This Weekend's Local Concert Previews!

Before I get to local metal news, I gotta mention this, as it is a big story and a sad loss to music. Les Paul, the inventor of the solid body electric guitar, and namesake of the Gibson Les Paul, died today. His pioneering work with guitars and music effects helped make music what it is today, and music as we know it might not be the same today if it wasn't for him. R.I.P., Les! Now, it's time to preview the remainder of this weekend's local concert lineup, as I promised, so here we go!

First, we'll head to Sault Michigan, where a pair of young local metal bands will take the stage at this year's Sugar Island Fest! Tomorrow night at 10:00, Nixxon Dixxon are performing, while Free Refill will play on Saturday night at 8:00 PM! The Sugar Island Fest is an annual event on Sugar Island (the island directly east of the twin Saults) featuring family entertainment from Friday-Sunday to raise money for keeping the area beaches safe! Admission is $10 for all three days! Get more info on The Sugar Island Fest at this location!

I'll talk a bit more about Nixxon Dixxon later in the post, but I'll talk about Free Refill for you guys right now! They're a talented rising young band with lots of promise, and some solid covers of songs you may recognize! Here's a clip of Free Refill covering the Black Sabbath classic "Paranoid"!



Next up, another local band from Sault Michigan will be playing twice this weekend! Hard rockers Jager are back at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino tomorrow night and Saturday night! Both shows will begin at 9:00 PM! These shows come three weeks after their last shows at Kewadin, which isn't too long of a wait! Check out Jager on their official MySpace page, they have some very solid material, and are well worth checking out live if you can! For a preview, here's a live video of Jager covering the Jet song "Cold Hard Bitch"!



Remember how I said I'd mention Nixxon Dixxon later? Well, later is now! They will also be in the area for a concert Saturday night in Kinross at The Malamute Saloon! This show will take place at 9:00 PM! These guys are really good for their age, they play some great sounding covers, they play lots of shows, they even backed up Bret Michaels last year, so you know they've got the goods! And if you miss them this weekend, never fear, they're at Kewadin Casino next weekend! For a preview, check out this video from a concert this year of their acoustic covers of songs by Seether, Daughtry, and Puddle of Mudd!



And finally, you knew I wouldn't leave you Sault Ontarians out, would I? Especially not with a show of this magnitude! On Sunday night, local black metal band Woods of Ypres make their long awaited return home for what should be a great concert! This will be Woods' first local show in 9 months, and their first featuring their current lineup of David Gold, Bryan Belleau, and Shane & Evan Madden! Joining them will be North Bay metal band Inflict, themselves returning to Sault Ontario for the first time in months! If you like Lamb of God, you should like Inflict! Check them out at this location! Opening will be local thrash band Necropolis, who you may recognize from numerous local shows over the past few months! Check out Necropolis at their official MySpace page!

This show will take place at The Speakeasy at Algoma University Sunday night, with Necropolis opening at 7:00 PM! Tickets are $10 IF you RSVP that you're attending on the Facebook event page! If you don't, the price is $15, so RSVP TODAY!!! Crank Sound Distribution are providing the sound, lots of merchandise will be on sale, and yes, this show is ALL AGES, but still with an open bar!

You can bet your collective asses that I will be at this show, I've been hyped for Woods of Ypres' return for months now! They're arguably the highest profile metal band ever based out of Sault Ontario, they have tons of great songs, and they always put on a great live show! And yes, I will have free CDs to give away as part of The Sault Metal Scene's Free CD Giveaway (At least 5, maybe 10!) As for a video preview of Woods of Ypres to show you guys, here's the music video for their 2007 single "The Northern Cold"!



So there's your previews for the weekend, if you guys are going to any of these shows (or Mr. Denton on Doomsday tonight), let us know! Upon my return, I'll have a review of the Woods of Ypres show and picutres at some point on Monday! Before then, I have a special post planned this weekend where I'll share some interesting local metal videos I've found on YouTube, cause there's some I'd like to show you guys! For now, enjoy this weekend's metal concerts, and I'll see you guys at The Speakeasy on Sunday night!