Swampstravaganza Lineup Updates, Battle Profile Updates, And Much More!!

News has been somewhat slow lately, but we're back on this Monday evening with assorted recent notes (including local music festival plans), recent feature profile updates, and a new video from a prolific local hard rock artist, but let's start with some overdue lineup announcements for an upcoming all ages concert event, so here's what you should know!

There's been some more lineup changes and additions for this year's fourth annual Sewer Swampstravaganza at The Oddfellows Hall on May 10th, so what's new? On the metal side of things, there has been a band replacement, as local thrash quartet Pillory have been replaced on the bill by drummer Bret Shuttleworth's other active band Brutaly Fatal, as per edits to the Facebook event page last week. A reason for Pillory's exit has not been announced, but they are alive and well, so don't miss them on Saturday night for Dank Fest! This will be Brutaly Fatal's first public concert appearance with their expanded lineup and new doom metal-influenced sound (house parties aside), though it's unclear as of yet whether their teased fourth member will be present. There were also two new band additions last week, and their names are the Neon Stars and the Runaway Voices, so who are they? As best as I can tell from personal Facebook postings, they're two all-girl student vocal groups from Case's Music, though I may have a detail or two off there.

Their inclusion may seem like an outlier, but their ages would fit the all ages nature of the event, and as we saw with past Swampstravaganza acts like Conika and Guy Smith, it's never been exclusive to just rock & alternative bands. This year's event now has 11 bands (which will tie the first installment from 2011 for the most ever at this event), but a band search is still advertised. Visit the above links to inquire further on possible openings (or to submit band logos for the official poster), and stay tuned for more on the lineup & schedule!

Next up, former ApocalyptiCDistroyeR frontman Jesse Middaugh has finally posted a new solo cover video onto his (and the band's) old YouTube channel! His first upload there featuring him playing any type of music since 2012, this is his guitar cover of Metallica's "The Unforgiven III", and it does sound good, but the recording quality of the video is somewhat muddled, and I would have liked to have seen Jesse tackle the solo. Nice to see him finally back posting videos though, so give his new cover a look! (Also, I've switched ApocalyptiCDistroyeR's link on the SMS from their website to their Facebook page due to the website's deletion, though it's unclear whether it expired or was intentionally took down.)



Also today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:

• Project 421/Punch singer Curtis McKenzie is helping a friend of his in getting or joining a metal band on vocals. Apparently, he screams and would be interested in doing covers or originals in a hardcore or thrash-type band. If you're interested, message Curtis at this link for information, and remember, Curtis is not the aspiring singer in question, he's just helping him out as an online contact.
• According to a post on their Facebook group yesterday by promoter Robert Neron, this year's Hempfest in nearby Ophir, Ontario will take place from August 25th-31st (similarly to it's pre-2010 scheduling), but this year's music will apparently be themed around hip-hop and rap music, like how last year's had a tribute band theme. This might deflate hopes for an increased hard rock presence for the first time since 2011, but just in case, we'll keep an eye out for band announcements, and click here for tentative ticket info!
• This year's fourth annual LemmaFest (the Sault Michigan music/tribute festival outside of Dondee Lanes) will return in June, and to that effect, organizers will be hosting a meeting in the Dondee at 8:00 PM this Thursday to take suggestions on all aspects of this year's event and what is to be expected. As well, if your band wants to play this year, message organizers at this link or come out on Thursday! For reference, if it takes place on the fourth Saturday of June again, this year's LemmaFest would be on June 28th, but a date is to be confirmed.

Finally for today, here's some long overdue updates to our Battle of the Bands Rewind profiles, as we inch closer to our next installment of this series on April 25th! In our 2008 Case's Music Battle profile, I updated the section on performers' later bands to remove the recently inactive Glass Thieves, Social Suicide, and Unbound (plus out of town rock band Lucky Widmore, who no longer feature local members) with recently active metal acts Pillory & Viva Emptiness, local/Ottawa indie rockers The North Shore (who recently changed their name from Like Father Like Son), and London blues rockers Run Coyote. Also, on all battle profiles that featured relocated local death metal artist Josh Stephney in a competing band, I updated references where needed concerning his role in The Bear Hunters and how while he didn't compete at their first place Viva La Battle set in November, he did come back home to play with them at the Bam Margera concert in December, which was the first place prize. Stay tuned for more updates to this series soon!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week, plus weekend concert previews, poll results, and more! Thanks everyone!