LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Downtown Street Party), New Videos, And Much More!!

We made it out of July, so let's kick off August with a new news post, including some assorted recent updates, new videos, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! Here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations and online page-less alt-punk cover quintet Bookclub will join forces on Thursday, August 10th for the second summer street party of the year on Queen Street East! Put on by the Sault Ste. Marie Downtown Association, this follows their first street party of the year on July 13th, which featured the debut of new local rock band Turbo Dad (featuring alumni of Ashes To Dust, Convergence, The Saturday Nights, and The Uncanny Valley), though I don't know if their sound encroaches into heavier territory. Specifics on the family friendly entertainment next week are surprisingly not out yet, but visit the Downtown Association Facebook page for updates when they occur, or to see what happened last month. Expect games, vendors, and a good time (weather permitting) in any event, and both Generations and Bookclub should deliver strong sets to a receptive audience!

The street party will take place on a closed off section of Queen Street between Spring Street and Dennis Street, and while they have not yet specified where on Queen that the bands will be playing, note that last year's street party between Spring & Dennis had the band stage set up at the corner of Queen and March Street. The festivities begin at 5:00 PM on Thursday, and have no cover charge. Hopefully things live up to their usual promise for families and music fans alike, so visit the above links for continuing details on next Thursday's street party!

Next up, here's the first public video from new local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's Facebook page! This comes from their set opening for North Bay country/hard rock musician Cory Marks at The Machine Shop last month, with an uncredited attendee filming them covering AC/DC's "Highway To Hell". It's a shame that this video is only 31 seconds long, as the quality of this camera is really good, and it captures the Obsession successors handling this hard rock classic very nicely across the board! I'm definitely curious to see more, but give it a watch for yourself below!

Also today, this is a bit of a follow-up from my review of Handsome Sandwich's debut album "Deconstructed" on Saturday, as this never made a normal post at the time. On July 7th, the local alt-hard rock quintet posted the album on YouTube via individual uploads of all 11 songs that you can access via their YouTube channel and/or this playlist, with each video creatively highlighting just one individual item on the sandwich on the front cover (two if you count both bread slices on "Darkside"), with the rest blacked out. If you wish that they hadn't changed the album's name from "Lettuce", then you may like that this sandwich's lettuce is highlighted on tracks #5, #9, and #10! The images are static, but have pulsating light effects on the album text. Effectively done way to differentiate what may otherwise have just been a stock YouTube Music upload, so give the opening song "Stick Up" a listen below!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual for short story blocks like this, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

• I have regrettably removed defunct local classic/hard rock cover band Obsession from our band links due to the deletion of their Facebook page and closure of their website (I don't believe that they had any other proper social media/band pages). The veteran fan favourites ended their 18 year run in February due to guitarist Gabe Tessaro's retirement from live music (That's Chester reunions excepted), with his bandmates splintering off into Soundcheck and the aforementioned Silent 9. I wish they would have at least left the Facebook page up, but follow Obsession members' current projects to see what they're up to now!
• In a Sault Star article by Jeffrey Ougler last week, he talked about the history of major touring musicians at GFL Memorial Gardens since the former Steelback/Essar Centre opened in 2006, especially in regards to a survey that the downtown arena put out to ask mailing list subscribers about what concerts they should try to book here. Rock & country led the way, and arena general manager Robert Santa Maria was interviewed about the challenges and ideal scenarios for attracting certain acts while minimizing any sort of monetary loss for the promoters. This is an interesting read, and hopefully the survey was fruitful, so read it for yourself above!
• Louisville, Kentucky post-grunge quartet Tantric will return to the region on Sunday, September 3rd at Bates Corner Bar & Grill in Gould City, Michigan! This is a 90 minute drive from the Soo, albeit still in the Upper Peninsula, so while it is out of our coverage range (about as far from here as Blind River), you guys may want to consider checking this out, as tickets are just $20. A robust lineup of openers includes local metal quartet Tarnished (no strangers to Gould City on their own), a very rare U.P. set from St. Ignace deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, and oft-seen Saginaw rap rock band Redburn, among others. For such a small town, this is a huge concert, and hopefully there's a solid turnout over the Labour Day long weekend despite the 90 minute trek for many!
  

 

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

YouTube Channel Profile Series: 2010abstract's Channel & Chris Bardawill

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, as we once again shine another monthly spotlight on YouTube channels whose videos are at least half comprised of local metal, hard rock, or punk-specific content! There is a slight change of plans for this month, as the second randomly selected channel for this month (YouTube user ander101) is actually one that we already spotlighted back in 2016! I'm surprised that I don't err like that more often given how long this series has been going. In its place, I randomly chose a 100% unfeatured-already channel to round out this multi-channel installment, so here's what you should know!

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2010abstract's Channel (http://youtube.com/2010abstract)

Owner: A member or representative of defunct Sault Michigan hard rock band Abstract (formerly Aux and later renamed Tantrum and Tantrym Tyme), exact identity unclear

Channel Timeline: Launched on March 10th, 2011; Videos uploaded that day and two days later

Channel Summary: The then-official YouTube channel for the Guitar Studio rock camp graduates (aged just 10-11 upon their 2010 launch), Abstract posted two jam session cover videos here from two separate locales

Why You Should Watch: While there's only two videos here, it is very interesting to see where the future Tantrym Tyme started, and even as pre-teens, you get the sense that they had bigger and better things ahead, as fans will know when comparing their mid-2010s Tantrym Time gigs to their humble beginnings as Abstract! This channel was succeeded by their later TANTRUMzone channel in 2012, which only ever had one video, with Tantrym Tyme-era videos largely posted on Facebook or by fans.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Abstract- Back in Black: The former Abstract's first and most popular video saw them cover AC/DC's "Back In Black" in a rehearsal space, with the band then-comprised of singer/guitarist Jacob Hotlen, guitarist Kyle Burton, bassist Mike East, and drummer Ethan Twardy (all but Kyle hung on through to the Tantrym Tyme years). Their ages absolutely have to be taken into account when gauging this performance and Jasob's vocals, which all undoubtedly improved by the end of Tantrym Tyme's active run, but for kids at their age, they did very well here, and Jacob nailed the solo!

Abstract- Woman: Two days later, the band's final upload here saw them cover Wolfmother's "Woman" in a new jam space with a new widescreen camera. While shorter, this is arguably a better showcase of Abstract's skills at the time, both from the more contemporary & faster song, as well as using more of Jacob's vocal range at the time. You can see why Abstract would have turned a few heads, but of course, check out Tantrym Tyme videos to see the culmination of all of their hard work as musicians as they entered high school!

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Chris Bardawill (http://www.youtube.com/@chrisbardawill281)

Owner: Sault Ontario resident Christopher Bardawill

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 6th, 2021; Videos uploaded that day through that September

Channel Summary: Alongside three non-musical videos of Chris and friends, his channel contains five videos from defunct local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession's set at the pandemic-restricted drive-thru Rotaryfest outside of the former Lowe's Plaza in July 2021. Obsession were represented here by singer Valerie Powley, guitarist Gabe Tessaro, bassist Jim Michaud, and drummer Steve Porco, with Rotaryfest sound tech Dan Belanger guesting for the set. The five videos include covers of Big Brother & The Holding Company's version of Erma Franklin's "Piece Of My Heart", AC/DC's "Highway To Hell", Billy Squier's "Everybody Wants You", Heart's "Barracuda", and in his most popular video, their set-opening cover of Chuck Berry's "Maybellene" with Gabe on lead vocals. Solid stuff all around from this missed local band, and they made the most of a screwy time, as nicely filmed by Chris!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around August 26th for another multi-band post, with three channels this time, as the first random selection just had three videos from across two concerts from the same band, so I randomly picked a channel with just videos from one show to fill things out with. As such, we will be looking at the channels of YouTube users Danabelle39 (featuring videos of Havadder live at the former Nicolet) and kilko8011 (featuring videos of Treble Charger playing in Toronto). Look for those next month, and for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

Wednesday Concert Previews, Plus Soundcheck/Obsession Concert Videos!!

It's unusual where two concerts that cross our radar take place on a Wednesday, let alone both outdoors, so let's preview those to start this Tuesday evening post, which is capped off with live videos from a unique recent concert. Here's what you should know!

We'll start with Tidal Records' ninth annual Go Skateboarding Day festivities at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of The John Rhodes Centre TOMORROW, and for a seventh year, live music will be on tap for skaters and fans to enjoy! Along with the skating, refreshments, vendors, and games, four local bands will take to the stage atop the big ramp tomorrow, all new to Go Skate Day, with online page-less punk trio Hails (featuring These Magnificent Tentacles & Vanity First alumni) headlining. Their sound is tailor-made for extreme sports like this, so they're a fine pick! Support bands include also-online-pageless alternative/punk quintet Bookclub (featuring event organizer/ex-Cover-Up frontman Dustin Jones), rap collective Sound Syndicate (featuring ex-As It Stands singer Justin "Nadj" Pregent), and young local metal trio The BAG. Nice array of current music for all tastes, including rap for the first time since 2016, so keep this event in mind!

Whether you're skateboarding or not, Go Skate Day is FREE and ALL AGES, and a 4:00 PM start time is advertised. Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for sunny conditions in the 25° range, so unless you hate summer, this should be optimal for both skating and seeing an outdoor concert. Go Skateboarding Day is always June 21st, so the Wednesday timing won't be ideal for many on work/school schedules, but at least it'll be an early event with good weather, and hopefully a solid array of established and new skateboarders turn up for all of the fun, let alone the music! See above for more details, and in lieu of a public video of Hails, here's Bookclub live!

Next up, there's more hard rock-leaning live music taking place outdoors downtown TOMORROW, as Baltimore, Maryland psychedelic hard rock duo Darsombra will return to the Soo for a special gig at a pop-up stage on March Street! The second and final concert in Dryer Fire's summer concert series that crosses our genre radar, this will be Darsombra's third local appearance, following indoor gigs at separate venues in 2017 & 2019. Given their audio/visual presentation and extended jams in their set, it will be interesting to see how Darsombra do in an outdoor setting, though at least by the time their set is slated to begin at 9:45 PM, it will be getting darker! Local folk punk/extreme metal solo musician Chase Wigmore will open tomorrow, presumably in acoustic folk punk confines, and his guitar wizardry should be more than welcomed by fans, especially following his Dryer Fire set opening for Hails in March!

As best as I can gather, this show will be held at or near the corner of March Street and Queen Street East (somewhere near The Queen's Tarts), and was moved from the Bellevue Park Bandshell for unannounced reasons. This is also a FREE & ALL AGES concert (the crowd-funding campaign worked!) with Chase opening at 8:30 PM, preceded by a local vendor's market with food by Jiggs & Reels at 6:30 PM. 9&10 News is calling for sunny-clear skies at this later point tomorrow, with temperatures in the low 20s Celsius. Should be a very memorable show on musical and visual fronts, as Darsombra have to be seen to be fully appreciated, so visit the Facebook event page for more details, and here they are live!

Now let's look at a bunch of videos from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck's special Esquire Club show on Saturday, June 10th alongside three former Obsession singers! Drummer Glen Thomas uploaded nine videos from the gig to his YouTube channel last week, all labelled as "Soundcheck with (the) Obsession Angels" (presumably as there were three of them, like Charlie's Angels). A commemoration for the 18 year run of Obsession (featuring Soundcheck bassist Jim Michaud), the videos show Soundcheck playing alongside Obsession's first three lead frontwomen (Kim Liguori, Lorrie Lynn Bolduc, and Valerie Powley), who appear to have sung together on stage for the duration rather than trade off for solo songs. Seven people on stage must have gotten crowded! The nine videos include renditions of April Wine's version of Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady", ...

Nick Gilder's "Hot Child In The City",  Electric Light Orchestra's "Rock N' Roll Is King", The Eagles' "Heartache Tonight", two different versions of Shania Twain's "(If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here!" (this one and an updated version with multiple camera angles), Trooper's "Raise A Little Hell", and Janis Joplin's version of Roger Miller's "Me & Bobby McGee", which also had the two upload treatment by Glen, but this time, both versions were composites from multiple camera angles (this is the original, the final updated copy is below). Mileage varies, but it is clear that Soundcheck didn't know all of these songs equally. Still, it is fun seeing them rock out in a relatively unique setting like this, and the ladies pair up well together! You can see why they all were remembered from their tenures in Obsession, though it would have been nice to see their final singer Jessica Amadio also involved here.

Credit to Glen for going the extra mile for the Shania and Janis covers by cobbling together available video footage (as best as I can tell, none uploaded publically on their own elsewhere) so we can see lots of angles of Soundcheck, the Obsession singers, and the audience in action, and even if some footage was vertical, he at least tiled it over horizontal clips! Give everyone tackling "Me & Bobby McGee" a watch below, and look for more from Soundcheck when we hear it!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for formal weekend concert previews on Thursday, and more news and notes otherwise soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906 & Soundcheck) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

Another weekend is upon us, so let's dive into most of this weekend's hard rock concert previews for the Sault Ste. Marie area! To spread things out, our preview of Saturday night's Soo Soundcheck multi-band concert at the Sault Community Theatre Centre will be a part of tomorrow's post. Now, here's what you should know to begin with, including some SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Esquire Club for a special concert on SATURDAY NIGHT where they will kinda sorta bring Obsession back! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only publically advertised via a shared post on the venue's Facebook page earlier today. As you may know, current Soundcheck bassist Jim Michaud was the only constant member of Obsession from 2005 until their dissolution earlier this year, and to honour that band's run, three of their four frontwomen will guest with Soundcheck on SATURDAY to do some of their old covers to commemorate Jim for his hard work! The singers in question are original vocalist Kim Liguori, current Sinners frontwoman Lorrie Lynn Bolduc, and Generations singer Valerie Powley (final Obsession singer Jessica Amadio is not advertised for this event, though her tenure was comparatively brief).

This sounds similar to Obsession's cancelled farewell show at The Esquire Club in February, based on what I was told in personal conversations, only with Cameron, Terry, and Glen replacing Jess, Gabe, and Steve. Ideal venue, talented musicians across the board, and the potential for joint songs with multiple singers, perhaps? SATURDAY's concert has a 9:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and no cover charge, and while no one has firmly said if Soundcheck are playing there tomorrow as well, we'll keep you posted if able. Hopefully this show gives Obsession the sendoff they deserve, even if via kind of a franken-band scenario, so see above for more details, and here's Obsession live!

Next up, here's one more new show to the SMS, namely the concert from Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 that I held for this weekend's previews to avoid redundantly covering it twice in the span of four days! Fresh off of their three month break (to give bassist Dustin Paras and his wife some time with their newborn baby), they will return to the stage THIS SATURDAY NIGHT when they rock Snows Bar & Grill in Cedarville! Again, apologies for the short notice, it was only announced on the band's Facebook page on Sunday when they announced their upcoming concert dates. Last seen at Snows in February, this won't be a return as you're expecting in two ways, as Fake Chow drummer Jason VanLuven has indeed replaced Odin Osgwin behind the kit... just not on SATURDAY. This is because Fake Chow are playing at The Islander Bar in Hessel concurrently with the Project 906 show in Cedarville.

Former Paradise Excuse drummer Brian Duford (yes, Jason was once their drummer too) will be filling in on SATURDAY, and hopefully he fits in well before Jason makes his 906 debut in Kinross next week! Project 906's hard rocking covers and select originals will be on tap on SATURDAY at 8:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Project 906 live!

Now let's head back to Sault Ontario for concerts that more than a week's advance notice, starting with new local classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down's first concerts at Jay's Piston Broke Pub TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After debuting at Reggie's with doubleheader weekends in each of the last two months, this union of Bone Yard, Mojo, Griphook, and Mustang Heart alumni will make their way west to the former Reggie's West for what should be a solid weekend of hard rocking covers from four talented local music veterans! Good to see them play at a new venue too (well, new for this particular band). Expect 9:30 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits for Double Down at Jay's tomorrow and Saturday, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Double Down live at Reggie's!

Finally for today's previews, let's head back downtown to the aforementioned Reggie's Place, where new local classic metal/hard rock trio Nostalgia will play their second and third concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! This union of Caveman Morrison, Browbeat, and Nikkfitt alumni debuted at Reggie's on May 26th, and while they lack an online page and public media at the moment, clearly their first show went well for them to get called back two weeks later, and for a double header! If you've missed seeing Tym Morrison in a plugged-in, full-band setting, let alone with 2/3rds of Caveman Morrison's 2012 lineup, then don't miss out on all of the action at Reggie's this weekend! No word yet on further gigs beyond this weekend, from Nostalgia or Tym's acoustic solo act, but we'll keep you posted. Tomorrow & Saturday's concerts are 19+ affairs with 9:30 PM start times and no cover charges. See above for more details!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Soo Soundcheck preview and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906 & Soundcheck), Weekend Concert Previews, And A Band Breakup!!

Before we begin this weekend's concert previews, just a heads up that local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession are not playing at The Esquire Club this weekend, despite announcing last month that the planned gigs there tomorrow and Saturday night were to be their last before breaking up. A reason for the cancellation of the dates has not been announced, but their website has been replaced by plain text by bassist/founder Jim Michaud noting that "the Obsession band has retired effective immediately" without addressing this weekend's concerts, and there was no follow-up as to their status on Facebook after his press release a month ago. Jim has since joined Soundcheck and will debut with them this weekend (more on those dates below), but whether they are a factor in the cancellation or not, I can't say with certainty. Obsession had announced their impending dissolution after an 18 year run last month when guitarist Gabe Tessaro opted to retire from live bands.

As for The Esquire Club, they have quietly confirmed that local country singer Brendan Hodgson will be playing tomorrow & Saturday night instead, as per their Facebook page. I assume it's safe to say now that, had Obsession played their farewell gigs this weekend, that they would have welcomed back multiple past band members in guest slots, which would have been neat, but it wasn't meant to be. Obsession were talented staples of the weekend cover circuit locally and they will be missed, so best of luck to Jess, Gabe, Jim, Steve, and their former members in the future! Now, here's what you should know for still-on hard rock shows over the next two days, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for traditional concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the venue only announced SATURDAY's show on their Facebook page on Sunday, and while the band has not publically confirmed these dates on their Facebook page at press time, drummer Glen Thomas confirmed that they're playing TOMORROW as well on his personal Facebook page. Thursday jam nights excepted (yes, they're back for that tonight also), these will be Soundcheck's first standard concerts at the former Reggie's West in just over a month, and the partial promotion on Jay's end is because SATURDAY NIGHT's concert is themed as a "classic 80's party", so expect a decade-heavy set of covers from Soundcheck on night #2! If you want to hear more of an array of eras, come TOMORROW NIGHT instead, but Soundcheck's talents are a given regardless!

As alluded to above, these shows will mark new bassist Jim Michaud's first formal gigs as a full Soundcheck member, following the cancellation of Obsession's planned farewell gigs this weekend, so be sure to welcome him with open arms, and/or come to Jay's for a similar musical fix in the west end if you were banking on seeing Obsession this weekend! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows are 9:00 PM events with no cover charges and 19+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, we'll head south to the Eastern Upper Peninsula, as Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 will return to Cedarville TOMORROW NIGHT for a one-nighter at Snows Bar & Grill! Again, apologies for the short notice, the band only announced this show via their Facebook event page on Wednesday, but the venue first announced it on January 31st. In an SMS context, readers will best know Snows as the host venue for a handful of Tarnished shows last year, and Project 906 played elsewhere in Cedarville last fall, but TOMORROW'S show will be part of this year's Les Cheneaux Islands Snowsfest Pub Shuffle taking place at nightclubs in Cedarville and Hessel this weekend! If you're in the area, click here to read the full program, but it doesn't detail who's playing where. Like last year, Snows is bringing in the hard rock for this year's Pub Shuffle (Tarnished performed there in 2022), and I believe this is Project 906's debut at Snows, so keep TOMORROW'S festivities in mind!

A one nighter due to or resulting in The Mark Bowen Band playing there on Saturday, expect voting for various superlatives among competing pubs in the shuffle this weekend, along with the expected solid tunes from Project 906 TOMORROW! The concert itself is a 21+ affair with no cover charge and an 8:00 PM start time, and I don't believe a Snowsfest button is required for entry given the locale (for Sault Ontario readers, this is Bon Soo-esque), but Snows has been selling them. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Project 906 live in their most recent gig!

We'll close back in Sault Ontario with shows that were previously announced by the band in question, as local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard will return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! After taking last weekend off, this weekend's gigs will be their third and fourth of 2023, and their first shows at the Dennis Street nightclub in over three months. Not only will Bone Yard's brand of southern fried classic & hard rock covers be coming in hot as usual, but the guys have confirmed that more official t-shirts will be on sale tomorrow & Saturday night, including limited XXL sizes, so bring cash for those if you are so inclined! Tomorrow and Saturday's concerts are otherwise standard for Bone Yard at Shooters, including 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 19+ age limits. Visit the official Facebook event pages linked here & here for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

That's all for today, but look for our Tym Morrison preview and this month's Defunct Local Band Profile shortly! Thanks everyone!

Handsome Sandwich, Soundcheck, And Vanity First Updates!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to apologize for missing a concert in this past weekend's previews, as local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns headed north for a gig at Searchmont Resort at their in-house venue The Kiln on Saturday night. The band did not promote this show on their Facebook page, and Searchmont's Facebook page only first mentioned it on Friday, later hyping up the campfire jam aesthetic and requests angle for it. Searchmont only host bands sporadically at The Kiln, so it's not a regular spot for me to look for concerts at, but I do apologize, I'd have plugged it on here had The Stallyns said something in advance! Now, here's what you should know from three active local bands!

After two months of public silence, local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich posted on their Facebook page on Saturday to reveal that recording sessions for their debut album "Deconstructed" are complete! Now, they did say the same thing in November when attached to this picture, so clearly they fixed something up since then. The tracks will now be sent off to be mixed, and while they didn't specify details on Saturday, they confirmed in November that Jordan Zadorozny was going to mix the album at Skylark Park in Pembroke. The plan is still to release the album on Saturday, May 6th, which has been the plan since at least October when singer Taylor Emlaw announced it during The Soo's Got Talent (I believe I misheard her say "May 5th" at the time, my apologies). Regardless, publically setting such a specific album release date seven months out is kinda odd.

May 6th must hold some sort of special in-band meaning, but if they've announced it publically, it must have been in concerts only. A release show for the album is planned, which does imply that there will be physical copies to sell at one, but we'll keep you posted when more comes out on it! As a teaser, the band shared this video with the new Facebook post featuring a 12 second clip of one of their original songs, as set to footage of guitarist Jesse Cook laying on his back performing bicycle kicks to his bandmates' (and now our) amusement. Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from Handsome Sandwich soon!

Next up, here's some big news from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, as they have added Obsession bassist Jim Michaud to their lineup, replacing Paul Belair. The band announced the news on their Facebook page yesterday, and while they did not publically explain his departure, they did note that he "will be missed huge". Drummer Glen Thomas did elaborate on his personal Facebook page on the amicable reasons Paul left, and as it turns out, he actually left the band in November, something that the band never announced on Facebook. Paul had been Soundcheck's bassist since replacing Robin Lee in 2017, but he increasingly missed gigs for personal reasons, leading to guests (usually RPM's Rob Gilmar) filling in, including Jim at their Esquire Club dates on the 20th & 21st. With the similarly ranged Obsession ending their eighteen year run at the same venue next month, Jim coming on board does make a lot of sense!

It's worth noting that Jim & Glen played together in Lyrx, albeit in 1982 & 1983! No word yet on when the new Soundcheck lineup will debut, but they did jokingly ask on Facebook if Rob could fill-in again this weekend, so if that's legit, we'll be on the lookout for a short notice announcement (let alone if Jim carries over Obsession's planned March-December dates to Soundcheck, the idea is not unheard of). Stay tuned for more from as it rolls in, and best of luck to Paul in whatever he has planned next!

Finally, here's some new videos from local punk trio Vanity First's Facebook page in the past week! One is actually a re-post of their 2021 cover of Pennywise's "Bro Hymn" that was first seen on their YouTube channel, notable as it features former bassist Nick McClelland (singer Andrew Beggs has pulled double duty since Nick left). Cool to see again, they tackle this punk staple well! Another video is a re-post from their TikTok page, under the pretense that Andrew's "father" demands to know what he's doing behind closed doors. Of course, it's not what it looks like, and "it" is Andrew listening to punk music, specifically their 2022 standalone single "Get Out". Cute promotion for what it is! The other new Facebook uploads on offer actually have Vanity First covering Rage Against The Machine, including a vertically shot video of them covering "Bombtrack" at Go Skateboarding Day at Queen Elizabeth Park in May of last year.

Notably, Andrew didn't play bass while rapping on this one, so it was up to guitarist Mikhal Muto & drummer Keeghan McAllister to fill in all of the gaps, The 24 second clip comes off well with good angles of the ramp-top stage, though I'm surprised it took this long to come to Facebook! While seemingly formatted for TikTok, that video is not posted on their TikTok page, with the only post-EP release video there that isn't on Facebook being this clip of Keeghan having a "drummer moment" during what appear to be rehearsals at the Sault Community Theatre Centre. Light and amusing, but I feel you have to be in on the joke to an extent. Embedded below is a new 33 second clip of them covering "Killing In The Name" when they opened for Gutter Creek at Soo Blaster in September, and this video is extra notable given what did and didn't happen during the runtime.

As the band noted in the video description, Andrew has epilepsy, and if you know someone with that disorder, you'll know that they're often recommended to not look at strobe lighting or other rapidly flashing light patterns, as that could cause them to have a seizure. During the song's bridge, strobe lighting went off at the venue, and thankfully, nothing serious medically happened to Andrew, who kept his composure and played the song off perfectly normally! If you didn't know he was epileptic, you still wouldn't have if the band never said. I find "Killing In The Name" to be severely overplayed, but credit to Andrew for powering through here, so give it a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Vanity First!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Soundcheck), A Band Breakup Announcement, And New Videos!!

I've got another news post to check out on this Saturday morning, which is half devoted to new YouTube videos, but we're looking at two staples of the weekend bar cover circuit to kick things off, for very different reasons, and first is a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT with attached apology!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Reggie's Place for a concert TONIGHT, after previously playing there last night! I profusely apologize for the short notice and for missing last night's show on here, I only heard about both via drummer Glen Thomas' personal Facebook page this morning.  The band did not plug these shows on their Facebook page whatsoever (not the first time that's happened), and Reggie's Facebook page only mentioned the gigs last night at 7:29 PM, giving barely more than 90 minutes notice for the Friday nighter. Given that Soundcheck's shows later this month at Shooters made the site yesterday, I'd happily have combined this weekend's shows into that write-up had they had even a day's extra notice, so apologies again, and hopefully yesterday's Reggie's gig was a hit! At least fans of their old school hard rock and country covers have a second chance TONIGHT!

You can enjoy Cameron, Terry, Paul/Rob, and Glen's crowd friendly blend of covers TONIGHT (and yesterday if you have a time machine) at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession have announced that their Esquire Club gigs on February 10th & 11th will be their last before disbanding. In a statement from bassist/founding member Jim Michaud on their Facebook page on Tuesday, he revealed that the decision was prompted by guitarist Gabe Tessaro deciding to retire from the band, and Jim thanked all past and present Obsession band members for their contributions, as well as fans for their support over the past 18 years. This news comes as a big surprise, as there were no public inklings that they were anywhere near done, with concerts listed through the end of the year on their website until this news dropped. However, as Gabe wasn't an original Obsession member, it speaks to their faith in him that they wouldn't want to try replacing him. Gabe has been a solid guitarist for years, and if he is done with live music, I hope his next steps are what's best for him!

Of course, Obsession cancelled a lot of dates with this decision (next being planned Esquire Club shows on March 17th & 18th), so the possibility exists that a new band featuring other Obsession members could emerge to take on those bookings, which is not unheard of in the area. We'll keep you posted if they have a fresh start as such or not, but let the countdown to Obsession's farewell concerts begin, and hopefully they get a great crowd to send them off both nights!

Also today, here's a rarity: video footage from Toystock at the Grand Gardens North in November! I'm surprised more videos haven't surfaced publically by now given the "10 bands in 10 hours" setup, but at least on YouTube, only two have been posted that I've found. One features the aforementioned Glen Thomas giving away drum kits (and a guitar this year also) to young Toystock attendees, continuing a tradition that he did annually for Christmas Cheer at Toystock pre-pandemic. Wonderful gesture as always, so click here to see the giveaways, as uploaded to his YouTube channel! You can see Glen's Soundcheck bandmates on stage during this, but they are not performing in the clip. However, we do have one known video of a Toystock band in action, namely young local punk trio Vanity First, who performed "Playboy Magazine" in a video that was only just uploaded to their YouTube channel on Tuesday.

No word on why it took over a month to upload this, but better late than never! The video is shot from right close to the band (if from somewhat below given the height of the stage), and the filmer makes good use of zoom, which counteracts the shakiness a bit. This Mikhal-sung track comes off well, and it's good to see some new footage of Vanity First, so check it out below, and visit their Facebook page for details on how you can buy their new official long-sleeve shirts!

We'll close today with the second song from local extreme metal musician Chase Wigmore's new Manitou project, as uploaded to his YouTube channel last week! Entitled "The Pit (Part One)", he doesn't give much context on the song/Manitou in the description, instead posting a rant there about the process of posting music on YouTube and algorithms for content creators, so check that out if you are at all inclined. Visually represented in much the same way as "Gristle" was, this song has ominous but slowly recited harsh vocals and a brutal but steady pace, and I do like the percussion! The song itself is well structured too, it'd work live if Chase turned Manitou into a full band, so check it out for yourself below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more on the site in the days ahead! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Wyld Stallyns & Soundcheck), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

The first concert weekend of 2023 is upon us, and while things are predictably quieter than last weekend, hard rock fans still have a couple of options! This post includes LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, some on SHORT NOTICE, plus some new videos, a cancellation, and an apology for a missed event last week, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will play their first concerts of 2023 (Thursday jam night duties excepted) when they return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for headlining gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, these dates were only announced via the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday. While we're on the subject, Soundcheck will also return to The Esquire Club for newly advertised concerts on January 20th & 21st and then on February 24th & 25th, all as confirmed via the venue's Facebook page's poster advertising bands playing in the first quarter of 2023. It's great to see Soundcheck (no space) kicking off the year on a busy note, and it'll be interesting to see where else and how often we'll see them in a traditional concert setting! TOMORROW & SATURDAY's shows at the former Reggie's West have 8:00 PM start times, and the Esquire Club dates begin at 9:30 PM.

All six of these gigs have 19+ age limits and no cover charges. West end fans will have lots of chances ahead to take in Soundcheck's old school and heavier rock covers (and some country) in the next two months, including TOMORROW & SATURDAY at Jay's, so see above for more details on them all, and for a preview of this weekend's gigs, here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, let's add the next expected date from local funk/hard rock band The Wyld Stallyns at Outspoken Brewing as part of their "first Friday of every month" arrangement there, which comes on Friday, February 3rd! Adding this to our calendar comes in the wake of learning that their planned Outspoken Brewing show tomorrow night is not taking place. According to the venue's Facebook page on Tuesday, they reasoned that "we figured everyone still needed to recoup from New Year's Eve", though note that the announcement was included in details on reduced hours this month. If Outspoken are rescheduling The Stallyns for later this month, they haven't firmly said yet, stay tuned to their page if you are at all curious. Hopefully things resume on schedule for the monthly Friday series next month! Shows at Outspoken Brewing's on-site Taproom generally have 6:00 PM evening start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges.

This six-piece fan favourite band should have more fun cover action in store for fans at the Queen Street East nightclub/brewery on the first Fridays of months ahead (Good Friday in April acknowledged), so visit the above links for more on The Wyld Stallyns and/or Outspoken Brewing!

Let's head back to this weekend's still-on concert previews now for local classic/hard rock cover quartet Obsession's first shows of 2023, as they'll return to The Esquire Club themselves TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Unlike many of their weekend nightclub cover cohorts in town, Obsession announced a year's worth of gigs at The Esquire Club and Shooters on their website last year, so we already knew about this weekend's shows, with Jess, Gabe, Jim, and Steve scheduled to play at the Second Line West venue one weekend a month for the first half of 2023. Three weeks removed from their last shows, also at The Esquire Club, hopefully Obsession deliver the classic hard rock goods for fans once again tomorrow & Saturday! Like with Soundcheck later this month, these are 19+ events with no cover charge and 9:30 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details!

For a preview, here's a new video of Obsession live at The Esquire Club last month covering Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World", as posted to their Facebook page last week! This isn't an ideal preview of Obsession proper both from the 30 second runtime only really capturing the repetitive chorus, and the fans on the floor largely obscuring the band, but it sounds good while it lasts, and everyone's clearly having fun dancing to the music, which is always welcome to see. Check it out below, and don't miss Obsession back there this weekend!

Finally, I wanted to belatedly apologize for missing a concert for coverage on the SMS on New Year's weekend, as Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Tarnished returned to The Islander Bar in Hessel this past Saturday for their New Year's Eve party! I profusely apologize for not covering it on the site proper, but the band only announced the show on their Facebook page that same day (The Islander Bar's Facebook page first plugged it early last week, but their announcement slipped me by at the time). I was able to get the word out about this one via our Facebook page, as December 31st was devoted to our year-in-review post, but again, I apologize for not getting on the site proper, I would have had I known about it even the day beforehand! Usually, I start posts with such apologies, but I put this one at the end because there's more to say than just acknowledging the missed show, as Tarnished put up a video to promote it!

While they waited until that afternoon to plug it themselves, Tarnished at least went all out to make a final push, with Alex (I think) putting guitarist Nathan Webber on the spot mid-practice to answer some big questions about the show. Fun and energetic little clip that does have some solid guitarwork in the background, so check it out below, and apologies again! I hope Tarnished impressed fans and revelers alike to send out 2022!

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