It's Official: KISS ARE COMING!!!!! Plus, A Gates of Winter Update, And More!!

WE GOT THEM! Kiss frontman Gene Simmons has confirmed that, as one of the top three finishers in the fan routed tour voting, Sault Ontario WILL get a Kiss concert! He confirmed this in an interview with Darryl Steridan of The Ottawa Sun in preparation for their upcoming performance at The Ottawa Bluesfest. The article says, and I quote:

After the polls closed June 30, it was revealed the Top 3 cities on the list were all Canadian: Oshawa (14,569), Winnipeg (12,913) and Sault Ste. Marie (11,315).

“Clearly, these cities are out of their minds,” Simmons said. All three are “guaranteed” slots on the band’s itinerary — though not necessarily in that order.

Our home and native land’s love for KISS goes both ways, he added.

“More and more, I (think), ‘Gee, I wish I was Canadian,’ ” he said. “There’s just a purity of heart up there. I don’t know how else to put it.”

Fuckin' A! We did it! Thanks to everyone out there who voted, be it through the SMS or not! Say what you will about Gene Simmons, he sticks to his word, and he likes Canada! So there you go, Kiss (with Buckcherry as openers) ARE DEFINITELY coming to The Essar Centre! Now, the big question is: When are Kiss playing here? Once I find out more, I'll keep you posted! To read the original Ottawa Sun article, click here! And to read David Helwig's article on SooToday about the same topic, visit this location!

Next up, Gates of Winter bassist Steve Furgiuele has released an official statement to their MySpace page concerning their apparent demise. He also personally sent me a copy on Facebook, which was nice of him! In it, he thanks everyone for supporting and befriending the band over the years, and says that "2003 – 2009 is merely.. an end of an era." According to the statement, the Gates of Winter guys need time to focus on their personal lives and education, and down the road, when the time is right, they'll return!

But honestly, I couldn't sum up everything Steve said in a few sentences, you really should read it. It's well written, it sums up the questions we've had about Gates' status, and it really comes from the heart in his appreciation for their fans and supporters. Personally, I hope things go well for the entire band, and when they come back, the fans will follow, including myself! Check out the entire post at this location! And until then, we still have Woods of Ypres, iT, and Lee's solo project to help us pass the time!

And finally, I have found another band that wants to play in Sault Ontario, but has yet to book a venue. Calculating Collapse, a death metal band from Grand Prairie, Alberta, have a potential concert listed for here on October 18th, but has nowhere to play yet. Can you help? If you think you can, contact Calculating Collapse through their official MySpace page! They're really good, it'd be awesome to have them play here! Remember, Jucifer are still looking for a booking here on August 2nd too, contact them on MySpace if you can help them too!

That's all for now, as I find more news, you'll hear it here, including concert previews for this weekend, hopefully Northern Rocks Magazine's new issue, and Garden of Bedlam's rescheduled all ages show! Stay tuned!

EDIT (5:18 PM): I don't know if this is because of our second anniversary, the new Facebook page, both, or none of the above, but on July 4th, we had a new record of 129 HITS!!!!!!! And yesterday, we had 104! Thank you guys so much!!!