LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Id Iota) & Rotaryfest Stage 1 Concert Previews!!

The biggest local concert weekend of the year (holidays excepted) is upon us, so here is the first of our weekend concert preview posts! We're largely focusing on half of a major annual festival today, but let's start with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local indie/hard rock quartet Id Iota will headline one of two post-Rotaryfest afterparties at LopLops Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced this past Friday. After co-headlining Stage 2 at 7:30 PM (more on that later today), this fan favourite band will head to LopLops to continue that venue's "re-directed"-era run of post-Rotaryfest concerts with Stage 2 performers, and they should be in fine form with their high energy originals TOMORROW! An opening act is teased, but not announced yet, though if past years are any indication, they'd likely be a Second Stage performer this year as well. We'll let you know if one is announced! TOMORROW'S 19+ concert has a $5 cover charge, and a special late start time of 11:00 PM to not conflict with Treble Charger's headlining Stage 1 set at 10:00 PM (more on that later in this post.)

The late scheduling makes sense, as punk and indie fans now don't have to pick and choose who to see on Friday, especially if you couldn't see Id Iota on the Second Stage that evening, and hopefully they deliver a knock-out set in both of their concerts TOMORROW NIGHT! Stay tuned for more on the opener if announced, and for our Stage 2 previews in our next post, but don't miss out on tomorrow night's action, and here's Id Iota live!



Next up, let's move to Clergue Park, where Rotaryfest's two stages are returning, and the covers-centric Stage 1 is taking things back with the "Rotaryfest Rewind" theme, in honour of the local Rotary Club's 100th anniversary! For the 20th modern Rotaryfest, stage director Shaun Antler and organizers have largely dropped their regular performer lineup in favour of hosting one-off reunions of defunct local bands of all stripes, with only five bands this year having played Rotaryfest at all since 2006, so if you've complained about the samey lineups of past main stage lineups, you'll want to pay attention! Given the roster of bands, I expect the covers-only rule won't be enforced as stringently either. Today's opening night lineup is hard rock free, as usual for Stage 1, but there are still many familiar faces scheduled! In descending order, today's bands are 1970s-1980s country band George Pinder & Patches at 10:00 PM, ...

...1960s classic rock outfit The Dark Side at 9:00 PM, 1960s-1970s classic rock quartet The Polisi Basson at 8:00 PM, 1980s jazz/blues rock quartet Zak's All-Stars at 7:00 PM, and 2000s Rotaryfest mainstays The Northern Jazz Ensemble kicking things off at 6:00 PM. No heavier bands to speak of, but expect a great lineup of local entertainment for FREE at Clergue Park today, especially if you were around for these bands' original runs!

TOMORROW'S lineup will be headlined by local indie/punk veterans Treble Charger at 10:00 PM in their first recorded Rotaryfest appearance and first local show in almost a year, so if you want a free & high profile set from them, here's quite the opportunity! A special tribute set will take place at 9:20 PM to honour past local musicians and bands, now to be hosted by Mac Headrick instead of Adrian Vilaca, and it'll be interesting to see what form this takes, especially with the involvement of Ric Datson from the Sault Ste. Marie Museum! Classic rock veterans Mustang Heart will play a special Bon Jovi & Journey tribute set at 8:30 PM to continue their current iron band streak at the festival. Early 2010s classic/hard rock cover band Turner Up will play their first Rotaryfest set since 2011 (as Full Circle) at 7:30 PM, featuring a five-piece composite lineup from across their run, while 1980s country/bluegrass quartet Road Fever will precede them with a reunion set at 6:30 PM.

Friday's openers are local hard rock/funk trio Tripod the Dog, who will bring their swing and ska-influenced sound back for the first time in over a decade at 5:30 PM. This may be the best package of hard rock and punk-per-pound at this year's Rotaryfest on any stage, so don't miss the FREE & ALL AGES action tomorrow night, and it's great to have these bands back at it! For a preview, here's Treble Charger live last year!



As for SATURDAY's extended lineup, that will closed by local classic/hard rock cover favourites That's Chester in their first show since Rotaryfest 2016, with guest guitarist Dan Belanger in tow, plus a special appearance by original singer Richard Fullerton, so look for more hard rocking hits at 10:30 PM! The nominal headliners are Juno-winning Calgary classic rock trio The Stampeders (of "Sweet City Woman" fame) at 8:30 PM, making them the first non-tribute/cover headliners at Rotaryfest in nine years, while another short tribute set to past local musicians will precede them at 7:50 PM. Local Celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide (with Chris Johns on drums) will make their Rotaryfest debut at 7:00 PM, while Chicago-influenced 1970s soft rock collective Pegasus will return at 6:00 PM, and 2010s hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings (featuring guest drummer Johnny Belanger) will play their fourth Stage 1 set at 5:00 PM, in their return to their original name.

Sporadically seen jam rock favourites Odd Man Out are on at 4:00 PM, while one-off pop rock tribute The Sun Dogs will host a "summer beach party" at 3:00 PM featuring covers of 1960s and 1970s summer and beach-themed songs. Wailing Aztecs alumni will perform folk & pop covers under their own names as McGillivray, Martinelli and Roy at 2:00 PM, while members of Korah Collegiate's school band Mustang Sally will kick things off under the name The Kids From Sally at 1:00 PM. Quite a stacked lineup of local favourites and special attractions on Saturday, let alone for FREE & ALL AGES, so see above for more details, and here's That's Chester live!



We're just getting started with our weekend concert previews, so look for our previews of the Second Stage and Saturday night's LopLops afterparty (a.k.a. The Dinunion) next on the SMS later today, with more yet to come on this stacked local concert weekend! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Profile: The 2016 Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands

At last, let's tackle our final installment (until a year after the next battle) of our Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile Series! One day removed from our look back at last year's second VM Radio Battle of the Bands, let's reflect on the other March 2016 battle of the bands that also entertained local music fans during this busy month. Like our prior installments of this series, this is strictly an informational feature with trivia, facts, and results, and no personal criticism or reviews of the competing bands. Now, here's what you should know on last year's second local battle of the bands!
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The 2016 Speak Easy Battle of the Bands (March 10th, 2016)

Background: Following the success of the Battle of the Bands at Algoma University's campus bar The Speak Easy on March 5th, 2015, organizers at the Algoma University Students Union indicated plans to hold further battles on at least a biennial basis, announcing a planned second installment for November 2015, though it was postponed due to unspecified "sponsorship issues". Instead, the second battle took place on March 10th, 2016, just over a year following the previous event. Like in 2015, seven competing acts played 15 minute sets each, and results were determined by a fan vote with no formal judging panel.
  
Prizes: Winnings were identical to 2015's Speak Easy Battle, with $400, $200, and $100 respectively going to the first, second, and third place bands.

Competitors: Two of 2016's competing acts were returning from 2015, those being alternative/hard rock trio The Din (who dropped "Mike Haggith &" from their name over the winter) and local/Toronto indie rock musician Jesse Merineau. The other five bands were all newcomers to a local battle of the bands, and they included alt-electronic project Aldous, former Coverfly bassist Bryan Brown in  a rare solo set, modern hard rock quartet Eclipse, punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, and reunited death/thrash metal trio Pillory. Impressively, all of the confirmed bands from the original November date were still able to compete in March.

Results: Fans at the battle selected Jesse Merineau to win the 2016 Speak Easy Battle and the $400 top prize. The Din came in second place to win $200, while Eclipse claimed the $100 third place prize.

Aftermath: Jesse Merineau rode the momentum of his battle victory to work on his upcoming solo CD (scheduled for release this summer), while he also returned home for a handful of notable concerts last year, including one with runners-up The Din opening at LopLops in September. The Din and Eclipse would both go on to finish in identical spots in that month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands, with The Din releasing their debut CD in the summer and continuing their upwards momentum well into 2017, and Eclipse playing steadily until suddenly disbanding for four months in November, though they will return to the stage next month. Pillory and Jack Spades remain familiar sights on local concert stages, with the former in pre-production of their second CD, and the latter teasing their new lineup's debut and first gigs since the fall in the near future. Aldous remain active in studio, but haven't advertised a live show since August, and Bryan Brown hasn't been publically advertised since as a musician, though both have indicated that they're now based out of town.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock in italics, ex-members noted with an *):

The Bear Hunters (Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger from Jack Spades)
The Elements (Jesse Cook from Jack Spades)
Great Chamberlain (Anthony Marcello from Jesse Merineau's backing band; Based out of Ottawa)
Handsome Sandwich (Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger from Jack Spades)  
Heavy Head (Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger from Jack Spades and Daniel Horton from Eclipse) 
Project 421 (Curtis McKenzie, Daniel Horton, and Chris Thompson from Eclipse)
The Steeltown Girls (Tammy Hill from The Din)
Stegadeth (Tiffany Stocco from Jack Spades)
Winkstinger (Jesse Cook from Jack Spades)  

Trivia:

• New local hard/pop rock quartet Heavy Head were advertised to compete at this battle, just one night after they finished in third place in the first VM Radio Battle semifinal, but they dropped out the day of this event due to scheduling conflicts for frontman Mike Gaetano. However, the remainder of the band still competed as members of Jack Spades or Eclipse.
• As was the case in 2015, the second Speak Easy Battle was held one day after the first semifinal of last year's second VM Radio Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub, which again differed by being a multi-band event over multiple nights, though the performer lineup actually fell from 11 competing bands in 2015 to 5 in 2016. The Din (who competed the day before) and Eclipse (who competed the following week) made the finals and finished in second and third place in both events, while Jack Spades played a non-competitive guest set on night #2 of that battle due to frontman J.D. Pearce's promotional involvement. The winner of the second VM Radio Battle was indie rock quartet K.I.C.K..
• After missing the podium in 2015 with a strictly solo set, Jesse Merineau recruited local power pop/glam rock trio Caroline Divine to serve as his backing band for his Speak Easy Battle return last year, which apparently did the trick, giving him some "divine" intervention for his first place victory. While the set was entirely comprised of originals from Jesse's upcoming CD, this was technically Caroline Divine's last publically advertised concert before singer/guitarist Anthony Marcello moved to Ottawa, though his old bandmates joined Jesse & guitarist Mitchell Nielsen when he headlined at LopLops in September.
• Similarly to Jesse Merineau's reversal of fortune from 2015 to 2016, The Din and 3/5ths of Project 421 (in their side project Eclipse) also moved from missing the podium to claiming top 3 placements in 2016, foreshadowing similar improvements in the VM Radio Battle later that month, which they also didn't place at in 2015.
• Pillory's set at this battle marked their return to the stage after a nearly two year hiatus following their final shows as a thrash quartet in mid-2014. The band debuted new bassist Jordan Leach, their trio lineup with no rhythm guitarist, and a heavier, death metal-influenced sound at this event, completely abandoning their older originals from their debut CD "Cringe At The Cross".
• Jack Spades' all-original set at the Speak Easy Battle was filmed by Shaw TV Sault Ste. Marie personality (and VM Radio Battle guest judge) Christian Lemay for a feature that aired on channel 10 in mid-late 2016, interspersed with interview footage taken from an Oddfellows Hall concert around that same time. This can be seen as a precursor to Shaw TV's recently-debuted series OnStage, featuring full concert sets from recent local events.
• Twin City Sound & Entertainment were on hand to provide sound for the duration of the battle. Notably, Twin City Sound co-owner Steven Flint was a former bandmate of Eclipse's Curtis McKenzie and Daniel Horton in the short-lived hard rock band Punch, who were the 3rd place finishers in November 2013's Viva La Battle.
• The most notable band from the inaugural Speak Easy Battle to not return for year #2 was defending champions Gnaeus, who won both of 2015's local battles. The post-punk quartet are believed to have missed both events due to the departure of drummer Brendan Garlick over the winter, with his replacement Alex Proulx not debuting with Gnaeus until their Ontario tour run that April.
• While then-Haggith bassist Jordan Leach and experimental musician/Gore Street Cafe co-owner Sam Decter had promotional involvement in 2015's Speak Easy Battle, neither were publically involved with the event's return last year. Jordan did compete in the 2016 battle with Pillory, but as he wasn't promoting anymore, there were no concerns regarding a potential conflict of interest.
• Despite prior hopes to hold further Speak Easy Battles of the Bands at least twice a year, there has been no official public word on a third installment from the A.U.S.U. since last year's event, be it this month or at a different date. A third VM Radio Battle of the Bands also did not occur in March 2017.
• The Din later performed at Landmark Events' Showcase Festival in Toronto in January 2017, which was a competitive event to feature rising young bands to  music industry executives who would judge bands and select ones to get music industry grants. It's not known if The Din progressed any further in this showcase, but they did praise the event and the oportunities it brought afterwards.

Videos:
Shaw TV's video of Jack Spades' set
(No other public videos known; Videos of the top 2 acts from 2015 featured to supplement this section)




Sources/More Info:
Official Facebook event page
Event press release from SooToday
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I hope you guys liked this month's Battle of the Bands Rewind Profiles, and hopefully this series will return next year, saying that someone holds a new local battle later in 2017! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and previews as this week rolls along! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Profile: The 2016 VM Radio Battle Of The Bands

There may not be a battle of the bands this month, but we haven't forgotten about our Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile Series, which finally returns today with a somewhat overdue look at one of last March's battles! As in our past profiles of recent local battles, this serves as an informational feature to look back at the events, setup, results, and trivia of this battle, and features no personal criticism or reviews of the competing bands or their future activity. This was a fun event with lots of talented musicians throughout, so read on below for our first profile of last year's battles!
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The 2016 VM Radio Battle of the Bands (March 9th-23th, 2016)

Background:  Following the success of the inaugural VM Radio Battle of the Bands in March 2015, local concert promoter J.D. Pearce came together once again with VM Radio (and parent company Village Media), Tidal Records, and sponsors Case's Music, The Rad Zone, Maxx Graphics, and Labatt Breweries to hold a second installment of the multi-night battle of the bands, originally intended four consecutive Wednesdays again at The Canadian Nightclub. Unfortunately, only 5 bands (down from 11 in 2015) officially registered to compete, forcing the removal of a planned March 2nd semifinal, but the format of the battle was the same as in year #1, with the winner of the March 9th & 16th semifinals (plus the highest scoring runner-up band as a wild card) returning for the finals on the 23rd. Judging criteria was the same as the previous year and 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle, with scoring based on musical ability, chemistry, stage presence, and crowd engagement (among others) for out of 100 points a judge, 300 total, plus additional individual awards metered out based on category.

Prizes: The first place band received $500, while no specific additional prizes were announced in terms of band ranking, unlike in 2015. A $100 Rad Zone gift card awaited the winner of the Best Vocal Performance award, while Case's Music prize packages went to the Best Guitar and Bass winners, and the Best Drummer would receive a custom drum skin from Maxx Graphix. As for the Best Song, the winning band would receive recording time at Tidal Records' own Mission Control Studios.

Competitors: The March 9th semifinal saw the battle's only returning bands from 2015, namely alternative/hard rock trio The Din (who had since dropped "Mike Haggith &" from their name) and punk quartet Stereo North, who competed against new hard/pop rock supergroup Heavy Head. March 16th's semifinal round was a head to head affair between hard rock quartet Eclipse and indie rock quartet K.I.C.K., with prominent punk/metal quintet Jack Spades performing a guest set to round out the evening's lineup.

Results: The two semifinals were won by The Din & K.I.C.K., while Eclipse were the highest scoring non-winners & moved on to the finals as the wild card. Stereo North finished in second on the 9th, with Heavy Head in third, but specific nightly scores were not announced. In the finals on the March 23rd, the Keep It Cool Kids won a closely contested final, edging out The Din for second place by just three points, averaging out to one point per judge, while Eclipse weren't far behind to round out the podium. Individual awards went to Eclipse's Curtis McKenzie for Best Vocal Performance, The Din's Tammy Hill for Best Guitar, Eclipse's Fred Dunn for Best Bass, and his brother Aaron Dunn of K.I.C.K. for Best Drummer. Meanwhile, K.I.C.K. claimed Best Song for their original "Wanted".

Aftermath: K.I.C.K. have remained steadily active since their battle win, playing at numerous concerts as headliners and openers, such as Rotaryfest and the Northern Vibe Festival, and have recently been working on their debut EP at Mission Control Studios, presumably using time won at the battle. The Din released their debut studio album "Give Into The Din" that summer, and have found their own profile rising with many concerts of their own, even heading out to Toronto for a gig in January. Eclipse were a frequent sight locally through October 2015 before suddenly breaking up, though they have reunited after four months and will return to the stage in a few weeks. Stereo North only played live a few more times that spring before going on an indefinite hiatus in June partly due to guitarist Matthew Anich becoming a father, while Heavy Head played sporadically into the summer, but haven't issued a public update in months.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock in italics):
Andrew Pucci (Andrew Pucci from Stereo North)
The Bear Hunters (Johnny Belanger from Heavy Head & Justin Lam from guests Jack Spades)
The Elements (Jesse Cook from Heavy Head) 
Handsome Sandwich (Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger from Heavy Head)
Project 421 (Curtis McKenzie, Daniel Horton, and Chris Thompson from Eclipse)
The Steeltown Girls (Tammy Hill from The Din)
Stegadeth (Bill Bennett from Stereo North & Tiffany Stocco from guests Jack Spades)
Winkstinger (Jesse Cook from Heavy Head)

Trivia:

• The judges for last year's VM Radio Battle of the Bands were all returnees from 2015, including Tidal Records owner & Rising Tide frontman Dustin Jones, Elements frontman & Village Media repesentative Rob Speers, and Sault Metal Scene owner Rob Figures, while Id Iota frontman, Shaw TV personality, and Tidal Records skate team member Christian Lemay was a late fill-in for Dustin as guest judge for the second semifinal. Promoter J.D. Pearce again served as MC for the duration of the battle.
• Despite battling a cold during his appearances, Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie won the Best Vocal Performance award for a second straight year, after previously winning as Haggith's frontman in 2015, making him the only repeat winner of an individual award. In another coincidental note, Tammy Hill (who replaced him in The Din the previous year) won the Best Guitar award that same night.
• This battle did not see a return of three awards handed out in 2015, namely for Most Energetic Band, Most Enthusiastic Fan, and Fan Favourite Band. The latter was planned to be given out in 2016, but with a virtual tie among the bands in that regard, the award wasn't given out at all.
• At least two bands debuted new original songs at the battle, including Eclipse ("Crywolf") in the semifinals, and The Din ("Differences") in the finals. Both bands also played songs familiar to fans of members' past projects, with Eclipse playing some Punch and later Haggith originals, and The Din playing a handful of songs from frontman Mike Haggith's solo career.
• Though no award existed for Most Improved Band, The Din would have won it had it existed, as the band didn't even finish second in their 2015 semifinal, but improved and overcame in the following year to finish just three points out of first place a year later. Though they didn't make the finals again, Stereo North also improved their standing from 2015, as did 3/5ths of Project 421 in Eclipse.
• Notable among the night's performers was Heavy Head, a new supergroup union of Suicide Kings, Bear Hunters, Haggith, and Winkstinger alumni, all of which being bands that won or placed second at recent local battles. Despite their impressive pedigree, their set received mixed responses, and they dropped out of the next day's Speak Easy Battle (though keep in mind that the VM Radio Battle was just their second public concert together.)
• Jack Spades' guest set during night #2 of the battle mirrored that of The Pixo Control's in 2015, serving to even out the band lineup due to uneven nightly totals. Jack Spades couldn't compete themselves due to frontman J.D. Pearce's promotional duties, but members Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger did compete as part of Heavy Head. Jack Spades remained a frequent sight at local concerts through September, though 3/5th of the band left the group throughout the year, and a teased return with a new lineup is forthcoming.
• Despite the expanded coverage and video features for 2015's VM Radio Battle, SooToday didn't give the same attention to the 2016's battle, possibly due to the lower band totals, with only this article on K.I.C.K.'s win substantially covering the event. Plans for a third VM Radio Battle did not come to fruition for March 2017, though it's not clear if it's done for good or being retooled.
• Conspicuous by their absence last year were 2015 battle winners Gnaeus, believed to be at least partly due to the departure of drummer Brendan Garlick from the band following their last show with him in December 2015. The post-punk quartet did not publically confirm Alex Proulx as his replacement until April 2016, debuting with them during their Ontario tour run that month.
• As they had done in 2015, Algoma University hosted the second annual Speak Easy Battle of the Bands on March 10th, 2016, just one day after night #1 of the VM Radio Battle once again. The Din, Eclipse, and VM Radio Battle guest performers Jack Spades all competed in the Speak Easy Battle, with The Din and Eclipse placing second & third in that event as well, winning $200 & $100 respectively. The fan voted event was won by indie rock musician Jesse Merineau, with backing from Caroline Divine.
• Stereo North frontman Andrew Pucci (who has been focusing on solo music during their hiatus) competed in a Tidal Records-sponsored songwriters competition at LopLops Lounge on October 15th, where he and 9 other solo artists played two originals and a cover for a chance to get recording time at Mission Control Studios and a digital release package. The winner of that event was Thin Ice frontman Nathan Albidone, and it's unclear where Andrew placed.
• Though not advertised as a "battle of the bands", The Din played at Landmark Events' Showcase Festival in Toronto in January, with music industry executives judging bands and choosing select acts to win music development grants. Though The Din visibly praised the event, it's not publically clear how they did compared to other performers of if they moved forward in the showcase.

Videos:
The Din playing "In Search of The Perfect Moment" in the finals
Eclipse covering two songs in the semifinals
The Din's promotional videos for their sets
The Sault Metal Scene's videos of each band's opening songs




Sources/More Info:
Official Facebook event page
SooToday's coverage from the finals
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I hope you guys liked this profile of last year's VM Radio Battle, and we will profile last year's Speak Easy Battle in the coming days, so stay tuned for that and more news and updates soon! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Profile: The 2015 Speak Easy Battle Of The Bands

As promised, here is our second Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile in as many days, as it's exactly one year ago today that a second fan-voted battle of the bands took place in the midst of the VM Radio Battle! Like in yesterday's profile of that battle, we're looking at the events, results, aftermath, and trivia from this first-year competition, and as in our past profiles of local battles of the bands, this is strictly an informative feature with no reviews, criticism, or opinions of the involved artists. With the second installment of this annual battle just five days away, read on below for a look back at last year's event!
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The 2015 Speak Easy Battle of the Bands (March 5th, 2015)

Background: After a 5+ year hiatus from hosting this kind of event, Algoma University held the first annual Speak Easy Battle of the Bands at their campus bar/venue The Speak Easy on March 5th, 2015. Originally scheduled for February 4th before being postponed a month, the battle was co-promoted by the Algoma University Students Union and representative Meghan Rix alongside local musicians Sam Decter (Boxes of Boom) and Jordan Leach (Haggith). The seven competing acts played short sets of 15 minutes each, while unlike the late-2000s battles at The Speak Easy, this was a fan-voted event with no judges.
  
Prizes: Cash prizes awaited the top 3 finishers, with the first place band winning $400, second place picking up $200, and third place receiving $100.

Competitors: The seven competing acts included local death metal standouts (and reigning Viva La Battle champions) The Bear Hunters, post-punk/garage rock quartet Gnaeus, debtuing alternative/hard rock duo Infinity Grinder, indie rock solo musician Jesse Merineau, classic/hard rock quartet Long Shot, alternative rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din, and classic metal quartet Project 421.

Results: Attending fans chose Gnaeus as the $400 winners of the 2015 Speak Easy Battle, marking their first of two battle victories in under three weeks. Long Shot won the $200 prize for second place, while The Bear Hunters enjoyed their second straight podium finish at a battle of the bands by picking up $100 for third place.

Aftermath: Gnaeus went on to win the multi-night VM Radio Battle of the Bands later that month, winning $1,000 more and other big prizes as they continue their local ascent, with more shows and recording sessions for their debut CD "Loomings" following. Long Shot have been an increasingly familiar presence at local concerts since, and have also began work on their own debut EP. The Bear Hunters have played a few major concerts since and are recording their next album "The Dead Testament", while both Mike Haggith & The Din (now simply The Din) and Project 421 remain very active locally with numerous concerts, often sharing the same bill. Jesse Merineau continues to play occasionally in the Soo and in Toronto, and has been working on his own debut solo album, while Infinity Grinder have largely been inactive since last summer.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock in italics, ex-members noted with an *):

Chronic Demonic (Nik Deubel from The Bear Hunters)
Eclipse (Curtis McKenzie from Mike Haggoth & The Din & Daniel Horton from Project 421)
Heavy Head (Daniel Horton from Project 421 and Johnny Belanger from The Bear Hunters)
Jack Spades (Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger from The Bear Hunters)
The Suicide Kings (Mitch Sirie from The Bear Hunters)

Trivia:

• This event fell just one day after the larger VM Radio Battle of the Bands' opening semifinal on March 4th, 2015, which was a 4 night event that featured a panel of judges to tabulate winners. The events shared 4 bands, with The Bear Hunters competing at The Canadian Nightclub-held battle the previous night, and Gnaeus, Mike Haggith & The Din, and Project 421 all competing on the last semifinal on March 18th. The Bear Hunters and Gnaeus (as wild cards) both advanced to the finals, where Gnaeus edged The Bear Hunters by two points to win their second battle of the bands.
• Uniquely among the performers at this battle was solo musician Jesse Merineau, marking the first solo act to play at a battle of the bands in recent memory, though he enlisted Caroline Divine as a backing band for his 2016 Speak Easy Battle set. Jesse's set was advertised as his last local concert before moving to Toronto, but he has came back home for concerts since.
• Once again, The Bear Hunters' played this battle as a quartet without rhythm guitarist Josh Stephney, as he lives out of town and only plays at select concerts. He was also absent from 2014's Viva La Battle and that month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands.
• The identity of competitors Infinity Grinder remained a public secret until showtime on March 5th, when it was revealed that they were a new alt-hard rock duo from former No Arrow bassist Brad Griffith and then-Northern Tragedy drummer Terrence Gomes, harbouring musical resemblances to Brad's earlier two-man-band Sounds From The Green Room.
• Mike Haggith & The Din made their first concert appearance since Revolution alum Brandan Glew replaced Daniel Horton on drums that night. The Din also unveiled their new sound at this battle, dropping their acid/jam style and fluid performer rotation for a more mainstream alternative sound with a firm three-man lineup. Guitarist Curtis McKenzie later rejoined Project 421 as their singer that summer, after previously singing with them in early 2014.
• Event posters for this battle advertised a "Scan To Win" contest, which was part of the ongoing promotion where Algoma University students could scan cards to potentially win an iPad at semester's end, and wasn't otherwise tied to the battle.
• Sault Online's Mike Caruso was on hand for this battle, filming each band for the local news site and covering the event in this article. Mike interviewed co-promoter Meghan Rix there and in this video as well, where she talked about the battle's inspiration and success.
• Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger filled in for Alex Hagerman as a guest drummer for funk/hard rock quartet The Elements when they travelled to Spanish to compete in the annual Rock N' Roar Battle of the Bands the following month, where they competed for a spot on the Rock N' Roar Festival lineup proper that August. However, The Elements did not place in that event.
• The success of the Speak Easy Battle of the Bands led to a second battle from the same promoters being scheduled for November 19th, 2015, but it was postponed to March 10th, 2016 due to unspecified "sponsorship issues", placing it one day after night #1 of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands once again. Now solely being publically promoted by Algoma University representatives, the second Speak Easy Battle has an increased lineup of 8 bands, including the returning Din & Jesse Merineau and 6 new acts, but otherwise has a similar structure.

Videos:
Videos of each band from Sault Online's Mike Caruso




Sources/More Info:
Official Facebook event page
Sault Online's coverage of the battle
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I hope you guys liked this Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile, and yes, our VM Radio Battle of the Bands Profile from yesterday! This series will return next year when we profile the battles ahead this month, with both of last year's battles returning for an encore this Wednesday & Thursday, so stay tuned for continued previews and coverage of both events! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Profile: The 2015 VM Radio Battle Of The Bands

One year ago today, the first annual VM Radio Battle of the Bands commenced at The Canadian, so in that spirit, here's the return of our Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile series! I'd debated waiting until the 25th (one year from the finals), but I thought it'd be best to get this up now as we continue the lead-up for this year's VM Radio Battle (which begins this coming Wednesday), and we'll have much more on that soon as well. As in our past battle profiles, this is strictly an informative feature with no reviews or criticism of the competing bands, either from the event or their activity since. Hopefully this brings back some fun memories, so here's our first of two straight battle of the bands profiles from last year!
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The 2015 VM Radio Battle of the Bands (March 4th-25th, 2015)

Background: A spiritual sequel to 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands, local concert promoter J.D. Pearce partnered with then-new local digital radio network VM Radio (and their parent company Village Media), Tidal Records, and sponsors Case's Music, Maxx Graphics, and The Sault Metal Scene to host the first annual VM Radio Battle of the Bands on every Wednesday in March 2015 at The Canadian Nightclub. 11 bands (up from 9 in 2013) competed for numerous prizes in a staggered weekly competition, with three semifinals taking place on March 4th, 11th, and 18th, and each night's winner (plus the highest scoring runner-up band as a wild card) re-convening at The Canadian for the finals on March 25th. Like in 2013, judges scored the bands on aspects of their musical ability, chemistry, stage presence, and crowd engagement (among other factors) for a total score out of 300 each night, or 100 points a judge, while individual awards were scored on varying criteria depending on the award's type.

Prizes: The first place band would receive $1,000, a professionally produced electronic press kit & video from VM Radio, and a large framed plaque for their victory. In lieu of prizes for the runner-up bands, individual awards were instead offered for finalists & semifinalists alike, including Case's Music gear packages for the Best Guitar Player & Bass Player, a new microphone from Right Hook Mics for Best Vocal Performance, a custom drum skin from Maxx Graphix for Best Drummer, recording time with Tidal Records for Best Original Song, a Budweiser/Marshall amplifier beer fridge for the Fan Favourite Band, a case of Bomb Energy Drinks & a Bomb t-shirt for the Most Energetic Band, and a $100 Rad Zone gift certificate for the Most Enthusiastic Fan.

Competitors: The semifinal on March 4th featured three competing bands, including local death metal veterans (and reigning Viva La Battle winners) The Bear Hunters, indie/folk rock quintet Honest Job, and newer metal trio Infamous, with alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control filling out that night's lineup as a guest performer out of competition. The March 11th semifinal featured all female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats, grunge/metal standouts Haggith, progressive rock quartet Mannapool, and new pop punk group Stereo North, while March 18th's semifinal featured rap/metal project The Apocalypse Afterparty, post-punk/garage quartet Gnaeus, alternative/hard rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din, and classic metal quartet Project 421.

Results: The winners of each week's semifinals were The Bear Hunters, Mannapool (as part of a close 8.5 points spread between that night's four bands), and The Apocalypse Afterparty, while Gnaeus claimed the wild card slot for the finals. The other night's runner-up bands were Honest Job & Haggith, and Infamous finished in third on the 4th, but no other nightly or overall results were announced for non-finalists. In the March 25th finals, Gnaeus overcame their wild card status to edge The Bear Hunters by two points to claim their second battle of the bands title in 20 days time, with Mannapool & The Apocalypse Afterparty finishing in third and fourth place. Among individual prizes, Bear Hunters members Mitch Sirie & Johnny Belanger each won the Best Guitar Player & Drummer prizes, while Haggith frontman Curtis McKenzie won Best Vocal Performance, Honest Job bassist Jared Fridy claimed the Best Bass Player title, and Gnaeus won Best Original Song for their track "Circles".

As well, The Apocalypse Afterparty were the Most Energetic Band, Project 421 won the crowd-voted Fan Favourite Band award, and Danger Cats drummer "Calico" Katie Maskell was chosen by organizers as the Most Enthusiastic Fan. 

Aftermath: Gnaeus continued to play major concerts throughout 2015, and have recently been busy recording their debut album "Loomings", while The Bear Hunters have enjoyed a similar trajectory, with their sophomore effort "The Dead Testament" now in production. Mannapool have largely been working in studio since this battle, releasing their album "Full Hearts, Half Hearted" in December, while The Apocalypse Afterparty have not played live since, with their "Bufflesnort" EP and a new lineup currently in the works. Honest Job & Infamous have both been fairly quiet since mid-2015, while both The Danger Cats & Haggith disbanded that same summer, albeit after both conducting studio recording sessions, with Haggith putting out two final albums. Finally, Mike Haggith & The Din (now simply The Din), Project 421, and Stereo North remain active and frequent sights at local concerts, often playing together in the process.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock in italics, ex-members noted with an *):
Chronic Demonic (Nik Deubel from The Bear Hunters)
Eclipse (Curtis McKenzie & Daniel Horton from Haggith)
Faceityoureametalband (Steve Mozarowski from The Apocalypse Afterparty) 
Heavy Head (Daniel Horton from Haggith and Johnny Belanger from The Bear Hunters)
Jack Spades (Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger from The Bear Hunters)
Pillory (Jordan Leach from Haggith) 
The Suicide Kings (Mitch Sirie from The Bear Hunters)
Them (Anthony Boudreau from Infamous)

Trivia:

• Local doom/punk trio The Revolution were scheduled to play this battle on the first night, but they surprisingly broke up for the first time in February 2015, while a mid-2015 reunion didn't lead to much publically. They were replaced on a month's notice by Mike Haggith & The Din, who had just added Revolution drummer Brandan Glew to their lineup, though they switched places with planned night #3 guest performers The Pixo Control due to scheduling conflicts. As well, Revolution bassist Jordan Leach (who would have made his debut with the band at the battle) still competed anyway as Haggith's bassist on March 11th.
• The judges for the duration of The VM Radio Battle of the Bands included Tidal Records owner & Rising Tide frontman Dustin Jones (who had brushes with competing & playing at local battles in 2009), Elements frontman & Village Media repesentative Rob Speers, and Sault Metal Scene owner Rob Figures (the only returning judge from 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle.) For this battle, promoter J.D. Pearce handled the MC duties in lieu of a judge.
• Gnaeus' narrow victory in the VM Radio Battle of the Bands made them the first local band to win two battles of the bands since defunct death metal quintet Bring The Fallen won three of these events from 2009-2010, as well as the first non-metal band to do so since folk rockers Blackwater won the Sault College/Scotties Tournament of Hearts Battle in February 2010.
• The Bear Hunters' appearances in this battle occurred without rhythm guitarist Josh Stephney, as he currently lives out of town and only plays select gigs as a result. The band pulled out extra stops for their finals set with an increased usage of camouflage attire, the debut of their new song "The Dying Den", and a mass slaughter of teddy bears during their set, with some of the bears being claimed by fans as souvenirs.
• The Apocalypse Afterparty's semifinal appearance on March 18th marked their first live concert appearance as a quartet, now with Sara Biedermann (as "x") on bass and Amanda Brown (as "z") on the MPC electronic sampling instrument. However, their finals set marked their last concert appearance with drummer Steve Mozarowski (a.k.a. "X") due to his departure from the band later that year, and his replacement has yet to be publically unveiled.
• Honest Job's semifinal set on March 4th saw the live debut of their new bassist Jared Fridy, whose performance netted him the Best Bass Performance award during the finals. However, he wasn't in attendance that night, so bandmates accepted on his behalf.
• Haggith made their final live concert appearance with founding guitarist Daniel Horton (and only one with his short haircut) during the March 11th semifinal. He departed the band shortly afterward, and he was replaced by original bassist Caleb Cachagee until their breakup that summer. However, he would reunite with singer Curtis McKenzie later that year when Curt rejoined Project 421, after his prior stint on lead vocals in early 2014.
• Both of Daniel Horton's then-bands (Haggith & Project 421) unveiled new originals during their semifinal sets, with Haggith's being "Silver Bullet", and Project 421's being "Into The Darkness". The former song was only played the one time before Daniel left Haggith, but the latter is still frequently played during Project 421 concerts.
• The Pixo Control's involvement as a guest performer rather than as competitors was due to their signing to sponsors Tidal Records, avoiding a potential conflict of interest concern. The Pixo Control's set was well received, and while they replaced bassist Steve Edwards with Dustin Goodall last fall, they've since released their debut CD "Probably Not" in December, played a handful of out of town concerts, and continue to play live often in the area.
• To fans uninitiated with The Apocalypse Afterparty from their duo concert appearances, the band made a lot of waves from their masked attire, creative hybrid sound with two bassists & no guitarists, a half-female lineup, the sale of bandanas during the finals, and use of false British accents on stage. However, fans of members' prior work with The Fury and RedD Monkey no doubt enjoyed the presence of familiar songs like "Rebel Scum" & "Fo' Dozen Cookies" during their sets.
• Along with their sponsorship involvement in the battle, local news/video website Local2 gave in-depth promotion and coverage of each night of the battle with four episodes of their music webseries Tuned with Donna Hopper, with Donna also being a nightly fixture to cover and photograph the bands for SooToday. These Tuned episodes featured remarks from judges, band introductions, performance footage, and nightly results, but Donna was unable to host the finals episode due to illness, so VM Radio's Derek Turner (himself a battle winner with Garden of Bedlam) filled in for her.
• The scheduling of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands prompted local live sound company Twin City Sound & Entertainment to indefinitely postpone a battle of the bands that they were to host at The Rednecks Saloon on February 20th, 2015, due to it's proximity to this larger battle that would start 12 days later. Were it to take place, it would have been a one night event with up to 10 bands playing 25 minute sets each, with Mourning Wood frontman Terry Eaton, Midway frontman Paul Leclair, and the aforementioned Rob Figures serving as judges.
• Despite the cancellation of the Twin City Sound Battle, Algoma University hosted the first annual Speak Easy Battle of the Bands on March 5th, 2015, just one day after night #1 of the VM Radio Battle. The fan voted event (which was co-promoted by Haggith bassist Jordan Leach) was also won by Gnaeus, who picked up $400 for their win, while The Bear Hunters won $100 for third place (hard rock quartet Long Shot finished in second.) VM Radio Battle competitors Mike Haggith & The Din and Project 421 also competed in The Speak Easy Battle, but did not place in that event.
• VM Radio Battle judge Rob Speers took a stab at competing in a local battle of the bands when his funk/hard rock band The Elements headed out to Spanish to compete in the annual Rock N' Roar Battle of the Bands the following month, with Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger filling in for Alex Hagerman, who couldn't make the trip. However, The Elements did not place in that event, with winning bands added to the Rock N' Roar Festival lineup that August.

Videos:
Tuned with Donna Hopper episodes on the battle from Local2
Five videos from Mike Haggith & The Din's semifinal set
The Sault Metal Scene's videos of each band's opening songs




Sources/More Info:
Official Facebook event page
Pre-event coverage from SooToday
SooToday's coverage & photos from the March 4th semifinal
SooToday's coverage & photos from the March 11th semifinal
SooToday's coverage & photos from the March 18th semifinal
SooToday's coverage & photos from the March 25th finals
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I hope you guys liked this latest Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile! As last year also had two battles of the bands in consecutive days, we'll be back with our profile of last year's Speak Easy Battle of the Bands TOMORROW, so watch for that then, and for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Eclipse & Project 906), Another New Local Band, Speak Easy Battle Updates, And More!!

Keeping the news and updates coming on this Sunday morning, we have more updates to one of our past battle of the bands profiles, the latest on one of next month's battles of the bands, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT linked to a new local band, so here's what you should know!

We (thankfully) have a new Sault Michigan hard rock band to add to our links, and they are Project 906, so what should you know on them? Obviously taking their name in part from the E.U.P. area code, they're the new band from guitarist Joe Jenkins & drummer Will Storey, who have recently played together in Ten Kings, The Bottom Line, and the second version of Full Throttle. Their lineup is rounded out by singer Billy Bernier and bassist Dustin Paras, neither of whom I'm familiar with from other local bands. Describing themselves as playing a mixture of blues, classic, and modern rock, Project 906 look to be playing a similar range of songs to what Ten Kings did (if their videos are any indication), and fans will get their first taste of Project 906 when they rock Pickles Bar & Grill in nearby Brimley on Thursday, March 17th for their St. Patrick's Day party! Pickles is largely an unfamiliar venue for our coverage, but you may remember that ex-Half A Man frontman Erik Rintamaki used to host open mic nights there.

The show itself takes place at Pickles (at 11204 West Lakeshore Drive in Brimley) at 10:00 PM on March 17th, with no announced cover charge and a 21+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see Joe & Will back in a band again, and hopefully they can enjoy a greater longevity here than their other recent bands have had, but how do Project 906 sound? We can find out via four videos posted to their Facebook page, including videos of Billy & Joe alone covering Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Long As I Can See The Light" & Alice In Chains' "Rooster" (albeit only 26 seconds worth), while the other two are of the full band, and include renditions of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and as embedded below, both Van Halen's "Panama" & ZZ Top's "Tush". The guys sound good so far, with Billy showcasing a good melodic voice (even if you can't see him in the full band videos), and Joe & Will's chemistry maintains from their older groups! Check out more from Project 906 above and below, and stay tuned for updates!



Next up, we can now 100% confirm the first band for next month's second Speak Easy Battle of the Bands on March 10th, as local modern hard rock quartet Eclipse will be taking part! Frontman Curtis McKenzie confirmed their involvement on the Facebook event page yesterday, with the venue's Facebook page liking the post afterward. Eclipse had previously signed up for the battle's original November date before it was postponed (and before they'd even played live), but it remains to be seen if The Din, Jesse Merineau, and Pillory are all still on from the original November announcements. While this will be Eclipse's first battle appearance, 3/4ths of the band have played in prior battles with bands like Haggith, Project 421, and The Din, including with the latter two at last year's Speak Easy Battle, but will Eclipse improve on last year's results? (And will they be at the VM Radio Battle too?) At last word, promoters have three band spots still open for next month's battle, so if you want in, message meghan.rix@algomau.ca A.S.A.P.!

As before, this year's Speak Easy Battle has a $5 cover charge, 10:00 PM start time, and 19+ age limit for all but Algoma University students with valid student ID. For competitors, this is again a fan voted battle with 15 minute set times and 5 minutes setup each, with $400, $200, and $100 again awaiting the top 3 bands. This should be another exciting battle, especially coming just a day after night #2 of the VM Radio Battle, so stay tuned for updates on both events, and sign up for both while spots are available!

Finally for today, here's some more updates to one of our past Battle of the Bands Rewind Profiles, namely of our profile of 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands! Therein, we restored all photos, and updated references to the competitors' statuses after the battles, namely The Suicide Kings, Haggith, and The Northern Tragedy falling inactive, and Late & Loud's 2014 reunion gigs. In the section on performers' later bands, we updated it by replacing Caveman Morrison, Changing Lanes, Chronic Demonic, Frightlight, The Hydra's Teeth, and Punch with the more recently active Eclipse, Heavy Head, Infinity Grinder, Jon & His Friends (Late & Loud's Jon Tiberi's current Hamilton band), Mourning Wood, and The Pixo Control, while also referencing The Din's name change & Giwakwa drummer Chris Thompson's addition to Project 421. In the trivia section, we also noted the name changes of competitors The Suicide Kings & The Pesto Shirts (now Beaumont Avenue & The Wild Iris.)

Also new to the trivia section, we have references to this battle's spiritual successor (last year's VM Radio Battle of the Bands), while also noting how The Bear Hunters, Haggith, and their members' then-side projects did in both that battle and last year's Speak Easy Battle.  Finally, we fixed the link to the Giwakwa video that was listed there, and added a "sources/more info section" to include this battle's event page and SooToday coverage. Hopefully that covers everything, so stay tuned for our final updates regarding Viva La Battle soon, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Curtis McKenzie Updates, New Videos, And Battle Of The Bands Profle Updates!!

Before we get into this post, I wanted to acknowledge (albeit late, my apologies) that last Wednesday's planned third installment of punk rock bingo at The New American Pub was cancelled due to inclement weather (ironic given the "die, winter, die" theme.) The punk rock bingos have been cursed a bit, given that three installments have now been called off, but hopefully things work out for next time, as it's a fun event! Had they played, Sam Decter's planned band would have been called "Sammy D & The Morlocks", and had teased a post-punk element in their set. Now, we have some new videos, recent updates, and first, the latest from a talented local frontman, so here's what you should know!

Project 421/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie has been busy of late in terms of his solo material, so what's he been up to? As per his solo Facebook page last week, he has announced that he plans to finally release a debut solo album in August 2016, with more details to follow. It's not clear what form this release will take, but note that he has hinted at working with local bassist Jason Morbin in the past, and he once advertised musician searches for a planned band that wouldn't play metal or hard rock, though it's unclear if these are linked. Given the latter, we don't even know if this will be a release that fits our coverage, or when recording will begin, but stay tuned for more! Remember, some originals from his old band Haggith began with earlier bands of his, so you never know if some will re-appear as new solo tracks. On a larger scale, Curtis has thrown his hat into the ring for The Stone Temple Pilots' contest to find a new lead singer, so what should you know on that?

While this is arguably a long shot, Curtis registered on the Indaba Music-hosted contest where the platinum selling hard rock band hopes to find their new lead singer through. To that end, Curt posted an audio track of him singing "Plush" along with the backing track, and he sounds good, as fans of his bands should know! Voting hasn't opened yet, but hear Curtis' version of "Plush" at this link, and stay tuned for when voting opens, as imagine how cool it would be to see him do well in this contest to find The Stone Temple Pilots' new frontman!

Next up, here's some new videos that were uploaded to YouTube in the last few days, including this clip of 415E guitarist Chris Hubbard covering Van Halen's "Light Up The Sky", with him handling guitar, bass, and drums! Uploaded to his YouTube channel yesterday, this showcases the Sault Michigan standout's multi-instrumental skill nicely, with an accurate tone and strong performances (especially on the guitar, as you'd expect), so give his newest solo video a look below!



Also, here's a new video of Sault Ontario solo musician and Audiofumes podcast host Mike Cliffe covering Black Sabbath's "Into the Void"! Uploaded to his YouTube channel on Saturday, this has the now clean-shaven Mike covering this Sabbath classic nicely, if a little rough around the edges, complete with an extended intro where he talks about the song and how he's playing it. Not badly done at all, so check it out below, and check out Audiofumes for some strong local and out-of-town original material!

Finally for today, here's some more updates to our past Battle of the Bands Rewind profiles! I have restored photos to our profiles of 2008's Skid Row and Case's Music Battles, and 2009's YMCA & Kiss Battles, as the links for those photos went dead after SooToday's design & layout changes from last month, so we've restored them with their new links. In our profile of 2009's Algoma University Battle of the Bands, we added a reference in the trivia to how current local rap/metal band The Apocalypse Afterparty have taken on originals from "songwriter" Paul Stanghetta's older band The Fury, who finished second in that battle. And for our profile of 2012's Sault Humane Society Battle, I added a link to the official poster to give it a "Sources/More Info" section, as it didn't have one at all before, though it's event pages and sites have all been taken down since. That'll cover things for now, but stay tuned for updates of later battles in due course!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Banned & 415E), SweetKenny Updates, And More!!

Today's post is largely Sault Michigan-centric, with album updates from a regional artist to touch on, and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for two bands in early 2016, but we also have some general updates to one of our feature series to cap things off. Now, here's what you should know!

Kewadin Casino's entertainment page has finally been updated to reflect 2016 concerts, with shows listed for The Rapids Lounge at the Soo Kewadin and The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin through late June, and there are new hard rock shows to note there! The Highway 63 shows are already known to us, but we can now confirm five new concert weekends from bands in our range, including hard rock quartet 415E, who will return to The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace on February 26th & 27th, and then on April 29th & 30th! Last seen on stage during their New Year's Eve show in St. Ignace, 415E are the only St. Ignace-scheduled band so far that isn't playing at the Sault Kewadin, but if you can head down to The Northern Pines Lounge over these weekends, be ready for some Van Halen-inspired hard rock hits! There's no announced cover charge for these 21+ shows, which start at around 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more from the Hubbard/Menard crew as we hear it!

The other new hard rock confirmations come from Kinross classic/hard rock trio Banned, who had announced Kewadin dates through March already via their Facebook page, but the casino confirmed a handful of shows beyond! The Traynors and Wayne will return to The Northern Pines Lounge at in St. Ignace for gigs on April 14th & 15th and then on May 13th & 14th, while they'll return to The Rapids Lounge in the Soo for the first time in three months on June 17th & 18th, so keep those dates in mind as well! Banned always stay busy, and hopefully these shows go as well as their next ones, as fans should know their talent level! Remember, we'll next see Banned within an hour of Sault Ste. Marie when they rock The Runway Bar in Hessel on February 12th, with gigs at Western U.P. Kewadin branches coming beforehand. Like with the new 415E gigs, these are 9:00 PM affairs with no announced cover charges and 21+ age limits. For more details, visit the above links, and stay tuned for more from Banned!

And just for reference, note that other new Kewadin dates belong to classic rockers Touch of Class & The Brooks Band, country artists Hawk Junction & Paul Perry, and Traverse City dance rock quartet Risque, who haven't been recent local regulars that I've seen. Note that there's nothing new from there from the recently dormant Power Slug, nor from Jeff Hudson's Traverse City-area metal bands like Peril & Scarkazm, but if/when we hear more on their next E.U.P. dates, we'll let you know!

Next up, Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock musician Ken Sutton (a.k.a. SweetKenny) has released another new album, so what should you know on it? Entitled "Only Us Left Standing", it was released to his Bandcamp page on January 11th (apologies for the delay), and it's his first album of 2016 & 16th total in his main solo series. Continuing his recent focus since the summer, this SweetKenny album is intended to be a conceptual & instrumental score that could be used in a video game, and similarly to last month's "The Walkers: Rise of the Dead", it's themed after a zombie invasion. On listening, I can confirm that it's darker and more ominous than "The Walkers", which is largely acoustic-based, but both show Ken's range! "Only Us Left Standing" is on sale for $7 via the above links, so definitely consider picking it up, especially if you like video game scores!

Now, as these are part of his main album canon, they are eligible for reviews on the site, and I'd already pencilled in a SweetKenny review for this month, so is one of these next? No, as I usually pick the heaviest album if I have multiple new releases to pick from in a band's discography, and from his most recent four (plus August's "Charlie Hidelburg: Ancient Hunter"), the heaviest is October's "The Hitman Files", which is themed like it could be in a hitman action game or movie. No word on when SweetKenny will release a traditional new solo album (last seen with June's "Fleabag Hotel"), but look for our review of "The Hitman Files" by Sunday!

Finally for today, here's some more updates to our past Battle of the Bands Rewind Profiles! In our profile of 2010's Sault College/Scotties Tournament of Heart Battle of the Bands, we restored a photo of third place finishers Sykotyk Rampage, and updated info on their recent activity, but the rest was still good. In our profile of that spring's Downtown Showdown battle, we restored two photos, added notes on runners-up The Fury's brief 2014 reunion and frontman Paul Stanghetta's never-launched successor band Keep It Lit, and clarified info on judge Len Ward. For it's section on performers' later bands, we replaced The Glass Thieves, Keep It Lit, and March Into Regression with The Apocalypse Afterparty, Infinity Grinder, and London's Five Oceans (featuring Tenagens alum Patrick Dal Cin) to keep that more current. Finally, we added references to how performers did in 2015 battles, namely SBD bassist Brad Griffith at the Speak Easy battle with Infinity Grinder, and Fury frontman Paul Stanghetta's fourth place run at the VM Radio Battle with The Apocalypse Afterparty.

Hopefully that gets these sufficiently updated, and stay tuned for updates of battles from 2012 and on next, much more news and notes in short order, plus our review of SweetKenny's "The Hitman Files"! Thanks everyone!

Battle Of The Bands Rewind Profile: Viva La Battle

Hey guys, in a surprise second post today, here's our overdue latest installment of our Battle of the Bands Rewind series! As you may remember, we're profiled a selection of recent battles of the bands on the site in the last few years, in order to spotlight what happened, who competed, what were the stakes, and where the bands are now, with new installments coming a year after the original battle took place. However, we admittedly forgot about our profile on the most recent Sault Ontario battle last month, but with two new ones coming up in early 2015, now's better than ever! Remember, our battle of the bands profiles are strictly informative and do not feature reviews or criticism of the bands or their sets. With that said, read on below for our newest Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile! (Updated on February 17th, 2016)
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Viva La Battle (November 13th, 2013)

Background: Seven months after his successful Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands, local concert promoter J.D. Pearce hosted Viva La Battle in November 2013 at The Canadian Nightclub. Much like his Battle for the Blood the previous summer, this was a smaller battle featuring less bands, fan voting rather than judges, and an opening concert slot for the winner being the only prize. In this case, the winner of Viva La Battle would be named as one of the local openers for Bam Margera's Fuckface Unstoppable at The Canadian on December 14th of that year, similarly to the past year's prize of opening for 3 Inches of Blood at The Rosie. All competing bands would play 30 minute sets, and after they wrapped up, concert attendees marked their chosen winners on a paper ballot to be tabulated after the show. The battle's name was inspired by Bam Margera's MTV reality show "Viva La Bam".

Prizes: Again, just the opening slot for Bam Margera the next month, where the winners would also join Detroit party/hard rock quintet Wilson and two other local bands on the lineup, including punk/metal quintet Jack Spades and hardcore punk notables Destroilet. There were no other announced prizes for the winners or runners-up.

Competitors: Though four bands were scheduled for Viva La Battle, only three would end up playing, including local death metal veterans The Bear Hunters, debuting local indie/punk quintet Northwest (then spelled as "North West"), and the debuting hard rock quartet Punch, a supergroup merger of Suicide Kings & Haggith alumni.

Results: The fans voted The Bear Hunters as the winners of Viva La Battle, scoring 21 of a possible 43 votes and giving them the right to open for Fuckface Unstoppable the following month. Northwest made a strong impression in second place with 13 votes, while Punch rounded out the podium in third with 9 votes. 

Aftermath: The Bear Hunters continued their success with a number of high profile concerts throughout 2014, and also released their debut CD "Eternal Hibernation" that same December, with more big concerts and recording sessions towards their sophomore album following! Northwest have played more sporadically, but have opened for the likes of Gob and The Sunparlour Players over the past two years, and also released a debut self-titled EP in mid-2014 with their original lineup. Finally, Punch played a handful of concerts over the following months, such as opening for Diemonds and playing at one of the Roosevelt Hotel's short lived Heavy Thursday shows, before falling inactive in mid-2014 due to members' other band projects.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock/punk in italics):

Chronic Demonic (Nik Deubel from The Bear Hunters)
The Cover-Up (Clint Wilson from Northwest)
Eclipse (Curtis McKenzie & Daniel Horton from Punch)
Heavy Head (Daniel Horton from Punch & Johnny Belanger from The Bear Hunters)
Jack Spades (Justin Lam & Johnny Belanger from The Bear Hunters)
Late Shift (Clint Wilson from Northwest)
Lorrie Lynn & The Sinners (Greg Callaghan & Clint Wilson from Northwest) 
Mourning Wood (Steven Flint from Punch)
Project 421 (Daniel Horton & Curtis McKenzie* from Punch)
The Suicide Kings (Mitch Sirie from The Bear Hunters, and Steven Flint & Ben Boudreau from Punch)

Trivia:

• A new (and intentionally secretive) local band named Keep It Lit were originally scheduled to play this battle as the fourth band, but dropped out on the day of the show after an undisclosed band member broke their hand. Keep It Lit would never play a live concert, but their lineup was to have featured singer/bassist Paul Stanghetta, guitarists Alice Rose & Paul Fowler, and drummer John Mignacca. Had they competed, Paul Stanghetta & John would have had a chance to better their second place finishes at past battles with The Fury and As It Stands respectively, though Paul plays similar material in his current band The Apocalypse Afterparty, with that band placing in fourth place at 2015's VM Radio Battle.
• Local hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings (later known as Beaumont Avenue) were originally slated to play Viva La Battle, but were replaced by the debuting Punch a few weeks prior due to frontman Mike Gaetano having external commitments, though Steven & Ben were also in Punch, and bassist Mitch Sirie was still playing the battle with The Bear Hunters. Had The Suicide Kings competed, they could have tried to win their second straight battle, following their Rockstar Bar Battle win that March.
• The Bear Hunters' victory at Viva La Battle was their first in three tries, following their 6th place run at 2012's Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands, and their finals run in the aforementioned Rockstar Bar Battle. Unlike at those battles however, the band played Viva La Battle as a quartet due to Josh Stephney's move to Brampton that summer, but Josh made a surprise return to The Bear Hunters at the Bam Margera show on December 13th, where the band debuted some new original songs in the process.
• While Punch are now inactive, members Daniel Horton & Curtis McKenzie carried over their original songs ("By The Hand", "Road Rash", and the self-titled "Punch") to their primary band Haggith after they reunited the next spring. Haggith continued to play these songs live until their ultimate demise in mid-2015, and later included a studio version of "Road Rash" on their final EP "XIV".
• While this was the first battle of the bands to take place at The Canadian Nightclub since the Kiss Battle of the Bands in November & December 2009, this was also the first metal/punk concert to be held at the Pim Street bar since their most recent major renovations following serious flooding during a major rainstorm last September. The new look features more of a rustic/garage motif, including a number of road signs on the nightclub's walls.
• Though they didn't have to compete in that show's battle to get on, The Bear Hunters also played the 3 Inches of Blood show in July 2012, which saw the Battle For The Blood take place the previous month to find the opening band (which was won by Winkstinger.)
• Along with being ballots for the Viva La Battle fan vote, everyone who voted was also entered for a prize package of merchandise from the pre-selected local openers of the next month's Bam Margera concert, Jack Spades & Destroilet. The winner of the draw was Christine Purvis.
• Though they didn't win Viva La Battle, Punch members Steven Flint and Ben Boudreau did finish in second place with The Suicide Kings at the Rock N' Roar Battle of the Bands in Spanish, Ontario in April 2014, earning the right to open for Randy Bachman at the annual summer concert festival that August (though under the Beaumont Avenue moniker by that point.)
• Surprisingly, this was the last local battle of the bands to be held in Sault Ontario until March 2015, when two battles of the bands were hosted, including the fan voted Speak Easy Battle of the Bands, and four-night-long, judged VM Radio Battle of the Bands, which was also held at The Canadian Nightclub. The Bear Hunters (sans Josh Stephney once again) competed in both battles, finishing in third in the former and two points out of first in the latter, losing both to post-punk quartet Gnaeus.
• Punch's Curtis McKenzie and Daniel Horton spread their resources out to three different bands when competing in both of the local battles in March 2015. The pair played together with Haggith in the VM Radio Battle, finishing in second in their semifinal (but not advancing to the finals), while they each played in both battles with separate projects (Curt as Mike Haggith & The Din's then-guitarist, and Daniel as Project 421's bassist), but neither band placed in these battles of the bands.

Videos:




Sources/More Info:
Viva La Battle's official Facebook event page
SooToday's review & photo album from Viva La Battle
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I hope you guys liked our newest Battle of the Bands Rewind Profile! Barring a mass information dump on an older un-profiled battle (like a non-2008 Case's Music Battle, or one of the old Bon Soo Battles), this series won't return until February 2016, which will be a year removed from the Rednecks Saloon Battle early next year, but be sure to attend both of next year's battles to see what we'll profile in 2016! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes to come over the next week! Thanks everyone!