LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Woods Of Ypres), More Out Of Town Shows, And Much More!!

Hey everyone, sorry this post couldn't come earlier, I've actually been battling a cold recently, so this hasn't been my first thought all of the time. I actually took a sick day from my classes yesterday, which isn't normal for me to do. But I have lots of news today, including some new out of town shows, some band updates, and a couple new songs from some local solo artists, but first, here's a very notable LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

They're baaaaack! 19 months after their last concert in our burial ground, local black/doom metal quartet Woods of Ypres will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on March 10th to kick off their CD release tour for the "Woods IV" rerelease! This will be their first local stop since August 16th, 2009, when they rocked The Speak Easy with North Bay metal band Inflict and what is now Bring The Fallen, and will also mark their first ever local concert with current guitarist Joel Violette. This time around, Woods of Ypres will rock The Roosevelt Hotel (likely their first show there), and yes, this appears to be another Roosevelt Hotel metal night (March 10th is a Thursday.) Sounds good to me! Full details haven't been released yet, but I imagine a 9:30 PM start time, no cover, and a 19+ age limit will be par for the course. Local openers will also join Woods of Ypres at this show, but they have not been confirmed at present. For all current details on this concert, click here! It's awesome to see Woods of Ypres back home, I'm definitely hitting this show! Stay tuned for updates as they come in, and I hope to see you guys there!

While we're on the subject of Woods of Ypres, here's some more scattered updates from the last little while! A new review of "Woods IV: The Green Album" by Sara Heitman was newly posted on the metal site Blistering, and you can check it out by clicking here. She rates the album with a 7.5/10 and calls it an "emotional rollercoaster" Open and fair with constructive criticism, give it a look if you want! As well, frontman David Gold was interviewed by the British metal site Cack Blabbath recently, and you can check out the review at this location! David discusses his music's meanings, the subject matter and themes of "Woods IV", their signing with Earache Records, their new music video, how their music is created, the status of "Woods V", his beard, and more! Good insightful interview, though the messages concerning "Woods V" don't sound as positive as I'm sure we were hoping. Thirdly, Woods of Ypres are now on Tumblr! This is new for me, as I'm not familiar with Tumblr at all, but it appears to be sort of a combination of Twitter and Blogger, if that makes sense. Looks nice, and it's very custom to the band and "The Green Album", we'll have to see what pops up there! Click here for more, and I'll have more on Woods of Ypres in a second!

Now we'll get to a pile of out of town concerts to add to the SMS listings, as a few local bands have more out of town dates this year! Firstly, Sault Michigan hard rock trio Monkey's Uncle have confirmed six upcoming concert weekends at The Northern Pines Lounge at the Kewadin Casino in St. Ignace, including the weekends of February 11-12, April 8-9, June 10-11, August 12-13, October 14-15, and December 16-17. Check the above links for more details! Secondly, another Sault Michigan hard rock band, Elipzis, have announced 5 upcoming dates at McDuff's in Wayland, Michigan, which is roughly a half hour south of Grand Rapids. 4 are weekend dates (March 4-5 & April 15-16), while the last of the 5 on June 24th is a headlining show at a bash for Grand Rapids rock radio station 101.3 The Fox! For full details, visit Elipzis' official Facebook page! And finally, Woods of Ypres have added a lot of out of town dates to their itinerary next month, including headlining shows in Barrie, the Northeastern United States, and the maritime provinces! These join their supporting slots in Sudbury and Toronto, and of course, March 10th at The Rosie, in their Eastern North America tour for the "Woods IV" rerelease! For full details on these shows, and how to help get them gigs in Quebec and elsewhere next month, click here!

Oh yeah, Monkey's Uncle's dates at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino on September 16-17 and November 25-26 appear to still be on. These were among the deleted concerts from Kewadin Casino's entertainment page, but again, Monkey's Uncle included them on their MySpace concert listings, so they must still be on. Not new concerts, just reminding you guys that they're on still!

And finally, a pair of local hard rock solo artists have unveiled new solo material! One is the new song from local experimental guitarist Mike Cliffe, who posted his new song "Evil Tuba" onto his Reverbnation page! It features fellow local musician Glen Thomas on bass, drums, and tuba, with Mike handling the guitar and the tuba at the end of the song. This is a well played number with some nice progressive instrumentation and a fun sort of feel while retaining it's heaviness! The tuba parts are an interesting addition too, not necessarily meshing with the song, but setting tones well! Good stuff, hopefully Mike has more stuff in store! The other new song today is a new acoustic solo song from Tym Morrison entitled "Someday"! It's in the same vein of his last new solo track, "How I'm Wanting You More", as it's an acoustic love ballad, but definitely check it out if you enjoy his solo concerts! Well performed and you can feel the emotion! Also check out Tym's YouTube channel for some funny parody videos he's recently posted as well, particularly if you don't find yourself a fan of 50 Cent or country music! Check out the above links for more on Mike and Tym's latest solo work!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our weekend concert previews either tonight or tomorrow! Thanks everyone!