Big Wreck & Inner City Surfers Concert Video Showcase!!

Today's post is devoted to recent concert videos from the ever prolific Christopher Paci's YouTube channel, as I've put off his videos from last month's Big Wreck and Inner City Surfers concerts for far too long! We'll work our way backwards chronologically by starting with the Big Wreck show at The Machine Shop on November 21 (I apologize for the delay), where Chris filmed eight videos, though none were of Daniel Greaves' opening set. Two of the videos were of opening London pop rock quartet Texas King playing "You" and covering Post Malone's "Chemical", and while I wouldn't say Texas King lean heavier, they showed clear talent and energy in their videos, so don't bypass them! As for the headlining Toronto hard rock quartet, Chris shot Big Wreck playing "The Oaf (My Luck Is Wasted)", "Blown Wide Open", "Hey Mama", "Albatross", "That Song", and as embedded below, both "In Fair Light" & "I Digress" to kick off their set. This video in particular has gotten some strong positive reactions!

The sound quality both at The Machine Shop (from Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co.) and Chris' camera collide nicely on these videos, as filmed at a good vantage point to capture the whole stage plus the sizeable crowd, so Big Wreck and Thornley fans will be right at home with these videos, so be sure to check them out above & below!

The rest of today's videos come from The Inner City Surfers' reunion gig on November 4th at Soo Blaster, where they and three other bands featuring drummer Mikey Hawdon joined forces to support his then-upcoming wedding. Despite taking place back on November 3rd, Christopher only uploaded these videos to YouTube last week, so I'm still relatively timely to cover them here as a result! Like at the Big Wreck show, Chris did not film the first band here, namely the one-off reunion of Toronto-based Ramones/Joan Jett tribute band The Merves, but he got everyone else from this event. Regarding The Surfers, Chris filmed five videos from their first public set in four years, including their opening cover of Stompin' Tom Connors' "Algoma 69" with bassist Brad "Example" Lacell on lead vocals (plus the "William Tell Overture" opening), plus their original songs "Get High" & "Booze N' Doobs".

Chris also captured their cover of The Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)" with Mikey on vocals and AMY/DC's Dean Glover filling in on drums. Embedded below is their set-closer "The Quest", complete with the late-song integration of Corey Hart's "Sunglasses At Night". After covering Brad's live-stream of their entire set earlier this week, it is good to see video of the band in action from the front (Brad is quite well dressed for the occasion!), and while attendee hands and cameras can get in the road, the quality is solid on these videos overall. Check them out for yourselves above & below!

Chris also filmed four videos of Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band AMY/DC, featuring Mikey on guitar and the aforementioned Dean Glover on drums, plus Mikey's Merves bandmate Amy Zucchetto on vocals. Here, you can see them cover "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Highway To Hell", "Sin City", and as embedded below, "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock N' Roll". I am not 100% positive given the video quality, but is that The Wyld Stallyns' own Josh Norling playing saxophone in lieu of the bagpipe parts? Very strong covers of AC/DC classics by Amy and crew here, if with shakier video on average, so give these a watch above & below as well!

Finally, Chris filmed Mikey fronting his online page-less local alternative rock/punk cover quintet Bookclub playing three songs on this night, namely Vampire Weekend's "A-Punk", Men Without Hats' "Pop Goes The World", and as embedded below, Tom Petty's "You Wreck Me". A little further from the stage than he would be later in the night, but you get a better view of the setup for this special concert, if still a little blurry, and Bookclub have a good handle on these covers that you don't hear many other local bands cover nowadays! Give them a look for yourselves above & below!

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

Vanity First Concert Preview, New Videos, And Much More!!

Here's a new news post to check out on this Monday night, including some assorted shorter updates, new videos, and leading off, a mid-week concert preview, so here's what you should know!

A special Tuesday night concert goes down TOMORROW when local punk trio Vanity First return to the stage at new local arts/concert venue The Distraction! Located at the former Big Guns Barbershop building at 72 East Street (down the road from Coch's Corner), this will be the second public concert held here, following former Raincourt frontman Eli Russell's solo gig there this past Thursday.  Unless you were at that concert, there will still be a lot of unknowns about The Distraction, but come on out tomorrow if you can to see what it's like! This will be Vanity First's... first concert since their June headlining gig at Soo Blaster, though fans will have seen Mikhal and Keegan since with Hails, and Mikhal alone in multiple other projects. It's good to see them back with Andrew after an unusually long break, and hopefully they draw a solid crowd to The Distraction tomorrow!

While this is unfortunately on a school/work night for many, it will have an early 7:00 PM start time, and admission is by donation ($5 is suggested). The venue is an alcohol/drug free zone, so this is obviously all ages, though be advised that it's not a handicap-friendly building due to the stairs to enter the front of the building. Punk fans should get their money's worth from Vanity First's return set, let alone at a new venue, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Vanity First live!

Next up, here's a brand new video from local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9's Facebook page! This comes from their Halloween party gig at The Esquire Club on the 28th (the costumes give that away), and it features them covering The Knack's "My Sharona". Unlike prior videos from this concert, this was filmed from further back behind much of the crowd, so you don't get a great view of most of the band. This 37 seconds-long snippet still sounds good with the energy you'd hope for at a Halloween party, so give it a look for yourselves below! Yes, I am aware that Silent 9 have posted a handful of videos as "Stories" on Facebook too, but "Stories" aren't viewable more than twice, let alone embeddable here.

Also today, here's two new videos from local/Barrie alt-hard rock solo musician Mike Haggith's Facebook page from December 5th & 8th where he tells his fans how you can get your own music printed on vinyl records! The first video (embedded below) has Mike outlining the struggles and cost that used to be involved in printing his studio material on vinyl until he discovered Kunaki, the website that allows you to easily upload your albums and have records printed on demand on both CDs and vinyl, which is how you're able to buy vinyl copies of his newest albums today. The "part 2" video has Mike demonstrating the quality of Kunaki-printed vinyl records by playing part of "I've Seen It Before" from his new album "All The Best In All You Do" on a turntable. Personally, I'd have had these videos uploaded as one 3 minute video, perhaps while talking a little slower, but these were cross-posted on TikTok, so that may explain the formatting and structure.

Mike has strongly advocated for and promoted Kunaki since discovering it, and while I don't know how many non-Morningstar Records-affiliated musicians in town use it, fans who have heard Mike's recent catalogue on vinyl will be able to speak to its quality! Hopefully these videos are a good reminder that getting your albums on vinyl isn't the hassle it once was, so given them a watch above and below! 

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

 

• I have moved local extreme metal solo project Awokest to our inactive band links. One of the many project names used by Chase Wigmore apart from his own eponymous material, Awokest last posted on social media in November 2021, but I left Awokest in our active links until now due to Awokest-branded material being shared/posted on Chase's eponymous accounts as late as last fall. The lines between Chase's varying projects have admittedly gotten blurry, but with his teased break/hiatus from original music after "The Chaotic Rite" comes out, that may not bode well for his other efforts. We'll let you know if Awokest turn up again!
• In a lineup correction for the Fuller reunion at LopLops Lounge next Thursday, Pointless/Peach Thieves drummer David Peredun will be behind the kit for their set, not Nathan Sauve from their original run. I apologize for any confusion, I can be bad with faces and the similarly blonde hair in the jam session preview videos threw me off (note also that I don't believe he was publically confirmed by name on social media). David is a talented drummer across multiple genres, so don't miss him with Fuller next week, and thanks to frontman Jamie Vincent for letting me know!
• Local cybergrind/gorenoise solo project Malignant Neoplasm have also been moved to our inactive band links, as they have not posted on social media since November of last year aside from posts to promote their active sister project Crucify The Whore. Active since 2013, Malignant Neoplasm added an electronic approach and (originally) songs about medical conditions to the minimalist goregrind attack of C.T.W. and had their own distinct original material through Blood Shed Productions for the better part of a decade, though their music and imagery remained an acquired taste. Hopefully fans will hear much more from Tyler with C.T.W. and other acts in the new year!
  

 

That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more on the site as the month continues! Thanks everyone!

Full Concert Videos From The Inner City Surfers & Mike Haggith At Soo Blaster!!

Today's post is devoted to shows at the same venue last month that featured videos of a prominent band's full set, so here's what you should know on both on this Sunday morning!

I profusely apologize for the month+ delay in this making the site, but remember how inactive local punk quartet The Inner City Surfers reunited at Soo Blaster on November 3rd to support drummer Mikey Hawdon's wedding? Well, bassist Brad "Example" Lacell live-streamed their whole headlining set for his YouTube channel! Unfortunately, Brad's camera was set up partially behind something (perhaps a speaker?), so about 30% of the view is blocked on the bottom left. The video is also filmed from beside the stage, at an angle where we see more of everyone's back than front, so only guitarist Dave Bahun is visible with any steady regularity. Frontman Dustin Jones is obscured at the other side of the stage when not moving around, and Mikey's drumkit is mostly blocked out, so be advised of the limited view. The 65 minute video begins with the guys covering Gioachino Rossini's "William Tell Overture", before tackling a cover of Stompin' Tom Connors' "Algoma 69" with Brad on lead vocals.

The Surfers' first original on this night was "Screwed", as followed by "Pickin' From The Country", "Get High", "Been Done", and "Never Ender Bender". For the next two songs, Mikey left the drumkit to sing lead on covers of The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and The Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)", both featuring guest drummers. On the former, Brent Shepherd of the Toronto cover rock band WD50 handled percussion, while Mikey's AMY/DC bandmate Dean Glover (also the webmaster of the Mikey & His Uke website) drummed on the latter. Mikey returned to the kit to begin the second half of their set, starting with this familiar instrumental whose name I couldn't immediately place, We get back to originals next with "Won't Belong", "Grab My Pen" (with Brad singing lead), "Booze N' Doobs", and "Here's To The Days", before a brief Muppet Show theme song interlude.

Extended jams of "Commandments" and "The Quest" ended their set, the latter segueing into a cover of Corey Hart's "Sunglasses At Night", if you can believe it! Despite the visual impairments and some distorted audio, it's great to see a full Surfers concert set like this, and here's hoping that Mikey's late-set teaser that "we'll see you in about 10 years" is a conservative estimate! Fans of their self-titled "black album" will like that eight of the thirteen songs were played here, along with three from earlier albums (nothing from "Time To Travel On" though). Give The Inner City Surfers' reunion set a watch for yourselves below!

Next up, remember how local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith had announced plans to live-stream his complete set at The Soo's Got Talent finals (also at Soo Blaster) on November 4th, only for technical difficulties to scuttle that? Well, we still have a full video of his band's half hour set to check out courtesy of his YouTube channel on December 7th! Two different cameras (one from the floor in front of the stage and a stationary camera off to the side) combined to show off the final product, though be advised that there isn't consistent audio from one source here, so the quality does change from camera to camera (I'd have at least had the videos fade in/out when transitioning). Two TikTok styled videos (vertical, short, and featuring on-screen text) have also been uploaded from this set to Mike's Facebook page from a different filmer, but you know me, longer, clean, and horizontal videos are far more preferable in every way imaginable!

By "complete set", I mean Mike's half hour-long mid-finals set where he, Chris, Jacob, and Brandan did Mike's own material, not the main finals competition where they backed up most of the finalists. In order, their set included "I've Seen It Before", "Hot & Cold", covers of The Din's "Missing" and Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City", "MorningStar" (extended with band introductions), and "The Nature Of The Times". I won't rehash my complete thoughts on Mike's set, as I did review everything in person last month, but it was a solid performance from Mike & crew, and these videos capture that well! Particularly the non-stationary camera, which got the majority of the footage here, with the side-stage camera mainly filling in some between song breaks (just as well, as the tight angle isn't ideal and really does Jacob a disservice). Give Mike's final full-band concert set of 2023 a watch below!

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

LSSU Battle Of The Bands Rehearsal Videos & More From Sault Michigan!

Before we begin this all-Sault Michigan post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in our previews last month, as local blues/hard rock quartet Project 906 took a trip to nearby Brimley on Saturday, November 11th to headline the 12th annual Veteran's Day ATV ride at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9023. The guys played at 7:00 PM that evening after the ride proper and dinner for attendees, and while their involvement had advance notice via the Facebook event page, Project 906 only confirmed that they were playing on their Facebook page that Monday, which completely slipped us by last month. I profusely apologize, but hopefully 906 delivered a rocking set that night for a very worthy cause!

Today's post is otherwise devoted to recent videos from Sault Michigan, specifically surrounding two acts from the Lake Superior State University Battle of the Bands, namely runner up Molly Escherich and third place finishers Double Jack! As you may recall, Molly's YouTube channel filmed half of the acts in the battle last month (everyone else besides H.L.T.C. uploaded their sets on their own), but besides the actual performances, Molly's channel also has videos from rehearsals for the main event at LSSU's Arts Center. We already touched on her video of Tarnished's rehearsal when we last previewed a show of theirs, but hers and Double Jack's rehearsals were also filmed, all in the Arts Center with full daytime lighting. Molly's solo rehearsal video saw her cover Slipknot's "Snuff", which she played fourth of five songs on November 16th. Sounds fine to me, and it is interesting seeing the rehearsal process!

The natural lighting from earlier in the day lets us see everything better, even if its not natural to how the battle itself would look, This talented young Dafter product is on her way to big things, so give her solo battle rehearsal video a look for yourselves below!

Next up, remember how Molly joined in for new local hard rock band Double Jack's final two songs, en route to both of their respective podium finishes? Well, both of those songs (Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box" & Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy") were rehearsed by her and the band before showtime, and both were filmed in separate videos! Both are a little more distant from the stage and are from a relatively opposite angle of Molly's solo video, to say nothing about how this full band +1 video is shot vertically, but both songs come across well in these pre-show jams! I've embedded the longer Lit cover below, but do check both out for a different side of the battle!

Going even further back, how's about the first ever full band rehearsals of "My Own Worst Enemy" & "Man In The Box"? Despite coming earlier, these were uploaded to YouTube after the videos shot at LSSU were, and they feature Molly jamming these songs with Double Jack, complete with early versions of Molly's "stage crashing" intro for these two songs. The vertical angle still isn't ideal, and these are definitely rawer than what we got, but you can see how Molly & the guys worked well even this early on! As it's longer and doesn't feature obvious lyric sheets, "Man In The Box" is embedded below, so give these a look also, and stay tuned for more content from Molly's channel soon!

I wanted to preface today's final videos with the above because they are among the last videos we'll apparently get with Double Jack's original lineup. After a near month-long break from their Facebook page, the guys posted on Wednesday to reveal that "things have been cooking over here" but they also plan to announce "a lineup change" in the near future. The attached video (embedded below) features a guitarist playing a Kramer guitar with Eddie Van Halen's unmistakable Frankenstrat pattern. Of course, when it comes to Sault Michigan guitarists, none screams "Van Halen fan who owns EVH gear" more than Rhythm & Brews/ex-Nixxon Dixxon guitarist Chris Hubbard, but this is purely an educated guess on my part until Double Jack say something specific. What we don't know is whether the replaced guitarist is Nathan Webber or Melvin Willis, but for what it's worth, Melvin is one of the Facebook users who liked the video.

Whether this is Chris or not, the new guitarist definitely has the chops in this 20 second guitar solo clip, and if the guitar type/design is a red herring, then good on Double Jack to obscure his face from view. We'll let you know more when Double Jack 100% say who's in and who's out, but give their new guitarist teaser video a watch below!

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

This Weekend's Hard Rock/Punk Concert Previews!!

A healthy weekend for hard rock concerts is ahead in Sault Ontario, and while there may be some late notice announcements ahead, all of today's concerts had prior word. Here's what you should know!

We'll start at LopLops Lounge, where online page-less local alternative rock/punk cover quintet Bookclub will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! One of many concerts booked at the Queen Street East nightclub as part of their stacked December schedule (but the first that truly crosses the SMS radar), this will be Bookclub's first gig since opening for The Inner City Surfers' reunion show last month, and yes, video of their set is forthcoming on the site! Of course, Bookclub frontman Mikey Hawdon and bassist Dustin Jones will be back at LopLops in two weeks for The 16 Musicians of Christmas, but if you want a full evening of their eclectic but punk-flavoured covers, you know where to be tomorrow! While they shared the stage with The Wyld Stallyns at LopLops last year, advertising for tomorrow's concert does not mention an opening/second act. We'll let you know if one is confirmed!

This 19+ concert has an 8:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and ticket fees of $20 at the door or (with taxes/processing fees) via Eventbrite. A $180 "party ticket" for 10 attendees + 10 drinks is also available if you are so inclined. A ticket price like this for one band may seem like a little much, but remember how LopLops puts their all into Christmas season bookings, and might there be some surprises in store? No idea, but Bookclub's talent and chemistry is no secret, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here they are live last year!

Next up, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will return to The Rockstar Bar for another special gig TOMORROW NIGHT! The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs nightclub has only been open for select bookings since it indefinitely paused daily operations in mid-2022, but this will be (at least) the second for Silent 9 this year, following the Searchmont Ski Runners' fall social in October, which was publically attendable. So is tomorrow's event, a fundraising pub for Soo City United's 2010-2011 birth year girls soccer teams, so if you are linked to or want to support the teams, consider a trip to The Rockstar Bar tomorrow, with lots of fun rock covers from Silent 9 as well! With the Christmas season in full swing, an ugly Christmas sweater theme is also promoted, though no word on if this will have an attached contest or not. An 8:30 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ event, which has a $35 ticket price.

Scan the QR code on the poster if you want to buy yours in advance without chancing the door, and if you can't make it but still want to support Soo City United, they suggest donating $20. Silent 9 will be back playing normal nightclub gigs next month, but if you're up for enjoying their rock cover attack, helping out the girls' soccer program, and/or taking in an all too rare concert at The Rockstar Bar, consider coming out! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Silent 9 live!

Also this weekend, local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard have two shows at two different venues in as many days, starting with their return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! Their first show at the Dennis Street nightclub in three weeks, this is a one-nighter due to Shooters' continuance of DJs on most Saturdays. Instead, fans can check out Greg, Alex, and Warren at Gateway Casino on SATURDAY NIGHT, in what will be another acoustic concert as has been recently common for Bone Yard at this locale. They last played at the casino three weeks ago as well, and whether you want to see them in their full electric splendor or acoustic, you have options downtown this weekend regardless! You can take in the southern, hard, and classic rock action at 9:00 PM tomorrow and 8:00 PM on Saturday, these are 19+ events, and neither has an announced cover. See above for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Finally for known hard rock concerts in the Twin Saults this weekend, new local classic/hard rock quintet HeadFirst will return to Reggie's Place for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! The fourth and fifth gigs from this rising young band (following a Reggie's weekend last month & Toystock), hopefully they continue to naturally build up their profile with solid hard rocking tunes and chemistry over these two nights! Official band merchandise will reportedly be on sale as well, though HeadFirst did not specify what kinds. Like their return gigs there at month's end, these are 19+ affairs with no cover charge and 9:00 PM start times. Visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's some new "Shorts" videos on HeadFirst's new YouTube channel! Three "Shorts" yet addressed on the SMS were cross-posted from TikTok in recent days, and they include one of the model of the woman's silhouette shown in their logo from when the shot was rendered, alongside an instrumental recording.

If that's a sign that HeadFirst are working on studio material, then hopefully they give more details the soon! The other two are jam session recordings, one with the guys covering The Tragically Hip's "New Orleans Is Sinking" (albeit focusing on Raine Rancourt's guitar solo). Embedded below is the band covering Rage Against The Machine's "Bulls On Parade", and for the record, neither features singer Red Jettison (the fragments shown were always instrumental, but maybe he was filming?) The short length and vertical angle aside (these came from TikTok, after all), HeadFirst sound good here, and hopefully fans will get much more to enjoy at Reggie's, so check them out for yourselves above & below!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck & The 16 Musicians Of Christmas) And A Full Concert Video!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for a missed concert in this past weekend's concert previews, as Sault Michigan hard rock/classic metal band Tarnished played at The Merchants Bar this past Saturday night. The band only announced the show on their Facebook page at 3:04 PM that day, and true to their usual form, The Merch's Facebook page did not advertise this show in advance whatsoever. I profusely apologize for missing this show in our previews, but hopefully Alex, Parker, and Josh melted those faces as promised on Saturday, and I would have covered the gig on the site had it even had one day's notice!

Now, let's dive into some new videos and LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and leading off with the latter, do you recall how LopLops Lounge in Sault Ontario used to host a "12 Musicians of Christmas" event every December from 2005-2018? Well, it's back, and has grown to 16 Musicians of Christmas for its return on Friday, December 29th! This event's past installments didn't immediately strike me as SMS-amenable, owing to LopLops' usual music range leaning to folk/indie artists, but this year's will have some familiar faces for punk fans, as Bookclub/ex-Inner City Surfers bandmates Dustin Jones & Mikey Hawdon are among this year's roster!  Dustin's ex-Rising Tide bandmates Liam Seymour & Chris Johns will also be taking part, as will Treble Charger/Pointless guitarist Bill Priddle, Wyld Stallyns saxophonist Josh Norling, and ex-Generations guitarist Brandon Ruch. Those seven artists alone is a stacked lineup!

The other nine Musicians of Christmas are Frank Deresti, Al Wood, Lindsay Pugh, Cliff Alloy, Shannon Moan, Juliana Regan, Hannah Lindsay, Andree-Ann Dechesne, and Chris Belsito, and the skill between them is also quite high! If past installments of The 12 Musicians of Christmas are anything to go by, musicians will get a three song mini-set of their very own where they will be backed up by select other performers scheduled for the evening, so expect lots of intriguing collaborations throughout. Despite being scheduled for after Christmas, this should be another fun holiday season attraction, so keep it in mind for later this month! This show has a 7:00 PM start time, 19+ age limit, and a high ticket price of $50 plus taxes/processing fees (a high entry fee is on par with past installments of this special event). and you can buy yours at this link or presumably at the door. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this special event!

Next up, remember how local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck were slated to play at the Delta Hotel's New Year's Eve party on Sunday, December 31st? Well, that has been cancelled for publically unannounced reasons, but fans need not worry, as they have been re-booked for Reggie's Place's New Year's Eve party instead! No word on other holiday frills for attendees who might want to stop by to ring in 2024, but while this will no doubt be less extravagant than what the Delta had planned, it will also be much cheaper at Reggie's than the Delta's $100 ticket price ($100 cheaper, in fact!), so general attendees who just want to rock out with Soundcheck can do so at Reggie's at month's/year's end! This new concert on the 31st has no cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and a presumed 9:00 PM start time. Visit the above links for more details, and look for more from Soundcheck soon!

We'll close today with our long overdue look at new Sault Michigan hardcore punk quartet The Sole Aggressors' live debut at Bird's Eye Outfitters on August 12th, as per their YouTube channel! Filmed on a stationary camera in front of the stage, this notably features their full lineup, as singer Henry Boucher was not present for their first place set at last month's LSSU Battle of the Bands. The 46 minute set features The Sole Aggressors opening with covers of Black Flag's "Drinking & Driving", "Jealous Again", and "Depression", before covering The Misfits' "Where Eagles Dare". They next played an original song named "Reject", and after covering The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop", they tackled three more originals, namely "No Part", "Streets", and "Kill Thy Neighbour". The Sole Aggressors next covered Black Flag's "Six Pack", followed by another original named "Fool". Three final covers came next, including...

...The Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl", Minor Threat's "I Don't Wanna Hear It", and an encore of "Six Pack", before closing with an original named "State Of The World". Well recorded video that captures this talented young band well, and while Henry's vocals are not overly loud or rangy yet, the attitude and presence is there, and again, it's great seeing a punk band of any kind in Sault Michigan! Give their full concert video a watch below!

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

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Haggith

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile as, we'll end another year in this long-running series by looking at a randomly selected defunct or inactive local project! Just two months after looking at a later band from two founding members of this group, we're going a few years back for their first major splash on the local scene, so here's what you should know on this band!

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Haggith

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Genre: Hard Rock/Grunge

Lineup: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)

Curtis McKenzie (Project 421, Eclipse), vocals/guitar
Caleb Cachagee (The Bridge Heads), guitar/ex-bass
Jordan Leach (Pillory, The Revolution), bass
Mike Haggith (The Din, Between The Ditches), drums/vocals/studio guitar

Kristi-Lee Marshall, backing vocals
Daniel Horton (Spades GT, The Fast Life), guitar/studio bass
James White (Redundant, Handsome Sandwich), bass

Audio/Video: The band Haggith released five studio albums during their run, including three mainline albums (2012's "Dragon Joy Ride", 2013's "Deuce", and 2015's EP "XIV"), plus their concept albums "Apocalypse" & "Apocalypse II" in 2012 and 2015 respectively, which were both made with alternate methods. Regardless, all albums were recorded at their own PaperClip Productions studio. In 2013, the band also released a live album ("Flight 75") and a charity compilation album ("For The Cause"), all of which can be bought and/or streamed free between their Bandcamp page and YouTube channel. The latter is the best repository for proper videos of Haggith in action, but numerous fan shot videos are also online, as are videos I shot for the SMS. Here's a full hour-long set of Haggith's classic lineup live at The Bushplane Museum back in 2012!

Info/Analysis: Evolving from Curt & Dan's prior high school-era bands like 20 Pack Of Marshmallows and Wanko Twist, this group came together with Mike Haggith joined on drums in May 2012, jokingly naming the band after Mike in reference to how bands are never named after the drummer. Solidifying their classic lineup by adding Caleb on bass that fall, they would grow in prominence over the next year+, making numerous headlining and support appearances while also hosting two Bushplane Musical Madness events, and finishing in second place in 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands. After a brief breakup for personal reasons from December 2013-April 2014, Haggith reunited, albeit with some bassist instability, before settling on Jordan and proceeding with album sessions. Daniel's departure in the spring of 2015 led to "XIV" being shrunk in scope, and the band only played two more concerts that May before dissolving.

Curt & Dan continued performing together in bands like Project 421, Eclipse, and The Bridge Heads through 2020, while Mike has focused on his solo career & fronting local bands since, and Haggith songs were carried over to some of their later outings. While Haggith's music and career has been outdone in prominence by Mike and Dan's later work out of town, they were always a crowd favourite with their skilled yet accessible brand of grunge-flavoured hard rock, punctuated with Curt's great vocals and a natural songwriting knack. Despite a three year run with frequent lineup questions, they certainly accomplished a lot in studio and on stage, and be sure to follow members' current music to see what they're up to nowadays!

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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! For our first randomly selected profile of 2024, we will stay in Sault Ontario for a look at 2014-2016 hard rock quartet Long Shot, so look for that profile on or around January 10th, and for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!