LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Zaum & Stiffler's Mom), An Older Punk Band Discovery, And More!!

As the news keeps coming in and piling on, let's get a post up on this Saturday morning, so what's on tap? Today, we have assorted recent updates, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spring, and first, a new-ish band discovery that we honestly should have touched on in last summer's initial punk band integration, so here's what you need to know!

We have a defunct local punk band to add to our band links, and they are Stealing Kisses! Their lineup featured singer/guitarist Kevin Koprash, bassist Kevin D'Orazio, and drummer Nick Kainula (who all formed the 2009-2010 metal band Losing Ground with Late & Loud's Jon Tiberi after going on hiatus), while some MySpace photos indicate that they had a lead singer briefly as well (likely Mike Palarchio, source here.) Primarily active in early 2009, Stealing Kisses did play a number of concerts during their brief run, including opening for The Artist Life that May, and also playing with the likes of RedD Monkey and Caddy Street Avenue before going on hiatus later that year due to school commitments. Kevin D'Orazio and Nick did achieve far larger success with their early 2010s death metal band State of Misery, but they too had a brief main run. The band still has a Facebook group and MySpace page, the latter of which containing 6 songs, so how do they sound?

Credited to albums named "One Little Peck" & "Shit Happens" that I don't believe were ever released, these were at least partly recorded with C.S.A.'s Adam Fortais at Room Fire Studios. While a far cry from the metal that Kevin D. and Nick are best known for, they had a good consistent sound that captured pop punk well, with Mark Hoppus-esque vocals at times and some catchy riffs! Give Stealing Kisses a listen above, and stay tuned in case we find more archive punk bands on MySpace!

Next up, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the spring, starting with local party hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom, who will headline a chili cook-off fundraiser for Ride For Sight at the Garden River Community Centre on Saturday, March 28th! Last seen at The Rockstar Bar last month, this is a natural fit for Greg, Mike, and Jon, as Stiffler's Mom (and Greg's other bands That's Chester & Bone Yard) have all been very active in supporting Ride For Sight, the annual motorcycle rally at Searchmont that supports and raises funds for blindness prevention, and I imagine at least one of Greg's bands will be playing at this year's installment over the July 10th weekend. Before then though, Stiffler's Mom will provide musical entertainment at this chili cook-off in Garden River, with raffles and prizes also planned, and you may recognize some familiar faces among the cook-off's competitors, including Greg's wife Kerry, and Redundant frontman Justin Langlois!

This (presumably) all ages event at 7 Shingwauk Street will take place at 5:00 PM, and there is a $20 admission fee, but organizers are requesting that you buy your tickets at either Scotiabank branch in the Soo, as both are matching the sale of each ticket for Ride For Sight, which is awesome of them! You can likely pay at the door as well if you can't get to a Scotiabank in the next month. For more details, including on the chili-cook off itself, visit the official Facebook event page! Great idea for a great cause, so keep posted above and here for possible updates!

Also in the realm of new concerts, a very unique selection of out of town bands will hit The Rednecks Saloon on Monday, May 11th, with Moncton, New Brunswick "Middle Eastern mantra doom" duo Zaum headlining! An intriguing band who merge doom metal with ethnic chanting and dark overtones, they're definitely not something we see a lot of in town (unless you lump them with the recent spread of 1-2 man metal bands), so don't bypass them in May! Joining them are The Jealousy Mountain Duo, a German experimental/jazz duo that (though not a heavy band) will bring their own interesting sounds to the table in under two months! Local support will include local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith (in their first set at the former Nicolet Tavern in almost 8 months) and a band to be announced, though note that The Elements have expressed interest, and Mike Haggith & The Din were suggested before their sister band was officially confirmed.

A rare non-Bear Hunters concert promoted by Mitch Sirie, this show will take place at 9:00 PM on May 11th, this is a 19+ concert, and admission costs are yet to be announced. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and apologies for the week's delay to get this on the site! This is definitely a different sort of concert given the genres of the out of town bands, but that makes it all the more interesting to check out, so stay tuned for more updates as we hear them!

Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter updates from the last little while, and these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or venue name:

• Remember how Docks Riverfront Grill became a Chinese buffet restaurant named Waterfront Legend last fall, but recently welcomed blues band Mojo there for a run of jam nights? Well, we now know more about the new band setup, as they opened a new live entertainment area of the building named Club 89 in January, which will once again host live bands in the upstairs playroom and DJs and dance parties in the downstairs lounge. How this all integrates with the buffet isn't clear, but stay tuned for updates on if heavier bands play at Club 89!
• Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades have revealed on their Facebook page that they'll be opening for Toronto metal legends Anvil once again at a local show on Wednesday, April 1st! No word yet on the venue, admission fees, other openers, or anything else, but I can confirm that this is not an April Fools joke. When more is announced, we will definitely let you know!
• A full lineup has been finalized for next month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands on each Wednesday in March at The Canadian Nightclub, and promoter J.D. Pearce will announce the last 2 bands and complete lineup for the semifinals on March 4th, 11th, and 18th this coming Monday! Our source is the Facebook event page, where J.D. also noted that there may be special guest performers of some kind, which could be like the out-of-competition set that T-Rex Manning played at the Battle for the Blood that he promoted in 2012. Stay tuned on Monday for much more info!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more updates to come, plus this month's YouTube Channel Profiles TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!