Rotaryfest 2026 Fallout (Part 2!!)

Today's second post (eight already this month!) takes us back to last month's Rotaryfest for more media and videos and whatnot from that survived the air quality index levels to rock out at Clergue Park! Check out yesterday's first post linked here for what's known to be circulating publically from the first four bands on Stage 1 on Friday, July 17th. We'll next look at the co-headliners on that Friday, namely local classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush, who were filmed by the prolific Christopher Paci for his YouTube channel. Yes, Dopethrone, Three Days Grace, and Bush fans, Chris' videos for all of these concerts are among our still ridiculous backlog, stay tuned hopefully soon! Chris swung by Clergue Park late, and only filmed three videos that night, with his only Headrush video being of them covering Greta Van Fleet's "Highway Tune".  Bizarrely modern choice for them, especially given earlier marketing putting them as primarily covering 1980s music.

I am admittedly not a Greta Van Fleet fan, but Headrush do cover this song well, and it's a good match for John Anderson's vocal range! The crowd sounded receptive too, so give their Rotaryfest 2026 video a watch below, and yes, I am well aware of their Laird Fair gig, that too is coming to a proper post as soon as possible! This backlog will take some time!

Chris' other videos on Rotaryfest Friday were of North Bay classic rock cover band Just Press Play, whose lineup features long-time Stage 1 sound tech and former That's Chester/Obsession guest guitarist Dan Belanger. Rain cropped up during their set, which is obvious by the small crowd and scattered umbrellas, but kudos to Chris for filming what he did, and that includes covers of Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" and, as embedded below, Cheap Trick's "The Flame". Just Press Play sound good on these covers, with strong vocals and tight musicianship, and they did hint on their Facebook page to wanting to play here again, so hopefully (if outdoors) there's no rain or smoke to worry about! Just press play on these videos above & below!

Over on Stage 2, The Sault Blues Society took over the Friday lineup for a fifth straight year of Friday Night Blues. None of the acts have major social media presences at a level where they are posting videos online to watch on public and official sources, alas. Still, Bob Davies snapped photos of all five bands on the Second Stage that night, so click here for some really nice photos, and familiar faces lined all five groups! Moving back to Stage 1 on Saturday, July 18th, the earliest band that has a public video to my knowledge (outside of our coverage) is classic rock cover quartet Mid Life Crysis, who the aforementioned Chris Paci filmed covering 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" before he hit the road to see Bush in St. Ignace. "Voices Carry" isn't the biggest 1980s cover choice in retrospect, but it's soundly covered by this experienced and familiar local band (in their tenth Stage 1 appearance), and it lets Lori show off her vocal range!

We'll close our second Rotaryfest fallout post with the next Saturday band with public videos, namely classic rock cover quartet RPM, whose entire set was filmed across multiple cameras for their Facebook page! You can see the songs broken up in individual videos linked below, but they eventually posted a full-set video combining everything into a 49 minute watch. In order, Dino, Marcel, Rob, and Joseph played a medley of songs by The Romantics, Neil Diamond, John Mellencamp, and John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band, followed by Duran Duran's "Hungry Like The Wolf", The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar", John Mellencamp's "Authority Song", The Outfield's "Your Love", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Looking Out My Back Door", Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues", Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way", Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me", Huey Lewis & The News' "Walking On A Thin Line", ...

...Bryan Adams' "Summer Of 69", and AC/DC's "TNT". Credit to Out & Out Country/ex-That's Chester drummer Ric Datson for helping set up the multiple cameras here, in a similar way to his Double Down footage from Rotaryfests past. While only really dipping their toes into heavier covers late, RPM are a talented group who have definitely improved as an ensemble and individually over the past decade, and they had a good crowd for their set (which I saw most of, so I can vouch for how they went over!) Give RPM's full multi-camera set a watch for yourselves below!

When we pick up our Rotaryfest fallout coverage (hopefully soon-ish), we'll look at any extant public videos from the last four bands on Stage 1, and if there's space, the Saturday lineup on Stage 2, but our next post will be a news post. Stay tuned for that and more in the near term! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest 2024 Fallout & Videos (Part 4!!)

It's been three months since we last covered fallout from this year's Rotaryfest. Three months! In that post, we seemingly wrapped up Stage 1 videos and started talking about Stage 2, but a couple of videos from the main covers-centric stage were uploaded to YouTube after our August 19th post, so what's there now? This year's headliner on Thursday, July 18th was local Abba tribute band Abba Soo, and on their YouTube channel, you can see a video of them covering "S.O.S." Good quality video from a close angle, and while far from metal or hard rock, Abba fans will enjoy the rendition! The other new video comes from classic/hard rock cover quartet Double Down, who were this year's closing band on Saturday, July 20th in their second Rotaryfest appearance and first festival set with Beej Syrette on guitar & vocals. Like their Rotaryfest 2023 full-set video, this was uploaded to drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel as a scheduled upload on August 29th, so what is there to see here?

Double Down's over an hour-long, Rotaryfest-closing set featured covers of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak", Honeymoon Suite's "New Girl Now", The Temptations' "Shakey Ground", The Cars' "Just What I Needed", Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)", The Foo Fighters' "Times Like These", Sugarloaf's "Green-Eyed Lady", Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town", Doyle Bramhall II's "Green Light Girl", Bachman-Turner Overdrive's 'Let It Ride", the Thin Lizzy version of "Whiskey In The Jar", ZZ Top's "Gimme All Your Lovin'" and "Sharp Dressed Man" back to back, and lastly, Peter Frampton's "You Had To Be There". While not alternating between singers for lead vocals like in 2023, Joel Syrette sang on half of the songs on offer once again, with his cousin Beej handling all three Thin Lizzy tunes, plus "Just What I Needed", "Times Like These", and "Sharp Dressed Man".

The remaining song ("Shakey Ground") featured bassist Brad Stephen on lead vocals. Like last year, Ric did a great job getting multi-camera footage of Double Down's set, including stationary cameras on the far left of the stage and a drumcam setup, as well as at least two different filmers on the lawn capturing the action until the final three songs. The audio quality isn't as high as the visuals, and while it is passable, I had trouble identifying a couple of songs, especially "Green Light Girl", which I only nailed down once I found a personal Facebook video of that cover with clearer audio. Still a solid set with some surprise covers that you don't often see other local bands play (if at all), so give it a watch below!

To belatedly finish up our Rotaryfest fallout coverage, what else was publically filmed at the originals-centric Stage 2 that Saturday beside the Art Gallery of Algoma? Three months ago, we already touched on HeadFirst's own YouTube video from their day-opening set, but as far as YouTube and Facebook goes, there's nothing else that I am aware of. This is complicated by five of the nine Stage 2 acts on Saturday this year not having public Facebook pages for their music in the project seen there, but I did find a handful of Instagram-exclusive videos concerning Stage 1! The Sault Algoma Students account shared a video of country/classic rock band The Way Backs covering Bobby Charles' "See You Later, Alligator" on the Saturday, but the other two obvious Rotaryfest videos there are actually hype videos for Mike Haggith's set opening up the Friday program on Stage 1! Mike has occasionally used his Instagram page to post exclusive content, so what made it there to promote his return?

In one video from June, Mike looked back on when he dislocated his knee early in his Stage 1 set last year, as well as his long recovery and his aims to complete the redemption arc by returning to Rotaryfest this year. Suffice to say, Mike and crew performed without a hitch in July, and you can watch the complete set on YouTube at this link! Embedded below is a jokey promotional video from Mike and his backing group The Big Finish Band, under the pretense of Chris, Elly, Matt, and Brandan interrogating Mike about how he came up with the band's name and why it's not always used in advertising. Cute bit of self-deprecation, so give it a watch below!

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Finally, in my searching, I did find unacknowledged Rotaryfest videos from last year! While classic rock veterans RPM were a Saturday performer on Stage 1 this year, they have played the festival thrice before, including a Friday evening set last year. Guitarist Dino Mazzuca posted three videos from their 2023 set to his YouTube channel, including covers of The Black Crowes' "She Talks To Angels", John Mellencamp's "Pink Houses", and as embedded below, Trooper's "The Boys In The Bright White Sports Car". Good quality horizontal video from a close filmer, and they have a solid handle on these classic rock covers, so give RPM's Rotaryfest 2023 videos a watch for yourselves above and below!

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

Band Together To Rock Cancer Video Showcase!!

On September 20th, four local cover rock bands joined forces at The Tarentorus Sports Club at 56 Avery Road for Band Together To Rock Cancer, a fundraiser concert to help support Mustang Heart guitarist Lorenzo Fabbri through his ongoing cancer battle. Based on what I've seen and heard from the event, it sounds like it was a huge hit, but don't take my word for it, as we have videos from that night to show today! Attendee Audrey Marshall (a frequent sight at local cover rock concerts) was present, and she filmed three songs from each band for this batch post that was publically shared by both Mustang Heart and Generations on their respective Facebook pages after the fact. Audrey also got a handful of pictures throughout the event, and we'll start with the band of the hour, classic rock cover veterans Mustang Heart in their first show of the year! Lorenzo himself was unable to attend physically, but they made sure that he could still be there!

A monitor was set up to the right of the stage so he could watch the show/talk to attendees over a video call, moved as needed to change what he could see. Very nice idea to involve the man of the hour! In his place, former Mustang Heart guitarist Adam King returned to fill in as a special guest, while Lorenzo's Stages bandmate Sam Spadafora guested on keyboard, meaning that he and Vito Tassone both played keyboard at the same time during this set. Shades of modern day Guns N' Roses doing that, but it's great to see Sam showing his support! Audrey filmed Mustang Heart covering three songs on the 20th, including Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's "Pride & Joy", John Mellencamp's "Hurts So Good", and as embedded below, Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind Of Wonderful". It is good to see Mustang Heart back on stage, if under these circumstances, but they sound good on these familiar covers, with hard rock fans benefitting via the Grand Funk one!

Crank Sound Distribution was on hand to make all four band sound as good as possible, and everyone performs well in the three filmed videos on what had to be an emotional night, with a lively crowd response and good energy, so check out all three Mustang Heart videos above & below!

Next up, Adam's old band Double Down took the stage beforehand, with Audrey filming the classic/hard rock cover quartet covering three songs featuring three different singers! Embedded below is their cover of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Let It Ride" with guitarist Joel Syrette on vocals, but she also got videos of their covers of The Cars' "Just What I Needed" (with guitarist Beej Syrette singing) and The Temptations' "Shakey Ground" (with bassist Brad Stephen on vocals). Nice little cross-section of Double Down's vocal capabilities here, let alone a very surprising cover choice for Brad's song, and fans of their hard rocking shows should enjoy these clips, so check them out above & below as well!

Audrey also filmed three songs by fellow local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations, but with guitarist Tony Kajnar unable to attend for unannounced reasons, they called in Muckrakers frontman Mike McDonald (one of their 2023 fill-in guitarists before Tony joined full time) to return for the evening. Their videos filmed at The Tarentorus Club include covers of The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" (with bassist Pierre Anthony on vocals), Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet" filmed in two chunks (here and here), and as embedded below, The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There". Solid and casual yet well played across the board, so give Generations and Mike's videos a watch above & below!

Finally, classic rock cover quartet RPM were also in attendance for Band Together To Rock Cancer, with Audrey filming them covering The Romantics' "What I Like About You", Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Lookin' Out My Back Door", and as embedded below, Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife". Some of the vocals aren't a complete tonal match for the songs in question, but they're a talented group for classic rock fans, and it's great to see them showing their support for Lorenzo here, so check out their videos too!

That's all for now, but I'm very glad to see that the concert was a success, and of course, our continued best thoughts and wishes are with Lorenzo and his family and friends as he continues his battle! Thanks everyone!

More Rotaryfest Stage 1 Videos, Plus Ripcordz Concert Coverage!!

After a Labour Day off, we're back with a new news post on this Tuesday morning, including coverage of a big recent punk show before and after the fact, but let's lead off with newly found concert videos from Sault Ste. Marie's annual summer festival!

As it turns out, we're not quite done with live concert videos from Rotaryfest in July! These come from the YouTube channel Camera Travel (a.k.a. tours5571), which is devoted to video footage of local tourism and road travel in Sault Ontario and surrounding areas, so you may want to give it a look on that basis. They did attend Rotaryfest across Friday and Saturday, July 14th-15th, and had cameras rolling at Clergue Park for thirteen videos, nine of which coming from the Buskerville performances there, especially of fire breathers. Camera Travel filmed two bands on Stage 1, interestingly on different days, including Winnipeg-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bed Of Roses on the Saturday playing (as embedded below) "Livin' On A Prayer" as well as the very tail end of their set, song unclear. These are short and relatively distant from the stage, but from what we hear of Bed Of Roses, they have the Bon Jovi sound down well!

Worth noting too that Bed Of Roses' set happened at dusk, so things were getting darker as their set wore on, and it is a neat visual compared to most other bands that played this year, especially ones who got filmed for public videos. Check out Bed Of Roses' videos from July 15th above and below!

Next up, Camera Travel's other Rotaryfest Stage 1 videos come from Friday, July 14th, specifically of classic rock quartet RPM's set, where they filmed guitarists Dino Mazzuca & Marcel Rizzo, bassist Rob Gilmar, and drummer Joseph Bertrand covering Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" and, as embedded below, AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long". Good to see RPM tackle a heavier song, and while still distant from the stage, the audio quality isn't bad, and Camera Travel filmed longer videos of RPM than they did of Bed & Roses. Check everything out for yourselves above and below!

Finally, I hope to have videos to cover from the show in an upcoming post, but let's look at some recent SooToday coverage of Friday night's Ripcordz-headlined concert at The Loft! Apologies for being so late to the party on the first of them, but Alex Flood penned this article on August 13th looking at the show ahead, where he erroneously noted that this was The Ripcordz' first local date since 2016 (they played at The Rockstar Bar in 2017 & 2019). The article features interview remarks from frontman Paul Gott about the fancier and relatively unique venue for this local date, his enjoyment of playing dates in the Soo, and his passion for punk rock. Solid article for Ripcordz fans, so give it a look at above! For what it's worth, while he didn't note the post-2016 dates of their shows in the article, Alex said there that The Rockstar Bar is "now closed", which sadly remains accurate for The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs nightclub as of this writing.

The Rockstar Bar has been closed since mid-2022, but as per a comment reply at this link, there were once hopes to re-open in the spring of 2023. I know that the pandemic hit them hard, but hopefully we haven't absolutely heard the last from The Rockstar Bar, which was a quality venue throughout the 2010s! In terms of actual coverage from that night, veteran SooToday journalist Donna Hopper was in attendance on Friday for this article, and it's great seeing her back reviewing a local concert of this kind! The upscale venue upstairs at the Algoma Conservatory of Music was heavily the theme of Donna's review compared to past Ripcordz venues here, including a note that there was less moshing than normal, perhaps in deference to the locale. Things appeared to go over well regardless, though no word on if promoter Matt Waples' $500 raffle if online tickets sold out went through.

Donna did take photos at the show, including five of The Ripcordz, three each of local openers A Dire Setback and Far From Fine, and one of fans, and the quality is as high as you'll recall from her pre-pandemic concert reviews! Worth noting from Far From Fine's pictures that Blair St. John was back behind the drumkit (no word on if he is their permanent drummer now or still just filling in), while an unidentified child (possibly Mike's son?) is seen guesting on vocals on at least one song, 19+ age limit for the show acknowledged. Get more about Friday's festivities at The Loft above, and stay tuned for much more on the site this week! Thanks everyone!

Telephone & Address Concert Preview, SweetKenny Album Updates, Rotaryfest Notes, And More!!

With a special Wednesday night concert taking place TONIGHT, I threw a second post together today before we dive into weekend concert previews, so what's on tap? Some assorted recent notes, a few finds and notes relating to the newly released Rotaryfest schedule, and a new album release, but let's kick things off with that mid-week concert preview!

Local acoustic punk/grunge solo project Telephone & Address will return to The Gore Street Cafe TONIGHT as openers for Calgary indie/jazz rock quartet Fox Who Slept The Day Away to close the venue's Fortnight Festival! The Chris Shoust-led local solo act should be in good form with plenty of new and recent originals during this show, with Fox Who Slept The Day Away's soft, psychedelic originals sure to attract a good audience at the laundromat themselves, so give them a listen to see what you think also! This is the closing event for The Gore Street Cafe's Fortnight Festival, a two week sequel of sorts to the early-2016 Fishbowl Festival there, and with this being the only event this time around with a punk or hard rock act, it's great to see one just before the bell! Unless you already have a $25 pass for all Fortnight Festival events, admission is $5 at the door for tonight's ALL AGES event, which will start at 7:00 PM. Check the official Facebook event page & the above links for more details, and here's Telephone & Address live!

Next up, here's the latest from Dafter, Michigan solo hard rock musician Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton, who quietly released his 19th solo album "Gator's Bayou" onto his Bandcamp page on Monday! For the sixth time in his last seven studio album postings, "Gator's Bayou" is yet another instrumental album intended for use as a score in film, TV, or video games, which he says was inspired by 1960s and 1970s adventure films and cartoons. As well, his December 2015 compilation album "Comic Book!" is now available to the general public after previously being exclusive to paid yearly supporters on his Bandcamp page. It features 14 songs from prior SweetKenny albums, plus one exclusive original song ("Myra The Hunter") that isn't on any other release of his. Both are available for $7 via the above links, but can you expect a review of either on the site soon? For the latter, no, as precedence goes to original studio albums

For the former, we're leaning towards April's non-score album "In Your Face" for a review next, which could be as soon as next month, and assuming he continues releasing new albums at his fervent pace, we may only get to "Gator's Bayou" if "In Your Face" is delayed so far where it's not "new" anymore. In any event, check out SweetKenny's newest solo albums above for more of his prolific & varied hard rock originals and scores!

Also, I received my copy of Rotaryfest's program in the mail today (it's not online yet), and there's a few things to take away from it's Stage 1 & Stage 2 schedules that weren't previously online, so what should you know from the Sault Ontario summer festival? Thanks to the inclusion of pictures with most bands in the schedule, we can put faces to some of the newer and online pageless bands (like Jukebox Deluxe), but the most revealing picture of all may be the apparent album cover for Second Stage performers Gnaeus' upcoming debut CD "Meditations"! Though tiny and monochrome (I have a feeling the official cover is in colour), this confirms that the post-punk quartet completely discarded the original "Loomings" cover when they changed the album's name. Nice to see, so stay tuned for more on "Meditations" when announced! The program also confirms that Shaun Antler and Chelsie Parayko are back as the Stage 1 and Stage 2 directors respectively, and for what it's worth, the program makes no reference to the ongoing Stage 2 crowdfunding campaign.

And lastly, I've made the tough decision to stop classifying online pageless classic rock quartet RPM as a hard rock band in our primary SMS coverage. We had covered them as hard rock since their original Rock For Dimes set in 2013 based on reports at the time, but nothing I've seen since credits or describes them in our primary genre ranges (the program lists them as covering classic rock, blues, country, and top 40 pop.) That said, they're a talented band with a fan friendly sound, and be sure to check out Marcel, Dino, Ben, and Rob at Rotaryfest on July 16th at 3:00 PM!

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

• We have changed the link for local music/arts podcast 7L in our "Other Local Metal Links" from it's Soundcloud page to it's Facebook page, as the former is down or deleted. A reason hasn't been announced, but if 7L is done, it's a sudden move, as they had just posted a song by RedD Monkey alum Pete Mozarowski onto Soundcloud two weeks ago. For what it's worth, technical difficulties relating to broken equipment had kept full new episodes from going online since April. Hopefully 7L comes back, as Jordan and Teddy had a great thing going!
• This doesn't bear directly on the local metal scene, but it's worth noting: Former Gates of Winter bandmates Bryan Belleau and Brian Holmes will reunite on stage for the first time since (I believe) 2008 when Bryan and his wife, Fort Nelson, B.C. contemporary singer Melinda play an unplugged show at LopLops Lounge on July 30th, with Brian's local progressive rock band Machines Dream opening! Could there be an on-stage reunion between the two that night? Be there to find out, and click here for full details!
• Remember how we deleted defunct local music store Mister Disc from our "Other Local Metal Links" due to the deletion of it's Facebook page? Well, as it turns out, the Todd Gordon-owned store always had a Facebook group too serving very much the same purposes, including daily song dedications, so they are back with the "new" link! While I'm still not sure why the page was deleted, I apologize for not knowing about the Facebook group before!

That's all for today, but now stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rotaryfest Stage 1!!)

Today's post is dedicated to the reveal of this year's Rotaryfest Stage 1 lineup, as our annual summer festival again welcomes plenty of covers-focused bands to the outdoor Clergue Park stage over the July 15th weekend! Though the complete program/schedule is not out yet for the festival proper, the full band lineup for all three nights (and Stage 2, more on that tomorrow) can now be seen on Rotaryfest's website's music page, complete with the requisite biographies for each band, so who can you look for at this year's FREE & ALL AGES lineups? Experimenting with themed daily lineups this year, the Thursday, July 14th lineup is branded "A Musical Journey Through The Years", but like in the past, remains hard rock-free. Bands playing this year include 1960s classic rock cover quartet The Peace Vibe at 10:00 PM, newer classic rock quintet Jukebox Deluxe at 9:00 PM, 50s-60s classic rockers Flathead Ford at 8:00 PM, country veterans Crossroad at 7:00 PM, and new jazz/blues sextet Lise White & The Sault Crew at 6:00 PM.

Aside from Crossroad & Flathead Ford (each two time Rotaryfest veterans in recent years), the Thursday bands are newcomers to the festival, so fans who crave different acts should enjoy the variance and classic rock on the 14th! It's worth noting that this will be the first Thursday lineup in memory without jazz veterans The Bob Jenkins Band, who had played Rotaryfest for (I believe) 16 straight years. I know how respected Bob is in the local scene, especially for still playing live regularly well into his 80s, and hopefully all is well with him and the band!

Moving to the lineup for Friday, July 15th, the theme for that night is "Rock the Night Away", and remains at just 5 bands for a third straight year. Headlining on the 15th are local hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom in their second Rotaryfest appearance in the past three years, and they should deliver a fun set to cap the night at 10:00 PM! R&B cover veterans The Reptiles will return after a year's hiatus as co-headliners for their sixth Rotaryfest set since 2009, and you can see them that night at 9:00 PM. Classic rock veterans Mustang Heart will continue their 12+ year run as Rotaryfest mainstays with a set at 8:00 PM, while new hard rock quartet The 3 Day Millionaires will make their festival debut that evening at 7:00 PM. If you ever wanted to see Havadder or Turner Up at Rotaryfest, this may well be the closest thing we'll get, so keep their debut in mind! Friday's lineup will be opened by classic rockers Mid Life Crysis in their fifth straight Rotaryfest set, and you can see them hit the stage at 6:00 PM.

Not a bad lineup for Friday, and while all of the bands (save for The Millionaires) are Rotaryfest veterans, only two of them played last year, so things are varied a bit for fans of classic & hard rock! As usual, this is FREE & ALL AGES, so keep this lineup in mind for Friday the 15th at Clergue Park!

As for the main Saturday lineup on July 16th at Stage 1 (which is themed as "Saturday Sound Smorgasbord"), nine bands are scheduled, including for the third time in four years, two out of town bands, so who can you expect? Playing last that night are The Ghost Town Cryers, a folk/classic rock band from Pembroke who some may recognize as the current band from prolific local musician Kyle McKey, so keep his long awaited return home in mind for the 16th! They're on at 10:15 PM, while the previously advertised headline act, London-based Beatles/Paul McCartney tribute The McCartney Years (who feature Kyle's brother/Sailor's Tongue bandmate Dean on drums), will take the stage at 8:30 pm. The highest slotted local band will be classic/hard rock quartet That's Chester in what will be their first concert appearance since the passing of guitarist Eugene Orlando last fall, last playing publically during their live production of The Who's Tommy in November.

It's great to see That's Chester back after their recent hiatus, so be at Stage 1 at 7:00 PM for their (at least) seventh Rotaryfest appearance! I'm sure Eugene will be with the guys in spirit for their grand return, also notable as their first traditional concert set since last year's Rotaryfest. While the band has not visibly replaced Eugene in their lineup, note that this teaser photo appears to show an unidentified female singer making a guest appearance during a jam session, so read into that however you choose.

Country rock cover trio Mojo (featuring That's Chester's Ric Datson on drums) will make their Rotaryfest debut at 6:00 PM, with hard rock cover quartet Griphook rocking the main stage for the fourth straight year at 5:00 PM, in just their second announced show of any kind since last year's festival. No idea why they've been so quiet lately, but it's great to see them back out there! Classic rock veterans Obsession will hit the Rotaryfest stage for the eighth time in nine years at 4:00 PM, while sporadically seen classic/hard rock quartet RPM will make their Rotaryfest debut at 3:00 PM, albeit with a lineup change, as Rotaryfest's website credits veteran local bassist Rob Gilmar in place of Lindsay Pugh. Without an online page, I can't confirm why Lindsay left, especially with RPM founding via his adult music camp, but hopefully things were amicable, and it's great to see Rob back in a new band!

A newer local band named Indians & Cowboys (not to be confused with the defunct indie rockers Cowboys & Indians) will play classic rock, blues, and country favourites at 2:00 PM, and have a lot of familiar veterans to enjoy! The Saturday lineup will be opened by veteran classic rockers Coverfly for their eighth Rotaryfest set since 2008, so come early for their set at 1:00 PM! The Saturday lineup shakes things up a bit with the McKey brothers' homecoming, That's Chester's big return, and some new bands with familiar faces, and this ALL AGES & FREE entertainment should win over the crowd on Saturday the 16th! It is worth noting that this year's lineup features some notable absences, like the aforementioned Bob Jenkins Band, country favourites Thin Ice (who last missed Rotaryfest in 2008) and Summer Thunder (who played each of the last four years), and one-time festival mainstays Spyder's Web (who haven't played Rotaryfest since 2014.)

This year's main stage at Rotaryfest is shaping up well, especially if you like classic rock, with dashes of hard rock in store also for fans on Friday & Saturday, so check the above links for full details on this year's main stage, and stay tuned for full schedule details for the Second Stage TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Project 906 & RPM), Plus New Gorod/Bookakee Concert Videos!!

I was originally planning for today's second post to be our LopLops concert review from last night, but on the way to the venue, I saw that The Rockstar Bar's outside marquee advertised a pair of shows that we hadn't heard about for this weekend, so our review will be coming tomorrow morning, I promise! As such, we have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, another new concert event next month, and some long overdue new videos from a recent concert, so here's what you should know!

Sporadically seen local classic/hard rock quartet RPM will return to the stage for shows at The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Profuse apologies for the short notice, the gigs were only announced on the venue's Facebook group this morning, complicated by RPM's lack of an online page to promote shows, though they had been advertised on The Rockstar Bar's physical marquee sign this week. I'm not sure if RPM have been playing live at all since, but these are the first shows that we've heard about from Lindsay Pugh & his adult music camp alumni since August's Roberta Bondar Pavilion show during the city's summer concert series. RPM have been developing well since their debut, and hopefully they rock The Rockstar Bar well TONIGHT & TOMORROW! There's no cover for these 10:00 PM-ish shows, and you must be 19 or older to attend. See above for more details, and here's RPM live!



Next up, a big fundraiser concert entitled "Bay Mills Bands Together!" will go down in Brimley, Michigan at Pickles Bar & Grill on Sunday, May 15th, with a number of local artists joining forces to raise money for Maryssa Kronemeyer, an area high schooler who was seriously injured after being hit by a car last month. All proceeds will go to her and her family & the related medical costs, which is a great gesture! The lineup has many solo acts, but there will be bands performing, including new local hard rock/blues quartet Project 906 as the listed headliners (returning to the site of their live debut), and online pageless local metal quartet Stoned Ape Evolution, whose frontman John Napoletano is promoting the benefit. I still don't know much on Stoned Ape Evolution beyond some member identities and that they wear masks on stage, but hopefully more is revealed soon! Bands named The Karstons and Brainstorm are also listed, but I have no info at all on either. Of course, we'll let you know if we hear anything!

Remaining acts include Broke On Sunday frontman Mark Bowen, local country/pop artist Caitlin LeBlanc, Infathom frontman Dillion Semasky (no word on if his solo set will be rock or rap-based), solo artist Ken Jahnke (genre unknown, but Facebook indicates he's a metalhead), and a duo act named Mitchell & Brenda (possibly ex-Train Wreck bassist Mitchell Willis?) A $5 donation is in effect for this 21+ fundraiser, which starts at 6:00 PM, has sound by the Superior Sound Company, and will feature door prizes & a 50/50 draw. This is a great idea to help Maryssa out during a difficult time, so visit the Facebook event page for more info, and stay tuned for updates!

We'll close today with some overdue videos from last week's Gorod/Bookakee concert at The Oddfellows Hall, courtesy of frequent local concert filmer Chris Paci's YouTube channel this past weekend! Though he's been active filming at various other big concerts since, these are Chris' first public videos from a metal concert since The Superior Festival in Sault Michigan last August. Starting with his videos of French death metal quintet Gorod, Chris shot their opening song (I can't place the name, maybe it's new?), "Celestial Nature", and "The Axe of God", but embedded below is the last song from Gorod's set, "Carved In The Wind", which came after Julien Deyres' microphone died. The song's still brutal, and Julian made the most of it by singing sans mic and turning into the conductor of the metal symphony at hand, but the lighting of the hall does impact the quality. See more from Gorod above & below!



Finally, here's Chris' videos from Montreal theatrical/progressive death metal band Bookakee's set, which include this very entertaining quintet's song "Carcass Coffin" and the their version of the theme song from the Super Nintendo game Donkey Kong Country, titled "DK" on their album (if you're at all familiar with Bookakee, you'll know exactly what happens at song's end!) Embedded below is the longest of Chris' Bookakee videos, of a song whose name I can't place (maybe it's new?), so give it a look below, and see more of Chris' solid footage from this show above! (Sadly, he didn't film Jack Spades or Them at all, but kudos to him for getting what he did!)



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our review of last night's LopLops concert next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Bear Hunters), A New Album Release, And New Videos!!

Let's get some more news onto the site on this Sunday morning, so what's on tap? New videos from two very different August concerts, and another new digital album release, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a special fundraising event next month!

A pair of heavier local bands are on the lineup for a special benefit concert at The Algonquin Pub on Saturday, October 3rd, with all proceeds going to the Soup Kitchen Community Center on James Street, which is a great cause! Though the listed headliners are sporadically seen local progressive rock quintet Machines Dream (whose frontman Craig West is promoting the show), they're actually the opening band due to logistical setup reasons, as per Craig's personal Facebook page, but it's nice to see them out of the studio after so long! The other listed bands include local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters, funk/hard rock quartet The Elements, and the recently reunited local classic rock quartet Nikkfitt, who feature Browbeat alumni Dutch Vanderploeg & James White (also of The Elements) in their lineup. Nikkfitt havn't really taken hold for a long time locally, but it's nice to see them back at it, and we'll have to see what all they play!

Admission is $5 at the door for this 19+ fundraiser concert, which is advertised to begin at 9:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Very diverse lineup, but the Soup Kitchen could always use some help, so definitely consider checking out this concert in two weeks!

Next up, remember how local grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back have been teasing recording a proper full-length album in recent months? Well, it's now out on their Bandcamp page! Entitled "ALbums" (again continuing with the extra capitals & gratuitous plurals from their late-2014 demos), it features eight songs, and was mixed and mastered by Cross Dog's Mark Rand, with frontman Jamie Vincent's AlgomA bandmate Kevin Campbell credited for assisting in production, though on Bandcamp, all names are given creative misspellings like "Naythang Sauvege". Save for "Shirt Tucker" & "Lung Bucket" (which were re-recorded), none of the songs are identical from what's on the 2014 demos' online copies, though remember that physical copies of the second demo also included "Number One Hit Single", and I can't speak for the first demo's CD versions to know if they had omitted tracks too. Digital copies are, like the demos, available on a "name your price" model, but it's yet to be established if physical copies will be on sale in some form or not.

Now, as you can now buy "ALbums" (or download it free, but support the band!), when can you expect a review of it on the SMS? Honestly, as we've already reviewed RedD Monkey's new album this month, and October will likely be set aside for the Jack Spades/Destroilet/Ripcordz split, Bad Back's album might be delayed until November for a review. It's definitely coming though, so stay tuned for more from Bad Back as it comes in!

We'll close today with new videos, including a new discovery from the short notice opening set by Shit Liver from the Golers concert at The New American Pub on August 9th! Apologies for the delay in getting this on here, we only just discovered it this weekend. Filmed by attendee Dawne Schryer and shared on the band's Facebook page the following day, it features the guys playing two predictably blistering originals, sandwiched around their comical cover of The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Going On", and while it's filmed on the vertical cell phone camera angle, you do get a nice clear (and oddly well-lit) view of Shit Liver's debut at the New A! Give this video a look below!



Finally for today, here's two new videos of pageless local classic/hard rock cover quartet RPM from their Summer Concert Series gig at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion last month! Filmed again by Sault Online's Mike Caruso and uploaded to his YouTube channel on August 22nd, the videos are of RPM covering Robert Palmer's "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)" with drummer Ben Pascuzzi on vocals, and, as embedded below, Hank Williams Sr.'s "Move It On Over" (specifically, the George Thorogood version) with guitarist Dino Mazzuca on vocals. Solid quality videos on multiple cameras, but why wasn't the stationary camera more centered to the band? For most of the videos, all you can see of Lindsay Pugh is his bass head! Well done covers too, with some extra grit laid on, but the guys do still need to loosen up a bit on stage. Give their new videos a look above and below!



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

The First Of This Weekend's Concert Previews, Including The Superior Festival!!

Now, let's dive into the first of this weekend's concert previews in a fairly busy weekend for hard rock and metal concerts! We'll get into the Diemonds, Banned, and Stiffler's Mom shows, plus potential late notice ones, tomorrow, so stay tuned then for them, but today, we have a big debuting festival and some performers with gigs TONIGHT, so here's what you should know!

Local hard rock solo singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's ongoing weekly concerts at Gliss Steak & Seafood and The Harp Bar & Grill are expected to continue this weekend, including matinees at Gliss TONIGHT, TOMORROW, and SATURDAY, and regular nighttime shows at The Harp TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Though yet to be acknowledged on Facebook, his website and SooToday's entertainment page confirm them. Tym's been staying busy in recent months by playing five shows almost every weekend, and it looks like more of the same this week, so if you enjoy his acoustic renditions of hard rock classics, head down to either Gliss or The Harp this weekend for all of his solo action! None of the shows have an announced cover charge (but remember that Gliss is a restaurant), the Harp shows are 19+ and start at 10:00 PM, and the Gliss shows start at 6:00 PM. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Tym live in Heyden a few years back!

Next up, pageless local classic/hard rock quartet RPM will make their Roberta Bondar Pavilion debut TONIGHT as part of the city's annual Summer Concert Series! Yes, the veteran quartet featuring Lindsay Pugh and alumni of his adult music camp will hit the downtown outdoor stage as the third last of 16 bands this summer, and the only one that we cover on the SMS as playing hard rock in any high quantity. RPM are developing well, and though their announced concerts are sporadic at best, consider a trip down to the Pavilion to see them tonight for some entertaining cover favourites! This is a FREE & ALL AGES event, and they'll be playing for two hours starting at 7:00 PM. For more details, visit this link, and here's RPM live!



We'll close this first preview post with the first annual Superior Festival, which goes down TOMORROW NIGHT! Promoted by Superior Entertainment, this Sault Michigan concert event was originally scheduled to take place two weeks ago at Aune-Osborne Park, but after concerns with possible rain (that barely came, for the record) impacting the outdoor festival, promoters postponed it and moved it 5 minutes up the road to The Savoy Bar & Nightclub where it will be held outdoors a'la the venue's Summerfest events (it would be moved indoors if there was inclement weather, but the festival should beat tomorrow's storm forecast.) Fitting a big debuting summer festival, the headliners are Mississippi Mississippi hard/modern rock quintet Saving Abel, best known for hit songs like "Addicted", "The Sex Is Good", and "Drowning (Face Down)", so if you missed Saving Abel at Kewadin Casino in April, here's your next chance! The co-headliners are Rochester, New York post-hardcore quintet Lights Out Paris, who you may recognize from last month's P.O.D. concert.

Other openers will include young local metal trio Tantrym Tyme in their first publically announced concert of the summer, Muskegon hard rock quartet Voodoo Theory in their local concert debut, and in a bit of a surprise, two Sault Ontario bands, marking rare cross-border appearances by local bands that aren't Touch of Class. Those bands are local funk/hard rock quartet The Elements and classic/hard rock trio Mourning Wood, and though neither band has acknowledged their involvement on their own pages, it's great to see them expanding their presence, and hopefully they make some new fans tomorrow! Note that a number of acts were removed from the lineup when the date and venue changed, those being Integrated System of Machines, Power Slug, Retro Troop, Terry Talentino, and Detroit punk trio Heroes of Charlotte, while early coverage of the festival listed Lonestar, Chump Change, and Missy Zenker as tentative acts, so don't expect to see any of them at The Savoy tomorrow night.

Presented by SooToday & sponsored by Kewadin Casino despite not being held there, the Superior Festival tarting TOMORROW at 7:00 PM, tickets are a flat $25, but previously purchased tickets (including the old discount kids rate) will be honoured upon entry. You can buy them at The Savoy, by phone at (906) 430-5242, or at the door, and yes, minors under 21 can attend if accompanied by an adult. For complete festival details, visit the above links! Though original plans didn't fall into place for the Superior Festival, hopefully this is a huge hit to ensure that it comes back next year! If you love hard and modern rock, be at The Savoy TOMORROW, and here's Saving Abel live!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more previews and updates shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Ten Kings And RPM) & Go Skateboarding Day Coverage!!

Before we begin previewing this weekend's hard rock concerts, here's a new news post for your Wednesday afternoon, and remember not to miss TONIGHT'S Teethmarks concert at The Rednecks Saloon! Today, we have lots of recent media coverage from a big all ages concert event this past weekend, and first, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the next two months, so here's what you should know!

Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Ten Kings will return to The Savoy Bar & Nightclub next weekend for concerts on Friday, July 3rd & Saturday, July 4th, albeit outdoors! Like last summer, The Savoy is again hosting outdoor shows behind the bar under their "Summerfest" branding, as per their Facebook page, with Traverse City's Scarkazm kicking things off this weekend, and given the summer season, why not take advantage of the weather with shows on their outdoor stage? These will be Ten Kings' first shows at The Savoy since indoor gigs earlier this month, and will ironically come one week after THIS SATURDAY'S set at Lake Superior State University at their own unrelated Summerfest event, which we'll preview in the coming days. Next weekend's Savoy shows have no cover charge, 10:00 PM start times, and 21+ age limits, but as these are outdoors, follow the weather just in case. Click here for more details on their Fourth of July weekend shows, and stay tuned for our full preview of LSSU's Summerfest!

Next up, you know how The Roberta Bondar Pavilion in Sault Ontario hosts live bands in FREE concerts on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summer? Well, that doesn't usually cross our radar given the bands that play it, but there is one exception on Thursday, August 20th, as local classic/hard rock quartet RPM will play the Pavilion on that day! Our source is this Sault Online article, which also lists a full schedule for the outdoor concert series this year, which mostly feature classic rock, country, and traditional bands. As you may remember, RPM are the sporadically seen band featuring bassist Lindsay Pugh and musicians from his own adult music camp, and you may have seen them at the 2013 Rock For Dimes and scattered Rockstar Bar shows. They're an improving band, and hopefully their show in August at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion will be huge for them!

This is a FREE & ALL AGES show, but no start time is listed (the shows are in the daytime though.) Click here for more details, and stay tuned for more from RPM as we hear it!

We'll close today with lots of recent coverage of Sunday's Go Skateboardng Day festivities from Tidal Records at Queen Elizabeth Park! Local2 was on hand to film the skaters for this video, which we can't embed here, but what can be seen in there? Lots of skating action from the local skaters who came out, plus interview remarks from Tidal Records owner Dustin Jones and skate team member/Id Iota frontman Christian Lemay, and while there is video footage of each band, only Caroline Divine get included audio. A brief clip near the end also appears to show local beatboxer Killabeatz on the mic, so he must have performed before I got there or right at the end. The video is excellently done, featuring multiple great angles of the skaters in action (and the bands), including GoPro footage and even video from a drone! This is a great showcase of Go Skate Day, so click here to give it a look! SooToday's Donna Hopper was on hand for this article as well, so what lies within?

The article includes some of the tricks of note that skaters performed on Saturday, and general details on the event (though Conika is still listed as performing despite missing the event due to illness.) Donna also got some excellent photos from the event, including six from Garden of Bedlam's headlining set and one of DJ Seith, but photos of the other bands weren't included. The focus was the skateboarders, and rightfully so, as this was a great day for everyone to show their skills and have fun, and I hope this returns next year! No word on if Donna did a Tuned episode on Saturday (it'd be neat to see Garden of Bedlam in one finally), but check out Donna's full photo album & article at this link! We'll close with a video that we can embed here, courtesy of skater Dalton Hermiston's YouTube channel on Monday, and it focuses on skateboarding action during The Pixo Control's set, complete with audio, but again, the skaters rightfully get focus in the video, and Dalton's footage is solid!

Go Skateboarding Day was a fun time, and it's great to see the music and skateboarding communities colliding for a great afternoon of entertainment, so check out all of the recent media coverage above, and here's Dalton's YouTube video from Sunday!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Stiffler's Mom), More Weekend Concert Previews, And New RPM Videos!!

Before we begin our second weekend concert preview post, here's a late update concerning tomorrow's Havadder concert at The Rednecks Saloon, as while tonight's show will go on as usual, drummer Scott McLurg will be absent for the second night, which the band jokingly explained by saying he's going to space. No word on why he'll actually be away tomorrow, but in his place, Havadder will play an acoustic set as a trio and will invite attendees to jam with them too. Nice idea to change things up, so keep that in mind for tomorrow only, or see the full band TONIGHT! Visit the new Facebook event page for more details, and don't miss out!

Now to the previews (and some assorted updates at post's end) starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local party/hard rock cover veterans Stiffler's Mom will return to The Rockstar Bar TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the show was announced via it's Facebook event page on Monday but we held it for this weekend's previews. This will be the second one-nighter at The Rockstar Bar for this band from ex-members of Alexis Machine and Sin Stereo (The Boot Hill Crooners are playing there tonight), and fans should know by now that the fun and often heavy covers from Greg, Jon, and Mike always draw a solid crowd, so be among them TOMORROW NIGHT! This 19+ event has an announced 10:30 PM start time, and while there's no announced cover, bring cash just in case. For more details, see the above links, and here's Stiffler's Mom at Rotaryfest last year!



Moving to previously announced concerts, Speak Easy Battle of the Bands runners-up Long Shot have a busy day ahead of them TODAY, as they're playing not one, but two separate concert sets! Their day starts at 12:00 PM when they play a special outdoor set during the Diversity Downtown portion of this weekend's Passport To Unity multicultural festival! Their set is among the live music between the block of Queen Street East between March & Spring Streets from 11:45 AM-1:15 PM, which will also feature numerous local food and craft vendors to take in. They'll be joined by Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan in a solo acoustic set, but I can't confirm any other potential artist names. Nice to see some alternative music back at this event, and hopefully the weather cooperates unlike last year with The Pixo Control! This afternoon's events are FREE & ALL AGES, and see the above links for more details!

Following that, the hard rock quartet will make their Canadian Nightclub debut TONIGHT when they headline a registration deadline party for the Sault Ultimate Players Association, the local disc sports/ultimate frisbee organization! This may seem random, but the Dawe brothers are both S.U.P.A. members, and Long Shot played their kickoff event, so they're a great fit for tonight's entertainment! The public is welcome to attend and enroll at the show, which has a 7:00 PM start time and no announced cover or age limits. Busy day ahead for Long Shot, but keep both shows in mind downtown or at The Canadian! For a preview, here's Long Shot live in March!

Finally for announced shows this weekend, Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quartet Highway 63 will make their Satisfied Frog debuts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Not only are these this newer band's first regional gigs not under the Kewadin Casino umbrella, frontman Henry Switzer has hyped these as his first shows outside of the casino circuit in 2 years (likely referencing the Sir Charge days), so be sure to make lots of noise this weekend and ensure that they continue to break new ground! This entertaining and talented union of Monkey's Uncle, Mama's Boys, Power Slug, and RamWagon alumni will take the stage both nights at 10:00 PM, there are no announced cover charges, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Highway 63 live!



Finally for today, remember the local classic/hard rock quartet RPM from the first Rock For Dimes concert and sporadic solo gigs? They still don't have an online page that we've found, but they finally have some online videos to check out! Sault Online named them their "Band of the Week" last month via this article, wherein Sault Online's Mike Caruso went to see them play at The Rockstar Bar, including a video interview, so what more do we know on them? RPM (whose name comes from members' last names) have been active for three years and formed through an adult music camp that bassist Lindsay Pugh had started for locals who hadn't really had live band experience, and that morphed into a full fledged rock cover band who hopes to play some outdoor summer festival events in the near future. In the main video, the guys are seen covering Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", but Mike shot two more as well!

His other videos (both from his YouTube channel, and with drummer Ben Pascuzzi on vocals) are of RPM covering Honeymoon Suite's "New Girl Now" and The Spencer Davis Band's "Gimme Some Lovin'", so how do RPM sound? Good so far, but you can tell there's still some stiffness on stage, and at times, you can tell that the guys (Lindsay aside) don't have a lot of stage experience. They're on their way though, and they'll no doubt get better with every show! The interview's informative too, so give that and their BTO cover a look below, and stay tuned for more from RPM when we hear it!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post over the weekend! Thanks everyone!