Here is this month's YouTube Channel Profile, continuing our monthly spotlighting of YouTube channels with at least half of their content comprised of local metal, hard rock, or punk artists and/or concerts! As the first channel that we randomly selected only has 6 videos of 2 bands from 1 concert, not a lot of distinct content to stretch out to three featured videos naturally, so I picked a single video channel to fill things out with. Punk and black metal fans will find stuff to like here, so here's what you should know!
Owner: Unknown, but they are likely from Sault Ste. Marie
Channel Timeline:Launched on November 20th, 2019; All videos uploaded that same day
Channel Summary:All six of the videos on Concert Channel's.... channel come fromThe Offspring & Sum 41's co-headlining concert at GFL Memorial Gardens on November 19th, 2019, one day before this channel and these videos went live. All videos uploaded have identical titles for each band's set with no distinction of songs. Why You Should Watch:If you loved or regretted missing The Offspring's local date (still the most recent major hard rock or punk show at the former Essar Centre), this channel will be very worth your time, though the scratchy audio compared to videos from other filmers may be a turnoff for some. Note that Concert Channel did not upload anything of opening English alternative hard rock band Dinosaur Pile-Up's set, but click here for videos from them and much more. Also, note that this channel has not seen any public updates since these videos were posted.
Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:
The Offspring - Live at Sault Ste. Marie: Four of the videos on the Concert Channel feature the multi-platinum California punk band The Offspring playing their songs "Want You Bad", "Bad Habit", "Gotta Get Away", and as featured here, their then-new song "It Won't Get Better". As I noted back in 2019, these are not optimal views, with a sharp almost-side stage camera angle, very bright stage lighting, and scratchy audio quality all being concerns, not to mention frontman Dexter Holland sometimes straining to hit the high notes, but the performances are generally solid and enthusiastic as you'd hope!
Sum 41 - Live at Sault Ste. Marie: As for Ajax, Ontario punk/metal quintet Sum 41's set, Concert Channel got videos of them playing "Motivation" and, in the channel's most popular upload, "We Are All To Blame". While the video quality has the same issues as on the Offspring videos, Sum 41's hard rocking genre blend comes through well, and the attendee involvement for lighters and such was welcomed on the softer parts of "We Are All To Blame", so Sum 41 fans will be right at home, especially after the long, long wait for them to play in the Soo again!
Channel Timeline:Launched on August 13th, 2016; Only video uploaded on January 9th, 2017
Channel Summary:Effectively the official YouTube channel for 2016-2018 atmospheric black metal solo project Abhorrent Forest, Wyrn's only upload here is their debut album "The End of Life", which was simultaneously released that day on Bandcamp. This EP will give genre fans a solid slice of dark, cold black metal (albeit without vocals) that the Soo had lacked for too long, and the convenience of a YouTube copy will be appreciated! However, Wyrn did not post Abhorrent Forest's two later EPs here, nor their one off singles, so head to Bandcamp to hear those, and the channel fell out of use after the project fell inactive.
I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! In some bizarrely fitting timing, next month's random selection is of the official channel of a band we just introduced you guys to on the SMS the other day, that being new Sault Michigan metal band Buddy Repperton & The Camaros! I swear this was a random pick, happy coincidences just come once in a while, but luckily, The Camaros have lots of videos online to go through! Look for all of this on or around April 26th, and for more news and notes next week! Thanks everyone!
Here is our last monthly feature post of October 2020, namely this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This ongoing feature looks at up to 3 YouTube channels whose content is at least half devoted to local metal, hard rock, and punk acts, all of which are randomly selected from our active YouTube subscriptions. This month, we drew 3 channels, as the first only had 3 audio demos, which means I only pull one to feature in the post, so I added two more channels who only had one SMS-relevant video. Still, there's some interesting stuff to see, so here's what you should know!
Channel Timeline:Launched on November 5th, 2019; All videos uploaded on July 26th, 2020
Channel Summary:The official YouTube channel for local death/trance metal solo project Black Cloud, it used to feature more content than what is currently present (including their full debut album "Abstract Sounds"), but a swath of video deletions preceded the upload of their remaining three audio demos (a self-titled song, "Bloodbaiting", and as embedded below, "Ghost Stomp"). Black Cloud's minimalist brutality is still a work in progress, but there is promise on these demos, and hopefully Peytan keeps at it into the new year!
Channel Timeline:Launched on August 10th, 2012; All videos uploaded on July 26th, 2020
Channel Summary:While still actively used for personal needs, Frank's only video is from California punk legends The Offspring's headlining set at GFL Memorial Gardens on November 19th, 2019, where he filmed their three opening songs ("Americana", "All I Want", and "Come Out & Play"). Despite a vertical camera angle, this relatively central video captures lively and faithful performances from The Offspring (albeit with Dexter's deeper modern voice), and this is definitely worth a watch for fans who saw or missed this show last year! There are a lot more videos on YouTube from this show courtesy of other attendees.
Channel Timeline:Launched on January 4th, 2009; Videos posted that day and on September 17th, 2010
Channel Summary:Aside from a 10 second video of him jousting at camp a'la American Gladiators, Dave's only video here is of his late 2000s indie punk quartet Nebraska Arms playing their original song "Clockwork" at the original Coch's Corner location on Boxing Day in 2008. The band was represented here by Dave alongside the late Guy Thiffault (The Hangdowns) on vocals & bass, Wayne Watkins (Northwest) on guitar, and Adam Sauve (Renderware) on drums. The scratchy audio is a hindrance, as can be the tight camera angle, but this was a solid performance by this talented new group, and luckily, there are more videos of theirs floating around elsewhere!
I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! This series will return on or around November 27th when we look at YouTube user jonasgasperas' channel, featuring 10 videos of Jonas' old metal band Winkstinger from their original heyday! That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Tonight's punk-centric news post at the SMS is mostly devoted to new concert video uploads, but I also have some assorted recent updates to cap things off. Let's start with those videos, as we belatedly have lots of new public footage to share from November's The Offspring/Sum 41 concert at GFL Memorial Gardens! These come courtesy of prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci's YouTube channel over the past three days, and while they are two months after the fact, I'll gladly take them now rather than never, especially as he filmed all three bands! As far as public footage went, only one other YouTube user filmed Sum 41, and no one else filmed openers Dinosaur Pile-Up, so extra kudos to Chris for posting these! He uploaded 19 videos from this well received show, including 9 of the headlining California punk legends, where you can see them playing their songs "Americana", "Come Out & Play", "Bad Habit", "Gotta Get Away", "Why Don't You Get A Job"(with invading beach balls!), ...
..."Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", "The Kids Aren't Alright", "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", and as embedded below, their closing song "Self Esteem". Chris was among the mass of humanity on the floor, and he had a generally solid angle of the stage, but fans can get in the road of the camera at times. The videos sound good and lively, but Dexter does struggle on some higher notes. Check out these new Offspring videos above and below!
Next up, Chris shot seven videos of Ajax, Ontario punk quintet Sum 41's co-headlining set, including their renditions of "Turning Away", "The Hell Song", "Some Say", "Underclass Hero", "Fat Lip", the last half of "Still Waiting", and as embedded below, a two song clip with the guys playing "Over My Head" & "In Too Deep". Sum 41 sound great on these clips, and their stage lighting is particularly neat, albeit sometimes to the detriment of seeing the band. If you were hoping for more videos of Sum 41 in November, do not bypass these clips above and/or below to see what went down!
Lastly from the Gardens, Chris filmed three songs from opening English alt-hard rock band Dinosaur Pile-Up's set, including part of "Round The Bend", their hit single "Back Foot", and as embedded below, "Thrash Metal Cassette". Energetic and often heavy performances here, Dinosaur Pile-Up are rightfully gaining a solid profile, and it's great to see some local videos finally, so check out Chris' uploads above and below!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
In a Facebook page post on New Year's Eve, reunited local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers revealed that they have a Toronto concert in the works for this year, though they did not give a timeline for the release of their new singles. Toronto was the band's partial homebase in their original run, so it'll be great for fans down south to see them again! Hopefully we hear more from their camp in the coming months!
Local punk trio Redundant will play their first advertised concert of 2020 when they play at night #13 of this year's Bout Music Festival
in Toronto on March 27th! While advertised as a "festival", this is
more accurately a multi-night battle of the bands, where 95 different
musical acts will be competing for a top prize of $12,000, with 6 bands sent to the finals in May. Sounds like an
intriguing opportunity for Redundant, and good luck down south! Click here for more on the March 27th concert, which features four other bands.
Last week, in their first Facebook page posting in over 18 months, inactive local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage posted a picture of an eye chart with a caption saying "Sykotyk Rampage Live 20/20 Vision Tour January 9th, 2020." The post seems to be cryptic by design, but in any event, I did not hear of any new band-related info last Thursday, let alone a concert tour. Unless new material or plainly citable activity surfaces from the cave, I'll leave Sykotyk Rampage in our inactive band links, but hopefully they do return in some form!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and weekend concert previews in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Tonight, let's finally look at the rest of the publically posted videos from last month's Offspring-headlined concert at GFL Memorial Gardens, plus a bonus live video from last week! I had held off on covering the rest of the Offspring videos as I was waiting to see if any more footage popped up, but we've waited more than long enough now. All of these are of the headlining California punk legends, as only one public channel filmed either of the openers, which we covered already on here. We'll start with local concert promoters Live705's video for their Facebook page (they got some photos too), where they filmed The Offspring's first four songs, namely "Americana", "All I Want", "Come Out & Play", and their new track "It Won't Get Better". Nice and close angle, the footage looks and sounds good, and they make use of the camera zoom when needed, so fans will want to check this one out below!
Next up, let's head to YouTube, where Wawa-based author Duane Roy (of "Castle Stories" & "Soo Stories" fame) uploaded three videos from The Offspring's set onto his channel, in his first local concert uploads since The Tea Party's show here in February. Two of Duane's videos are fairly short, namely of the songs "Gone Away" & "Why Don't You Get A Job", but embedded below is their local rendition of "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", as preceded by guitarist Noodles praising Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for it's sexiness. Filmed from the seats to the stage's right, the stage is well lit and the audio mostly holds up, so give these a look above & below!
Lastly for Offspring videos that I know of, here is a 20 second clip uploaded by YouTube user Gary Robertson during their performance of "Bad Habit". Aside from the very beginning and end, this focuses on a young attendee (perhaps a relative?) air-drumming to the song, and he definitely has energy! The music sounds good while it lasts, so give this a look if you want below!
Finally for today, let's head north to Sault Ontario for a video from local funk/metal band The Strange Coyotes reunion gig at Dryer Fire's
pop-up venue on Bruce Street on Thursday! Filmed by the promotional
agency's Facebook page, this minute-long video answers a few
questions about how the band would look in 2019. Specifically, they
played an acoustic two-man set with Chase on vocals & guitar, James
on the hand drum rather than bass (nice gloves!), and no replacement
drummer in sight. Effective and intense performance while it lasts, so
give it a look below, and time will tell if this proves to be more than a
one-off gig!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more updates soon! Thanks everyone!
As you are likely well aware, The Offspring and Sum 41 rocked GFL Memorial Gardens on Tuesday night, and we have lots of fallout from that show to talk about on the site today! SooToday's Donna Hopper and SaultOnline's Megan Pounder were both on hand to cover and photograph the festivities, with both writing briefly but positively about the show, which seemed to get a strong reception! Megan said that the Gardens was "packed", but a SooToday commenter estimated that there were 2,500 fans on Tuesday, so go with whoever you like on the crowd size. Regarding photographs, Megan snapped a whopping 89 pictures on Tuesday, including 44 from Sum 41's set and 45 from The Offspring's, with crowd shots intermingled. Donna only posted 27 pictures (13 from The Offspring's set, 14 of Sum 41's, also with crowd pictures), but hers are noticeably higher quality. Regardless, both got some great angles of the bands and fans, so give both a look at the above links to see what all went down!
Note that neither Donna nor Megan uploaded any photos of opening English alt-rockers Dinosaur Pile-Up for unannounced reasons. As for videos, I have found publically shared footage from five different users from Tuesday's festivities, primarily of The Offspring's set, with only one (so far) posting anything from Sum 41's set, and none filming Dinosaur Pile-Up. We have more videos to come in the near future, but let's start with YouTube user Frank Thomas' sole upload from the Gardens, and this features the headlining California punk quartet playing their opening three songs, namely "Americana", "All I Want", and "Come Out & Play". Sadly, Frank's video is in the vertical orientation, but he has a good central view of the stage, and The Offspring sound relatively solid! Dexter's voice is noticeably deeper compared to the old days, but the band still has it musically and energetically, so give this footage a look below!
We'll close today with videos from the aptly named YouTube channel named "Concert Channel", primarily as this is the only channel so far with footage of Sum 41. First though, they filmed four videos of The Offspring, including their new song "It Won't Get Better", and the established favourites "Want You Bad", "Bad Habit", and (embedded below) "Gotta Get Away". Despite being filmed horizontally, the quality isn't as good here, with very scratchy audio, overly bright stage lighting, and a sharper angle from almost beside the stage. That said, you can tell the band and fans are in their element, so give these videos a look above and below!
Finally, "Concert Channel" also filmed two videos of Ajax, Ontario punk quintet Sum 41's set, namely of their original songs "Motivation" and, as embedded below, "We Are All To Blame" (complete with an audience lighter or two during the soft choruses!) The recording quality is about the same, but performance-wise, Sum 41 sound great underneath it all, and this lineup definitely has the right formula. Hopefully more Sum 41 footage surfaces, but give these a look above & below!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more Offspring concert fallout and more unrelated news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!
Here's a new news post for your Monday night reading, and while it mostly focuses on a major concert preview for tomorrow night, we also have some assorted recent updates, and leading off, a new addition to our local band listings. Here's what you should know!
We have a new local band to add to our Sault Ontario band links, namely a new southern/hard rock quintet named Fort Creek! Named after the local conservation area, this group stems from local acoustic hard rock duo Tattoos & Scars' search earlier this year to find musicians to join that project, though it appears that this is a separate band, given that Fort Creek have quietly had their own Facebook page since May. Time will tell if Tattoos & Scars will be the Bearded Lounge to Fort Creek's Bone Yard, but in any event, both bands feature singer/guitarist Justin Grayson and guitarist Shane Biron. Their lineup is rounded out by rhythm guitarist Matt Sibilo (ex-Redefined, Scary Uncles, et al.), former Thin Ice/Soundcheck bassist Robin "Bones" Lee, and Griphook/ex-Gsis Murphy drummer Anthony Fabiano. As it turns out, they made their live debut at an open mic night at Reggie's West last month, with pictures to boot, though we have never considered open mic nights to be true "concerts" for our purposes.
If you want to hear Fort Creek in action, this video of the guys jamming Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" was posted on Facebook, but it only shows Justin, and it runs for under 30 seconds. Robin's YouTube channel has audio recordings of the guys covering Radiohead's "Creep" and, as embedded below, Thriving Ivory's "Angels on the Moon". We haven't gotten a massive look at their southern rock side yet, but Fort Creek have a very talented lineup with hard rock chops, and they're already further along as a live band than Halfway Loaded were. Give Fort Creek a look above & below!
Next up, here's our preview of a very special Tuesday night concert going down TOMORROW at GFL Memorial Gardens, as California punk legends The Offspring and Ajax, Ontario punk quintet Sum 41 will join forces for a night full of hit and fan favourite songs! This will be The Offspring's local concert debut, and with songs like "Come Out & Play", "Original Prankster", "Hit That", and many more in their repertoire, their upbeat punk hits should attract a great reception at the former Essar Centre tomorrow! Meanwhile, this will be the first local stop for Sum 41 in 15 years, having last came through when they headlined at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion in September 2004. As any MuchMusic watcher should know from years gone by, Sum 41's classic songs like "The Hell Song", "In Too Deep", and "Pieces" still hold up today, as do their newer songs, and it's great to see them back! This will be their first local gig with Gob's Tom Thacker on guitar or with Frank Zummo on drums.
Finally, English alternative rock trio Dinosaur Pile-Up will open in their own local debut, and with their own single "Back Foot" climbing on the rock radio charts and getting airplay on Stingray Loud, they should set the tone well with the grunge-inspired original attack before the punk sets in! An Invictus Entertainment Group production presented by Rock 101, this ALL AGES & 7:00 PM concert still has floor and bowl seats available at this link, at the in-person box office, and at (705) 759-5251, though the price remains $90 for most seats and $67 for the upper back bowl, minus service fees and taxes. The steep cost will scare off some fans, but hopefully this show is a huge hit to encourage more punk and alternative bands to come to the Gardens! With all of the hit songs and Rock 101 standbys from both bands, I know this will be a great concert, so visit the official Facebook event page for complete details, and here's The Offspring live!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the
last while, and as usual for these short-form story blocks, these are in alphabetical order by artist or
business name:
Back on July 31st, a 20 year old punk/metalcore guitarist named Brett Macchio posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group
regarding a search for players (presumably a bassist and/or drummer)
for a local band that he's working on. At the time, Brett had found a
singer, and he has a handful of live experience from a high school band,
plus some songwriting work since then. I'm not familiar musically with
Brett, but if you want more information, message him at this link or above!
Local Distillers tribute quartet Coral Fang will join frontwoman Tiffany Stocco's Volbeat tribute band The Guitar Gangsters for their Sudbury road trip on November 29th! This will be their first out of town gig, their first anywhere since Go Skate Day in June, and just their fifth show total. It's great to see that one of Tiffany's pre-existing cover bands will survive despite her move out of town, but will we ever see Poison Girl again? See above for more on the Sudbury concert at The Asylum!
I have moved local hard rock quintet Halfway Loaded to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, coupled with members Justin Grayson & Shane Biron launching the aforementioned Fort Creek as their apparent primary band. Active since 2016, this promising quintet never advanced beyond open mic nights and private gigs, but follow Fort Creek to see what Justin & Shane have in store, and best of luck to Ryan, Jesse, and Dylan in the future!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
After a quiet weekend with personal matters, we are back with a big news post on this Monday evening, so what's below to check out? The results of last month's poll, a mid-week concert preview, and leading off, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this fall!
California punk legends The Offspringand Ajax, Ontario punk quintet Sum 41 will join forces for a huge concert at GFL Memorial Gardens on Tuesday, November 19th! This will be the first ever local date for The Offspring, who will be very familiar to punk fans and rock radio loyalists from hit songs like "Self Esteem", "Gone Away", "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", and many others, and with a new album on the way, it'll be awesome to have Dexter and company at the Gardens this fall with plenty of classic songs to go around! As for Sum 41, it has been 15 years since we last saw them on a local stage, following their Roberta Bondar Pavilion headlining concert in September 2004, and with familiar songs like "Fat Lip", "Still Waiting", and "Screaming Bloody Murder", their return to the Soo should be welcomed by punk and metal fans alike this fall! Note that this will be their first local stop with Gob's Tom Thacker on rhythm guitar (though we've seen Gob here twice since), as well as with Frank Zummo on drums in place of Steve Jocz.
English alternative rock trio Dinosaur Pile-Up will open in their own Soo debut, and while not really a punk band, their aggressive grunge-tinged sound should set the tone well in November! An Invictus Entertainment Group production brought to you by Rock 101, this ALL AGES concert has tickets running for $98 for most seats, aside from upper back bowl seating which runs for $76, with VIP packages to be announced, and they go on sale THIS FRIDAY at 10:00 AM. The ticket prices are a little steep, but I sincerely hope this stacked show does well, so visit the official Facebook event page and this press release for more details!
Next up, here's our preview of another special Tuesday night concert, as Edmonton art punk quartet Doreen will make their local concert debut TOMORROW NIGHT when they rock Dryer Fire's temporary location on Bruce Street! An ecletic and diverse extension of the punk rock sound, Doreen's indie/garage-influenced sound should fit in just fine at this venue, so don't miss this exciting group tomorrow to see what they bring to the table! Local experimental musician Chase Wigmore will bring his unplugged alt-folk attack to Dryer Fire as the opening act, and fans will surely know that his intense, unique, folk/punk originals will be a sight to behold tomorrow, so don't be late for this one either! As usual for Dryer Fire, this is an ALL AGES concert at 7:00 PM, and there will be a $10 cover charge. The weekday scheduling is unfortunate, but the music speaks for itself, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and in lieu of a live video of Doreen (I shockingly can't find one), here's the title track of their new album!
Finally for today, here's the final results from our poll that launched on the site on July 18th, where we posed this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal, hard rock, or punk concert in the first half of 2019? Only 12 votes were cast, which isn't a great number, but at least they were spread out among a bunch of notable shows that were included, and no one voted "Other"! Here are the final results!
The Killer Dwarfs & Re:Born at Soo Blaster on April 27th (4 votes, 33¼%) Dopethrone & AlgomA at The New American Pub on May 20th (3 votes, 25%) Joni Radford Memorial at The Algonquin Hotel on March 2nd (2 votes, 17%) Anvil, Striker, and Jack Spades at Soo Blaster on June 9th (1 vote, 8¼%) The Tea Party at The Machine Shop on March 27th (1 vote, 8¼%) Parabol & The Elements at The Rockstar Bar on March 23rd (1 vote, 8¼%) White Cowbell Oklahoma at LopLops Lounge on January 26th (0 votes) Rotopsy & Awokest at The New American Pub on February 26th (0 votes) OZbourne at The Canadian Nightclub on March 23rd (0 votes) Destroyer at The Canadian Nightclub on March 30th (0 votes) West of Hell & Expain at The New American Pub on April 17th (0 votes) Dave Evans & Hells Bells at The Rockstar Bar on May 4th (0 votes) K-Man & The 45s at The New American Pub on June 6th (0 votes) Go Skate Day at Queen Elizabeth Park on June 21st (0 votes) Monster Truck at Soo Blaster on June 28th (0 votes) Other (0 votes)
What do you guys think? Well, in terms of the shows with no votes, I am most surprised that White Cowbell Oklahoma, Dave Evans, K-Man & The 45s, and Monster Truck didn't get any attention, as all had high profile touring headliners with either proven local success or high existing clout elsewhere, but alas, it is all in who votes! By contrast, Anvil and The Tea Party both had local supporters in the past month among out voters, as if Parabol & The Elements' tribute show double-header in March, which is very encouraging! The Joni Radford memorial concert made the top 3, which is wonderful to see after so many of her friends and colleagues came together for this two-floor bash in March, but I am a little surprised it didn't get a few more votes. Dopethrone's well received doom metal concert in May placed second, as no doubt helped by AlgomA & Shit Liver's long awaited returns, but the mildly surprising winner was The Killer Dwarfs' headlining show at Soo Blaster!
A huge hit for hair metal diehards of all stripes, hopefully we're not waiting 20 years for The Dwarfs to come back to our area! Thanks to everyone for voting, and look for the six shows with votes (plus "Other") to return for our all-of-2019 poll on your favourite concerts early next year! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Old Man Wyrn (http://youtube.com/channel/UCKRDGY5MZxqiIY1HQxZAM0g)
