LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (40 Sons), Rockstar Bar Battle Of The Bands Updates, And Much More!!

Hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl! Today, we're back with a full news post, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, updates on a major spring concert event, a local band's new Kickstarter campaign, and a new tribute song from a prominent local musician, so here's what you need to know!

An out of town hard rock band is returning to Sault Ontario at the end of the month, that being Hamilton hard rock quartet 40 Sons on February 28th at The Rockstar Bar! A long running act who've opened for numerous major artists since their 2004 inception, you may remember 40 Sons from shows they headlined at the old Coch's Corner in 2009 & 2010 (and a later cancelled Speak Easy gig in March 2010), and it'll be great to see them back in town after 3 years away! Their energetic hard rock sound with unique higher singing has helped them get a solid following in Southern Ontario, and hopefully they pick up where they left off in the area at this show! Promoted by Frightlight's J.D. Pearce, this 19+ concert surprisingly has NO COVER, and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! Don't miss 40 Sons at The Rockstar Bar on the 28th, as this will be a fun night of original hard rock and metal, and stay tuned for any possible updates!

Next up, here's the latest on the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands going down every Wednesday in April! While nothing official on the battle's event page has been posted to confirm registered bands, we do know a couple of confirmed bands thanks to their own Facebook postings, so why not start getting the word out? At least two have publically confirmed their registration, including local hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings and local death/sludge metal quartet Giwakwa, in their live concert debut! No strangers to the stage recently, this will be The Suicide Kings' first Rockstar Bar appearance of 2013, and their lineup isn't inexperienced in battles of the bands, with members Steven Flint & Mitch Sirie competing at last year's Sault Humane Society battle with Wishbone and The Bear Hunters repsectively. Can they build on Steven's third place finish last year come April? As for Giwakwa, they feature Bring The Fallen alumni Josh Stephney on vocals & Nolan Rainville on bass alongside veteran local guitarist Chris Page & Frightlight drummer Chris Thompson, and this marks their long awaited debut show following over a year of anticipation and lineup shifts.

Note as well that their lineup has experienced recent battle competitors, as Bring The Fallen won 3 battles out of 4 they competed in between 2009 & 2010, and Josh also played with The Bear Hunters at last year's Humane Society battle. Will Josh & Nolan's experience and success help Giwakwa make a huge first impression?

Both bands confirmed their involvement via Facebook event page postings by band members, so check the above links for proof, but official announcements from organizers are forthcoming. Also, while they haven't explicitly confirmed if they registered yet, Central Algoma death metal quartet For All That Is Lost and local grunge rockers Haggith posted on the event page to imply that they were going to sign up, but full confirmation has yet to come from either the bands or battle organizers as to if they're in, and it's still too soon to confirm dates for each band. I'll keep you guys posted when we hear more! Also, rules on setlist content have been changed to allow competing bands to more or less play what they want, as per postings by J.D. Pearce on the event page linked above, which should encourage more bands to register without fear (though I believe having some original material is still encouraged.) Limited slots are still available, so sign your bands up for A.S.A.P. for $150 at Case's Music, The Rad Zone, or The Algonquin Hotel, with $1,000, studio time, and a guaranteed concert opening slot for the winners, and check the above links for all current information on this huge battle!

Also in the news, Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night needs your help! Drummer Greg Giles launched a Kickstarter campaign recently to help fundraise towards the band's planned re-recording of their debut album "Christmas Night", so what should you know? Unlike the 2011 re-release, this album will feature vocals from German soprano singer Gaby Koss, and it sounds like they're re-doing the whole album and counting it separately from the original instrumental version. As such, this won't be a free process, so Theatre of Night are looking to raise $7,000 to fund the recording sessions and other related fees, and they'll be campaigning to that end for the next two months. If you're familiar with Kickstarter, you'll know that backers who pledge varying amounts of money will get rewards depending how much they pledge, ranging from three song downloads for a $1 pledge to everything from copies of the album and their back catalog (potentially signed if you donate enough), exclusive downloads of new material, free copies of any future Theatre of Night albums, and even credit in the album booklet (plus everything else) if you pledge $1,000.

The album won't be funded the required money unless the $7,000 is raised by April 4th, with a hopeful release coming in the fall, so if you want to pledge money towards this classical epic album of Christmas standards and some originals, click here and donate what you can! I think this is the first time a local metal band's used Kickstarter for fundraising, but hopefully Theatre of Night get the funds they need (and more) by April, so help out however you can, and stay tuned for band updates!

Finally for today, let's close on a somber note, as Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison recently posted a new solo original song onto his YouTube channel in memory of Nadine Dowding, who passed away this weekend. While not a local musician (that I know of), she was a friend of many musicians and mutual contacts, and I've heard very good things about her as a person and mother. Tym's tribute song "Nadine R.I.P. My Friend" has a lot of real visible emotion, and it's well done, especially given the short timeframe to write it. Check it out below, and stay tuned for more news as the week rolls on! Thanks everyone!