We'll start right here in town, where tomorrow, a local band makes their grand return home! Lion Ride will play their first Sault-area show in many months tomorrow night at Coch's Corner! It's also their first local show with new drummer Mike "Iron Mike Bison" Indovina, who replaced Marc "The Italian Stallion" Muto in March. Admission is obviously free (not counting drinks), but seeing as it is a bar, you have to be 19 to get in. Support will come from local indie rockers Nebraska Arms, who feature former Renderware members Wayne Watkins & Adam Sauve among their lineup! Nebraska Arms are a bit far from my regular musical spectrum, but they're a talented band, and you can check out some of their quality originals at their official MySpace page! Everything starts at 10:00, and you can get full details at the Facebook event page!
As for Lion Ride, they've made quite the name for themselves in the last couple years, from coverage in Classic Rock Magazine, to numerous shows in Southern Ontario, and the release of their debut EP, "Awesome", and it's all well deserved! Their brand of glam metal mixed with punk is hard to ignore, and they have a great selection of songs! It's nice to see them back home, and I fully plan on being there tomorrow night! I just hope there's copies of their EP on sale, cause I wanna review "Awesome" for you guys! And yes, I WILL have free CDs!!! Check out Lion Ride on MySpace, and for a video preview, here's a video for their original song "Cocaine Crazy!"
And now, we come to the end of an era, as this is the final installment of The Northern Ontario Hempfest. After 11 years, Hempfest is saying goodbye due to increasing costs and stricter R.I.D.E. program enforcement, but not without what they're hoping will be the biggest and best Hempfest of all! I'll get to the "metal" bands in a second, but there's much more than just music! There's all kinds of activities planned, whether you're planning on smoking, or just supporting the cause! There's speakers planned, DJs, lots of vendors, exhibits, and even a "Cannabis Olympics"! I'd go more into detail, but their official website hasn't said much for some reason (there's not even a full band schedule posted!), but rest assured, if you smoke marijuana, you'll wanna be at Hempfest, I guarantee it! For as much full details as have been announced, visit Hempfest's official website, and the official Hempfest Facebook group!
How can you go to Hempfest? Well, tickets are likely still available by calling 1-888-215-8970, or by contacting Planetary Pride's official website at this location! Tickets were $40 in advance for the entire weekend (Today-Sunday), but it's too late to worry about that now (no metal bands today anyway!) Show up tomorrow at the gate, tickets will also be $40, and if you show up on Saturday, the price drops to $30! As for where it's located, it's back on Poplardale Road in Ophir, which is just 45 minutes from town. From Sault Ste. Marie, just go east on Highway 17 until you reach Highway 638. Turn left there, and keep driving until you reach a stop sign. Turn left there (cause that's Poplardale), and drive for 5-10 minutes, and you've arrived at Hempfest!
Now, to the bands! Bear with me on the band lineups, for there has been absolutely no official statements on the complete lineup, so I'm just going by what I can reasonably confirm. Tomorrow night will feature (among many others) Hamilton ska-punk band Lo-Fi, local indie musician Mark Kulmala, and....GARDEN OF BEDLAM!!! The local metal band returns for their first show since July's CD release show, and they're ready to rock once again! This is also their second consecutive Hempfest, having played there last year as well! Their set will begin at 5:00 PM! You all know Garden of Bedlam will bring their A-game tomorrow evening, and here's hoping for a great performance! Check out Garden of Bedlam on MySpace, visit the official Facebook event page for their set, and for a video preview, let's head back to Hempfest 2008, for this clip of the band playing their original, "Sovereignty"!
Now we come to Saturday, so here's who I know are definitely performing. Among that day's lineup will be Waterdown, Ontario singer/songwriter Terra Lightfoot, and reggae band The Level Vibe Sound Tribe! But there will be at least two hard rock bands as well! Locals Lion Ride are scheduled for Saturday as well, marking their second show of the weekend! They take the stage at 9:00 PM sharp! I already told you guys about Lion Ride, but to quickly sum up: They're great, don't miss them! Visit the Facebook event page for their set to confirm your attendance! The other band are Mama Kin, an Aerosmith tribute band from Toronto! Not sure when they take the stage, but if you're an Aerosmith fan, you'll wanna see these guys, so try not to miss them either! They provide a pretty good tribute to Aerosmith, and you can check them out on MySpace at this location! For a video preview, here's a clip of them playing, what else? "Mama Kin"!Following that, London blues rockers The Dirty Love Band take the stage on Sunday, but there's no hard rock or metal bands to my knowledge that day. Sorry for the minimal info, I worked with what I had. I won't be at Hempfest this year (I see it as a bit unworthwhile when you don't smoke), but I hope it's a major success and it goes out on a high! If I hear any news out of Hempfest in the next while, you'll hear it here!
Now, for an update on a local band that has undergone some changes! Sault Michigan hard rockers Jager have officially changed their name to Bad Monkey! Their MySpace page's URL and any references to the "Jager" name have also been changed accordingly. As well, all band members are gone save for frontman Henry Switzer, and ALL of the band's upcoming dates at Kewadin Casino are cancelled! Obviously some big changes going on with the band, but hopefully it's all for the better, and they'll have some new dates and some big news in the near future! Also, all their original songs remain on their page, luckily, so we can still hear their quality material! Visit Bad Monkey at their official MySpace page to see what's new!
And to close today's post, a double shot of news from Woods of Ypres! On the positive side of things, they will be in Chicago, Illinois, on November 21st, as direct support for Chicago-area death metal band November's Doom! Also to be joined by Chicago prog-metal band Sacred Dawn, the show will be at Reggie's Rock Club on that day! This show is now in the Out Of Town concert listings!Now, for a more negative story. At Woods' show on Monday night in Vancouver, their van's windshield and windows were smashed by a Vancouver-area black metal band named Adversarium. Apparently, they did it cause they didn't see Woods of Ypres as "real" black metal, from what I heard, and they waited until they played their set to do this. Nothing was stolen, and the rest of the tour wasn't affected, but they caused over $2,000 in damage. That just sucks, and it was just too far if you ask me. Note that I'm not linking to the band's site, cause I don't wanna encourage you to send any hate mail. If you choose to, that's your doing, I want no trouble. I just hope Woods get covered for the damages and everything can move positively from here!
That's all I have for today, I should have a Lion Ride concert review Saturday following the concert, and hopefully a review of their EP by Monday! Stay tuned, and thanks everyone!
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