Sandman Concert Preview, Rotaryfest Lineup Updates, And Tons Of Local Album Uploads!!

We have more news and notes to cover on this Friday evening, including one more known & advertised metal concert preview for this weekend, plus some Rotaryfest lineup updates and a wealth of album uploads from a quite prolific local band, so here's what you should know!

Toronto-based Metallica tribute band Sandman will return to Sault Ste. Marie for a headlining concert TOMORROW NIGHT at Soo Blaster! This concert is basically a rain date for their previously scheduled Good Friday gig in 2020 at The Canadian Nightclub (cancelled for very obvious reasons), and while The Canadian is currently closed, it's great to see Sandman back at long last at a new venue! You may recall seeing Sandman (featuring Helix alumni Rick Van Dyk, Paul Fonseca, and Brent Niemi) at The Canadian in June 2008 and at The Rockstar Bar in March 2015, so we seem to be on a "once every seven years" pattern for Sandman shows here. Notably an officially sanctioned tribute band by Metallica themselves, Sandman's faithful take on Metallica's classic thrash metal hits will be more than welcomed to Soo Blaster tomorrow night, and local southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek are opening the festivities, as they would have done at the cancelled April 2020 concert!

Had the 2020 show went through, that would have been Fort Creek's public concert debut, so two years of experience & original songwriting will only help things in their return from a month long break! No word on if they'll have another merchandise giveaway tomorrow or not. Tomorrow's concert has a 19+ age limit, 9:00 PM start time, and $20 admission fee (on par with the 2020 date), and you can get yours online at this link or at the door. Sandman were the first band I ever saw at a licensed 19+ concert, so I'll always have affection for them, and it's a good thing that they deliver the thrash metal goods, so expect brutality tomorrow! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Sandman live!

Next up, here's some lineup and performer clarifications/updates for Rotaryfest next weekend, courtesy of both online promotions and the physical program that showed up in local mailboxes yesterday! First, there has been a lineup change (confirmed after the program was printed), as new classic rock trio The Sidekicks have dropped out of the Stage 1 bill on Saturday, July 16th for unannounced reasons. Hopefully nothing too serious happened, they have a talented lineup! Replacing them that day at 4:00 PM is a duo set from former Pocket frontwoman (and Stage 1 director) KT Antler and Machines Dream guitarist Keith Conway, who have both played the festival multiple times in other projects. Unexpected pairing, it will be interesting to see how KT & Keith do together! As for program details not documented online, the write-up for local funk/hard rock cover band The Wyld Stallyns implies that they've had two big lineup changes, so what's new?

For one, they have definitely changed drummers, with Garden of Bedlam/Papa Fogals Chair alum Derek Turner replacing Jonas Gasperas. A reason for Jonas' departure has not been announced, but hopefully things were amicable, and that we see Jonas out there again soon! The Stallyns have never listed their lineup on their Facebook page, but Derek apparently played with them at the Great Canadian Roadshow last month, so he's been around for at least that long, and readers should be well acquainted with his ample drumming abilities! However, where one Soldiers of Misfortune alum leaves, another arrives, as the program also lists Alex (or Al) White on bass with The Wyld Stallyns, replacing the already departed Ben Garcia. It's great to see Xander back in a local band, especially teaming up with Jesse again, though with how many of The Stallyns' shows are acoustic, this may not be an every gig arrangement (he's not in their newest live photo).

Also, the program lists Blues Harvest alum Josh Norling as playing saxophone for their Stage 1 set on Thursday night, but as fans will be well aware by now, Josh is definitely a guest performer who only joins them for certain shows. When he's present though, it's usually a big one! Get more on all Rotaryfest bands (except KT & Keith) on the official program online and in your mailbox yesterday, and look for our previews next week!

Finally, here's something I've been waiting for over a week to discuss, and now that it is all public, here is is: All SIXTY-FIVE of local blue Chinese metal crash punk quartet Sykotyk Rampage's albums are now available online, in full, no edits, on their Bandcamp page! If there's hosting limits, they're either not met yet or they're on a premium account. Sykotyk Rampage have hosted albums online on sites like Reverbnation, Soundclick, and elsewhere, but this is the first time that all of their "Syko-graphy" is available to listen to or buy from the same source, from 2000's debut "Baked Brain Tumour On Toast" to their newest effort, 2022's "Wyrd Radio 2 -- Kype The Jesus Boots -- Gospels According To Sykotyk Rampage" (what a title!) Album prices vary from $15-$25 in mp3 format, depending on length, and if you really want the whole enchilada, the sale price for all 65 at once is $788! Yes, the albums are all available to stream for free too.

Given that "Wyrd Radio 2" is the only brand new album ("Hell Bent Heaven Sent" is actually from last year), that'll be this month's CD review at the SMS, and brace yourselves, as it is a concept album about the life of Jesus Christ (given Sykotyk Rampage's track record, do not expect Christian rock) with forty tracks, and if it was on physical CDs, it'd be a triple album! That'll be a marathon and a half, but it is new, so strap in later this month! Be they improvised originals, live tracks, or re-recordings, check out hundreds of blues, punk, hard rock, and psychedelic songs from the masters of the crash above, but you might be there awhile!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!