Ontario COVID-19 Restriction Update, New Videos, And More Assorted News & Notes!!

We're back with a new news post on this chilly Sunday afternoon, and it includes a new live concert video, some assorted updates, and more local hard rock musician exposure in a popular YouTube series! Before we get to topics about music, here's what you should know about a major news story and what it means for live music in Ontario in the short term.

We might as well start today with the province of Ontario's re-opening plans following the roll-back of restrictions on January 5th due to the highly contagious omicron wave of COVID-19, which put concerts to a screeching halt once again. In a news conference on Thursday, Premier Doug Ford revealed that the current modified Stage 2 restrictions will remain in place until this coming Friday. Starting then, the re-imposed restrictions will be incrementally scaled back at three week intervals, but specifically regarding concerts, venues & nightclubs can re-open with 50% capacity as of Friday, and will be lifted outright on February 21st (Family Day). All remaining capacity and gathering limits will be removed on March 14th, bringing us back to where we were to end 2021, though these are all subject to change if COVID case counts warrant a reversal. Vaccine passports and indoor masking requirements remain mandatory until further notice.

Read more about the provincial re-opening plans at this link or via your favourite provincial news outlet. As we learned following the end of the three full lockdowns in June 2020, February 2021, and June 2021, there are some musicians and venues who will eagerly book shows with capacity limits, so we should start to see limited concert announcements perhaps in time for Saturday the 29th, but we'll keep you guys posted no matter what. Fingers crossed that case counts and vaccination rates allow for no more COVID restrictions in Ontario, and stay safe out there!

Next up, here's a new live video of Sault Michigan hard/blues rock quartet Project 906 live at The Strongs Tavern in November, as uploaded to their Facebook page at the time! Notable as their first publically posted video featuring new drummer Odin Osogwin, the guys are playing their new original "Girls That Bleed" here. Between the side-stage camera angle, overly bright stage lighting, muffled vocals, and placement of the band members (you can barely see Dustin), this isn't an optimal look at the band, but the song does have a harder edge and good melody, so fans will definitely wanna check out the new Project 906 video below, and don't miss them in Hulbert next month!

Also today, here's some more recent appearances on the YouTube series You Rock! with Thomas Christ, which Sault Ontario/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith got good mileage & exposure out of in episodes #11-#15, but he was not in episode #16 from December 22nd. However, former No Arrow frontman Dann Pichette was (no doubt encouraged by his old bandmate Brad "Gortium85" Griffith), submitting his 2012 solo track "Swass" for a live review! You can check it out at the 2:26:48 mark (this episode is over 4 hours long). Beforehand, Thomas reads remarks from Dann about the inspiration of "Swass", and yeah, it's quite a description! Thomas compared the song to something he'd record under the influence, but he called it a fun track and said it was interesting, and you can tell that it intrigued him! Embedded below is episode #17 from December 29th.

Here, Dann submitted "Trial & Error" from No Arrow's unreleased album "Souls For Sale" (1:46:14), while the 3 hour episode ends with Mike Haggith's live cover of Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain" from his virtual CD release party in 2020. Thomas liked the lo-fi four track recording quality and punk energy of "Trial & Error", calling it "kick ass", while the "Purple Rain" cover was also praised for it's production values and professionalism. I have a feeling more local talent will get looked at by Thomas in 2022 episodes, but give his last two from 2021 a watch above & below!

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

 

• I have moved local hard rock band The Bridge Heads to our inactive band links, having not made a public post since new band photos appeared on their Facebook page in September 2020. Effectively the successors to Eclipse, this band launched in January of that year, and played just two concerts before the pandemic began. They did plan to press on as a trio after guitarist Daniel Horton moved out of town, but nothing really came of that. It's a shame The Bridge Heads didn't do more, but best of luck to Curtis, Daniel, and Caleb in their next moves, and R.I.P. Chris!
• Former Winkstinger guitarist Jason Ladouceur has moved back to the Soo and is looking for "someone to jam with" towards forming a heavy metal/rock band, specifically mentioning a drummer. It'd be great to see Jason back playing live again in the Soo, so message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last night for more details!
• Vanity guitarist Mikhal Muto posted on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group yesterday himself, looking for a "serious bassist to join a punk/alternative rock band" that plays originals and covers. The description heavily implies that he's looking for a new bassist for Vanity, and while they have not publically confirmed if Nick McClelland left the group, note that Vanity's Facebook page has not been updated in almost two months. We'll keep you guys posted when more comes out on Vanity, but message Mikhal at this link for more details on the bassist search!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and features on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

New COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions In Ontario, A Local Band's Return, And Much More!!

Here's our first proper news post of 2022, where we're diving into big updates on a local band's surprise reemergence, a bunch of recent shorter stories, and leading off, big details on an unwelcome return to days of pandemic's past for local music fans in Ontario. Here's what you should know!

Concerts in the province of Ontario as we know them are on hold again, as the provincial government has rolled back many of the loosened restrictions to fight the dramatically increasing number of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks due to the omicron variant, starting tomorrow. While we're not being fully locked down again (yet?), Ontario is returning to a modified version of the "Stage 2" of re-opening following the end of lockdown #3 in June 2020, which means that indoor gatherings are being restricted to five or fewer people again and indoor dining is also cancelled. Measures are in effect until at least January 26th, and for more on the new/restored restrictions, visit this SooToday article. Michigan has not followed suit with similar announcements, we'll keep you posted if they do. No previously announced local hard rock concerts were cancelled as a direct result of the restrictions, but be advised that the rescheduled Glambition fundraiser is only four days after the current end date.

This is all disappointing to hear, especially given how many Ontarians got vaccinated last year (I got the booster last month myself), but the omicron variant is getting to overwhelming numbers and is clearly very contagious even if you have had three shots. I don't want things rolled back, and I certainly don't want a fourth lockdown, but I also don't want people to get sick or worse. It is what it is, and I just hope that the new provincial measures do lead to a decline in COVID-19 case rates so that things can somewhat get back to normal sooner rather than later.

However, one immediate casualty is the apparently permanent closure of Pim Street hotel, restaurant, and concert venue The Canuck (née The Canadian Motor Hotel), as per their Facebook page yesterday. This news comes just seven months after Jim Brogno bought The Canadian from the Marrelli family and announced big plans for upgrades to the building, While this may seem like a rash decision for what we hope will be just three weeks of capacity limits and no indoor dining, I have no way of knowing how their books look, and maybe staff assumes things will be limited past the 26th. In any event, The Canuck did not resume hosting hard rock concerts last year, with the downstairs Canadian Nightclub not being used as a concert venue, and bands of other genres only played upstairs at The Upper Deck Bar & Grill. I'm not getting into any of the divisive reports about un-vaccinated gatherings there on the SMS.

I hope The Canuck/Canadian isn't closed forever, and that at least the Brognos sell to new owners, as it's a long established and well liked central spot for a meal, a drink, a room, and/or live music, and The Canadian Nightclub was the locale of many big concerts over the years, including my first 19+ show in 2008. Hopefully this isn't the absolute end, but best of luck to the staff as they make their next moves, and we'll keep you guys posted as more comes out on the Ontario restrictions!

Next up, let's move to some more positive topics, starting with the apparent rebirth of local metal/punk band Jack Spades, albeit in a new home! After 15 months of public silence, the band posted this picture on their Facebook page of a modified version of the classic Skates logo, coinciding with a name change to Spades GT. The band confirmed in November that they've relaunched out of frontman J.D. Pearce's current Barrie homebase (he moved out of town for work reasons in 2020) so does GT mean "Greater Toronto"? Inevitably, lineup alterations have followed, with the band enlisting Adaptive Reaction bassist Steve Lorenz and former Caym drummer Tyler Reiner (the son of Anvil's Robb Reiner) to replace Rob Speers & Johnny Belanger, both of whom are still in the Soo. As best as I can tell, guitarist Daniel Horton is still/back in the band, having moved to Barrie himself already.

Whether the band is moving forward as a four piece or keeping/replacing Tiffany isn't clear, but note that while she also moved out of town, it wasn't to Southern Ontario. In the November Facebook post, Spades GT revealed that there are "new tracks incoming", and their live debut under that name would be next month at Queens Hometown Pub in Barrie, but given the omicron variant, new restrictions, and uncertainty therein, I'd say that date is hopeful at best right now. Still, it's great to see (Jack) Spades continue on down south, and hopefully we hear lots of good stuff from them to come, with perhaps a return show up here when the time is right?

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:

 

• Tribute shirts for late local rock drummer Chris Thompson are in the works by his Frightlight bandmates J.D. Pearce & Kevin Powe, and pre-orders for them took place last month! Available as t-shirts for $20 or pull-over hoodies for $45, the artwork features a black & white image of Chris in his Frightlight outfit, as well as the names of his major local bands (the image shared on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on December 10th was preliminary & does not have the final band listing). Proceeds from the sales go to the Thompson family, and e-transfer the money to johnnypints@gmail.com with name and size if you want one!
• The next Mike Haggith live-streamed concert will take place on Tuesday, January 25th at 7:30 PM on his Facebook page, and for a second straight episode, he'll be interviewing a local musician he hasn't played in a band with, namely Bad Chug guitarist and folk solo musician Jacob Quarrell! Mike has produced material of Jacob's, and he was tapped to be in Mike's solo band for his cancelled "If Ever Comes The Day" release concert in 2020, so there is definitely a mutual respect there. Make sure to tune in to the live-stream on Facebook in three weeks' time, especially as Mike's covering two share contest winner picks!
• SooToday contributor and veteran local musician Chris Belsito covered the vinyl re-release of defunct local punk band Room 206's album "2 Innies & 1 Outie" for this article last week! Though it incorrectly gives 1993 as the original tape's release year, the article does give a little more background info into Room 206's active run, and includes some photos, including one of Soolebrity Records head & bonus song performer Mikey Hawdon holding two copies at The Rad Zone. Give everything a look if you want above!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week rolls along! Thanks everyone!