Friday, December 27, 2019

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Apocalypse Afterparty), Punk Rock Xmas Preview, And More!!

Before we get this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site, let's wrap up this weekend's concert previews, with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, a solo project's new updates, and some local news articles to round things out. Just as a heads-up, our New Year's Eve concert previews will hit the site on Sunday or Monday. Now, here's what you should know!

Local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will play their first public show of 2020 on Friday, January 31st when they join other competitors in this year's The Soo's Got Talent competition at The Machine Shop to help kick off the Bon Soo Winter Carnival! Quietly announced via this image on relevant Facebook pages on Sunday, this special concert will not take place on the official opening night (which is on February 1st), but this will be a fine appetizer before all of the action fully begins. Four of this year's finalists will take the stage, including all three podium finishers, they being singer/guitarist Adrian Sullivan, vocalist Juliana Regan, and The A.A. themselves, while fellow finalists The Dancing Divas will get their own encore on this night too. While not credited in the image, a comment from The Soo's Got Talent's own Facebook page indicates that the women's vocal group The Lock Cities Chorus of the Sweet Adelines will also perform on the 31st.

They weren't in the competition, but they are a talented veteran ensemble! Note as well that The Apocalypse Afterparty did launch a search via the Musicians Wanted Facebook group earlier this month to find a temporary fill-in for either Paul or Alice (the member wasn't specified) on bass due to apparent health problems. I have no idea if they found a replacement yet, let alone if they'd still be needed by January 31st, but message the band above if you want more details! A start time and cover charge are to be confirmed, but I assume this will be all ages. Visit the above links for more details on this talented musician showcase as they roll in!

Next up, here's this weekend's last remaining hard rock or (in this case) punk concert preview, as online page-less punk quartet The Cover-Up will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT when they headline the "Punk Rock Xmas" show at LopLops Lounge! Last seen at this venue a year ago, this will be this supergroup's first show anywhere since Go Skate Day, and it sees them take on the moniker You First & The Givee Givees for the night. I still hope that's a temporary name to reflect the punk covers theme tomorrow, but regardless, the music will be top notch for genre fans! New local punk cover quartet The Sick Sons will play their second LopLops date of the holidays with an opening set here, and with their own stacked lineup of prominent local punk musicians, you know they'll set the tone nicely! A $7 cover is in effect for this 19+ show, which has a 10:00 PM start time. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's The (former?) Cover-Up live!



Also today, here's the latest (and admittedly overdue) updates from local extreme metal solo project Awokest, who have largely taken a public back seat to project leader Chase Wigmore's eponymous music in recent months, but what's new under this name? Well, in late July, Chase said that he was planning to include Awokest material in an unidentified 7 inch vinyl split release, though as the image reveals, his contribution was way longer than the alotted space. We haven't heard any public follow-through on that since, but on October 17th, Awokest released a free "album" to their label Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel, entitled "With Focused Psychosis I Wrote This". The 80 minute collection of songs does not feature any credited song names or a track order, but this 4:27 preview video from August features the first two songs, and his half hour long track "Anima Sola" is on the final product. The music on offer has a heavy dose of death metal, techno influences, samples, and noise rock, so fans of Chase's heavier output will be right at home. Give the free album a listen below!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items, all related to recent SooToday articles with an SMS relevance to the topics, which are all courtesy of newer contributor and veteran local musician Chris Belsito. As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or business name:

  • Cover-Up/Rising Tide frontman Dustin Jones is featured in this new article (posted yesterday), which heavily focuses on his personal struggles and rehabilitation in recent years, with the musical talk largely revolving around his Toronto punk supergroup The Conspirators, who have a new album nearing a release. Very informative look at Dustin's life and evolution as of late, so definitely give it a look above, and give The Conspirators a listen too!
  • Last month, Chris also spotlighted local concert promoter Elise Nelson of Girl Friday Productions for this article on her work putting on shows and what she's done in the community in the late 2010s. Girl Friday have put on a handful of shows featuring SMS-covered acts, including this year's B.A. Johnston show and prior concerts headlined by Dany Laj & The Looks, FYI. Elise is doing great work locally, and the article is effective at outlining all of the relevant bullet points, so check it out above as well!
  • In October, Chris posted this article about the local music store Mister Disc and the popular Facebook group it spawned, which features reminiscences by store/group owner Todd Gordon about his time as a local business owner and music aficionado, which carried into the group, which Todd has expanded far beyond a meeting place for store regulars into a group where music fans can interact and discuss the music they love. The Mister Disc group is a great spot to hear new songs and meet like-minded fans in a safe space, so give it and Chris' article a look above!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on the site next! Thanks everyone!

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