Wednesday, June 1, 2011

This Weekend's Local Metal/Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

It's time to preview this weekend's concerts on the local metal & hard rock side of things! I know eight, but if I'm missing any, please let me know at robertfigures@hotmail.com! So let's begin the previews for this weekend, but before that, remember that my Woods of Ypres video showcase from earlier today can be seen in the post below. Now, onto what you should know for this weekend! (Edited at 1:16 PM Thursday)

First, it's the 18th Roosevelt Hotel metal night, as 3 more metal bands take the stage for a night of hard hitting music for your Thursday, and there's a trio of firsts tomorrow with the included bands! The advertised headliners are Sykotyk Rampage, who'll bring their "crash music" stylings to The Rosie for the first time at a metal night, and the first time anywhere since their St. Patrick Day show at an old Rosie punk night! This show will also be a special event in honour of a Becker family wedding, so if you didn't get an invite, come rock out with Sykotyk Rampage's very unique brand of music tomorrow night! Also scheduled are the returning Bear Hunters, who are indeed playing despite reports to the contrary late last week. This will be their first show since adding former Bring The Fallen frontman Josh Stephney as their new rhythm guitarist, and how will they sound after a month of preparation for his debut? Time will tell! Listed to open are Bring The Misery, the debuting new death metal band featuring former State of Misery members Steve Rhodes & Ray Cowan, ex-Bring The Fallen members Dan Souliere & Travis St. Amour, and bassist Kory Derasp. What kind of sound and material will they have for us in their debut show? We'll all find out tomorrow night, but it should be interesting!

As usual, there's no cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and it all starts at 9:30 PM or later. Check the above links and Sykotyk Rampage's event page for more details! I'll be there for sure, and I'm using this concert as a test ground for my new digital camera that I got for my birthday! Just as a preview, it can shoot HD video... I dunno how the quality will end up being overall, but I'm optimistic! I'll see you guys there, and for a preview, here's Sykotyk Rampage playing their song "Sex Toy, Oh My Baby" at The Rosie in March!



Now to a trio of weekend sets from some local hard rock acts, and first, it's the return of Full Circle this weekend! After seeing their shows at The Canadian Nightclub last weekend cancelled, the band formerly known as Turner Up will play just their second concert weekend under their new name on Friday & Saturday night at The Nicolet Tavern! These won't be their current lineup's first shows here though, as they played their last concerts under the Turner Up name here early last month. Full Circle's shows this weekend will be at 10:00 PM both nights, you must be 19 to attend either show, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's good to see Full Circle back out there, hopefully they extend the promise of their new lineup this weekend and beyond! Head on out to The Nic this weekend for some entertaining classic hard rock covers! I don't have any shareable videos to preview their shows with, but when something comes online, I'll have it here!

Alright, now we'll head to Sault Michigan for a few more shows before closing at The Rosie again at the end. First, we'll go to The Satisfied Frog, where Marquette hard rockers Nudge are hitting for the first of two consecutive local concert weekends! This frequently seen band will be sure to rock The Frog once again with their entertaining hard rock and metal covers, as they play locally for the first time since April! And yes, this weekend's shows are in fact preceded by Wednesday and Thursday night solo acoustic shows by frontman Danzo McCracken (go see him tonight!) As for Nudge, both of their shows start at 10:00 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend either show. For more details, check out the official Facebook event page! Should be a solid weekend of hard rocking tunes from Nudge, so check them out this weekend if you can! If not, don't worry, they're back next weekend too! For a preview, here's Nudge covering the song "Good" by Better Than Ezra at a show in 2008!



Also across the river this weekend is the return of Splitshot after over a month away from the local concert stage! This is, of course, the local hard rock quintet featuring Nixxon Dixxon alumni Chris Hubbard & Kyle Beaumont along with family members of theirs, and they'll return to The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino on Friday & Saturday night! These shows are both advertised on their Facebook page and on Kewadin's entertainment page, so they're definitely on as scheduled! These shows should have 9:00 PM-ish start times (or later), no cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. Check the above links for more details! Splitshot are still really an enigma to fans who haven't seen them live, having no audio, video, or detailed band information online to fill in any blanks. I don't know if that's intentional or not, but I know there's talent to be had, and they'll have lots of hard rocking songs in store this weekend for the fans who come out to Kewadin Casino! Stay tuned for more from Splitshot if I hear it!

And finally, we close the weekend at The Roosevelt Hotel on Saturday night, when a big package of metal bands take control of the stage for a devastating night of metal! This show got announced rather short notice, so PLEASE take note of what to expect on Saturday! Headlining this show are Vancouver progressive metal band Unleash The Archers, who'll stop at The Rosie during their "Tour Through the Astrowaste" to deliver a high impact set of metal that takes influences from power metal, death metal, and hardcore, with awesome singing from frontwoman Brittney Hayes! You don't see bands like this much locally, you should really like Unleash The Archers! Opening this concert are a pair of Winnipeg hardcore bands, including the more progressive leaning Wear Your Wounds and post-hardcore quartet Abstract & The Artist on their own "Eastern Canada Bro-Down" tour! They'll fit right in with their moshable hardcore sounds, and prepare for some fury when they're on! Though Wear Your Wounds' own tour poster hypes As It Stands as the local openers, we know they're in Mississauga right now (more on that tomorrow), so the local opening band will be hardcore quartet Changing Waves! Great to see them getting this opportunity, they won't disappoint on Saturday!

Admission is $5 on Saturday, which is more than worth it for the package of bands you're getting! You must be 19 to attend, and everything starts after 9:00 PM! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a great show, and fingers crossed, I'll drive down there too on Saturday to rock out! For a preview, here's Unleash The Archers playing their song "Destroyer" at a Vancouver concert in 2009!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our latest "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow, featuring three new albums! And yes, I'll see you guys at The Rosie tomorrow night! Thanks everyone!

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