LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Algoma Hope4Haiti), Plus More Hope4Haiti Bands/Lineup Announcements!

It took a while, but we finally have updates on most of the lineups for the Algoma Hope4Haiti benefit concert event taking place on February 19th and 20th! As you're likely aware, this event is being set up by SooToday's Donna Hopper and The Sault Youth Association to raise money for The Canadian Red Cross towards relief in Haiti after last month's devastating earthquake. Eight local bars will host concerts on Saturday, February 20th (with some also hosting bands on the 19th), with all proceeds going to the Red Cross, and for just $10, you can get into all venues! Now I did say when reporting on this event in earlier weeks that metal bands were likely, and I was right! With that in mind, here is a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Local death/thrash metal band Bring The Fallen will be headlining one of the Hope4Haiti concerts, this one at Nite-Life Dance & Comedy Club, marking their first ever performance at this venue! Nice to see Nite-Life involved, I hadn't heard they were in my earlier reports on all of this! They'll be rocking out for Haiti on February 20th, the Saturday of that weekend! But there will be support too, starting with, in their live debut, local hardcore band Out Of The Mouth Of Babes! Yes, the band featuring the instrumental members of As It Stands and Deter/The Fury's Josh McNally on vocals will finally play their first live concert at the Nite-Life Hope4Haiti concert! This sure has been a long time coming to see them live, huh? And though not metal, DJ Spruceau from The Level Vibe Sound Tribe will be performing as well. Hey, it never hurts to give a show some extra flavour, I'm sure he's a great DJ! I'll get to ticket and time information in a second when I go over all the shows, but check out each of the bands performing at Nite-Life on the 20th by clicking on their names! (Also, I love the poster! If it was black and white and photocopied, I'd swear it was a classic 1980s/90s local poster of some type!) Confirm your attendance for this part of Hope4Haiti at this location!

But as you may have guessed from earlier reports, this is far from all that is scheduled next weekend! Now the above show at Nite-Life is, as of 3:30 PM Friday, the only concert with metal bands confirmed for Hope4Haiti, but seeing as all the shows tie together in the same event, it'd be ignorant of me to leave any out. So here's what's confirmed so far at the other 6 bars, in alphabetical order by venue name!

(EDIT, FRIDAY AT 3:28 PM: I have updated the lineups for Hope4Haiti, including the acts playing Friday at Foggy's and The Rockstar Bar. Also, it looks like The Algonquin Pub & Sports Bar itself will NOT have bands. This will be edited if new updates come in prior to my next post. All band info comes from either the Facebook event page, SooToday's article about Hope4Haiti, or the official poster.)

The Bottoms Up Lounge: The bar above Vincenzo's Restaurant on Queen Street East will play host to local indie band The Pine Cones, with special guests Broken House on February 20th. I can't tell you much on either band, neither has an internet page, but they appear to be talented at their genre, and popular among indie circles! No concert on the 19th is scheduled.

The Canadian Nightclub: The only participating venue not downtown, The Canadian will be featuring local country act Thin Ice! You may recognize bassist Josh Donofrio from his work in inactive local metal band Garage Inc.! A frequent sight at venues like Docks and The Canadian, country music lovers should find a lot to like on February 20th, click on their name for more info! No concert on the 19th is scheduled.

Coch's Corner: No bands have been announced as of 3:30 PM Friday. They will only be featuring bands on February 20th. If I was a betting man, I'd put money on Coch's Corner as being likely to get a heavier act, though we'll have to see. I shall keep you guys posted!

Foggy Notions: On February 19th, Foggy's will be headlined DJ Seith, who'll mix some cool tracks for you dance music lovers! He'll be joined by two other local DJs, Aries and DJ Damaging D! Then on the 20th, Foggy's will feature The Tenagens and local punk band The Scary Uncles (featuring Justin Langlois from SIGHdEFECT & Andrew McDonald from Fitswitch), with a band to be named later. Both shows sound promising as well, I'm a fan of The Scary Uncles especially!

LopLops Lounge: The local art gallery/concert spot will host bands on both days of Hope4Haiti. As previously announced on here, Kalle Mattson (featuring ex-Gates drummer Jimmie Chiverelli) will headline the February 19th show with special guests Craig West & Kathy O'Neil. The next night, local funk band Big Wheel & The Spokes will headline at LopLops, with special guests Shannon Moan and Mark Kuntsi from Honeythroat. A silent art auction was also in the works for this location, but updates on it have not came recently.

The Rockstar Bar: Local classic rock band That's Chester (who have been known to cover some AC/DC and Iron Maiden along with INXS and The Kinks-kind of stuff) will be playing at The Rockstar Bar on February 19th AND 20th! You may recognize frontman Greg Simpson from his work in Stiffler's Mom & Sin Stereo! One of the better local cover bands, though not metal enough for the SMS, I do enjoy their metal covers when they throw them into their sets! Definitely worth hitting!

So there's what we know so far bandwise! Start times for each venue's shows will vary by location, I can tell you that the Bring The Fallen concert is scheduled to begin at around 9:00 PM, but I don't know general start times for the rest of them. There will be door prizes at all seven venues! And if you were wondering what happened to Top Hat Billiards, they are just hosting the free pool for ticketholders, there's no concert there. Speaking of ticketholders, tickets are now on sale at these locations: All of the participating venues (including Top Hat), MP Tony Martin's office on Queen Street, the Sault Youth Association office at Station Tower, and at the local Red Cross office on Allard Street! Call 946-1299 or contact organizers on the Facebook event page for more details, and to confirm your attendance! Remember, tickers are $10, but they're good at all venues next weekend, and will give you free pool at Top Hat all night! Of course, I will keep you guys posted as I hear more on Algoma Hope4Haiti! Looks like I might be at Nite-Life on that Saturday, though we'll have to see how the other lineups look first!

News and updates and everything else worth discussing are in the near future! Stay tuned, one and all!