The WestFest II & Rock N' Roll Ave Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's part #2 of this weekend's hard rock concert previews! Due to how long the WestFest preview ran, I'm bumping our Generations and Bone Yard 225 previews to our next post alongside Curtis McKenzie, so this post only has two write-ups for weekend shows, though one eats up 3/4ths of the post. We'll start in Sault Michigan today, as this involves a show tomorrow where the other Canadian ones don't, so here's what else you should know on this Thursday evening!

While fans in St. Ignace can check out the EUP debuts of Nolium this weekend at their Kewadin Casino branch, fans an hour north will instead bear witness to the first regional appearances of Mount Pleasant classic/hard rock cover band Rock N' Roll Ave TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! A spin-off/side project from the metalcore band Black Out, this weekend's shows aren't just Rock N' Roll Ave(nue)'s first in the Soo, but their first anywhere since relaunching earlier this year. Rehearsal videos and pre-comeback live videos point to a good hard rocking cover range, though be careful, as their Facebook page also hosts Black Out videos, and they're just a tad more extreme! This weekend's shows are 9:00 PM affairs tomorrow and Saturday night with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's a recent Rock N' Roll Ave jam video!

Now let's head to Sault Ontario with the second annual WestFest, which returns to Anna Marinelli Park in Jamestown on SATURDAY! This "block party meets music festival" is part of the West Village Revitilization Project's ongoing efforts to improve and rehabilitate the Jamestown and Steelton areas of downtown Sault Ste. Marie, and there will be food and craft vendors, family activities, and more at this outdoor event, so be sure to visit the West Village Renewed Facebook page for full non-musical details! Musically speaking, we are down from seven acts last year and five in initial marketing to just four tomorrow, with the only hard rock-leaning band being new local alternative hard rock band Riverside Stasis in their fifth public concert and first since the departure of guitarist Liam Dinsmore. Frontwoman Tea Emlaw headlined last year's WestFest in her prior band Handsome Sandwich's final Sault Ste. Marie concert set, but this band is opening WestFest II at 5:00 PM.

Riverside Stasis were strongly hinted as being signed up for the talent show/battle of the bands to find the opening act, only for that to be cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances", so they were acclaimed as the openers on Saturday. Hopefully things go well for Tea and the guys tomorrow! The rest of Saturday's lineup includes local/Collingwood folk supergroup The Ontarians (featuring the Soo's own Frank Deresti and Chris Johns) as headliners, alongside folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels (the only returning band from last year's WestFest) and Treble Charger frontman Greig Nori's daughter Ava Nori in the first public concert appearance by her as a lead performer that I can recall. Marketing up to last month also had BookcluB/ex-Hails guitarist Carmen Muto playing a rare solo set (a video of him shredding an electric guitar was even shared to the West Village Renewed Facebook page).

Unfortunately, it appears that Carmen has dropped out of WestFest and has not been replaced, and any promotion directly referencing him/his set was taken down. I have not heard a reason why Carmen isn't playing on Saturday, but hopefully nothing too serious happened, and don't miss him with BookcluB at the next Downtown Street Party in two weeks! Other set times haven't been announced, but WestFest II takes place from 4:00-11:00 PM on Saturday, it is absolutely all ages, and admission at 169 James Street will be via donation (last year was free). Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for a high of 20° on Saturday and a low of 13° with sunny skies and no likely rain, but this is two days out, so keep tabs on your preferred forecast just in case. Despite the smaller lineup, WestFest sounds like a good time and with agreeable weather, so visit the above links for full details, and here's Riverside Stasis live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Blitz, Nolium, Rock N' Roll Ave, And Project 906!!)

Before we dive into weekend concert previews on both sides of the border, let's take a trip to Sault Michigan and the E.U.P. for this all-American SMS post, which solely features LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming weeks! Here's what you should know on this Wednesday night!

Local hard/blues rock cover quintet Project 906 will apparently return to Huck's Pub & Grill in Rudyard for one night only on Friday, July 24th! The show was announced via this concert calendar image on Huck's Facebook page, which calls them "906 Band", but who else could they be referring to? Fans last saw Project 906 at Huck's on Halloween last year, and their show in two weeks will actually coincide with another special occasion, as that will be during Summerfest weekend in Rudyard (click here for this year's program), but events at the former Joe's Bar are not official Summerfest events, just well timed. As such, things should be busier that night, so hopefully Project 906 have a strong night of live hard rock action! Note that singer Billy Bernier will actually be playing a solo gig at Huck's tomorrow (source here) as this week's Bike Night entertainment, but I don't know if his solo shows are basically 906 unplugged or take new paths.

This concert is a one-nighter due to or resulting in a show on Saturday the 25th from a mystery band named Private Drive, and we'll let you know if we hear anything about them. "906 Band" take the stage for this 21+ concert at 8:00 PM with no cover charge, and there will be an outdoor cash bar on site. Before we get too far, Project 906 played their second show of this year's #summerof906 in Curtis (90 minutes west of here) on Wednesday, July 1st at the Erickson Center For The Arts as part of their own Music In The Park series. Curtis is outside of our hour's drive coverage area, but I hope the outdoor show went well! Visit the above links for more from Project 906!

Next up, Kewadin Casino has updated their entertainment page for bands playing at the Soo and St. Ignace branches through the end of August, and there's some newer touring faces to look out for, starting with the local debuts of Petoskey-area classic/hard rock cover quartet The Blitz at The Rapids Lounge in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, July 31st and Saturday, August 1st! The Blitz have been rocking Northern Michigan and the tip of the mitt since at least the late 2010s, and they reunited in 2022, but as far as I am aware, their shows in three weeks will be their first in the E.U.P.. Videos on their Facebook page show The Blitz covering the likes of Def Leppard, Better Than Ezra, and Royal Republic, and were recently tapped to open for a cancelled Firehouse concert in Wolverine, so they definitely have a good array of hard rock-leaning covers, and it will be interesting to see how they go over in the Soo!

As usual for concerts at Kewadin Casino's on-site lounges, their shows on the 31st and August 1st are 9:00 PM affairs with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. Hopefully The Blitz deliver a solid weekend of rocking covers for fans in a few weeks, so visit the above links for more details!

Also new at The Rapids Lounge next month is the local debut of Mount Pleasant classic/hard rock cover quintet Rock N' Roll Ave (as in "avenue"), who will rock the Soo Kewadin on Friday, August 7th and Saturday, August 8th! A recently reunited cover band featuring Brock Williams from the defunct Central Michigan metalcore band Black Out, the Sault Ste. Marie dates will actually be Rock N' Roll Ave's first anywhere after their return, which is unusual when you consider that Mount Pleasant is 3 hours south of here, but they are a talented band with a good ear for hard rock! In their three jam session videos from this summer on their Facebook page (all shot vertically, alas), you can see them covering Poison, Stone Temple Pilots, and John Mellencamp songs, though tread lightly when backtracking there, as Black Out videos are also posted on their page, and R.N.R.A. aren't that heavy by comparison!

They should get a good reception from Yooper fans at the Soo Kewadin next month, so welcome Rock N' Roll Ave here in style then! Like with The Blitz the previous week, these are 21+ shows with no cover charges and 21+ age limits. See above for more details on their local debut weekend!

Finally for today, The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino isn't lacking for new touring rock bands either, as Ontonogan hard rock quartet Nolium will make their own EUP debut at that branch on Friday, August 7th and Saturday, August 8th! Their Facebook calendar says that the shows are in the Soo, but Kewadin's entertainment page confirms that Nolium are in St. Ignace with Rock N' Roll Ave playing an hour north that same weekend. Nolium may actually be the heaviest of the three touring bands in this post (the likes of Tool, System Of A Down, and Silverchair are covered in their set), and they actually have their own original music that fans of modern hard rock and grunge will take to, and it will be neat to see them make the 4½ hour drive east next month! If you really want a big sampling of Nolium live, here's an 80 minutes long concert of theirs from 2021.

As above, these are free concerts with 9:00 PM start times and 21+ age limits, just at the St. Ignace Kewadin. It's not every day when we get bands from that far west in the Upper Peninsula coming here (Nolium play a lot of Wisconsin dates as such), so give them a warm welcome in Mackinac County next month if this interests you! Visit the above links for more details on all of these newly confirmed hard rock shows in the E.U.P., and stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Greig Nori's Interview On The Borderline From June 2023!!

With the recent announcement of a Treble Charger reunion concert at The Machine Shop on March 7th, now's as good a time as any to finally cover an audio interview that singer/guitarist Greig Nori took part in last June! I profusely apologize for the delay in this making the site, it fell through many cracks, but the timing is right given the reunion concert! This was for an episode of Rock N' Roll Heaven on The Borderline, as hosted by veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay, and it runs for 76 minutes, albeit including eleven Treble Charger songs during the runtime, starting with "Takes Me Down". If you want to skip past Brian's introduction and this song, the interview proper begins at about 4:40 into the episode. Brian first asks Greig about when he decided to move back to Sault Ste. Marie full time and how his relationship began with the Algoma Conservatory of Music and The Loft, of which he is the general manager.

If you're only familiar with Greig as a musician, his work as a producer in Toronto comes up here, including where he got the idea to merge a studio with a live performance venue rather than his high-end studio in Toronto that was seeing a declining usage into the 2010s, with emphasis on bands taking advantage of the setup for social media purposes and promotion. The next two songs are "Don't Believe It All" & "Friend Of Mine", which sandwich more studio equipment talk. Greig next goes into his apparent involvement in an upcoming film soundtrack featuring some surprising attached names, before Brian begins asking about Treble Charger (if you're looking for that part, jump to the 20 minute mark). Greig brings up how Treble Charger formed, why they changed their name from nc-17, and how they technically weren't from the Soo originally, having formally joined forces down south.

After "Morale" is played on air, Brian asks about why Treble Charger broke up in 2004 (quite a leap in the timeline!), with Greig even admitting that he didn't really want to continue playing the pop punk-leaning music that Treble Charger was playing at that point. Their reunion show in Toronto in 2012 (Greig was off a couple years on the date) is brought up next before "Motor Control" is played. Next, they discuss the end of Greig's work with Sum 41 (he produced both "Does This Look Infected?" & "Chuck"), his time working on disBand on MuchMusic from 2008-2010, and why that show ended. We next hear "Red" to cap off the first half of the interview, after which Brian reads some statistics about how many songs get uploaded to (and heard from) streaming services, with Greig offering his advice to musicians hoping to get discovered. Treble Charger's biggest punk-era hit "American Psycho" is played on air next.

The discussion about helping rising newer musicians get noticed is continued afterwards, with Greig suggesting some specific routes that bands should take (he recommends the Canadian Musicians Co-operative), with this segment interrupted by a playing of "Brand New Low". After we hear "Business", Brian asks about Greig's current songwriting plans, albeit not attached to a specific project yet, along with his individual work songwriting with musicians who record at the Conservatory/Loft (the teased new Treble Charger album from the late 2010s is not brought up here). This is where the interview ends, but the episode ends with playings of "Favourite Worst Enemy" and "More's The Pity", sandwiching Brian's episode closing plugs and thank yous. Solid listen that, if a little heavy on industry talk, lets us hear from Greig on a wide range of topics! You don't hear him interviewed much nowadays.

This may be a perception thing more than reality, but the episode feels over-edited, like how the Treble Charger discussion leaps from their beginnings to their end without really talking about their heyday, while the Sum 41 chunk is only how that relationship ended. Is there an unedited cut with this stuff intact? I still think Brian should either place the songs in more natural spots or have more obvious transition markers so they don't come in so abruptly, but fans of Treble Charger will definitely want to hear this whole interview from last summer at this link or above! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

Our Recap Of Mike Haggith's Interview On Rock 'N Roll Heaven On The Borderline!!

Four days after the return of his monthly live-streams on Facebook, fans of local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith were spoiled again with another lengthy interview involving him, courtesy of the March 31st episode of Rock 'N Roll Heaven on local internet radio station The Borderline! While you may be more familiar with Sev's Cellar in terms of shows there interviewing heavier or punk musicians from the area, host and veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay has interviewed some impressive names in recent years from both the Soo and far flung locations, so click here for the full archive of past episodes! Mike's interview with Brian runs for an hour and 54 minutes, and starts with Brian setting up the interview and key notes about Mike as a musician and re: his day job as a pilot, before playing "The Nature Of The Times" at the 1:37 mark. The interview proper begins next around 6 minutes in.

Conducted by phone from Mike's current Barrie homebase, it starts with Brian asking about Mike's work as a pilot, the origins of him wanting to fly airplanes (much earlier than you may think), moving to the Soo to enroll in Sault College's aviation program, his extended stay here helping his musical career (The Din are promoted here), his move to Thompson, Manitoba in 2017, and his move to Barrie with WestJet, which abruptly cuts to his song "From The 55th Parallel" at the 12:30 point in the interview. When we come back to the interview, Brian compares Mike to major musicians who fly airplanes, and they stick to airplane talk next, including preferred planes to fly, if Mike brings guitars with him on flights, and his penultimate goal as a pilot, with "The Best You Never Had" playing next at 21:27, if less abruptly. Mike next talks about his marriage and recent one year wedding anniversary, before diving into his music career proper.

Brian asks Mike about his early beginnings with writing and recording music in his hometown of Windsor (this section has lots of amusement), as well as the early albums of Mike's that he has digitized and kept but never plans to release. At the 31:39 mark, we next hear Mike's song "2145", which is incorrectly labelled as "12" in the track listing on the episode page, before Brian asks about Mike's past bands and if some could ever come back. Mike did reveal that there were "limited talks" about The Din reuniting, but will likely leave that to archival releases now, but he did note that his old Windsor band S.C.A.R. could reunite, time permitting. Brian also asked if Mike would ever consider focusing on music as a 100% full time career rather than flying (Mike answered in the negative), before we next hear "Twist of Fate" at the 41:48 mark, which is from Mike's forthcoming album "All The Best In All You Do".

Yes, this is the studio take of the song, so if you're looking forward to that album, note this preview! Afterwards, Brian asks about Mike's work doing the soundtrack for the independent film Ashes of K (whose soundtrack featured existing songs from his solo and Din catalog), which actually ties in with talk of the Windsor Express basketball team, as Mike moonlighted as a broadcaster for them once! The first half of the interview ends with "Into The Setting Sun" at 51:26, before Brian asks about how Mike' family supported his music career, The next song is "Back Away Slowly" at 58:33, before we next get discussion about Mike's planned indie label MorningStar Records and his planned artist-friendly aims for the label, especially knowing what it was like as a local musician looking at contract offers and knowing that better can be done for the artists. "Blue Highway" is the next song up at 1:09:09.

The interview continues with Mike elaborating on print-on-demand methods for physical albums, and how Mike has used Kunaki for his solo catalog in recent years, extending into Mike's sales of his albums online and how this all ties in to the MorningStar Records plans. After we hear "Bridges" at 1:18:44, the MorningStar Records talk continues, including the optimism about the far flung artists who have expressed interest in signing on, before Brian asks about Mike's album "Bridges" and why it had such a delayed and eventually abrupt release. Mike talks about the songwriting and his moving to Thompson initially, broken up with the song "To Be With You" at 1:26:52, which ironically is not from "Bridges" (it's another new track that premiered on The Borderline). Afterwards, Mike outlines the recording of "Bridges" and his work in the Thompson rock band Between The Ditches.

Mike doesn't go into great detail about the personal matters that led to recording "If Ever Comes The Day" and releasing that in lieu of "Bridges", but he does address his decision to finally put that album out in 2021 in conjunction with his new website. The next song heard at 1:36:12 is "The Catalyst", which is from "Bridges" this time! He next discusses his new album "All The Best In All You Do", where he comes back around to the themes of "If Ever Comes The Day" and how it inspired the more optimistic & personally influenced album ahead. This wraps up the interview proper, before Brian plays "All You Do" from the new album at 1:45:47 (this might be that song's public premiere but don't quote me on that). After thanking Mike again, Brian teased that he and Mike will apparently be playing a "very intimate singer-songwriter evening" together next month, but details on the event are forthcoming. We'll keep you posted when more comes out!

After signing off, the Sinister Hearts frontman plays one more song of Mike's at 1:49:54, namely "MorningStar". This was an entertaining interview with lots of interesting tidbits and reveals throughout, and Mike came off well when talking about his musical and aviation careers! I would have took more time to gameplan which song plays where, let alone with the often abrupt jumps from interview to song and back (I'd have Brian introduce them on air for the songs to be added afterwards), but aside from that, fans will want to check it out at this link! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Rock & Roll Heaven On The Borderline's Episodes On Sault Memorial Gardens Concerts!!

With news remaining very slow for the local metal, hard rock, and punk scenes, today seemed like a good day to dive back into local internet radio station The Borderline, so what else is available to hear there that would fit our coverage range? Let's start with veteran local musician/photographer Brian Tremblay's series Rock & Roll Heaven, which focuses on musical acts that have played in Sault Ste. Marie in the past, either through personal and guest recollections, or interviews with musicians who have came here on tour, and there are a lot of episodes you can hear on demand now on The Borderline's website. Last month, episodes of Rock & Roll Heaven were posted that explore the history of live concerts at the former Sault Memorial Gardens, which was our major concert venue and hockey arena from 1949-2006. While Brian's musical tastes can stray from our usual coverage, hard rock concerts there do come up, so what can you find within?

The initial Memorial Gardens episode runs for 63 minutes, and it is entitled "A Garden of Music", which primarily explores classic rock-leaning musical acts that played there through the early 1980s, and Brian does play DJ by airing select studio tracks from bands discussed during the show (a full playlist can be seen at this link.) At the 17:24 mark, Brian talks about being in attendance progressive hard rock legends Rush's third and final Sault Ste. Marie concert from 1977, which he fondly recalled, despite being poorly attended. In this segment, Brian played the live version of "Closer To The Heart" from their live album "Exit Stage Left", followed by "(Make Me Do) Anything You Want" by Toronto hard rock band A Foot In Coldwater, who opened for Rush on this tour. Fun 10 minute segment overall, and it's nice to hear some first-hand context about Rush's last local date from someone who was there!

The second episode (entitled "A Musical Hockey Barn") can be heard at this link or above in the second (lower) file. It's formatted very similarly to part 1, and runs for almost as long, but it does creep later into the 1980s in the second half, and thusly talks about more hard rock acts. There's also more recommendations from friends and listeners than in "A Garden of Music", for what that's worth. Hard rock fans will be most interested in segments from 18:02 on, starting with Brian's recollections of Vancouver hard rock icons Prism's local stop, including their songs "Spaceship Superstar" & "Flyin'". At 29:08, Brian looks back on Canadian guitar icon Kim Mitchell, who played the Gardens solo and with Max Webster, and he played his classic song "Lager & Ale" in this segment. Next, at 34:13 in, Brian talked about Alannah Myles, who opened for Kim locally at the show Brian attended.

Rather than go the obvious route by playing "Black Velvet", Brian chose her track "Still Got This Thing For You" to play on air. The last show Brian talked about in this episode was a triple bill from Canadian hard rock legends Moxy (not Moxy Fruvous), Goddo, and Trooper that he saw at the Gardens in the late 1970s. Moxy's segment begins at 40:04, and he plays their song "Ridin' High" here, before switching to Goddo at 45:01, from whom he plays "Walk On", and gives some extra detailed information on meeting and helping frontman Greg Godovitz much later on. Fitting of the headliners, he covered Vancouver hard rock favourites Trooper last at 52:52, and he plays their two first singles to close, "Baby Woncha Please Come Home" & "General Hand Grenade". A third episode was teased, perhaps diving into Gardens concerts in the 1990s, but it sounds like it's dependent on listener recollections and requests, so contact Brian if you can help.

I enjoyed listening to these episodes, especially when Brian had unique thoughts on specific concerts to share beyond just if he liked the bands in question, and his biography details in between were also welcomed! Re: a third episode, I wonder if getting a hold of Duane Roy (author of the Soo Stories book about Memorial Gardens concerts) would be worth considering? He definitely had strong recollections of shows there. Even if a part 3 isn't imminent, there is more to discuss from Rock & Roll Heaven (now linked on the SMS), so give both of Brian's Memorial Gardens episodes a listen above, and stay tuned for a new post of some kind by Saturday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Power Slug), A New Local Band Addition, And Much More!!

With a busy concert weekend in store, we're slightly breaking up this week's hard rock and punk concert previews to spread them out, so a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT will take residence in today's post, alongside some more news and notes! We also have upcoming CD notes, some assorted updates, and first, a new band addition to our full coverage, so here's what you should know!

We have a local metal project to add to our band links, though we've alluded to them on here for the last few years in a series of posts. You may remember that we cover Sault Michigan metal label Werehold Records' Friday the 13th new music posting events (which return next week, by the way), and in some of the installments, you may have seen us mention The 1,000,000,000's Who Died (or The Billions Who Died), an extreme metal band that was billed from outside our coverage range in Isle Royale, Michigan, which has no permanent population, adding to their initial secrecy. Given that, we held from adding them to our full coverage... until now, as Werehold owner & Life's Eclipse mainman Jason Mills revealed on his personal Facebook page earlier this week that The 1,000,000,000's Who Died is his own solo project (albeit under the stage name Spizwizbanizz), and their Facebook page now bills them from the Soo as well! So, now that we know more on them, what else should you know on them?

Active since at least May 2012, The 1,000,000,000's Who Died have largely only shown signs of life for the Werehold Records Friday the 13th events, with 3 songs from them being posted on the Werehold YouTube channel ("Whispers Removed",  "Declaration", and last year's "Pile of Tongues"), though all are instrumentals. Their sound will be familiar to Werehold loyalists, though putting an extreme death metal slant on crunchy groove metal, and it'll be interesting to see what Jason has in store for next Friday! Give "Pile of Tongues" a listen below, and stay tuned for more from The 1,000,000,000's Who Died!

Next up, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT, as Sault Michigan cover hard rock trio Power Slug will be playing a unique concert set under the beer tent as part of the events leading up to the annual International 500 snowmobile race (or I-500) this weekend! Apologies for the short notice, the band only just announced their involvement yesterday on their Facebook page. Though not credited by name on the I-500 website, their set will be among the entertainment during what is billed as "the midwest's largest Winter Pub Crawl", and spectators are encouraged to visit bars and beer tents tomorrow night in Sault Michigan and at the I-500 track, which is based at 984 West 4th Avenue, a few minutes from Lake Superior State University. Power Slug should deliver a solid night of hard rock action during the pre-race events at the I-500 this year, and kudos to them for braving the elements too, as tent or not, it is outdoors.

Admission is via purchase of a button (a'la Bon Soo), and while it is $20, that guarantees you admission to see the actual I-500 race on Saturday, which is always exciting! Power Slug's set is at 8:00 PM tomorrow night, and given the time and connection to the pub crawl, it's likely 21+. For more info, visit the above links, and here's Power Slug live at The Bird!



Also today, here's some updates from Sault Ontario doom/punk trio The Revolution, who recently unveiled more details on their forthcoming debut EP! Last week, the guys revealed that their first release will be called "Roll Call", and it will feature 5 songs, those being "Prisoner of Hate", "Monsters", "Cold Temptress", "Into The Fog", and "Get High With Me". Most have been teased in earlier concerts and videos, but "Into The Fog" isn't immediately familiar, so it may be the new song that the guys teased in this Facebook video (unless one of the other songs was reworked.) Obviously, not all of their originals made the cut, including live songs and older preview tracks like "Murder For Sport", "We Are The Gladiators", "Mercury", and "Belly of the Beast", but if things work out, we might see some or all on a future CD. It sounds like the guys have things under control, and with PaperClip Productions behind them, things can only go up, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

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

• A new post by promoter J.D. Pearce on next month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands' Facebook event page strongly hints that local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters have signed up to compete at said battle, with J.D. noting that "things just got heavy in here", and that the battle may "end 'er with Render" (This Void). Will The Bear Hunters successfully defend their Viva La Battle crown from 2013 next month? Stay tuned for updates, and sign up A.S.A.P., as only 3 band packages are left!
• Oh! Right Arm! Promotions are apparently bringing Ottawa sludge metal band Biipiigwan back to the Soo on Thursday, April 30th, as per a post by co-promoter Jamie Vincent at this link yesterday. No venue or other details have been announced yet, but for reference, Biipiigwan last played here in November 2013 at The Moose Lodge alongside locals The Bear Hunters & Bad Back. Stay tuned for more as it comes in!
• According to their Facebook page on Monday, local punk/grunge solo project Telephone & Address have sent their new studio album "Rust Orchid" away for pressing of physical copies! No word yet on when we can expect CDs and digital downloads to be officially released (along with their teased "Early Tapes" compilation), but we'll keep you posted when more is announced!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more of the weekend's concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

"Soo Stories: A Rock N' Roll Scrapbook" Review!!

Finally, it's time for our 3rd ever book review at The Sault Metal Scene! This time, we're taking a long overdue look at "Soo Stories: A Rock N' Roll Scrapbook", the second book from Wawa author Duane Roy, and the follow up to his earlier book "Castle Stories", about concerts at Castle Farms in Charlevoix. In "Soo Stories", Duane talks about his memories at concerts at the former Sault Memorial Gardens, the hockey arena and concert venue that existed from 1949-2006. Published by Alloway's Printing & Publishing in Blind River, and lasting 270 pages, the book was released in March 2011, and can be bought at The Rad Zone in the Wellington Square Mall locally for $25, or from this location through PayPal. The price jumps to $28 for American customers and $35 for international customers. I'll try to keep things concise but well termed in this review, and remember, I'm not a professional literary critic, I'm just calling the book as I see it, so you guys can form your own opinions without anything being given away. Now, let's begin this review!

After a brief warning for the occasional tall tale, politically incorrect statement, and lack of hockey stories, Duane begins with an introduction outlining some early concert memories of his, or more accurately, big shows at the Gardens that he missed (Triumph, in particular.) He also mentioned the feelings concertgoers had at the time concerning the Sault, while emphasizing that heading here was a break from small town monotony. Duane shares seven concert stories from the Gardens in the book from concerts between 1986 and 1995, starting with Michigan's own Ted Nugent's headlining concert here on July 19th, 1986. After an interesting story as to how he actually saw Ted in person 6 years prior, Duane talks about how he convinced his mother to let him go see the Nuge in Sault Ste. Marie, and the excitement of the coming show which was dampened when he found out that openers White Wolf had unexpectedly cancelled (we find out why right from their singer too in the book.) He noted that the Gardens weren't as impressive as he remembered, and that less than 1,000 people were in attendance. Duane also emphasized how loud the show was, but his excitement and enjoyment of it is very clear! I won't give away the concert itself, but let's just say Ted rocked and Duane sure let us know about it!

The next story took place the next month, as Canadian rock legend Kim Mitchell headlined at the Gardens on August 12th, 1986. Heading to the concert with his friend Gord in a red Volkswagen Beetle, the show itself didn't have the outward bells and whistles of the Ted Nugent show, but there did appear to be more women in attendance. Then P.E.I. arena rockers Haywire opened the show and they learned why. Not his thing, be he praised their talented guitarist! Duane praised Kim's set highly as well, particularly for his guitar skills and some of the old Max Webster covers, but he seemed to enjoy the Ted Nugent show a bit more, at least from what I read. The third show he hit was headlined by Canadian rock legend Tom Cochrane & his band Red Rider on August 18th the following year. Despite some teasing from his friends, he made it to the Soo for the show, though he did stand out a bit. While he didn't think too highly of openers Glass Tiger, he really enjoyed Tom and Red Rider and their chemistry together, especially during "Lunatic Fringe". Shorter story, but worth a look, including the talk of the trip to and from town for that concert!

Fourth of Duane's stories was when he went to see Canadian metal legends Helix at The Memorial Gardens on December 2nd, 1987. Despite being a school night, the show worked as a Christmas present! After some discussion of the trip on the Greyhound bus to the Soo and his tale of how a friend bought some "acid paper" and got ripped off, he discussed the show, which began with an opening set by London metal quintet Syre. He praised their set and energy, but left most of the comments to Syre and Helix members, who detailed their memories of this show (and the set at The Eastgate afterwards) well! Haywire opened this show again, which didn't seem like an ideal fit, but Duane again spoke highly of their guitarist. Duane highly enjoyed Helix's set and all of their classic songs, while also integrating some quotes from frontman Brian Vollmer about the tour this show was a part of. He also added some amusing notes about the reaction to all the students at his high school who saw Helix by staff at the school, so don't miss this story, as it's one of the better ones!

Fifth was his story of when Niagara Falls rockers Honeymoon Suite headlined at the Gardens on July 17th, 1988. Duane equated them to a Canadian version of Bon Jovi, and he and his friends were eager to go, after some planning. This time, they were on the floor amidst many girls to enjoy the proceedings, though Haywire's opening set (again) still didn't win Duane or his friends over. Duane enjoyed their set and how surprisingly heavy and rowdy it could get. Short rememberances of the concert itself, but Duane did detail their stay at a local hotel before and after, and the amusement they got from the owners!

The penultimate of his own stories was when Alice Cooper headlined at the Sault Memorial Gardens on New Years Day in 1990. As a huge Alice fan, he was eager for this show, and he and his buddies braved a bad snowstorm for the trip to the Soo! Los Angeles hard rock legends Great White opened the show, which he enjoyed (and was suprised at the loudness of), before Alice Cooper headlined. I won't detail his on stage theatrics, Duane will do a better job than I, but he delivered a great performance full of classics and newer hits, and the fans ate it up! Sounds like it was worth driving through a storm! Duane closes his stories with one about seeing Kingston rockers The Tragically Hip at the Gardens on Valentines Day in 1995. After asking for the day off from freezing work at a Sawmill in Dubreuilville, he and the gang had some drinks before heading to the Gardens to catch The Hip. He noted the lack of enthusiasm from the crowd (the band noticed that too), which could be blamed on obscure or brand new songs during the set. The show was definitely his least favourite of the seven, finding it boring, and not even admitting to being there when friends discussed it, although he did see The Hip again when they came here in 2007.

After his stories wrapped up, Duane focused the next part of the book on "your stories", as submitted by fans and band members who saw or played at Memorial Gardens concerts. Though contacting bands didn't prove universally fruitful, he did compile some nice stories! Local author George Case was first, offering his memories of seeing Beatles tribute band Beatlemania in 1981 and 1982. He enjoyed them and their faithfulness to the Beatles and 1960s culture, while adding his own reflections of The Beatles themselves, and hearing the Ted Nugent show from outside of the Gardens.

Then, we got a story from former Bad Side guitarist Jason Mapes, also well known as a former DJ at 99.5 Yes FM & 97.9 Classic Rock: The Bear. Jason offered some very long rememberances of Gardens shows. After mentioning his own memories interviewing numerous bands for the Sault Area High School newspaper (which he edited and got press credentials through back then), he detailed some of his more memorable instances interviewing bands and musicians who played here. He highly praised his times interviewing Loverboy and Bryan Adams in 1982, especially for Bryan's sense of humour, while his 1985 interview with April Wine on their initial farewell tour had lots of tension in the room. He interviewed Honeymoon Suite at this same show, but admittedly didn't have much to ask as it was very impromptu. He also detailed getting accosted by The Headpins' manager in 1983 and the aftermath before mentioning his love for their openers, Helix, who he praised for being a real blue collar band and very gracious and kind, even playing despite Brian Vollmer having the flu during their local show in 1987!

For 1990s shows, he mentioned interviewing The Tragically Hip and pressuring them over playing in the Sault despite earlier criticisms of our city, the poor reception of The Black Crowes' local concert, and the impact that the American Yes FM played in Roch Voisine's planned concert here, due to the lack of Canadian content laws which ensured that Canadian acts like Roch Voisine would get airplay. Jason blamed Yes FM's local success on our side for the 1990s dropoff in touring Canadian bands playing there, but overall, his stories (and included photos, many of him with the artists) were really nice, and it's cool to get tales from someone more than just a concertgoer!

The only other major story featured in this section comes from Streetheart guitarist (and Saultite) Jeff Neill, whose stories weren't as detailed, more summing up his experiences at the Gardens before going a bit into his own musical career with bands like Shama and later, Streetheart. He definitely seemed to enjoy the Gardens shows of the 1970s, but I was kinda hoping for more detail about a few of them. Following that section, we get some old pictures starting with many from the 1970s and before of many older acts' newspaper advertisements (many being country), before a number of photos, ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, and other items from Ted Nugent's 1984 local show are featured. After that, Duane included a story from Triumph frontman Rik Emmett (as transcribed from a recording of his 2001 solo show at the Club Princess) where he found out about a story that a fan was telling people that wasn't true. I won't spoil it here, but it's pretty good! Duane also included some photos, ticket stubs, and a newspaper review here as well. Following this, Duane gives a short history of the Sault Memorial Gardens from it's groundbreaking in 1946, detailing the building's history until it's demolition in 2006, along with many historical photos of the arena.

After that, we get some scattered photos, newspaper clippings, and tickets from different decades at the arena. The 1970s gives us memorabilia from shows from bands like Rush, Triumph, and April Wine, while the 1980s features stuff mostly from shows Duane wasn't at, including shows featuring Prism, Nazareth, and The Headpins. One article in this section explores a proposal to ban minors under the age of 13 from Gardens concerts, amazingly. That's worth a read on it's own, though the pages were oddly placed in the wrong order. It's followed by a few 1990s concert photos and articles, including from shows featuring The Jeff Healey Band and The Black Crowes, but you can tell the 1990s weren't nearly as strong for shows as earlier decades, with the 2000s not represented at all (not that much happened by then.) Duane closes with fond memories of the Sault Memorial Gardens, and while he knew it wouldn't have a rich legacy compared to bigger venues, and that the sound and experience lacked in some respects, it's an arena and concert spot with some nice memories and he still misses it today.

So what are my thoughts on "Soo Stories"? Well, once again, Duane provides some very well written and remembered memories of the concerts at the Sault Memorial Gardens over the 9 years that featured shows he hit there! Like with "Castle Stories", he's honest about what he saw, yet respectful, and you can tell these are some fond memories from his youth! Local concertgoers will no doubt have a larger connection to this book than "Castle Stories" due to the local connection, especially if you were around for the shows Duane talks about, although fans of any era will likely see merit in it. I will say that "Soo Stories" is a bit wider ranging in appeal for music lovers, as unlike in "Castle Stories", Duane saw headlining shows here that didn't necessarily fall into the "metal" genre, like with The Tragically Hip and Tom Cochrane. Plus, with the high amount of non-rock concerts from the early and later days of the arena, "Soo Stories" definitely varies more in appeal, so if you look at it on a completely non-local basis, metalheads would probably prefer "Castle Stories", though metal's talked about a lot in both.

As a local fan, even though I was much too young to see the better concerts there in the 1990s, I definitely feel more of a connection to "Soo Stories" than "Castle Stories". I was only ever at the Gardens for hockey games or floor shows, but I did feel sort of transported there at times when reading the book. The added stories, though less compared to "Castle Stories", were nice and gave more angles on the Gardens' concert experience. I find that Castle Farms probably has more of a nostalgic appeal than the Gardens for music fans, but the love is clear for both venues! My main fault with "Castle Stories" was with the photo quality, and while they look clearer here, some are a bit smaller than they probably deserved. Overall though, Duane gives us a great time capsule look at the Sault Memorial Gardens concert experience, and fans of the era, "Castle Stories", or music in general should definitely pick it up! Who knows, maybe down the road, we'll get a book of Essar Center stories next! Motley Crue, Heaven & Hell, Three Days Grace, Jackyl, Kiss... if it happens, the new arena's off to a good start!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for lots more news hopefully tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

News From Orb Hearthstone, Soo Stories, And Woods Of Ypres!!

34 posts in 28 days...wow, we're just two posts away from breaking our record for busiest month ever at the SMS, which says a lot when the summer months are our busiest! Thanks to all of you guys for sticking by through this busy March! Today, we have a bunch of new Woods of Ypres stories, but first, we'll cover some older stories, including the latest on a new book and some new pages from a local solo artist, so let's begin today's post!

End of Existence frontman/Great Bodily Harm drummer Bob Helsten, a.ka.. Orb Hearthstone, has created two new solo internet pages! We previously heard his new softer metal material on his MySpace page, but the Orb solo project is now on a music site I've previously never heard of called MusicFast, so check this new page out at this location! The only real "new" element is the addition of artists that influenced him, and there's a ton of good bands listed, but otherwise, there's nothing too different from his MySpace page. Still, give it a look, there's some solid solo material on there! As well, Orb has now launched a YouTube channel featuring five End of Existence videos, so become a fan of that as well! It strikes me as a bit redundant when the End of Existence channel has all of the same videos, but maybe Orb will post some solo or Great Bodily Harm material on there in the future! Check out all of the above links for more from Orb's solo work!

Next up, here's the latest on "Soo Stories: A Rock N' Roll Scrapbook", the new book on concerts at the old Sault Memorial Gardens by Wawa author Duane Roy! Firstly, if you haven't picked up a copy yet and you don't want to order a copy through PayPal, then good news! "Soo Stories" is now in stock at The Rad Zone at Wellington Square Mall! Duane posted on The Rad Zone's Facebook page on Friday to announce this news. I assume "Soo Stories" will be in the Hole In The Wall section, and I believe the cost of the book will be $25 as the standard online price is. I'm absolutely gonna have to head down to The Rad Zone to pick up this book, and yes, I want to review it on the SMS! We're gonna have a book review spree once my exams are done, as I still have to review Paolo Colasacco's "Going Underground" on here too, so watch out for that as well! Also, a couple new sites have "Soo Stories" articles, including The Algoma News out of Wawa, which has a short article about the book, some of it's contents, and some more of the information Duane still wants to hear about old Gardens concerts. Not bad, click here to give it a look! As well, Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles gave a brief look at the book, which is good exposure but not too in-depth. Click here to read it, and check out all of the above links for all the info you need on "Soo Stories", including online purchasing links!

Now for a bunch of Woods of Ypres updates to round this post out with, starting with a video I didn't talk about when I first mentioned videos by this uploader last week. I shown you two "Wood of Ypres" videos by YouTube user xes1978 on Wednesday, but the latest of the three slipped me by, so here's what you should know! It's of the band playing "By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)", and it's a good performance of the song! As it's the same quality and camera as xes1978's other videos, I can't change my critiques too much, as it's still good quality with a dark red ambiance, and not enough variance in camera angles (Joel Violette is still not captured), but it's a good video all around! Check it out below!



Now to some more Woods of Ypres updates, starting with some new concert reviews and related notes! Firstly, Hellbound.ca's Natalie Zed reviewed another Woods of Ypres concert, specifically their show on March 13th in Toronto, and you can check it out at this location! You may remember her Woods of Ypres CD and concert reviews from last year as well. Woods of Ypres were the second band of four on this concert, so it's not too in-depth compared to some other concert reviews we've seen, but she does praise Woods of Ypres' abbreviated set, even more so due to a broken guitar string and David's wish to not hold up the show. Nice photos too, and the other bands sound brutal! Check the above links for more on this review! Also, Atanamar Sunyata from Metal Injection has more Woods of Ypres stuff for us courtesy of his own concert review from their concert on March 16th in New York City, which you can read by clicking here! I have to say, Atanamar is very well spoken, and he leaves a lot of praise for Woods of Ypres' set in this review, saying that they slay in person and that they played an incredible set! Definitely read this review, and his videos that I shown you on here are also embedded there to check out!

Finally for today, here's some new Woods of Ypres interviews & articles, starting with an article with... Joel Violette? Yeah, it's not just David getting some press for the band! Joel was interviewed by the New Brunswick website HereNB about his work in Woods of Ypres, including how he joined the band, his work with David Gold in Thrawsunblat, the experience of playing live, and more! Short but a good read, click here to check it out! Also, Ken Kelley from The Music Nerd Chronicles posted an article on Woods of Ypres on March 18th, featuring some insights from David Gold about the Earache Records signing, the band's plans for the next six months, and more! Not too long, but it shares some more good details about "Woods V", so click here to read it! Finally, Hungarian metal site KronosMortus interviewed David recently as well, click here to check out that interview! The interview was posted in Hungarian but translated to English afterwards, so scroll down to the bottom for the English translation. If you can get past the stilted translations, you'll find some good band discussions and questions that other interviews haven't asked, so give it a look! Check out all of the above links for more from Woods of Ypres!

That's all for now, but knowing this month, we'll have more very soon, as we're on pace for 37 posts this month if things keep on the way they've been going! Stay tuned!

"Castle Stories: A Rock N' Roll Scrapbook" Review!!

Hey guys, it's time, as promised, for the first ever book review on The Sault Metal Scene, as I take a look at "Castle Stories: A Rock N' Roll Scrapbook", the first book by Wawa author (and metalhead) Duane Roy! Released in November 2009 through Alloway's Printing & Publishing, it's available to purchase at Hole In The Wall Books at The Wellington Square Mall, which is branched off from The Rad Zone, so you won't have to look far! This is the only local retailer that stocks the book. Online, you can buy it through PayPal at this location for $25 ($28 American), or if you don't have PayPal, try e-mailing Duane himself and see if that will work! The book is 294 pages long, and is all about concert memories, reflections, memorabilia, and stories from concerts that took place at Castle Farms, the fondly regarded castle-themed concert venue in Charlevoix, Michigan, which housed concerts of many different genres from 1976-1996. Now reserved typically for weddings and special events and expos, Castle Farms' unique castle motif and atmosphere helped it stand out in it's heyday, and the amount of major bands that came through there led to Castle Farms becoming a hotspot for music fans in Northern Michigan, especially a good number from the Upper Peninsula and Northern Ontario!

I'm not experienced in literary criticism, aside from book reports at school, so if something seems wrong or mistyped, my apologies! In my review, I'll try not to say too much about individual stories, because there aren't mine, these are Duane's, I don't want to pretend like I was at these shows (though it would have been nice!) I'll recap and outline things and hopefully, will convince you to buy it, because it really is worth reading!

"Castle Stories" begins with a warning for the easily offended (don't expect the stories to be "straight edge, so to speak), and an introduction on why Duane decided to write about his Castle Farms concert experiences. The answer to that question is, well, did you see any shows there? He outlines how, back in the late 1980s, he and his buddies would hear about a major show at Castle Farms, acquire money and tickets, and then make the 5 hour journey from Wawa to Charlevoix. It's in the introduction where Duane first references Sault Ste. Marie, as on concert trips, he and his party had to go through Sault Ontario, across the International Bridge, and then make it across the American border, where he invariably got hauled in once they heard he was going to Castle Farms. Luckily, he was never stopped from going, and made it to Charlevoix (after a standard taco break in Petoskey) to rock out with some great bands! The introduction also outlines a lot of the details of his trips that are expanded on in later chapters.

The first half of the book outlines the stories and memories Duane has from the 10 Castle Farms concerts he attended, between July 1987 and July 1990. His first story, and Castle concert, was Whitesnake, Anthrax, and Autograph on July 28, 1987, when he was a 16 year old Whitesnake fan (particularly of their first few bluesier albums), and when he heard Whitesnake would be in Charlevoix, he did what many full drivers license-less kids would do: Beg his mom to take him, as she did for the Ted Nugent show at Sault Memorial Gardens in 1986! So Duane outlines his trip with his mom in a rental car to Charlevoix, where after an hours long wait, he saw all three bands, highly praising the whole lineup! Among such notable details: A notable spat of car-related violence post-concert, an incredible drum solo from Tommy Aldridge, and his hours long search pre-concert to meet David Coverdale, or anyone from the bands, with no luck. His awe at his first show there is evident, and when he promised at the end to write this stuff down, he made good!

Second was his story of seeing AC/DC and White Lion there on May 29th, 1988, a show which he praised highly, just not the events before and after it. This time, he took a chartered tour bus from Wawa for the concert, which included his first use of fake I.D. to buy alcohol, and a huge traffic jam that threatened to make them late. He liked White Lion and highly praised AC/DC, and lots more interesting happenings occured here, including the absence of one AC/DC member, what one drunken couple decided to do mid-concert, and a confrontation with a drunken guy who wanted to pick a fight with Duane and his buddies. But the concert takes a backseat to what happened when they tried to get back to their tour bus. I won't spoil what happens, but it's unfortunate, and it keeps you reading! Also keep watch for a story from Wawa comedian Pete Zedlacher in this chapter! July 18th of that year was his next Charlevoix show, as he went to see Whitesnake again, this time with Great White as support. This time, hopping a ride with his friends' dad, they had a smoother ride there, aside from a muffler repair job in Sault Ontario. More focus on the music here, as he positively reviews the involved bands, especially Whitesnake, who I think he rated even higher than the first show! Duane and his friends were also introduced to cigars and a pretty girl during the course of this trip, not saying what happened though!

August 18th, 1988 was his next Castle show, as he went to see Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth do his solo show on August 18th, 1988, in the middle of a heavy rain. Poison played support, and Duane was luck enough to score Bret Michaels' autograph before their set! He talked of how the rain impacted Steve Vai's guitar playing, what happened when David couldn't get a light for his cigarette, and how they slept post-concert, and of course, the music! He gave noticeable praise to both bands, as did a very special guest who submitted a funny story about how he ripped his pants at the concert! Following this was his tale of seeing Judas Priest and Cinderella there just 5 days later! He recalls a story about hitting a "sacred tree stump", how he ended up wearing 6 t-shirts at once, and what having "the world record of hangovers" felt like! He doesn't speak too positively for Cinderella for his reaction then, but he glowingly remembers Judas Priest's set and all their memorable songs!

5 days after the Judas Priest show, Duane saw The Scorpions and Kingdom Come in his last show there of the year, with a surprisingly small crowd. He liked Kingdom Come, despite what many percieved as a Led Zeppelin ripoff, and then gave extremely high recollections of The Scorpions' set, particularly for "Still Loving You", though he noted that they sounded about as you'd expect from albums. However, this takes a secondary focus of the chapter as much of it revolves around a post-concert alcohol fueled encounter between Duane, his two friends, and three girls. Not saying what happens, but it's very interesting to read, and not G-rated! Next was his first show of 1989, when he saw Poison and Tesla on May 21st of that year. Among happenings on this concert trip: What happens when a girlfriend is added into the gang for the concert, what other girls would do to get backstage, and a guy spotted walking in traffic. Duane praised Tesla greatly, but didn't enjoy Poison nearly as much, mostly for what he perceived as the over-indulgent guitar playing from C.C. DeVille, though he did really enjoy their performance of "Every Rose Has It's Thorn"!

July 7th, 1989, probably has the best overall story of the book, as Duane recalls going to see Ozzy Osbourne, White Lion, and Vixen! This show actually has a small personal connection, as my Uncle Dan went to this show, he still has a white Ozzy shirt with him crucified & being tormented by demons (if I remember correctly) tacked up on the wall in his old house! Back to Duane's stories, the chapter details how, in exploring Charlevoix, Duane not only got to meet Ozzy's roadie and go on his tour bus, he also got to meet Randy Castillo, Zakk Wylde, and...Ozzy Osbourne himself! There's even pictures of him with Zakk and Ozzy in the book, one of which is on your right! The sheer awe and amazement is still prevalent even 21 years later! A story is also included in this chapter from Vixen drummer Roxy Petrucci about something creepy she saw in her hotel room! As for the concert, he liked Vixen, thought White Lion were lackluster, and he especially enjoyed Ozzy's set, as I'm sure everyone there did too! This is my favourite of Duane's stories, and you can tell he had a blast just recalling that day again!

August 23rd of that year gave us his penultimate Castle story, as he went to see Bon Jovi and Skid Row! He talked of the amazingly high amount of girls there, the huge video screens erected for the show, how Duane was mistook for a roadie, and how he ended up having a female schoolmate sitting on his shoulders! Pete Zedlacher contributes a story here also talking of a bit of a cocky remark from Jon Bon Jovi that got some boos. Duane loved Bon Jovi and Skid Row's sets, making sure to particularly praise fellow Canadian Sebastian Bach as well! Chapter 10 outlines Duane's final Castle Farms show, which saw Aerosmith and The Black Crowes take the stage on July 6, 199o! Before that though, Duane spent a paragraph talking about seeing Alice Cooper and Great White at Sault Memorial Gardens on New Year's Day, 1990. Foreshadowing to his next book, possibly? 1990 was a slower concert year, with a smaller attendance for Aerosmith, though he loved the whole show, especially when they played "Dream On"! Also of note here: A story from his friend Jenny about getting knocked over during the concert, and a guy with a deodorant deficiency at the show. Little did Duane know this would be his last show there, but his run sure ended on a high note!

After this, we come to "Your Stories", where Duane hands control of the storytelling to others, as they share their stories! Duane searched for a while to find the best Castle stories, wading through the various "Dude The Castle RULED" stories to come up with some really good tales! Sault Ontario's own Suzanne Fillion submitted a story about seeing John Mellencamp in August 1982 (as support for Heart), and getting to meet him at a McDonalds the afternoon before the show! Jill Kendall submitted a story about meeting Bob Seger at a Foghat show in 1984, and just what exactly she did to get a chance to meet him...buy the book and find out! She also has a short reflection on the Loverboy/Quiet Riot show with lots of pictures. Another Saultite, Susan Just Jakomit, submitted numerous professional photos from some Castle shows in 1979-80, as well as photos of the venue and Charlevoix!

Also included are stories from Castle Farms master chef David Phillips, who detailed some of the fancy custom food items he made for bands who played there, including Alice Cooper and Poison! Some cool stuff he made for them, as well as offering a list of the vast majority of bands that played there...amazing what kind of bands they pulled in, I'd have killed to have seen Metallica there in 1992 if I was older! Kim Reibel, daughter of Castle Farms' old owners, talked about her sister's dog and Heart meeting, and offered numerous photos and newspaper clippings concerning Castle Farms and related concerts. The last stories come from Rock 101 DJ Scott Cook, who reflected on the Whitesnake/Autograph and AC/DC/White Lion shows, as well as going to see Def Leppard in 1996 at the last major hard rock show there, and the post-concert afterparty! Duane closes this section with a short history section about Castle Farms, detailing it's birth in 1918 as a livestock/machinery showcase, and how it evolved into a legendary concert spot, plus it's current status!

The book closes with concert memorabilia, beginning with many pages of old ticket stubs, some dating back to 1978! Amazing some of the bands that were there...Iron Maiden, Blue Oyster Cult, the list goes on! Too bad it dried up to mostly country and reggae by the mid-90s! A section of live bootleg recordings is given next, including the covers and track listings for Alice Cooper and Metallica's shows there, followed by assorted pics of Castle Farms, shows, and concertgoers! A memorabilia section is next, featuring concert t-shirts, guitar picks, backstage passes, autographs, and more! Great to look at these, makes me jealous that I was born in 1989, not 1969! Before getting to thanks and acknowledgements, the book closes with an afterword that, I'll just say, is a fitting capper to the book. Why spoil the ending? Buy it, read it, and find out for yourself!

Overall, I found "Castle Stories" to be an extremely interesting read that effectively details the life of a teenage metalhead and his adventures in going to see these concerts! This is one of those books that is perfect to pick up, flip to any page, and still be engaged because it's not a constant narrative. That's what I've done for the last few months when school prevented me from sitting down to read it cover to cover. Duane might not have been there for the entire run of Castle Farms shows, but he's the absolute perfect guy to tell the stories of the ones he saw! He remembers them all with great detail, and he had some great adventures to and from the shows that add to the experience! He writes with clarity and he doesn't resort to "rocker speak" to accentuate anything (i.e. "WOOOO THAT WAS AWESOME") No, his appreciation and enjoyment is clear without doing that! The stories submitted by guests are all good too, you can tell he picked the best of the best, though some shows aren't mentioned that would have been cool to see reflections on, like Metallica from 1992 or Iron Maiden from 1985. But that's not Duane's fault, he only had what people sent him.

My biggest complaint about "Castle Stories" is the photographs. Not the lack of them or the ones that were chosen (there's a great selection), just the quality of them all is disappointing. In the printing process, they all turned out small and grainy, I don't think they do justice to what they really look like. Duane's Facebook group for fans of Castle Farms has many of these pictures in large clear quality, so click here to check them out too! But in terms of what is written, this book has very little wrong, it's a really exciting book that can transport you back to when you read newspapers and called hotlines for concert updates, and hopped in a beat up truck, popped a tape in, and rocked out all the way there! I imagine this book will play better with those of you who went to Castle Farms for a show, but even if you didn't, this is a worthwile document that will open your eyes to some of the great concerts that happened just 2 hours from here for so long! Oh how I wish I could have been at some of them, hopefully you'll have the same reaction. BUY CASTLE STORIES TODAY!!

So there's my review of "Castle Stories", once again, my apologies to Duane for taking so long to review it. School can be a pain sometimes! As you guys probably know, his next book will be about concerts at Sault Memorial Gardens with a likely similar format, look out for that later this year! I can't wait for it, hopefully you guys are anticipating it too! Tomorrow, I'll have my review of TONIGHT'S Lion Ride/Sense of Truth show, so keep your eyes peeled for that! Hope to see you guys at The Canadian tonight, it'll be a good one!