Friday, July 20, 2012

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Banned), Half A Man & AlterWhite News, And More!!

I wasn't planning to rush a news post tonight, but with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT, I had to scrape one together, so along with that, we have some Half A Man-related media, a new song from a local metal band, and more assorted stories. Also check out our Rotaryfest main stage/Tym Morrison concert previews in the post below this one, but for now, here's our latest news!

Kinross hard rock quintet Banned are apparently playing another area concert TONIGHT in a place we've never covered concerts in before! Continuing with their widely scattered shows at venues all over the Eastern U.P. (most of which aren't commonly touched on here), they'll be hitting Todd's Tavern in Moran, Michigan (20 minutes northwest of St. Ignace, an hour southwest of the Soo) tonight for their first ever stop at this venue! Todd's Tavern is new to us entirely (and not only because of our coverage expansion) as it was only launched in May, after current owner Todd St. Andrew purchased the former Bullwinkle's Bar & Grill, and now they're in operation & hosting live music! Whether Todd's Tavern will become a frequent destination for local hard rock/metal bands is to be determined, but this could just be among the wide array of venues that Banned have been playing this year in the region. Either way, they'll have lots of covers and originals in store for fans and revelers in Moran, and hopefully some of you guys can head out there for this show! I don't believe they're playing there on on Saturday, but tonight's show should have a 21+ age limit and a 10:00 PM-ish start time, and a cover charge has not been announced. Check the above links for more details!

And yes, I apologize for the short notice on this show, but Banned only announced it on their Facebook page earlier today. This should be a solid concert from this entertaining and hard working local band, so keep their Moran/Todd's Tavern debut in mind tonight! For a preview, here's Banned covering Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box" in the Soo in January!



Next up, here's some assorted updates relating to Brimley metal trio Half A Man! Recent news has been slow, but some new Facebook-only videos have been posted this month to keep fans up to speed, including this one featuring words from frontman Erik Rintamaki and bassist Gary Croad mentioning some upcoming post-LemmaFest recording plans (and revealing some unexpected "temporary" drummers.) Nice enough video, and it's good to see some light humour in it! The other video is of the audio of their original song "Life Goes On" from LemmaFest, with assorted video footage from live concerts & practices (even from older lineups), so click here to give that a look! The footage is cool, though I'd have tried syncing up earlier videos of "Life Goes On" with it to make it look like it was all filmed together. Stay tuned for more Half A Man news as it comes in via the above links, and on a final related note, do you guys remember Set To Random, the mid-late 2000s acoustic rock trio featuring Erik on bass and Gary on drums? Well, as it turns out, they have one plugged in hard rock song named "Safe Mode" that sounds pretty good! The rest of their old material is on the softer acoustic side of things, but this has a slow deliberation that works in it's favour, and effective melodic singing from Jason Klein, so click here to hear it and more from Set To Random!

Also in the realm of newly posted media, Sault Ontario metal project AlterWhite posted a new song onto their YouTube channel yesterday! Entitled "1950", it sounds pretty good compared to their earlier originals, with a catchy heavy riff and nice drumming, but the vocals still sound like a forced attempt to sound like James Hetfield, and the song itself is slightly repetitive. I like where they Mike & Kevin are heading though, so check out AlterWhite's new song below!



And finally for tonight, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:
  • Kincheloe metal band Chained Memories have quietly confirmed that only drummer Mike Rynberg is left in their lineup, meaning that Sean Roush, Ryan Nicklas, and Mikaela White have all departed. Not surprising given some of their recent news, but best of luck to all of them in the future, and if you're interested in trying out for Chained Memories, message the band/Mike at this location!
  • According to Frightlight's Facebook page last month, local film production company 62nd Chamber Productions (ran by ex-BeeFMouTH member Boyd Rendell) will be on hand at WEDNESDAY'S Anvil concert at The Canadian Nightclub to film their set for upcoming media uses, and the guys wanna see some fans in Halloween costumes for the occasion! Keep that in mind for the concert, it'll be a cool sight ig people follow through!
  • In recent Twitter postings, Redundant frontman Justin Langlois noted that his local punk band would be playing at The Roosevelt Hotel on August 2nd, which is a Thursday. Will that be the 48th Rosie metal night, or just a conveniently timed separate show? If it's indeed in the series, it'll be Redundant's first official Rosie metal night in almost 9 months, but I'll keep you guys posted with updates if I hear of them!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news tomorrow before I head to the Second Stage for Garden of Bedlam! Thanks everyone!

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