Kiss Battle Of The Bands: Night One Preview! (Plus A LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Well, despite the lack of an official lineup announcement for it, the local concert previews must go on, so it's time to preview night one of the Kiss Battle of the Bands! Here's all you need to know about it, from what I know! All show details have been gathered from Rock 101's website, event pages from involved bands, and an e-mail I obtained that bands received about battle details. Stay tuned afterwards for some assorted other news stories, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!!!!! As you know, Kiss needs an opener for their concert on December 15th at The Essar Center! So The Canadian Nightclub and Rock 101 are holding a three night Battle of the Bands, where the winner will be suggested to Kiss as their opener for the concert! 20 spots were available for bands, with 10 each playing on Monday and Tuesday night! The top bands from each night will clash on Wednesday night in the final runoff concert! Each band each night will get 10 minutes to perform two or three songs (NONE will be covers), with 5 minutes set-up time. The nightly lineups will be determined in a random drawing before performances begin each night, so we won't know who's on first until they know. A panel comprised of representatives from The Canadian and Rock 101 will judge the bands on their talent, entertainment, and sound, with the audience having a 25% say in the voting tallies. Ultimately however, Kiss will have final say on who wins, the winner on Wednesday will be recommended to the band, who will make a final choice. I hope Kiss accepts the winning choice for the sake of fairness, but it's up to them. The winner will open for Kiss on December 15th with a 30 minute set. They will also receive 10 tickets for the concert and get their picture taken with the band! So what else must you, the local music lover, know about attending? Well, it's NOT all ages, sadly. The cover charge will be $4 every day, and the show is scheduled to start at 9:00 PM nightly! I recommend being there early, because The Canadian will no doubt have a larger crowd than normal! I will be there all three nights, and I will take photos, with review/recaps coming the day after each part of the battle! Now, there has been no official announcements from any of the battle organizers yet about the definite lineups, so when it comes to discussing bands, I am short two bands. We're gonna break the individual band previews down by days over the next three nights, so we're only going to discuss TOMORROW'S SHOW tonight. Sources for how I learned of these bands' involvements can be found in the post below this one, nothing is guessed or assumed. I can confirm eight of tomorrow's bands, three of which are metal or hard rock, so here they all are! Save for Stiffler's Mom, click on each band's name to check out their official pages and check the bands out! (LAST UPDATED MONDAY AT 2:48 PM) Blues Harvest: These local blues rockers will no doubt inject a different flavour into Monday's lineup! You may recognize frontman Jake Rendell from the defunct local hard rock band Garage Inc! With a CD on the way and numerous local concerts under their belt, don't be surprised for Blues Harvest to put on a great set tomorrow night, as the whole band are great musicians! Show your support for Blues Harvest's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle! Caveman Morrison: A late addition to the lineup, Caveman Morrison are replacing MBM on the lineup! This will be their first live performance since August, and their first with new bassist Rick White (Frightlight, ex-Fitswitch). Though mostly known for covers, Caveman Morrison will play two songs from frontman Tym Morrison's solo album at the battle! A very talented heavy metal band to be watched out for! Show your support for Caveman Morrison's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle! Dirty Virgin: The local glam/punk rockers will be playing their first official concert in over eight months, though they last played live together in July. This will be their first live set since the departure of drummer Matt Hicks, though the band haven't publicly announced who the new drummer is. Expect some solid rock n' roll that might make you want to have a drink or two! Show your support for Dirty Virgin's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle! Flat Stanley: Featuring drummer Glen Thomas, a member of many local metal bands of the 80s and early 90s, Flat Stanley will show case their brand of progressive/experimental rock tomorrow night! The band have been going stong since 2000, and you may have seen them at numerous concerts and events in the Sault area! They've also recorded some studio material as well! Show your support for Flat Stanley's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle! Garden of Bedlam: Probably the most high profile of the four metal bands playing tomorrow, Garden of Bedlam are still riding high on the success of their debut EP, which came out in April. This will be their first local performance since the Devil's Night show at The Oddfellows Hall. Some are pegging Garden of Bedlam as early favourites to win it all, but only time will tell! Show your support for Garden of Bedlam's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle! Huckster: A band full of local music veterans, they are (to my knowledge) the only female fronted band competing in this event. Though not a Kiss-like band for their sound, don't count them out, they are very talented, with lots of great guitar-driven music! They also released their first album, "Designed For Real Life", earlier this year, which should do quite well! Show your support for Huckster's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle! Nebraska Arms: A popular local indie band, you may have seen the band in numerous local shows in recent months! Although not metal, bassist Wayne Watkins and drummer Adam Sauve were members of the inactive local metal band Renderware! Nebraska Arms recorded their first album earlier this year, and will no doubt show off their musical gifts tomorrow night! Show your support for Nebraska Arms' set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle! Stiffler's Mom: A very successful pop-rock band, Stiffler's Mom can frequently be seen at local bars, and will now try their skills in the battle of the bands! Though not a "Kiss-like" band on the surface, all three members of Stiffler's Mom used to be in the local metal band Sin Stereo, so they do have the goods! Sadly, they don't have an official website or internet page, but they are definitely a talented and popular rock band, so keep an eye out for them! Sykotyk Rampage: Coming off their return performance at The Outback in October, the "blue Chinese metal crash punk" rockers will no doubt provide the most unique sound of all the battle entrants! Though not the youngest of the bands, they bring loads of experience to the table! With a back catalog of 21 albums, who knows what songs they'll play? Show your support for Sykotyk Rampage's set by joining their Facebook event page for the battle! Tiny Trebuchet: Thanks to Alli J from Rock 101 for sending me the full lineups for the battle, so I can tell you guys that a band named Tiny Trebuchet are playing tonight! But that's as far as my information goes, I've searched, and I've found absolutely nothing about this band. Not one detail. They must be local, but I'm at a loss for information. If you can tell me anything about Tiny Trebuchet, e-mail robfigures@hotmail.com A.S.A.P.! Following tomorrow night's performances, head back to The Canadian Nightclub on Tuesday night for The Billy Bastards, Bring The Fallen, Gsis Murphy, Lion Ride, Middle of Nowhere, Nixxon Dixxon, Sense of Truth, Stillbroke, and Wishbone! And remember to go Wednesday for the finals! But tomorrow, be there by 9:00 PM, with ID and $4, and get ready for a night of some of the best bands in the Sault competing for one hell of an amazing prize! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - And finally, A LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!! I apologize for the short notice of this, but it was just announced tonight. THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, Garden of Bedlam will play their first ever solo concert! They'll be at Madison's Pub on Pine Street (in the Food Basics' plaza), a venue that hasn't hosted a local metal concert (to my knowledge) since Sykotyk Rampage played there in the spring! They'll play two sets of music, including songs from their EP, brand new originals, and select covers! Doors are open to Madisons' all day, but Garden of Bedlam won't take the stage until around 11:00 PM that night. There will be a cover charge of $5, but it'll be worth it to check out Garden of Bedlam! Also, Lion Ride guitarist Marco "Marc O'Lion" Pedalino will be there to provide sound! Should be a great show, if a bit smaller than typical. I'll be there for sure, I don't live far from Madisons', hopefully you can make it there too! Confirm your attendance at the official Facebook event page! That's all for tonight, tomorrow, I'll preview night two of the Kiss Battle of the Bands AND the Battle of the Bands at The Speakeasy! And stay tuned Tuesday for a super important day! Not only will I preview the FINALS of the Kiss Battle, I'll post my review of "Woods IV: The Green Album"! Stay tuned, everyone!