Our Lady Peace/Collective Soul Concert Fallout & Videos!!

We've put things off long enough (partly to let videos accumulate), so let's cover what went down at Sunday night's Our Lady Peace-headlined concert at GFL Memorial Gardens in today's post! The legitimately sold out concert was covered by newer SooToday reporter Greg McGrath-Goudie for this article that features ten photos from the Toronto alternative/hard rock band's closing set, but the focus isn't on the concert at large so much as one song. When O.L.P. broke into their classic ballad "Life", frontman Raine Maida prefaced it by noting that music programs are "automatically" the first to get cut at schools when they decide to cut costs, so they invited members of Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School's student rock band Steel Rock to sing the song with them. That huge opportunity was thanks to the work of Superior Heights teacher Eric Williams reaching out to the band about working with the school.

Kudos to Our Lady Peace for teaming up with Superior Heights and giving the kids one huge opportunity, one that they've been practicing for all winter, and it sounds like it went over well! You can see the performance below in one of (surprisingly) just two YouTube channels who have visibly posted content from the concert so far. YouTube user MasonTheGoat was on hand to film Our Lady Peace's set (nothing of the openers), and along with "Life" embedded below, he also filmed them playing "Clumsy", "Innocent", "In Repair", and "Whatever". Alas, all five videos were shot vertically, but while Mason wasn't especially close to the stage, he has a good clear view of the band in action. Honestly, Steel Rock are hard to hear as the song goes, but it's a solid performance of one of O.L.P.'s bigger hits, and the audio quality across all five videos is pretty good, so give Mason's footage a watch for yourselves above and below!

The only other YouTube video from the show that I've seen comes from YouTube user Mike Malott, who filmed Our Lady Peace playing "Whatever", which some readers will recognize as the 2002-2007 theme song of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit. The band hadn't played it live since 2003, let alone following the Benoit murder-suicide in 2007, but they reintroduced it in this current Canadian tour, with Raine telling fans at their show in Calgary that they wanted to "reclaim it" (source here). Mixed responses are online to the band bringing "Whatever" back, for obvious reasons, but it's a good performance shot from a much closer (and horizontal!) angle, and it is one of O.L.P.'s heavier cuts, so check it out below!

Finally for this post, has anything surfaced in terms of videos from the openers? Not a lot. I haven't seen any public videos of local openers The Northwest yet at all, and as for Georgia alternative rock veterans Collective Soul, the only public clip that I've seen actually comes from Sault Michigan rock radio station Rock 101's Facebook page. The 76 seconds-long clip sees Collective Soul playing one of their biggest hits "Shine", which is frequently heard in 101.3 FM's rotation. While shot vertically, the station staffer filming had a very straight on view of the stage from where they were, and it puts a good emphasis on the fans on the floor enjoying the show. Strong rendition, if slightly slowed down, so give Collective Soul's clip a watch below!

That's all for today, but we'll have more from the Our Lady Peace show when/if it surfaces, and more news on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Wyld Stallyns), Long & McQuade In Sault Ste. Marie, And Much More!!

Let's tackle a new news post on this Tuesday evening, which mostly reflects some big news regarding two of Sault Ontario's three music stores, but we also have some assorted shorter news and notes, and leading off, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month!

Local acoustic hard rock trio The Wyld Stallyns will return to The Whiskey Barrel on Gore Street for another night of "funktastic rock" on May 24th, a.k.a. next Friday!  After last playing there a couple of Fridays ago (apologies for erroneous plugs of a Tuesday nighter), the Elements side project will return to the former Konoba Tapas location for another night full of fan friendly, crowd participation-encouraged rock covers, with heavy stuff sure to be on offer within! It's great to see that Christina, Rob, and Jesse's unplugged show is going over well at this new downtown venue, and hopefully this is another hit for them next weekend! As was also the case at their last two Whiskey Barrel stops, next Friday's show has a 7:00 PM start time and no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for more show announcements from The Wyld Stallyns when they roll in!

Next up, here's some big news concerning Sault Ontario's music instrument/gear stores, starting with the big announcement yesterday that Northland Music will become the local branch of the Long & McQuade music store chain this fall! As per a news release on their Facebook page, Northland has entered into an agreement with Long & McQuade (Canada's largest musical instrument retailer), after 35 years as a locally owned and operated music store, though owner Mark Mizzi will remain as the local manager, and long-time staffer Bob Croteau will stay on as well. Northland will continue operations under that name through September before officially switching over to the Long & McQuade branding, but over the summer, more stock than ever will arrive at their 312 Queen Street East location, and they will have full access to the parent company's lines, rentals, and financing. More hiring of staff will take place as operations grow, and they are currently accepting resumes.

While things are vague on the topic, it sounds like Northland/Long & McQuade will open up in a larger location this fall, but if I read those allusions correctly, I don't know the new spot. I did notice that the old Blockbuster Video location on Pim Street was undergoing renovations, but that's purely speculation, I have no inside knowledge. Meanwhile, this news will affect one of the Soo's other active music instrument/lesson shops, as the Thomas Walls School of Music at 505 Albert Street East will apparently be merging operations with Northland into the new Long & McQuade location, after almost 60 years of independent operation locally. Thomas Walls himself will be retiring later this year, with instructor & veteran local musician Lindsay Pugh heading up the renamed Long & McQuade Music School. Like Northland, Thomas Walls will remain open in their current home through the summer, and student/lesson programs will remain intact with existing staff.

This is absolutely huge news for local musicians, as Long & McQuade will ensure a much larger selection and wider range of options than Northland or Thomas Walls could offer (as visitors of their Sudbury location may attest), and with hirings expected later this year, this should be a boon to job-seekers as well! None of this affects Case's Music directly, but if their rivals do indeed move, that could help them attract customers who prefer to shop downtown. Stay tuned for much more on the Long & McQuade transition as it comes in, and visit the above links and SooToday for more on this story!

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

• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades and (surprisingly) Shit Liver drummer Matt Baic have quietly been announced as the openers for Calgary punk quintet The River Jacks' headlining concert at The New American Pub on June 3rd! A rare New A set by Jack Spades, this will be the second time that guitarist Tiffany Stocco has opened for The River Jacks, after doing so with Stegadeth in 2017. No word on what form Matt's solo set will take on though, but will it bear more similarities to Shit Liver or his St. Catharine's bluegrass band Dirtfight? Time will tell, but visit the Facebook event page for more!
• The third single from local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock artist Mike Haggith's upcoming CD "Bridges" was released to major music streaming/download platforms on Friday! Entitled "Come On Home", the song is a softer, more downbeat ballad, but I'll hold further comment until our likely review of "Bridges" later this year.  Give "Bridges" a listen or buy on services like Spotify, Amazon Music, and iTunes in the meantime!
• In a quiet lineup change for the Music 4 Kayge benefit show at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion next Saturday, new local rock band The Tilrays have replaced blues rockers Johnny & The Revelators in the 3:00 PM opening slot, as per this new poster last week. A reason for The Revelators' withdrawal wasn't announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened! I don't know much on The Tilrays sound beyond their decade range for covers, but their lineup includes ex-Stiffler's Mom bandmates Michael Davies & Jon Ferguson, which should get a number of readers' attention! See above for more details!

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

YouTube Channel Profile Series: biro753's Channel

It's now time for our latest YouTube Channel Profile at the SMS! This is, of course, our monthly look at 1-3 YouTube channels featuring at least a 50% concentration of local metal-relevant videos, and like past installments, the following channel was randomly chosen. This month, we're looking at a regional high school's Dunnplugged-esque concert series mainly via a channel that filmed a lot of videos there, so read on below for videos, info, and more on this month's profiled YouTube channel!
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biro753's channel (http://www.youtube.com/biro753)

Owner: Former Diego Experience/Vendetta guitarist & CASS Cafe regular performer A.J. Biron

Channel Timeline: Launched on June 19th, 2007; Videos posted from February 2008 through December 2010

Channel Summary: One of the largest sources for YouTube videos from the CASS Cafe live music series at Central Algoma Secondary School in nearby Desbarats, Ontario, 2/3rds of A.J.'s 21 videos came from CASS Cafe sets by various performers (himself included) between the spring of 2008 and the spring of 2010. Most are of unnamed bands playing covers (generally metal songs), but 5 come from A.J.'s then-hard rock band The Diego Experience, one video is of an early Crimson Crusade lineup, and another is a drum solo by then-student Mike Christie. A.J.'s other videos (including his last 4) are mostly of outdoor activities like fishing, but two of his early uploads were solo guitar performances.

Why Should You Watch: Fans of the CASS Cafe series would be well served to check out A.J.'s channel, as there's some quality performances and solid early glimpses at future prominent metal musicians there, including later members of For All That Is Lost and Late & Loud! A.J. also shown talent in his solo videos, but keep in mind that the quality varies across the music clips on this channel (these were still high school students, after all.) Note as well that A.J. hasn't used this channel in over a year, or posted any videos in almost three years, in case that changes your mind on subscribing.

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Seek and destroy by our band lol at CASS CAFE: A.J.'s last concert video on his channel, this April 2010 cover of Metallica's "Seek & Destroy" at CASS features current Crimson Crusade bandmates Devon Lucier (on vocals & guitar) and Robert Crossley (on drums) alongside A.J. on guitar and ex-Column Ruins bassist Travis Garside. Well filmed by a concert attendee, this is a solid cover that shows their musical growth well, with a nice guitar solo from A.J. and fitting vocals by a then-long haired Devon (I wonder why he doesn't sing straight thrash anymore?) As a precursor to later music work, this is a good video to check out, and hopefully we hear more from these guys in music soon! (For more from Devon & Robert, click here for their early Crimson Crusade cover of Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight".)



Alex, Andy, Benn, Mike and Tom all playin Bed Of RaZoRs CASS: The most viewed of A.J.'s music uploads is this instrumental cover of Children of Bodom's "Bed of Razors" from a CASS Cafe practice session in May 2008. Featuring guitarists Alex Pierce & Andy Turbin, bassist Tom Leindecker, drummer Mike Christie, and keyboardist Benn Garside (now The Hydra's Teeth's bassist), this cover (his first from a CASS performance) is well performed and suitably brutal, especially from Alex, but comments indicate that the full version from the actual event was better. Uniquely, this was also shot on multiple camera angles, but the cuts can be jarring (especially concerning the audio), and Benn is barely visible. Still, this is a quality cover that brings the metal even without vocals!



crazy train and other metal riffs: Among A.J.'s early uploads to his channel in 2008 were two solo cover videos, one being an audio-only take of Ozzy Osbourne's "Diary of a Madman". The other (embedded below) features him playing various metal riffs (mainly Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train") in what appears to be his room. Though he admits playing them too fast, they sound pretty good, but it'd be nice to hear more solos and get more distinction between the covers (plus, the "One" cover broke the flow somewhat.) Solid riffing and guitar work even still, and it's be nice to see A.J. playing live music again (also, nice lights in the guitar!)


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! So, what channel's next in this series for October? For the first time in 8 months, we'll be looking at 3 different YouTube channels, as the first one we randomly selected only had 3 very similar videos, and the second only had one entirely. With that said, our next profiles will look at the channels of Toast/Galactic Alignment guitarist Mike Libertoski (his most recent one, with three solo guitar covers), YouTube user canadianchic29 (featuring a live Caveman Morrison video), and former T.E.N. mainman Tyler Gibson (featuring three of their original demos), so watch out for all of that on or around October 22nd! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Battle For The Blood & Anvil), Theatre Of Night Album News, And More!!

It's amazing how fast big news hits the wire, because we've got another news post tonight to get you guys caught up with! Below, we have news on an upcoming local metal album, how local high school students can help promote some upcoming concerts, and leading off, some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this month and next, both of which are very notable in different ways, so here's what you need to know!

A new battle of the bands has been announced for Sault Ontario, and it will take place in exactly ONE WEEK! Due to high demand for an opening slot for the 3 Inches of Blood-headlined concert at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 9th, promoter J.D. Pearce has announced a battle of the bands on Tuesday, June 12th at The Rosie to determine the concert's second local opening band, which is an awesome opportunity! Four bands have been announced to compete at this battle, and in alphabetical order, they include Desbarats death metal quartet For All That Is Lost, local grimecore trio Shit Liver, deathcore standouts The Valentine's Day Massacre, and extreme metal quintet Winkstinger, which adds up to a talented group of area metal bands for this battle! For F.A.T.I.L. and The V.D.M., this will be their first battle since their three-way third place tie at the Sault Humane Society Battle of the Bands in April, so that alone makes this battle a close call! The other two bands will make their first local battle appearances on Tuesday, though Shit Liver bassist Mike Kyle guested with Bring The Fallen at their Downtown Showdown victory in 2010, and Winkstinger's Jesse Cook & Jonas Gasperas placed fourth at the YMCA Battle of the Bands in 2009 with Operation: Killdozer, so there's successful battle competitors all around!

This battle, entitled "Battle For The Blood!", will apparently be judged by fan vote, which isn't typical from other recent battles, but hopefully the bands all have great responses & turnouts to make it competitive! Rules and time restrictions haven't been made public yet, but the 4 band battles in 2009 & 2010 in Sault Ontario that had set limits of either 3-4 songs or a half hour length, so I imagine it will be similar on Tuesday. There will be a $3 cover, doors open at 9:00 PM, and I expect this will probably be a 19+ event. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Though this is short notice for a battle of the bands, this should be a really cool event, and hopefully very competitive among these four talented area metal bands! I had fears that a battle for just a 3 Inches of Blood opening slot might be too skewed towards a specific audience or be not big enough to attract a wide notice, but 3IOB are a fast rising and very popular Canadian metal band, and interest in seeing them live and opening for them was noticeably good, so hopefully this battle is a rousing success! Stay tuned for updates on this battle as they come in!

The other new concert today is also courtesy of J.D., and he's outdone himself here, as Anvil are coming back to the Soo! The Toronto heavy metal legends and stars of the acclaimed 2008 documentary "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" have been announced to headline a major upcoming concert at The Canadian Nightclub on July 25th, which should be a huge event! Though this isn't their first concert here (having headlined at the former Ramada Inn in April 1984, among other possible shows), it's been far too long since Anvil have rocked Sault Ontario, and their highly influential and heavy brand of speed metal will surely bring in a huge crowd next month! There will be three local opening bands, including horror punk quintet Frightlight (in their first Canadian gig since Dead In The Van), popular local metal quartet Garden of Bedlam, and one more band to be announced. Solid opener choices for sure so far, and they'll set the tone very nicely for Anvil's long awaited local return, but hopefully the last local openers are picked well! This concert will be ALL AGES (similar to other recent metal shows at The Canadian), an 8:00 PM start time is listed, and tickets will be $20 when they go on sale at local retailers (though ticket holders from the 3 Inches of Blood show will get first crack at advance tickets.)

This should be an incredible concert, and it's about time that Anvil came back here for a show! Now I can put my Metal Pounders Union card to use and enjoy material new & old from these Juno nominated metal legends! Of course, stay tuned for updates on this show as they come in, as you know this will be a can't miss event!

Finally for notes relating to concerts promoted by J.D. Pearce, he's on the lookout for area high school students that can help do some concert promotion & advertising at their school! As revealed in a posting on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on Sunday (under his Frightlight stage name Johnny Pints), he is looking for "dedicated young music fans" that can advertise all ages concerts that he is promoting and/or playing on, via such possible means as putting up event posters at area high schools or holding contests at the school for tickets. Anyone who helps will be rewarded with merchandise and free entry into said concerts, and he also hinted that this may help younger original acts get bookings in the area. The Weak Ends-headlined show on June 20th at The Oddfellows Hall that Frightlight are playing on is the first show that would fit into these plans, but J.D. has more coming this summer! If you attend a high school in the area and are willing to help promote & advertise upcoming metal & punk shows in Sault Ontario, contact J.D. at this location or reply to his post at the above links! I wish this was more prevalent when I was in high school, as I rarely (if ever) remember concert posters or advertising at Bawating, but hopefully there's some young music/concert fans that can help out! I encourage anyone who fits to jump on this oppurtunity, it could be a big help for many upcoming all ages shows!

And finally for today, Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night have revealed some big new details on their upcoming second album "The Dawn's Early Light"! As posted on their Facebook page this morning, they've revealed all 12 songs to be featured on this American patriotic-themed album, including previously unannounced renditions of "My Country, 'Tis Of Thee" and "America, The Beautiful" and one original song named "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier", referring to a grave where the remains of unidentified soldiers are interred. They call that song "an astonishing original composition", and I can't wait to hear it! The other big news is that Theatre of Night plan to release this album (presumably on various online platforms) on July 1st, so get amped up for this upcoming album release! I'm honestly surprised that they're aiming to release it on Canada Day and not July 4th, especially with the album's theme and message lending itself more to an Independence Day release, but no matter what, the time is drawing near! Saying this comes out next month as scheduled, I can definitely see reviewing "The Dawn's Early Light" next month on the site, but we still have June to worry about, so keep an eye out for updates on our next CD reviews and more upcoming local metal albums as I hear of them!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for new videos, weekend concert previews, and that second Woods of Ypres archive interview soon! Thanks everyone!

Two New Local Bands And More From Local High School Hard Rock Bands!

It's not often where we base an entire post around bands from and around a local high school, but hey, this post kinda just fell into place like that! Today, we have no less than TWO new local bands (one brand new, one newly found), plus videos of the latter and another recent video from a high school performance of a hard rock cover. So let's get back to school with this post, and check out this morning's post (below this one) for news on a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for THIS MONDAY, Sykotyk Rampage's next albums, and news from Sativa Rose, The Sugar Island Festival and Sneaky Pete guitarist Mario Carlucci!

We have a new local band to announce today, and their name is Social Suicide! They're a new local "death punk" trio who just launched their Facebook page this morning. The band members include Unleash The Blackened Sky/ex-Fountain of Betrayal bassist Tyler St. Amour on vocals & bass, Anthony Boudreau on guitar, and Keeghan Rosso on drums. Should be interesting to see Tyler fronting a band for a change! I'm not familiar with either Anthony or Keeghan's musical work, but from what I understand, they both attend Superior Heights Collegiate with Tyler. According to their Facebook page, their influences include bands from The Misfits & NOFX to Pantera and Amon Amarth, all good signs for their sound! Social Suicide apparently have at least 4 originals already in the works, along with covers. Now, when can we see this new young band in action? Apparently, Social Suicide want to jam and rehearse this summer, play at Superior Heights functions over the 2011-12 school year, then debut for actual concerts in the summer of 2012. Sounds like a good plan, that way they get lots of experience and practice in before their debut! I'll be interested to hear Social Suicide when samples or video are posted, and as soon as any band updates roll in, I'll have them here! Become a fan at the above links!

And in case you're wondering what this could mean for the future of Unleash The Blackened Sky, well... I don't know either. What I do know is that the band has not issued an official Facebook page update in over a month (not since the name change from Bring The Misery), the lineup posted there is now 2/5ths outdated (Steve Rhodes is still listed, Daeson Lesage still isn't), and I heard that drummer Travis St. Amour (Tyler's brother) is planning to move out of town for college later this month. Put together, it doesn't sound too good, but who knows what could happen. If I hear more, I'll let you guys know!

Next up, how's about another older local band with a local high school connection? If you went to the former Sir James Dunn Collegiate in the 2007-08 school year, you may remember seeing a Kiss tribute band made up of Grade 11 students at the old Dunnplugged concerts that they had! Yes, even high school students can pay homage to the hottest band in the world! Named Creatures of the Night, the band featured then-SJD students Andrew Addante on lead vocals/guitar (as Paul Stanley), Mike Gualtieri on bass (as Gene Simmons), and former Sindicate bandmates Nick Rhodes on lead guitar & Keith Gagnon on drums (as Ace Frehley & Peter Criss.) Active from the fall of 2007 through the fall of 2008, the band mostly played at Dunnplugged events during that school year, though they did play a 2007 Christmas concert there as well. We have a bunch of video glimpses of Creatures of the Night in action thanks to YouTube users soundguyjoe and Adam Gualtieri (Mike's brother?), who've uploaded six videos of the band from varying shows at their respective YouTube channels, so check their channels linked above to give the videos a look!

What do I think of them? Well, I'll say that for a high school production, the Kiss ambiance and lighting are good on the later videos! The costumes are hit and miss, with the occasional lack of costuming or wigs being really visible. Soundwise, it's an big contrast: The music is really good, especially from Keith Gagnon, but the vocals are not on that same level. Andrew doesn't have the volume or range to pull off songs like "Detroit Rock City", though he does do noticeably better on songs like "Strutter". Talented guys though, I wonder if they're still active in any musical projects? Nice to see some Kiss love like this from locals, so they're definitely worth a look! Here's soundguyjoe's video of Creatures of the Night playing "Strutter", but check the above links for much more from this former local Kiss tribute band!



Finally, while we're on the topic of bands with students at Sir James Dunn, you may know that the Sault's newest high school Superior Heights was formed out of a merger between the old Sir James Dunn and Bawating schools. Sir James Dunn was well known for it's Dunnplugged series of concerts (even producing CDs of the student's original music), and it looks the like Dunnplugged continued with Superior Heights last year! Well, it's now renamed "Hawkplugged" (referencing the school's team name, the Steelhawks), but last year, it was apparently called "Funnplugged" (fun + unplugged.) I prefer the current name, but no matter what name it was under, Dunn/Funn/Hawkplugged has given us some talented young musicians, and here's a newer example! This comes from an outdoor Funnplugged performance circa October 2010 outside the Sir James Dunn building (which was Superior Heights last year), and it's of an unnamed and uncredited student band covering Rush's "YYZ"! Interesting choice given it's complexity, but the band do an admirable job tackling a Rush classic! Sounds a bit empty, but the three guys have clear talent!

Anyone know who's in this band, or if they were named? It would be interesting to find out, cause I can't place the members offhand. Still, give this Funnplugged cover of "YYZ" a look below, and thanks to the Superior Heights YouTube channel for the upload!



That's all for now, but we'll definitely have a wider expanse of topics in our next post! Stay tuned, and enjoy today's post, Eagles and Steelhawks!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Free Refill) And More Assorted Updates!

Hey guys, before I head to Manitoulin Island, I have more assorted news stories to share with you today! Some are backlogged from last weekend's inactivity, while others still are newer! Let us begin with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!! (And if you're here hoping for Kewadin Festival recaps and updates, you're out of luck, but I PROMISE to share what I know and have on Sunday!) Sault Michigan hard rockers Free Refill have announced another upcoming concert, this time at an upcoming battle of the bands! The United Way of the Eastern U.P. are holding a battle of the bands on August 5th at The Strahl Theater at Sault Area High School on August 5th as a fundraiser to raise money for Kids Against Hunger! Free Refill announced their involvement on their MySpace page and Free Refill's Devin Anderson confirmed the news with me by e-mail, so there's one act for the battle! I can't confirm any other bands, but the lineup isn't finalized or complete, so if you're in Sault Michigan, there's still time to enter! Registration is $25, forms are available at the Facebook event page, or e-mail Chrystal Tharp at this location for details! If you're interested in attending, it's at 7:00 PM at the high school on August 5th, with an admission price of $5. Check the above links for more details! Best of luck to Free Refill, I wonder who else will join the bill? Also, Devin gave me the news that apparently, they're playing at the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival at 1:00 PM tomorrow on the second stage! This would mean that they are replacing Electric Motor Fish on the bill for that day. I wonder what happened? No matter, great to see Free Refill again! I'll keep you all posted with more updates! Next up, I promised you all continued Mike Cliffe coverage after I discussed him in the GarageBand Profile Mini-Series, and I'm making good on that! The veteran local experimental hard rock guitarist has uploaded three new songs onto his Reverbnation page! My favourite is called "Waiting For World Cup", and it's a hard charging instrumental that is seemingly inspired by this year's FIFA World Cup! I can't picture this song fitting with a soccer game, but it's well played and catchy! A bit too much dead air between the chugging riffs, but it's a solid song that would work especially well with backing instruments! Another new song is a collaboration with Utah indie/progressive outfit Higher Than Pope (Mike has a wider reach for his material than you may realize!) It's definitely not the heaviest thing in his catalog, it has sort of a techno influence with bouncy progression to it, and decent vocals! Not bad, though don't expect metal out of it. The other new song is a cover of The Mothers of Invention's "Any Way The Wind Blows", which is a nice experimental carefree cover of the original! Not personally a huge Frank Zappa fan, but Mike breathes some nice energy into this cover! Check out the new songs, and much, much more by clicking here! There's something for everyone in his catalog! Thirdly today are some intriguing new YouTube uploads from Duane Roy, the Wawa-based author and metalhead who frequently attends major Sault-area concerts! You've likely seen his concert videos, but did you know that he also makes bootleg audio recordings too? Good quality ones, no less! Duane's uploaded ten audio recordings from local shows onto his YouTube channel, and lucky for us, five of them are metal! This includes Tesla performing their song "Gettin' Better" from their show at Kewadin Casino last month, Ace Frehley playing "Snowblind" at Kewadin Casino last fall, Alice Cooper singing "Is It My Body?" from his August 2007 show at Kewadin, The Scorpions performing their classic song "Holiday" at Kewadin in September 2007, and Kiss playing "I Love It Loud" from their Kewadin outdoor show in 2006! I'm really impressed by the audio quality here, I wonder what device he used? Particularly of interest to me are the Alice Cooper and Scorpions songs because we don't see a lot from their local concerts online! Check out the songs (really good quality all around) and more at the above links! I'll embed one here to show you guys, The Scorpions in Sault Ste. Marie playing their song "Holiday"! And finally, I found a pretty cool discovery on Facebook the other day that I wanted to share with you guys! Former Fitswitch guitarist Kevin Powe, it turns out, is a very talented graphic designer! Of course, if you were in and around Fitswitch and the local music scene in the mid-2000s, this will be no surprise to you, but Kevin recently uploaded his graphic design portfolio onto Facebook to share! I don't typically share Facebook photo albums on personal pages, but there's too much cool stuff on here for me to not share! Kevin's designed logos for bands like Fitswitch, Frightlight, Faithless Sin, Time of Ruin, what is now No Arrow, and classic local bands like Tyrants of Euphoria (remember them?) and others! There's also album artwork and scans for Fitswitch albums, including a few that I've definitely never heard of! Lost in my searches, or never released? If real, I'd love to get my hands on them, hint hint! Also, you'll find assorted other logos, and best of all, loads of concert posters! Everything from classic Fitswitch shows, to Gates of Winter, Lion Ride, No Arrow, Caveman Morrison, Behemoth, The Downfall, and more! Awesome to see some of these posters again, it's like a flashback to when bands like Coalesce, Soldiers of Misfortune, Hellbound, and much more were in their heydays! The Time of Ruin poster above is really awesome, but check out all of his work, cause Kevin's got HUGE graphic design talent, and I wish he'd get back into making posters and logos, cause his work really stands out! The posters we get nowadays, when we do get them, don't have a lot of graphical flair like Kevin's work did, and I never would have guessed this was all courtesy of a band member! Check out his portfolio at this location, you won't be disappointed! And if anyone out there knows if the Fitswitch album artwork posted there led to any albums besides "The Rust Angel E.P.", let me know!! That's all for today, hope you guys enjoy your Friday! An auto-post is coming TOMORROW AFTERNOON with the first installment of our Defunct Local Band Profile series, where we discuss AtrophiA! Stay tuned, and I'll be back home on Sunday!