Thursday, January 20, 2011

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Half Past & That's Chester), A New Local Band, And More!!

We're on pace for our busiest month on the SMS since the summer, which is a great sign! Our march to another 30+ post month continues today with some more big news and notes from the past little while, including news on a notable local book, a previously unknown store for a local band, and two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but first, here's a new local band!

In November, you may remember us talking about a new local hard rock trio named The Quims, which featured frontman Justin Langlois (of Scary Uncles fame), Frightlight guitarist Rick White, and his brother James on bass, as you'll recognize from Browbeat. They looked promising and original for a local band, but we hadn't heard anything on them for over two months. Well, the other day, a new local band popped up on Facebook named Motion Carried which also featured Justin and Rick, but with Rick now on drums and a new bassist listed, veteran local musician Jamie Whalen (notably of Facedown). I can confirm that The Quims have broken up (thanks to Justin for confirming that), but without plainly visible sources, I won't say much else. Now, we have Motion Carried, a promising sounding band that describe themselves as an old fashioned rock n' roll band, with alcohol as a listed influence! Good sign! The band might be looking for a second guitarist, but aside from that and the existing info on their Facebook page, little else can be said yet, but keep an eye out! I have a feeling some good stuff will come from Motion Carried!

Now to our LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and first, a notable local hard rock band have finally announced their long awaited return to the stage! That band is Half Past, who have booked a headlining concert at The Rockstar Bar on February 26th! This will be their first live concert in almost 11 months, following a lengthy break from the stage amidst the departure and return of bassist Arthur Lacasse, and the beginning of preparations for their debut album. It's about time they come back, they're a talented band with some really solid originals and many great covers, and they should deliver next month in their return! A start time of 10:30 PM is listed on the Facebook event page, there is no advertised cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. Pencil me in to attend this concert if I'm in town (not sure about my March Break plans yet), but regardless, this should be a great concert! Stay tuned for more updates as they come in, and check the above links for more details!

The other new concerts today are from an upcoming concert weekend at Docks Riverfront Grill, where That's Chester will return for a pair of shows next month! A favourite stop of theirs, the local classic hard rockers will be back at Docks on February 11th and 12th, one weekend after Turner Up, so a nice string of classic hard rock cover bands is on the way at that venue! My source for these new concerts is a reply to a post on That's Chester's Facebook page, and they've proven to be correct and honest with upcoming concert claims in any form, so I wouldn't expect this to be altered. As is usual, I would expect a 19+ age limit, 10:00 PM start time, and no cover for both of these shows. These should be fun as well, as That's Chester have some great music and talents in store at every concert, and you guys should consider going if you need some live music next month! Stay tuned for more That's Chester news and updates as I hear them!

Now for a couple news stories from the last little while to fill out this post, and we'll start with a surprising find I never realized existed! News from local crash music quartet Sykotyk Rampage has been slow recently despite no less than two albums in the works for release, but I did find something pretty cool that I never noticed before when I was browsing their pages: A store, and not just for music! The band's Reverbnation page has a surprisingly extensive store where you can buy band t-shirts, hoodies, hats, water bottles, mugs, tank tops, and canvas bags! The designs range from band logos to the front cover of their newest album "Bella Disgusta", but note that some of the graphics are pretty distorted depending on the product. I assume this is more like CafePress than something with extensive band input. The above links will take you to their store, where you can buy official Sykotyk Rampage merchandise, but note that things are slightly expensive compared to similar products from other bands. Still, if you love the sound of baboons eating peanut butter or stars decaying, you might wanna pick up some of this stuff! Stay tuned for more Sykotyk Rampage news as I hear it!

And finally, this is a news item that isn't entirely metal-centric, but it's really cool and has a lot of historic noteworthiness to the local scene, so I have to mention it. Do you guys remember in July when I talked about some cool short stories from the local music scene in the 1980s written by local photographer Paolo Colasacco? They dealt with the concert scene in the 1980s, mostly concerning punk bands and shows at Centennial Lanes, but they were insightful looks back into an era many local music lovers remember fondly, and you can check them out by clicking here. I hoped they'd amount to something big in the future, but with their posting taking place in 2005, I honestly wasn't too hopeful. However, Paolo has finished a book entitled "Going Underground: A Brief History Of Punk Rock In Small Town Canada" which compiles (I assume) the short stories above and many more, along with a bunch of his concert photography into a book about the Sault music scene from 1985-2000. It looks to have a punk focus and bent towards all ages concerts from that 15 year spread, but the articles I read and posted in July did have metal references, so there should be more mentions of it! I was regrettably too young to be a part of the scene during the time period Paolo's featuring in "Going Underground", but I always want to learn, and I have a hunch this will be a must read book!

"Going Underground" goes on sale THIS SATURDAY at The Rad Zone at Wellington Square Mall for $30, which may seem steep, but don't look at it like that. This should prove to be a great collection and flashback to the local scene that I'm sure many people regard fondly, so I expect it should be worth the money! In conjunction with the book signing, Paolo will be on hand from 1:00-4:00 PM on Saturday to autograph copies of "Going Underground", so if you want a signed copy, that's when to attend! For more details, visit the book's official Facebook page and The Rad Zone's Facebook page as well! I think I will pick up a copy, and if things go according to plan, we may just have a new book review this year! Stay tuned!

That's all for today, but I will see you guys at The Rosie TONIGHT for Metal Night! Thanks everyone!

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