Rotaryfest 2021 Concert Review!!

(Updated on Monday at 10:13 PM) For the first time in well over a year & a half, I have a review of a local concert on The Sault Metal Scene, as I went to check out the final bands at this year's pandemic-adjusted, drive-thru edition of Rotaryfest! Moving to the parking lot outside of the former Lowe's at the corner of Great Northern Road & Northern Avenue, organizers did note/recommend that most attendees would only stay for two bands, so I figured I could probably swing seeing three bands before anyone got annoyed with "that guy" snapping pictures, so I do apologize for not coming early for The Northern Jazz Ensemble, Spyder's Web, The Uncanny Valley, or Greg MacLachlan's sets. However, I had my vehicle's radio tuned to 107.1 FM well and early to have it ready and to see how far the transmitter reached, and despite the advertised 1 kilometer range, I can confirm that I got fringe reception from about 3 kilometers away. It cut in and out, but I was able to hear Greg MacLachlan's last song!

If you're curious, Greg and his backing band (including K.I.C.K.'s Aaron Dunn on drums) did an extended mash-up of The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication" and a number of songs by rappers or featuring rap verses, everything from MC Hammer & Vanilla Ice to Beck and the C&C Music Factory. Definitely amusing to hear, especially from the unexpected rap interludes (a close comparison would be Redundant's "El Scorcho"/"No Scrubs" crossover). Greg doesn't have social media accounts, but give his stuff a listen if you can find it, he did release a new folk album last year! Upon arrival at Rotaryfest there was no one taking donations, so I just drove around slowly until I found the best parking spot, and I ended up in the third row, but perfectly dead center with the stage (I was able to get into the second row for Obsession's set). The stage was placed about in front of Value Village, with bands looking out towards Pennington's & Great Northern Road.

After a string of Bob Marley songs over the transmitter and an introduction by returning host Andrew Steutz, the first band I actually saw last night was the debuting Jonesy Land, featuring the non-Jaaskelainen members of The Rising Tide and The Lake Effect's Frank Deresti playing songs from across frontman Dustin Jones' local career and outside covers. About half the set was Dustin's songs from The Inner City Surfers (like "Won't Belong") and The Rising Tide (like "Molly Malloy"), plus his 2020 solo song "Counting The Days" & the debut Jonesy Land song "Sunshine Parades", but despite the event advertising, I didn't catch any Conspirators songs (granted, they are not as familiar locally). The rest were covers of country and pop artists, including the four mid-set songs they did with Dustin's daughter Jett on guest vocals. Jett did come across as nervous, but as you saw in her videos with her dad, she can carry a tune!

Notably, their cover of "I've Been Everywhere" was the Surfers-era version with a verse listing Northern Ontario locations, and Jett handled vocals nicely for it! As you'd expect for a modern day Dustin Jones band, everyone performed well, merging punk and folksier/poppier sentiment nicely, with Dustin's vocals as familiar as ever and Liam Seymour shining on guitar, but it felt like Chris Johns' drumming wasn't meant for the transmitter, as his live playing almost sounded delayed from 107.1 FM. This wasn't his fault, just an observation. Fun set from Jonesy Land, and time will tell if this band continues beyond Rotaryfest!

Co-headlining yesterday were veteran local classic rock band Obsession in their eleventh Rotaryfest set since 2008, and they had a familiar face filling in on second guitar (Alex Trecroce left the band a few years ago and wasn't replaced). Sound tech Dan Belanger joined in for the set, much like he did with That's Chester (also featuring guitarist Gabe Tessaro) during their two Rotaryfest reunion sets after Eugene Orlando's passing, so Dan fit in like a glove! Nominally, Obsession's all-covers set was blocked out by decade, going from the 1960s (Chuck Berry, Janis Joplin) to the 1970s (AC/DC, Steve Miller) to the 1980s (Pat Benatar, Loverboy), but when they realized they were ahead of schedule, the end of the set became a free-for-all of songs they'd rehearsed. Obsession delivered a strong set, with Valerie Powley's powerhouse vocals delivering on all facets (especially for Janis Joplin renditions), while Gabe picked up the slack for between-song banter well and via lead vocals on two songs.

He and Dan paired well on guitar, while Jim Michaud and Steve Porco handled the rhythm end as smoothly as you'd expect, and with a more "rock"-based band than Jonesy Land were, the misaligned drum timing with the transmitter wasn't as obvious, but you could still hear it. If you love classic rock, Obsession delivered the goods last night, and look for them at nightclub gigs later in the year when the pandemic is hopefully even less of an issue!

After thanking everyone for coming out and helping put on Rotaryfest, a special dedication to stage manager Shaun Antler, and the $40,000+ 50/50 draw announcement, (not to mention sunset and nightfall), southern rock cover quartet Bone Yard hit the stage to close out Rotaryfest, and while they played less songs than the preceding bands, they also had longer songs on offer. Continuing to signal their departure from country covers, Bone Yard's set was classic rock-centric, with covers of everyone from Golden Earring & The Tragically Hip to The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, while bassist Brad Stephen & guitarist Alex D'Ettore respectively handled lead vocals on their set-closing Don Nix/J.J. Cale & Marshall Tucker Band covers. Another strong set with no real stage rust visible, with Greg Simpson's vocal and guitar work more than impressing, as did Ric Datson's tried and tested drumming!

I think there could have been some more banter between songs, but Bone Yard delivered in their seventh Rotaryfest appearance (not counting the virtual set last year), and if you ever wanted to see That's Chester with more of a southern rock edge, you'd be right at home! Overall, Rotaryfest 2021 was a very interesting experience, and it was great to see live music in Sault Ste. Marie again! I've been hesitant to go see cover bands in pandemic-limited conditions at bars in the past year, but this was a fun attraction, and very comfortable given that we could use our vehicles for seating and air conditioning! The FM transmitter worked very well in spite of drum timing, but the live speakers were still loud enough for anyone from the second row of cars to hear the bands without compromise. Good thing too, as I wanted to be outside to get photos and videos of the bands, and yes, I did wear a face mask when not in the vehicle.

Most other attendees didn't mask up outside (I am not judging anyone), but I won't be getting shot #2 until this coming Saturday, so I didn't want to take any needless risks just in case. You can see my photos at this link or at our Facebook page, while for this special occasion of a major multi-band concert in the Soo during the pandemic, I filmed two songs of each band for Facebook! My plan was to film two straight songs from each, which worked for the first two (Jonesy Land covering The Inner City Surfers' "Screwed" & Michael Buble's "It's A Beautiful Day, and Obsession covering The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman" and Bob Seger's "Rock and Roll Never Forgets"), but my camera had a low battery warning for most of Bone Yard's cover of the Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing", a long song by itself. As such, I didn't film their next song, Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here".

However, with fresh batteries, I did film the song after that, fittingly also by Pink Floyd ("Young Lust"), so if you watch that video, that explains why there is a sudden break and a change in location. Give my Rotaryfest videos from last night a watch below!

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

Early Fallout From Rotaryfest's Music Stage In 2021, And More!!

Before we begin today's post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of former Cinderella guitarist Jeff LaBar, who suddenly passed away on Wednesday at the age of 58. At press time, a cause of death hadn't been revealed, but he is survived by his son, Tantric guitarist Sebastian LaBar. Visit your preferred rock music news sources for further details as they roll in. Local fans may recognize Jeff from his appearance with Cinderella at The Dreammakers Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino in April 2011, not to mention their Hair Scare-approved classics like "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)", "Nobody's Fool", and "Shake Me" that fans got to see singer Tom Keifer perform solo here just before the pandemic began. I'm not a diehard glam metal fan, but Jeff was a talented guitarist who supplied strong work where needed, and our best wishes go out to everyone affected by his loss. R.I.P. Jeff!

Now, today's post is otherwise all about Rotaryfest, which returned to in-person activities yesterday in drive-thru form in the parking lot outside of the former Lowe's, and you can see video from early in The Steeltown Playboys' opening set yesterday in this SooToday article, plus shots of Ribfest and some of the paths vehicles take. From what I have seen in Facebook photos, organizers opted to bring the Clergue Park-era Stage 2 set (or a close facsimile) to Lowe's Plaza for the bands, rather than cart the much larger Stage 1 set north. If you want to have your FM radio ready before arriving, the frequency carrying the music is 107.1 FM, which is interference free, as there are no proper local stations immediately around it. I can confirm that 107.1 FM does carry music before/between bands, presumably to keep the music going for everyone who attends if they choose, so you can leave the radio there for convenience.

A video of Blues Harvest's reunion set is floating around personal Facebook pages, and things seem to go smoothly, but I can't confirm if the audio is from a car radio or if it's the much quieter live sound. Chris Paci (who filmed a lot of major concert videos pre-pandemic) told me that attendees could get out of their vehicle to see the bands if they wore a mask and maintained social distance, and vehicle-less attendees were asked to watch in the grassy hill by Pennington's. The live music feed was loud enough to be audible without an FM radio, so while it's still quieter than normal, keep that in mind. Lastly from his report, there was a lot of honking in usual applause breaks, which seems to go with the territory (thanks again, Chris!) You can also read more about the 2021 Rotaryfest changes in these preview articles by SooToday's James Hopkin and via The Sault Star's Brian Kelly, plus new photo postings from the newspaper.

The Sault Star's article said that only every second parking space in the stage area would be allocated for attendees, with 50 cars estimated as a maximum attendance, and organizers saying that most attendees would likely only stay for two bands. Be advised that all of this came out while Ontario was in Stage 2 of re-opening, and specifically planned to abide by it's regulations. Despite the province entering Stage 3 yesterday, this follow-up article by Brian Kelly confirms that the already-planned format is not changing, as it's too late logistically and organizers are fine with how safe it is. Most of the articles otherwise are just going over the rules to enter and safely get ribs/see the bands, while optimistically talking up this year's format and the hope for a return to Clergue Park in 2022. Kudos to The Rotary Club for doing what they can to ensure that this year's festival takes place safely!

Finally, here's the debut single from Rotaryfest newcomers Jonesy Land... at least in name! While the band you'll be seeing at 7:00 PM tomorrow is a proper punk band paying tribute to frontman Dustin Jones' back catalog, the Tidal Records YouTube channel posted this video last month for their song "Sunshine Parades" which features a softer reggae-inspired sound and motivational lyrics about seeing better days and coming together, with suitable photos interspersed with videos of Dustin singing neck deep in water and while strumming the guitar on the beach. So far, this is the only Jonesy Land-branded song that has been released, but Dustin had been posting occasional new acoustic originals online during the pandemic that were never tied to one of his bands, so are they for Jonesy Land? In any event, the video does not feature any of the backing members of the live band you'll see tomorrow.

The song is fun and cheerful, and perfectly fits the lyrical content, so fans of Dustin's softer and folksier music won't jump too far to see where he's going with this! Time will tell if Jonesy Land is just a name for Dustin's truly solo exploits of if tomorrow's show is actually the debut of a proper full-time band (they don't truly have social media pages yet), but give "Sunshine Parades" a watch below, and maybe we'll hear it tomorrow?

That's all for today, but stay tuned for new news posts in the coming days, and don't miss day #2 of Rotaryfest tonight, with the final 7 bands playing tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rotaryfest) And What You Should Know About This Year's Format!!

After moving to a virtual format for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rotaryfest is back in person in 2021 from Thursday, July 15th-Saturday, July 17th, but with big (and presumably one time only) changes! With public health guidelines still in effect next month (time will tell if we're in Stage 2 or 3 at that point), Rotaryfest will move from Clergue Park to the parking lot of the K-Mart/Zellers/Lowe's Plaza at the corner of Great Northern Road and Northern Avenue, with a primarily drive-in experience for attendees to help minimize contact. No midway this year, it looks like the primary attractions (50/50 draw aside) will be live music and RibFest, each setting up shop in the Lowe's Plaza parking lot facing Pennington's, each taking up about a quarter of the entire lot (the half closer to Metro & Value Village will be separate from Rotaryfest.) Click here for information on how to attend and what the layout will be. Social distancing measures are being enforced, so make sure to mask up and use common sense when leaving your vehicle.

For this year, there will only be one stage (sponsored by SooToday), but it will feature some original acts, so you could consider this a hybrid in lieu of having a Stage 1 and Stage 2. Presumably out of deference to noise concerns and the drive-in attendance, music will be fed through an FM transmitter rather than typical speakers, similar to what you would find at a drive-in movie, so you'll find out what normally unused FM station frequency to tune into upon entry (and make sure you have a working FM radio!) This year's band lineup is smaller than normal, partially because they're slotting more time between bands to sanitize the stage, so you'll only be seeing 15 bands across the three nights this year. That said, if you consider this to be "Stage 1", nine of this year's acts are newcomers, so if you've ever craved some variety on Rotaryfest's live music stage, you'll certainly have it this year!

Now, who is playing? Starting on Thursday, July 15th, four bands will take the stage, with local acoustic hard rock cover quartet The Wyld Stallyns headlining at 10:00 PM in their Rotaryfest debut and first concert in almost a year, though members played Stage 2 with The Elements in 2018. Nice to see the Speers' and company after a long hiatus, they should have a fun set in store! Local progressive rock veterans Machines Dream will debut their new six-piece lineup at 8:30 PM, marking their festival return after their record-tying five Stage 2 appearances between 2010 (as The Craig West Band) and 2018. Their sister blues rock band Blues Harvest (themselves three time Stage 2 performers) will reunite for their first in-person concert in eight years when they hit the stage at 7:00 PM, while blues/rockabilly quartet The Steeltown Playboys (featuring The Rising Tide's Marshall Jaaskelainen) will open at 5:30 PM in their first ever Rotaryfest set on any stage. 

Intriguing lineup featuring a lot of common talent & a heavy (if unplugged) ending, so Rotaryfest is off to a good start this year! Friday the 16th's lineup does not feature any primarily hard rock acts, but you will be able to see veteran classic rock bands & regular Stage 1 performers Mid Life Crysis and Mustang Heart at 10:00 PM & 8:30 PM, both of whom do cover some hard rock tunes in their vast setlists! The first two acts will include Strait Country (a one-off George Strait tribute led by singer Mark Tarantini) at 7:00 PM and, in his Rotaryfest debut, local country musician Brendan Hodgson at 5:30 PM. Genre fans will want to keep both halves of this lineup in mind!

Saturday the 17th's line-up is the longest as usual, and perhaps due to the pandemic's challenges, there will be no touring headliner. The closing band this year at 10:00 PM will be local southern rock cover quartet Bone Yard in their seventh Rotaryfest appearance (eighth if you count 2020's Virtual Rotaryfest, which Mustang Heart also played.) Their set takes place after the 50/50 drawing at 9:45 PM, FYI. Co-headlining at 8:30 PM are classic rock veterans Obsession in their eleventh Rotaryfest set, and both bands do have hard rock covers in their setlists! The 7:00 PM set will belong to the live concert debut of Jonesy Land, a new punk rock project led by prolific local musician/Tidal Records head Dustin Jones! Not counting his personal Instagram page, this band's primary info so far is on Rotaryfest's schedule, and it confirms that the band is essentially a Jaaskelainen-free version of The Rising Tide.

Specifically, their lineup will feature Dustin (vocals/guitar), Liam Seymour (guitar), and Chris Johns (drums) joined by long time Tidal Records artist Frank Deresti on bass, while Dustin's daughter Jett will provide guest vocals for at least a couple of covers. Jonesy Land's set will otherwise primarily be covers of Dustin's songs with The Rising Tide, The Inner City Surfers, and Toronto's The Conspirators. Yes, we will mention Jonesy Land's debut original single in a post soon, but this is definitely an intriguing project for fans of his! Veteran local folk musician Greg MacLachlan will return to Rotaryfest for the first time since playing Stage 2 in 2010 at 5:30 PM, while young local hard rock quartet The Uncanny Valley will play Rotaryfest for the first time at 4:00 PM! After an eight month public hiatus, it's great to see this promising band back in action, hopefully with more originals for their planned album under their belt!

This will also be The Uncanny Valley's debut appearance with their new bassist, as Brendan Bertrand quietly joined the band earlier this year to replace the already departed Adam Fahrer (see him in Brendan Hodgson's backing band on Friday the 15th). I'm not familiar with Brendan Bertrand musically at all, but hopefully he's got the requisite chops! Veteran classic rock duo Spyder's Web will return to Rotaryfest for the first time in seven years in the 2:30 PM timeslot, a surprising gap seeing as they only missed once between 2004 & 2014! Finally, The Northern Jazz Ensemble will open day #3 at 1:00 PM in their third straight live Rotaryfest appearance, the only band who can say that. This year's Rotaryfest is an all ages family event (of course, you have to be 16 to drive your vehicle!), and entry will be by donation to The Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie. For full details on how to attend responsibly, please click here!

Despite all of the social distancing-related adjustments this year, it is great to see Rotaryfest back in person for 2021, and while the Soo is relatively late to the party for a drive-in concert like this given what stage we're at in the pandemic, this should be a fun attraction before we hopefully head back to Clergue Park in 2022! Stay tuned to the SMS and Rotaryfest's online channels for any updates as they roll in, but circle the July 16th weekend on your calendars for a concert experience like no other (locally speaking!), and stay tuned for an all-Sault Michigan post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Full Circle) And Weekend Concert Previews!!

It's time to preview this weekend's concerts, but first, I would like to apologize for a missed concert. Apparently, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison played a short acoustic set at Blueberry Hill Resort in Goulais River this past Saturday afternoon before his scheduled gig at Service Grill Pizza, and it completely slipped me by. That said, I apologize to Tym and anyone who would have been affected for the error! Now as for this weekend, if Tym's Service Grill Pizza arrangement is continuing, there hasn't been announcement about it yet, but I'll let you guys know if I hear anything! For now though, we have six concerts through Saturday to get to, starting with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Local classic hard rock quartet Full Circle are back this weekend for a pair of shows at The Nicolet Tavern! These shows were previously unlisted on the now-deleted Turner Up Facebook group (which listed gigs through September), so they are very likely a newer addition to their busy schedule. I apologize for the relative short notice, but a Facebook event page for the show was only created for the shows earlier today. The Nic is a frequent stop for this talented local band, so definitely consider going to see Full Circle on Friday night or Saturday night! Both shows have 10:00 PM start times, you must be 19 to attend either night, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the above links! Should be another good weekend of classic hard rocking from Full Circle, hopefully a good crowd turns up both nights! For a preview, click here and move to 13:20 of the video to see Full Circle cover of Heart's "Alone" from their set at this year's Rotaryfest!

Now to the previously announced shows, and first, it's the 29th Roosevelt Hotel metal night taking place tomorrow night at The Rosie! For a second straight week, an out of town metal band is headlining, that being Vancouver progressive death metal Abriosis! These guys have a very brutal and technical style of death metal to melt faces with, and you certainly won't want to miss them tomorrow night when they rock The Rosie on the next stop of their Canadian Rapture Tour! Two opening bands have been confirmed, including the return of Desbarats death metal band For All That Is Lost! After a month away from playing shows in the Soo following the departure of guitarist Allen Piche, the now four-piece F.A.T.I.L. will return to The Rosie to play their own hard hitting brand of metal once again! Finally, local hardcore quartet Changing Waves will open the show with their own fast rising hardcore sounds that you sure won't wanna be late for tomorrow night! This show will have a $5 cover, you must be 19 to attend, and Changing Waves will kick things off at 9:30 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like this will be a brutal night of metal, and with quality bands like these, you won't wanna miss it! For a preview, here's Abriosis playing their song "Idol Fixation" in Vancouver in 2008!



Now we'll take a brief detour to Sault Michigan, where a new local band will make their first ever appearances in Sault Michigan itself! Fresh off of their debut in Rudyard earlier this month, new local hard rockers NoXcape will take over The Satisfied Frog this Friday and Saturday with their own brand of modern hard rock hits! I should note that I received an e-mail recently from Monkey's Uncle singer/guitarist Donny Newell where he said that he'd be filling in for Nick Landreville on vocals this weekend due to Nick's apparent departure from NoXcape, but band pages have not confirmed any possible lineup changes as of today. Keep that in mind though! The shows start at 10:00 PM both nights, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. Check the above links for more details! Should be a good weekend of shows, and if Donny is indeed singing, it'll be cool to see a mini reunion of Absolute of sorts this weekend! No videos yet though, but go see them this weekend, they should deliver!

And finally for this weekend, local horror punk quintet Frightlight are playing an outdoor set on Saturday evening at this year's Art In The Parking Lot event! This is an annual outdoor art exhibition where local artists can display and sell their original artwork at 69 Church Street behind the The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Museum (also near The Rockstar Bar and Anchors Away for reference.) Though the focus is on local artists and their work, there will also be children's activities, food on sale, and live performances from local musicians and entertainers! Frightlight will be joined by cello punk rockers RedD Monkey, DJ Selectah Sensi Tree & DJ Spruceau from The Level Five Sound Tribe, experimental performances from the Michael Burtch & Alison Huot studio, and local fire spinners! Frightlight themselves will be on at 7:00 PM, though Art In The Parking Lot runs from 4:00 PM-10:00 PM. Admission is free, and it is absolutely an all ages event! For more details, visit the above links and the event page for Frightlight's set! Sounds like a fun event, and why not support local artisitic talent? Great music too, so definitely consider heading down to Church Street on Saturday for Art In The Parking Lot! For a preview, here's Frightlight playing "They All Float" at The Oddfellows Hall in April!



That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow as we reveal the results of last month's poll on your favourite concerts of 2011, and kick off our next poll! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Frightlight), A Concert Move, And Some New Videos!!

Hey guys, this an auto-news post for your Friday evening! I'm currently out of town in Manitoulin Island for a family excursion, but I will be back on Sunday! My Garden of Bedlam Rosie concert review is coming, believe me, but I had very limited time to do anything related to the concert because we left very early in the morning today, so it's delayed slightly while I work on uploading videos and what have you. So here's a short news post including some new videos a concert update, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Local horror punk/metal quintet Frightlight are among the performers at this year's Art In The Parking Lot event on August 20th! Presented by The Arts Council of Sault Ste. Marie, this is an annual outdoor art exhibition held at the parking lot behind The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Museum at 69 Church Street, which is also near The Rockstar Bar and Anchors Away. It will feature over 25 local artists displaying their work, food and children's activities, and yes, music! Frightlight will bring their horror punk sounds to this event on August 20th, joining cello punk trio RedD Monkey, solo artists Chris Shoust and Anna Winter, experimental performances from The Burtch & Huot Studio, DJ Selectah Sensi Tree, and the Soo's own DJ Spruceau. This is a free and all ages event running from 4:00 PM-7:00 PM outdoors, so make note of all of that, and get more details at the official Facebook event page! Interesting booking for Frightlight, but I believe they played last year's Art In The Parking Lot event, and they'll add to a diverse and artistic blend of local talent on the 20th! Should be fun, head down there next month if you love art and local music!

Next up, I can now officially confirm that August 1st's Alcoholic White Trash-headlined punk/metal show will now take place at The Roosevelt Hotel, as confirmed by promoter Typhoid Meaghan at the official Facebook event page. This concert was originally scheduled for The Canadian Nightclub, but a move to a new venue was necessitated following the massive flooding there this past weekend. I'd heard rumblings about The Rosie as this show's new home, and it's good to see it official for there on the 1st! The downside of the new location is that the show is no longer all ages. No reason for that was given by concert organizers, but seeing as the event's time didn't change, I expected the show to become 19+. Nothing else is any different, so you can still see Alcoholic White Trash, fellow Victoria, B.C. rockers Lesbian Fist Magnet, and local openers RedD Monkey & Winkstinger tear up the stage on August 1st! As for the Hollow concert on August 6th, I have yet to hear anything official as to a new venue or potential cancellation for that show, but as soon as that concert's organizers announce something, I'll let you guys know, but remember that their show on August 5th at The Rockstar Bar is absolutely still on! Stay tuned for updates as they come in!

Next up, here's some new videos, starting with some solo work from a prominent Sault Michigan guitarist! In this case, it's the YouTube channel of Splitshot guitarist Chris Hubbard, probably better known as the former lead guitarist in Nixxon Dixxon. If you've followed his music over the past few years, you'll know that Chris is a huge Van Halen fan, and that has followed to his YouTube channel, where he's posted no less than 12 solo Van Halen covers on his guitars, virtually all of which are customized to resemble Eddie Van Halen's own Frankenstein guitars! There's no Nixxon Dixxon or Splitshot videos here, just solo Van Halen renditions by Chris, and you can tell he loves and knows the material at hand from the posted videos! A few others show off his hand-designed Frankenstein artwork on his own guitars (even a Guitar Hero controller), which look very well done in their own right! Chris has some real talent, especially for Van Halen fans, so give all of his videos a look at this location, and here's his solo rendition of "Somebody Get Me A Doctor"!



And finally, here's a video from last August's Kiss concert at The Essar Center that I've only just found on YouTube! This was uploaded onto YouTube on October 3rd of last year by YouTube user ctfsoo, which probably explains why I'm so late to share it, given that it took almost two months to get posted. It's of Kiss playing their classic "Detroit Rock City", easily the most popular song from the concert judging by the posted YouTube videos (six, by my count.) The video was shot to the right of the stage from a higher seat than some of the other Kiss concert videos I've seen, but ctfsoo was close enough to see everything! Video's alright, but the audio is a bit fuzzy, and people in front can get in the way a bit. Good stuff though, and worth sharing for all you Kiss Army soldiers, so lose your mind in Detroit Rock City below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for my Garden of Bedlam concert review tomorrow at some point! Thanks everyone!