Project 421 Jam Session Recap, Emergency Festival Fallout, And More!!

Before we get too far into this post, we have a very late lineup change for TONIGHT'S Ballot Burner-headlined concert at The New American Pub, as local rapper Mikey Thomas has replaced grunge/hardcore duo Bad Back on the lineup, as per the Facebook event page yesterday morning. A reason for Bad Back's exit hasn't been announced, but seeing as frontman Jamie Vincent is still promoting the show, an external commitment for Nathan Sauve would make sense. Hopefully we see the guys back soon, and don't miss Mikey Thomas TONIGHT! Now, today's post features Emergency Festival fallout, some assorted updates, and first, a surprise jam session recap!

Due to personal family health matters, I haven't had a whole lot of time or opportunities to attend concerts recently, but that was partly remedied yesterday afternoon, as Project 421 guitarist Blair Burch invited me to check out their latest jam session! I don't live far from where they jam, which made things extra convenient! The roughly 2 hour jam was the first time that I've seen the guys with new drummer Chris Thompson, though guitarist Frank McGillivray couldn't make the jam due to personal commitments. As a result, the guys didn't play all of their regular songs, and some sounded empty without Frank's parts, but I got a first hand look at 4/5ths of Project 421 tackling classics from bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and Dio, along with their newer original "Into The Darkness"! You can't judge a jam session on the same level of a concert, as a lot of it is meant for practicing and getting everything down for a show, but the guys sounded really good, and it's nice to hear Curtis McKenzie's impressive vocals back with the band!

Me and Blair chatted for a while after everyone left, and it was a nice break from the hectic personal stuff I've been dealing with lately! I also saw and heard some intriguing things concerning future plans, but we'll wait for official public word before saying anything here. I got a handful of photos from the jam that you can see at this link or via our Facebook page, and here's Project 421 (minus Frank) jamming their song "Into The Darkness"!

Next up, here's some fallout from yesterday's second annual Emergency Festival at Rocky DiPietro Field, which appeared to be a hit (despite the hot weather) according to early social media reports! First, there was an act that dropped out of the festival, that being Saskatoon country artist Zachary Lucky due to bronchitis, as per his Facebook page on Friday, though he hopes to play here again later this year. Disappointing for fans, but at least he let everyone know beforehand! As for the festival itself, it was MCed by SooToday's Donna Hopper, and of course, she got lots of great (and colour) photos from the show that you can check out at this article! They include 5 photos of headliners The Fast Romantics, 4 photos each of Gnaeus, Northwest, and The Poor Young Things, 3 each of The Pixo Control, Tasman Jude, and The Sunparlour Players, 5 of concert attendees, and 4 of art vendors on site. Excellent work as usual, and I like how nightfall made the closing set seem like it was at a different venue entirely!

A likely Tuned episode is forthcoming, but Local2 cameras were on site for this (unembeddable) video from The Emergency, which features abbreviated video footage from The Fast Romantics, The Sunparlour Players, Tasman Jude, and Gnaeus' sets (I wonder why The Poor Young Things and the other locals didn't make the cut?) Strong footage, and nice to see fans dancing up front for The Fast Romantics, so give this video a look above!

Lastly for current festival fallout, here's the latest from local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control, as we can finally confirm that their new drummer (replacing the departed Keeghan Rosso) is named Matthew Thibert, who made his public debut with the band on Sunday. The band has yet to confirm this on their Facebook page, but photos from the show confirm his identity. I'm not familiar with Matthew from past local bands, though he did once play with the defunct Bawating Collegiate jazz band Reverse Fozmosis shortly before the school's 2010 closure, alongside The Boatload Killers' Liam Seymour and others. I'm curious to see how he does live with Michael & Steve in The Pixo Control, so stay tuned for more on the new lineup! And we were holding this for when we mentioned their new drummer, as the cover art for the band's upcoming debut CD "Probably Not" is now posted on Facebook!

Similarly to the defunct Habitat Shuffle's EP, it's of a picture hanging on a wall, but this picture of mushrooms will be familiar for Pixo Control fans, as a framed copy of it has sat on stage for the band's recent concerts. I'm unsure of the symbolism, or if it connects to the name "Probably Not" at all, but it's recognizable and to the point! Stay tuned for more from the guys this week!

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

• Just as a general site updated regarding our sidebar links, I've finally added The Emergency Festival and The Northern Vibe Festival to our links concerning concert festivals in the Sault Ontario area, while amending information on venues and dates for existing festivals, mainly concerning events impacted by this year's Downtown Association debate and cancellation of Queen Street East outdoor events. Hopefully things are updated there now!
• Sault Michigan bar/concert venue Golanka's Bar (commonly known as The Bird) has closed at some point in the last two years, though their (now-deleted) Facebook page wasn't updated frequently enough to post a statement on why that I've seen. According to London Gentlemen guitarist Mike Libertoski in a Facebook conversation, the East Portage Avenue building was bought by new owners who are turning it into an outdoor retail store of some kind. The Bird hadn't hosted a hard rock concert that we'd heard of since early 2013, but it's sad to see it go, and hopefully Yoopers have good memories of The Bird!
• Sault Ontario alternative hard rock duo Infinity Grinder have posted seven new demo recordings on their Soundcloud page in the past 3 weeks, which confirm that they play improvised jams as well as original songs, Brad & Terrence both handle drums and guitar parts in studio, and that they formed last year. The songs are solid, often hard-edged, and nicely varied, but only "A Few Weeks" has vocals. Give them a listen above, and don't miss Infinity Grinder's New A debut TONIGHT!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our newest poll tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Another Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Hey guys, I'm back from Detroit, and I have a local metal video showcase to get to, first things first! I have a lot of videos in the backlog to share, so no better way to start then right now, and today, we have this week's classic video, a new promo video from a Sault Michigan band, some interesting videos from an area drummer, and kicking things off, our first video footage from a recent major concert, so here's what you need to know! (Also, apologies for not getting a proper announcement of Tym Morrison's show on Saturday night at the Service Grill on here, I was fairly busy this weekend. Hopefully some of you made it out!)

Looking for videos from the Napalm Death concert at Feedback on Saturday night? Here's the first one I've seen! This comes from local guitarist Neno Jovanovic, who filmed part of local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters' set from the big show, and his first video was put onto his new YouTube channel yesterday! In what looks like "part 1" of at least two videos, this is of The Bear Hunters playing their original song "Bloodthirst", and the quality's nice! Neno was behind a lot of people, but the audio's clear and the band are on form (you'd have to be for a show of this size though.) Nice and brutal all around! As for Feedback itself as a concert venue, I still need to judge firsthand, but the stage looks nice! The lighting's great and the lines down the back wall are a nice touch and flow with the lighting on their own. Looking at the brightness on the sides, the stage may still be beside the front windows, but I'm not positive (remember, I wasn't there, but family calls.) I'll get a 100% look at Feedback soon, and from what I've heard, Rich has done great things with the old Foggy Notions location, so things are only gonna grow from here! Check out The Bear Hunters playing "Bloodthirst" below, and stay tuned for more Napalm Death concert videos as I hear of them!



Next up, here's some videos from Sault Michigan metal talent, and first, remember last week when we mentioned that former Nixxon Dixxon drummer Jake LaLonde had rejoined some of his former bandmates in Splitshot earlier this fall? Well, as you may remember, Jake had spent the previous two semesters attending the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, and while there, he launched a YouTube channel, which now has some videos of live performances he had with fellow MI students in the spring! The videos are live covers of "Barracuda" by Heart and Rick Derringer's "Rock N' Roll Hoochie Koo", so click the above links to check them out! Jake's on fire here (though I miss his long hair), and the different lineups have clear talent, though the guitar on "Barracuda" sounded a bit off. Sounds like his time in Los Angeles was a benefit to his drumming career, and Splitshot are sure to benefit from that as well! Check the above links for more, here's Jake and fellow MI students covering "Barracuda", and go see Splitshot this coming weekend at The Rapids Lounge!



Now, here's some news (and a video) from Kinross hard rockers Banned! Firstly, they appear to have parted ways with singer/bassist Alex Schrovenwever, who was recently removed from Banned's lineup on their Facebook page. No announcement was made as to why he left, but hopefully nothing bad happened, as he's a good bassist! That said, Banned are still advertised for next weekend at The Sundown Lounge in Pickford, only the show has now been moved to Saturday, October 29th. Again, no reason was announced for the date change, but really, most Halloween concerts this year are on the Saturday, so it's a better fit. With that in mind, singer/guitarist Alex Traynor is the focus of a new promo video for next Saturday's Halloween weekend concert, as uploaded by his sister Ashley this past Wednesday. It's of Alex shredding a pretty nice guitar solo outside in what looks like a yard, and it includes intertitles plugging the Pickford show and the attached Halloween costume contest. Pretty good, and it's a clear indicator of Alex's talent too (he's got a lot of promise), so give the Banned promo video a look below (and at the above links!) Stay tuned for more on Banned's bassist situation and next weekend's concert!



And finally, here's this week's classic video! Early, yes, but knowing the bigger shows of the weekend already, it made sense to post it when I could. For the first time ever, this week's classic video is of the original crash band themselves, Sykotyk Rampage, who'll of course rock The Grand Theater at this Saturday's Soo Zombie Walk afterparty! Most videos of theirs are on YouTube, but when crawling the band's Facebook page recently, I came across 6 shorter videos filmed by Jason-Jessie Cleary at a jam session in "The Cave" circa March 24th, 2009. Presumably all from different songs on the same night, the videos aren't very high resolution, but the lighting and audio are just fine, and the four band members are playing as well as you'd expect such a unique band to! With the longest clip lasting just 1:40, I decided to combine all six videos into a single 4:50 long video with a clear attempt at putting them in chronological order (or at least in a good flow order) and posted it on YouTube to share with a wider audience. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED! All credit goes to Jason and the band, they did all the hard work on these videos, I just combined and promoted them!

Check out all 6 videos ("Shane Sweeeet Guitar Solo", "Road Runner", "My Girl", "Dirk Solo", "Wacked On Valume Insert", and "Fav Band All Soloing") at http://facebook.com/pages/Sykotyk-Rampage/5932997695?sk=videos or by clicking the above video names. With that said, give all 6 together on our YouTube channel a look below, and go see the intense soundscape at the Zombie Walk afterparty on Saturday night!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our new poll tomorrow and more news very soon! Thanks everyone!

Sykotyk Rampage Jam Session Recap, Plus New Videos & A New Recording Studio!!

Who wants some news and videos? I've got them today as we kick off the month of October! We have this week's classic video, a preview of a local band's music video, and news on a new-ish local concert studio, but first, here's a mini-review of a local band's jam session I was invited to last night!

I was recently invited to see local blue Chinese metal crash punk quartet Sykotyk Rampage's "Autumn Apple's Jam" last night at their jam room ("The Cave"), so me and my mom (a longtime friend of Dirk & Paul Becker) went to check things out for a couple of hours! Having missed out on a lot of concerts over the past month (thanks a lot, homework & Friday morning classes), I thought it'd do me some good to catch at least some live music before September wrapped up. The session mostly was of Sykotyk Rampage jamming out versions of classic songs like "Lowest of the Low", "Sex Toy, Oh My Baby", "Pink Radio", and "Treating You Bad", along with some newer songs from their 6 latest albums, like "Talking BGANL" and "Bucket of Ham", and even covers, like Flogging Molly's "Fuck You, I'm Drunk" and even an impromptu jam of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs"! Beer and jokes flowed throughout the night, and you can tell how casual and relaxed the band was, which thankfully does cross over to their live shows. Of course, some songs sounded a bit different, but with their improvised studio songs, creative nature, and lack of on-stage pressure, I expected that and didn't mind. Neither did the other fans in attendance!

It was fun to see Sykotyk Rampage at work for another jam session, but of course, if you like the band already, you'll have more fun than if you don't, but that depends on your own preferences. If you like your music harsh and sykotyk, and you have the right connections, Sykotyk Rampage jams in "The Cave" are definitely worth checking out! Unlike the last time I was invited to see them jamming, I brought my camera, so click here to see photos or visit our Facebook page! And I did get a video, so here's Sykotyk Rampage playing their song "Dolly & Valium" last night!



Next up, here's another new video, this time from Eckerman, Michigan metal trio Swampghas! The trio featuring Life's Eclipse & Half A Man alumni recently shot footage towards a music video for their original song "Bog" at Pine Grove Cemetery in Sault Michigan and other assorted locations in town, and a behind the scenes video from the shoot was posted on the Werehold Records YouTube channel on Thursday! The video features random goings on like some guitar playing, band members laying down, some footage of the full band playing for the video, and so forth, which doesn't tell us much, but it's a good preview for when the full video is posted! A rough cut of the "Bog" video was briefly posted too, but was later deleted, so this will do for now if you want a taste of Swampghas before the final product comes out! Check out the behind the scenes footage below!



Thirdly today, here's a new local recording studio I recently came across that you local band members might be interested in! Dimension Studios is it's name, and it's a Sault Ontario-based recording studio ran by Brendan Clace, who I think just moved to town earlier in the year, though he's done music and production work in Saskatchewan and Sioux Lookout in previous years. Originally named BreakCore Productions, the studio's located on Panoramic Drive, and Brendan specializes in working with bands of heavier music styles. From what I can tell, Brendan's worked with Ontario bands like Ashes Past and Double Helix, and local favourites For All That Is Lost have inquired about working with them, but I don't know if any local bands have contacted Brendan about working with Dimension Studios yet. Samples and covers that he's produced can be checked out at this location, and I'll say that Brendan's definitely a good producer! The posted songs sound good, and I think local bands could benefit by doing recordings there! If you wanna see what Dimension Studios offers, or contact Brendan with questions, check the above links, and I've added Dimension Studios to our Other Local Metal Links!

And finally, here is this week's classic video! Very late, I know, but I wanted to make sure who all was playing before I uploaded something to tie it in with, and other posts kinda put it behind a bit too. This week, we're tying in the video with Tym Morrison, who plays a solo acoustic concert TONIGHT at Service Grill Pizza, and the video is of his metal cover band Caveman Morrison! This video comes from a concert that the band played at The Rockstar Bar circa late 2009, and it features the band's 2009-2010 lineup, including Tym on vocals & guitar, Frightlight/Redundant's Rick White on bass, and his then-Frightlight bandmate Jeff "Shrek Ogre" Richards on drums. The video is of Caveman Morrison covering Billy Joel's "You May Be Right" with a bit of a hard rock spin, and the audio quality isn't too bad! The band sounded good here, though the video quality could be better. The camera's far from the stage, dancers get in the way at points, a green watermark from the original conversion program is put on the last third of the footage, and the original video is very red, but I corrected it to more natural lighting with YouTube's video edit tools when I uploaded it to our YouTube channel. That said, you can watch the original video at http://tymmorrison.com/cavemanmorrison/video1.html.

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Caveman Morrison and the original filmer, I'm just spreading it to a wider audience like it deserves! I've been meaning to share some videos from Caveman Morrison's website for a while, but because they were posted in .swf format, they were hard to rip and convert. Now I've found out how to easily do it, so I can show off this solid 2009-era Caveman Morrison video with you guys, so check out their cover of "You May Be Right" below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our next "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!