Tuesday, March 8, 2011

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Hammerspace & Browbeat), New Demos, And More!!

Anyone want some more local metal news and updates? I've got you covered with another post full of some newer stories, including some band removals from an upcoming concert, the newest video from a local band, and a pair of new demos, and three LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! But before all that, if you guys have heard anything about a secret show tonight, you won't hear it from me. If Motion Carried areplaying tonight at Coch's Corner after 10:00 PM, I've heard noooothing official.... hint hint. So if there is a secret show tonight, you didn't hear it from me! Now, to the non-secret new shows!

Sault Michigan progressive metal quartet Hammerspace have announced their next concert, to take place one week from Thursday! This show will take place at one of their favourite local stops, Zim's on Ashmun Street, on March 17th at 9:30 PM! This should have a 21+ age limit, and there's no announced cover charge. The band are hyping their setlist as being original with a few covers thrown in, which is cool, make sure to check out their page linked above to hear some of their demos! For more details, visit their official Facebook event page! Nice to see them back out there, and the pictures I've seen from their last few Zim's concerts look cool! Zim's itself has a nice design from what I can see, hopefully the concert itself goes well itself! Stay tuned for more on Hammerspace as news comes in!

Meanwhile, that same weekend, Sault Ontario hard rockers Browbeat are back at The Roosevelt Hotel a month after their current lineup's live debut! The band officially announced on their Facebook page this afternoon that they will rock The Rosie on March 18th and 19th for a pair of weekend concerts! Now, the entry on SooToday's "What's Happening" event listing on their entertainment page says that Browbeat are playing there in exactly one week, but that's just a simple mistake, so don't head to The Rosie on Tuesday expecting Browbeat! Both of next weekend's shows have 10:00 PM start times (or later), there's no cover charge, and both are 19+ shows. Check the above links for more details! I regrettably missed Browbeat's return last month during my cold, but I have a hunch that I'll be there next weekend to check them out again! Hopefully the bookings pick up too, they deserve more! If more comes in, I'll have it here!

Thirdly tonight, how's about some new demos from a pair of local bands? I know of two new ones you guys should check out, so let's start in alphabetical order with Brimley hard rockers Half A Man! This got delayed a lot by other stories, but I'm finally giving it due credit, and it's the demo of Half A Man's newest song "Bad Way"! It's unfinished with no guitar solo yet, but it's well produced and pretty heavy! I think when it's finished, it will be one of Half A Man's better songs, it's hard hitting and makes good use of the band's talents! As it's no longer a front page story, click here to visit their Facebook info page, which features their posted songs to hear it! Good stuff! The other new demo is from Sault Ontario death metal quartet State of Misery, in what is their first posted audio track since their inception! Entitled "Devils Never Cry Cry, They Bleed", it's now posted and available to stream on their new Reverbnation page! I've heard they've wanted to get a demo CD started for a bit now, and this would be a good addition, though the production could use a boost. It's very heavy though, and the band sound in top form musically! Death metal fans will wanna check it out, see what you think! Check the links above for more on both bands!

Fourthly, here's the latest news on the massive April 9th all ages concert featuring 12 bands at The Oddfellows Hall! Now called "The Sewer Swampstravaganza", the lineup has taken a hit with the exit of two of the announced bands. One is local experimental grunge trio SBD, who dropped off of the show due to personal reasons. I won't go into detail why here, but it involves commitments for a band member that will keep them from performing. The other exited band is planned co-headliners The Fury, because frontman Paul Stanghetta will be out of town when the show takes place. It's a shame that both bands are out, but hey, hopefully quality replacements are found! This leaves the 6:45-7:30 PM and 10:30-11:15 PM slots open for new bands (I assume), though further lineup shuffling could happen for all we know. Click here to message concert organizers if you are interested in joining this concert! Note that Bring The Fallen are still scheduled to take part, but their status as an active band is still in question. If I hear anything on that front, I'll let you know! Fingers crossed for the lineup as a whole, but no matter what, this will be a huge show with tons of local rock talent, and hopefully you guys will be there! Stay tuned for updates, thanks to Dann Pichette and Steve Mozarowski for some of the above information, and click the above links for more details!

And finally, here's the latest video footage of Sault Michigan hard rockers Elipzis! Earlier this month, they played some concerts in the Grand Rapids area, and while down there, they stopped by Fox 17 in Grand Rapids on what looks like their morning show (am I wrong?) for an interview and acoustic performance! Frontwoman Rachel Kiger talked about where they were from, their plans for a new album this fall, the accomplishments they've made in just eight months together, what it was like opening for major bands, their writing process, and more! I'm surprised Ryan Harrison and Chris Webster didn't chime in more, but Rachel handled everything well! Then, the three of them (drummer Bob Helsten was absent) played an acoustic version of their song "Freedom", and they pulled it off pretty good, it translates well to an unplugged format! Rachel's singing is great, but the lack of drums does hurt the performance a tiny bit. Well shot and performed, you can check out Elipzis' Fox 17 interview and performance below, and thanks to YouTube user baileyboy321 for the upload! (If you want to skip to just the song, start the video two minutes in.)



That's all for today, but I have more news to share tomorrow, including our next weekly classic video and more! Thanks everyone!

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