LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Wax Mannequin), Hails Updates, And More Recent News & Notes!!

On this Saturday evening, we're playing catch-up with lots of shorter updates on the SMS, but leading off, we have news from a prominent local punk band, and to start, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month. With all of that said, here's what you should know!

Hamilton "weird folk art punk" solo project Wax Mannequin will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert at The Loft at the Algoma Conservatory of Music on Wednesday, August 7th! Led by singer/guitarist Chris Adeney, local fans will have seen Wax Mannequin on local stages at least twice before, following gigs at the former Cafe Natura in 2014 and at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum in 2022. I actually hadn't covered those gigs on the SMS due to the project not seeming like it'd suit our coverage, but Wax Mannequin cross many genre lines with their varied original material, including metal, and there's a lot of ground to cover with their skilled (and often funny) alt-folk music dating back to the early 2000s, so don't bypass them in their (at least) third local stop! Your local opener on this night is The Floor Between Us, the avant-garde comedy rock project led by 2022 Soo's Got Talent finalist Colin Gasparelli.

Solid choice on the comedy/folk side of things, so don't bypass what Colin has in store next month! Presented by Piecing It Together Shows (who promoted Wax Mannequin's 2022 show here as Dryer Fire), there is no stated age limit for this 7:00 PM concert, which has $20 advance tickets available at this link and a $25 door charge. This is $5 higher across the board compared to 2022, but remember how high-end The Loft is as a formal concert venue. It'll be good to see Wax Mannequin back on a local stage, so visit the official Facebook event page for more on their return!

Next up, here's the latest from local punk/thrash band Hails, who did indeed add guitarist Mikhal Muto's brother Carmen on rhythm guitar, officially expanding them to a quartet, as per recent updates to their Facebook page. Carmen had debuted with Ha!ls in May at The Distraction, and he has seemed to fit in well in public videos shared since then! Note that their sister band Vanity First (who Carmen has played with in a similar capacity) still say that they're "a three (sometimes four) piece punk outfit" on their Facebook page, so is there a distinction between the two re: Carmen's involvement, or is that just outdated? We'll keep you posted! While we're on the subject, a brand new video of Brent, the Mutos, and Keeghan is now up on their Facebook page courtesy of their set at Go Skateboarding Day last month, so what should you know there?

The video sees Hails playing their non-EP original "Pink Clouds Of Destiny" in the usual Go Skate Day stage locale atop the big ramp at Queen Elizabeth Park outside of the John Rhodes Centre. The video runs for 2:28 (incredibly long as Ha!ls' Facebook videos go), and while the skies were quite gray, it is good that the festivities went on despite some rainy weather earlier in the day! Mikhal is often hidden behind an amplifier at this vantage point though. Solid and well performed skate punk from this talented foursome, so check everything out for yourselves below!

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

 

• Despite his two nominations (for The Northwest & Handsome Sandwich's newest albums), Id Iota/Pixo Control alum Dustin Goodall lost the Outstanding Engineer award at last month's Northern Ontario Music & Film Awards to Sudbury's Matt Wiewel for his work on London alt-folk band Status/Non-Status' new album "Surely Travel". Congratulations to Matt on his win, and to every nominee, including Caddy Street Avenue alum Patrick Dal Cin's work with his current band Knkm!
• As per the official program for this year's Rotaryfest, we can finally confirm that the third guitarist added to local punk band The Gambit in 2022 is former Bankshot guitarist Christian Pasiak, reuniting with his old bandmates Lucas Schmiedendorf and Clint Wilson in the process! Oddly, The Gambit never confirmed him by name on their Facebook page when he came on board, and they still don't list their lineup in writing there. New official band photos can be seen there though, and according to the Rotaryfest program, they're releasing their teased original material on Bandcamp later this year, so keep an eye out for that!
• In the past two weeks for Shooters Downstairs Lounge's annual Talent Quest karaoke competition, the judges were members of local hard rock bands Half Past on June 23rd and Handsome Sandwich on June 30th. We don't cover straight karaoke-only events here, but it's neat seeing familiar musicians join the judges rotation! Opening round competition continues with night #5 tomorrow and into next month as the judges pick two singers each Sunday to make the top 25, so stay tuned to Shooters' Facebook page for more details!
• In another lineup note from the Rotaryfest program, former(?) Re:Born singer Elly McWatters is listed in the write-up for Mike Haggith's Stage 1 set as being on "guitar/vocals". If accurate, this likely points to her being a full member of his solo band this year and not just a backing singer on a handful of songs like in the past. No word on how she sounds as a guitarist, but Soo's Got Talent finals attendees last fall may recall judges suggesting to her that she play an instrument too if she re-enters in 2024. Regardless, Elly will be an asset however utilized in Mike's band in two weeks!
• In their first Facebook post in over two years, local power rock/classic metal band Re:Born said on June 14th that "I think maybe it's time for one last ride...". Re:Born succeeded Project 421 upon their 2018 debut and played a number of gigs over the next two years, but the pandemic and personal concerns kept them off the stage in the early 2020s, and they disbanded in March 2022 despite announcing a new lineup the previous fall. Even if not a full-time reunion, it would be nice to see Re:Born get some closure after not being able to get the chance previously, so we'll see if this gets any public follow-through!
• As per their Facebook page, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck recruited guest bassists for their late notice bookings at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this weekend due to the absence of Jim Michaud for unannounced reasons. Sidekicks/ex-Griphook bassist Dan Beaupre filled in for their normal concert last night and will do so again TONIGHT, while Toronto-based ex-Saultite Cory Valentine (who has guested with Soundcheck multiple times since 2019) sat in for their one-off jam night return on Thursday. Hopefully all's well with Jim, and that Cory and Dan fit in nicely!
   

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

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Re:Born

After a return from vacation-aided delay, here is this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, in our last installment of this series of 2022! As usual, this serves to spotlight the active run and highlights of randomly chosen local metal, hard rock, or punk artists, and this month's selection is a talented and familiar metal band whose run was arguably curtailed prematurely due to the pandemic, so here's what you should know!

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Re:Born 

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Power Rock/Classic Metal

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)

Elly McWatters, vocals
Blair Burch (Project 421), guitar/vocals
Chris Nielsen (A Dire Setback), guitar
Elijah Nielsen (Electric Church), bass
Brandan Glew (The Din, The Revolution), drums

Robert Nevitt (Big Mistake, Steel Sour), vocals
Frank McGillivray (Project 421), guitar
Fred Dunn (Eclipse), bass

Audio/Video: Re:Born largely took over guitarists Blair Burch & Frank McGillivray's prior classic metal band Project 421's existing originals like "Running Away" and "Into The Darkness", along with a similar cover set of old school-leaning metal and hard rock songs, but with distinct updates, including more influence from European power metal in some covers. Their Facebook page was quite good for uploading videos of every incarnation of Re:Born (even lineups that never played a formal concert), but Chris Paci's YouTube channel does have a few videos as well. Here's Re:Born playing their own original "Die Another Day" and covering Iron Maiden's "Die With Your Boots On" at The Grand Gardens North in 2019!

Info/Analysis: Shortly after the dissolution of Project 421 in the fall of 2017, Blair & Frank formed a similar new band named Re:Born (no relation) that publically launched in January 2018. Their original five piece lineup aimed to "keep that old-school attitude alive, while capturing a modern energy", debuting (with merchandise in tow) via Rockstar Bar dates opening for Archelon and All The Wasted Years in March & June, followed by the Pirie "Bear" Kaufman benefit show in October. After frequent guest singer Elly McWatters replaced Robert Nevitt later that month and Frank's move out of town in November, Re:Born's best known four-piece lineup debuted at Soo Blaster in March 2019, returning there in the following months to open for The Killer Dwarfs & Anvil, with some all-local and headlining gigs elsewhere into the summer.

Re:Born's final concert took place at Toystock that November, before a planned break was consumed & lengthened by the pandemic. Despite announcing a new expanded lineup featuring the Nielsen cousins joining Elly, Blair, and Brandan in November 2021, Re:Born threw in the towel in March 2022. Comparisons with Project 421 are easy to make, but Re:Born stood on their own with strong in-built talent, and both Robert and Elly brought their own unique styles to the table during their runs! Their style of power rock could attract old school and modern fans, and they were snakebitten by bad luck to an extent, but hopefully everyone's still musically active in new projects nowadays!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! After spending the last quarter of the year in Sault Ontario, our rotation takes us back to Sault Michigan, where are next randomly selected band will be early 2010s grunge/alternative trio Plastic! Stay tuned for that on or around January 10th, and for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

A Band Breakup, Plus The Return Of Metal Morpheus!!

Tonight's SMS post deals in two topics, including a surprise band dissolution that broke this afternoon and a local metal-centric radio show's return to production, so here's what you should know!

Local power rock band Re:Born have surprisingly announced their breakup, as per their Facebook page earlier today. In their statement, the band said that "it is time to move on to other projects", and "there is no bad blood or conflict", but did not elaborate further on why they have disbanded. Effectively the successors to mid-2010s classic metal band Project 421, Re:Born (no relation) launched in January 2018, and while they only played seven live concerts by my count (and only three of those with a full five piece lineup), they definitely made their mark opening for notable bands like The Killer Dwarfs, Anvil, Striker, and Archelon through the end of 2019. The band took a break after that year's Toystock that lasted way longer than anyone expected due to the pandemic, but despite occasional promising teasers and debuting a new lineup in November of last year, they never ended up playing live in the 2020s.

With either Robert or Elly on vocals, I thought Re:Born picked up 421's slack nicely with their hard hitting and melodic originals and covers, but unfortunate timing and lineup turnover helped stall their momentum despite playing some big concerts during their 2 years on the live circuit. Hopefully we hear much more from Elly, Blair, Elijah, Brandan, Robert, Frank, and Fred in due course, and follow A Dire Setback to see what Chris has been up to!

Next up, after a three month hiatus, local metal radio show Metal Morpheus has returned to their airwaves on local internet station The Borderline, so what should you know? Last seen with the revised local metal episode on December 5th followed by a month's worth of reruns, the series seemed to end out of nowhere with no on-air announcement in December or January, host Josh Amendola brought a brand new episode to the online airwaves on Sunday night at 9:00 PM, but I have to heavily preface this one. As you may know by now, I try to focus all SMS coverage on music and the performers of it, and I only get into personal lives, current news events, or politics if they directly link with relevant songs, concerts, or charitable efforts linked to their music career in some way. That said, this episode is not themed after a genre or national metal scene like we tended to see last year.

This episode is heavily themed around the Freedom Convoy trucker protests and Josh's support of that cause, with Josh linking them to metal in that he believes that the genre is about freedom as well, and songs played all come from countries who have had their own convoy. If you heard prior episodes of Metal Morpheus, he did make the occasional statement about his feelings on the pandemic and related restrictions, and this episode does start with a disclaimer that all beliefs expressed are those of the participants and don't reflect those of The Borderline.  I will not be going further into the connecting theme and discussion here, as the protests do not directly reflect on the local metal and punk scenes, but be advised of the content of the episode if you check this episode out, as the protests are mentioned a lot, but he does offer some brief thoughts on the bands themselves also.

The songs played on air are Bolivian metal sextet Alma Eterna's song "Mamita (Homenaje A Kalamarka)" (3:15), Finnish folk/death metal band Amorphis' early song "Of Rich & Poor" (9:05), Mexican metal band Luzbel's song "El Angel De La Lujuria" (14:55), Australian industrial metal band The Berzerker's song "Ignorance" (19:20), Balitimore death metal veterans Misery Index's song "The Killing Gods" (22:15), French power metal band Sortilege's song "Metamorphose" (32:30), Dutch death metal band Pestilence's song "Out Of The Body" (37:35), Czech power/thrash metal band Arakain's song "Schizofrenie" (42:55), and Toronto progressive rock icons Rush's classic single "Freewill" (53:00). For the first time in Metal Morpheus' history, no band featuring a local musician was played in this episode, but Josh did tease that "more variety" and interviews would be coming in future installments, next presumably on Sunday.

No, he didn't explain where the series went for 3 months aside from saying that it was "back from the grave" in the intro. Again, I will not be commenting on the protests here, as The Sault Metal Scene is devoted to local music, and other than this Metal Morpheus episode, there hasn't been any direct crossover to speak of. Musically, he did pick some solid songs to play (though I do prefer newer Amorphis), but I can't objectively comment on the theme, as my personal views & Josh's are not close. Visit the above links to hear the whole episode if you want, but again, be advised of the theme. That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more on the site next! Thanks everyone!

New Videos From Three Sault Ontario Bands, Plus Assorted Sault Michigan Updates!!

After a day off from the SMS following a busy weekend of late notice show announcements, we're back on this snowy Sunday morning with a batch of new videos and linked updates from three local hard rock bands, two of which fans haven't seen much of in the 2020s so far! To round things out, we have a few shorter notes from the E.U.P., but let's kick things off in Ontario!

Local power rock band Re:Born appear to be getting back into the public swing of things, and to that end, they are back to a five-piece lineup, as they have enlisted A Dire Setback frontman Chris Nielsen as their new second guitarist (replacing the long-since departed Frank McGillivray), while his cousin Elijah Nielsen (ex-Electric Church) has also joined the band on bass, replacing Fred Dunn. A reason for Fred's departure has not been publically announced, and while I do know the details, I don't feel comfortable sharing them out of respect for Fred & the band. Hopefully we see Fred back out there down the line! The new lineup can be seen playing together at their regular jam space in photos uploaded to their Facebook page yesterday, as well as this live video of them covering Motley Crue's "Live Wire" (judging by the extra attendees in frame, this was clearly more than just a rehearsal).

If memory serves, Re:Born only played one formal concert as a quintet with Elly on vocals before Frank moved, so it's nice to see a two pronged guitar attack again here, and the Nielsens appear to be holding their own on this cover, but who knows when we'll hear more, either on video or in concert. Re:Born haven't played live in almost two years, and you can guess the primary reason why not, but hopefully it won't be too much longer before they emerge from hibernation! Check out their solid Motley Crue cover below!

Next up, local Tool tribute band Parabol are back, complete with a brand new Facebook page! As you may recall, this supergroup had been a live act for about a year starting in October 2018, playing a number of well received local concerts during that span, but their original Facebook page was quietly taken down circa January 2020, and they have not played live since. If you're to believe personal discussions after the fact, the band never broke up, and the page was taken down by Facebook over copyright infringement warnings (in other words, Parabol sounded too close to Tool in shared videos). If true, it's not that far fetched, as Parabol's live shows were sonically faithful! This new Facebook page was actually created back in May 2020, and while I do apologize for only adding them back to our active band links now, they also haven't played live in over two years for obvious reasons.

Alongside photos from their October 2019 headlining date at Soo Blaster (still their most recent live appearance), Parabol shared two videos last May, including a montage of Tool covers set to live photos of the band, and the video embedded below of them playing "Lateralus" at the same concert. Strongly done rendition with nice professional stage lighting, though I'd have positioned the camera in a more central spot to better capture the band on such a big stage, especially with how hard it is to see Anthony. Still great to see him, John, Steve, and Al back, and hopefully they can play proper public concerts again when the time is right, but for now, check out both videos!

Also today, here's two new minute-long videos of local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck live at Reggie's West on Friday! Posted to their Facebook page last night in advance of night #2 of their short notice weekend there, the videos appear to both be shot by singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver while on stage, effectively making these trio performances with guitarist Terry Eaton on lead vocals. One video features Soundcheck playing a song that, for the life of me, I cannot identify, partly because of Terry's vocals being very muddled through this camera, though it sounds like late '70s/early '80s classic rock. Embedded below is Soundcheck (minus Cameron) covering Golden Earring's "Radar Love". While the vantage point from front & center of the stage is sure interesting, and defeats that cursed pole that often covers up Paul, the muddy audio quality, jittery camera angle, and vertical orientation don't help.

Despite the technical issues with Cameron's camera, Soundcheck sound good on these covers, and the point-of-view angle is definitely unique, so give them a look above and below, and hopefully last night's Reggievelt show went off without a hitch! We'll let you guys know if Soundcheck are playing anywhere on late notice this coming weekend!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, all reflecting Sault Michigan bands in one form or another! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• I have moved local hard rock solo project Hubbard to our inactive band links due to a year's public activity. Led by 415E/Rhythm & Brews guitarist Chris Hubbard, his solo output has been limited to just sporadic teasers on Hubbard's Facebook page towards things going on in studio, last updating fans on October 22nd of last year. Now, Hubbard have been publically silent for longer than this before, having went 15 months between Facebook posts in 2018-2019, so Chris could still be hard at work behind the scenes. Regardless, follow his two live bands in the interim!
  
• Local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 have enlisted Oddfellow alum Odin Osogwin as their new drummer, replacing Gary Croad, as per their Facebook page on Friday. A reason for Gary's departure was not publically announced, but the band oddly didn't acknowledge a drummer change until after promoting that night's Strongs Tavern show. Gary had joined Project 906 in February, and he seemed like a good fit with the 906 camp for their return gigs from June onward, but Odin's drum skill is well established, and it's good to see him back in a local band after way too long!
• Local hard rock quartet Tarnished have finally identified their new bassist as Isaac Royer, as per videos that the band exclusively shared as Facebook "stories" on Friday night where he and frontman Alex Traynor hyped up their Rapids Lounge concerts over the weekend. Remember, Facebook "stories" can only be seen twice before they vanish forever, unless separately posted on their Facebook page, which Tarnished did not do for those clips. Isaac joined the band in August, allowing Alex to move back to guitar following their most recent trio run, and he has seemed to fit in well with Tarnished so far! Look for more from their camp soon!

 

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

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Today's post is devoted to recent video uploads from local hard rock acts on both sides of the border, so let's go alphabetical order by starting in Sault Ontario, as revived local "no genre" quartet Handsome Sandwich have unveiled their second original song via their YouTube channel! Entitled "Bitter", it too was recorded via a jam session performance, this time from a different locale and via two camera angles, one from a high corner angle. Again, this is planned for their debut album, though they have not said if recording sessions have begun. This video gives us a better look at the new lineup, including Johnny & Mitch's longer hair, Johnny's new(?) electric drumkit, and Jesse actually being in frame throughout, though the lighting does him no favours. "Bitter" is a slower rock song than "All Or Nothing" that isn't as easy to pin down to a subgenre, but Taylor's vocals remind me a bit of Sting here.

Taylor does seem more at ease here, which is good to see! It is great to watch Handsome Sandwich's trajectory move forward as it should post-revival, and hopefully there's more news to come in due course, but give "Bitter" a look/listen below, and stay tuned for updates!

Next up, here's a new/old video of local power rock quartet Re:Born covering Black Sabbath's "Children of the Sea" when they opened for Anvil at Soo Blaster back in June 2019! Uploaded on June 10th (two years and a day after the show took place), this captures a predictably strong rendition of this Dio-era Sabbath classic that makes strong use of Elly's vocals, and Blair's guitar work is a fine match! Hopefully it won't be too much longer before we see Re:Born back on a proper concert stage, but give this a watch below!

Now let's head south to Sault Michigan, starting with a video of local hard rock trio Tarnished live at the Rock The Locks 5K marathon race on Saturday! Despite the atypical outdoor setting, this was not a two man acoustic set, the gear was plugged in & Nathan was present. Live-streamed by attendee Sierra Elliott & shared to the band's public Facebook page on Sunday, this features Tarnished covering Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me", and it looks like their set was actually mid-route during the 5K proper, as you can see runners passing through the frame throughout. In fact, they were playing outside of R&R Marine Supply on East Portage Avenue (I don't know if any band members have a connection there). The song itself is well performed and faithful to the original, and while I'm not a Poison fan, it's a good upbeat rocker for something like this! Kudos to Tarnished for donating their time, and give their video a watch below!

 

We'll close with a lighter note courtesy of local classical metal band Theatre of Night's YouTube channel yesterday, where the band posted a new instrumental named "Emerging Light"! Continuing their mid-pandemic work on non-Christmas material, this is a slow, almost new age track that wouldn't feel out of place on Echoes on 98.1 FM on Sunday mornings, complete with stock footage of nature, sunlight, the sky, and so forth. I can't say it's my thing compared to Theatre of Night's usual output, but if you want something soothing, relaxing, and positive, give "Emerging Light" a listen below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post of some kind by Friday! Thanks everyone!