of Isaac and his replacement Parker squaring off in a bass duel! Amusing pictures, and proof that there were no hard feelings behind the lineup split and Nathan & Isaac forming Double Jack afterwards. Check those out above, and give their promo video for this weekend's Kewadin gigs a watch below!

Finally for today, I wanted to embed this video proper on the SMS due to it being new footage of a prominent local band, but uploader Mandi Dolle made it age restricted, and thusly, it's not viewable when embedded on external websites. The only questionable thing for content is swearing in the lyrics, but I've heard much worse from other local concerts, so who is to say why that choice was made for this video. Mandi uploaded this video in June, and it features Sault Ontario crossover thrash band Jack Spades (now the Barrie-based Spades GT) covering The Inner City Surfers' "Commandments", which later appeared on 2015's "Fed Up!" split in studio form. As far as I can tell, this video was shot at The Rad Zone's 30th anniversary bash at The Rockstar Bar on October 11th, 2014, where they played alongside The Ripcordz, Destroilet, and DJ Seith. I reviewed this concert for the SMS, which you can read at this link.

Jack Spades' classic 2013-2016 lineup is present for this video, with current frontman J.D. Pearce joined by guitarist Tiffany Stocco (now of Sudbury's Knuckle City Dusters), Bear Hunters bandmates Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger, and Johnny's Handsome Sandwich bandmate Jesse Cook. Kudos to Mandi for uploading this after so long, and while the overly red lighting doesn't help the visual quality, Jack Spades sound good as you'd expect, let alone from the rare sight of a local band covering another local band! Give it a watch above or at this link, and that's all for today, but stay tuned for our Toystock preview next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & Scarkazm), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Another weekend is upon us for concert previews, including ones with attached SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! The post also ends with clarification on a scheduled event that I don't think is taking place on Saturday night, and if you're wondering, our preview of Tym Morrison's late notice matinee show on Sunday will topline our next formal news post. Now, here's what you should know!

We'll start in St. Ignace, Michigan, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return to the stage for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, and...TONIGHT(?!) at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino branch! Apologies for the short notice on TONIGHT's show, the band only confirmed the added day on their Facebook page on Monday, but Kewadin had confirmed that Scarkazm were pulling a rare triple header via the official Facebook event page launched last month. The rare triple booking at The Northern Pines Lounge appears to be as a tie-in with the Labatt Blue UP Pond Hockey Championships, which take place this weekend at nearby Chain Lake, which is in Moran Township 10 minutes south of the St. Ignace Kewadin. Full details on the tournament proper can be found at this link, and Scarkazm are playing TONIGHT to coincide with the meet & greet held at the casino.

Of course, their previously announced shows tomorrow & Saturday night will be more normal affairs, so don't miss out on  Dave, Adam, and Jeff's hard hitting covers & select originals TONIGHT or then! Admission for all three shows is free (I don't believe tournament registration or tickets are required to just go to the lounge as normal), these are all 21+ events, and all have 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, apologies again for the late notice TONIGHT, and here's Scarkazm live!

Next up, Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, neither the band nor venue have plugged these shows on their respective Facebook pages at press time, and I only heard that they were a thing via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page earlier this week. Their first gigs at Shooters since adding bassist Jim Michaud to the fold, TOMORROW & SATURDAY's concerts follow their usual open mic/jam night hosting duties at Jay's Piston Broke Pub tonight. Despite the lack of online notice from public sources, hopefully Soundcheck's partying brand of classic and hard rock covers (and some country) goes over well on Dennis Street once again this weekend! As usual for Soundcheck there, expect 8:00 PM start times, no cover, and 19+ age limits. See above for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, we'll look at some hard rock shows this weekend that did have advance notice, starting with southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard's return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Bone Yard and Soundcheck basically traded venues this weekend, as Soundcheck had been the Friday-Saturday band at Jay's last week, while Bone Yard rocked Shooters, so keep that in mind whether you're up for a downtown or west end trip. Last seen at the former Reggie's West at the end of January, this weekend's shows should prove to be another chance for Bone Yard to deliver their down & dirty brand of hard edged and classic covers for their fans (a.k.a. Boneheads), so don't miss out on Greg, Alex, and Warren in action tomorrow and/or Saturday! These have 9:30 PM start times with 19+ age limits and no cover, and limited band t-shirts will be on sale. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Finally for today, I wanted to acknowledge a Sault Ontario concert announced for this Saturday night that I have serious doubts about the status of. Last fall, Ravencore drummer/ex-Brutally Fatal frontman Austin "Jayrald Micky" McCrae announced plans to hold a tribute concert/celebration of life for his brother Matthew Nadon, who passed away suddenly on August 27th at just 24 years old (read his obituary at this link). I'm not familiar with Matthew as a musician, but he was learning bass at one point, and he definitely had many friends in & out of the scene, so a tribute show does make sense. Original plans were to host it at Shooters in late November before being delayed to this weekend for unannounced reasons. Advertising for the event had Ravencore (in just their second ever live concert set) playing alongside No Filter (the new noise rock band from AlgomA/Bad Back alum Jamie Vincent), though neither have online pages to promote this show.

A personal Facebook posting noted that Chase Wigmore was also slated to play this event, but regardless, it doesn't look like the tribute show is happening. As noted above, Soundcheck are playing at Shooters on SATURDAY, there have been no posts on the Facebook event page since the date change, and Shooters haven't plugged it whatsoever on their own Facebook page (nor has their new upstairs sister venue The Queen Of Hearts Club, and I thought of that possibility initially). Given the nature of this event, you'd hope that it at least gets rescheduled, assuming it was called off, so we'll keep you guys posted when and if we hear anything about it, stay tuned for more news on the site shortly, and R.I.P. Matthew!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Pantychrist & Mike Haggith), Another Cancellation, And More Updates!!

We have a pair of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the ensuing months, plus some shorter assorted updates in today's post, but before then, we have another COVID-19 coronavirus cancellation to note on here, as local Celtic punk quintet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide's planned St. Patrick's Day concert at LopLops Lounge has been postponed, as per the band's Facebook page. However, LopLops proper will remain open if you want to visit as a regular patron, and it is still owner Stephen Alexander's birthday, so hopefully he gets lots of relevant greetings in that regard! I had figured that if any more dominoes would fall this weekend, this would be the one given the holiday ties and The Tide's name recognition, but I didn't want to stir negative rumours about it beforehand. Now, with that said, The Wyld Stallyns have confirmed that they are still playing at The Whiskey Barrel tonight, and they are planning to take fan requests for live video streams if you don't want to attend.

As well, I have not seen any announcements regarding calling off Tym Morrison's slate of acoustic matinee concerts at Northern Superior Brewing & Gliss today and The Kiln tomorrow, though given their more intimate settings and the lack of any touring headliners, they are less susceptible to a coronavirus-related cancellation, in theory. Of course, we will keep you posted with updates on show postponements and cancellations when & if they roll in. Stay safe out there!

Now, let's kick off those new concert announcements, and both happen to be at LopLops too, starting with local/Thompson, Manitoba indie/hard rock musician Mike Haggith's return home for the official CD release concert for his new album "If Ever Comes The Day" on Friday, May 15th! This will be Mike's first local concert appearance since his acoustic Outspoken Brewing gig in August, but this looks to be formatted way more similarly to his last solo CD launch show here (in July 2015 at Rednecks for "The Warinside"), complete with a live backing band to be announced. For reference, he played alongside his then-Din bandmates Curtis McKenzie and Brandan Glew at that event. Much of the online materials for this show reflect "If Ever Comes The Day" proper, including information on it's lyrical inspiration & themes, the amount of songs and run time (12 songs, 47 minutes), and a few new-to-us song names like "Back Away Slowly" & "Into The Setting Sun". The full cover artwork is also now up on Facebook.

No word on potential opening bands, but 2015's release concert also featured the now-inactive Wild Iris and solo artist Micheal Husband. The "If Ever Comes The Day" release concert will have a $5 cover charge with a 19+ age limit and a 10:00 PM start time, and CDs will be on sale for $10, which does include a digital download card. When Mike announced that this album was coming out on a Friday, I had a hunch he would have a CD release party for it, and we're lucky enough to have it on local soil! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on the show & CD as they roll in, and I think we know what album we're reviewing on the site in May!

Today's other new concert announcement will see all-female Hamilton hardcore punk quartet Pantychrist make their Sault Ste. Marie debut at LopLops on Monday, June 1st! Long-time readers may actually recognize Pantychrist from being scheduled for the cancelled Das Bunkerfest II in Garden River back in 2015, so it's great to see the ladies finally playing a local date five years later! Pantychrist's rough-edged, aggressive brand of hardcore punk should be more than welcomed on a local stage in June, and while LopLops may be a somewhat surprising venue, they should own that stage on this night! At least one opening band is to be announced. Promoted by the Oh!No Collective (who would have held Das Bunkerfest II under their old name Six, Two, Oh.), this 19+ show has a 9:00 PM start time, and while a cover charge has not been announced at press time, bring at least $5. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for updates!

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

• A Facebook event page has finally surfaced for the Alienator-headlined concert at Soo Blaster on June 4th, which confirms that this will be an ALL AGES event. Tickets are also now on sale via Soo Blaster, The Rad Zone, and through promoter Mathieu Villebrun, though a promised online sale point on the event page is not immediately visible. Visit the above links for more details!
• SooToday contributor Chris Belsito posted this interview article with Matthew Good on Thursday, a day before he postponed his entire Moving Walls Tour, local date on March 26th included. How's that for unfortunate timing! The article proper features Matthew talking about his recent touring, songs he likes playing live, his new album, and some recollections on coming through or staying in Sault Ste. Marie on prior tours (his divisive 2007 show here was not brought up directly.) Very informative article, so give it a look above, and hopefully we hear about the rescheduled Soo event soon!
• Apologies for the delay in acknowledging these on the site, but a couple of local news outlets were in attendance for and got photos from the We Will Rock You musical production at GFL Memorial Gardens in January! SooToday's Donna Hopper & SaultOnline's Megan Pounder both snapped lots of photos, with Donna's being higher quality, but Megan got far more pictures total. The context may be lost if you don't know the story, but it seems to have been well received by attending Queen fans! Give them a look above!

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

COVID-19 Coronavirus-Related Concert Cancellations & Updates

Well, folks, this is a post I never thought I'd be making on here, but in light of recent news, I have to address the COVID-19 coronavirus on The Sault Metal Scene today. I had tried to not address it or the potential damage it could do to our coverage, lest I be accused of spreading rumours or fear-mongering, but as of last night, the pandemic is directly affecting the local concert calendar. Between last night and this afternoon, three big local hard rock concerts with touring headliners have been called off, namely tonight's Black Label Society concert at The Dreammaker's Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino, tonight's Jean-Paul de Roover & The Bandaid Solution concert at LopLops Lounge in Sault Ontario, and next week's Matthew Good concert at The Sault Community Theatre Centre. The latter two shows were called off by the headliners themselves over the coronavirus itself and the related fears over it's spread, as noted on their social media accounts linked above.

Jean-Paul's tour was wrapping up here before he returned home to Thunder Bay, and he does promise to come back in the future. If you did happen to buy advance tickets, contact LopLops for refund information. If there are plans to try and have the local openers play on, they have not been announced as of this writing, but The Apocalypse Afterparty would likely have been out of tonight's show anyway due to the very recent birth of Paul & Amanda's third child. There's some good news, congratulations to them! Matthew's entire Moving Walls tour has been postponed, new dates to be announced, and while refunds are available at point of purchase, you can hold on to your tickets towards the rescheduled date, so keep tabs on that for further details. To Black Label Society's credit, they were still planning to play tonight's Kewadin show as recently as 12:00 PM today, via a now-deleted Facebook post, but they have since confirmed that the rest of their North American Crusade tour is postponed, starting tonight.

Like with Matthew Good, B.L.S. ticket-holders can hold onto their ticket towards the rescheduled show, but if you want a refund, they are available at point of purchase too. Now, I am not expecting that these will be it for local concert cancellations, but this is such a fluid, unpredictable situation, it's hard to say what will be announced and when. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed an executive order to temporarily ban or postpone any public gatherings of 250 or more people (details here), while Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams is recommending the same (source), though Premier Doug Ford has not visibly made that official as of this writing, while smaller gatherings should receive consultation from their local public health unit before proceeding. For due diligence, I checked the Facebook accounts for every hard rock or punk musician playing in the Sault area or E.U.P. this month to see if anyone has cancelled, postponed, or moved them.

As of this writing, I have not seen any firm public statements about other March concerts being called off, but my gut feeling is that all-local concerts at nightclubs would be less susceptible to be cancelled unless the pandemic truly does hit the Soo in a major way. In those cases, no bands are travelling from elsewhere, and I don't think most concert venues in our coverage draw 250+ people on the regular, especially not in the winter, so as long as everyone uses common sense, maybe those can continue. That said, the next scheduled out-of-town hard rock shows locally will be on April 10th, courtesy of Scarkazm in St. Ignace and Sandman in Sault Ontario. A lot of touring acts are slated to roll through later in April as well, most notably Candlebox in Sault Michigan and First Jason in Sault Ontario, but it is way too soon to make judgements on those concerts, which are mostly over a month away. If you are at all worried about upcoming concerts, follow the bands or venues on social media for the latest updates on their statuses, good or bad.

Obviously, there's a lot of rumours, fears, and pessimism about COVID-19 right now, depending on who you ask. It is true that there are no officially reported cases of the virus in Sault Ontario, but reports of possible exposure and self-isolation are very prevalent right now, including in Brimley, Michigan. If this all blows over and not many people get sick, we should be glad that we took the right precautions, not be shocked that no one died, that's not the point. I'm not a doctor, and I have no medical background (nurses in my family aside), but I think that a lot of the precuationary measures against the coronavirus are common sense. Wash your hands, try not to touch your face, use anti-bacterial sanitizer, don't hoard toilet paper, and if you think you have any symptoms, let a medical professional know. Maybe I can survive being infected, but I sure don't want to give it to my family and friends, especially those with pre-existing conditions.

Concerts are not the be-all, end-all of life. Maybe the all-local ones will take place, maybe some will be called off, it's too soon to say, but there are more important things to worry about right now. Stay safe out there, stay warm, and use common sense. COVID-19 will not affect The Sault Metal Scene's day-to-day operations aside from reporting on show cancellations and re-schedulings, so look for more on the site in the coming days!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Black Label Society & Matthew Good), Plus More Updates!!

Before we dive into this weekend's concert previews, here's a stacked local news post for your Wednesday night delectation, and it includes some assorted updates from the last while, and leading off, two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for both sides of the border! Here's what you should know!

Los Angeles groove metal quartet Black Label Society will make their local concert debut on Friday, March 13th when they headline at The Dreammakers Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino! Fronted by long-time Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, B.L.S. have forged a loyal following in the past two decades with well received songs like "Stillborn", "Parade of the Dead", "My Dying Time", and many others, and with their hard hitting, leather-clad brand of metal and Zakk's considerable guitar skill in tow, you know they'll melt many faces in the E.U.P., this coming spring! Tampa, Florida death metal legends Obituary will open in their own local debut, and they have 35 years of brutality to unleash here, including cuts from one of the best selling death metal albums of all time, 1992's "The End Complete." It's awesome to see the Tardy brothers and company on a local stage, so don't bypass their set either!

This stop on Black Label Society's North American Crusade Tour will be opened by Portland sludge/death metal quartet Lord Dying, whose own technical approach and aggressive material should provide a welcome appetizer in three months! I am unsure if there is a specific local promoter putting this on, but at press time, it's not credited to Allstar Promotions on social media. Tickets for this all ages, 7:00 PM concert run for a flat $27.50, as this is a standing room only concert without seats. They go on sale this Friday at 10:00 AM at this link, at 1-800-KEWADIN, and at the in-person box office, and visit the official Facebook event page for further details. I have had the privilege of seeing B.L.S. live in Detroit multiple times, and they are a great live band with loads of familiar originals, and with ticket prices like this, I hope this show does well so that more extreme metal hits the American side of the border down the line. Get your tickets on Friday, as this concert should sell quickly!

Next up, here's another big new show announcement for March 2020, and it's very surprising in different ways, as acclaimed Coquitlam, B.C. alternative rock musician and political activist Matthew Good will return to Sault Ontario on Thursday, March 26th at The Sault Community Theatre Center! This will be the former Matthew Good Band frontman's first local stop since his acoustic Speak Easy show here in October 2007, which had a.... mixed reception, to put it mildly. If you want to relive that story from both sides, click here, but I don't want to dredge up the ill feelings or take sides. I just hope that this concert is better received by both Matt and the audience alike! Of course, Matthew has multiple gold records in Canada from his later, more varied solo work like "Weapon" "Born Losers", and his new CD "Moving Walls", but he still plays many M.G.B. songs live, including such heavier classics as "Hello Time Bomb" & "Load Me Up". It'll be cool to see him and a full band again locally, a'la his 2005 show at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion and his prior Band gigs here, which I know went well!

Opening locally is Halifax pop musician Ria Mae, who has been gaining in prominence on the Canadian charts with singles like "Clothes Off" & "Bend", and she should provide an interesting genre contrast in March! Presented by SL Concerts, this all ages concert has a 7:30 PM start time, and tickets run for $44 plus fees and taxes. They also go on sale Friday morning, albeit at 10:45 AM, and can be bought at this link, at (705) 945-7299, and at the Station Mall's Community Theatre Box Office. In spite of the divisive back-and-forth in 2007, I'm glad to see Matthew coming back to the Soo after over 12 years, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

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

• The merger of Northland Music and Thomas Walls School of Music into a local branch of the Long & McQuade music store chain will take place as soon as the spring at 647 MacDonald Avenue, the former home of Northshore Sports & Auto and Bazaar & Novelty. For now, both stores remain open with lessons and Long & McQuade stock availability, before they both formally merge into the larger east end location. Sounds like a great location for the expanded operations, so click here to check out SooToday's recent coverage of the merger and "new" store!
• The Rad Zone has found it's new home, as the local used record/video game/book/etc. store will move from The Wellington Square Mall in the new year to the old Foch Cleaners building at 721 Queen Street East, near Coch's Corner, as revealed in this Facebook video. A more central, downtown location without mall rent seems to make sense, and I hope Monk and company find continued success there! For now, The Rad Zone remains open at the mall, with continuing close-out sales throughout the holidays before they move, so click here for details on that front!
• Apologies for the delay in this making the site, but journalist & writer Ernest Skinner left SaultOnline in February for a new gig with Wawa-News.com, and his columns (Rock Talk included) went with him to the new site. Unfortunately, SaultOnline took down all of his old articles under any banner title afterward, but he has continued anew at Wawa-News.com with even more interviews with notable metal and hard rock musicians, plus Soo Greyhounds coverage. Click here to read his recent articles and interviews there, and the Rock Talk link on the SMS is updated as such!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck), Mike Haggith Updates, And Much More!!

I'm out of town this weekend, but I hope everyone had a great Easter and didn't get pranked too hard for April Fools Day either! Today's first post of the month is full of recent news items, including a few new videos, some apparent lineup changes in a rising new band, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are advertised to return(?) to The Water Tower Pub for a concert on Friday, April 13th! Our source is this April events calendar posted to the Sault Music Newsletter Facebook page this past Tuesday. After taking March off from publically announced shows, the Mourning Wood successors are visibly slated to end that break next weekend with this Water Tower Pub show, their first there in almost two months. Soundcheck's skilled and well-tested brand of cover action should deliver next weekend, and while The Water Tower Pub has never been a haven for heavier bands, hopefully they give it a good go once again! Note that Soundcheck have not publically acknowledged this show at press time, nor did they do so for February's gig there. This one night only engagement likely has a 9:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the above links!

Next up, here's the latest from former Din frontman Mike Haggith, whose solo project lives on in his current Thompson, Manitoba home base, so what's new from his camp? Well, on Friday, Mike shared this 15 second video on his Facebook page showing him in the songwriting process. I won't spoil it, especially given it's short length, but it's a cute watch! In grander news, Mike made his debut appearance as a live solo performer in Thompson on Saturday during the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church's coffee house series, marking his first solo concert appearance since the fourth Swampstravaganza at The Oddfellows Hall back in 2014! That's surprising on one hand, but remember that his bands have been his live focus throughout the mid-late 2010s. Mike played a 20 minute set on Saturday, which includes mostly new originals for his upcoming solo album, including the debuting "Dangerous Town", "The Nature of the Times",...

...his cover of Stephen Stills' "Love The One You're With", and "Bridges", with his own story on moving from Sault Ste. Marie to Thompson coming after his Stills cover. Mike recorded the set in audio format for his YouTube channel, so how does everything sound? Compared to 2014, this is a straight acoustic performance with no backing tracks, and while the audio's a little echoey, the performances seem sound, and will be familiar to fans of Mike's recent unplugged Facebook videos and old softer originals! Give this a listen below, and also follow Between The Ditches, his new pop rock band in Thompson!

Also today, here's the latest from local indie/hard rock band Vol. who appear to have quietly parted ways with both bassist Shane Storozuk and drummer Matthew Thibert. No statements have been made by the band, but Shane was removed from Vol.'s Facebook page's lineup at some point in recent months, and a Musicians Wanted Facebook group post by frontman Steve Edwards on Thursday notes that he is looking for a drummer to join an "alt-rock band" with "shows booked already." Unless Steve has another group, Vol. are likely the intended band. Reasons for Shane and Matt's departures have not been announced, but hopefully nothing too serious happened, and that we see them in new bands at some point! Maybe the lineup changes are why they're out of this weekend's Shit Liver concert? As per their Facebook page, keyboardist Mikaela Murtonen is now listed as playing bass, indicating that she's taking on Shane's bass role in the newly retracted trio, but if you're interested in the apparently vacant drum position, message Steve at this link or above!

Finally for today, here's a new video from local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver, which contains the reveal of the winners of a merchandise contest that they held on their Facebook page late last month! Fans who liked and shared the contest post from March 23rd were entered to win their new vinyl LP "Hitting The Fan" and a t-shirt with the album art, and in this video, the guys draw names out of a hat to determine the winners. Congratulations to Sam & Michael for winning the contest! The video doesn't have any new reveals otherwise, but it's a fun way to announce the winners, so check it out below, and don't miss Shit Liver at The Algonquin Pub on Saturday!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Toystock & Pixo Control Concert & Lineup Updates!!

Before we touch on this weekend's concert previews, let's clear out some big recent news on two (well, three) big upcoming concerts, including lineup details for each, and updates on an upcoming CD release! Here's what you should know, and check out this month's poll results below too!

Here's some overdue recent updates concerning the fourth annual Toystock at The Grand Gardens on November 29th, so what should you know now? In terms of the lineup, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Havadder have replaced classic rockers Nikkfitt on the bill, as per the new Facebook event page. A reason for Nikkfitt's withdrawal wasn't announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened in their camp, and it'll be nice to see Havadder in their Toystock debut later this month! Moving to the debuting Under The Influence, personal Facebook postings indicate that their lineup features singer/drummer Brent Royer (ex-Wishbone, Turner Up) alongside guitarist Mike Muto and bassist Ryan Bell, neither of whom are immediately familiar from local bands. No word as of yet on their genre(s) or if they have an online page, but we'll stay on top of it as we approach their debut at Toystock! Our source is Brent's personal Facebook page. As for the one-off seasonal punk band The Rude-Offs, we can now confirm their full lineup, so who all's involved? 

Basically a temporary side project from the members of Destroilet, their Facebook page confirms that Christian Foisy, Adam Larocque, and Matt Waples will reprise their guitar, bass, and drum roles from their main band, but in lieu of Mike and John, some special guests will join them on guitar and vocals on the 29th, they being Toystock promoter Greg Simpson (who's already singing with Bone Yard that night), and no less than Treble Charger frontman Greig Nori (you read that right!) This should be a very interesting set, and hopefully The Rude-Offs add some punk edge to this Christmas Cheer fundraiser at month's end! Finally, if you were wondering why Toystock moved from The Canadian Nightclub to The Grand Gardens this year, Greg noted on the Facebook event page that the move is intended "to attract more children and families", going with their yearly intent to "introduce the next generation to live music" (though Matt Waples also noted in a personal conversation with me that size concerns were a factor for the move too.)

This presumably references the clash of holding a family charity concert at a nightclub, which does make sense, but The Canadian felt like a natural host for the event in past years. Hopefully The Grand Gardens succeeds it well this year though! This concert should be a huge event for Christmas Cheer and fans of local music, especially with 10 bands in 10 hours once again, so visit the above links for all current details!

Next up, here's some updates regarding local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control's CD release concerts (remember, there's two) at LopLops Lounge on Saturday, December 12th, so what should you know? First off, their lineup will look very different from what fans saw this summer, as they've apparently parted ways with both bassist Steve Edwards & drummer Matthew Thibert. The band itself hasn't publically commented on any lineup changes, but their departures were indicated in a now-deleted thread on the new Facebook event page that had gotten somewhat heated between those that posted. I just hope that things aren't quite as bad as some of the replies indicated! The Pixo Control themselves haven't publically announced their new bassist or drummer yet either, and we'll let you know if we hear anything. Steve was a solid fit on bass, and I heard good things regarding Matthew at The Emergency Festival, so best of luck to both in the future, they're definitely talented!

Posts on the now-deleted thread also seemed to confirm that Steve recorded the bass parts on The Pixo Control's forthcoming debut CD "Probably Not" before leaving, but nothing concretely confirmed whether Matthew or original drummer Keeghan Rosso (or both?) recorded the drum tracks. As for the CD release party itself, the above Facebook event page confirms that local post-punk quartet Gnaeus are playing the 19+ 9:00 PM concert only, and are not playing at the all ages 2:00 PM concert (Caroline Divine are indeed playing both), so if you're 19 or older and want to see Gnaeus, come for the 9:00 PM show! Postings have also confirmed that "Probably Not" will be available for $10 separately from concert admission, and it's not free with paid entry, so make sure you have cash on hand for both next month! Finally, a 41 second teaser video for "Probably Not" was uploaded to the band's YouTube channel on Sunday, featuring text referencing the release next to footage of frontman Michael Mikus appearing to be reflected through a camcorder lens, plus brief clips of studio recordings from the CD.

Though the quiet lineup changes took me by surprise, I'm just glad to see that the CD is finally getting released next month, and I hope fans can look at the accomplishment of the release! I'm also curious to see who Michael enlisted to round out the new lineup, but the reveal might be intentionally being kept secret until next month. We'll know within the month, so check the above links for more from The Pixo Control's CD release parties on December 12th, and here's their teaser video!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next, including a late notice show that Pixo Control fans might want to pay attention to! Thanks everyone!