Hey guys, it's time at last for our review of last night's Joni Radford memorial concerts, a.k.a. Punk Rock Princess Fest! Due to the unique split-venue nature of the event, I'm going to review the bands playing upstairs at The Rockstar Bar in our next post, with this one focusing on the downstairs action and general concert info. Of course, this event was completely devoted to Joni's memory, with pretty much every TV and screen showing a slideshow of pictures of her and inspirational quotes, which was a great touch to allow everyone to remember her life and good times! T-shirts and sweatshirts were on sale, not unlike the ones from the David Gold memorial shows in 2012, and Joni's own Bad Religion canvas poster was raffled off before The Cover-Up's set upstairs. Event co-promoter and Case's Music owner Carrie Suriano spoke before Destroilet's set to thank everyone for making this event possible and give a toast to Joni, though if other teased presentations and speeches occurred, I was on the wrong floor.
Attendance was excellent, especially for the final two bands upstairs, but from about 9:00-11:00 PM, when bands were actively playing on both floors, the attendance was understandably thinned out as people chose their preferred bar and/or band. It may have been a more impressive group for the long-term if everyone was on one floor, but this felt more like a special event the way it was structured. Thank goodness for the wristbands so I could freely hop between floors! As the Algonquin Pub bands straddled with the first two bands upstairs, I didn't see any of their full sets, so if I missed any special performances or Joni tributes, I completely apologize.
A minor band swap resulted in The Algonquin Pub/Spin Nightclub's first band being local punk trio Stegadeth (the only returning band from Joni's benefit show last year), who got a solid crowd early, possibly helped by mostly playing unopposed. Fans gathered saw a solid set of originals like "Kingdom of Ashes" & "The Wire" alongside covers from the likes of GG Allin, The Dead Kennedys, SNFU, and yes, Bad Religion, among others. Musically, Stegadeth were on form, with Tiffany Stocco nailing some solid riffs, and her and bassist Bill Bennett were a nice compliment, but the vocals were often very muffled. My big takeaway is that Tiffany and Bill should work on their stage presences and between-song banter, as things were a bit stiff (especially compared to Johnny Belanger's energy on drums.) Solid blast of punk overall though for Stegadeth!
Post-lineup switch, the second downstairs band was now Stegadeth's side project Coral Fang, a tribute to Los Angeles punk legends The Distillers. Things didn't change dramatically in tone, as Tiffany and Johnny remained on stage, now joined by A Dire Setback's Chris Nielsen and Destroilet's Adam Larcoque. This was Coral Fang's third public show, but the first time I've seen them live, and fans were treated to renditions of such Distillers songs as "Drain The Blood", "Dismantle Me", "City of Angels", and (of course) "Coral Fang". I am not a Distillers scholar, but from what I know of their songs, I can tell that everyone performed well and tackled these songs with energy and enthusiasm! Adam did seem to be standing a little far from everyone else, and Tiffany should project her voice more to match Brody's intensity on the original songs, but overall, this was a natural extension, and here's hoping we hear more from Coral Fang!
Headlining the bottom floor action was local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, completing Tiffany and Johnny's triple-booking on this night (good thing they didn't have to lug all their gear upstairs!) Their set followed a pseudo-Handsome Sandwich jam by Johnny, Jesse Cook, and Jack Spades bassist Rob Speers, but we soon learned that Jesse was filling in for an absent Daniel Horton on guitar for the set proper. No word on why Dan wasn't there, but it was nice to see Jesse back with his old band for at least one night! Returning to the stage for the first time in six months, Jack Spades picked up where they left off with an explosive set of originals like "Breakneck Speed", "Sewer City Radio" (improvised lyrics and all), and "Crossroads", plus some later fan favourite covers. This set gave us more of Jack Spades' intense and hard hitting sound, with J.D. Pearce at his aggressive top form, and Rob Speers' bass lines came through well! Great way to end things at the Algonquin Pub!
Overall, the musical lineup downstairs was entertaining and delivered in their own ways, and huge kudos to Tiffany and Johnny for pulling triple duty in three different bands, not to mention Rob, Jesse, and Adam playing in different bands on each floor! I hope the Algonquin Pub lineup didn't fly under the radar too much, but if you missed out, I did get photos and videos of all three bands, the latter now available on our Facebook page and at this link (both floors are in that album.) As for videos, here's Stegadeth covering The Rebel Spell's "All We Want", Coral Fang covering The Distillers' "Sick Of It All", and Jack Spades playing "Motorwolf"!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our review of the Rockstar Bar half of Punk Rock Princess Fest in our next post! Thanks everyone!
Here's another new news post for your Friday morning, and below, you'll find the latest updates from two local bands in very different stages of their runs, but first, here's two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for later this month!
Local indie/hard rock trio (quartet?) Vol. will play their first ever acoustic concert set on Saturday, October 21st (one week from tomorrow) when they open for St. Catharine's bluegrass/folk quartet Dirtfight and Hamilton alt-blues duo Frankie & Jimmy at The Algonquin Pub! Apologies for the protracted delay in acknowledging this show in full on the site, we were waiting for confirmation on which floor of The Algonquin Hotel this show was taking place on, which only came yesterday on the Facebook event page. If this is accurate, don't go upstairs next weekend! If the touring lineup looks familiar, it's with good reason, as Dirtfight is the much milder side project from members of Shit Liver that fans saw here in May 2016, while Frankie & Jimmy came here two months later for a headlining date of their own, so if you're up for a folksy and jazz-inspired change of pace, don't bypass this one! Vol. will provide a hard rock edge in this rare unplugged set, so don't be late for their set either!
Note that The Algonquin Pub has been (partially?) rebranded as Spin Nightclub for dance club parties "every Saturday" since mid-September, though I don't know if the above concert will postpone next weekend's Spin night or if the show will end up being moved upstairs or off-site. If there's confirmation either way, we'll let you know! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh., this closing date of the touring bands' Northern Ontario Tour has an $8 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 9:00 PM start time. Check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for updates if they come in!
Next up, the aforementioned Six, Two, Oh. are at it again with another newly announced concert just two days later on Monday, October 23rd, as Saskatoon noise/punk duo The Faps will play here once again with a headlining date at The New American Pub! Occurring just under two weeks after they opened for K-Man & The 45s at LopLops, this surprise concert will cap off their "Good Tour" as they return home, and will mark their first stop at The New A since headlining there back in 2014. Whether you saw them on Tuesday and/or three years ago, or are new to The Faps, look for another explosive set of punk and math rock originals in a week and a half! Local openers are being sought, and for reference sake, rappers opened for them in 2014, while Bizotic did the duty on Tuesday, so don't assume a specific genre. We'll let you know when an opener is confirmed! A $5 cover charge (or "pay what you can", oddly) is in effect for this 19+ show, which has an early 8:00 PM start time given the Monday night timing.
Despite the scheduling and relatively quick turnaround for the encore, this should be a fun show for punk fans, so keep it mind if you're able to come out on a Monday night, and visit the Facebook event page for complete details!
Also today, here's the latest from local alternative hard rock trio The Din, who have clarified some lingering details on their upcoming farewell concert and second/final studio album, so what's new on both fronts? In terms of the album, the band has confirmed that it will be titled "Suburban Dream", and also unveiled the track listing and album artwork via their Facebook page yesterday. Alongside the title track (which will close the CD), the album will also feature their originals "Give Me A Reason", "High Park", "Up In The Air", "35's The Limit', "Weekend Delivery", "Missing", "In The Moonlight", and one song that's brand new in online references, "The Price That You Pay". As a result, the album will not feature any Mike Haggith solo covers that you may have heard in concerts, but at least some of those were on their live album. As for their final concert at LopLops Lounge next Saturday, it's now dubbed the "Suburban Sendoff", fittingly enough!
The local openers have finally been confirmed as well, as indie/hard rock quartet Bizotic will kick off the night's events, and they're a fitting selection with talent and originality, so don't be late for their set on October 21st! Finally for new Din news, another new single has been posted from the "Suburban Dream" album to their YouTube channel, that being for their more recent original "Missing", and while I'll still hold comment for our eventual CD review, give the song a listen below, and stay tuned for updates!
Finally for today, here's the latest from local progressive metal project Kraken Mara, so what's new from them? Well, in the latest teaser update on their website (and first there in three months), the guys noted that "the last of our tracks are being mastered as we speak" for
their self-titled debut EP, which will be "available for all" when
completed. As well, a new playthrough video of one of their songs is
being filmed at some point this season, so keep an eye out for that on band pages, including their Instagram page, which isn't just for Dokken concert videos! Brendan and Jake actually posted five videos there last month before that concert, so what's uploaded there so far? This short video showcasing their jam room, this zoom-in clip of bassist Jacob Valois, this clip of Jacob performing in studio (though his shirt is focused on over audible music), and this video of guitarist Brendan Christie declaring that they're recording some tracks.
If you didn't know, Instagram has a one minute limit for video uploads, hence why these don't show a whole lot and are better served as previews, but hey, it's nice to see progress from the Kraken Mara camp! Embedded below is the most substantial video there (musically speaking), which features a recording of a new intro for a planned song being played on a laptop. As such, we're hearing it through laptop speakers, which is far from ideal, but it has an industrial tinge to go with pleasant keyboard work from what I can hear. See more from Kraken Mara above & below, and stay tuned for more from them as it rolls in!
Hey guys, it's time at last for our review of last night's Joni Radford memorial concerts, a.k.a. Punk Rock Princess Fest! Due to the unique split-venue nature of the event, I'm going to review the bands playing upstairs at The Rockstar Bar in our next post, with this one focusing on the downstairs action and general concert info. Of course, this event was completely devoted to Joni's memory, with pretty much every TV and screen showing a slideshow of pictures of her and inspirational quotes, which was a great touch to allow everyone to remember her life and good times! T-shirts and sweatshirts were on sale, not unlike the ones from the David Gold memorial shows in 2012, and Joni's own Bad Religion canvas poster was raffled off before The Cover-Up's set upstairs. Event co-promoter and Case's Music owner Carrie Suriano spoke before Destroilet's set to thank everyone for making this event possible and give a toast to Joni, though if other teased presentations and speeches occurred, I was on the wrong floor.
