LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Michael Mikus) & Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews!!

As we slowly get more posts up on the site after some busy personal commitments, here's the first of our concert previews for this weekend! We'll touch on potential late notice confirmations and Sault Michigan shows tomorrow, so don't worry, they're coming! Now, here's what you should know, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Pixo Control frontman Michael Mikus will play a rare solo acoustic concert THIS SATURDAY NIGHT at the Dish Espresso Bar & Cafe when he'll open for Winnipeg folk/pop musician J.P. Hoe! Apologies for the short notice, the show was only announced via the official Facebook event page on Tuesday. Though advertised as a Pixo Control concert therein, the description indicates that Michael is playing solo, so fans will have to wait until the "Probably Not" CD release party at LopLops on December 12th to see the new lineup in action, but it's nice to see Michael back on a concert stage for the first time since the summer, and I'd have to assume that we'll get some unplugged renditions of songs from the album on SATURDAY! As for J.P. Hoe, he is a talented singer and guitarist whose alternative and folk originals should find an audience this weekend, so keep him in mind if you're a fan of his genres! Also, this show is being promoted by Jackson Reed and Ears & Eyes, and it's nice to see him promoting again!

This show takes place at Dish Espresso Bar & Cafe at 740 Queen Street East, which is less than a block from Coch's Corner, in case you're not familiar with the venue (which largely hosts acoustic performers.) Doors open at 7:00 PM, admission is $10 at the door or online at this link, and given the timeframe, I don't believe there will be an age limit in effect. Check the above links for more details, and don't miss Michael's solo teaser of The Pixo Control's CD release party next month! Here's The Pixo Control's stripped down Bare performance as a preview!



Next up, we'll move to previously announced concerts with a look at prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's ongoing weekly concerts at both Gliss Steak & Seafood and The Harp Bar & Grill are advertised to march on this weekend, with acoustic matinees at the former TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY, and regular nighttime unplugged shows at the latter TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Though not yet announced on Facebook as of this writing, the shows are confirmed on his website. A regular weekend of five shows following last weekend's UFC-shortened round of four gigs, Tym's skilled and crowd-pleasing blend of hard rock covers should find solid audiences at both the downtown restaurant and central pub this weekend, so keep all five of this weekend's shows (including TONIGHT'S Gliss matinee) in mind!

The Gliss shows have no age limit or cover, and 6:00 PM start times, while the Harp shows are 19+ with no cover at 10:00 PM. See the above links for more details, and here's Tym live a few years back!



Also, the long anticipated celebration of life/benefit concert for late Chronic Demonic singer Sabrina Pelchat will go down TOMORROW NIGHT at The Rednecks Saloon! After her sudden passing last month, her friends and colleagues (including promoter Bri Sunshine) will get together at the former Nicolet Tavern to honour her memory and raise funds for her family to help cover final services from earlier this month, which is a great gesture! The lineup will include local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters headlining at 1:00 AM, and they'll be joined by local doom/sludge metal trio AlgomA (in their Rednecks debut) at 12:00 PM, classic metal quintet Project 421 (replacing Destroilet) at 11:00 PM, and "the original crash band" Sykotyk Rampage opening in their own Rednecks debut at 10:00 PM. Solid lineup for this benefit, and don't worry about all of the construction in front of the venue, everything's still a go with no changes to the scheduling or location! If you can't make the benefit, and would like to donate to the Pelchat & Lavoie families, use PayPal at benefitforriina@gmail.com.

A $10 cover charge is in effect for this concert, and you must be 19 or older to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page and the above links! While it is still a little odd that more of her old bandmates aren't playing, it's great to see so many local bands joining forces in Sabrina's memory, and she is still missed by many in the local scene! Hopefully there's a great turnout, and again, use PayPal to donate if you can't attend! Check the above links for more, here's The Bear Hunters live earlier this year, and R.I.P. Sabrina!



Finally for today's previews, we'll head to The Rockstar Bar THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Havadder will return for a solo headlining concert! Receiving unusually early notice via the venue's Facebook group a couple of weeks ago, this will be Havadder's first show at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs bar in about a month, and first anywhere since their Halloween gig at Studio 10, so if you want to see Jugga and company before their Toystock debut, here's your chance! Note that this is definitely a one-nighter, as the venue's hosting a dance club night tomorrow (though curiously, not from the Rockstar Republic crew, who recently announced a hiatus.) Like usual for cover bands at The Rockstar Bar, there's a19+ age limit, 10:30 PM start time, and no announced cover charge (but bring cash just in case.) Click here and visit the above links for more details, and here's Havadder live last year!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more updates and concert previews in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Sabrina Pelchat Funeral Details, Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands Updates, And More News

I hope everyone had a great Halloween, despite the rain! Our first post of November includes new live concert videos, assorted updates, and updates to an upcoming battle of the bands, but first, here's some details on final services for a departed local musician, so here's what you should know!

The obituary for late Chronic Demonic singer Sabrina Pelchat has been posted on SooToday, which confirms that her services will be held on Tuesday at 3:00 PM at the Northwood Funeral Home at 942 Great Northern Road, with visitation beginning there at 1:00 PM. Helen Smith will officiate the service, and interment will be at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. She is survived by her parents, four siblings, partner/Shadowthrone bandmate Robert Sartini, her grandmother, and numerous other extended family members. The family is asking for donations to the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society in her memory, and you can also offer condolences at this link. This is all still very sad for family and friends of Sabrina's, but hopefully everyone can remember the good times on Tuesday, and if you were a friend or colleague of hers, definitely consider going to the service on Tuesday, and/or the memorial concert at The Rednecks Saloon later this month!

Next up, here's some bad news for fans eagerly awaiting the second Speak Easy Battle of the Bands on Thursday, November 19th, as it has been postponed until March 2016. Co-promoter Jordan Leach (now going under the name Ye Tang Che on Facebook) revealed the news on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Friday, citing "sponsorship issues" for the delay. He didn't elaborate further on what the issues were, other than to say that he announced the postponement "with great distaste, but there's no way around these difficulties." A fixed March date for the battle will be announced "within a few weeks", and while the four previously announced acts (Mike Haggith & The Din, Pillory, Jesse Merineau, and the yet-to-be-revealed Eclypse) are still signed up for the battle, they are free to drop out if necessary for scheduling or other concerns. Jordan was hoping for 8 competing bands the last time out, so if you're interested in playing the delayed Speak Easy battle in March, message him above or at this link!

This is disappointing news, but honestly, the lack of updates regarding the lineup and prizes in recent weeks was a giveaway that something was up with the battle. At least with a March date, it'd (in theory) begin an annual pattern for the battle to be held in March like it was this year, and I'd assume it will be on a Thursday like before, but specifics are to be confirmed. Could it fall on March 3rd to loosely be a one year anniversary? Will these four acts remain come then? Who exactly are Eclypse? Stay tuned for more updates!

Also, here's some long teased media from Ten Kings guitarist Joe Jenkins' Instagram page, which has no less than 224 videos uploaded, far more than on his YouTube channel! There's beyond too many solo videos to cover at the moment, so while I figure out how to best approach covering them, Joe did upload three short clips there of him performing with Ten Kings in the past year! They include a guitar solo of his (song unclear) from July's Theory of a Deadman concert at The Dreammaker's Theater, and two brief clips from concerts at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, including one of the second guitar solo from their cover of Guns 'N Roses' "Paradise City". Embedded below is a snippet of Ten Kings' cover of Billy Squier's "Lonely Is The Night", his only band upload that isn't of a guitar solo, and while you don't hear a lot, the guys sound good! It'd be nice to see more videos from Ten Kings concerts, but give Joe's Instagram clips a look above & below!

\m/ #guitar #guitarist @tenkingsband #cover #billysquier #classic #rock #musician #band #drums #fender #stratocaster #peavey #mapex #sabian #jackson #shure #guitfiddlin #likeforlike #tone #tonegeek #toneheaven #live #livemusic #supportlocalmusic #savethemusic #samplessuck #knowyourtone #instarock #instalike #beard

A video posted by Big Joe Jenkins (@bigjoeguitar) on Oct 14, 2015 at 9:02pm PDT

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

• Local post-punk quartet Gnaeus launched a contest on their Facebook page on October 19th, where they're looking for silly suggestions. The best suggestion (which would presumably be performed by the band) would net the winner a free copy of their upcoming debut CD "Loomings" and a chance to touch guitarist/synth player Brad Irwin's hair. If you're interested in submitting a suggestion, visit the above links!
• In a pair of house cleaning notes from last night's annual Halloween Party at The Algonquin Pub, The Elements enlisted Lake Effect saxophonist Josh Norling to round out their Sublime tribute set (nice touch!), while a personal Facebook post by Jack Spades drummer Johnny Belanger indicated that the one-off punk tribute band that he played in last night apparently had the ribald name of Ball Licker Inc. (but I have not seen references to that name elsewhere.) No word on who played what in the band, but we'll let you know if we hear anything! I wish I could have been there!
• Once again, Asylum Country/ex-Mourning Wood drummer T.J. Case is looking to join a new local band, as per his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on October 13th. T.J. is a very skilled drummer, as fans of his band work will surely know, and he has experience in hard rock and punk acts, so message him at this link or above if you want more details!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sabrina Pelchat Benefit), Highway 63 Concert Preview, And Much More!!

We're back with possibly our last post of the month, and within, we have a preview of one more Halloween weekend concert, a packed new live concert video, and where to find some media of a recently passed local musician, but first, here's a related LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

The previously hinted benefit concert for late Chronic Demonic singer Sabrina Pelchat will take place on Friday, November 20th at The Rednecks Saloon, and a number of familiar faces will hit the stage in her memory! Local doom metal trio AlgomA (in their first show in two months) will headline at 12:00 AM, and they'll be joined by hardcore punk quintet Destroilet at 11:00 PM, death metal favourites The Bear Hunters (the only band that has played at the former Nicolet before) at 10:00 PM, and alternative hard/blues rock quartet Sykotyk Rampage opening at 9:00 PM, and it's great to see all of them join forces for this show! Notably, The Bear Hunters & AlgomA were both interviewed by Sabrina for YouTube videos in 2013. Promoted by her friend Bri Sunshine, all concert proceeds will be donated to Sabrina's family to help cover the cost of final expenses, and as such, the show has a $10 cover (and yes, it is a 19+ event.) For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and e-mail benefitforriina@gmail.com to donate via PayPal if you can't attend!

This should be a great event to honour Sabrina, who has received many condolences and kind thoughts since the news broke of her passing yesterday, and hopefully it's a great chance for friends and fans to remember her gifts and contributions! I will say that it's a little odd to not see bands with ex-bandmates of hers on the lineup (like the still-active Chronic Demonic, who Nik of The Bear Hunters replaced her in), but this show is a fantastic gesture no matter what, and hopefully there's a great turnout! Stay tuned for more as we hear it!

Next up, here's the last known hard rock concert preview for this weekend (barring an extremely late notice announcement), as Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quartet Highway 63 will rock out at The American Legion TOMORROW NIGHT for their second straight Halloween party there! Though not a common concert venue in our coverage, the Monkey's Uncle successors had a great time last year at The Legion, and hopefully there's another solid turnout with lots of great costumes tomorrow night! For reference, the American Legion's hall is located at 3 Legion Drive, off East Water Street. Cash prizes await in a planned costume contest as well, but if door prizes and the all you can eat buffet are returning from last year, the band's own advertising doesn't mention them. Bring $5 for a cover just in case (though again, the band hasn't indicated a cover publically), expect a 21+ age limit, and there is a special early start time of 8:00 PM. See above for more details, and here's Highway 63 rocking out live at Kewadin Casino!



Also today, here's a packed new video of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Mourning Wood! Uploaded by drummer Glen Thomas to his YouTube channel on Monday, this was shot with a stationary camera at their Rednecks Saloon gig on Saturday, and gives us our best public look yet at their current lineup (at over 21 minutes long, how could it not?) Comprised of 24 song clips played that night, I can't identify three songs in the video, as Terry's vocals aren't terribly clear on the video (I'm sure it was better live), but you'll hear covers of a bluesy song, Jet, a heavier cover, Katrina & The Waves, Nick Gilder, Cheap Trick, Keith Anderson, REO Speedwagon, a country song, Fleetwood Mac, The Black Crowes, Bob Seger (with Steven Flint on lead vocals), The Monkees, Robert Palmer, The Beatles, Grand Funk Railroad, Bryan Adams...

...Duran Duran, Keith Urban, The Outfield, The Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Puddle of Mudd, and Poison, so click each link to hear the songs! While largely not direct hard rock covers until late, they do effectively add an edge to unexpected cover choices and many familiar favourites, and as Glen notes in the comments, they have internet access to pull up songs on stage to cover on the fly if there are requests not in their direct setlist! Despite the dark purple lighting, and the guys' stiff stage presences, the fuller quartet lineup sounds good, so give this packed new Mourning Wood video a look below, and stay tuned in case they do have late notice shows this weekend!



Finally, I thought it was appropriate to collect known public media of Sabrina Pelchat's music for interested readers, especially as I couldn't find anything in a quick search yesterday. She did quietly delete or privatize the vast majority of her solo & Shadowthrone media in the past year, but her Soundcloud page (under her Isla Encanto handle) survived the purge, and it features covers of Megadeth, Neil Young, and Marilyn Manson songs (sadly, that cover of "A Tout Le Monde" may hold more resonance now.) Sault Online's Mike Caruso filmed her doing a karaoke version of The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" at Reggie's Place in February during Bon Soo's annual karaoke competition, noting that she did "a commendable job", and while it's not the song you'd think she'd be covering, she sounds fine on it! And her old punk/metal band Chronic Demonic reshared their video from their live debut in August 2013 at the former Roosevelt Hotel, where they covered The Misfits' "London Dungeon"! Though still active, this lone song is their only live performance to date.

While it's very staticy, it's a sample of what could have been had any of her bands lasted longer, and kudos to April for filming this! An audio demo also exists on personal Facebook accounts if you know where to look, and it'd be nice to see Robert re-post some old Shadowthrone songs if possible, that was a promising project in it's own right. Sabrina was a talented singer that had a lot of unrealized potential, but hopefully her fans keep her memory close! Here she is live with Chronic Demonic two years ago!



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

R.I.P. Sabrina Pelchat

The Sault Metal Scene sends it's deepest condolences to the family and friends of former Chronic Demonic/Project Legion singer and Shadowthrone guitarist Sabrina Pelchat (a.k.a. Sabrina Strange, Ririe Lavoie, Isla Encanto, and Riina Rampage), who reportedly passed away yesterday, as per numerous personal Facebook postings. Details on services have yet to be publicized as of this writing, and we will let you know if we hear anything on that front, but you can offer condolences on this memorial Facebook page launched by her friend April Fogal. Sabrina had been a talented, albeit sporadic sight in local metal bands since 2013, and was a skilled singer & karaoke/open mic fan that was also very artistic, parlaying her metal fandom into a brief stint as a YouTube interviewer with 62nd Chamber Productions. In recent years, she had been more enigmatic in her online presence, most recently performing in Shadowthrone with her partner, Pillory frontman Robert Sartini, and she had been aiming to launch a new black metal band this summer.

We had our differences from how she viewed some of our coverage, but I always respected her work, and in recent months, she had e-mailed me private videos of her practicing black metal vocals towards future band projects so she could get input on them. Though she never fronted a band that made a prolonged live impression, those that know her definitely knew her talents. Sadly, most videos of her band work are either private or were deleted as she retreated from social media in the past year, but here's her interview with 4/5ths of The Bear Hunters from October 2013, which is a fun and loose interview, and it's a shame she didn't do more of these. R.I.P. Sabrina, you will be missed!