Local alternative/hard rock quartet Id Iota will play their first public concert of the year when they open for indie rock quartet K.I.C.K. at LopLops Lounge on Friday, April 14th! Originally planned to be on Saturday the 15th before being pushed back one day, this show will be Id Iota's first appearance on a public stage (last month's garage show doesn't count) since November, and it'll be a good chance to see Christian, Dustin, Dan, and Blair in their element at a familiar downtown venue as they take a brief break from recording sessions for their second CD! Similarly, K.I.C.K. have been in studio lately towards their debut album, and it'll be good to see the Keep It Cool Kids back with their skilled indie rock originals, so don't miss the 2016 VM Radio Battle winners either! A Facebook event page has not been posted (yet?), but a 19+ age limit, $5 cover charge, and 9:00 PM start time are all likely for this event, so check the above links for more details on K.I.C.K. & Id Iota's LopLops return!
Next up, reunited local hard rock quartet Eclipse and funk/experimental quintet Gianni Gagoots will return to The New American Pub on Sunday, April 23rd when they open for Montreal stoner rock trio The Hazytones! Yes, Eclipse are officially back together after a four month breakup, which is very surprising given how public and messy things became at first, but their reunion will surely be welcomed by fans and friends alike, so be there for their return to the stage at The New A next month! No word yet though on the April 1st show that they had teased, which doesn't appear to be an April Fools prank. Gianni Gagoots' creative instrumentals should continue their own upward momentum for their first show since headlining at LopLops last month, so don't be late for their set! As for The Hazytones, this will be deja vu in many respects, as this talented outfit just played at the same venue with Eclipse opening in August, just with K.I.C.K. as the second openers (and more advance notice.)The Hazytones' psychedlic and deep originals should find another willing audience next month, and while they're not a metal band, they're well worth checking out! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh., though uniquely courtesy of Lion Ride alum/punk rock bingo caller Brenton Ellis rather than the guys in AlgomA, this show has a 19+ age limit and 9:00 PM start time, and while an admission fee hasn't been announced yet, last year's Hazytones show had a $5 cover. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, don't miss out on this near-encore 8 months later, and Eclipse are back in our active band links (no word yet though on Project 421's next moves!)
Also today, here's a new video of Sault Michigan's current masked metal band, Stoned Ape Evolution! Filmed at last month's Bay Mills Bands Together fundraiser at Pickles Bar & Grill in Brimley, this video was uploaded by band member John Napoletano to his personal Facebook page and shared to the B.M.B.T. Facebook page shortly after the concert. The clip features Stoned Ape Evolution covering Metallica's "Seek & Destroy" and Megadeth's "A Tout Le Monde" to close their set, and this gives us our best look yet at the band (who appear to have expanded to a quintet), so what can I say now? I think the band is largely sound musically, as best seen on "Seek & Destroy", but the vocalist is trying way too hard to sound evil, particularly on "A Tout Le Monde", a classic ballad which the band turns into a groove metal song. I applaud the creativity, but the performance is shaky and I don't find it works well for their style.John also uploaded four more videos (all from similar corner-stage camera angles) to check out publically, including the Project 906 video we covered on here two weeks ago, and three of the night's cover rock bands, including The Whole Shabang covering Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69", The Brooks Band covering The Eagles' "Love Will Keep Us Alive", and Absolute Magnitude covering James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)", so check out those if you want to hear some other bands from this fundraiser. Stoned Ape Evolution have clear potential and a cool look, so hopefully they continue to progress forward, and give their video a look below!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
- Local doom metal trio AlgomA finally have physical copies of their new split single with Finland's Hooded Menace available for local fans! The news was revealed on their Facebook page on Friday, though they don't have any copies of the limited-run orange vinyl records. This means that the split should be available (likely for $20) when AlgomA headline at The New A on March 30th, making this the de facto release show, so keep that in mind for month's end if you want the split for your collection!
- In the biography on the aforementioned Eclipse's Facebook page, it notes that drummer Chris Thompson was a former member of Garden of Bedlam. This is not an error, he was briefly the band's drummer in 2007, but Derek Turner replaced him prior to their debut public concerts in 2008. That wasn't really a secret, but I don't think we ever addressed Chris' brief run with them on here before, and I just wanted to give that an overdue public acknowledgement! Also, it does seem odd that Garden of Bedlam are credited for Chris over Fitswitch, Frightlight, or Half Past, all of whom he did far more with.
- Local punk/metal band Jack Spades revealed on their Facebook page this morning that they will soon be unveiling their new lineup and single (maybe "Kingdoms"?), plus announcing their next concert shortly as well! The band hasn't been seen since opening for SNFU in September, after which Jesse Cook & Johnny Belanger departed the band, while frontman J.D. Pearce hasn't promoted a show (with or without Jack Spades) since his annual Halloween party. It's great to see that Jack Spades are still alive and readying their return, so stay tuned for updates!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for lots more news and updates as the week progresses! Thanks everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment