Local Metal/Hard Rock Video Showcase!!

Let's look at some new videos on this Tuesday night, conveniently all from covers-centric local hard rock bands who frequently play at area nightclubs! We'll start with local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck, who were filmed for two videos at their Esquire Club show on Saturday night, both as uploaded to drummer Glen Thomas' YouTube channel. The videos feature Soundcheck & fill-in bassist Jim Michaud (of Obsession fame) covering Loverboy's "Working For The Weekend" with guitarist Terry Eaton on lead vocals, but embedded below is the longer video of them covering Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" with Cameron Oliver singing. Both videos are taken from slightly different stationary angles at the same table to the stage's left/band's right, which isn't ideal to look at the band, with only Jim reliably visible due to dancing attendees on the floor.  Of course, it's nice seeing them have fun, that's the most important part of all!

Soundcheck and Jim handle both of these classic rock staples just fine as you'd expect, and Jim fits right in on bass, which is not surprising given that Obsession are not far away musically! Some may be surprised by how countrified "Footloose" sounds with Cameron singing, but remember that he does play country-centric solo gigs. Check these out above & below! 

Next up, local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek got a surprising number of videos from their shows at Jay's Piston Broke Pub this past weekend! One was actually shared on the venue's Facebook page from Soo Greyhounds radio play-by-play announcer Gerry Liscumb Jr.'s personal Facebook page, which sees the guys covering Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight". It's a 45 second clip that focuses primarily on Justin & Bones, so it's not as substantial as other videos from the gigs, but it sounds good while it lasts! Three longer videos were uploaded directly on the band's Facebook page, with Tanya Maitland filming them twice, including a stripped down cover of Journey's "Faithfully" sans Shane & Tony, and a full band cover of Judas Priest's "Living After Midnight". Both get a good angle of the stage, and the guys sound strong in their debut weekend for 2023, with Justin showing off his vocals nicely on "Faithfully" in particular!

Embedded below is the longest video uploaded by the band, as shot by attendee Katina King, which sees the guys covering Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue On Black". The hazier lighting aside, she got some nice footage of Fort Creek in action, and they handle that 1990s blues rock staple as well as you'd expect! If you believe Facebook comment replies, Fort Creek are already "on a short break", but hopefully they're back in action soon, and give their new videos a watch above & below!

Meanwhile, Sault Michigan blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 were also filmed when they played at The Strongs Tavern in nearby Eckerman this past Saturday night, with an attendee getting this video of them covering Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" for their Facebook page! Unfortunately, this video was shot vertically, but the cover comes off well, and this is a good pick for guitarist Joe Jenkins to show his skills off in particular, even getting up close to fans during the solo. Check this one out for yourselves below, and stay tuned for more from Project 906!

Finally for today, here's a new old video of defunct local classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester, courtesy of drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel on Sunday! His first upload there in well over two years, I believe this was filmed at a private wedding gig that they played in Elliot Lake in August 2014, and it sees That's Chester covering AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" as their closing song. The upload isn't so much for the song, which sounds good from this talented quintet with ample experience, but because a wedding attendee actually got on stage & started playing the bongos (apparently ones he brought to the event), which Ric pointed out with a post-production arrow and some captions. While Ric does note the guy's lack of rhythm, That's Chester seemed to take their impromptu guest in stride, with singer Greg Simpson joining him in hitting the bongos at one point, and shaking his hand-post set.

I'm surprised it took almost nine years for this video to make it online, as it delivers the musical and humour goods, and it is nice to see That's Chester's full final lineup in action once again, so give this one a look below!

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

YouTube Channel Profile Series: Gabe Tessaro

It's now time for this month's YouTube Channel Profile, giving us another chance to spotlight a YouTube channel (randomly selected as ever) to spotlight their uploads and content for modern readers! This month's selection gives us a prominent band from the local nightclub cover circuit in their twilight, so here's what you should know!

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Gabe Tessaro (http://youtube.com/channel/UCPYbZUEmGXSDNN0haEuy0_g)

Owner: Obsession guitarist Gabe Tessaro, also previously known from bands like That's Chester, Agave Blue, and The Reptiles

Channel Timeline: Launched on October 12th, 2011; Videos uploaded from November 2015 until June 2020

Channel Summary: A personal use channel, all four of Gabe's uploads relate to his 2004-2016 classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester, mostly via live concert videos from their last year as an active band, plus a one-off virtual reunion much further down the road.

Why You Should Watch: This will be must-watch for fans of Greg-era That's Chester, especially given the melancholy nature of these performances both at the time and in hindsight, so don't miss out! More videos of them can be seen at drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel, and while Gabe's channel is personal use, he has not uploaded videos from his other local bands, nor as he actively used it in the past year.

 Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Captain Walker/It's A Boy: In their last public gigs with their final full lineup, That's Chester served as the house band for the local stage production of The Who's Tommy at The Machine Shop in November 2015, with frontman Greg Simpson also acting in it. Just three weeks later, guitarist Eugene Orlando suddenly passed away, and Gabe posted this video from one of the shows that same day. By far his most popular video, this has a performance of the linked early songs "Captain Walker" & "It's A Boy" featuring vocals from other actors. These are well done (if not all that heavy at this point), and the high camera angle captures action on stage well, especially the poignant scene of Gabe & Eugene playing together during the second song!

IMG 1221: Gabe's next two uploads are of That's Chester's eighth & ninth appearances at Rotaryfest's main stage at Clergue Park in July 2015 & 2016, including their nighttime cover of Deep Purple's "Hush" from 2015 (their last non-Tommy show with Eugene). Featured here is the 2016 video, from what was both a Eugene tribute set and the band's farewell as an active group. This cover of April Wine's "Roller" features guest vocals from original That's Chester frontman Richard Fullerton (recently of the Ottawa rock bands Mothership & Trashed Taxi) as well as fill-in guitarist Dan Belanger, who has sat in with Gabe's bands at multiple Rotaryfests. Ric did upload an alternate stationary angle of this very performance later, but the moving camera give this some extra flavour, and the guys all perform strongly! Greg does not sing here, but he does come out at the end.

That's Chester Isolation WishYouWereHere: Though the first pandemic lockdown was over by the end of June 2020, life as we knew it was still very much in upheaval, and many fans were surprised when Greg, Gabe, bassist Aubrey Falls, and Ric reunited (if remotely) to cover Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" for both Gabe's and Ric's YouTube channels. Dedicated by Greg to "everybody out there who's missing somebody" as well as Eugene (as per Ric's upload's description), this cover is well handled with strong editing, if very melancholy given the optics of both where the world was in mid-2020 and the fact that they were playing again without Eugene. Greg handled the second guitar role in Eugene's place, and while this isn't my favourite Pink Floyd's song, the messages resonate regardless!

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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profile! Next month, we're looking at multiple channels again, as the first that I randomly selected had just one video on offer. As such, we'll be looking at YouTube users quasarwaves (featuring a late period Gates of Winter sample clip), These Magnificent Tentacles (featuring their studio songs so far), and ironically given that I just discovered them, Steel Sour (featuring their lone jam session video). Look for these on or around November 26th, and for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!

New Videos From Frankly Speaking, Mikey Hawdon, And That's Chester!!

Let's dive into our 89th straight daily post at The Sault Metal Scene today, and it's a video-heavy one once again, specifically around cover performances from many familiar faces. Here's what you should know!

Veteran local classic rock cover duo Frankly Speaking held a special live-streamed concert on Facebook on Tuesday night that does have some hard rock content! While their setlist is largely not on the heavier spectrum, frontman Frank Gioia and keyboardist Frank Greco have a solid talent base and an extensive setlist that you may have seen at bars and special events since at least 2012. In fact, Frank Gioia was the featured musician in Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s final "Songs & A Six-Pack" live-streamed concert last month, so check that out if you haven't already! Shame that The Wyld Stallyns never got a redo. As for Frankly Speaking, their live-streamed concert is entitled "Healing Songs By The Fire", as the Franks are performing outside around a bonfire, which is a familiar and warm locale for many readers! This was shared onto the band's Facebook page from Frank Gioia's personal Facebook page, and was promoted with this SooToday article.

The 76 minute live-stream opens with Frank Gioia introducing the band and talking about how fire represents hope and how they want to bring everyone together in uncertain times, primarily social injustice. In order, Frankly Speaking cover Bruce Hornsby & The Range's "The Way It Is", Otis Redding's "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay", Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)", Seal's "Crazy", The Tragically Hip's "Ahead By A Century", Bill Withers' "Lean On Me", Supertramp's "The Logical Song", Joe Cocker's version of Billy Preston's "You Are So Beautiful", Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful", Queen's "You're My Best Friend", Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire", Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", and John Lennon's "Imagine". Effective set overall, and Frank & Frank have a good handle on these (mostly) classic rock favourites! You can tell that they put in the care and effort to include songs reflective of the themes of hope & healing.

Frank Gioia's between-song banter is very reassuring, and with how his speaking voice sounded, was anyone else reminded of Carl Sagan a bit? Frankly Speaking delivered a fun set, and having it take place at dusk with the sun setting was a nice touch, so give the whole thing a watch below!

Next up, we have another veteran act coming together (albeit remotely) to cover a song reflective of recent times, as the surviving members of classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester's best known lineup got together to do a rendition of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"! Uploaded to drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel earlier today, this features Ric alongside singer Greg Simpson (in his now-familiar smokeroom), guitarist Gabe Tessaro, and bassist Aubrey Falls, with Greg also playing acoustic guitar in lieu of the late Eugene Orlando. The video description notes that That's Chester broke up due to Eugene's passing in 2015 (their two Rotaryfest reunion sets in 2016 & 2018 excepted), and the cover is in dedication to him and everyone who's lost a friend or family member. I'm not a Pink Floyd guy, but this is a nicely done cover, and you do get the sense that this was emotionally tough to do.

The double meaning of wishing that everyone was here due to social distancing also exists, but the tribute to Eugene dominates given the optics of this particular cover, and I know how much he was missed following his sudden loss over four years ago. Give That's Chester's reunion video a watch below, and hopefully we'll see the guys on stage again down the line!



Finally for today, here's the latest "quarantunes" from prolific local punk musician Mikey Hawdon and his uke, courtesy of his YouTube channel! Two new ones are up that we haven't plugged on the SMS, including yesterday's cover of Wilson Phillips' "Hold On" featuring guest musicians from out of town. Embedded below is today's cover (#90) of The Ramones' "She's The One", and in a first for our embedding choices on the site, this is a completely solo rendition with no guests. Of course, Mikey knows The Ramones very well from his work fronting The Merves and The Gabba Heys, and he adds a soft sincerity with the solo ukelele rendition, so give it a watch below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Northern Superior's Latest Songs & A Six-Pack Concert, Show Cancellations, And More!!

On this 55th straight day of SMS posts, we have new videos to check out from some familiar veteran faces, but let's lead off with some more updates to our concert calendar, albeit negative ones as usual. We'll start in Michigan, where Kewadin Casino announced on their Facebook page yesterday that their branches will all remain closed through the end of the month, with June 1st tentatively slated to be their re-opening date. As such, this wipes out the final May concerts we listed in the E.U.P., namely the May 29th weekend shows from Peril in the Soo and Highway 63 in St. Ignace. In Sault Ontario, nothing that we currently have listed has been visibly cancelled by the bands or promoters on social media, but I am reluctantly delisting the Anti-Queens concert at The Rockstar Bar on May 23rd, as everything around it this month has been called off, and many of The Anti-Queens later concert dates are getting postponed or cancelled elsewhere.

For full disclosure, the local show has not been publically cancelled by the band, promoter, or venue, but the likelihood of this concert and no others in May taking place seems slim-to-none, and there are definitely more cancellations and postponements ahead. If I happen to be wrong, I will redact this, but these are funny times that we're living in right now.

Next up, Northern Superior Brewing Co.'s sixth weekly "Songs & A Six-Pack" live-stream concert took place last night, and this week's host was Bone Yard frontman and (Choose) Maxx Entertainment head Greg Simpson! For the record, last week's show was headlined by country musician Brendan Hodgson, so genre fans will definitely want to check that one out at this link. Simultaneously, Greg's performance is the de facto sequel to his "Songs From The Smoke Room" live-stream last month, with it's planned follow-up on April 8th cancelled on short notice due to his father-in-law being in the hospital, which he acknowledged in last night's video, but thankfully, he is doing better now. Of course, it's great to see Greg back in the smoke room for more covers, albeit with Northern Superior advertising and plugs thrown in! Like last month, this set is more reflective of Greg's past work in classic/hard rock bands.

The 82 minute video starts with his slowed down acoustic cover of Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite", before moving to renditions of Kris Kristofferson's "Me & Bobby McGee", Black Label Society's "Spoke In The Wheel", Kid Rock's "All Summer Long", Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", The Tragically Hip's "Fiddler's Green", Cinderella's "Shelter Me", Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", The 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up", Ray LaMontagne's "Jolene", The Band's "The Weight", Jamey Johnson's "High Cost of Living", The Barenaked Ladies' "The Old Apartment", Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain", The Five Man Electric Band's "Signs", and Guns N' Roses' "Used To Love Her". If you get deja vu from Greg's live-stream last month, then I cannot blame you whatsoever, as only two songs from that set ("Wheat Kings" & "I Took A Pill In Ibiza") were not reprised last night, and only the last five covers were brand new.

That all said, this is still an entertaining concert set, and Greg injects a lot of these songs with good energy and optimism, complete with more entertaining banter with his wife Kerry, helping out off-camera once again. Hopefully there's more on the horizon from Greg, but give his "Songs & A Six-Pack From The Smoke Room" a watch below!

Finally, here's a newly shared video of Greg's old classic/hard rock cover band That's Chester, albeit before he joined the group! This comes from Rotaryfest's main stage at Clergue Park in July 2006, and was uploaded onto drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel on Tuesday. This features That's Chester with their original frontman Richard Fullerton (now of the Ottawa-based Led Zeppelin tribute band Mothership), and the video opens with an amusing intro by MC/local radio DJ James Warner-Smith where the guys get introduced as the "next" band in an increasingly silly list of musicians, and we even hear their early stage names too (all have "Chester" in them). Musically speaking, you can see Ritch, Eugene, Gabe, Aubrey, and Ric cover a number of different songs, though these were edited into a clip montage in post-production, so no full songs are presented. Fans will hear Sammy Hagar, The Tragically Hip, and AC/DC songs, among others.

I wish the song fragments were at least longer, and the editing quality gives me the impression that this isn't a brand new video, but it's nice to hear the original That's Chester lineup at their height before Richard left! Everyone sounds good, so fans of theirs would be well served to give this video a watch, and visit Ric's YouTube channel for more archive video uploads of his!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

New Videos, Atomic MusicFest Updates, And Much More!!

In what may be our last traditional news post of March 2019, we have some big updates on a Northern Ontario festival with a heavy local component, and some assorted recent shorter stories, but we'll lead off with some new videos, so here's what you should know!

We'll start with a newly posted video of defunct local classic/hard rock cover quintet That's Chester live at Rotaryfest 2016! Posted to drummer Ric Datson's YouTube channel on Wednesday, this is of their cover of April Wine's "Roller" from their final gig as an active project, which was in memory of late guitarist Eugene Orlando, who passed away suddenly the previous fall. Now, footage of this particular performance is nothing new, as guitarist Gabe Tessaro's channel also has a video of this very cover, but the new video captures the full song on a stationary camera closer to the stage. For this song, former That's Chester singer Richard Fullerton provided sole guest vocals in lieu of Greg Simpson (who does come back at the end to give shout outs), while Dan Belanger filled in for Eugene on guitar. Both Rich and Dan returned as guests for That's Chester's one-off Rotaryfest set last year too.

As in Gabe's video of this performance, That's Chester were on their game here, and Richard fit in fine with his old band, so fans of That's Chester's long local run will defnitely want to see this video, on it's own merits and to compare with the other video of this song! Give it a look below!



Next up, here's a new video from local Celtic punk quintet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide's Facebook page last week, where Dustin (on location at Mission Control Studios) thanks fans for checking our their new "Lost & Found" music video on Facebook and YouTube. He also mentioned that the single can be heard on Spotify, iTunes, and similar services, and he explained some of the inspiration behind the lyrics. Short video, but it's a nice gesture to thank everyone, and hopefully more updates on their new album come out soon! Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from The Tide's camp!



Also today, here's the latest concerning local performers at the Atomic MusicFest in Elliot Lake in August, as some more familiar faces are driving 2 hours east for this well anticipated event! Two more metal-leaning bands from the Soo will be featured over the August 10th weekend, namely power rock quintet Re:Born in their out-of-town debut, as well as funk/hard rock quartet The Elements, who will be playing one normal set and separately under their temporary Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band guise! It's worth noting that they are now advertised to be playing under the name Higher Ground rather than Scar Tissue for unannounced reasons. If true, it's an interesting choice, given that "Higher Ground" was a cover of a Stevie Wonder song, not a Chili Peppers original, but it works well enough as a name! As for the previously teased local rappers, they will be Rick E and Kodex, who have performed in Elliot Lake before. Visit the official Facebook event page for complete details on the lineup, including acts from beyond the Soo area!
 
Not everyone will be up for a 2 hour drive for a concert festival of this scale, but if Elliot Lake is a piece of cake to get to, you'll find a full lineup of entertaining music from across Northern Ontario, and hopefully the Atomic MusicFest is a huge hit to encourage an even bigger and better sophomore installment! See above for complete details on how to attend!

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

• The Sault Ste. Marie Downtown Association is looking for bands & solo artists interested in playing at this year's Downtown Street Parties on Queen Street East, as per their Facebook page on Wednesday, and you can get more details at info@saultdowntown.com or at (705) 942-2919. For reference, there were 3 Downtown Street Parties last year from July-September, with SMS-covered acts like Northwest, Soundcheck, and The Wyld Stallyns factoring in two of them. Hopefully this year's parties are huge hits, and contact the S.S.M.D.A. above if you want in!
• Barring a sudden sign of life, I'll be moving local progressive death metal band Gates of Winter back to our inactive band links on Monday. We last heard anything new from their camp via a video of members jamming that circulated on personal Facebook accounts on April 1st of last year, with their Facebook page (which hadn't been posted on since July 2017) quietly being taken down since. I hope this isn't it for Gates of Winter, especially after so much work on the "Perihelion" EP, but best of luck to Lee, Bryan, Steve, and other past members in the future no matter what!
• Pixo Control/Vol. alum Steve Edwards is looking to join an original band in a guitar, bass, drums, or vocal role, and he has jam space with essential gear. He did specify that he does not want to play metal, pop punk, or country, and he noted that he's "looking for a project to work on in between my current one" (I don't believe that references Mik & Steve, whose Facebook page has been taken down.) Whether his hoped for project leans close to his old band work or not, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from Wednesday for details!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Id Iota) & Rotaryfest Stage 1 Concert Previews!!

The biggest local concert weekend of the year (holidays excepted) is upon us, so here is the first of our weekend concert preview posts! We're largely focusing on half of a major annual festival today, but let's start with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Local indie/hard rock quartet Id Iota will headline one of two post-Rotaryfest afterparties at LopLops Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only announced this past Friday. After co-headlining Stage 2 at 7:30 PM (more on that later today), this fan favourite band will head to LopLops to continue that venue's "re-directed"-era run of post-Rotaryfest concerts with Stage 2 performers, and they should be in fine form with their high energy originals TOMORROW! An opening act is teased, but not announced yet, though if past years are any indication, they'd likely be a Second Stage performer this year as well. We'll let you know if one is announced! TOMORROW'S 19+ concert has a $5 cover charge, and a special late start time of 11:00 PM to not conflict with Treble Charger's headlining Stage 1 set at 10:00 PM (more on that later in this post.)

The late scheduling makes sense, as punk and indie fans now don't have to pick and choose who to see on Friday, especially if you couldn't see Id Iota on the Second Stage that evening, and hopefully they deliver a knock-out set in both of their concerts TOMORROW NIGHT! Stay tuned for more on the opener if announced, and for our Stage 2 previews in our next post, but don't miss out on tomorrow night's action, and here's Id Iota live!



Next up, let's move to Clergue Park, where Rotaryfest's two stages are returning, and the covers-centric Stage 1 is taking things back with the "Rotaryfest Rewind" theme, in honour of the local Rotary Club's 100th anniversary! For the 20th modern Rotaryfest, stage director Shaun Antler and organizers have largely dropped their regular performer lineup in favour of hosting one-off reunions of defunct local bands of all stripes, with only five bands this year having played Rotaryfest at all since 2006, so if you've complained about the samey lineups of past main stage lineups, you'll want to pay attention! Given the roster of bands, I expect the covers-only rule won't be enforced as stringently either. Today's opening night lineup is hard rock free, as usual for Stage 1, but there are still many familiar faces scheduled! In descending order, today's bands are 1970s-1980s country band George Pinder & Patches at 10:00 PM, ...

...1960s classic rock outfit The Dark Side at 9:00 PM, 1960s-1970s classic rock quartet The Polisi Basson at 8:00 PM, 1980s jazz/blues rock quartet Zak's All-Stars at 7:00 PM, and 2000s Rotaryfest mainstays The Northern Jazz Ensemble kicking things off at 6:00 PM. No heavier bands to speak of, but expect a great lineup of local entertainment for FREE at Clergue Park today, especially if you were around for these bands' original runs!

TOMORROW'S lineup will be headlined by local indie/punk veterans Treble Charger at 10:00 PM in their first recorded Rotaryfest appearance and first local show in almost a year, so if you want a free & high profile set from them, here's quite the opportunity! A special tribute set will take place at 9:20 PM to honour past local musicians and bands, now to be hosted by Mac Headrick instead of Adrian Vilaca, and it'll be interesting to see what form this takes, especially with the involvement of Ric Datson from the Sault Ste. Marie Museum! Classic rock veterans Mustang Heart will play a special Bon Jovi & Journey tribute set at 8:30 PM to continue their current iron band streak at the festival. Early 2010s classic/hard rock cover band Turner Up will play their first Rotaryfest set since 2011 (as Full Circle) at 7:30 PM, featuring a five-piece composite lineup from across their run, while 1980s country/bluegrass quartet Road Fever will precede them with a reunion set at 6:30 PM.

Friday's openers are local hard rock/funk trio Tripod the Dog, who will bring their swing and ska-influenced sound back for the first time in over a decade at 5:30 PM. This may be the best package of hard rock and punk-per-pound at this year's Rotaryfest on any stage, so don't miss the FREE & ALL AGES action tomorrow night, and it's great to have these bands back at it! For a preview, here's Treble Charger live last year!



As for SATURDAY's extended lineup, that will closed by local classic/hard rock cover favourites That's Chester in their first show since Rotaryfest 2016, with guest guitarist Dan Belanger in tow, plus a special appearance by original singer Richard Fullerton, so look for more hard rocking hits at 10:30 PM! The nominal headliners are Juno-winning Calgary classic rock trio The Stampeders (of "Sweet City Woman" fame) at 8:30 PM, making them the first non-tribute/cover headliners at Rotaryfest in nine years, while another short tribute set to past local musicians will precede them at 7:50 PM. Local Celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide (with Chris Johns on drums) will make their Rotaryfest debut at 7:00 PM, while Chicago-influenced 1970s soft rock collective Pegasus will return at 6:00 PM, and 2010s hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings (featuring guest drummer Johnny Belanger) will play their fourth Stage 1 set at 5:00 PM, in their return to their original name.

Sporadically seen jam rock favourites Odd Man Out are on at 4:00 PM, while one-off pop rock tribute The Sun Dogs will host a "summer beach party" at 3:00 PM featuring covers of 1960s and 1970s summer and beach-themed songs. Wailing Aztecs alumni will perform folk & pop covers under their own names as McGillivray, Martinelli and Roy at 2:00 PM, while members of Korah Collegiate's school band Mustang Sally will kick things off under the name The Kids From Sally at 1:00 PM. Quite a stacked lineup of local favourites and special attractions on Saturday, let alone for FREE & ALL AGES, so see above for more details, and here's That's Chester live!



We're just getting started with our weekend concert previews, so look for our previews of the Second Stage and Saturday night's LopLops afterparty (a.k.a. The Dinunion) next on the SMS later today, with more yet to come on this stacked local concert weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Rudyard Musicians Festival), New Video Finds, And Rotaryfest Updates!!

After a busy weekend of personal commitments, we are back on this Sunday morning with a new news post, largely covering the Sault Michigan area via some new/old videos and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month! To round things out, we do have some lineup updates for a major Sault Ontario festival to round things out, so here's what you should know!

The third annual Rudyard Musicians Festival will go down at Rudyard Township Park (18725 South Mackinac Trail) on Saturday, August 18th! This late-summer concert event is back for a third go-around, with all proceeds going to Rudyard Area Schools' music and band programs once again, which remains a great cause! E.U.P. music lovers can take in a pig roast dinner, concessions, and camping before and after the festival, among other fun stuff, so visit the official Facebook page for full non-musical details! Promoters are again sticking to returning bands, with only 3 acts not back from 2017 (The Karstens, The Neighborhood Dogs, and Denny Verrett), and only two acts are debuting, so if you liked past years, expect a familiar day of entertainment! This year's only verifiable "hard rock" band is Project 906, and while it's great to see them back for year #3, note that they're on much earlier this time, namely at 3:00 PM. Local classic rockers and festival organizers Steelhead will headline this year's installment at 11:00 PM.

Classic rock favourites The Whole Shabang are back at 10:00 PM, while 2016 performers Second Offense will return to this event at 9:00 PM. Most remaining bands are (once again) country or bluegrass-centric unless otherwise known & stated, including Robert & Bob Malaski at 8:00 PM, The North Country Band at 7:00 PM, and The Wednesday Night Headliners (featuring Brian Harrison) at 6:00 PM. This year's debuting acts are new local country/western trio Rusted Spurs at 5:00 PM and St. Ignace country/folk artist Patrick Springsteen (of The Springsteen Brothers) at 4:00 PM, while the pre-Project 906 acts are Kevin Blakeney at 2:00 PM, pop singer Hayley Malaska at 1:00 PM, Jimmy Williams at 12:00 PM, and Traverse City's New Jazz Trio leading off at 11:00 AM. Musicians Fest III is once again an ALL AGES event with $5 admission at the door, save for kids 10 and under, who remain FREE. It's great to see another stacked lineup of regional musicians back for an excellent & relevant cause next month!

After two successful installments (even with the "NO METAL" disclaimer for last year's band search), this has proven to be a reliable and positive event to help the area school band programs, and hopefully this year's meets the same goals while entertaining large crowds at the same time! Visit the above links for current details on this year's Rudyard Musicians Festival!

Next up, here's a surprise video discovery of a local singer/guitarist covering some heavier music at two Sault Michigan concerts seven years ago! The performer here is Jude Reed, who I am not familiar with from our E.U.P. coverage, but he was the opening act for defunct local metal band Hammerspace for at least two of their early-2011 concerts, and shared a video from each onto his YouTube channel at the time. The latter video comes from their St. Patrick's Day concert at Zim's, where Jude covered The Cure's "Just Like Heaven" & The Foo Fighters' "Best of You", as part of a longer set that Jude lampshaded as being "shameful" aside from these songs. I more dislike the audio quality of the camera, as Jude seems to have a good grasp on these covers! The longer first video is embedded below, from the February 20th concert at The Merchant's Bar, and it features Jude covering Nirvana's "About A Girl", The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", Elvis Costello's "So Like Candy", ...

...Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", Nirvana's "Pennyroyal Tea", David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold The World", and The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun", so click each link to go to that song. Clearly a fan of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged album, Jude was honest about making mistakes during this concert (especially the solo during "So Like Candy"), but he is a good guitarist with a melodic yet gritty singing voice! Again, the camera's audio is the Achilles heel of these videos, not to mention the usually dark lighting, but if you can get past that, there's good qualities here, and hopefully Jude's kept at his music! Give his videos a look above & below!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items, all being lineup clarifications for hard rock bands playing at Rotaryfest's main stage on SATURDAY NIGHT! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name, and all are cited from the Sault Ontario summer festival's official program:

• If the program is to be believed, Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide have not enlisted Gianni Gagoots guitarist Liam Seymour as a fifth band member, as was the case in prior online advertising. No word on if a guest spot is planned, but don't miss the four piece Tide at 7:00 PM on Stage 1, and/or Liam with The Barn Board Trio on Stage 2!
• Prolific local metal/punk drummer Johnny Belanger will play guest drums with the reunited Suicide Kings for their one-off set on Stage 1 at 5:00 PM, in place of Ben Boudreau. A reason for Ben's absence hasn't been publically stated, but hopefully nothing bad happened internally, and that we see him on stage again down the line! Johnny filled in with the former Beaumont Avenue late in their run, and has played with band members in The Bear Hunters and Heavy Head, so he should be a fine fit on Saturday!
• North Bay guitarist and sound engineer Dan Belanger will play guitar for That's Chester's one-off festival-closing set at Stage 1 at 10:30 PM on Saturday. Dan worked with That's Chester on their Tommy musical production in 2015, and after guitarist Eugene Orlando's sudden death a few weeks later, Dan filled in at their farewell/tribute set at Rotaryfest 2016, a role he'll reprise this weekend. Very solid and familiar choice, and hopefully the guys deliver another home run!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week, especially with Rotaryfest looming large! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Solo Project, New Video Finds, And More Assorted News & Notes!!

As we continue our busy stretch of posts this week, here's another new post for your Friday morning, which includes some assorted recent updates, a pair of new video discoveries, and leading off, here's a new local solo project!

We have a new local solo artist to add to our active band links, and he is Mike McCleary, who you may see performing live TODAY at Sault College's reunion concert! Though I was unfamiliar with Mike until yesterday, he has a lot to talk about, so what should you know? First posting audio material onto his Soundcloud page in May, Mike launched his Facebook page last month, and has already hyped plans to release a solo EP and a music video for his song "The Working Poor", so how's that for a fast start? Actually, Mike's been a self-taught musician since he was 15, as noted in his extensive Facebook biography, where he indicated that he played in some bands while in high school, but he took a break from music for a while due to "the responsibilities of adult life" and starting his family, though he credits music for inspiring him during that time. With his wife's encouragement, Mike has restarted his music career, but how does Mike sound so far?

Inspired by everything from political punk bands to hard rock/metal acts, and even some roots and blues rock, Mike is a talented musician who seems adept at handling multiple genres, whether it's the hard rock bite of "Fire & Fury", the funkier "Weight of the Truth", or emotional ballad "Aylan", and many more (including some early covers), and while his singing voice fits more rock-based material better, I like where he's going! Mike says that he wants to write thought provoking songs that "evoke a response", and you get a sense of that lyrically in many originals. Solid work so far, so check out Mike McCleary at the above links!

Next up, here's one more archival That's Chester video that I came across on YouTube, courtesy of user Robin Joanisse's channel, as filmed when the inactive local classic/hard rock cover quintet took a road trip out to Hawk Junction (15 minutes east of Wawa) to play at the community's homecoming reunion event in August 2008! Robin was a co-organizer of the reunion, and also uploaded this video of a remembrance ceremony there that same month. In terms of That's Chester videos on YouTube, this will be extra notable as it may be the only one publically viewable one featuring then-singer Jim O'Leary, who also brought the other band he fronted at the time (Flat Stanley) to Hawk Junction for the festivities, as cited here. The video features That's Chester and a guest harmonica player covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" with some occasional lyric changes to suit the locale, and while it's a solid cover, loud cymbals can get in the road, and much of the song was cut from the final copy.

Also, you get a long stretch of Gabe Tessaro talking to the crowd before the song proper begins, but overall, this is some fun and light action from That's Chester Mark II's run in the late 2000s, and I wish that there were more videos of this lineup online! Jim was a good fit, as we later saw with Griphook, and he can adapt his voice to many genres well! Unfortunately, the video was uploaded with settings blocking it from being embedded on external websites, but definitely give it a look at the above links!

Also today, here's a new video of Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night's rehearsals for their upcoming Christmas tour, this time courtesy of their YouTube channel on Tuesday! This exclusive video features guitarist Steve Giles rehearsing numerous familiar carols for the tour in quick cuts, like "The Little Drummer Boy", "Carol of the Bells", and "What Child Is This?", among others. Featuring pre-recorded tracking audio with recently added performers, this is a solid sample of what's to come, despite the vertical camera angle, and again, nothing too substantial is being given away pre-tour! Check it out below, and stay tuned for more from Theatre of Night!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last week or so, and as usual, these stories are in alphabetical order by artist, station, or event name:

• Sault Ontario doom metal trio AlgomA have unfortunately pulled out of their upcoming split release tour with Shit Liver due to "some unforeseen medical circumstances", as per the band's Facebook page yesterday. This may be related to the same medical occurrence that scuttled their Toronto show in April, but the band hasn't elaborated other than to say that "it's (not) in our best interest" to do the tour, but will be back "in no time." Shit Liver will still headline the tour in full and sell the "Trading Faces" tapes, and while there has been no direct confirmation or denial yet, we'll let you know if AlgomA can still play the local stop at The New A!
• Classic Rock: The Bear (which gets fringe reception here at WCHY 97.7 FM in Cheboygan) has officially dropped the syndicated Bob & Tom Show in favour of a new local morning drive show from former KLT hosts Steve “Omelette” Normandin & Rick Coates. Music & branding aside, this cuts the last tie to what aired on The Bear's 2002-2010 local affiliate in Newberry (WIHC 97.9 FM), with Bob & Tom having been a constant on The Bear's network since the late 1990s. It's great to see Omelette & Friends back on the radio, but hopefully Bob & Tom return to a regional FM dial elsewhere!
• Sault Ontario promoters Choose Maxx announced on their Facebook page yesterday that the annual Toystock fundraiser concert will return for it's sixth installment (and third at the Northern Grand Gardens) on Sunday, November 26th, and to private message them if you or your band are interested in playing! No word yet on who might be playing Toystock VI, but remember that this Christmas Cheer event features 10 (typically covers-centric) bands in 10 hours, and lineups largely don't stay the same year to year, with only Bone Yard and the inactive Lucky 13 playing Toystock three times to date. Stay tuned for updates as they come in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the Sault Metal Scene in the near future! Thanks everyone!

Oh!No 2017 Music Festival Fallout, Plus More New Video Finds!!

Here's another new post for your Wednesday morning, featuring a few familiar recent subjects for regular readers! This one is another video-heavy post, this time featuring a solo cover, a studio sample, and a concert performance from last year, but first, here's some of the first fallout from a major debuting festival earlier this month!

We'll start today with some of the first fallout from Saturday's Oh!No 2017 Music Festival in nearby Leeburn, and while we still wait for promoters Six, Two, Oh.'s teased footage of every band, the Facebook event page has became a hub of sorts for media from the concert, including a fair amount of photos showcasing Robbie's Church, the scenery around the venue, and many familiar faces either performing or attending. Fellow promoters Live705 were also on hand to do sound for the event, given that A Dire Setback were already playing that afternoon. Aside from two videos from Bear Hunters singer Nik Deubel focusing on Jack Spades' guitarist Daniel Horton's adventures with a canoe near the venue (which are amusing!), the only videos on the event page come from attendee Janette Wallace, including this video featuring the camping area and scenery around the church, and as embedded below, a video of funk/hard rock quartet The Elements' set from early in the day!

Filmed at a nice overhead angle (I like when venues are formatted with that option), I believe this is 24 seconds of an Elements original, but the video was uploaded in intentionally inverted colours as part of a contest, where the first person on Facebook to guess the band would win two tickets for the rest of the Oh!No Fest (congratulations to Abbey Lynn Ridley by way of Martin for winning!) Friendly tip, paste a screenshot of Janette's photos & video into Windows Paint and press Ctrl+Shift+I to see everything in proper colour, but The Elements sound good from what we hear, so give this video a look below, and see more from Oh!No 2017 above!



Next up, here's the third and final video of inactive local classic/hard rock cover quintet That's Chester from guitarist Gabe Tessaro's YouTube channel, this time from their farewell set at Rotaryfest last year! This clip is of their rendition of April Wine's "Roller", though the band will look slightly different than you may be used to, as original singer Richard Fullerton came back home for their set & handled solo vocals here, while Dan Belanger took over second guitar for their set in place of the late Eugene Orlando. Regular frontman Greg Simpson & fellow guest vocalist Jeannine Jefferson sat this particular cover out, but Greg rejoined the band at song's end to give a shoutout to Rich and Dan, and the two singers did share the stage during the set. This is a fun cover of the classic April Wine number, and Richard's back in his element with his old band, plus I like the visual of the filmer walking down the aisle between the seats to begin the footage, which you can see below!



Also today, here's a video that we missed back in July for acknowledgement on the SMS (apologies for that), and it's a preview video of a studio track from The Bear Hunters forthcoming second studio album "The Dead Testament"! Filmed at Mission Control Studios by producer Dustin Jones and shared to the studio's Facebook page, this is a 45 second sample of the studio version of "Servitude", via filming the tracking computer with cameos of the band (minus Josh) at the end, and they seem happy with the results! Of course, this isn't an optimal look at "Servitude" in audio quality or length, but it's great to see that work is progressing, so give it a look below!

 
Finally for today, here's another new video from Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's Facebook page back in August that we hadn't previously shared here, though this one predates their public unveiling of any Christmas tour plans. This is a solo vocal cover by keyboardist Craig Harrison of "Come As You Are" by the Christian folk artist Crowder, as filmed with a vertical camera angle in monochrome. This is another solo cover of Craig's where he holds the camera out himself and definitely looks like he's in the groove once again, and while I'm not familiar with the original song, Craig's singing's is on point and has emotion to it, so give this one a look as well!



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

Lots Of Theatre Of Night Updates, A New Video Find, And More Recent Updates!!

Here's another new post for your Tuesday morning, so what can we find out today? Alongside some shorter recent stories, we have another recent video find that hadn't previously been shared here, and leading off, some long overdue news on a local metal band's surprising resurgence of activity, so here's what you should know!

We'll start today with some intriguing news from Sault Michigan classical metal project Theatre of Night, who are teasing a Christmas tour run to take place at some point over the winter! When you consider that this band's only public concert (that I'm aware of) took place back on Memorial Day 2013, this revelation four & a half years later is even more surprising! Keyboardist Craig Harrison has been teasing the planned tour in Facebook page posts since last month, with specific updates slowly making their way online in the ensuing weeks, and while a potential local date isn't confirmed yet, one comment reply implied shows would take place in the Grand Rapids area. Craig & guitarist Steve Giles have enlisted five extra musicians to join them on tour, and they include singers Jordan Flesch & Stacie McCarthy, former Elipzis guitarist Chris Webster (great to see him working with a local band again!), and bassist Scott Andringa of the Holland blues rock band Shame on Susan.

Finally, the lineup is rounded out by prolific Grand Rapids-area rock drummer Erik Sales (replacing the long-departed Greg Giles), who has performed with Stacie in some recent ventures there. How's that for a massive lineup? No word on if they're all official band members now or if they're just touring performers, or if Germany's Gaby Koss will still perform on studio material with Theatre of Night, but this all sounds very encouraging! There are precious few details on the tour proper at press time, but there are a decent amount of preview videos uploaded or shared to Theatre of Night's Facebook page of tour preparations, so here's what you should know on those! All comprised of Christmas carols in a symphonic metal style (remember their "Christmas Night" CD?), the videos include a preview of a studio version of "O Holy Night" with vocals, Craig playing "Silent Night" on the keyboard, and Jordan singing "Away In A Manger" in two videos (linked here & here). All are abbreviated previews, but you get a skilled sampling of what's to come!

The other two videos are of the full septet rehearsing in Holland, though "Away In A Manger" also serves as the preview carol in both. One video is a montage of Snapchat-style clips of rehearsals & preparation therein, but embedded below is a fuller video showing the band in action, though Craig and Chris don't play at this point, and Stacie is obscured from view. There is more to share from Theatre of Night unrelated to the tour, but for now, this is all very interesting to hear, and this will spice up the holiday season with some partially local T.S.O.-style action! Stay tuned for updates on the band & tour as they roll in, and give all of these videos a look above & below!

Next up, here's another new find from Obsession guitarist Gabe Tessaro's YouTube channel, this time from his old classic/hard rock quintet That's Chester's involvement in the local stage production of The Who's Tommy at The Machine Shop in Sault Ontario back in November 2015! Poignantly uploaded the day of bandmate Eugene Orlando's passing (three weeks after Tommy wrapped it's local run), this is of the early numbers "Captain Walker" & "It's A Boy", and while not heavy songs by any stretch, the guys handle things well on these softer numbers, and Gabe & Eugene have a nice moment where they take center stage to perform together! For reference, there's no sign of frontman Greg Simpson here, who's not visibly performing with the ensemble at this point in the production, but he did play Cousin Kevin and front other songs later on. The video has a nice camera angle from the balcony to show the whole stage, and it's worth a watch for The Who & That's Chester fans, so give it a look below!



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

• I have changed the link for Lake Superior State University's campus radio station The 46th Parallel Radio (WLSO, 90.1 FM) from their website to their Facebook page, as the former was taken down during LSSU website upgrading earlier this year. Though still broadcasting, the Sault Michigan station hasn't had an active online presence this year, had been off air when I scanned it over the summer, and have not visibly commenced their previously stated plans to move all station operations to internet streaming. Hopefully things pick up, but click here for details on the station and/or student volunteering with WLSO!
• As documented in a SooToday article by David Helwig on Friday, Essar Center events manager Robert Santa Maria proposed a new system to create an event development fund so that the Sault Ontario arena can bring in more major touring events and concerts in which up to $1 from every ticket sold be put aside towards bringing more things here, capping at $50,000. Most responses seem to be positive, but will City Council approve the idea? Time will tell, but it'd be nice to have more concerts there beyond Dokken!
• The ninth annual Soo Zombie Walk will return to The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Center on Saturday, October 21st for a fifth straight year, and music will return with it pre-walk once again! Performers have not been announced yet, but for reference sake, dormant blues/crash rock quartet Sykotyk Rampage and Northwest guitarist Greg Callaghan have each played the walk in the past 6 and 4 years respectively. Visit the official Facebook event page for current details on the walk, and stay tuned in case punk or metal music returns next month!

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