Battle Of The Bands Rewind Profile: The 2016 Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands

At last, let's tackle our final installment (until a year after the next battle) of our Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile Series! One day removed from our look back at last year's second VM Radio Battle of the Bands, let's reflect on the other March 2016 battle of the bands that also entertained local music fans during this busy month. Like our prior installments of this series, this is strictly an informational feature with trivia, facts, and results, and no personal criticism or reviews of the competing bands. Now, here's what you should know on last year's second local battle of the bands!
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The 2016 Speak Easy Battle of the Bands (March 10th, 2016)

Background: Following the success of the Battle of the Bands at Algoma University's campus bar The Speak Easy on March 5th, 2015, organizers at the Algoma University Students Union indicated plans to hold further battles on at least a biennial basis, announcing a planned second installment for November 2015, though it was postponed due to unspecified "sponsorship issues". Instead, the second battle took place on March 10th, 2016, just over a year following the previous event. Like in 2015, seven competing acts played 15 minute sets each, and results were determined by a fan vote with no formal judging panel.
  
Prizes: Winnings were identical to 2015's Speak Easy Battle, with $400, $200, and $100 respectively going to the first, second, and third place bands.

Competitors: Two of 2016's competing acts were returning from 2015, those being alternative/hard rock trio The Din (who dropped "Mike Haggith &" from their name over the winter) and local/Toronto indie rock musician Jesse Merineau. The other five bands were all newcomers to a local battle of the bands, and they included alt-electronic project Aldous, former Coverfly bassist Bryan Brown in  a rare solo set, modern hard rock quartet Eclipse, punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, and reunited death/thrash metal trio Pillory. Impressively, all of the confirmed bands from the original November date were still able to compete in March.

Results: Fans at the battle selected Jesse Merineau to win the 2016 Speak Easy Battle and the $400 top prize. The Din came in second place to win $200, while Eclipse claimed the $100 third place prize.

Aftermath: Jesse Merineau rode the momentum of his battle victory to work on his upcoming solo CD (scheduled for release this summer), while he also returned home for a handful of notable concerts last year, including one with runners-up The Din opening at LopLops in September. The Din and Eclipse would both go on to finish in identical spots in that month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands, with The Din releasing their debut CD in the summer and continuing their upwards momentum well into 2017, and Eclipse playing steadily until suddenly disbanding for four months in November, though they will return to the stage next month. Pillory and Jack Spades remain familiar sights on local concert stages, with the former in pre-production of their second CD, and the latter teasing their new lineup's debut and first gigs since the fall in the near future. Aldous remain active in studio, but haven't advertised a live show since August, and Bryan Brown hasn't been publically advertised since as a musician, though both have indicated that they're now based out of town.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock in italics, ex-members noted with an *):

The Bear Hunters (Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger from Jack Spades)
The Elements (Jesse Cook from Jack Spades)
Great Chamberlain (Anthony Marcello from Jesse Merineau's backing band; Based out of Ottawa)
Handsome Sandwich (Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger from Jack Spades)  
Heavy Head (Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger from Jack Spades and Daniel Horton from Eclipse) 
Project 421 (Curtis McKenzie, Daniel Horton, and Chris Thompson from Eclipse)
The Steeltown Girls (Tammy Hill from The Din)
Stegadeth (Tiffany Stocco from Jack Spades)
Winkstinger (Jesse Cook from Jack Spades)  

Trivia:

• New local hard/pop rock quartet Heavy Head were advertised to compete at this battle, just one night after they finished in third place in the first VM Radio Battle semifinal, but they dropped out the day of this event due to scheduling conflicts for frontman Mike Gaetano. However, the remainder of the band still competed as members of Jack Spades or Eclipse.
• As was the case in 2015, the second Speak Easy Battle was held one day after the first semifinal of last year's second VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub, which again differed by being a multi-band event over multiple nights, though the performer lineup actually fell from 11 competing bands in 2015 to 5 in 2016. The Din (who competed the day before) and Eclipse (who competed the following week) made the finals and finished in second and third place in both events, while Jack Spades played a non-competitive guest set on night #2 of that battle due to frontman J.D. Pearce's promotional involvement. The winner of the second VM Radio Battle was indie rock quartet K.I.C.K..
• After missing the podium in 2015 with a strictly solo set, Jesse Merineau recruited local power pop/glam rock trio Caroline Divine to serve as his backing band for his Speak Easy Battle return last year, which apparently did the trick, giving him some "divine" intervention for his first place victory. While the set was entirely comprised of originals from Jesse's upcoming CD, this was technically Caroline Divine's last publically advertised concert before singer/guitarist Anthony Marcello moved to Ottawa, though his old bandmates joined Jesse & guitarist Mitchell Nielsen when he headlined at LopLops in September.
• Similarly to Jesse Merineau's reversal of fortune from 2015 to 2016, The Din and 3/5ths of Project 421 (in their side project Eclipse) also moved from missing the podium to claiming top 3 placements in 2016, foreshadowing similar improvements in the VM Radio Battle later that month, which they also didn't place at in 2015.
• Pillory's set at this battle marked their return to the stage after a nearly two year hiatus following their final shows as a thrash quartet in mid-2014. The band debuted new bassist Jordan Leach, their trio lineup with no rhythm guitarist, and a heavier, death metal-influenced sound at this event, completely abandoning their older originals from their debut CD "Cringe At The Cross".
• Jack Spades' all-original set at the Speak Easy Battle was filmed by Shaw TV Sault Ste. Marie personality (and VM Radio Battle guest judge) Christian Lemay for a feature that aired on channel 10 in mid-late 2016, interspersed with interview footage taken from an Oddfellows Hall concert around that same time. This can be seen as a precursor to Shaw TV's recently-debuted series OnStage, featuring full concert sets from recent local events.
• Twin City Sound & Entertainment were on hand to provide sound for the duration of the battle. Notably, Twin City Sound co-owner Steven Flint was a former bandmate of Eclipse's Curtis McKenzie and Daniel Horton in the short-lived hard rock band Punch, who were the 3rd place finishers in November 2013's Viva La Battle.
• The most notable band from the inaugural Speak Easy Battle to not return for year #2 was defending champions Gnaeus, who won both of 2015's local battles. The post-punk quartet are believed to have missed both events due to the departure of drummer Brendan Garlick over the winter, with his replacement Alex Proulx not debuting with Gnaeus until their Ontario tour run that April.
• While then-Haggith bassist Jordan Leach and experimental musician/Gore Street Cafe co-owner Sam Decter had promotional involvement in 2015's Speak Easy Battle, neither were publically involved with the event's return last year. Jordan did compete in the 2016 battle with Pillory, but as he wasn't promoting anymore, there were no concerns regarding a potential conflict of interest.
• Despite prior hopes to hold further Speak Easy Battles of the Bands at least twice a year, there has been no official public word on a third installment from the A.U.S.U. since last year's event, be it this month or at a different date. A third VM Radio Battle of the Bands also did not occur in March 2017.
• The Din later performed at Landmark Events' Showcase Festival in Toronto in January 2017, which was a competitive event to feature rising young bands to  music industry executives who would judge bands and select ones to get music industry grants. It's not known if The Din progressed any further in this showcase, but they did praise the event and the oportunities it brought afterwards.

Videos:
Shaw TV's video of Jack Spades' set
(No other public videos known; Videos of the top 2 acts from 2015 featured to supplement this section)




Sources/More Info:
Official Facebook event page
Event press release from SooToday
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I hope you guys liked this month's Battle of the Bands Rewind Profiles, and hopefully this series will return next year, saying that someone holds a new local battle later in 2017! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and previews as this week rolls along! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Mourning Wood), Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands Results, New Videos, And More!!

We've been busy in recent days on the SMS, so let's keep things going today with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, new videos from two bands, some related updates therein (including an apology for a missed show), and yes, the final results for last night's second fan-voted battle of the bands, so here's what you need to know!

Local classic/hard rock cover veterans Mourning Wood will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, after just playing there last night! Apologies for the short notice (and obviously for missing yesterday's show), band members only announced the gigs last night via their personal Facebook pages, again continuing their trend of not plugging Reggie's Place gigs publically through the band's own Facebook page. According to drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook posting about the shows, last night's was as a trio sans Steven Flint and Paul Belair, with Havadder/3 Day Millionaires bassist Travis Sharpe filling in, and he'd be a natural fit given that he and Terry Eaton were former bandmates in Carbon Black many years back. As best as I can tell, the full lineup is playing TONIGHT & TOMORROW, so if you're up for some late notice classic, hard, and country rock, head to the original downtown Reggie's this weekend!

There's no announced cover charges, 10:00 PM-ish start times, and 19+ age limits for this weekend. See above for more details, apologies again for missing yesterday's show (we'd have plugged it had we have known!), and for a preview, here's some new Mourning Wood drum-cam concert videos! As uploaded to Glen's YouTube channel a few weeks ago, these join YouTube postings of their INXS and Wild Cherry covers from last month that we had previously shared via Facebook copies. The new videos are of Mourning Wood covering REO Speedwagon's "Take It On The Run" at The New American Pub, and as embedded below, ZZ Top's "Tush" from their latest Rockstar Bar show (and apologies for erroneously crediting the Wild Cherry cover as being from The New A originally, it was from The Rockstar Bar show too.)

Thanks to a GoPro being mounted on Glen's head for filming, these remain shaky like before, and Terry's vocals can be muffled, but it's nice to get some more unique angles of Mourning Wood in action, and the effectively add some grit to both! Give these new drum-cam videos a look above and below, and don't miss them at Reggie's TONIGHT & TOMORROW!



Next up, we have the final results from last night's second annual Speak Easy Battle of the Bands, so who won the fan-voted second year battle at Algoma University? Here are the podium finishers!

1st Place: Jesse Merineau

2nd Place: The Din

3rd Place: Eclipse

After all finishing outside of the top 3 last year, Jesse Merineau, The Din, and members of Project 421 (as part of Eclipse) have all pulled a 180° turn to claim the top 3 spots in this year's field, and of course, huge congratulations go out to Jesse for winning the battle's $400 top prize in his second try! It must have helped having Caroline Divine as a backing band for his set, with that "divine" intervention filling out his songs for his upcoming solo EP "That Night", and hopefully Jesse rides the momentum here and in Toronto! The Din's runner-up total is their best in a battle of the bands yet (and it matches Mike Haggith's 2013 Rockstar Bar Battle finish with the band Haggith), so the $200 prize will be a nice feather in their cap going into the VM Radio Battle finals on March 23rd! As for Eclipse, a third place run for this relatively new band is pretty good, and it gives Curtis McKenzie and Daniel Horton their best battle finish since Haggith's aforementioned 2013 battle run, but we'll have to see if they can maintain or improve on their $100 win when they face K.I.C.K. in next week's VM Radio Battle semifinals!

Also, we can confirm that new local pop/hard rock quartet Heavy Head did not play at the Speak Easy Battle, with members confirming in Facebook conversations that being "not ready for the competition" and scheduling conflicts for singer Mike Gaetano both factored in to their withdrawal. Disappointing, but hopefully we see them back at it soon, and hopefully the other performers (Aldous, Bryan Brown, Jack Spades, and Pillory) rocked it last night! Aside from personal postings & this great photo album from Id Iota's Christian Lemay, we're awaiting public media from the battle (perhaps from Sault Online), so stay tuned for more fallout from this battle when it comes in, and congratulations again to Jesse, The Din, and Eclipse!

Finally for today, here's the latest from Speak Easy Battle runners-up & VM Radio Battle finalists The Din (well, for non-battle related news), so what have we missed from Mike, Tammy, and Brandan lately? Well, in terms of their acoustic show at The Gore Street Cafe last week, label PaperClip Productions recorded the whole thing, and a CD copy was left at the laundromat for their music rotation. A picture of the setlist was also shared on their Facebook page, which indicates they played 10 originals or Mike Haggith solo songs, as well as 4 covers, with their entire VM Radio Battle semifinal set being among the playlist that night. Future public availability of the set was also teased, so we'll let you know when it turns up in some form! A prior Facebook post also noted that an additional late notice performer played with them and Stereo North that night, namely Morgan Steele, a local country/pop musician who you may have seen in a recent incarnation of Mustang Sally.

Morgan's talented for her genre, and hopefully she got a good reception of her own last week! Given that the show apparently had a great turnout for the ongoing Fishbowl Festival, hopefully things continue on the up & up! Lastly, the band shared this video onto their Facebook page on March 2nd of Mike and Tammy playing an acoustic version of "A Drive Through The Peninsula" during what appears to be a recent Gore Street Cafe open mic night, with Mike playing a tambourine in lieu of the bass. Well performed, but loose and informal (complete with a coffee break), so give it a look below, and don't miss The Din at The Canadian for the finals in two weeks!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!

The 2016 Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands Preview!!

For the second time in as many days, here's our extended preview of a local battle of the bands, as for a second straight year, two separate battles are taking place on concurrent days! Just one day removed from night #1 of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands, the Algoma University Students Union brings us the second annual Speak Easy Battle of the Bands TOMORROW NIGHT, where 8 acts will take the stage at Algoma University's campus bar for another night of action, with $700 in prize money awaiting the top 3 bands! Postponed from an originally planned November 2015 date due to "sponsorship issues", this year's Speak Easy Battle will largely be similar to last year's battle, with bands playing 15 minute sets each, while winners will again be decided via a fan vote rather than a panel of judges. With last year's podium finishers not back for this year's expanded 8 band event, the field's wide open, but which of the entered acts will win out tomorrow? Here's some extra info on each act before this battle goes down!

Aldous: One of the five acts making their battle of the bands debut tomorrow, Nick Luck's alternative rock project Aldous will break out that strange electric taste that fans may have seen via the recent albums "Change2" and "The Fair", but many recent Facebook postings have been reasonably cryptic. How will Nick and company sound tomorrow, and will they impress fans to secure a podium finish?

Bryan Brown: Arguably the biggest dark horse in tomorrow's field, former Coverfly bassist Bryan Brown will go solo for a set in tomorrow's battle, but I can't confirm much about what he'll be playing on his own. How will his solo performance sound? Is he taking a huge detour from his Coverfly work? Be at The Speak Easy to see how he does!

The Din: One day removed from their third battle of the bands appearance, alternative hard rock trio The Din will look to continue improving on their 2015 battle results, where the then-Mike Haggith & The Din (with Curtis McKenzie on guitar) didn't place in the VM Radio or Speak Easy Battles. With their new sound firmly in place, and with Tammy Hill now on guitar, can The Din improve on last year's run? Show your support via their own Facebook event page for this battle!

Eclipse: This new modern hard rock quartet will be making their battle of the bands debut tomorrow, though 3/4ths of the band competed in both of last year's battles with classic metal quartet Project 421 & The Din, missing out on a podium finish in each. Less than a week out from their own VM Radio Battle semifinal, can the 421 side project channel members' past battle success with Haggith to place in the top 3?

Heavy Head: With just two concert appearances (including yesterday's VM Radio Battle semifinal) under their belts, new local pop/hard rock quartet Heavy Head will look to continue their early surge with a high finish in this fan-voted battle, and with battle winners from The Suicide Kings, The Bear Hunters, and Winkstinger in their lineup, they definitely have the experience to go far... but will they tomorrow? Show your support via following their own Facebook event page also!

Jack Spades: Surprisingly making their battle of the bands debut tomorrow, punk/metal standouts Jack Spades will try to jack the battle as well as the planet in their set, and with battle alumni from bands like T-Rex Manning, The Bear Hunters, and Soldiers of Misfortune in their ranks, don't sleep on them! With a guest set at the VM Radio Battle coming next week as well, will they snag a top 3 position tomorrow?

Jesse Merineau: Joining The Din as the only returning acts from last year's Speak Easy Battle, local/Toronto indie rock musician Jesse Merineau won't be alone for his set this year, as he's enlisted local power pop/glam rock trio Caroline Divine to back him up this year, with songs from his upcoming debut CD expected to be played. Jesse didn't make the podium last year, but will some "divine" intervention do the trick in 2016? Follow Jesse's run via his own Facebook event page!

Pillory: After a two year hiatus from the stage, local death/thrash metallers Pillory will at last return with their new trio lineup for this year's Speak Easy Battle, with last year's battle co-promoter Jordan Leach (ex-Haggith) now on bass, and now sans a second guitarist. Fans are already eagerly awaiting their return and their heavier death metal-influenced sound, but can Pillory surge to the the top of the field tomorrow night?

Like last year, TOMORROW'S highest voted band will win the top prize of $400, with second place receiving $200, and third place netting $100. Twin City Sound & Entertainment will be on hand to provide professional sound for each of the 8 competing acts, and while each band only has a short set, expect lots of talent to be on display! For attendees, admission is $5, bands begin playing at 10:00 PM, and while this is generally a 19+ concert, underage Algoma University students may attend the event if they have valid student ID with them. And of course, you can also see Eclipse and (non-competitively) Jack Spades at this coming Wednesday's last semifinal of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands, while The Din, Eclipse, and/or Heavy Head may also be back for the finals on March 23rd, pending how things go tonight & next week. Last year's Speak Easy Battle proved to be a bellwether for the VM Radio Battle results in terms of the common bands' finishes, but will that prove to be the case again in 2016?

Also, note that Heavy Head's Jesse Cook, Daniel Horton, and Johnny Belanger will all be pulling double duty tomorrow, as Jesse & Johnny are both in Jack Spades, and Daniel is Eclipse's guitarist. How will that impact their sets, and can any of them bring both of their bands to the podium? This should be an exciting battle, especially given the wide open field that guarantees one competing act it's first battle of the bands victory, but who will get the honours? Will Aldous' creative genre hybrid take them to the top? Is Bryan Brown's solo sound just what the attending fans are looking for? Will The Din improve on last year's battle finishes? Can Eclipse pick up where Project 421 left off with a higher placement? Can Heavy Head live up to their supergroup lineup's past successes? Will Jack Spades jack the $400 top prize in their first battle? Will Jesse Merineau claim a podium spot with Caroline Divine's help? And will Pillory reclaim their presence in the scene tomorrow?

Be at The Speak Easy TOMORROW to find out, visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and we'll see you at The Canadian TONIGHT for night #1 of the VM Radio Battle! Thanks everyone!

Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands Video Showcase!! (Part 1)

Before we dive into this all-video post, I briefly wanted to acknowledge on here that local classic/hard rock quartet Lucky 13 did play a Rednecks Saloon gig last night to go along with their short notice Friday show, as per bassist Jeff Gray in personal Facebook posts. The band originally said that they were only playing on Friday, but had the Saturday show been announced at the time, we'd have promoted it here (out apologies either way!) Now, today's post is our first of two posts spotlighting Mike Caruso & Sault Online's videos from the Speak Easy Battle of the Bands this past Thursday, as he filmed one video of each band to go along with the earlier recap video on his YouTube channel! The performance footage in that is the same as in the full clips, but it's not completely redundant, as that video does include a brief interview with battle co-promoter Meghan Rix, so don't bypass it when browsing!

We'll look at Mike's videos in chronological order by when each act played (4 today, 3 in a later post), and remember, I won't give reviews or criticism of bands competing in the VM Radio Battle of the Bands due to my judging commitments there. The battle opened with local indie rock singer/guitarist Jesse Merineau, whose cover of Mr. Probz's "Waves" was filmed by Mike at the event. I imagine it'd be tough to gain ground in a battle of the bands as a solo artist, but Jesse has talent and a good voice for the genre, and this appears to have been a solid way to send him off before his announced move to Toronto! Not metal or punk, but check it out at the link above! Next up on Thursday were local hard rock quartet Long Shot, who the fans voted into second place that night. Their video is of their cover of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love", and while it's messy at points, and singer Evan Dawe is hard to hear, the guys show solid potential, and Nathan Muto handles the guitar solo nicely!

The multiple camera angles are nice too (as used on all of Mike's videos), but I'm seeing more tables than I'm used to for a Speak Easy concert... then again, I haven't been there in quite a while for one. Congratulations again to Long Shot on their runner-up finish, and here's their Cream cover!



Third on Thursday were local acid rock/jam trio Mike Haggith & The Din, who made their first live appearance with new drummer Brandan Glew (ex-The Revolution) that night. Their video was of their rendition of Mike's own solo song "This Potato May Be Used As A Flotation Device", and Mike later uploaded the same video to his own solo YouTube channel. It swings closer to the original version of the song than some of The Din's longer jam interpretations, so give it a look below, and don't miss Mike & The Din at the VM Radio Battle on March 18th!



Finally for this first showcase of Speak Easy Battle videos, we'll touch on the middle band on Thursday night, that being the debuting two man band Infinity Grinder. Featuring Northern Tragedy singer/drummer Terrence Gomes & ex-No Arrow bassist Brad Griffith, they're closer in style to Brad's past band work than Terrence's, and likely bear similarities with Brad's older duo band Sounds From The Green Room. The song that Mike filmed (which I can't place, and might be an original) has a grungy hard rock sound that has promise, but Terrence can be hard to hear vocally, and I do wonder how the song would turn out with guitar work. Solid start though, so give Infinity Gringer's video a look!



That's all for now, but look for our second Speak Easy Battle video post in the coming days, which will feature videos from the 3rd place Bear Hunters, the 1st place Gnaeus, and Project 421, along with more news and features to come! Thanks everyone!