LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Ethereal Tomb), Soundcheck/Separate Wayz Updates, And New Videos!!

I think our backlog is sufficiently addressed enough where we don't have to post twice a day regularly (famous last words), but there's still stuff to cover, new and old alike! For this post, we have new live videos, recent updates from a local weekend cover staple, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you should know on this Tuesday morning!

Barrie doom metal trio Ethereal Tomb will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a "DIY garage show" on Monday, September 28th at Unnecessary Noise! Remember, this is the house party venue at a private residence that began being used as a location for select Underground Events SSM concerts this year, so while the address is not publically listed, the show is being publically marketed as a normal concert event at a specific venue otherwise. Fans may recall seeing promoter Mikhal Muto bring Ethereal Tomb to the former Soo Blaster in July of last year, and while this is a smaller scale event, their brand of "Turtle Island street metal" should deliver the sludgy intensity for local fans next month! The local openers will be really varied from the extreme metal to cap off the evening, including ska punk quartet ASDP (fronted by Mikhal, who opened last year's Ethereal Tomb show while still a member of Hails) and young hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe.

This all ages concert has a 6:00 PM start time, admission is $10 or "pay what you can", and as this is at Unnecessary Noise, "ask a punk" for the address (though note that ASDP are the only punk band on this particular bill). Definitely a talented spread of sounds to be had at Unnecessary Noise late next month, so visit the above links for more details!

Next up, let's touch on some recent news and notes from local classic/hard rock cover band Separate Wayz, who have technically been quiet this month as a local concern, but they've been busy in informal and out-of-town ways. On August 8th, a stripped down acoustic version of the band made the 3½ hour drive to Sudbury to perform at Her Northern Voice, a week-long concert festival honouring female singers, with Nicole, Terry, and frequent guest guitarist Travis Sharpe (Terry's Soundcheck/TNT bandmate) performing there at the Grace Hartman Amphitheatre. This is basically why Nicole guested with TNT at the Maddy's Mighty Mutts Family Fun Day here a couple days prior, as it served as a local teaser and warmup. Separate Wayz (+ Travis) played on the penultimate Saturday lineup, where they technically opened for Susan Aglukark, though they were part of the free matinee block before ticketed admission was enforced for the closing acts.

For what it's worth, the Sunday the 9th concert at Her Northern Voice featured a set by Lime frontwoman "Miss" Madii Schomogyi in the identical 2:00 PM timeslot, while Sudbury psychedelic hard rock band The Dirty Mystics (who debuted at The Northern Vibe Festival in 2024) also played that day. Celebrating women in the arts (not just singers) is a fantastic idea, and it's great that so many local and non-local ladies were able to rock Sudbury that weekend! Among various "sneak peaks" (sic), a video from promoters The Sudbury Performance Group was posted on Facebook of Nicole, Terry, and Travis covering The Weeknd's "Blinded By The Light", though it is unfortunately vertical and only 30 seconds long. The side-stage vantage point is sure unique. if not supremely indicative of where they were, but they sounded good here! Nicole also just hit the road again with Soundcheck (Jim & Johnny included) for an "epic crossover" gig.

The five-piece combined band headlined at the Gold Rush National Drag Race in Chapleau (this time 3½ hours north of here) on Saturday, but media and teasers from that trip north did not follow on either band's page. There is big lineup news concerning both groups that I'll touch on in this weekend's concert previews, as Soundcheck have late notice gigs this weekend (with or without this band member, I don't yet know), but visit the above links for more on Separate Wayz & Travis (or Soundcheck & Nicole), and here's the live video from Her Northern Voice!

We'll close this post with some new videos from local space/hard rock duo The Spaceship Opening! As you may recall, the "east end rock n' roll" act (featuring ASDP drummer Ralph Barber) played their first public gig of 2026 at an all-locals concert at Blaster Powerhouse on August 1st, and they began uploading official videos of their set to their Facebook page last week. The guys plan to "post the whole show in bits", and they clearly meant it when they said "the whole show in bits", as the first video features just Andrew and Ralph setting up before their first song! Embedded below is their first song from this set, an original named "Everyone's Gotta Pay", and at press time, they have not uploaded any more songs, videos, and/or bits from the set. This is an instrumental hard rocker that Andrew plays virtually the entire time while facing Ralph with his back to the audience, but the video was filmed side-stage, so it doesn't hurt the home viewer experience.

You don't see a lot of videos from the former Soo Blaster shot like this, so it gives a unique look at the action! I hope this is a fair comparison, but I was reminded a bit musically of Helmet from this performance, and while there were no vocals, it has a spark and a catchy groove, so give it a look below, and hopefully more official videos of this Spaceship Opening set surface!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for a busy slate of mid-week concert previews and more on the SMS soon! Thanks everyone!

Local Hard Rock/Punk Video Showcase!!

Got a new post on this Monday evening to check out, and it is devoted to some recent videos from hard rock and punk bands playing and/or from here, so let's get things rolling!

Let's start with videos from Hamilton-based Pearl Jam tribute band Leash's headlining concert at Soo Blaster on March 4th, as Christopher Paci's YouTube channel has us covered with videos from that night! Apologies for the three week delay in these making the site, I didn't notice he posted videos from it until after I found his Pop Evil videos. Chris filmed eleven videos at this concert, including eight of the headliners, who he filmed tackling the Pearl Jam hits "Given To Fly", "Even Flow", "State Of Love & Trust", "Jeremy", "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town", "Daughter", "Corduroy", and as embedded below, "Alive". More of a musical tribute than visual, but at least in these videos, they are closer to Pearl Jam in total sound than some of their videos implied. Interesting how he holds the whole microphone stand up over the crowd to let fans sing along!

Visually, the stage lighting can mess with the clarity a bit, especially on more rapid flickering (watch and you'll see what I mean), but the quality is more than serviceable, and the audio is less tinny than how things came across at the Pop Evil concert. Good stuff for grunge fans, so give Chris' Leash videos a watch above & below!

Chris also filmed/uploaded three videos of opening local punk trio Vanity First, who can be seen here covering Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name", Weezer's "Say It Ain't So", and as embedded below, most of their original "Playboy Magazine". While definitely filmed from further away, Chris zoomed in well to capture Andrew, Mikhal, and Keeghan's set, and their clear talent and lively set looks like it got the evening off on the right foot, so check their videos out above & below also!

Now let's head four hours east to Sudbury, where local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard ventured this past weekend for rare out-of-town gigs at The Coulson Entertainment Centre! Delayed a couple of weeks, Bone Yard made the most of their road trip for media on their Facebook page, starting with this "Reel" where the guys hyped that they were coming to The Coulson and encouraged Sudburians to be there. In another "Reel" on Wednesday, they teased making new shirts with new designs that would go on sale at these gigs. Photos from the Friday nighter were posted to Facebook, and four videos that aren't "Reels" (despite all being vertical) were posted between the two shows that can be embedded on external websites like this. One features bassist Warren Reville showing off a "magic trick", so to speak, but the other three are proper concert videos, with the one from the Friday nighter seeing Bone Yard covering The Rolling Stones' "Miss You", but the filmer oddly focuses on the floor of the stage for most of it.

Two videos were uploaded from their Saturday concert, including covers of ZZ Top's "La Grange" and, as embedded below, Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" (yes, the band is in frame for the duration on these). Entertaining covers from Greg, Alex, and Warren across the board, and while more fans on the floor would have been nice, southern and classic rock fans were in good hands, so check out their Sudbury videos above & below!

Let's close with a mild bit of unfinished business from yesterday's review of local pop punk project Forever Will Be's debut album "Dead and Dishonest", as I mentioned there that they also recorded an acoustic version of the closing track "Downsides" that isn't on the album, but was posted to their YouTube channel in December. This is also a good time to state in a normal post that the vocalist heard on Forever Will Be's studio material is not project leader Ryan McLaughlin, rather session vocalist Billy Douglas, who fronts the British punk band Colosseums, a fact that wasn't overly prevalent in all of the band's social media marketing initially. Ryan found a strong vocalist to bring his lyrics to life, but you'll already know that if you've heard the album, and don't sleep on Colosseums either! "Dead & Dishonest" didn't have a traditional ballad, but of what was included, "Downsides" is one of the better fits to an unplugged format.

The minimal screaming and less varied structure adapt fairly well, though I will say that the guitar work can be a little repetitive at points as Ryan plays a punk song meant for electric instruments in this way. Interesting change of pace, so do give this a listen below, and hopefully we hear more material and updates from Forever Will Be in 2023!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rhythm And Brews & Tym Morrison), Plus NLFB Meltdown Updates!!

Here's a rarity for the SMS in the pandemic era: TWO posts in one day! I really wasn't planning on rushing anything this quick, but SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS have hit my news desk today, both only announced today, so hopefully this gets up before both start. To fill things out, we have some fallout from a recent online battle of the bands with local representation, so here's what you need to know, and check out this morning's post for some new videos and a new local band!

Local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison will return to Reggie's Place on Queen Street East for shows TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, Tym only just confirmed these date via separate Facebook event pages on his Facebook group, though be advised that Bone Yard had previously advertised playing there this weekend. Tym just played a Sunday matinee there on March 13th, but TONIGHT & TOMORROW's shows are more traditional nighttime concerts set for him, mildly unusual given that he's only really played the Sunday matinees at Reggie's as of late. I wish these shows had more notice, but his prolific setlist of classic rock, hard rock, and select country cuts should entertain fans and patrons alike at Reggie's TONIGHT & TOMORROW! If there is an error in the scheduling given that Bone Yard haven't announced that they're out, I'll let you guys know.

Assuming Tym is accurately playing TONIGHT & TOMORROW, then expect a 9:30 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit, and of course, be mindful of the pandemic even with restrictions being loosened. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!

Next up, Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Rhythm & Brews will reportedly return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino for concerts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Again, apologies for the short notice, I only heard about these shows this evening via shared posts on frontman Brandon Carr's personal Facebook page, as the band proper has not publically promoted these on their own Facebook page. As best as I can tell, these shows are relatively late notice bookings, as Kewadin's website's schedule lists Traverse City dance rock cover band Risque as playing this weekend instead. Risque did announce that these shows and their planned Petoskey gig last week were cancelled, as per their website, but did not announce why in either case. Hopefully nothing bad happened, but it will be nice to see Rhythm & Brews fill in with their hard rocking covers!

Remember, Rhythm & Brews' bassist Brett Blackwood can also be seen in the new metal band Buddy Repperton & The Camaros, as spotlighted in this morning's post. Expect TONIGHT & TOMORROW'S shows to have 9:00 PM start times, no cover charges, and 21+ age limits. Visit the above links for more details, we'll let you know when videos of Rhythm & Brews surface, and apologies again for the short notice on these concerts! I'd have covered them yesterday had either been plugged even a day sooner!

Next up, remember how Sault Ontario indie punk quintet The Northwest played at the virtual NLFB Meltdown battle of the bands on Thursday to try and win an opening slot at the Northern Lights Festival Boreal in Sudbury in July? Well, as it turns out, the winner has not been announced yet, as the competition was fan voted this year, and you can still vote! Bit of a surprise given that in-person installments tended to have judges, but even though the competition was held via Zoom and is not publically viewable elsewhere, the fan vote is open to all, even those who can't answer questions specific to the live-stream. Seems odd that they'd do it this way, but I can't speak for what NLFB staffers' rationale was. If you do want to vote for The Northwest, click here, but in case you want to check out the other Northern Ontario artists who competed, who all also took part?

While the NLFB never announced the full performer lineup, the voting form confirms that 8 acts competed on Thursday, and the other 7 are comedy/folk musician High Knuckles, grunge band Nickel City Grunge, classic rock/world music artist Falcon, black metal band For Mother, new folk group The Rascabells, glitch rock/hip hop project Dadb0dd & The Everyman, and alt-rock group Rare-Earth Magnet. With the possible exception of The Rascabells (whose online footprint is very slim), all of The Northwest's opposition is from Sudbury. Based on the range of music that the Northern Lights Festival Boreal usually hosts, The Northwest strike me as a stronger fit than many of their opposition, but the fan vote will tell a lot about what path this slot on the festival takes. No matter what, a lot of talented bands took part, including some surprising heavier diversions, so vote A.S.A.P. above! 

That's definitely now all for today, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

The Northwest's Online Battle Of The Bands Appearance, Plus New Videos!!

I have a new news post for you guys to check out on this Wednesday evening. and while the back half features some recent duo videos from some familiar faces, let's kick things off with big and somewhat late notice news for a prominent local band's big virtual opportunity tomorrow!

In their first Facebook page update since tacking "The" onto their name, local indie/punk quintet The Northwest have announced that they will be taking part in this year's NLFB Meltdown battle of the bands, albeit held virtually, and it goes down tomorrow night at 7:00 PM! Presumably not in person due to the pandemic, readers may recall seeing a local version of this event in 2017 at LopLops Lounge (won by M.D. Dunn), and like then and in the annual pre-pandemic battle in Sudbury, the winner is tapped as one of the openers at the Northern Lights Festival Boreal, which takes place at Bell Park in Sudbury over the July 7th weekend for its 50th anniversary. While the festival is not a hard rock haven, SMS covered acts like The Din and Id Iota competed at the local battle in 2017, and now The Northwest are trying in 2022, but how will they sound in their first pandemic-era public performance together?

Given that this is a battle of the bands not unlike Meltdowns of yore (albeit virtual), this is a ticketed concert, and tickets run for $11.62 at this link, and you'll presumably receive access to the link to view the concert from there. The concert will apparently take place on Zoom, and bands are advertised as performing live, so make of that what you will. No word on set lengths or judging criteria, but note that at the local Meltdown in 2017, bands had 15-20 minute sets, and NLFB representatives served as judges. Also, a performer lineup for the NLFB Meltdown competition has not been publically announced, but again, don't go into this expecting death metal (featured artists at the festival proper this year include The New Pornographers, Judy Collins, and Wax Mannequin, among many others). For other local ties, you may recall hearing that Frank Deresti & The Lake Effect played at the NLFB in 2018, though no local acts performed in 2019.

Without knowing the lineup for the Meltdown, it's hard to say how The Northwest will do, but I of course offer my best wishes to the guys as they make a run at quite a big festival, and it'd be great to see some Soo talent back at Bell Park this summer! A Zoom concert isn't ideal for many, especially at this stage of the pandemic, but the Northern Lights Festival Boreal staff have got to do what's best for everyone involved, as the pandemic isn't over yet. If you wanna see The Northwest and a bunch of other Northern Ontario original musicians battle it out for a spot at the NLFB, get your tickets A.S.A.P. and log into Zoom tomorrow at 7:00 PM!

Next up, here's some new videos of local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek (well, 2/5ths of them) at Reggie's West this past weekend! If you liked the audio cover by singer Justin Grayson and bassist Robin "Bones" Lee of Stone Sour's "Imperfect" (not a Corey Taylor solo song, my apologies) from two weeks ago, then there's more where that came from! However, the first video that they shared to their Facebook page was from a personal Facebook account and the video is either private to non-friends or it has since been taken down. If it's the former, click here to see if it works for you, the guys were apparently doing two songs in it. Over the weekend, the band posted two cover videos onto their page proper, both filmed by a fan named Justyne, and they include unplugged renditions of "Imperfect" again, and as embedded below, Luke Combs' "Beautiful Crazy".

I'm not a country guy, but Justin and Bones handle that song well, and it's a good use of Justin's vocal range in particular! The "Imperfect" cover is also solid as you'd expect from the prior audio recording, and given the nature of the performance, the vertical cell phone camera angle isn't a hindrance. Check out both covers above & below!

Finally for today, here's a short new video from local party metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty's Facebook page earlier this month, featuring Paul and Amanda (with dinosaur hat) covering The Format's "Tie The Rope". Despite presumably being filmed at home, the cover features fancy concert lighting that gives the bass-heavy jam a little extra visual zest! I'm not overly familiar with The Format, but this has a good melodic vibe, if somewhat laid back, so give The Afterparty's newest video a watch below!

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

A New A Dire Setback Video, Plus Lots Of Assorted News & Notes!!

Media is now up from Friday night's Vaultry/Coach Bombay concert at The Canadian, courtesy of our Facebook page, but with a lot of backlogged recent stories to touch on, I thought I'd slide in one more post before our review makes the site. Leading off today, we actually have a videos to share from one of the local bands that played on Friday night, as publically shared to that concert's Facebook event page in the lead-up to the show, so what should you know? The clip is of local alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback playing their song "Forget This Memory" at The Asylum in Sudbury last month, which was another personal upload from frontman Larry Babic's wife Karen's personal Facebook page, but it was later publically featured by the band on the event page. Much like their earlier "Everlasting Despair" video from this show and camera, the guys sound good and are framed nicely in the clip, but the blue/green lighting remains unfortunate. Give this "new" A Dire Setback video a look below, and see more from Friday night at the above links!



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

• Sudbury country musician Andrew Hyatt is replacing The James Barker Band as the opening act for the FREE Tea Party concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on July 16th (one week from today), as per the official Facebook event page last month. A reason for the change wasn't publically announced, but The James Barker Band are still affiliated with the Ontario Government's ONTour concert series, having been moved to the Kenora show on August 10th as that event's headliners (source here.) I'm not familiar with Andrew, but country fans will still have something to look out for on the 16th!
• This is admittedly a very late acknowledgement (apologies for letting this slip through the cracks), but local alt-hard rock quartet Bizotic played a pair of shows in Wawa over the June 9th weekend at the Lakeview Hotel, opening for former New American Pub headliners The OM Sound and a joint set featuring former Bizotic drummer Kevin Overton and local pianist extraordinaire Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda. Hearing about an SMS-fitting show in Wawa is rare, but hopefully everyone had a blast, and that more big shows head north in the near future!
• Gates of Winter are alive! Though they still haven't posted a Facebook page update since January of last year, bassist Steve Furgiuele noted in a post on his Instagram page on Thursday that he is currently writing for the local progressive death metal band as well as working with an Edmonton-area folk artist, and while he acknowledged that "the love (of music) faded" recently, it is back, and he has been exploring music theory and jazz bass as of late. Very encouraging to hear, and hopefully "Perihelion" will finally come out in the coming months! And yes, Gates of Winter are back in our active band links too!
• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades have revealed in recent Facebook page postings that they're soon announcing plans to work with "a rad local company" called the "Wolves from the North" on some sort of project involving regional punk rock and "one of our favourite things". I have no idea what this is referencing, but stay tuned to band pages and the SMS when updates roll in, apparently this week! For what it's worth, a personal Facebook re-post of this cryptic status tagged Jack Spades band members as well as former Essar Center events manager Trevor Zachary.
• Veteran local guitarist Mark Bajona is looking for "good creative musicians" in the 30-60 years old range for a new symphonic rock band that he's working on, ideally including a keyboardist. Mark cited Deep Purple, Genesis, and Yes among his influences, but also wants the band and musicians in it to "sound new with your own identity." The band he has in mind would specialize in original material, and he doesn't want to play covers. If you're interested in more details, message Mark via his wife Brenda at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last month!
• It's official: Local death metal trio Pillory are working on their second CD! After studio Unsalted Audio teased in March that their sophomore effort was in pre-production, the band proper began quietly posting about recording sessions on their Facebook page back in May, with plans appearing to be for a nine song album. Bret Shuttleworth's drum tracking was completed as of Friday, and after editing, guitars and bass are coming next. It's great to see that Pillory are finally recording a new CD, and look for them (and Gates of Winter) in next month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post!
• Local guitarist Shane Bromfield is looking for musicians to jam and songwrite with, perhaps towards a band, with Tool listed among his diverse influences, such as Mac DeMarco, Oasis, and Radiohead, while he also cited Dimebag Darrell as a guitar influence in a prior Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from 2014 (source here.) If you're interested in jamming with Shane, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted group post from last month, and click here to see him cover Jeff Beck at a CASS Cafe event two years ago!
• Toronto-based drummer Terrance Pettitt is looking for work locally next month, November, and/or December, and can play anything from metal to hip hop. Local fans may recognize him as the drummer for Toronto hardcore band Liferuiner, who opened for Dead & Divine here in August 2012. If you'd be interested in working with Terrance in the given months, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last month, and give his solo drumming videos a look at this link!
• If you've noticed a listing on LopLops Lounge's website's concert calendar for a Treble Charger concert there on Thursday, July 27th, you're not crazy, as I saw it also. However, for a show of the scope teased there (full band, upcoming tour and CD, $25 tickets), it is very odd that there hasn't been any extra public advertising for it yet, unless the lack of promotion is by design. As a result, I'm waiting for further public acknowledgement before covering it here, so stay tuned when/if that comes in!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Vaultry concert review next on the SMS! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Bizotic), An Inactive Band Note, And New Out-Of-Town Concert Videos!!

In our last news post of the month, here's some all-Canadian news and notes in advance of Canada's 150th birthday next week! Along with some recent concert videos from out of town events involving local bands, we have a note on a move out of our active band links, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you should know!

Local indie/hard rock quartet Bizotic will make their Gore Street Cafe debut on Friday, July 21st when they play alongside two touring pop bands from Victoria, British Columbia! The bands in question are "lazy pop" quintet Bridal Party (whose laid back indie-pop originals should fit the laundromat well) and Bright Boy (a more dream-like "shoegaze" group who should provide some interesting material of their own next month), so check out both acts to see what you think in advance! Bizotic will provide some extra heaviness and alternative stylings as the local featured attraction, and fresh off of last night's Deathsticks show, hopefully they can continue to ride the forward momentum at the cafe in three weeks' time! Note that Bizotic are actually billed first on the Facebook event page, but so are every local band on the Bridal Party/Bright Boy tour for other stops, so I'm not sure if they're playing first or last. In any event, this is an ALL AGES & "pay what you can" event with a 7:00 PM start time. See above for more details!

Next up, we have a band to move to our inactive band links due to a year's inactivity, they being local/Toronto celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide. Now, this is by no means an assumption that they're defunct, especially given members' busy personal lives and outside musical projects, but they have not issued a public statement or played live since opening for Hedley one year ago tomorrow at The Yard, and I have to keep our links current (also, that show is the only public local concert that they've played since August 2015.) Upon their launch in 2007, The Rising Tide united Inner City Surfers frontman Dustin Jones with the violin & stand up bass-wielding Jaaskelainen brothers (of Boot Hill Crooners & Wild Turkeys fame) and a rotating array of drummers, and they quickly became a fan favourite attraction locally and on the road with their unique brand of punk rock, which also saw them release three albums and even rock the Vans Warped Tour.

Dustin and company have been a reliable and original band with a solid reputation over the past decade, and they managed to make punk rock work with ease alongside a violin and stand-up bass! I don't think The Tide are 100% done, and would not be surprised when they announced a return show, but in the meantime, best of luck to Dustin, Sheldon, Marshall, Mikey, and their other former/live drummers in the future, and follow Tidal Records and Mission Control Studios for Dustin's recent work in local music production and promotion, as he's been busy on some great stuff!

We'll close today with a pair of new concert videos from local bands on tour, starting with one from local alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback's out-of-town debut at The Asylum in Sudbury this past Sunday! Filmed by frontman Larry Babic's wife Karen for her personal Facebook page, she has more from this concert, but this video is the only one that the band shared publically onto their own Facebook page the following day. The video features the guys playing their original song "Everlasting Despair" from a good central angle of the stage, and while it's of very solid quality, venue lighting gives everything a blue/green tint. Also, it's worth noting that they're on the front cover of the current issue of Sault This Week, via this photo taken by Ali Pearson at last week's Go Skateboarding Day concert, with skater Mika Lindback grinding the ramp as well. Nice to see A Dire Setback get some visual play on one of our local newspapers, so check out the photo on the cover of this week's issue, and give their Sudbury concert video a look below!



Finally, here's a new video that only just surfaced from local doom metal trio AlgomA's headlining concert in Windsor a year and a week ago! Filmed by attendee Nancy King, this was only just publically shared by guitarist Boyd Rendell on Wednesday onto the Facebook event page for the Uncle Ray concert at The New A in two weeks that AlgomA are opening. There is synergy afoot here, as Uncle Ray opened for AlgomA at The Windsor Beer Exchange during that stop of AlgomA's 2016 summer tour, but now the roles are reversed as Uncle Ray travel north! The video in question was live streamed by Nancy at the time, but re-posted by Boyd this week, and it features AlgomA playing their songs "Extinct Volcanoes" & "The Longest Swim" (well, the first chunk), but it sill adds up to over 13 minutes of crushing sludge metal to kick off their set that night! Inconsistent lighting but solid audio and a nice close vantage point, though unfortunately, it's privacy settings mean that it can't be embedded on external websites, even though it's publically available on Facebook.

Until/unless that's changed, I can't embed it here, but give it a look at this link if you want to see AlgomA live in Windsor last year! That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's CD review next! Thanks everyone!

Iskra Concert Preview, Plus New Concert Videos Of Local Bands In Sudbury!!

Before we unveil this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post, here's a new news post for your Monday morning, mostly devoted to some recent concert video finds of local bands out of town, but first, here's a special Tuesday night concert preview, as Victoria, B.C. grindcore quintet Iskra will return to Sault Ste. Marie TONIGHT with a headlining show at The Gore Street Cafe! Coming less than a month after their headlining concert at The Oddfellows Hall, this brutal grind outfit should devastate fans at the laundromat as they make their way back west on their current tour, and the locale should add some spice to the proceedings, as Iskra may be the heaviest band to ever play at the cafe! Note that this show doesn't have an official openers lineup, but it will be preceded tonight at 6:00 PM by an open mic night hosted by local musician Kody Penno, though these are considered separate events.

Like last month's Oddfellows Hall show, this is an ALL AGES event, and it will start at 9:30 PM tonight, but like usual for Gore Street Cafe events, admission is via the "pay what you can" model, so keep that in mind! After the 12 year wait for Iskra to come back to the Soo, the short turnaround this time is a nice surprise, so kudos to the laundromat for bringing them back so soon, and don't miss out tonight! For a preview, here they are last month!



Next up, here's some new concert video finds from three local metal bands during 2016 tour dates in Sudbury! These all come from Sudbury concert venue The Asylum (co-founded by Wolven Ancestry frontman Mark Howitt), whose new YouTube channel is the site of a spree of recent uploads from shows there, with six of those videos being of Sault Ste. Marie talent, so what should you know about them? Three are of local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver's headlining show at The Asylum on April 29th, and they include their songs "Helen Kellers", "It Won't Change" (focused on drummer Matt Baic on a vertical camera angle), and as embedded below, the guys playing their self-titled song, "You're Scared", and "Fabricated Nonsense" one after the other. The videos can be a little dark, and fans' heads get in the way until the filmer gets closer to the stage, but Shit Liver sound ferocious as usual, so give their Asylum concert videos a look above & below!



Two more videos came from local doom metal trio AlgomA's set opening for past local headlining acts Striker and Archelon at The Asylum on June 15th, and yes, the channel has videos of those bands too if you're so inclined! AlgomA's videos include a portion of their newer song "Brazen Bull" (kudos to guitarist Boyd Rendell for confirming the title on his personal Facebook page), and as embedded below, most of their song "Extinct Volcanoes". More of a stationary camera angle here, capturing AlgomA's sludgy and down-trodden brand of metal nicely, so give their Sudbury videos a look above & below too!



Finally for today, The Asylum's channel does have one video of local punk/metal favourites Jack Spades from their set opening for recent New American headliners Cocaine Moustache on July 13th, and it's of their original song "Negative Headspace"! This may be of extra note as the first public video that we've found of Jack Spades' current quartet lineup, following guitarist Tiffany Stocco's departure last month, and while the song sounds a little emptier with only one guitar track, Jack Spades are in fine form during this "tiny disastour" stop, with J.D. Pearce delivering some fun pre-song banter! Give their Asylum video a look below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our newest "Where Are The New Albums?" post, which is definitely next! Thanks everyone!

Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Anyone wanna see some new videos? I've got a bunch today for another local metal video showcase, so here's what's on tap! Tonight, we've got this week's classic video, new original videos from a pair of local guitarists, and some early 1990s audio recordings from an old local band, and for fairness, I've organized these videos in alphabetical order by band name. Check it all out below, and also see our last news post featuring new concerts, a local band's breakup, and more in the post below this one!

Let's start with the newest video from ApocalyptiCDistroyeR frontman Jesse Middaugh, who uploaded this onto his YouTube channel earlier today. The first new video on his channel in almost a month, this is an over 6 minute long "jam session" video, though he's the only band member present. Jesse's playing on a new guitar here, and the original riffing and melodies he presents here sound pretty good, but hopefully he fleshes out some elements of this session into fuller original tracks, and maybe with the whole band? Check out Jesse's newest video below, and check out much more at the above links!



Next up is a series of new audio uploads onto Flat Stanley/Wishbone drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel, all from an early 1990s hard rock band of his named Dirty World! He was joined by longtime bandmates & Bigsuit alums Brian Oja on guitar & Crank Sound Distribution's George Ravlich on bass for most of the tracks, with The Southern Fried Band's Paul Dellavedova and veteran local musician Dale Corcoran on vocals & guitar instead of Brian in an earlier upload. Four audio recordings from 1992 were posted onto YouTube by Glen earlier today, including a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "All Around The Bend" at The Royal Hotel with their earlier quartet lineup, covers of the Pat Travers songs "Go All Night" and "Snortin' Whiskey" at The Eastgate Hotel, and (as embedded below) a jam session cover of Joe Satriani's "Ice 9", so check everything out above and below! The recording quality is pretty good, and though the CCR cover is well performed & sung, the band had clear talent at instrumental hard rock numbers, and it's nice to see a band (even a defunct one) take that approach with their music! Check out all of the new uploads from Dirty World's heyday (and much more from Glen's past & present projects) at the above links, and here's their Joe Satriani cover from 20 years ago!



Thirdly today is a new original track & video from local solo guitarist Mike Cliffe! Entitled "Three Riff Monty", he uploaded this on his YouTube channel on Saturday. The title comes from both the card game Three Card Monte and the fact that he uses 3 different riffs in the song, and though he calls it "overdriven", it sounded pretty good! Nice jazz-influenced hard rock instrumental with some interesting visualizations (including dancing stick men), and it's worth a listen if you like Mike's heavier solo work! Check it out below, and hear much more from him at the above links!



And finally, here's this week's classic video, and with the Ypres Metal Fest debuting at The Canadian Nightclub on Saturday in memory of late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold, I thought it'd be more than fitting to upload a new live Woods of Ypres video to YouTube that wasn't there before! David had plenty of band videos on his personal Facebook page from concerts following the band's local relocation in 2008, and for this classic video upload, I chose this video of Woods of Ypres playing "Awaiting The Inevitable" from a concert in Sudbury on November 18th, 2008! This was from the band's "Looming Cold of Autumn Tour" that fall, which was their only tour featuring their short-lived "Gates of Ypres" lineup, featuring Gates of Winter's longtime 4 core members, then-drummer David Gold on vocals & guitar, and Evan Madden behind the Woods drumkit. I chose a video from 2008 over others available due to the lineup's very strong local connections, and I picked "Awaiting The Inevitable" over other 2008 videos because of it's rarer frequency at Woods of Ypres concerts. This video has strong audio quality, and the filmer had a good angle of the band, but the lighting is fairly poor, and the band members look almost in silhouette on stage.

This video was filmed live at the concert by an attendee ans was later uploaded by David to Facebook at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=42134820671. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!!! All credit for this video goes to Woods of Ypres and the original filmer, I'm just trying to share this performance with a wider audience like it deserves! David's musical work deserves recognition, and some solid older videos can always help, so give this 3½ year old Woods of Ypres video a look below, and stay tuned for much more coverage and previews of the Ypres Metal Fest as the week rolls along!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post soon, which WILL include the David Gold-related article from The Sault Star, I promise! Thanks everyone!