The rate of new updates is thankfully starting to slowly improve as we inch towards the end of the second lockdown in Ontario, so let's break our "one post every three days" trend with a new post tonight! This includes confirmation of a drummer change in a local band that was previously rumoured by said drummer's old band publically, but first, here's a surprise archive concert video discovery from almost 32 years ago!
A few weeks back, I covered a video of Toronto classic rock cover band Ground Zero's one-off Rotaryfest reunion set in 2013, courtesy of ex-Tripod The Dog/Screwge drummer Brian Egglesfield's YouTube channel, but that wasn't all for uploads of his with a hard rock tie, as in 2016, he posted a video there from the finals of a multi-night battle of the bands at the former Eastgate Hotel back in 1989! This is very much before my time (I was only born that year), and the VHS camcorder quality is obvious, so if I am lacking or incorrect on details obvious to other readers, I apologize in advance. I truly wasn't there! Brian's video captures two of the three bands competing in the finals (omitting Swing Shift, who played second), and the MC thanked bands who were eliminated in prior weeks, including Silence, Deciever, Silent Rage, Fallacy, Night Crawler, Anxiety, and Valhalla (again, I'm sorry if I misheard or misspelled any names here.)
After the MC introduced the judges, the battle finals proper began with Tommygun (also spelled as Tommy Gun on the poster), whose set included covers of The Scorpions' "Blackout", The Cult's "Rain" & "Love Removal Machine", The Pursuit Of Happiness' "Hard To Laugh", Aerosmith's version of The Beatles' "I'm Down", Free's "All Right Now", U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" & "In The Name Of Love", Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love", and AC/DC's "Sin City". Really strong & varied set, and Tommygun's frontman had great stage presence to go along with his singing! Again, Swing Shift's set was not included here, if Brian(?) filmed them at all. Spy Vs. Spy's set begins after the MC's introduction, and this band has more literature online than Tommy Gun, so I can say a little more about them, largely thanks to drummer Glen Thomas discussing them online (thanks, Glen!)
As best as I can gather, Spy Vs. Spy's lineup here included Glen (now of Soundcheck) alongside singer Ken Luxton and future Bigsuit bandmates Brian Oja (recently of Griphook) on guitar and George Ravlich (from Crank Sound Distribution) on bass. Spy Vs. Spy actually disbanded later that same year in 1989 due to creative differences, so at least they had a high local platform before they went out! Their set includes covers of Judas Priest's "The Hellion/Electric Eye", Sammy Hagar's "Heavy Metal", Kingdom Come's "Do You Like It", Tesla's "Little Suzi", Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog", "Over The Hills & Far Away", and"Good Times, Bad Times", and Guns 'N Roses' "Rocket Queen", with Rush's "Tom Sawyer" only 35 seconds in before the video ends. If bands had equal time, then that was likely their last song.
Brian did not say in the description who won this battle, and I wouldn't feel comfortable saying who I'd have voted for without seeing Swing Shift's set, but my musical tastes do lean closer to Spy Vs. Spy, who had a strong handle on these covers, with Ken's singing a good match for contemporary metal, and the crowd was into both bands! Kudos to Brian for posting this video, especially with really nice quality given the age and hardware involved, and it wasn't a chore at all to identify the covered songs! Check out Tommy Gun & Spy Vs. Spy live at The Eastgate below!
Finally for today, let's head to Sault Michigan, as local blues/hard rock cover quartet Project 906 have indeed added Gary Croad to their lineup as their new drummer, replacing Tommy Korcal (incidentally, Gary's predecessor in Tarnished as well.) Tarnished already teased Gary's new gig on their Facebook page on February 4th, but Project 906 only confirmed the news on their own Facebook page
on Friday, where they noted that Tommy left due to his enlistment in
the United States Army. Tommy had drummed for Project 906 since
replacing Will Storey behind the kit in January 2018, and of course, we
do wish him him the best of luck in his new path! That said, it doesn't
sound like he just left the band, as Project 906 noted that frontman
Billy Bernier has been singing and drumming with them in the interim. With
no concerts to play for the past year, it looks like his double role may have
primarily been during rehearsals & their long gestating EP recording plans.
Project 906 still hope to
release said EP (let alone play proper concerts again) later this year,
and given Gary's experience and skill level, he should fit in just fine
with his new band! Stay tuned for updates from Project 906 (and
Tarnished) when they roll in, and for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile, as we continue spotlighting inactive local metal, hard rock, and punk acts for current readers, as randomly chosen from our band links! This month's selection is an ambitious but sporadically active punk project that you may have read about here and elsewhere in the past decade, so here's what you should know! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics. This information may be incomplete, particularly regarding their bass position. Let me know if you can fill in any blanks!)
Dave Hunter (Audiosmile), all instruments Jordan Latour, guitar Ryan McLaughlin (As It Stands), drums
Audio/Video: Anthems vs. Oceans never released a studio album under either name that I'm aware of, but their single "I Won't Let You" was released on Apple Music & Google Play in 2016, and you can hear that plus six other songs on Dave's Soundcloud page. Three of those songs were also posted onto For July!'s MySpace page alongside three others, some credited under the planned album name "The Sick Sense of Artistry", but time has not been kind to any MySpace page in this regard. Dave's YouTube channel features a full band cover of B.o.B.'s "Airplanes" from 2010 and a couple of other band-related videos, but here's their 2014 original track "The Emo Song", courtesy of the band's YouTube channel!
Info/Analysis:Originally active circa 2008-2011, For July! were the flagship band for frontman Dave Hunter's own independent label idioRECORDS. Despite much internal optimism during this run, surviving public information on For July's as a formal band is in short supply nowadays, and I do not recall them playing a live concert. In 2014, Dave relaunched For July! as a solo project, and he made scattered online postings over the next two years regarding their new original material. Dave changed the project's name to Anthems vs. Oceans in April 2016, and released their latest single "I Won't Let You" that summer. New material was planned (including more acoustic content), but ensuing updates on their Facebook page were devoted to personal news or Dave's EDM project Audiosmile, with updates on either project last seen in January 2019. I admit that I tend to go for heavier punk subgenres, but For July! had a solidly upbeat sound that deserved a more active run!
From the slower and more emotional "I Let Go" to the soaring "Change Is", Dave crafted some catchy tunes that fans of Saosin or Blink-182 would definitely be in to, especially for a subgenre that wasn't too prevalent locally in the 2010s! I don't know what happened to Anthems Vs. Oceans (or Audiosmile), but hopefully Dave resurfaces with new music down the road, we need more artists with his ambition and production value around here! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month, our random selection takes us back to Sault Michigan, but as this band (2012 metal project Denaturant) doesn't have enough surviving material to warrant a solo profile, so I have randomly picked a Sault Ontario band who I doubt has much public material anymore, namely mid-2000s hard rock quintet Driving Dave Home! Look for all of this on or around July 10th, and for more news and notes shortly! Thanks everyone!
Now's a good time for this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, as we're once again spotlighting 1-3 YouTube channels (three this month) whose content is at least 50% comprised of local metal, hard rock, and/or punk video content, be they from concerts or artists. This month's choices (all picked at random as usual) have given us a three-channel month again, as the first randomly selected channel only had a single video, as did the second, so we filled things out with a third for November. There's some missed and intriguing projects ahead via these channels, so read on below for this month's YouTube profiles!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- matti7915's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/matti7915)
Owner: Either ex-Dirty Virgin/Riverin guitarist Matt Clement or drummer Matt Hicks (I'd guess Clement, but I'm not 100% certain)
Channel Timeline:Launched on August 3rd, 2007; Only video posted on August 4th, 2008
Channel Summary:Matt's only upload here is a promotional video of his 2007-2010 glam metal/punk quartet Dirty Virgin, complete with a movie credits-style opening, a press quote, and 7 minutes of footage from their set at the Rock 2 Roll skatepark fundraiser concert at The Canadian Nightclub in July 2008. Featuring the band's original lineup (with the Matts alongside singer/guitarist Bobby Clement and bassist Lionel "Rocks" Quinton), the edited video features Dirty Virgin covering Joe South's "Games People Play", then playing their original "Take You Hard", before closing with a cover of The Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K.". This video & channel are admittedly now redundant given that these clips (and much more) were uploaded in full on Lionel's YouTube channel in 2009, but if you can get past that and the scratchy audio, you'll find Dirty Virgin rocking out well in their element, giving the Soo a then-rare dose of glam rock with good energy!
Channel Timeline:Launched on October 16th, 2012; Only video posted on August 22nd, 2014
Channel Summary:Originally created before Dave's solo project changed it's name from For July, this channel only features Anthems vs. Oceans' expletive-laden "Emo Song". Fans of pop punk should take to this song, which was nicely recorded at idioRECORDS, and has a catchy upbeat riff, but other For July/Anthems vs. Oceans pages will have this song and much more available to stream (I recommend their MySpace page.) Also, note that this channel has seen no new media postings since the name change, and Dave has hinted since that he may explore different genres on new material, so keep those in mind.
Channel Timeline:Launched on July 10th, 2007; Only video posted on January 20th, 2013
Channel Summary:Though extensively used for personal playlists, Nick's only video is of his short-lived local hard rock band Unbound (later the second version of With Blood Build Character), whose public launch sadly came following the sudden death of singer Justin Fratpietro in January 2013. The only public video of the original Unbound is a jam session take of their song "Deep Waters", with Justin and Nick joined by Nick's ex-State of Misery bandmates Ray Cowan on guitar and Kevin D'Orazio (now of K.I.C.K.) on bass. Taking a darker yet more accessible slant than State of Misery had, the video is hampered by distorted audio, but Unbound showed decent potential here and a solid pre-existing chemistry, and it's a shame that they didn't accomplish more before Justin's passing (or after.)
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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Next month in this series, we have randomly drawn ex-Nikkfitt guitarist Robert Ross' YouTube channel for our next profile, and though he only has three videos, they're all distinct and relevant, so look for that to close 2016 on or around Boxing Day! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and this month's CD review soon! Thanks everyone!
At last, our extended previews of this weekend's stacked concert lineup are coming to an end! Today, we're covering the all-original Second Stage of our local summer festival, and an afterparty concert from two of it's bands, but to round things out, we have some assorted recent news and notes, so here's what you should know!
The eleventh installment of Rotaryfest's Stage 2 (a.k.a. the Second Stage) goes down TOMORROW! Returning to the "redirected" Clergue Park stage beside the Art Gallery for a second straight year (and also remaining as an all-local, one day event since it's 2014 hiatus), this year's original-focused Second Stage lacks an official sponsor, but you can still help the cause via the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to support it's funding, as they still have a ways to go to meet their goal! The show will go on though, so who can you see at Stage 2 this year? Headlining at 7:00 PM tomorrow are VM Radio Battle-winning indie rock quartet K.I.C.K. in their festival debut, and they're a fitting choice, given that last year's battle winners (Gnaeus) headlined last year's Second Stage as well! Boatload Killers frontman Liam Seymour will trade his regular blues rock sound for pop rock in a solo showcase at 6:00 PM, with bandmate Blake Jackson and Gianni Gagoots drummer Frank McCormick that will see them put a rock twist on current pop music, though no word on if they have any planned originals.
Liam's very talented, and it'll be interesting to see how this set goes in his solo Rotaryfest debut! The aforementioned Gnaeus will bring their post-punk sound back to Stage 2 at 5:00 PM for a second straight year as the highest placed hard rock or punk act, while progressive rock quartet Machines Dream will take the Second Stage for the second time tomorrow at 4:00 PM (fourth time if you count The Craig West Band as one & the same.) Alternative hard rock quartet Id Iota will debut at the festival at 3:00 PM, while jazz/prog rock quartet The Wild Iris
will play their fourth Rotaryfest set (twice previously on Stage 1, plus last year on Stage 2) with a set at 2:00 PM. The day's events will be opened by alternative hard rock trio The Din in their own Rotaryfest debut, and they'll hit the stage at 1:00 PM. Promoted once again by Chelsie Parayko, this year's Stage 2 action is FREE & ALL AGES as usual, and check the above links for more details on the lineup and festival proper! It's great to see the Second Stage back for an 11th go-around in 2016, and fans should like the varied lineup of local original talent, with only Gnaeus and The Wild Iris returning from last year! I'm unsure if the Second Stage will ever return to being a two-day event, but I like the continued focus on all-local acts, and more punk and hard rock acts than the event had before being "redirected", so don't miss out on all of the Stage 2 action by the Art Gallery TOMORROW! For a preview, here's Gnaeus live last year!
Lastly for this weekend's previews (barring a super-late notice confirmation), the aforementioned Din & Id Iota will rock LopLops Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT at an afterparty concert following the conclusion of this year's Stage 2! This marks the second straight year that LopLops hosts an afterparty featuring two opening bands from the Second Stage lineup, and it's great to see that LopLops (who promoted the Second Stage until the 2014 hiatus and their move to The Emergency Festival) still support the all-original stage and the bands that play it! This will be The Din's last announced concert before their CD release show at The Tech next month, while it will be Id Iota's first non-Rotaryfest set since their own CD release party from April, so if you want to see the guys indoors, at night, or with an adult beverage, be at LopLops tomorrow for the afterparty! There's a $5 cover for this 19+ show, which starts at 9:00 PM. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The Din live!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
Local pop punk solo project Anthems vs. Oceans (formerly For July) have unveiled their first new song since the name change via their Soundcloud page! Entitled "I Won't Leave You", it's an acoustic folk-influenced piece that showcases a different side of Dave Hunter's musical ability, and it's well done for it's style, so give it (and more) a listen above!
The third studio track from local hard rock quartet Long Shot's upcoming self-titled debut EP can now be heard at their Bandcamp page! It's for their song "El Camino", and while the EP currently lists an asking price of $4, it's not clear how many more songs will be added to final track listing, if any (perhaps "Long Goodbye"?) Stay tuned for details on the official release when announced, and listen to the current tracks above!
In a Facebook posting from May that we missed on here at the time, local death/thrash metal trio Pillory revealed that they will apparently begin recording their first full length studio album in the fall with producer Jamie Vincent (AlgomA), presumably at Six, Two, Oh. This would follow their 2013 thrash EP "Cringe At The Cross", though their current material has far more of a death metal influence. Hopefully these plans are maintained, and stay tuned for more from Pillory in due course!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our review of Thursday's Iskra show next! Thanks everyone!
After a quiet weekend, we're back on this Monday morning with lots of news and notes, including some assorted updates, a local solo project's new name and latest activity, some new concert video finds, and first, the latest from a fast-rising local rock outfit, so here's what you should know!
We'll start with the latest from local alternative/hard rock trio The Din, starting with a note on a missed show (of sorts) from last week, as they played at Korah Collegiate & Vocational School's annual Relay for Life on Thursday! You may recall that guitarist Tammy Hill (who attends Korah) and her inactive band Leaked played this event last year, so The Din following up makes sense, and they apparently had a solid set for the annual cancer fundraiser! We didn't call it on here as it was intended for students & staff (we didn't cover Dunnplugged events for the same reason), but hopefully you enjoyed it if you were there! Our other Din updates today come from new videos, including this 3 second Facebook video of tickets being stamped for their upcoming CD release show at The Tech, which is self explanatory, but good to preview the show! Their other new video is a YouTube channel upload of the second single from "Give In To The Din", so what should you know?
Posted on Saturday, this is their song "Potato", which the band has now given an official subtitle, so the full name is now "Potato (Should've Known Better)". We won't review the song yet, pending our review of the album proper upon it's August release, but check out their newest full studio track below, and see more from The Din above!
Next up, here's some new live concert videos from local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver, courtesy of their May 20th concert from their recent Canadian tour, when they opened for Defiling the Nasma there at Funky Winkerbean's in Vancouver! Uploaded by Howard Cole of MetalDuck212 Producktions (who frequently films shows in the Vancouver area), he filmed four videos from Shit Liver's set, including ones of Shit Liver playing "Matt Got Beat Up By Cops", the second half of "It's Not My Problem", newer material whose names I don't remember offhand, and this video of a newer song and the ending of another one at the end. Solid videos from very close to the stage, and Shit Liver are at their brutal best on this late stop on their tour, so give their Vancouver concert videos a look above & below! Also today, here's the latest from local pop punk act For July, who have announced on their Facebook page on April 18th (apologies for the delay) that they've changed their name to Anthems Vs. Oceans. Other than to say "it's time to make some changes", a reason for the new name wasn't announced, but the name works, and it's great to see that the Dave Hunter-led solo project is picking up activity! Aside from gear photos and personal notes, I hadn't seen a major update on new music from For July since 2014. With the new name decided, Dave also noted that "there are some awesome things in the works", and while he hasn't elaborated yet, he's working on some new acoustic music, while admitting that he "can't seem to grow out of pop punk", so read into that how you will. A new website for Anthems vs. Oceans is now online also, but there's not a lot there yet aside from links & old material.
For July had promise as a pop punk band, and while they've long been just a solo project, Dave has multi-instrumental and production talent (remember idioRECORDS?), and hopefully the new name will help spur Anthems vs. Oceans to some more new music and major activity in the coming years! See above for more details, and stay tuned for more!
Finally, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades have announced a "tiny disastour" of Ontario that will take them to Sudbury, Oshawa, and Toronto, before wrapping things up with a return to the annual Spiderfest in Meyersburg on July 16th! The local Black Cat Attack show on July 8th is being considered the tour kickoff, while the Sudbury show will see Jack Spades opening for upcoming New A headliners Cocaine Moustache, and they'll open for locally familiar bands like The Ripcordz, Iskra, IDNS, and The Bunchofuckingoofs at Spiderfest. Sounds like a fun tour is ahead, so check the above links for more details on the tour!
Local musician Kevin Ducharme is looking to jam with local musicians, noting in his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last week that he still has gear, and is interested in playing blues, bluegrass, punk, and/or funk. He also noted that he has played metal as a bassist, but isn't solely focused on that anymore, and hasn't played bass regularly lately. I'm not familiar with him musically, but if you're interested in playing with Kevin, message him above or at this link!
VM Radio Battle-winning indie rock quartet K.I.C.K. are the second publically confirmed band for this year's Stage 2 at Rotaryfest, as per this video interview with event representative Nilah Moss on Tuesday. Like the earlier Gnaeus video, this serves to introduce K.I.C.K. to viewers and explain why the all-original Second Stage is important. No word on the full schedule yet, but they're a solid and logical choice to rock out this year, so see above for more details, and click here to join the crowdfunding campaign for Stage 2!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates this week! Thanks everyone!
