Monday, December 12, 2016

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (A Dire Setback) & Lots Of Assorted Recent Updates!!

On this cold and snowy Monday morning, let's see if some new metal, hard rock, and punk news can warm things up a bit! This is mostly an assorted short news story spree today, but leading off, we do have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next year, so here's what you need to know!

The second official concert from new local promoters Live705 has been announced, and it will go down on Saturday, January 21st at The Oddfellows Hall! Seemingly similar in structure to Live705's debut last month, a planned roster of 6 bands will take part in this concert, and the currently listed bands include Live705's own flagship alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback (in their third announced concert set), plus two bands who didn't play in November, namely post-punk quartet Gnaeus (in a rare Oddfellows Hall appearance) and new local indie rock trio The Autumn Roots. The latter band are new to the venue, but frontman Jeremy Hannah was once a frequent promoter here with Big Voiced Records, so it will be nice to see him back on familiar ground! Three more bands are being sought to perform on January 21st, so if you or your band want in, message promoters A.S.A.P. via the official Facebook event page! An $8 cover charge is in effect for this ALL AGES concert, which is planned to begin at 6:00 PM.

After a successful debut last month, complete with a more professional lighting and staging setup than is often seen at The Oddfellows Hall, it's great to see the Live705/A Dire Setback crew back for another go around of more varied all ages action! It will be interesting to see what bands are added to the lineup from here, but there's over a month to go, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in, and see above for current details!

Finally for today, here's ten assorted shorter news stories from the last while, including band link updates, studio recording teasers, and much more! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:

  • We have restored a defunct band to our defunct local band links, they being 20 Pack of Marshmallows, the late 2000s hard rock band from ex-Haggith/Project 421 singer Curtis McKenzie and his brother Travis! This band was originally deleted from our links when their website was "frozen" by host Webs, but their earlier Tripod page under the name Wanko Twist (which we featured here in 2014) is still alive and well, so they're back where they belong! Give their Tripod page a look for a prototype of Curt's later band portfolio!
  • In their newest Facebook page posting, local alternative hard rock trio The Din shared a photo from Mission Control Studios, and noted that they were "in a familiar spot... doing familiar stuff with a familiar guy." This heavily implies that they were recently recording music with Dustin Jones of Tidal Records, which they previously did for their song "Alleyways & Apartments", but is a sophomore CD in the works, or is it just a loose recording session? Stay tuned!
  • We have deleted mid-2000s hard rock band Downfall from our band links, as their only surviving webpage was taken down with Chris Belsito's Murderfly Entertainment website (which it was hosted through) was closed for unannounced reasons in the past few months. Disappointing to be sure, as their material was solid, but look for guitarist Mike Yakasovich with Northwest!
  • Newer local death metal band Exploring Detritus (formerly Kaepora Gaebora) have quietly parted ways with guitarist Daeson Lesage, as per his removal from their Facebook page's lineup. A reason for his exit wasn't announced, but hopefully nothing bad happened, and that we see him in a new band at some point! The newly renamed band have teased that "once the work stops", the metal will begin, so look for more from Exploring Detritus soon, including any potential searches for a new guitarist!
  • This is just a housecleaning note given that the festival is no longer held in the area, but we fixed the link for the annual marijuana culture concert festival Hempfest from their Facebook group (which is still active but considered closed) to their official website. The 18th annual installment, and fourth in it's current home of Moonbeam, was successfully held in August, and see the above links for more on Hempfest as it currently stands!
  • Local indie/alternative hard rock quartet Id Iota revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that, as the snow comes down, they are sneaking "shelter in the studio", with singer Christian Lemay recording vocals at guitarist Dustin Goodall's home recording studio Unsalted Audio. Is this the first public tease of recording sessions for their first full length CD that they had previously referenced in interviews, or is something else afoot? Keep tabs above for updates!
  • We have switched the link for defunct local hard rock quartet Long Shot from their Facebook page (which was sadly deleted recently) to their Bandcamp page, which is thankfully still online and with their only EP still available. I wish bands wouldn't delete their online pages like this, but best of luck to all 4 guys in the future! For reference sake, frontman Evan Dawe moved to Sarnia recently (no word on if this was a direct reason for their breakup or not), and has recently joined forces with fellow singer/guitarist John Pilat in a new indie rock duo named Evan.John.
  • In another deletion from our defunct local band links, we have removed 2011-2012 death metal/hardcore band March Into Regression due to the deletion of their Facebook (and only online) page in recent months. Also known as Bring The Misery and the first version of With Blood Build Character (among other briefly used names), M.I.R. played a handful of notable summer shows with a wildly fluctuating lineup, and while it's a shame they didn't last longer, look for alumni in current bands like The Autumn Roots, The Bear Hunters, Exploring Detritus, and Them!
  • One more band deletion from our defunct & inactive links, they being Social Suicide, the 2011-2014 punk/death metal band led by March Into Regression bassist Tyler St. Amour, with Ray Cowan from that band also in an early lineup. Despite signing with Blood Shed Productions, Social Suicide never really got off the ground, nor did they post any public media, before their only Facebook page was quietly deleted in recent months. Look for Tyler and Anthony Boudreau in Them, and ex-drummer Keeghan Rosso in the folk rock band Great Chamberlain!
  • Remember how an unidentified band from local hard rock musician Steven Flint was scheduled to headline at The Rednecks Saloon this past Saturday, but was never publically confirmed? Well, as it turns out, that night's entertainment became an open jam night, with Steven's Band Camp Rejects bandmates (minus Jamie July) joined by Mourning Wood bandmate Terry Eaton and Lucky 13 guitarist Robin "Bones" Lee as the one-off house band. Sounds like this would have been a fun time, and hopefully there was a great turnout! Our source for this info is Rejects guitarist Mike Muto on the Facebook event page for The B.C.R.s' Rednecks show the previous night.

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates later this week! Thanks everyone!

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