Saturday, April 14, 2018

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Oh!No Music Festival II & Banned!!)

Here's a new news post for your Saturday afternoon reading, and it's devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on each side of the border, including a big returning festival! Before I get too far, just a reminder that a musicians' mixer will be held at The Canadian Nightclub TONIGHT where local musicians can meet, coordinate, and arrange musical collaborations. This is not a concert, but it's being promoted by Jeremy Hannah's Sault MusicScene agency. 9:00 PM, 19+, no announced cover, so keep it in mind if you're looking for musicians to jam/work with! Now, here's those new concerts!

Kinross, Michigan classic/hard rock trio Banned have announced a handful of new concert dates for 2018, as per new Facebook event page creations through their Facebook page, and they start with three gigs at the Jack Passmore Grandstand at Kinross Speedpark on June 2nd, June 23rd, and September 7th! Remember, Banned played their hometown race track last September too, so this is nothing new for them. They'll be serving as entertainment after Saturday practice wraps up on June 2nd & 23rd (the practice sessions for the season opener and Triple Crown events respectively), while the September 7th show will follow the Friday practice for the Memorial Invitational race, so keep these relatively unique concert sets in mind for later this year! In more traditional realms, Banned will also return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on September 28th-29th and on December 14th-15th, returning there for the first time since March, so don't miss those either!

These concerts also join newly confirmed gigs on July 3rd & 11th in De Tour Village and Curtis, both of which are outside of our 1 hour coverage range. The three Kinross Speedpark shows are listed at 9:00 PM with no age limit or cover charge (though note that the races proper have ticket admission), while the Rapids Lounge shows are at 9:00 PM with a 21+ age limit and no cover. Click here for Facebook event pages on these and previously announced Banned shows in 2018, and don't miss this talented group at The Northern Pines Lounge in St. Ignace next month!

Next up, the Oh!No Music Festival is officially on for year #2, so what should you know on it? Taking place on Saturday, September 8th, the Six, Two, Oh.-promoted concert festival will return to "Robbie's Church" in nearby Leeburn, Ontario, with much the same atmosphere of last year's event, with overnight camping and "hangouts" available, and food vendors on site, though no word yet on a prospective bonfire. The performer lineup is expanded from 13 to 17 acts this year, with only four bands from last year not returning for 2018 (The Elements, Handsome Sandwich, and out of towners Run Coyote & Artificial Dissemination), so if you liked last year's roster, you should be right at home once again! The seven out of town bands will include Barrie punk quartet Beaver Slap, Sudbury punk standouts Lightmares, and Thunder Bay desert rock quintet The Franquilizers (all back from 2017), alongside four touring bands new to Oh!No '18, so who are they?

The other 4 out of town acts include Peterborough hardcore punk trio Cross Dog (featuring former Lion Ride guitarist Mark Rand) in their first local concert appearance in five years, and Peterborough doom rapper Garbageface (as seen at a few well received local shows last year), while Toronto indie rock quartet Forest City Aurora and London post-grindcore trio Fat Cop will be making their local concert debuts at the Oh!No fest. This lineup alone is stacked, and it's particularly cool to see Cross Dog back after far too long! The 10 local bands this year include four returning bands, they being punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, alt-punk trio A Dire Setback, death metal quartet Winkstinger (in their first announced show of 2018), indie/hard rock trio Vol., and drone rock trio Pointless, while 2017 solo performer  Brenton "Slumshine" Ellis will return in his new surf rock band The Dynowaves.

The new additions for 2018 include local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver and alt-hard rock quartet Id Iota, plus indie/folk solo artists Jackson Reed & Shae Tull, though no word yet on if DJ Seith will be back to spin tunes between bands. Quite a stacked lineup full of familiar faces, including a much sooner Shit Liver return than we anticipated (if only their splitmates AlgomA were playing too!) More details, including full timeslots, admission fees, and ticket locations are to be announced , but tickets go on sale on July 1st. For reference, they cost $25 last year, but there were also less bands. As well, with a shuttle bus likely not in the cards, remember that promoters encouraged ride-sharing and cab rentals for fans to get to Leeburn and back last year, given the relatively remote locale. There are a lot of unknowns yet for Oh!No II, but visit the official Facebook event page for full details, and it's great to have it back on September 8th! Stay tuned for more details as they roll in!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

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