LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Stinkbox), New Video Postings, And Much More!!

As we'll be focusing our next posts around weekend concert previews (and this month's newest poll), let's get one more news post up on this Tuesday night, but if you're wondering about some recent show announcements (including one on Sunday featuring a major returning local band), don't worry, we will touch on them in short order! Now, we have some new videos and assorted updates, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

A unique concert will go down at The Gore Street Cafe on Friday, July 10th that will be headlined by Toronto folk/punk trio Stinkbox! A creative hybrid band that plays solid punk originals in a folk/roots style (complete with a tin canjolele and double bass), Stinkbox should leave a mark in their local debut, so check them out and see what you think! Toronto folk musician Caela Butt will join them on tour and at the local show next month, and her own originals are talented and fun in their own right for genre fans, so give her a listen too! Local support will come via Ye Olde Mold Pickers frontwoman Rihkee Strap in a solo set (nice to see her back in town), while an initially advertised set by Honest Job frontman Mister Tahti has since been removed from the Facebook event page for unannounced reasons. Hopefully nothing bad happened! Thois show has a 7:00 PM start time, no announced age limit, and a suggested admission price of $5 (though you may "pay what you can".)

For more details, visit the above links! This should be an interesting concert for both folk and punk fans, and at a venue that's increasingly gaining traction as a concert spot in recent months, so keep this show in mind for next month, and The Gore Street Cafe (as 164 Gore) is now in our local concert venue listings!

Next up, here's some new videos, including a new concert video of local goregrind duo Rotopsy laying 3 songs during their recent set at Little Montreal in Sudbury last week! Embedded without the title due to potentially offensive names of the first two songs (the third is "Live at Oddfellows Hall 3"), this was posted on Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel yesterday. The lighting's a little too red, but this captures Rotopsy's goregrind action well, though they do look a little out of their element and not quite as energetic as at local shows. Still, give this one a look, and remember to hit upcoming Blood Shed house parties if invited!



Also, here's a new video from local solo guitarist/Audiofumes podcast host Mike Cliffe! Uploaded yesterday to his YouTube channel, this is a 66 second clip with the curious name "Glutinous Maximus Peanution Vulgaris", and it's his first solo original video of the year. Solid jam rock instrumental that has a nice harmony and edge to it, though it ends before it really gets going. Hopefully Mike has more in store, but check out his prolific original work above and below, and don't forget to check out his solid podcasts as well, featuring local artists!



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

• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades will open for horror punk legends The Misfits in Toronto on Friday, October 16th at The Phoenix Concert Theatre! Fans may remember that frontman J.D. Pearce has a long association with The Misfits, from Frightlight opening for them in Toronto to what happened at 2010's famed "secret show", so this should be a great showcase for the guys as they continue to jack the planet! Click here for full details, including incentives if you buy $40 tickets from the band!
• We'll likely be moving local hard rock solo project StonesmithGC (formerly StrykerGC) to our inactive band links next week. While their Facebook page is still updated frequently, all posts since last June have been shares of guitars and gear from other Facebook pages, with no visible posts about new music or recordings. Hopefully Troy posts some new band updates at some point again, he is a talented musician!
• The three newest episodes of Local2's webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper are now online at this location, with each based around recent shows from Craig Cardiff, The Mudmen, and the #youthesoo youth empowerment event. As Tuned episodes now only focus on one event or band, there's no extra bits in them, but they're all well done and great to watch if you liked these shows or bands! Note that the teased Id Iota episode is still forthcoming.

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

Fall Punk Concert Updates, A Hard Rock Album Re-Release, And Recent Concert Fallout!!

We're back home, so let's get back to work on the SMS, so what's in store for today's news post? Lots of fallout from a recent concert, an archive EP re-release that you might want to check out, and first, lots of updates regarding a prolific local concert promoter's upcoming concert slate, so here's what you need to know!

We'll start today with new updates from local concert promoter J.D. Pearce's upcoming fall concert schedule, including the disappointing news that The Misfits' concert scheduled for The Kiwanis Community Theatre on September 13th has been postponed. J.D. cited scheduling conflicts (none of which were the fault of anyone local) for the postponement as per Facebook postings, with the event page also being taken down, and the show will try to be rescheduled for next year. Definitely a bummer, but J.D. has some other big shows coming up this fall, so what's on the horizon? For one, his promotional Facebook group teased a Misfits afterparty at The Rockstar Bar to be headlined by ska punk favourites K'Man & The 45s, but we're waiting for more finite information on the show before calling it on here, especially given the cessation of the Misfits show that would have preceded it. Shows to be headlined by The Dayglo Abortions, Montreal street punk band The Whiskey Shits, and Montreal metal standouts Endast are awaiting fuller confirmation too, and his annual Halloween party (which Frightlight will play a farewell set during) is awaiting full details as well, aside from taking place on Halloween proper.

As for the pictured concert poster, that relates to the previously announced Ripcordz concert at The Algonquin Pub on October 11th, but there's lots of new updates for it, mainly that the show will double as the 20th anniversary party for local record/skate shop The Rad Zone! Hard to believe it's been almost 20 years already, but kudos to Paul and all of the past and current staff for making this store a must visit for so long! There will also be product giveaways by skate company Vans, who are sponsoring the show. Very cool, so click here for full details on this show, and stay tuned for much more!

Next up, we have a "new" local album discovery to take note of on the site, though it's not technically "new". Last month, a member of the early-mid 2000s hard rock band Renderware posted their "Rock EP" from 2004 onto Bandcamp as a digital album on a "name your price" model, very similarly to the archive digital release of Downshift's "Before You Knew Me..." disc. Newer fans may remember seeing three of the songs on Renderware's MySpace page, but the EP also featured three songs not posted there (an intro, "The Halls", and "Blue Collar Love Song"), so if you didn't get the EP upon it's initial release 10 years ago, these might be new to you in studio form! Renderware's featured lineup on the EP included singer Jordan Foisy, guitarists Marc LaFrance (ex-Talk Shit) and Thomas Whitney, current Northwest frontman Wayne Watkins on bass, and Nebraska Arms alum Adam Sauve on drums. I honestly had no idea that Renderware actually released an EP during their original run (which ended circa 2007), but it's awesome to see one of the guys post the album online after so long!

As it's available on a "name your price" model, it's eligible for a review on the site, but when could we see it? Given that it's a re-release and not a brand new album, it won't be imminent, but if we come across a month with no new CDs in the queue, and a Northwest show to tie it in with, it could very well come then! Renderware's unique "Motorhead meets Tom Waits" sound deserves an audience, so check them out above, and consider buying the "Rock EP" to support their work!

Lastly today, here's some fallout from the Late & Loud farewell concert on Friday at The Rockstar Bar! We already knew that James White made his Haggith debut that night, but what else went down? Well, a correspondent from local music promotion & management company For The Music Inside was on hand to photograph the event, which is (I think) the first SMS-ranged show that F.T.M.I. have ever covered. While they've hyped that more photos are on the way, only shots of The Danger Cats' opening set are featured in their Facebook photo album from the show right now, but they're nicely taken (though the logo watermark can be a bit big.) The pictures showcase the girls' hard rocking set, including guest appearances from both ex-Sativa Rose singer Marisa Valois and Late & Loud frontman Jonathan Tiberi, though we await photos of the other bands, aside from a separately uploaded L&L shot from their setup. Also, if you noticed what appears to be "The Last Gig" added to Late & Loud's stage banner in this shot, then note that it was added in post, and wasn't present during the show.

In terms of public videos, we also only have some from The Danger Cats' set,  and if you're curious as to how they sound, these videos feature both of their special guests! As uploaded to their YouTube channel over the last few days, one video features The Danger Cats & Jon playing their original song "Give Me" and a cover of The Scorpions' "The Zoo", while (embedded below), you can see the girls and Marisa covering Bif Naked's "I Love Myself Today" and Lee Aaron's "Metal Queen", and click each song title to go straight to the original song! For the songs with Jon, it is a little odd to see a male musician playing with The Danger Cats, but he fits in well on these songs, and the presence of three guitars isn't overkill either! As for the video with Marisa, you could see this as a glimpse of what Sativa Rose could have been had they continued into 2012, though if you're not familiar with her recent solo work, she delivers a very strong vocal performance here, and her voice projects very nicely! For reference, she's moving overseas with Brendan Christie from Late & Loud too, but it's nice to see her play once more locally beforehand!

Very solid all around, and hopefully Marisa and Brendan stay active musically wherever their travels lead! We'll miss their talents over the next year! Check out the videos above, stay tuned for more show fallout when/if it comes in, For The Music Inside are now in our "Other Local Metal Links", and here's The Danger Cats and Marisa from this past Friday night!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews tomorrow & Friday, plus a new defunct punk band feature soon as well! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Misfits), VM Radio Updates, And New Videos!!

Before we begin this post, we send our best wishes out to Mike Gingras and Wayne Kozeyah on the screenings of their short films "The Kid Who Made The Face" and "LemmaFest" at TODAY'S Soo Film Festival at The Soo Theatre in Sault Michigan, hopefully you guys get a great reception (for possible attendees, their films will be part of the 3:00 PM screenings!) Now, today's post features new concert videos, updates on an upcoming regional radio station, and first, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

New Jersey horror punk legends The Misfits will be hitting Sault Ontario on Thursday, September 18th for their first ever publically advertised concert in our area! Known for classic songs like "Last Caress", "Hate Breeders", "Astro Zombies", and "Scream" (among many others), The Misfits have long been a favourite cover choice for many different local bands, and now Jerry Only and company will finally be playing a public concert for Sault-area fans! Fitting an event of this scope, this will be a rare heavier concert at The Kiwanis Community Theatre Centre at 1007 Trunk Road (also the site of White Pines Collegiate), so metal and punk fans in the east end will like that convenience! For Black Flag fans, note that The Misfits' current guitarist is Dez Cadena, and they are known to cover some Flag originals live too! Local support will come from local punk/metal quintet (and ardent Misfits fans) Jack Spades, and this will be familiar territory for frontman & promoter J.D. Pearce, who has opened for The Misfits in Toronto with Frightlight, and has teased going on tour with them this September, so we'll have to see how that shakes out!

At least one more opening band has been teased on personal Facebook postings, though details haven't been publicized yet. Co-presented by J.D., The Sault Ste. Marie Arts Council, and VM Radio (more on them in a second), this concert will be ALL AGES (and licensed), an early 6:00 PM start time is advertised, and tickets will be around $35 (including tax) at the Kiwanis Theatre box office at the Station Mall (no word yet on other ticket locations.) For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! No matter which Misfits era you prefer, this is a huge announcement, and hopefully there's a fittingly big turnout next month, as this is shaping up to be one of the biggest local metal/punk concerts in our area this year! Stay tuned for updates!

Next up, remember how SooToday & Local2's parent company Village Media has been in the planning stages of launching a new local internet radio station named VM Radio? Well, some more public details have been released, so here's what we now know! According to their new Facebook page, VM Radio (whose logo is pictured) will actually be three separate stations, with one dedicated to rock music, one to roots music, and one for a mixture of other genres. Great idea, especially to ensure that specific music genres get sufficient attention and timeslots! A launch date is teased for at some point next month, but announcements relating to on-air programs, streaming formats, and on-air personalities have yet to be made. I have high hopes that VM Radio will fill in the Sault Ontario-produced radio gaps that have been vacant for too long, especially as we only have 4 Canadian FM stations, and only 2 are locally produced. I'm very excited to see how things develop, so stay tuned for updates on VM Radio as we hear it!

Closing with new videos, here's a bunch of clips from local hard rock quartet The Danger Cats' set at The Esquire Club last weekend! Uploaded to the girls' YouTube channel over the last few days, an attendee shot these clips of the band covering Blondie's "Call Me", the last half of The Runaways' "Cherry Bomb" & AC/DC's "Big Balls" (both part of one video with bassist Jamie Jaguar on lead vocals), and as embedded below, renditions of The Runaways' "I Love Playing With Fire" and The Scorpions' "The Zoo", so click each link to check them out! Inconsistent lighting, but the girls sound good on these covers, and they're shot at a good close angle to the stage! They're definitely coming into their own, and you can see more of that TONIGHT when The Danger Cats open for Late & Loud one last time(?) at The Rockstar Bar, though they'll have a special guest too, as former Sativa Rose singer Marisa Valois revealed on her solo Facebook page that she'll be joining them for a couple of songs. That should be interesting, so don't miss that TONIGHT, and here's The Danger Cats at The Esquire Club!



Finally, here's a newly shared Facebook video of local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control from one of their sets at Gusto's Bar & Grill at the Wellington Square Mall way back in April! This is of their cover of Nirvana's "Come As You Are", as filmed by attendee/Heavy North Entertainment owner Tyler St. Amour, and while it was only posted on his personal Facebook page at the time, The Pixo Control just shared it publically today. Aside from The Pixo Control's early 2014 shows here, Gusto's isn't largely known for heavier concerts, and with the video being dark and somewhat grainy, it's hard to get a sense of it's band setup, but there's a solid crowd, and the guys play a faithful energetic version of this Nirvana classic! Check it out below, and don't miss their set at The Emergency next Saturday!



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

New Airbourne Concert Videos & Assorted Sault Michigan Updates!!

Keeping the news rolling on this Friday afternoon, we have some more fallout from a big recent concert to touch on, along with some recent Sault Michigan updates, so read on below for what you need to know!

A bunch of Airbourne concert videos from Sunday night have turned up online yesterday, so we'll start with six from YouTube user Christopher Paci's channel! A frequent uploader of videos from Kewadin Casino hard rock concerts in the past year, the Airbourne concert was just the second Sault Ontario event he's uploaded footage from (following one video from the Tragically Hip show in February) Four of Christopher's videos are from Airbourne's set, including "Ready To Rock", "Diamond in the Rough", "Raise the Flag", and (as embedded below) their extended closing number "Runnin' Wild", so click each link to see the clips! Chris would have a good angle, but The Canadian Nightclub was very packed, so attendees' heads are definitely in the way often, but I imagine this was a problem many people had unless they were very tall or in the first few rows, so I won't judge. The audio is also a bit scratchy, but it's not unlistenable. Solid attempt to catch the action, so give "Runnin' Wild" a look below!



Christopher's other videos are from openers Bleeker Ridge's set, as he filmed them playing their originals "Shine" and (as embedded below) "Last Cigarette", so again, click each link to check them out! They have a better and more central view of the Orillia hard rockers, and Taylor Perkins is definitely easier to hear from Christopher's angle, but front row fans do block some areas of the stage, albeit not as much as the crowding for Airbourne. These actually don't sound as scratchy either somehow, so give Bleeker Ridge playing "Last Cigarette" a look below, and see more of Chris' Airbourne concert videos at the above links!

Closing today's post, we'll head to Sault Michigan starting with some news relating to newer local hard rock trio Plastic (who, like Power Slug, still don't have an online page.) In rather surprising news given that they only first played live two months ago, they'll apparently be opening for The Misfits at Harpo's Concert Theater in Detroit on October 21st! I have no idea how that came about, but my source is drummer Paul "Dorothy" Burns' new solo Facebook page, which he recently started to keep fans to date on his music projects (Plastic or otherwise.) Paul also launched a number of Facebook event pages there for gigs all over Northern Michigan (including in Alpena and Rogers City), along with the Misfits/Detroit show and a pair of local dates (Dan's Bar in Rudyard on September 7th & The Merchant's Bar in the Soo on September 20th), but I can't verify at present if these are all Plastic dates or not, as he uses the page for all of his music work. If I hear more, I'll keep you posted, but if you want tickets to see Plastic open for The Misfits, message members Zac Crook, Nick Moreau, or Paul Burns on Facebook!

Finally for today, it looks like Sault Michigan classic hard rock quartet Sir Charge have dissolved. This hasn't been officially confirmed (their Facebook page hasn't been updated in almost 3 months), but members Henry Switzer, Ray Mayer, and Ruseell Mayer have apparently reformed their pop rock cover band The Mama's Boys, re-debuting at at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on August 5th. My source is Ray's personal Facebook page, and like before, I believe he sings lead rather than Henry. Also, with Sir Charge guitarist Nathan Switzer taking on their existing Kewadin Casino dates for his other band RamWagon,  that helps lead me to think that Sir Charge have at least ceded focus to the Mama's Boys' reunion. Sir Charge had been active since succeeding Henry & Nathan's similar earlier band Monkey's Uncle last fall, playing a number of gigs at regional bars through at least June of this year, and while it is disappointing to see Henry-fronted bands end locally, at least everyone from Sir Charge is still active in local music, so best of luck all around!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more this weekend, including a few more Airbourne concert videos! Thanks everyone!

Late & Loud's Return & EP Release, Plus New Videos!!

We have some new Sault Ontario news and notes on this Tuesday morning, so what's on deck? We have a new archive album posting, a new video blog from a prominent local metal band, and leading off, plenty of updates from a thought-inactive metal quartet, including their return gig and planned EP release, so here's what you need to know!

The new openers for The Saigon Hookers' headlining concert on The Rockstar Bar have been found, and they are.... Late & Loud?! Yes, the prominent classic metal quartet are back for at least one more concert, as per postings on their Facebook page and this new Facebook event page created by The Rockstar Bar, so check them out for proof of their return! Note that the show's official event page & poster still list Garden of Bedlam as the openers, but as we alluded to this weekend, they had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts. This will be Late & Loud's Rockstar Bar debut, their first concert since they opened for Skull Fist at the end of August (and just their second since their battle victory in April), and it comes barely two months after they went on hiatus or broke up (depending on your source), so hearing that they're back is a nice surprise! However, when I asked guitarist Jonathan Tiberi on Facebook whether this is this is just a one off gig or not, he said he "couldn't confirm or deny that statement", but he did add that Late & Loud "cannot die", so take that for what you will.

Note also that The Rockstar Bar's event page indicates that two opening bands will be present, but if there will indeed be a second opening band, nothing's public about them yet. The good news continues for Late & Loud fans though, as it's been revealed on their Facebook page that their long awaited demo/EP will finally be released at Saturday's concert! This is the cover, as we have previously seen on Facebook in an extended shot, and according to this photo of the album cases, the track listing will include seven tracks: the five previously confirmed songs that were posted for free on Reverbnation this summer, and two self-recorded bonus tracks ("Love Letter Lockdown" & "Never Again".) Apparently self titled (though the spine says "Heavy Rockin' Hard Metal" on at least one side), at least 24 copies have been produced for this run of the EP (no word on possible future pressings), and they'll be available for purchase for $6 at Saturday's show, so there's all the more reason to show up!

This is awesome news for Late & Loud fans, and hopefully this sparks a big turnout and interest for this return show (possibly their last?) and the EP! I'm glad to see them finally put this out, as they put in enough work on it, and you know I'll be there on Saturday to pick it up and see them and The Saigon Hookers in action! And yes, if I do get the EP, I'll likely review it this month on the SMS (and move Mike Haggith's newest album's review to December to avoid any biases), but stay tuned as the week progresses for more on this show and the EP itself, and for at least the next week, rejoice in Late & Loud's return!

Next up today, here's a neat new video from local horror punk quintet Frightlight! In a similar vein to Woods of Ypres' old tour vlogs, guitarist Rick "Styles" White posted this vlog onto his YouTube channel on Sunday, and it's of random footage before and during their set opening for The Misfits at The Opera House in Toronto on October 25th! I won't spoil the entire contents, but you'll see a vuvuzela, footage of the road trip, what was in Rick's hotel room, The Opera House itself, and yes, some concert footage (including The Misfits themselves), and an oddly named Chinese restaurant, among other random clips! This is a neat look at a local band's tour cycle, despite patchy video quality, and hopefully they have more tour vlogs from future out of town gigs to come! Check it out below, and stay tuned for more Frightlight updates as they roll in!



Finally, Haggith drummer Mike Haggith has uploaded another archive solo album of his onto his YouTube channel! Posted there yesterday, this is of his 40th solo album "Ace", which was released in May 2010, and acted as a compilation release of songs from his three 2009 albums "The Curse Was The Cure", "I Hate My Life & I Want To Die", and "Hotel For Transients", featuring 3, 4, and 6 songs respectively from each (which are all on YouTube already too.) The upload of "Ace" leaves just two of his post-2008 albums unavailable on YouTube ("For My Fallen Angel" and his second "Best of Mike Haggith" release), and it's good to see Mike posting more of his old original material! While you can hear these songs on other albums, "Ace" features some of his best and favourite 2009 work, so give it a look/listen below, and check the above links for more streaming and purchase copies of his solo material!



That's probably all for today, but stay tuned for more news, weekend concert previews, our next Defunct Local Band Profile, and more in the next little while! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Halloween Party), Frightlight News, And A New Video!!

Today's news post is mostly focused on Sault Ontario for a change, so if you've missed news on this side of the border, this might help! Along with a Sault Michigan video, we also have news on a local Halloween costume drive with a metal connection, and plenty of updates relating to a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, including all of the current details on the latest edition of a popular annual Halloween concert event, and how it's changed from last year, so here's what you need to know!

For a seventh straight year, local concert promoter J.D. Pearce is hosting The Halloween Party on Saturday, October 27th, though at a new location! After six years at the old Coch's Corner on Bay Street, this long established & popular Halloween weekend event will not be moving along with the venue to the old Foggy Notions location. Instead, the seventh installment will be held at The Algonquin Pub & Sports Bar this year, which is downstairs from The Rockstar Bar at 864 Queen Street East. A reason for the move hasn't been announced, but given the relocated Coch's Corner's focus on acoustic bands, J.D. might not have been able to host the Halloween party as it once was if it stayed at Coch's this year. That said, while The Algonquin Pub itself isn't a frequent local metal/hard rock concert venue (not since the old Turner Up at Algoma Hope4Haiti in February 2010, I think), hopefully The Halloween Party can be another success and encourage further metal/hard rock shows there! So while the location has changed, the rest will be similar to what you've come to expect since 2006, including a great Halloween ambiance, a costume contest (nice to see that back), and three local bands, including local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight for a fourth straight year!

This will likely be Frightlight's first local show in 3 months, following opening for Anvil in July, but it will come fresh off of their second Toronto gig on October 25th, where they will open for The Misfits once again! That's huge news in and of itself, so click here for more details on that show, and stay tuned in case I hear anything about tickets being sold locally for it! It'll be great to see Frightlight back for the seventh Halloween party, and you know their horror look and themes will fit perfectly, so don't miss them! One opening band has been confirmed at present, that being The Brews, who are a NOFX tribute band. I'm fairly certain that they are the same band who played one-off sets under differing genres & names such as Glamoween, The Mothermakers, and The 151s at the past Coch's Corner Halloween shows, so if you like them or NOFX, keep them in mind for October 27th! The third band has yet to be announced, but for reference, the last three Halloween shows featured Redundant, Winkstinger, and the recently inactive Half Past, so there's an idea of what we could expect. Like past years, admission will be $5 for this 19+ show, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Though the change in scenery might take some getting used to, it's great to see J.D. bringing the Halloween party back for a 7th year, and hopefully I can make it out once again to revel in the Halloween insanity and entertaining local music! With the recent dry spell for metal/hard rock shows in Sault Ontario, you might wanna pay extra attention. Stay tuned for updates as they come in, but here's one more Frightlight-related note. Do you have new, unused, or gently used Halloween costumes, accessories, and/or makeup that could stand to be donated? Frightlight and local music store The Rad Zone are teaming up to accept donations for any of the above items from September 29th through October 15th, and each donation will give you an entry in a draw for a Frightlight prize package! I assume the draw will take place on or after October 15th, and after the collection period ends, The Rad Zone will set a couple of days for interested people to come by to see what's available to pick up for Halloween. This sounds like a great cause, and hopefully this benefits local families and Halloween celebrants who need or can't afford the right costumes and makeup, so click here for full details, kudos to Frightlight & The Rad Zone for jumping on board, and if you've got Halloween items to donate, swing them by The Rad Zone starting on the 29th!

Closing today's post is that second video I alluded to yesterday from Scofflaw/ex-River Witch drummer Ivan Schliska's YouTube channel! Uploaded in April, this is of Ivan, Hammerspace alum John Bergeron, and at least two other Sault Michigan-area musicians (I'm unsure of their identities) playing an original song during a jam session that John wrote. It sounds somewhat like a Soundgarden song, but the vocals are too low and monotone for my liking, and the angle of the camera is strange, with only Ivan being consistently visible or in frame. Couldn't it have been put further from the guys, or moved down even? It's still a nice quality jam session video, and you can check it out below! (Note that the video's title alludes to TV host Tom Bergeron, likely as a reference to the shared last name with John.)



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon, including our next poll and last month's poll results on Tuesday, and hopefully our review of "Yooper Bars" as well! Thanks everyone!

Late & Loud Concert Preview, More Joan Jett Videos, And This Week's Classic Video!!

Let's kick off Wednesday right with a new news post, and in this one, we have a bunch of new videos from the Joan Jett concert on Friday, this week's classic video, and leading the charge, a concert preview, so here's all that you need to know!

We have a midweek concert to preview today, and it's the return of Late & Loud to The Speak Easy TONIGHT! Details are scant on this show, but it will be the talented classic metal quartet's first headlining show at Algoma University's campus bar in over a month, and first concert of any type since a Rosie metal night in late September. The band mas only minimally plugged this concert since announcing it last week, but I assume it will be mostly similar to their usual Speak Easy concerts. For the record, I have no clue if this show will have a Halloween tie-in, but if I hear anything more official on this concert, I guarantee you'll hear it here! That said, I expect this show will be a 19+ affair (except maybe for underage Algoma students), a 10:00 PM-ish start time is likely, and I'd bring cash in the event there's a cover. Check the above links for more details! Regardless of a lack of information, Late & Loud's word is good, and with past members of Stillbroke, The Glass Statues, and Losing Ground in their lineup, you know there's plenty of talent to go around! Check them out tonight at The Speak Easy if you can, and for a preview, here's Late & Loud covering Witchcraft's "Chylde of Fire" at what is now Feedback earlier this year!



Now to some more new Joan Jett & The Blackhearts concert videos from this past Friday night at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino, and first, here's four brand new ones from a new video source! These come from YouTube user Gwen Walker, who uploaded four videos from the show onto her YouTube channel over the last two days. Her videos were all shot on a cell phone camera, and they feature Joan playing her song "Fake Friends", her covers of The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" & The Runaways' "You Drive Me Wild", and in the video we're featuring below, her encore songs "Little Liar" and a cover of Sweet's "A.C.D.C."! Gwen got a decent angle of Joan and the band from the left of the stage, but on a narrow cell phone camera, you don't get the best view. The audio works well enough though, and everything sounds about as clear as you'd expect! Nice videos overall, so check out all 4 of Gwen's videos from the Joan Jett concert above, and here's the encore from the show!



Also new from the concert are four more videos from YouTube user scott45044, who had previously uploaded videos of Joan & The Blackhearts playing their two newest songs "T.M.I." and "Hard To Grow Up" on Monday. Well, Scott followed those up with four more videos yesterday, and if you saw how good of a quality the first two videos were, you'll definitely wanna check these out! In the new clips, you'll be able to see Joan play her cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" again & her classic "I Love Rock N' Roll", as well as her songs "Go Home" (or part of it), "Love Is Pain", and "The French Song"! The quality's as good as before, and Scott deserves a lot of props for giving us such good videos from the Joan Jett show! Lots of good stuff here, but note that the audio is out of sync with the video at points. Because it's a hard rocker, was recorded in full, and wasn't embedded on here before from another user, here's Scott's video of Joan playing "The French Song", but check the above links for the rest of his videos from the show! Also, it's still odd that no videos of "I Hate Myself For Loving You" are out, but maybe it wasn't in the setlist. Oh well, what we've got works really well!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! With two huge shows of theirs coming up, it made perfect sense to tie in this week's video with local horror punk quintet Frightlight, who are of course opening for The Misfits in Toronto TONIGHT, then headlining the Coch's Corner Halloween party this Saturday! That said, this is another video from a recent Fitswitch reunion concert, and remember, every Frightlight member except Mike "Eddie Fright" Gingras were in past Fitswitch lineups. Like our classic video of Fitswitch covering Frightlight's "She Screams" from August, this comes from the very same concert set at The Elks Hall on March 22nd, 2010, in honour of guitarist Kevin Powe's stag & doe. In this video however, the classic Fitswitch lineup (including four past or present Frightlight members & Andrew MacDonald on bass) fittingly covered The Misfits' song "Dig Up Her Bones", and they don't do a bad job! On the original video (which guitarist Rick White uploaded to Facebook shortly after the show), there is some self-deprecating jabs at the lack of practice for the set, but it sounds pretty good still, even if some parts are messy! They know their Misfits and they pull them off well!

The original video can be seen at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=408246021302, though after posting it to YouTube, I did edit the lighting to make it a bit brighter and less washed out looking. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Fitswitch and Krista Kelly, who filmed this and other videos from this set. They did all the hard work, I'm just sharing this video with a wider audience! With that said, check out Fitswitch covering The Misfits last year below, and go see Fitswitch members OPEN for The Misfits as Frightlight TONIGHT in Toronto if you have tickets! It'll be a good one!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our next Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on The Lust Boys (featuring Glass Statues guitarist Ben Kemp-Reynolds) later today! Thanks everyone!

Concert Statuses, Frightlight News, And Another New Album Upload!!

Anyone in the mood for some more local metal news? I have it today, including some concert statuses, a bunch of Frightlight news, this week's classic video, and another classic album upload to share with you guys, so let's get cracking with the news!

Over the past week or so, you may have been aware of a potential return show in Sault Ontario for Victoria hardcore/punk legends The Dayglo Abortions, who memorably headlined a huge Thursday metal night at The Roosevelt Hotel in June. The possible return concert was to take place at an undetermined venue tomorrow night at 9:00 PM, and reportedly would have featured local old school hardcore quintet Destroilet as openers in their Dismembertainment debut. There were two reasons why I never plugged it on here: A venue wasn't confirmed, and there was a chance that the show might not take place, as The Dayglo Abortions may have had to fly home early. So is it happening? It doesn't look like it. Promoter Rich Moreland commented on this show's Facebook event page on Wednesday that he would say it's not happening. Shame to see the concert not go down, as you know how great The Dayglo Abortions were in June, but hopefully Dismembertainment brings them back down the road! After all, you saw the crowd thew last time, imagine how insane it would be for a second round?

Also in terms of concert news, I have heard that the Skid Row concert that Dismembertainment was trying to book for The Rosie in November is no longer happening either. I won't go into details, but the whole tour was called off, so nothing bad happened locally. That's super disappointing too, and I know fans have been looking forward to seeing them here since the Runway Park cancellation from 2008, but hopefully they'll play Sault Ontario themselves down the road as well!

Next up, here's some Frightlight news (good & bad.) First, it looks like the previously announced concert that Frightlight was to play at Bossy's Pub N' Grub on October 28th (as per this press release) is now cancelled. Guitarist Rick "Styles" White confirmed the news on his personal Facebook page last night. A reason for the cancellation was not announced, but no worries, you'll still get to see Frightlight's new lineup make their local debut the very next night at this year's Coch's Corner Halloween Party! Speaking of their new lineup, the band's Facebook & CBC Radio 3 pages have quietly been updated to reflect the addition of Half Past/ex-Fitswitch drummer Chris Thompson to the band, though why Jeff De Rose left is still unannounced. Nice to get more confirmation on the switch, and Chris should do great with Frightlight! The other new Frightlight item is that all members of Frightlight have tickets for sale for their gig opening for The Misfits in Toronto on October 26th! If you wanna see this horrorific pairing at The Phoenix Theater on the 26th, click here to contact band members to get hooked up (or go to The Rad Zone!) This will be a huge show for them, so hopefully a huge local contingent makes the road trip to Toronto for The Misfits and Frightlight on stage together!

Continuing with the Frightlight news, they're the subject of this week's classic video, as I'm tying it in with guitarist Rick White's show with Redundant last night! In July, you may remember when I uploaded a classic video of Frightlight covering a Headstones song at their debut concert in October 2009. Well, here's one more from that night, and it's of Frightlight playing their song "She Screams" from that same show! Again featuring the band's original quartet lineup (including ex-drummer Larry Mousseau), this comes from the Frightlight-headlined Coch's Corner Halloween Party on Halloween night in 2009, and it's similar to other early performances of this song by the more reserved chorus singing. Good performance all around though! Like the Headstones cover, this was filmed by a concert attendee and later uploaded to Facebook by Rick White the next day. The original video can be seen at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=192479931302 and NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to the original filmer and Frightlight, they put in the hard work, I'm just showing this off to a wider audience like it deserves! That all said, check out Frightlight playing "She Screams" at their debut concert below!



And finally, remember when I uploaded Detroit's first EP "Let The Hammers Fly" onto the SMS' YouTube channel on Tuesday? Well, there's more where that came from, as I also uploaded the inactive hardcore quartet's second and last EP "Brace For Impact" onto YouTube that same day! Released in December 2009 at the band's CD release show at Coch's Corner, "Brace For Impact" was recorded earlier that year at BWC Studios in Toronto with producer Greg Dawson (Lion Ride are working with Greg at BWC on their new album too.) The EP features 9 songs, mostly re-recordings of songs from "Let The Hammers Fly", though it includes four new tracks ("Fortress", "Darth Vader", "Pyre Driver", and "Bloodlet"), and despite less songs, it's actually a slightly longer disc due to the length of the newer songs. For audio quality, "Brace For Impact" is the superior Detroit CD, but both are well worth checking out for some old school hardcore/punk fury! This CD is also out of print, and with our Defunct Local Band Profile on Detroit coming up on Monday, it made perfect sense to upload "Brace For Impact" onto YouTube as well to ensure that their whole discography is available to check out!

Click here and scroll below the first Detroit EP to give their last album a listen, or click here for the handy playlist I made for it! The first track, "Fortress" is embedded below, but give the whole album a listen at the above links, and stay tuned for our Defunct Profile on Detroit on Monday!



That's all for today, but there should be some more news over the weekend, and if not, our Defunct Local Band Profile on Detroit is on Monday, so keep an eye out! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Frightlight), Plus More Frightlight News & This Week's Classic Video!!

Let's get your Friday going right with a pile of news, and most of it revolves around one band, who have a lot of big announcements on their plate, though we also have this week's classic video to round things out. So let's kick things off with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight will return to the local stage for at least two shows over Halloween weekend! The shows were announced via a press release that the band sent to SooToday yesterday, so click here for the full article! First, the band will rock Bossy's Pub N' Grub on Friday, October 28th for the first time, in what will also be the first metal concert at the former Smack Daddy's since Hollow's reunion show there last month! Interesting spot, but Frightlight will bring the horror to Bossy's as only they can at this show! Details on possible cover charges, additional bands, and times are not out yet, but I expect this will be a 19+ concert. When I hear more, I'll let you guys know! The other new local concert will be the very next night, as Frightlight will presumably headline the sixth annual Coch's Corner Halloween Party! Always a highlight of the Halloween season, Coch's Corner pulls out all the stops to give a Halloween ambiance to the bar each year, and expect lots of great music and good times to go along with it! Last year, there was a costume contest too, so look out for that on October 29th as well! Admission should be around $5, which isn't standard for Coch's Corner shows, but is definitely worth it! I'd expect a 9:00 PM start time and a 19+ age limit as well.

As for the complete lineup, that isn't out yet, but for reference, the Halloween parties in 2009 & 2010 featured Half Past & Winkstinger respectively, along with one-off cover bands Glamoween in 2009 & The Mothermakers last year (who shared identical members.) Also, both of these shows will be among the first featuring Frightlight's current lineup, but we'll have more on that later. Awesome to see Frightlight back for some big concerts next month, and I'll definitely at least be at the Coch's Corner Halloween party, but in terms of scope, their biggest concert is happening a couple days before...

... as on October 26th, Frightlight will head to Toronto to open for horror punk legends The Misfits at The Phoenix Concert Theater! How about that for a concert? Frightlight will join Chicago punk standouts Juicehead and Toronto-area punk bands Rehab For Quitters, The Unbelievers, and Bi-Kneel at this concert, which is part of The Misfits' tour cycle in support of their upcoming album "The Devil's Rain"! This is awesome news for Frightlight, and it's great to hear public word of them playing with such a legendary band as The Misfits! For the record, this show was the main focus of the SooToday press release linked above. Now, being that the show is in Toronto, you may be wondering why we're covering it in extra detail on The Sault Metal Scene. Simple, because you can buy tickets for the show locally! The Rad Zone at The Wellington Square Mall has limited tickets available for this concert for $32.50, so if you want to take a road trip down to Toronto on Wednesday, October 26th, get your tickets A.S.A.P. at The Rad Zone! Yes, you can buy tickets online or by phone too, but you won't get saddled with shipping or other additional fees if you buy them in person. For complete details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an awesome concert, so if you can make it to Toronto on October 26th, definitely head down to see The Misfits and Frightlight together on stage! Get more details at the above links!

And finally in Frightlight news, the band appears to have parted ways with drummer Jeff De Rose. Though still listed on Frightlight's band pages, he's not credited on their Misfits show press release linked above, and through some additional searching, it definitely looks like he's out of the band. I don't know why he left, but everything looks amicable. Under the stage names "The Count" & "Dr./Mr. Bates", Jeff had been Frightlight's drummer for about a year, after replacing Jeff "Shrek Ogre" Richards in August 2010. It's disappointing to see Jeff leave, but hopefully he'll pop up behind a drumkit again soon! Though not officially confirmed on band pages, it looks like Jeff has been replaced by Half Past drummer Chris Thompson, making him the band's fourth drummer in under two years. He's credited solely as "Thompson" in the band's press release, implying that that's his current Frightlight stage name. Solid choice, especially given Chris' talent and his past work in Fitswitch, seeing as he, J.D., Rick, and Kevin were all Fitswitch bandmates for a time in the mid-2000s! In fact, click here to see all four of the now-Frightlight bandmates playing "March of 1,000 Corpses" at The Canadian Nightclub as sort of a preview of what's to come! Chris should do great in Frightlight, and stay tuned for their new lineup's debut late next month!

Lastly for today, here's this week's classic video! I honestly couldn't find many suitable non-YouTube videos to tie in with any metal bands playing this weekend, so I'll dip into the general archives for a video this week, but for which band? Lion Ride, they'll work well! I chose a video of the talented quintet playing their new original "Bang Bang Bye Bye" at a 2009 concert for this week, but I'm not 100% sure where it was filmed. Judging by past tour dates and photo evidence, I think it's from Lion Ride's show at Maxwell's Music House in Waterloo, Ontario on April 25th, 2009, but correct me if I'm wrong. If that's all correct, this is the earliest video I've seen of the band playing "Bang Bang Bye Bye", and it features their 2009-2010 lineup, including then-bassist Diamond Brent Panther (now of Maximum RNR.) Very good quality, though I think newer versions of the song have a bit more aggression to them. This video was originally filmed by attendee Rob Schramm, who uploaded it to his personal Facebook page that same day, and you can see the original video at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=80227591746.

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! I want to share this video with a wider audience like it deserves, and all credit for this video goes to Rob and Lion Ride! Also, I did come minor colour correction to the video after uploading it, but it didn't need much work. With that said, check out Lion Ride playing "Bang Bang Bye Bye" in Waterloo(?) in 2009 below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes over the weekend, and our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Paricide on Monday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison, Ultraviolence, & Frightlight), And More!!

Big post today, and before we get to news as scheduled, are you wondering what went down at the "secret concert" last night? I will tell you this much that I have heard: Local horror-themed punk/metal band Frightlight made their long awaited return to the stage last night, in their first Coch's Corner show since October! It was also their first live performance with Caveman Morrison's Jeff "Shrek Ogre" Richards on drums, replacing Larry Mousseau, who appears to have left Frightlight earlier this year. That sounds awesome in itself, hearing those guys play lots of horror movie-themed originals, but why was it so secretive? Probably because THE MISFITS were there, signing autographs and mingling with the fans! That's not a typo either. I wasn't there, so I don't know all that went on, but that's what I've heard. Out of respect for the intentional low-key nature of this show and the secrecy that was maintained, I won't post a photo or link from or related to it from any Facebook sources. But for those of you who don't believe this story, let me say this: I have never spread rumours on here, every story I report is through research and verified sources. If I had just heard word of mouth without proof, I would NEVER report it here. So yeah, that's the secret show for you, and if you were in attendance, consider yourself VERY lucky!

Now, onto some more exciting news, starting with not one, not two, but THREE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!! And after that, stay tuned for some updates from The Barking Eye, and if you look close, maybe you'll find out which album I'm reviewing in the next few days somewhere in this post!

Let's go in chronological order for the new concerts, and kicking things off is the long awaited publicly advertised return of Tym Morrison's solo show! After weeks without a new acoustic set from the Caveman Morrison mastermind, he played a private birthday party on Wednesday at The Gliss Rest-O-Bar on Great Northern Road, which is on the same corner as Lucky 7 Mini Mart. The concert went over so well, he's back for a publicly open set there on Saturday evening! Consider this a preview for the show too, as it is this weekend. Compared to most of Tym's solo shows, this has an early start time of 6:00 PM, but the music's good no matter how early, so don't stop yourself! There's no cover charge, but seeing as this is a restaurant/bar, you'll wanna bring money to buy something lest you get kicked out. Should be fun as always, Tym puts in a great show each time he plays, and his acoustic stuff can both rock hard and hit a soft spot depending on your mood! Remember, he also takes requests! Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page, and remember to check out some of his great Caveman and solo material at his official website! Sorry for the short notice too, it was only announced yesterday.

...speaking of Tym's solo material, this month's CD review on The Sault Metal Scene will be of Tym Morrison's "Solo Project" CD!! I wanted to link my next review with an upcoming local concert, and this fits the bill very nicely! Look out for my review of it by Tuesday, possibly earlier!

Next is a show that I think takes place on Tuesday, but I want you guys to take this concert with a grain of salt. According to the Hot Spots section of the newest issue of Sault This Week, Toronto "drunk n' roll" band Ultraviolence will be back at Coch's Corner for the first time in a few months! Knowing Coch's Corner shows, there would be no cover charge with a 10-11:00 PM start time. If you wanna hear some great AC/DC-ish hard rock that's perfect to drink to, this is your band! Now I feel mostly comfortable with covering this show on here for a few reasons, including their past history here (Coch's likes booking Ultraviolence), the fact that it's in the paper at all (the ad for Coch's Corner is rarely wrong), and the fact that J.D. Pearce from Coch's Corner said he was pretty sure they were playing when I asked him about it yesterday. That being said, the band have not plugged this show on their MySpace page, and they recently announced the departure of drummer Alexis Von Kraven, so I had doubts for the show being on. So I will list this show in the concert listings on your left, BUT keep in mind that for all I know, it may have been cancelled, but there's enough to go on to confirm it as being on. Stay tuned!

Finally for new shows, we go back to the band we kicked off today's post with: Frightlight! If you missed the "secret show" and are hoping for an openly advertised show of theirs to hit, this will definitely interest you! On July 10th, Frightlight will play their first publicly open concert since Halloween when they rock Coch's Corner once again, this time as the openers for Toronto surf garage punk rockers The von Drats! Their MySpace page lists no venue, but bassist DanO von Drat confirmed that they're playing at Coch's Corner in a posting on the SMS' Facebook page. The von Drats play a unique combination of 1960s-ish surf rock and goth-influenced punk, which makes for some strangely listenable tunes! Not "metal" by any stretch, but you gotta check them out, click here to do so! Of course, if you want heaviness, Frightlight will bring an awesome horror themed punk/metal attack to start off the night! Featuring J.D. and Rick from Fitswitch, Shrek from Caveman Morrison, and Mike Gingras on bass, these guys definitely bring the goods, and will have lots of great originals in store on July 10th! The show will likely start between 10:00 and 11:00 PM on that night, and has no announced cover. More details will be posted as I hear them!

And finally for today, prolific local rock drummer Glen Thomas has posted some intriguing new stories onto his local music news site, The Barking Eye, which I recommend you guys read more often! The biggest new story he posted concerns how local bands get studio recordings made and released, which actually outlines the self-recording process pretty nicely if you want to self-record material rather than enter a professional studio! Glen refers to Sykotyk Rampage in the piece as one of many examples of local bands who record their songs themselves at home. If you're in a band and want to record good sounding original material, read Glen's article at this location, which could help you take the next step without forking out too much cash! Apparently, Glen will be profiling bands who self-record in an upcoming series called "Attack of the Garage Bands", so stay tuned for that as well! Also now on The Barking Eye: Updates on the in-progress local recording studio named Basswerx, and a small update on a music school opening near Bawating Collegiate that will be run by Stiffler's Mom/Sin Stereo guitarist Mike Davies! Check out The Barking Eye today, there's lots of great local music talk from a guy who definitely knows what he's talking about!

Alright, so here's where today's post ends. But are you wondering why there's nothing about last month or this month's poll? Simple, I'm posting about that tonight! I don't like doing two posts in a day, but I got piled with news in the last couple of days, so I can't let things slide. In the meantime, you can vote on the new poll already, it's up on the left of the page, but we'll wait til tonight to discuss it. Stay tuned for that and much more, including my review of Tym Morrison's solo album by Tuesday, and lots of other stuff you'll wanna check out!