Soundcheck Concert Previews, New Videos, And Much More!!

So as to focus on our (delayed) close to last month's poll and newly launched poll tomorrow, here's a second post on this Thursday, and it includes some assorted recent news, a new video and related apology, a music video from a prominent solo artist, and leading off, the last of our Easter weekend concert previews. Here's what you should know!

First, let's wrap up this weekend's hard rock concert previews with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's previously announced shows at The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After playing their last few concert weekends outside of their 2019 schedule posting, they're back with another pair of dates that had lots of advance notice, marking their first announced gigs there in two months. This frequently seen veteran group should have another solid weekend of hard rocking covers in store for fans at this west end venue this weekend, so keep Terry, Travis, Paul, and Glen's shows there in mind for your Easter weekend plans! As usual, these shows should have 19+ age limits, no cover charges, and 10:00 PM start times. Visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, here's the third and final music video from Kinross/Mount Pleasant, Michigan solo artist Alex Traynor's debut EP "Crazy World", as posted to his YouTube channel on Monday! This is for his (somewhat) softer original song "What Everything Is Like (High Life)", which was also third on the EP, and the video was shot by Eric Cairns at Third Cinema Productions, a long-time collaborator of Alex's for solo and Banned projects. The video features Alex waking up on a playground carousel, before roaming through a park in the wintertime, singing in front of forest settings and a brick wall (even playing guitar at the end.) Many of the visuals mimic an older 8mm film camera, complete with letterboxing and pillarboxing to simulate smaller aspect ratios, so there's a nostalgic quality in some ways. Well shot and edited, this is a nice way to round out Alex's music video trilogy, and it'll be interesting to see where his original solo work goes from here! Check the video out below!



Also today, here's our belated first video look at Sault Ontario classic/hard rock cover quintet Fluid 5ive, courtesy of a show that they played on Friday, February 8th at... Room 21?! I profusely apologize for missing that concert on the site, the venue's coverage completely slipped us by at the time, though as best as I can tell, it had under a week's notice upon it's announcement, and the band's Facebook page never acknowledged it publically. I will definitely try and stay on top of Fluid 5ive bookings more in the future, but at least we have a video out of it! Live-streamed by the venue that same day, this is of Fluid 5ive covering Radiohead's "Creep", less than 3 months after indie rockers Man Feelings covered it in a prior live-stream. Fluid 5ive have a good handle on this song, though frontman Colin Nelson's vocals almost sound too casual, if that makes any sense, and you see a lot more of the bar's strip lighting than you do of drummer Jeff Pennett for the duration.

The vertical camera angle is unfortunate on the whole, but it's great to have a video of Fluid 5ive at long last, and as you can see in the video and the above image from the show, they definitely weren't lying about having a saxophone in their repertoire! Hopefully there's more videos and updates of Fluid 5ive down the line, but give their Radiohead cover a look below, and I apologize again for missing their Room 21 show in February!



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

• Last week, defunct local horror punk quintet Frightlight posted on their Facebook page to say that "it's been too long" and that they "have booked a show", details forthcoming. In case this is another one-off like at Halloween, I'll wait before making a change to their status, but what does this apparent return show entail? Stay tuned!
• The Internet Archive recently posted what they call the MySpace Dragon Hoard, a 1.3+ terabyte batch of songs downloaded from MySpace as part of an anonymous research study from 2008-2010. This is by no means comprehensive for what used to be on MySpace before last year's song deletions, but it's nice to see hundreds of thousands of songs saved! The mechanism for the Dragon Hoard is a horrendous RAM hog, so make sure your device isn't lacking for RAM, and copy & paste your search inquiries for best results. I have found Woods of Ypres, Treble Charger, and Clownsack songs, and there's likely more local acts.
• Despite his announced retirement from live bands last summer, former Soundcheck/Turner Up drummer Scott McLurg posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on April 1st to say that he was looking to play live once or twice a month, and to private message him at this link for details. I waited to mention this here in case it was an April Fools joke, but the posting is still up, so it looks serious. If Scott's able to play live again with some regularity, I'd be glad to see him back out there, and message him above for more details!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll next! Thanks everyone!

Lots Of Inactive Band Notes, A Prominent Drummer's Retirement, And More!!

Here's a new news post for your Tuesday morning reading, as it happens, it mostly inactive artists, including bands being moved out of our active links, as well as a noted drummer retiring from the scene, but we do have a new video from an active band tfill things out. Here's what you should know!

We have regrettably moved local hard/party rock trio Stiffler's Mom to our inactive band links. While the band has not formally acknowledged their active status, they haven't issued a public update since their Esquire Club concerts over the weekend of September 9th, 2017, past our one year cut-off point for active bands. One of the longest running hard rock bands in the city, Stiffler's Mom had been active in varying permutations and names since 1996 (save for a brief 2011-2012 breakup), becoming fan favourite attractions at solo nightclub concerts, festivals, and other community events during that span. Fans may recognize Stiffler's Mom from their 2004 demo CD, 2007's INXS concert, their finals run in 2009's Kiss Battle of the Bands, three Rotaryfest Stage 1 gigs in the mid-2010s, and the first two Toystocks, among many other events. In the past year, singer/drummer Greg Simpson has stayed musically active with his country cover bands Bone Yard & The Bearded Lounge.

I don't know what happened to Stiffler's Mom, but they've always been a reliable and fan-friendly band over the years, something apparent even when seeing them rock a Bawating Collegiate dance about 14 years ago! Their brand of party rock and their old originals have served them well with local audiences for over two decades, and hopefully we haven't seen the last of Stiffler's Mom on stage! Best of luck to Greg, Michael, and Jon in the future!

Next up, we have some sad news regarding a veteran local musician, as prolific hard/classic rock drummer Scott McLurg has left Soundcheck and retired from performing in bands due to health concerns. Scott's last show with them was at The Water Tower Pub on August 25th, and while Scott had suffered a heart attack back in 2015, I don't know if that's related to this current news. Scott had replaced Steven Flint as Soundcheck's drummer in recent months, and will be very familiar to SMS readers for his work with bands like Turner Up, Havadder, The 3 Day Millionaires, Wishbone, The Thrill Junkies, and Full Circle, plus bands that predated the site, like Generation Gap, One Bad Habit, Lois Lane, Blender, and Big River. This news is definitely a bummer, as Scott's always been a talented and prolific sight in our coverage over the past decade, while being friendly and cordial to me over the years as well. That said, his health obviously comes first.

Hopefully his musical retirement goes as smoothly as possible, and our best wishes go out to Scott and his family, he'll be missed behind the kit! Also, no word on Soundcheck's (still?) open drummer position, we'll let you know when they confirm a replacement and/or hit the stage next!

Also today, here's a more positive story via a brand new upload to Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel! This is a YouTube copy of their rendition of the Christmas carol "What Child Is This", featuring German classical singer Gaby Koss, who was an official studio member of the band in the early 2010s. Though not a new recording, this is an effective symphonic metal performance, with Gaby's vocals excellently suited to the song, and the dark snowy visuals are a good match as well! Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night!




Finally, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, all regarding bands moved out of our active band links in recent days. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• I have removed local metal solo project The 1,000,000,000's Who Died from our active links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook page in recent months (it's possible it was deactivated for disuse, but either way, it's their only online page.) Led by Werehold Records founder Jason Mills, this project was best known from songs during the label's old Friday the 13th music events, last posting a new song on the Werehold YouTube channel in January. The Billions Who Died had some solid instrumental tracks, and hopefully Jason revisits the project down the road!
• We have also moved Sault Ontario hard rock cover quartet Griphook back to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity. While they haven't been seen on stage since Rotaryfest 2016, Griphook announced the end of their then-year+ long hiatus on their Facebook page last August, an announcement that had no public followthrough. They were a solid band in their original run, and hopefully Joel, Brian, Dan, and Tony actually return down the line!
• Also, we have moved Sault Michigan metal quartet Stoned Ape Evolution to our inactive band links, as they haven't posted on their Facebook page regarding band matters since their Bay Mills Bands Together concert in Brimley on September 2nd, 2017 (though they continued sharing memes unrelated to the band through January.) A mid-2010s effort to bring a large-scale theatrical metal band back to the area (complete with Clownsack-esque usage of masks and hidden member identities), Stoned Ape Evolution had clear promise and originality, and hopefully John, Melvin, and company bring this group back in the future!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Havadder & Mourning Wood), A New Song, And Much More!!

As predicted, we have one more set of SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this weekend, so those will lead off today's second post, but we also have a new show next week, a new song posting, and some assorted recent updates! Here's what you should know, and check out the rest of this weekend's hard rock and punk concert previews in the posts below this one!

Local classic/hard rock trio Mourning Wood will be rocking Reggie's West TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, we only heard about these shows via SooToday's entertainment page this afternoon, and while the band hasn't confirmed the shows on Facebook as of this writing, note that they generally only announce gigs on a few hours notice via personal accounts. In any event, this weekend's shows at the former Roosevelt Hotel will mark their second straight weekend at a Reggie's venue following their shows at last weekend's Reggie's Place 25th anniversary festivities. This talented trio should deliver some solid cover action to fans in the west end this weekend, so keep TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows in mind if you don't have other plans! They are 19+ gigs at 9:30 PMwith no announced cover, so see the above links for more info, and here's Mourning Wood live!



Next up, fellow local classic/hard rock band Havadder will hit The Rockstar Bar next Saturday (June 20th) as part of the lineup for a second fundraiser concert for drummer Scott McLurg during his heart attack recovery! Though a lineup for the event hasn't been announced yet, Havadder confirmed on the Facebook event page for TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S Rednecks Saloon gigs that they'll be playing at the fundraiser, with fill-in drummer Glen Thomas joining them for that show as well. Promoted by The Rockstar Bar's Hayley Warnock, next Saturday's event is a formally scheduled and planned benefit to help raise funds for Scott and his family while he's off work. Performers are being sought to play the show, so if you're interested in playing or donating raffle prizes, message Hayley or anyone involved with the event at this link! The fundraiser will have a minimum door charge of $5, it's presumably 19+, and a 10:30 PM start time is advertised. Check the above links for more details!

It's great to see a larger fundraiser booked to help Scott and family out (last week's Lucky 13 show was a late replacement gig, so there wasn't a lot of time to plan it like next week's is getting), and it'll be interesting to see who all joins on to play! Maybe some of Scott's former bandmates? Time will tell, but stay tuned for updates, and of course, get well soon, Scott!

Also, here's a brand new studio track from local hard rock quartet Skeyes of Seven! Uploaded to their YouTube channel yesterday, it's of their song "Enough", and while not stated there, personal Facebook postings mention that the song was recorded at Mannapool guitarist Korey Deluca's studio. Their second studio track and first with their current lineup (featuring Al Fletcher on bass and John Mignacca on drums), this is a mid-tempo rocker that has a dark edge to it and nice melodic vocals, and it's another strong composition from this rising band! Check it out below!



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

• Local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue will still be playing at The Rockstar Bar THIS COMING FRIDAY! The original Facebook event page was deleted for unannounced reasons in the spring, but the show is either back on or still on, and the band confirmed on the new event page that drummer Ben Boudreau will indeed be back for the first time in 5 months after returning home from college! Great news, so keep this show in mind for next week! No word yet though on the July gig that was also advertised.
• Barring sudden new activity, we'll be moving local hard rock band Meant To Last to our inactive band links next week. The cross-border project featuring These Sins of Time and Tantrym Tyme alumni are nearing a year since singer Alexa LeClair last referenced the band in Musicians Wanted Facebook group searches, with their own Facebook page not updated since last April. The members are talented, and I liked the international angle for the band, but hopefully they keep active in music, and best of luck to Alexa, Dalton, and Ethan in the future!
• While the wait continues for the full schedule on both stages, Rotaryfest's website now confirms that two tribute acts will headline the main stage on July 18th, those being the joint Toronto-based Fleetwood Mac & Tom Petty tributes Fleetwood Nicks and Practically Petty, making the second straight year that the Clergue Park stage has featured a Tom Petty tribute (after year's local one-off Free Falling.) Should be fun for classic rock fans, so see above for more, and stay tuned for the full schedules!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow, and much more in the coming week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Lucky 13), More Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

As May winds to a close, here's a new news post for your Friday afternoon, including a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT, an extra concert preview for tomorrow, a local band's campaign to get on Rotaryfest, and some assorted recent updates, so here's what you need to know!

Following Havadder/Wishbone drummer Scott McLurg's sudden heart attack on Wednesday, a fundraiser headlined by fellow local cover hard rock quartet Lucky 13 will take place TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rockstar Bar! Originally scheduled to be a one-night-only Havadder gig due to tonght's Destroyer concert, what happened to Scott obviously knocked Havadder out of the show, but it's great to see Lucky 13 (featuring Scott's Wishbone/ex-Turner Up bandmate Jeff Gray) come on board on short notice to show their support! As such, this is a fundraiser concert, with proceeds going to Scott during his recovery and time off from work, so while a cover charge isn't stated there, bring money to donate no matter what. This is a 19+ concert, and a 10:30 PM start time is advertised. For more details on tomorrow's fundraiser, visit the official Facebook event page!

While it's unclear what all of this means for Havadder's short-term future, Scott's health is of the greatest concern right now, and at last word, he is currently in Toronto for further treatment. We again send out best wishes and hopes out to Scott and his family at this difficult time, and hopefully he's back better than ever when all is said and done! Consider showing up TOMORROW NIGHT to help Scott out, and for a preview, here's Lucky 13 live!



Meanwhile, there will be another fundraiser going on downstairs from The Rockstar Bar TOMORROW NIGHT, as local punk/metal bands Destroilet & Jack Spades will hit the stage at The Algonquin Pub to raise money for their upcoming split album with Montreal hardcore punk legends The Ripcordz! The third show in Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce's Gonqshow concert series at The Algonquin, this joins the local bands' Kickstarter campaign to help fund the split plans, and while it's unclear if donations at the show will result in similar rewards as on Kickstarter, keep both in mind as ways to get this ambitious CD out as planned in the fall! Of extra note, this will be Destroilet's first concert appearance of 2015 and just their second with new co-lead singer Brenton Ellis, so if you haven't seen their new six-piece lineup, here's your chance! Opening tomorrow's show is local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control in their Algonquin debut, and their entertaining and skilled originals will set the tone nicely tomorrow night!

There will be a $5 cover charge (and donations accepted) for TOMORROW'S concert, which has a 10:00 PM start time and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an excellent concert, and hopefully the guys make a dent in their album funding plans when all is said and done! I will absolutely see everyone there tomorrow, and not just because I'll officially be 26 years old once midnight strikes, so come on down to The Algonquin for all of the action, and here's Destroilet live!



Also today, remember a couple years back when The Bear Hunters openly campaigned to try and get on the lineup on one of Rotaryfest's stages? Well, the local death metal favourites have resumed those plans via this petition on iPetition, where they're seeking 100 signatures to show that they have the support to play on Rotaryfest's Second Stage! Now, this is a bit of a surprise announcement, as we have yet to hear official word from The Rotary Club regarding either a return of the Second Stage (which went on hiatus last year due to sponsorship and funding decreases) or any cover bands for the first stage at Clergue Park, but if The Bear Hunters know something that we don't, the Second Stage's return would mark it's 10th installment in 2015. If it comes back, it remains to be seen if it will still be held on the outdoor Queen Street stage or not, but it'll presumably have new organizers given LopLops Lounge's focus on the second-year Emergency Festival.

We'll of course keep you guys posted when more is said regarding Rotaryfest's stage(s?) this year, but The Bear Hunters have arguably grown in prominence and skill since the last time they tried a fan campaign to get on our annual local summer festival's band lineup, so join me in signing the petition at this link! Only a few more to go!

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

• The Emergency Festival has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to help fund this year's second installment of the annual summer concert festival, to take place downtown on August 15th. They're seeking $10,000 for assorted costs in running the festival and paying bands, so if you're interested in helping out, visit the above links! Note that the page indicates that there will be a "licensed ticketed area" along with free stages this year, but we await details on stage locations and lineups.
• The Menstrual Munchies-headlined concert in Sault Ontario on June 25th will no longer be hosted at The Oddfellows Hall, as per co-promoter Tyler Gibson on the Facebook event page on Monday. A reason for the move wasn't announced, but it may be for similar reasons to the cancellation of last month's Dank Fest II due to unspecified "contract issues." In any event, a replacement venue is to be announced, and we'll let you know when we do!
• This doesn't bear directly on the local punk scene, but local independent label Tidal Records have launched their own skateboarding team! Not a bad idea to expand their reach and name, so if you're a skateboarder or fan of the sport, give everything a look at the above links! Also, note that one of their first four sponsored riders is Id Iota frontman Christian Lemay.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a likely new news post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Crimes), Rock N' Roar Battle Results, And Much More!!

After an off day, let's get things back into gear at the SMS with a lot of big stories, so what's on tap today? Some assorted recent notes, results from a recent battle of the bands with local participation, and a notable lineup change, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent and Oh! Right Arm! Promotions' second promoted concert of the year will go down on Tuesday, May 13th at The Moose Lodge (host of last fall's Biipiigwan show), and it will be headlined by Montreal hardcore/crust punk trio Crimes! Interesting but brutal trio that Shit Liver and Destroilet fans should like, their streetwise intensity should find a solid audience in time for next month's show, so give them a listen above! The local openers actually won't involve any of Jamie's bands, as Blood Shed Productions metal bands Brutaly Fatal and Rotopsy will make their first appearance at one of Jamie or O!RA!'s shows on May 13th! With their apparent drop out of Dank Fest on April 19th, this will be one of your first public chances to see Brutaly Fatal's new full lineup (more on the first this week), and they and Rotopsy should bring some appropriate doom & grind to the proceedings! Admission will be $7 for this ALL AGES show, and there is a 7:00 PM start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It'll be interesting to see how well this show does given the venue and lineup, but there's a lot of talent within, so stay tuned for updates on this latest all ages metal show!

Next up, local hard rockers The Suicide Kings finished in second place at Saturday night's Rock N' Roar Battle of the Bands in Spanish, and have won $500 and the right to open for Randy Bachman and Honeymoon Suite at the Rock N' Roar festival there on Saturday, August 16th! Though this is their first battle loss in any city, they're the highest finishing local band to date (surpassing Havadder & The Thrill Junkies' 5th place runs in the last two years), and it's awesome to see the guys make a huge impression with a new audience 3 hours east of the Soo! For reference, the winners of the battle were Spanish rock band The Broke Hustlers, while Sudbury hard rockers Of Tall Tales and Anxiety finished in third and fourth respectively, and Espanola metal band Fifth Column (who performed at a Rosie metal night in the fall of 2011) came in fifth. As only the top 5 bands will join the Rock N' Roar lineup, fellow local bands Havadder and the reunited Wishbone fell short of the top, which is disappointing for both (especially after how well Havadder's old lineup did in 2012), but hopefully they made some more fans!

It's great to see the local streak of success continue at the battle in Spanish, so hopefully The Suicide Kings rock the Rock N' Roar festival hard in August, and stay tuned for updates on their next local concert appearances!

Also today, we have a surprising lineup exit to announce, as local classic hard rock cover quintet The Thrill Junkies have apparently parted ways with drummer Scott McLurg. My source is Scott in a recent Facebook e-mail, though note that the band hasn't updated their Facebook page since playing at the former Roosevelt Hotel in January. Scott didn't go into details on why he left the band, but he guaranteed that the split was amicable. He also told me the band's planned replacement on drums, but I'll wait for official word from The Thrill Junkies before going into that on here. This is disappointing news for sure, but never fear, as Scott is looking to join a new local band! According to his post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday, he's looking for a singer and bass player to start a new similar local band, and note that he already has a guitarist lined up. If you're interested in trying out, message Scott at this link, and stay tuned for updates on him and The Thrill Junkies!

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

• For their latest EP release tease, local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades revealed on their Facebook page last night that their first studio single will be up to download online soon (after some financial matters are taken care of), while they also confirmed that the EP release show (to be held by the end of next month) will feature them alongside Destroilet and the first full live appearance by Chronic Demonic. Very intriguing, stay tuned for updates!
• In a recent refresh of our venue links, I added the aforementioned Moose Lodge to our active concert venue links, moved The Essar Center back there (due to June's Heart show), moved The Roosevelt Hotel down to our inactive venue links given it's new country-centric ownership, and also added the now-closed Smack Daddy's Bar & Grill (a.k.a. Bossy's Pub N' Grub during it's 2011 hard rock show run) there as well. Hopefully things are a bit more up-to-date now!
• In another link change, I replaced the link for the Tenaris Second Stage at Rotaryfest on the SMS from their website to it's page on Rotaryfest's website, as the Second Stage site's domain name expired earlier this year. With that said, I have heard nothing to suggest that the Second Stage won't be happening again this summer, and both The Suicide Kings and The Danger Cats have posted on Facebook that they had applied to play at Rotaryfest this year, though it's unclear what stage, and I have not seen a public announcement concerning band applications yet. Stay tuned in case we hear anything!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles later this week! Thanks everyone!