SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Phatstick), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

The holiday weekend is drawing near, and though I'm sure many of you have special plans already in mind, remember the concerts taking place this weekend, as there's a few worth checking out! As it's a slower weekend on the whole, I've also included some quick additional stories at the end, and before anyone asks, the preview for Monday night's Isosceles Project concert will be later in the weekend. I do have a lineup note for that show in this post though! And note that I heard discussion of a possible Monkey's Uncle concert weekend in the next few days as well, but I won't "call it" without formal confirmation. If I get it, I'll have it by Friday! So let's begin today's post a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

I apologize for the short notice of this concert, it was only just announced earlier today. St. Catharines hard rock quartet Phatstick (featuring Saultites Jason Taillefer & Joe LaVergne) are coming back to Sault Ontario for the long weekend for a Saturday night concert at The Rockstar Bar! This is Phatstick's first local concert in nine months, following their two weekend sets at Foggy Notions last summer, and it will also mark the band's first ever show at The Rockstar Bar. Great to see them back in town, I was wondering what they'd been up to lately, especially given the lack of updates to their Facebook group since November! Note that they're not playing on Friday, as far as I know. This concert will have a 10:30 PM start time and a 19+ age limit, and though a cover charge isn't advertised, bring at least $5, cause you never know. For more details, visit the Facebook event page! This should be an entertaining concert, although their excision of their old originals is still disappointing, as they were really good songs!

Head on out to The Rockstar Bar on Saturday to hear the guys from Phatstick play some great covers from all over the rock spectrum, including a good chunk of heavier material! For a preview (as the show is on Saturday), here's Phatstick covering AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" at Foggy's in July!



Now to the shows we had advance word on, and first, it's the sixteenth Roosevelt Hotel metal night! Three more local bands are hitting The Rosie tomorrow night, courtesy of Dismembertainment, in the first all-locals Thursday nighter since last month, including headliners Shit Liver! Yes, the grimy crusty death metal trio are back at The Rosie for this concert, where they'll be sure to deliver a brutal set to their fans as they so often do!! In the middle of the lineup are classic metal quartet Sativa Rose, rocking out tomorrow in honour guitarist Anthony Orazietti's 25th birthday! There's no better way to spend a birthday, and he should be on fire tomorrow, as should the rest of this talented group! Rounding out the lineup tomorrow is local hardcore band Changing Waves, who plan to both unveil new songs and hand out a demo of some kind tomorrow! Sounds like this is a big night for them, hopefully these new things live up to the hype! As always, this show has a 9:30 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. For more details, check the above links and the Facebook event page!

This should be a great concert, and hopefully I can make it out! The last few days haven't been outstanding for me personally, it would do me good to rock out and enjoy myself tomorrow night! For a preview, here's Shit Liver playing their original song "Friendly Old (Uncle Joe)" at The Rosie in January!



Finally for concerts I'm positive are going on over the long weekend, the classic hard rock quartet featuring K.T. Antler, Kyle McKey, Robert Brown, and Scott McClurg are back on stage, but under a new name! To signal their musical evolution and honour their past lineups, the band formerly known as Turner Up have officially changed their name to Full Circle, and they'll play their first concerts under the new name on Friday & Saturday night at The Roosevelt Hotel! The band's online pages have yet to be altered to reflect the change, but Scott confirmed the news with me when it was announced, and the Facebook event page also confirms the development. Aside from the new name, nothing's different with the band beyond the ongoing musical evolution that had started after K.T. and Kyle joined, so things shouldn't be too different this weekend! They'll be on at 10:30 PM-ish on Friday & Saturday night, there's no cover charge, and once again, you must be 19 to attend. Check the above links for more details! Sounds good to me, I've heard great things about Turner Up/Full Circle's new lineup, and they should deliver a fun night of classic hard rock this weekend! I have no videos to preview the show with featuring their new lineup, but if I find any, I will let you all know!

Finally for today, here's some random shorter news and notes from the last little while, in alphabetical order by band name:

• Monday's Isosceles Project concert at The Roosevelt Hotel has had a lineup adjustment, as Toronto hardcore punk band The Endprogram have replaced Orillia metal trio Like Animals on this concert. This was confirmed on the Facebook event page. No reason has been publicized for Like Animals' exit from the show, but The Endprogram are no strangers to the Soo, and they should fit in well! Check them out at the above link, and I'll see you guys there on Monday!
• Local horror punk quintet Frightlight now have a PureVolume page! Aside from conflicting stage names for drummer Jeff De Rose (Mr. AND Dr. Bates), nothing terribly unique is on the page, but definitely check it out! It has some posted songs too!
• Full Circle's concert weekend at The Canadian Nightclub on May 27th & 28th has been cancelled due to "unforseen circumstances", though this wasn't elaborated upon. Thanks to Scott McClurg for the info! Disappointing, I was hoping to see them then as part of my birthday weekend concert spree! Never fear though, they're at The Nicolet Tavern on June 3rd & 4th, and they're scheduled for The Canadian in September!

That's all for now, but I have three posts in mind for the coming days: A new news post (featuring a bunch of new songs), another Woods of Ypres-centric post, and my "Soo Stories" review, with more coming where needed. One of those is coming tomorrow, so stay tuned! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Clownsack) & Weekend Concert Previews!!

Hey guys, it's time to preview this weekend's local metal and hard rock concerts, as we make a late push to get you guys out to some concerts this weekend! We have no less than ELEVEN concerts to preview this weekend (if I'm missing any, let me know), and before anyone asks, previews of Tuesday's Kiss concert and Wednesday's Skull Fist concert will likely come on Monday, closer to both dates. Let's begin with a recently announced show yet to be covered on the SMS, so conversely, it's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Two weeks after making their long awaited return to the local stage, Sault Michigan funk rockers Clownsack will hit The Corner Pub Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT for their second show of 2010, and first headlining set (I think) since last year's King of the Cage show at Kewadin Casino! In their second live performance as a quintet (with new second guitarist Sparxx), Clownsack will rock The Corner Pub once again with their unique brand of music! The show starts at 10:00 PM, there is a 21+ age limit, and there is no announced cover charge. I apologize for the short notice announcement, this slipped me by until yesterday during my research crawls about their Sugar Island Festival performance. This should be an awesome show, and if you're a fan of Clownsack, missed them at the Kewadin Festival, or just wanna get your clown sauce, baby, then head to The Corner Pub tomorrow night! For a video preview, check out this live video of Clownsack from 2006 playing their song "Social Homicide"!



Now to previously announced concerts, and we start with a Sault Michigan battle of the bands TONIGHT! The Strahl Theater at Sault Area High School will play host to a special battle of the bands being held by The United Way of the Eastern U.P., with all proceeds going to the charity Kids Against Hunger! Now I don't know a whole lot about this battle, but I'm fairly certain the lineup is completely young local bands, and I know at least two! One is Free Refill, who I heard about this battle through originally. The other is Nixxon Dixxon, who'll hit the stage for this battle before they head to The Bird for two weekend dates, and we'll get to those later. Both bands confirm the battle on their respective MySpace pages (links above), though I find it odd that Nixxon Dixxon list this performance as "Strahl Theater Thing". That seems uncharacteristic of how a band would typically want to describe a show, but they're on for tonight! It all starts at 7:00 PM TONIGHT, I'm positive it's all ages, and it costs $5 to enter. Should be a fun show, especially with it being for a good cause! I have no videos to share of Free Refill, but they'll do a good job tonight, and we'll focus more on Nixxon Dixxon in a bit, but make it out to Sault Area High School tonight for a night full of great young bands, and help out a great cause!

Quick detour to Sault Ontario for one show, as noted local metal singer/guitarist Tym Morrison brings his solo show back to The Roosevelt Hotel on Korah Road for another night full of acoustic metal and rock covers! This is Tym's first non-jam night performance since his set at The Bottoms Up Lounge two weeks ago, and promises to be another fun day of great tunes! And yes, I said "day", because this show takes place from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM tomorrow. It sounds like this show coincides with a special occasion of some sort (the mention of a "free dinner and meat draw" implies it) , so make note of that in case something seems different from Tym's typical shows. The time of the show might make it all ages, but play it safe and abide by 19+ age limits just in case, and there's no cover charge either. Sounds like another fun night of music from Tym Morrison, if a bit different from what we typically see from him. Confirm your attendance at this location, and check out more from Tym's solo project and his band Caveman Morrison at his official website!

Now to the two bands with Friday and Saturday shows at local bars in Sault Michigan, and first, let's focus on Monkey's Uncle! The local hard rock trio formerly known as Jager return to The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino for their last shows there of the summer tomorrow night and Saturday night! There's a start time of around 9:00 PM for both shows with no cover charge, and you must be 21 to enter. Because the band doesn't update new shows on MySpace anymore, I've probably missed a couple Monkey's Uncle dates between their last Rapids Lounge shows in June and now, but these are the first new ones that I can completely confirm since then. My source for these shows, as has usually been the case lately, is Kewadin Casino's entertainment page. Still, these should be some good concerts! Monkey's Uncle have a solid hard rock sound and have impressed me before with the songs and videos I've checked out! You can do the same at their official MySpace page! Go check them out this weekend, and for a preview, here's a video of Monkey's Uncle from the Jager days playing Jet's "Cold Hard Bitch" at a 2008 show!



The final Sault Michigan metal shows this weekend that I know of come courtesy of Nixxon Dixxon, who will be back at The Bird tomorrow night and Saturday night, fresh off of TONIGHT'S battle of the bands at The Strahl Theater! Standard weekend set for Nixxon Dixxon, both shows have 10:00 PM start times, with a 21+ age limit and no announced cover charge. Make sure to see them while you can, cause if drummer Jake LaLonde does go to The Musicians Institute this fall (looks like he's going regardless of if he wins the Full Ride Scholarship Contest or not), then who knows what will happen to the band past this month. So head on out to The Bird this weekend to rock out with Nixxon Dixxon, as they bust out originals and some heavy covers! Should be a fun time, they always impress at every show! For more information, visit Nixxon Dixxon's MySpace page, and for a preview, here's a video of Nixxon Dixxon playing their song "One Shot Woman" from their supporting set at February's Pop Evil concert at The Dreammaker's Theater!



Back to Sault Ontario for our final four concerts of the weekend, and we'll first discuss Turner Up! The classic hard rock cover band will heat up The Nicolet Tavern once again for two nights full of music! They'll be there tomorrow and Saturday night at 9:30 PM (not AM, the Facebook event page just has a typo) for two shows with no cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Unless a short notice show is announced in between (knowing the band, it's likely), this could be your only chance to see them until the August 27th weekend, so make it on out if you wanna "turner up" to 11 and rock the night away! Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page, more from the band at the above links, and for a preview, here's a video of the old Todd Killam-fronted lineup covering Def Leppard's "Hysteria"! Hopefully we'll get a video of the new lineup soon, cause it feels off using the old lineup videos to preview shows with Brent Royer on vocals.



And finally for this weekend, Phatstick are coming back to Sault Ontario for two shows of their own this weekend! Like at their return shows last month, they'll be back at Foggy Notions again for concerts on Friday and Saturday! The St. Catharines hard rockers, featuring Saultites Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne, will bring all kinds of covers from all walks of metal and rock music to fans, friends, and family this weekend, but sadly, don't expect originals. They have great songs on their albums, I wish we could hear them more! Still, they are great musicians and will deliver a fun night of music no matter whether it's tomorrow or Saturday! There's a likely $3 cover charge, you must be 19, and both shows will start at 10:30 PM. Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event pages, this one for tomorrow's show and this one for Saturday's! Despite the lack of originals and the widely varying styles they'll bring to the table, you won't wanna miss them this weekend! Check the above links for more on Phatstick, and for a preview, here's a video of Phatstick from their last weekend shows here covering AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more local metal news and updates in the next while! I guarantee a new post tomorrow or Saturday, and of course, stay tuned on Monday for previews of the Kiss and Skull Fist shows! That and more to come, keep an eye out!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Phatstick & Tym Morrison), Plus More News!!

Hey guys, I have some more local metal news to share with you all today, including a new concert video, the possible fate of a classic concert venue, and a local drummer's contest entry, but first, here are three LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

Phatstick are coming back to Sault Ste. Marie... again! Just a month after they last rocked Foggy Notions, the St. Catharines hard rock band featuring Saultites Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne will be back there for two shows THIS WEEKEND! Both concerts have scheduled start times of 10:30 PM, with a likely $3 cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Sorry for the short notice, they were only just announced a couple of days ago. If you want to hear some very good covers of songs from all genres (and metal, of course), head on out to Foggy's this weekend! Phatstick deliver the goods musically, but I really wish they'd play their own originals in their recent concerts, cause they have some great stuff on their albums! Still, go see them this weekend if you can! Confirm your attendance for the Friday concert at this location, and the Saturday concert by clicking here!

Meanwhile, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has scheduled another solo concert, this time back at The Bottoms Up Lounge! Come rock out and mellow out at the same time on the long weekend, as Tym plays acoustic renditions of your favourite metal songs, and more! According to the Facebook event page, Tym's voice is stronger than ever, which is great news for the show! A 10:00 PM start time is listed, there's NO cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. Tym always delivers a great might of music when he plays his acoustic solo shows, so consider making it out, especially if you can't go see him THIS WEEKEND at The Roosevelt Hotel! Get more details at the above links!

Next up, a new concert video has popped up online from a recent show! No, it's not from the Kewadin Festival (I'm really surprised at the lack of videos from there), but it is from one of the bands that played it! This video is of Detroit hard rockers Fifth Way from their June concert at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino, when they backed up Tesla! Now you've definitely seen the first video from their set already on the SMS (their performance of "Rock N' Roll"), but we have another! This was uploaded onto Fifth Way's YouTube channel on Sunday, and it's a performance of a brand new song, "Burn Like You"! Good stuff, but the guitars really overpower the vocals. It's from the same footage shot that gave us the video of "Rock N' Roll", so it's got a nice view from above of the stage! Check it out below!

Also, as a side note, I found out last month that Fifth Way have more of a local connection than I realized! Did you know that guitarist Zak Stelmaszek is a graduate of Lake Superior State University, and lived here while he was going there? Yeah, he told me that through e-mail correspondence, and through some back checking, I can confirm that he earned an electrical engineering degree there in 2000! I think we have another subject for our out of town bands profile series! And of course, check out the new video!



Fourthly today, one of the more notable young musicians in the area has entered a major online contest, and he needs YOUR help! Nixxon Dixxon drummer Jake LaLonde has entered the Full Ride Scholarship Contest that's being run through Hollywood California's Musicians Institute, a major American music college that has tons of famous alumni to have graduated from there, including (among many others), notable metal drummers like Judas Priest's Scott Travis and Primus' Bryan Mantia. The Full Ride Scholarship Contest will give one lucky young musician a full complete scholarship, no strings attached, at The Musicians Institute along with $10,000 cash. For Jake to make it to the live finals in Hollywood, he needs tons of votes to get the attention of the MI judges, so this is where YOU come in! You have until August 15th (ONE WEEK FROM SUNDAY) to vote for Jake at this location! The more votes he gets, the better the odds! Note that YOU MUST REGISTER TO VOTE, but it is completely free and has similar criteria to other sites you register for, so don't be scared off.

On his page on the Musicians Institute site, you can hear a drum solo track named "Grooving", and if you click "Visit Backstage", you'll get a bio about Jake and a video of him playing Godsmack's "Bad Religion"! Best of luck to Jake, it'd be awesome to see him win, though I don't know what would happen to the drum position in Nixxon Dixxon if he did. He's a great drummer, and one can only imagine how much better he'd get with Musicians Institute support! VOTE FOR JAKE TODAY!!!

Finally, this is a story that I haven't followed in depth on the SMS because it doesn't have much relevance to the local metal scene nowadays, but really, I should have talked about it before for it's past connections. A lot of discussions have come up this summer over what should happen to The Eastgate Hotel on Queen Street East. Local music lovers will no doubt recognize The Eastgate as a very popular venue for concerts in the 1980s, especially metal ones! Concerts continued through the mid-2000s, but they noticeably slowed down into the new millennium. More recent notable metal/hard rock concerts there included headlining bands like Nazareth, Econoline Crush, and probably the last show of note there, Bret Michaels in October 2005. Now a vacant unused building, the city is hoping to gain control of the building and have it demolished. A decision on that could be made at a City Council meeting on August 23rd. According to SooToday articles, word is that the building is structurally sound (doesn't really look it though), and there is at least one buyer interested in saving it. If you were hoping for it to become a concert spot again, don't hold your breath, as the prospective owners want to turn it into a retirement home, but that proposal was already rejected once by City Council. Discussions about the fate of The Eastgate Hotel are expected at the August 23rd City Council meeting. Keep up to date with this situation at this link, this link, and this link, and if something of note comes up later on, I'll let you guys know!

That's all for today, but I have much more news in the coming days, so keep an eye out!

Phatstick Concert Review, And More!!

Hello everyone in Sault Ste. Marie and beyond! Our 3rd Anniversary is in full gear, check the post below for the new things I'm unveiling and featuring on the SMS for the occasion! I've already expounded on that topic though, you guys want news! And headlining this post is a review of last night's Phatstick concert at Foggy Notions!

Believe it or not, this was my first time ever seeing Phatstick live, so my only impressions going in were from YouTube clips and audio from their albums. That and my knowledge of their musical resumes and local connections gave me some good promise for a good night of metal! And I will definitely say this: Phatstick are a very talented band with a natural ease on stage, but I bet most bands would be after being around for a decade! That being said, the crowd made up of mostly friends and family of the two local members (frontman Jason Taillefer and drummer Joe LaVergne) must have added to them being more comfortable and loose. Joe in particular seemed to be right at home, engaging in some pretty funny banter with the other band members and the crowd! I found it a bit odd that he did most of the talking rather than Jason, but remember, I haven't seen them enough to be used to that.

How'd Phatstick sound? Musically, they were great, the whole band are very talented musicians! I think Jason Taillefer's underrated as a singer, he can hit some pretty good notes! Good guitarist too, be it acoustic or electric, and he can nail some good solos! He evn played a couple of solo acoustic tunes that worked well, he's very adaptable! Julian Tomarin often seem shrouded in the dark, but his guitar work stood out as well, while Keith Gillam played bass effectively all night, no real complaints on that end! Joe LaVergne was great on drums and on backing vocals, I think he could sing lead in a band if he wanted to! Nope, I have no complaints about Phatstick's musical ability, they're top notch rock musicians! That being said, I was underwhelmed by their setlist for two reasons, one being the widely varying genres of their songs. They did play some heavier stuff, like AC/DC, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden covers, but they also had a lot of stuff from out of left field, like Michael Jackson, Jason Mraz, The Commodores, Coldplay, and Bob Marley. Luckily, they're an excellent band, so the covers worked no matter the genre, but after what I've seen and heard from Phatstick online, I would have thought they'd have a heavier setlist. It reminded me of the varying genres that Turner Up played when Todd Killam was their singer. Maybe it was the family environment, I dunno, but Phatstick were still good!

The other thing that disappointed me about their set was the complete lack of originals. Again, this was my first Phatstick concert, so I didn't exactly know what to expect for my first time, but I know for a fact that they have albums with some really good original songs, like "Loser" and "Bring You Down", and I was hoping to hear at least a couple of them! I did expect a cover-heavy set, judging from what I've seen online from their Southern Ontario shows, but no originals at all? Even still, it was a fun night of music, and compared to a lot of shows I go to, it had a very casual laid back feel that I welcomed, more local shows should feel like that! The crowd, which actually was at it's peak after 1 AM, had tons of fun dancing to the music and enjoying themselves, and in between a couple quick peeks at UFC 116 on the TV at Foggys (Brock won!), I had fun too, even if what I hoped to see didn't totally occur. Hopefully Phatstick come back home soon!

As always, I got a bunch of photos, click here to check them out, or visit The Sault Metal Scene's Facebook page! Sorry for the photo quality, I didn't wanna be "that guy" that blocks people's view and wanders near the front snapping tons of pictures, and the lighting wasn't fantastic either. And yes, I got a video! Check it out below, Phatstick covering the AC/DC classic "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"!



To close today's update, I have another video to share that I've overlooked for way too long since I first heard of it. I mentioned a while back that if I find a video or audio of a local non-metal band covering a metal song, I'd likely mention it here, as in the That's Chester videos I found of them covering Iron Maiden and Sammy Hagar and such. Well, here's a metal cover from local progressive rockers Flat Stanley from a 2003 show at Smack Daddy's Bar & Grill! Drummer Glen Thomas (mastermind of The Barking Eye and former local metal drummer) uploaded this onto his YouTube channel on May 26th, an audio recording of their cover of "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, and it isn't bad! The sound's kinda off, but the song isn't a typical Flat Stanley cover choice either. Interesting to note that singer Jim O'Leary isn't saying "fuck" in the chorus like in the original, maybe he wasn't comfortable with swearing on stage. Check it out below, and not just for the metal nature of the song, cause they're quite the talented group!



That's all for today, I reckon that's all SMS-wise for our 3rd anniversary, so just a reminder: I'm now tweeting actively at The Sault Metal Scene's official Twitter page! We're up to 6 followers now, let's keep that number rising! Follow us today!!! Stay tuned for much more, including new special feature posts, concert reviews, and more local metal news and updates!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Silver Dream), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

Happy Canada Day to all of the Canadian metalheads out there! The clearing out of news continues as we creep closer to our third anniversary (that's on SUNDAY), and today, we have a couple stories to get to along with your local concert previews for this weekend! But first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

You've waited patiently, and the time is near: Silver Dream are playing their first ever concert this month! Yes, the hard rock band featuring Matthew Silver, Mike LaRue, Chris Stainthorpe, and Steven Flint will finally hit the live stage on July 10th for a headlining show at Foggy Notions! Great to see the full band finally getting ready for a real full concert, I was wondering when they'd finally take that step! Joining them for this concert is local indie band Broken House, who aren't metal, but are quite talented! The show's at 10:00 PM that night, there is likely a cover charge of around $3, and there's an age limit of 19+. To confirm your attendance, click here for Matthew Silver's Facebook event page, or here for the one started by Broken House's Jason McBride! It'll be great to finally see Silver Dream live, rather than just members of them at a jam session or open mic night! I'll keep you all posted as I hear more on this show, and also, I'll show you guys this: A commercial for the show! Matthew made up this the other day and uploaded it to his YouTube channel, check it out below!



Now, to your local concert previews for this weekend, as three metal bands are playing weekend sets in the Sault area (to my knowledge.) Only one of them is in Sault Ontario, so let's start with that, and I'm sure some of you guys have been anticipating their return for a while now! St. Catharines metal band Phatstick will make their long awaited return to the local stage tomorrow night and Saturday night at Foggy Notions, the same venue as their cancelled show from May 28th! This time, we'll get two chances to see them, so I forgive the renovations for calling off the first show attempt! As you know, Phatstick feature three former members of the defunct Port Colborne metal band Human Disorder, among them, Saultites Jason Taillefer & Joe LaVergne! Doors open at 10:00 PM both nights, I'd expect a cover charge of around $3, and you definitely have to be 19 to get in. Confirm your attendance for each individual concert by clicking here for the event page for tomorrow's concert and here for Saturday's! After at least 2 years of anticipating their return here for a show, our time is here to see Phatstick locally again! This will be my first time ever seeing them live, being that I was too young when they last played here. I WILL be at Foggy's this weekend, not sure which day (probably tomorrow night), but I will have a review, photos, and video regardless, so stay tuned for that!

Check out more great hard rock from Phatstick at their official website, and for a preview, here's a video of Phatstick covering Rage Against The Machine's "Bullet In The Head" from a 2008 concert!



Now to Sault Michigan for the other known concerts this weekend, and first, we'll discuss local hard rockers Blind Baby, as they return to the stage tomorrow night and Saturday night for a pair of concerts at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino! Both shows will start at around 9:00 PM, there is NO cover charge, and you must be 21 to enter. I like what I've heard from Blind Baby so far, they should put in some good performances this weekend! When your band has members of Kilacel and Scofflaw, you must be doing something right! No videos of Blind Baby to speak of yet, but check out more from them at their official Reverbnation page, which has eight demos of some original progressive hard rock songs that show lots of promise! So if you're at the casino this weekend, you'll get some good music!

Finally this weekend, rising local metal band Nixxon Dixxon return to The Bird for a weekend full of metal classics and originals! If you missed seeing them last weekend, now's as good a time as ever to see one of the best young bands in the area! Both concerts this weekend (tomorrow night and Saturday night) have an announced start time of 10:00 PM, there is no announced cover charge, and as The Bird is a bar, you must be 21. Great to see Nixxon Dixxon keeping busy on the live scene, they impress at every show, and this weekend should be no different! For more, visit their official MySpace page, which curiously no longer features their original song "High Life" in the music player. Where'd it go? Regardless, a couple of their old studio covers are back on the page to check out! For a video, here's a brand new acoustic performance clip of Nixxon Dixxon covering Shinedown's "The Crow & The Butterfly"! (Thanks to YouTube user rubbs001 for the upload!)



To close today's post, I made a pretty cool discovery that I don't think most of you guys know about. If you go to the official website of The Sault's Rock Station, Rock 101, and click on "Photo Archives" on the left hand side, you'll find some photo albums from some past concerts! A few are from some assorted non-concert events, like a four wheeler party and from a cruise that DJs Scott Cook and Brian Davie took to The Caribbean! But for us metalheads, there's some pictures up from a few extra concerts from the mid-2000s at Kewadin Casino! There's a tiny album from the 2006 Ratt/Skid Row concert featuring a photo of Scott Cook with Ratt's Jizzy Pearl, and most notably of all, a pretty big album from the 2004 Godsmack acoustic concert there! There's tons of concert photos, as well as pics with Rock 101 DJs and the band, and some shots of a free t-shirt giveaway! I wish I was there! Also, this page has photos of Rock 101's crew at Van Halen's party plane and shots from the ZZ Top/George Thorogood show in 2005! Lots of great photos here, click here to check them all out! Rock 101 should really update this section, it looks like it hasn't been touched in a few years, I imagine they must have some cool concert photos laying around from other shows!

That's all for now, but because I'm so backlogged with stories, I WILL have a post later tonight, probably around midnight. Just to make a point of the stories I promise to get to, here's the bands and establishments I plan to discuss while my pile of delayed news gets cleared out: Blind Baby, Fifth Way, Garden of Bedlam, Turner Up, Energy Rock Radio, Jason Mapes, The Sexual Vigilantes, Nixxon Dixxon, Rotaryfest, and a couple more I won't spoil. Look out for all these in the coming days!

Tesla, Woods of Ypres, And Phatstick News, And An Upcoming SMS Mini-Series!

Lots of assorted news for today, including fall out from a few locally-relevant concerts, a tiny smidgen of a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and a new SMS profile mini-series announcement that you guys should read. But first, here's some stuff from a recent major concert!

The first videos have popped up online from Saturday's Tesla concert at Kewadin Casino! Duane Roy, author of "Castle Stories" and a frequent sight at major local hard rock concerts, has uploaded five videos from the concert onto his YouTube channel, and I gotta say, I like the quality! He got very close to the band and got some good looking and sounding video footage! Before I show the videos he got, I have to mention the really nice photos he took too, now available on his Flickr account! He got tons of photos of both Tesla and openers Fifth Way, including a pair of pics of Tesla band members reading "Castle Stories" (including Jeff Keith and Frank Hammond on your right.) Now that's cool! Click here for dozens of photos from the show, the first 7 pages are almost entirely Tesla-concert related, all of great quality! Now, back to the videos, 5 in total! No full songs, but Duane shot clips of Tesla performing "The Way It Is", "Hang Tough", "Cumin' Atcha Live", "Love Song", and "Signs", which I'm embedding here because it's both their best known song and the longest of the videos! Nothing from Fifth Way's set, but these Tesla videos work nicely! Check them all out at the above links, and "Signs" right here! Great stuff, and if more stuff from the Tesla show pops up, I'll have it here!



Next up, we have brand new videos from Woods of Ypres' current North American tour to show you guys from some new YouTube uploads! Woods drummer Evan Madden has uploaded two brand new concert videos from their shows in Calgary and Edmonton onto his YouTube channel, both of which are filmed from the "drum cam angle", so Evan's the main focus of each clip! We've seen similar videos on his channel last year from their 2009 Canadian tour dates. Oddly, the new clips are of the same song performed on different nights, "The Sun Was In My Eyes (Part I)", which is a really good song, but kinda disappointing to get the same song twice over. Still, both are great quality and worth checking out! Click here for the Calgary performance, which is shorter and the audio's a bit more muffled, but the footage is clearer! Embedded below is the Edmonton performance, which has better audio and is longer, and though it's definitely darker, we get a better angle of the band and crowd. Check it out!



Thirdly today is a tiny bit of a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, though I'm not plugging it first because I already did...kinda. What do I mean? Well, remember when I alerted you guys to Phatstick's return to Foggy Notions on Saturday? Yeah, it turns out they're playing on Friday too! A Foggy Notions Facebook status update and the discovery of an event page for a Friday concert confirmed this. It's great to see them playing two shows this weekend, this more than makes up for the May show that got cancelled! Nothing appears drastically different for the Friday show compared to the Saturday one, both have a 10:00 PM start time, both are 19+, and I imagine the cover for both (likely around $3) will be the same. So if you wanna see Phatstick this weekend and had a conflict on Saturday, now you have an alternative! I'm still debating which day I'll be there for, but I guarantee I'll be at Foggy's for one of this weekend's Phatstick shows! After years of waiting to be old enough to see them, and then waiting for them to come back at all, now's my chance! I'll keep you all posted!

And finally, in case you haven't heard, you guys should know about this because a few local metal bands use this site. Popular independent music site GarageBand.com is shutting it's doors on July 15th. The people behind GarageBand.com are switching their entire focus to their other music site, iLike, as well as to work better with MySpace, which I would say is the most popular independent music portal on the Internet. I mention this here because there are a handful of local metal bands who have pages on GarageBand, most notably Gates of Winter, though there are other local metal acts who have used GarageBand to get their music out to the world, and on July 15th, their pages will vanish from the internet unless they forward their accounts to iLike, which given most of their current statuses, doesn't seem likely. GarageBand was a great site for music promotion, and unlike many sites, the fact that you could vote on and review bands and songs was a feature that was really handy, so this is very disappointing.

Well, you know what? I'm not going to sit back and let these local metal band pages just go up in flames, cause we're going to lose a lot of stuff that way. Making note of that, I'd like to announce that starting on Wednesday, The Sault Metal Scene will run a mini-series of GarageBand profiles, focusing on the six local metal/hard rock acts with a GarageBand profile that has enough info or material to warrant SMS attention. Aside from updated links & grammar corrections, I will make these profiles as close to the the original GarageBand profiles as possible, though I may add some extra info you guys might like in brackets. This includes each and every posted song from the six bands, with links, some of which will be from brand new YouTube uploads I'm making to archive these songs which would be otherwise lost. The only things I'm not copying over are lyrics from one band for space reasons (the singer's clear anyway) and the complete rankings/awards of two bands, because that'd be a lot of info that I don't think would be paid much attention to. I'll just cover the absolute top awards for each to get across how big they were on GarageBand!

The profiles start on WEDNESDAY with the inactive local metal band named Recognition, and will continue every three days through July 15th (GarageBand's last day.) I also wanna recommend that you guys download and copy the songs and bands from GarageBand that you like and want to save while you can. There's tons of great non-metal bands from here on the site, and many more from around the world that don't deserve to have their work dumped like this. Click here to visit GarageBand today and check this stuff out and save what you like before it's too late!

That's all for today, stay tuned for more news likely tomorrow! I have some more news stories laying around that I should get to, including a band looking to play here, some Rock 101 updates, and lots more assorted stories. Tuesday WILL be my next profiles of out of town bands with local members, I am 100% certain it will be on Tuesday, and my first GarageBand profile in this mini-series WILL be on Wednesday, followed by weekend concert previews and more news on Thursday. Stay tuned for all that, this is going to be a very busy stretch on the SMS, hope you're along for the ride!

FOUR LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Turner Up, Phatstick, Tym Morrison, & Ultraviolence!!)

Hey guys, I wasn't planning to have a new post tonight, but with FOUR LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, I knew I couldn't let them slide! Now seeing as I wanted to give my Tym Morrison CD review lots of time as the top story (check it out below), I've made this an auto-post to go up at 10:00 PM tonight, so when this goes up, I'll actually still be at Galaxy Cinema watching The Big Four LIVE! Tomorrow's post will mostly be recaps from Ultraviolence (also TONIGHT) and The Big Four, so I have to get these new concerts in today, just not too early. So here's what you need to know!

Firstly, Turner Up are back at The Canadian Nightclub THIS WEEKEND! Seeing as Led Zeppelin tribute band Black Dog are booked for this Saturday, Turner Up are just playing there on Friday night. Sorry about the short notice of this concert, it was only just announced today. The popular local hard rock cover band will hit the stage at 10:00 PM on Friday, there is no announced cover charge (bring cash just in case), and you must be 19 to get in. It's been a couple of weeks since Turner Up last played live, so if you've missed them and their party/hard rock atmosphere, you will definitely want to be at The Canadian on Friday, especially with no other announced concerts this weekend! For more on Turner Up, visit their official Facebook group, and if I hear any updates, I'll certainly have them for you guys! Check out more on this show at the Facebook event page!

Next up, if you were disappointed that St. Catharines hard rockers Phatstick (featuring Saultites Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne) had their May 28th concert at Foggy Notions cancelled due to the renovations there, then you'll wanna know about this! Phatstick will finally come back to Sault Ontario at Foggy's on July 3rd, for their first local show in at least a couple of years! Sure, the postponement sucks, but 5 weeks late is better than not at all! There is an announced start time of 10:00 PM, expect a cover charge of around $3, and you must be 19 to get in. Nothing else has been announced about the concert, but stay tuned to the official Facebook event page for updates! With a few albums and tons of live experience to their name, Phatstick are sure to impress on July 3rd, and I will absolutely be there! I was hoping to see them on my 21st birthday weekend, but this time, I'll get to see them on the SMS' 3rd anniversary weekend, so that's convenient in itself! More on this show as it comes in, check out Phatstick at their official website!

The third new concert I have comes courtesy of the very artist whose CD I reviewed this morning! Tym Morrison himself is returning to The Bottoms Up Lounge on July 17th for another set of great acoustic rock covers! There is no cover charge, the show starts at 10:00 PM that night, and you must be 19 to get in. Though his acoustic solo shows are known pretty much for his proficient cover songs (metal and non-metal alike), you could always request an original song from "Solo Project", cause you never know until you try! Still, if you wanna enjoy some cold drinks and some hot music, The Bottoms Up Lounge is the place to be on July 17th! Check out more from Tym Morrison at his official website, check out my review of his CD below, and for more information on this concert, click here! I'll keep you posted with more Tym and Caveman Morrison updates!

And finally for this new concerts-only auto-post, Toronto drunk n' rollers Ultraviolence are coming back here, again! We all know they're playing at Coch's Corner tonight (I'll see you guys there!) but the band are swinging back through at the end of their Western Canada tour on July 31st! The band updated their MySpace page today with their full NeverEnderBender tour listings and the tour actually in many ways has a mirrored effect, as many early stops will be repeated near the end of the tour, and Sault Ste. Marie both kicks it off and ends it! So if you miss Ultraviolence tonight, no worries, they'll be back at the end of next month! Just like tonight's show, there is a 10:00 PM start time with no cover charge, and like any other Sault Ontario bar show, there is a 19+ age limit. If you wanna party and have a few drinks with a band that loves playing here and rocking out to the limit, Ultraviolence are just the band! Of course go see them tonight, but if you can't go, or you want to see them again, circle July 31st on your calendar! Check out more from Ultraviolence at their official MySpace page!

So there's four new concerts for you guys tonight! If you're visiting here tonight, I'll still be downtown at either Galaxy Cinema or Coch's Corner, and if you don't read this til tomorrow, I hope you guys were with me to see The Big Four and/or Ultraviolence! Review of both coming tomorrow, with lots more news on the horizon, including the Kiss show and more! Stay tuned!

Local Concert Previews For This Weekend!!

Hey there, metalheads, today's post is devoted to the topic of previewing this weekend's metal concerts! Five, to be exact, three in Sault Ontario, two in Sault Michigan, and all have a certain appeal higher than normal! There's a major tribute band, a battle of the bands at a popular underused concert venue, a long awaited return to the area, and a hyped debut performance at a venue finally taking notice of "rock music"! So here are your local concert previews for this weekend, but first, a cancellation.

The planned Phatstick concert for tomorrow night at Foggy Notions has been cancelled. This has been confirmed by bassist Keith Gillam in a status update on his Facebook page. I was first alerted to this by a wall posting on the Facebook event page by Kelly Taillefer (a relative of frontman Jason Taillefer), but I wanted to wait for additional confirmation, which I now have. No reason has been publicly advertised, though it should be noted that Foggy's recently closed temporarily for some pre-summer fix-ups (as posted in a status update on their Facebook page), so that could be the reason. Either way, it doesn't appear to be the fault of the band itself, nothing I've read has pointed to them calling it off themselves. I bet a number of you are disappointed, as am I, cause this would have been my first chance to see them live! No worries though, there's another metal band at a local bar tomorrow night at the same time, details of which are coming after our first concert we're previewing below!

First off, it's the second battle of the bands of 2010, as The Sault Youth Association presents Downtown Showdown tomorrow night! Four young local bands will hit The Oddfellows Hall to compete for "mad prizes", and this includes two metal/hard rock bands! Local death metal quintet Bring The Fallen hit the stage for their first performance since backing up Doom Cannon last Tuesday, and their first show at The Oddfellows Hall since October! Can Bring The Fallen continue their battle of the bands success and win their third battle in four tries? The other SMS-covered band on the lineup is local experimental hard rockers SBD, featuring two thirds of No Arrow and Shane Triplett from The Chintzy Slicks! In just their second live performance ever, how will they do in this battle? Though they're the newest of the four competing bands, don't count them out! The lineup is rounded out by The Fury, the local guitar and genre-less rock band featuring ex-members of Out Of The Mouth Of Babes and Devastation Of The Heavens, and local indie rockers The Tenagens! Both bands are quite popular and should have lots of their devoted fans out tomorrow for the battle! Click on all of the above links to check out the involved bands!

"Downtown Showdown" will take place at The Oddfellows Hall, which (believe it or not) hasn't hosted a metal/hard rock show since October's Upheaval of an Exorcist/Garden of Bedlam concert! I wonder why concerts are getting so rare there lately? Well, take notice of Downtown Showdown, cause who knows when good bands will be back. Oh, did I mention admission is FREE?! AND, it's ALL AGES! Yes, The Sault Youth Association is doing some awfully generous things to get people to come out, and they'll also be selling refreshments (chips, pizza, pop, et cetera) for $1 each, and there will be a free draw for a $100 Future Shop gift certificate! And all of this begins at 7:00 PM tomorrow night, so make sure you're there early! A battle of the bands featuring four talented young bands at The Oddfellows Hall, all ages AND free, what more do you guys want? Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page, and I will see you guys there! A review, photo album, and videos of SBD and Bring The Fallen will be posted Saturday afternoon! And for a video preview, here's one of Bring The Fallen, their performance of "Defiling Despondence" from Algoma Hope4Haiti!



So when you consider that the battle starts at 7:00 and features just four bands, you'd be under the impression that it will end early, right? Well, if you need something to do with your evening, and you have nothing to do thanks to Phatstick's cancellation, here's something that just might work! Hells Bells, Canada's #1 Tribute To AC/DC will be at The Canadian Nightclub tomorrow night at 10:00 PM! The acclaimed Barrie-based group will bring another authentic AC/DC sound to Sault Ontario, just months after Who Made Who rocked Nite-Life Dance Club in February! Don't expect this to be "just another tribute band" though, Hells Bells bring an extremely authentic AC/DC sound to their live show, with over 2,000 concerts on their resume, and an extensive playlist of AC/DC classics new and old! From what I've heard, I'm impressed! They have loads of information, photos, samples, and more at their official website, so check it out! The show is at 10:00 PM tomorrow at The Canadian with a $5 cover, you must be 19 to get in, and there will be some new specials on bomb shots and alcohol tomorrow as well! Confirm your attendance by clicking here!

I'm glad I found out about this show, as now, I have a backup plan thanks to the Phatstick cancellation! I will be at The Canadian tomorrow night, and will have a review, photo album, and video on Saturday along with the ones I take/write up from Downtown Showdown! Yes, two concert reviews, two photo albums, and three new videos on Saturday, you'll wanna be here for all that! For a video preview, here's a live performance of Hells Bells playing the AC/DC song they're named after in Orillia!



Quick detour to Sault Michigan for the next two shows, as Muskegon hard rockers Orange October make their long awaited return to the area! I don't think they've been here since late last year, so it's been a long time coming! They're back at The Satisfied Frog tomorrow night & Saturday night at 10:00 PM both nights, there is no advertised cover charge, and you must be 21 to get in! Should be fun to see Orange October, they have a nice heavy radio hard rock sound, accessible but it has some bite! This is actually the last weekend where I can't go to Sault Michigan shows on account of age, so in the future, if I can't make a Sault Michigan show, it will likely be because of failure to get a ride there! Back to Orange October, they're a pretty good band, and if you want some heavy live music this weekend, you can't go wrong! Check them out on MySpace, and for a preview, here's a video of the band opening for Poison at a show in August 2007!



Finally for concerts this weekend, local hard rock cover band Turner Up return to the stage for their first ever show at a venue not previously known for rock bands of any type! The band will play just one concert there this weekend too, unlike most weekends when they pull double duty. They'll be at The Royal Canadian Legion on Saturday night for the first time for them, and the first time that I can remember that they're hosting a hard rock band (not counting the seemingly-permanent postponing of last year's all ages Garden of Bedlam show.) There's an 8:30 PM start time on Saturday with no announced cover, I don't know if the show is all ages. No Facebook event page, the band haven't made any since the shows at the beginning of the month. Should be a good show, nice to see The Legion booking something heavier for a change, hopefully this isn't the last we'll see! I'd like to go, but the early start time makes it conflict with Sault Area Wrestling: Rise To The Top, so I can't make it, but hopefully you guys can! Got nothing else to do on Saturday, do you? For a video preview, here's a clip of Turner Up covering Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music", and remember, they have heavier metal stuff in their last set!



So those are your weekend previews! I might have a post tomorrow before I head downtown for my double concert Friday, and believe it or not, this will be the first time I've ever attended two separate concerts at two different venues in the same day! It won't be the most time I've ever spent at local concerts in one day (the Rock 2 Roll skatepark fundraiser has tomorrow topped), but this will be a fun concert marathon, and I hope to see you guys at either The Oddfellows Hall or The Canadian tomorrow night, or both! Reviews on Saturday too, so keep an eye out!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Phatstick), Sneaky Pete Updates, And Three New Local Videos!!!

Hey there, metalheads! Another exciting post chock full of local metal news today, including three new videos that should interest you all, the first audio samples from a new local band, and starting things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

They're baaaaaaack! St. Catharines metal band Phatstick, featuring Saultites Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne, are coming back to Sault Ontario near the end of the month! They'll be back at Foggy Notions on May 28th for what has to be their first local show in at least a couple of years! I can't tell you much else about the show yet, the Facebook event page does not go into detail, but it looks like a done deal! A 10:00 PM start time is listed, and knowing shows at Foggy's, I would expect a cover charge of around $3. After hearing about Jason's solo show here on April 27th, I never would have guessed Phatstick would be back so soon! And you can guaran-damn-tee I'll be there! I'm a fan of Phatstick's, I've never had the chance to see them live before (thank you, drinking age), and this show's over my 21st birthday weekend to boot! I'll keep you guys posted as I here more on this special show, and of course, I recommend heading to Phatstick's official website to check them out!

Next up, the first audio recordings from new local hard rockers Sneaky Pete have been posted online! Recorded on a mounted handheld recording device, the songs are not of any amazing quality, but these are our first glimpses into the Sneaky Pete sound! The band uploaded four audio clips onto their Facebook page, including AC/DC, Velvet Revolver, Kiss, and Neil Young covers! On first listen, I do see some promise, these guys are definitely good musicians and handle the covers pretty well, though I don't know if AC/DC is the best band for them to cover vocally. I like their version of "Cold Gin" especially! I also think the band were too hard on themselves for the recording quality, it's not like we were expecting Stereo Soul-esque production on live covers from a jam session. Pretty good stuff, I can't wait to hear more from Sneaky Pete, hopefully they'll take the live stage before you know it!

The end of today's post will have three new local metal videos! There's been no shortage of new videos lately, has there? The first new video I have today is a performance from Thursday's Derelict-headlined death metal show at Foggy Notions, which I heard went very well by most accounts! I haven't seen video of Derelict, Thekillingfield, or Bring The Fallen yet, but there is video online from Beyond Within's set, courtesy of their official YouTube channel! It's of their performance of their song "Mechanical Infection", and it makes me wish I was there for it even more! Sound is slightly muddled at parts, but I'm impressed, as always! I miss seeing Beyond Within live, can't beat Northern Ontario death metal! Check out the clip below, hopefully there's more from the show floating around!



Secondly for new videos is the clip I promised a few days ago before a bunch of new news stories got bunched in the way. And this is newly posted video footage from Megadeth's set from their March 2007 show with Heaven and Hell and Down at the now-Essar Center! YouTube user exyurock uploaded this just 5 days ago, and he got the year wrong on dating the video, but it still has pretty good audio quality, and not just because Megadeth are an awesome band! The video's far from the stage though. The clip includes Megadeth's performance of "Symphony of Destruction", followed by the very beginning of "Hangar 18", and you can check it out immediately below! Nice to see more video pop up online from this show, I wonder what else is floating around from older shows like this?

Finally for today's update is another new Woods of Ypres live video, courtesy of frontman David Gold's YouTube channel! Amongst some new videos of his vacations to Vietnam and Finland is a new clip from the band's Western Canada tour last August, this time coming from their show in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan! It's mostly of their performance of the song "Crossing The 45th Parallel", but it also features a lighthearted opening "warm-up" segment where David goes...a little bit country? I won't spoil it, just watch it! Oh, and it's pretty good quality. I've always enjoyed this song too, so that helps!



That's all for today, my next post (which in all likelihood will be after I get home tomorrow night) will include news on a local band's return, Bret Michaels' health, what appears to be some local hard rock/metal mention on CBC Radio One, and more! Stay tuned, everyone!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Phatstick & Will Of The Ancients

Hey guys, it's the beginning of our new monthly feature on The Sault Metal Scene! Due to interest from readers and my respect for our local talent, I plan to profile two metal bands each month that, though never based out of the Sault Ste. Marie area, feature (currently or in the past) a Saultite in their lineup! I have a bunch lined up, and this weekend, we'll start with one that I've heard a lot of requests for, and another from David Gold's extensive body of work! So, here are the profiles! And of course, if there's something incorrect, missing, or lacking info/details, please tell me! (UPDATED: November 24, 2014)
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Phatstick (St. Catharines, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; members not in their last full lineup in italics)

Jason Taillefer (vocals/guitar)
Marco Bresette (guitar)
Keith Gillam (bass)
Joe LaVergne (drums)

Russ Herstek (guitar)
Julian Tomarin (guitar)
Jesse Turton (bass)
Kenny Corke (bass)
Jesse Aubertin (temporary live bass)

Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/pages/phatstick/364411715619

Local Info: Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne grew up together in Sault Ste. Marie. Jason fronted local metal bands in the 1980s and early '90s like Alyster & Scrooge (among others), and worked with Tym Morrison on some sort of album release in high school, which I'd love to track down! Not sure what Joe LaVergne was up to locally in the past, though he was likely in some of Jason's bands. Both eventually moved to Southern Ontario in the early 1990s to pursue their musical dreams. Jason & Joe would later become members of Port Colborne groove metal band Human Disorder, who released two albums and enjoyed some success before breaking up in 1999.

Band Bio: Jason and Joe would form Phatstick in 1999 after leaving Human Disorder. During their run, Phatstick released a demo CD and a full self-titled debut album in 2003. They also toured extensively through Canada and the United States, as well as placing high in numerous band search and talent contests, and supporting Default and Theory of a Deadman at the Rock The Border concert in 2003. Despite entertaining alternative hard rock originals, the band abandoned their past original songs from their live setlists in favour of a more varied mix of cover songs in recent years, during which they occasionally played live in Sault Ontario through 2011. After parting ways for unannounced reasons in July 2012, Phatstick reunited the following year with new rhythm guitarist Marco Bresette, finally returning to the stage in Brantford on October 10th, 2013, but updates never followed, and the band presumably dissolved again in 2014.

If you like radio-friendly hard rock with a heavy metal edge to it, Phatstick were a great band to check out, as they were very solid with some great musicmanship! Jason Taillefer's vocals were excellent, and the whole band showed a very professional sound and style on their original material! That being said, I'm disappointed that their later concerts didn't feature their original material, but their covers still retained their abilities and live charisma, even if they played more varied and light material by the late 2000s. Their breakups were disappointing, but hopefully Phatstick reunite at some point again! No originals of their exist on YouTube at present, but here's a video clip of Phatstick covering "Master of Puppets" by Metallica from a show in 2008!


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Will of the Ancients (Toronto, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics)

Tristan "Tristram" Biggar (vocals/guitar/ex-keyboard)
Peter Weinrauch (bass)
Dave Black (drums)
Colin "Maelgad" Attlesey (vocals/keyboard)

Andrew "Albanack" Alush (vocals)
Jordy "Rex Lupis" Steinberg (vocals)
Stephen "Arrakis" Walton (vocals/ex-bass)
Yura "Melekhai" Ukraman (guitar)
Tom "The Griminal" Gendron (guitar)
Ryan Sequeira (guitar)
Dean Arnold (guitar/vocals)
"Gog" (bass)
"Pyrus Infernus" (bass)
Jeff Kurkowski (bass)
"Macros" (keyboard)
"Conan" (keyboard)
Chino "Heborym" Deville (drums)
David "Veillko" Gold (drums)
Jason "Sayduke" Longo (drums)

Official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/willoftheancients
Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/willoftheancients
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/user/willoftheancients
Official Twitter page: http://twitter.com/wotametal
Official forum: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/will-ancients-425/
Official BandCamp page: http://willoftheancients.bandcamp.com/

Local Info: The lone Saultite ever in Will of the Ancients was David Gold, who was frontman and ex-drummer of local doom/black metal band Woods of Ypres! Though formed in Windsor in 2002 and later moved to Toronto, David brought Woods of Ypres back home in 2008, where it remained until David's death and the band's breakup in December 2011. As well, David briefly replaced Jonathan Harvey as drummer of fellow locals Gates of Winter before their 2009 hiatus. Woods played here frequently, along with making the Soo the basis for their song "Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground" during their run, while David also drummed for bands like Necramyth & Thrawsunblat, among others concurrently with his Woods of Ypres work!

Band Bio: David Gold joined Toronto black metal band Will of the Ancients in 2004, replacing Chino Deville behind the drumkit, and taking on the stage-name "Veillko". The lineup of WOTA during David's tenure included Jordy Steinberg on vocals, Tristan Biggar & Tom Gendron on guitar, Stephen Walton on bass, and "Conan" on keyboards, later replaced by Colin Attlesey. David left the band in 2005 to focus on Woods of Ypres, and was replaced by Jason Longo. Will of the Ancients formed in 2002, and released their first EP "Cold Grim Times" in 2004. They've underwent numerous lineup changes before & since, with guitarist Tristan Biggar as the only remaining original member. They released their self-titled full length disc in 2006, and have played with notable bands including Woods of Ypres, Behemoth, Quo Vadis, and Wolven Ancestry. WOTA play a very aggressive and heavy style of epic black/death metal, fans of which should find a lot to like here! The band released their new album "To Our Glorious Dead" in February 2014, and recently toured Eastern Canada in support of Psychotic Gardening, with more shows to come in 2015 and beyond!

During his tenure with Will of the Ancients, David didn't drum on any of their albums, although he did play at live shows in 2004 and 2005. I can't recall if they ever came here for a concert, but it'd be awesome if they did! I admittedly don't listen to much black metal, but these guys are very solid at what they do, and have the talent to back it up! Very fast and heavy where they need to be, some death and thrash metal influences are thrown in here and there too! Hopefully the current lineup are just as good as on their past releases, and the what I have heard of "To The Glorious Dead" is brutal! Here's a clip from a Will of the Ancients show in 2005 around the time of David's departure, but click here for samples from their new album, and check the above links for plenty of audio & video clips!


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Hope you guys enjoyed the first installment of our new monthly feature! Remember, even if you take a metalhead out of the Soo, you still can't take the Soo out of the metalhead! Plus, it never hurts to give these bands some exposure! Next month, to coincide with local shows involving members of these bands, we'll profile London Ontario's Papa Fogals Chair (with Garden of Bedlam drummer Derek Turner) and Toronto's The Sexual Vigilantes, featuring Lion Ride bassist Brenton Ellis! Stay tuned for that!

Thanks everyone, a full news post including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT should be coming tomorrow (in case you didn't hear the news on Facebook), so be on the lookout! And, I hope the Ultraviolence/Sense of Truth show was awesome, I'm still pissed that I couldn't make it!