Last Month's Poll Results, Link Updates, And This Week's Classic Video!!

It's the 18th of the month, so it's time to reveal the results from last month's poll at the SMS, but before that, I'm just letting you guys know that we're posting details on next month's poll separately from this post due to the size and content of the discussions relating to it this month, so we have some extra stories at the end of this post. You'll see full info on our new poll(s) later today, but for now, remember that I posed this question to you guys last month: What was your favourite local metal concert of 2011? 32 votes, down from the two half year polls, but still a respectable amount of feedback, and I thank you guys for voting over the past month! So, here are the final results:

The Dayglo Abortions at The Rosie on June 16th (6 votes, 19%)
Garden of Bedlam at The Canadian on December 26th (4 votes, 13%)
Sneaky Pete at The Rockstar Bar on April 8th (4 votes, 13%)
Woods of Ypres at The Roosevelt Hotel on March 10th (4 votes, 13%)
Other (3 votes, 9%)
Helix at The Rockstar Bar on December 3rd (2 votes, 6%)
Skull Fist at The Canadian Nightclub on November 6th (2 votes, 6%)
Napalm Death & Shit Liver at Feedback on October 15th (2 votes, 6%)
Half Past at The Rockstar Bar on October 22nd (1 vote, 3%)
Garden of Bedlam at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 21st (1 vote, 3%)
The Bear Hunters at The Oddfellows Hall on July 20th (1 vote, 3%)
Unleash the Archers at The Roosevelt Hotel on June 4th (1 vote, 3%)
Farewell To Freeway at The Roosevelt Hotel on May 12th (1 vote, 3%)
Sewer Swampstravaganja at The Oddfellows Hall on April 9th (0 votes)
Lion Ride at The Rockstar Bar on April 9th (0 votes)
Dead and Divine at The Oddfellows Hall on April 29th (0 votes)
Fuck the Facts at The Roosevelt Hotel on May 9th (0 votes)
Garden of Bedlam at The Rockstar Bar on June 17th (0 votes)
Smeltzer at The Oddfellows Hall on August 12th (0 votes)
Caveman Morrison at The Rosie on December 9th-10th (0 votes)

What do you guys think? In ascending order, I'm probably most surprised that the Garden of Bedlam's shows in June & July finished so low in the polling, as both of those concerts finished in the top 3 of their respective half-year polls for 2011! However, they still placed high for another show. The rest of the results for the bottom 12 in this poll weren't terribly surprising given the vote dropoff and their prior results in our half-year polls. For the three-way tie for 6th with 2 votes each, I'm especially surprised that neither Skull Fist nor Napalm Death saw a higher vote total, given how big their 2011 shows here were (and their 1-2 finish in the second half-year poll), but Helix finished where I expected. "Other" came in 5th with 3 votes, and though I can't speak for what people had in mind, I wonder if any of those votes were for the Fatality/Immersed show at The Rosie last summer? It scored multiple votes in our second half-year poll, and I regrettably forgot it for the final poll, which I sincerely apologize for! The three-way tie for second place with 4 votes each saw Garden of Bedlam's CD release show and Sneaky Pete's debut finish high like I predicted, but I am surprised that Woods of Ypres' last local show doubled its vote count from the first half-year poll! Increased posthumous praise for the late David Gold, or just a coincidence of who votes? Interesting nonetheless, and it was a great show!

But the winner (like in the first half-year poll), with 6 votes & about 19% of the total, was the Dayglo Abortions-headlined 20th Rosie metal night from last June! Anyone that was there knows how big that show was, and from the talented local openers to the huge and lively crowd, it was proof that The Dayglo Abortions are hardcore punk legends and need to come back to town A.S.A.P.! Hell, I bought a framed print of the poster from this show, so even I know it was a huge event! Thanks to everyone who voted, and cast your votes in our current polls on your left if you wanna, as we're talking all about them in our post later today!

Next up, here's three recent link changes to our "Other Local Metal Links" section (for links with a local metal relevance that aren't in other categories), and all are due to Facebook group/page deletions. One is for the short lived (and possibly never completed) Sault Ontario recording studio Dungeon Studio, which (I think) was ran by ex-Time of Ruin guitarist Mike DiPasquale circa 2008 before he moved to Alberta. Their Facebook group was deleted within the last year, and with no alternate page, I've deleted it from our links, but hopefully we'll hear more from Mike musically at some point! Also, the more recent local recording studio Dimension Studio recently had it's Facebook page deleted, though other pages still exist, including it's website which is now linked here. I hope Brendan hasn't closed up the studio, as his work was pretty good, but I'll keep you posted if I hear anything! Finally, Destroilet/Belmonts drummer Matt Waples' graphic design company Sonigraphix Design Solutions had it's Facebook group deleted recently, but I just replaced it's link with it's still active Facebook page, so keep an eye out for more of Matt's excellent graphic design work! Stay tuned to the SMS for more link updates if we hear of anything that needs a fix!

And finally, here's this week's classic video! With their late addition onto Sunday's Brat Attack-headlined punk concert at The Canadian Nightclub, it made sense to tie in this week's video with local death metal quartet The Valentine's Day Massacre... only anything of theirs is too recent yet. However, frontman Steve Rhodes' other band State of Misery have some older videos still that deserve a wider audience, including this video from their first ever live concert! This comes from just the second Roosevelt Hotel metal night on December 9th, 2010, and it's of State of Misery's original (and current) lineup playing their original songs "Don't Break The Silence" and "Bitch"! Note that the former song is included incomplete, so I left the two songs combined into one video. This was filmed by a concert attendee off of the webcam on frontman Steve Rhodes' laptop (according to Facebook comments on the video), and Steve would post it on Facebook two days later, making it one of the oldest live concert videos of State of Misery in action. The band sounds about as heavy as you'd expect, and their skills are clear, but the audio quality isn't. When the band play, the sound gets very scratchy, which I can't correct in post, but I was able to adjust the video quality itself from what was originally posted on Facebook at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=464742236395.

Before uploading, I fixed the mirror effect on the video (I have no idea why it was backwards when uploaded), and I also cropped the dimensions to remove the white support beam on the floor, as it cuts off the far left of the view for most of the video. Hopefully now, it looks better and focuses more on what's essential: State of Misery! NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to State of Misery and the original filmer, I'm just trying to share this video with a deserving wider audience! Scratchy audio or not, it's a nice early look at this talented young local band, so give it a look below, and don't miss The Valentine's Day Massacre on Sunday night at The Canadian!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for all of the details on this month's polls later today! Thanks everyone!

Last Month's Poll Results & This Month's Poll On Your Favourite Concerts Of 2011!!

It's the 18th of the month, so that means it's time to close down the previous month's SMS poll and launch a new one! As you guys may remember, last month's poll posed this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal concert in the second half of 2011? 35 votes came in, which was a bit less than our poll on your favourite concerts in the first half of last year, but still gave us a decent sample of your thoughts! You'll be seeing the upper half of last month's poll again shortly, but for right now, here's the final results from last month, so what were your favourite concerts from July 1st to December 31st, 2011?

Skull Fist at The Canadian Nightclub on November 6th (8 votes, 22.5%)
Napalm Death & Shit Liver at Feedback on October 15th (6 votes, 17%)
Garden of Bedlam at The Canadian on December 26th (4 votes, 11%)
Garden of Bedlam at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 21st (4 votes, 11%)
Helix at The Rockstar Bar on December 3rd (3 votes, 8%)
Other (3 votes, 8%)
The Bear Hunters at The Oddfellows Hall on July 20th (2 votes, 5%)
Fatality & Immersed at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 10th (2 votes, 5%)
Caveman Morrison at The Rosie on December 9th-10th (1 vote, 2.5%)
Half Past at The Rockstar Bar on October 22nd (1 vote, 2.5%)
Smeltzer at The Oddfellows Hall on August 12th (1 vote, 2.5%)
Hollow at various venues on August 5th-6th (1 vote, 2.5%)
Lion Ride at The Rockstar Bar on July 2nd (1 vote, 2.5%)
Titan's Eve & Sativa Rose at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 4th (0 votes)
Gunz N' FN' Rosez at The Rockstar Bar on July 23rd (0 votes)
Laika at The Roosevelt Hotel on August 25th (0 votes)
Thekillingfield at The Roosevelt Hotel on September 15th (0 votes)
Empyrean Plague at The Rosie on September 22nd (0 votes)
The Bear Hunters at The Rosie on November 10th (0 votes)
Turner Up at Feedback on December 10th (0 votes)

What do you guys think? I notice that the results are a bit more spread out than in our first half of 2011 poll, which is nice to see! Of the concerts with no votes, I think I'm most surprised to see no less than 5 concerts from The Roosevelt Hotel score no votes, especially given the high profile out of town bands at most of them! I assume many people picked some bigger shows from common promoters later on though. Of the 1 vote choices (which tied for 9th), I'm most surprised to see Lion Ride's last concert and the Smeltzer reunion gig score just a single vote each, but it's all in who votes. The Bear Hunters-headlined and the Fatality/Immersed all ages shows' 7th place tie with 2 votes each didn't surprise me too much, but the 5th place tie between the Helix show and "Other" definitely did. I thought Helix would be a 1st place contender, and after "Other" got no votes in the first half of 2011 poll, I assumed it'd finish lower this time around too! Garden of Bedlam's last two shows of 2011 tied for third in the poll, predictably high, and if you count them together, they're tied for first place, which is good to see! I'm honestly very surprised to see Napalm Death finish in second place, given the scope of that concert, but the Skull Fist-headlined show at The Canadian last fall is a solid first place winner! They have a very big local following and the show was well attended with some entertaining local openers, and hopefully Skull Fist are back in the area shortly!

Thanks to everyone for voting! With our second half poll about your favourite concerts from 2011 done, it only makes sense to cap off our "favourite _____ of 2011" polls by grouping the highest voted concerts from both half-year polls into one again to see just what was your absolute favourite of last year! That said, I'm posing this question to you guys this month: What was your favourite local metal concert of 2011? Along with "Other", I've picked the 14 concerts that scored multiple votes in the two polls, along with 5 shows that got a single vote, and those were decided by how close they were to their original poll's respective launch date, as they had less time in the public conscious for voting than the earlier ones. As such, the Icy Metal For Aborted Therapy all ages show from last January, Lion Ride's last concert in July, and the Hollow reunion weekend in August didn't make the cut because they had the longest time between date and poll and only scored a vote each, but if they were your favourite concert of the whole year, you can vote for them in "Other"! So with that said, here's a refresher on each concert in this month's poll, so read on below for info on all of your possible favourite concerts of 2011!

Bands: Woods of Ypres, The Bear Hunters, and State of Misery
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: March 10th, 2011
Info: After 18 months away from the local stage, blackened doom metal standouts Woods of Ypres finally returned to our burial ground for the ninth Thursday metal night at The Rosie! The first show on their "Woods IV: The Green Album" re-release tour, Woods of Ypres brought a metal assault to fans in attendance, with some great local support, though it would sadly mark Woods of Ypres' last local concert before frontman David Gold passed away in December. Was this the best show of last year?

Bands: Sneaky Pete
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: April 8th, 2011
Info: After months and months of anticipation, local hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete FINALLY made their local debut at The Rockstar Bar on April 8th, and by all accounts, the show was a hit! This talented group of local veterans rocked the stage with some great covers, and firmly stamped their name into the local scene with further shows over the next few months before they disbanded this year, but was this the best of 2011?

Bands: RedD Monkey, As It Stands, Winkstinger, Frightlight, The Bear Hunters, Sativa Rose, Late & Loud, The Tenagens, State of Misery, Changing Waves, and Skull After Betrayl
Venue: The Oddfellows Hall
Date: April 9th, 2011
Info: What started as a show to pay for RedD Monkey's new tour van turned into The Sewer Swampstravaganja, an 11 band all ages concert full of great local talent, including 9 metal bands! The music was wall to wall, notably including the live debuts of Sativa Rose guitarist Anthony Orazietti & Changing Waves bassist Terrence Gomes as well! Amazing show full of great bands, but is it your top pick of 2011?

Bands: Lion Ride & The Billy Bastards
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: April 9th, 2011
Info: There was no camping weekend in the way on April 8th, as Lion Ride made a triumphant local return to rock The Rockstar Bar for the second-last time with their energetic mix of punk and metal! A huge crowd took in this exciting high impact show, with country punk stalwarts The Billy Bastards delivering their unique musical blend to their fans as the openers! This show was awesome, but is it your #1 pick for 2011 as a whole?

Bands: Dead & Divine, As It Stands, The Bear Hunters, and State of Misery
Venue: The Oddfellows Hall
Date: April 29th, 2011
Info: Burlington hardcore rockers Dead & Divine made their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on April 29th for an intense night of hardcore and metal for all ages at The Oddfellows Hall! Three local bands opened the festivities, including promoter John Mignacca's hardcore standouts As It Stands and local death metal band State of Misery in their last local concert! Was this Oddfellows Hall show your favourite of last year?

Bands: Fuck The Facts, Shit Liver, As It Stands, and Winkstinger
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: May 9th, 2011
Info: Ottawa grindcore rockers Fuck The Facts made their triumphant return to Sault Ontario on May 9th, headlining a brutal Dismembertainment-promoted metal show at The Rosie that night! Their return was welcomed, and all the openers (including late addition As It Stands) threw down some heavy stuff to add to this concert, but of all the 2011 metal shows, is it your favourite?

Bands: Farewell To Freeway, No Bragging Rights, Hallows Die, and As It Stands
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: May 12th, 2011
Info: Who says a Rosie metal night has to have mostly locals? Three touring metal bands from two previously booked concerts joined forces on May 12th to deliver a devastating set of death metal and hardcore, including Guelph's Farewell To Freeway, California's No Bragging Rights, and Toronto's Hallows Die, with As It Stands fittingly opening the show! Was the 15th Rosie metal night your top concert in 2011?

Bands: Unleash The Archers, Wear Your Wounds, Abstract & The Artist, and Changing Waves
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: June 4th, 2011
Info: As Vancouver power/death metal quintet Unleash The Archers toured through the astrowaste, they stopped at The Rosie on June 4th for an awesome night of metal! Accompanied by Winnipeg hardcore bands Wear Your Wounds & Abstract The Artist, and locals Changing Waves, this show was a success with lots of metal to go around, but did you like it enough to pick it as the best concert of last year?

Bands: The Dayglo Abortions, Frightlight, Skull After Betrayl, Sativa Rose, and Shit Liver
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: June 16th, 2011
Info: What started as your usual Roosevelt Hotel metal night (the 20th overall) took a major upgrade when it was announced that Canadian hardcore punk legends The Dayglo Abortions would be headlining! And then it snowballed, leading to a huge audience, huge moshpits, and one hell of a concert from the legendary Dayglo Abortions! Also featuring four great local opening bands, including Frightlight's Rosie debut, was this your favourite concert of 2011 so far?
Bands: Garden of Bedlam
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: June 17th, 2011
Info: After seven months away from the local stage, prominent local metal quartet Garden of Bedlam returned to the stage for just the second time since opening for Kiss when they headlined a solo show at The Rockstar Bar on June 17th! With loads of newer material and some surprise new covers (Metallica, anyone?), Garden of Bedlam returned with a vengeance last month, but did this late June concert manage to top the half year for you?

Bands: The Bear Hunters, Sanktuary, Black Moor, and RedD Monkey
Venue: The Oddfellows Hall
Date: July 20th, 2011
Info: This was one of a few extremely hot all ages shows featuring The Bear Hunters and out of town bands, but this was at The Oddfellows Hall with The Bear Hunters oddly headlining! A good crowd turned out to see them, punk favourites RedD Monkey, and two Halifax classic metal outfits in the first of two gigs last summer that Sanktuary, Black Moor, and The Bear Hunters were a part of! Was this your #1 show from last year?

Bands: Garden of Bedlam, The Bear Hunters, and Winkstinger
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: July 21st, 2011
Info: The 25th Roosevelt Hotel metal night (and last Dismembertainment-promoted one with three local bands) finally saw local metal standouts Garden of Bedlam make their Rosie debut in their last show before the "Everything Will Die" CD release party, and fans sure came out to rock out with them on July 24th! Also notably featuring Winkstinger's last concert set for four months, was this metal night your favourite 2011 concert?

Bands: Smeltzer, RedD Monkey, Changing Waves, The Tenagens, Shit Liver, and The Bear Hunters
Venue: The Oddfellows Hall
Date: August 12th, 2011
Info: An old school all ages show was in store for local fans on August 12th, headlined by a one-off reunion set by local alt/punk trio Smeltzer and frontman Steve Mozarowski's current active band RedD Monkey! Among the openers: Changing Waves in a well recieved set, The Tenagens in their most recent local concert appearance, and death metal standouts The Bear Hunters and Shit Liver, but was this show your favourite of last year?

Bands: Napalm Death, Shit Liver, Hallows Die, The Bear Hunters, and Wake
Venue: Feedback (soon to become the new Coch's Corner)
Date: October 15th, 2011
Info: After Foggy Notions became Feedback, the newly renamed Queen Street venue launched it's high profile two month run with British grindcore legends Napalm Death in a huge metal concert event featuring a stacked lineup of out of town and local bands! The buzz and fallout from this concert was huge, and Dismembertainment outdid themselves for this major event, but was it your favourite metal concert of 2011?

Bands: Half Past
Venue: October 22nd, 2011
Date: The Rockstar Bar
Info: Following their successful return to the stage at Hempfest in August, Half Past debuted new singer Jordan Rains to a Sault Ontario audience at this one night only concert on October 22nd at The Rockstar Bar! Also featuring guest bassist Harley Syrette, this is Half Past's most recent concert to date, but despite a cut short set due to noise complaints, they rocked the house with some great covers! Is their return one of your favourite 2011 concerts?

Bands: Skull Fist, Late & Loud, and View To A Kill (now The Valentine's Day Massacre)
Venue: The Canadian Nightclub
Date: November 6th, 2011
Info: The first metal concert at The Canadian since the flood in July saw Toronto speed metal quartet Skull Fist return to the Pim Street venue once again for another classic and fast paced set of heavy metal! Also featuring local standouts Late & Loud and the live debut of the band now known as The Valentine's Day Massacre, this concert attracted a solid crowd of local metalheads, but was it your top local metal concert of last year?

Bands: Helix & Boogie Fever
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: December 3rd, 2011
Info: Three and a half years after they last rocked the Sault area, Kitchener metal legends Helix rocked The Rockstar Bar on December 3rd with a set full of their classic hits, including "Rock You" and many more songs! Their set got a great response, and with Boogie Fever kicking off the night, a lot of fun was had, but did this show top the latter half of 2011 for you?

Bands: Caveman Morrison
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: December 9th-10th, 2011
Info: Though frontman Tym Morrison was a frequent sight on the local scene last year, his band Caveman Morrison played more sporadically, and their December concert weekend at The Rosie marked their first shows in five months. Still, with the debut of new bassist James White and the return of his brother Rick as their then-new drummer, their return was a notable late-2011 sight on the local scene, but was this concert weekend #1 for last year for you?

Bands: Garden of Bedlam
Venue: The Canadian Nightclub
Date: December 26th, 2011
Info: Capping the year in style was Garden of Bedlam's CD release concert at The Canadian on Boxing Day, where fans got their first opportunity to buy "Everything Will Die"! This well received headlining concert sent 2011 out on a clear high note with lots of high impact original songs, and the success of "Everything Will Die" is still felt around the area, but was this your favourite local concert of the year?

Other: Did I miss your favourite concert from the second half of 2011? For reference sake, bands like 5150, Abriosis, Blizzard of Ozz, Bring The Fallen, Bring The Misery, Browbeat, Crued, Destroilet, Dirty Virgin, Empyrean Plague, Fatality, Fifth Column, For All That Is Lost, Full Circle, The Great Sabatini, Gunz N' FN' Rosez, Hollow, The Isosceles Project, Thekillingfield, La Promesse, Laika, Laugh At The Fakes, Maximum RNR, No Arrow, Phatstick, The Saigon Hookers, Sykotyk Rampage, That's Chester, Titan's Eve, Tribune, Turner Up, Tym Morrison, We, The Undersigned, and Who Made Who (among many others) have played concerts in the Sault Ontario area in 2011, along with other concerts featuring bands already covered in the poll choices. Or maybe your favourite concert was one with less than 50% metal bands, or in Sault Michigan? If I didn't touch on your favourite, vote for "Other"!

VOTE TODAY!!! You guys have until May 18th to submit your thoughts in this final "favourite _____ of 2011" poll, so what was your top concert of last year? Remember, you can vote for multiple concerts, though only once in this poll. Make your voices heard, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more news shortly! Thanks everyone!

Last Month's Poll Results & Our Newest Poll!!

It's the 18th, and that means it's time to end our latest poll at the SMS and launch our new one! As you may remember, last month's poll asked this question to you guys: What was the biggest local metal news story of 2011? We got 45 votes in our latest poll, which is up from the poll before it, and thanks to everyone who voted! Though I had an idea of what would win given the impact of the event, I was curious to see how everyone voted, so check out the results of last month's poll, followed by some of my thoughts!

The passing of David Gold (16 votes, 36%)
The Dayglo Abortions return to the Soo (6 votes, 13%)
Destroilet releases their debut EP (6 votes, 13%)
Garden of Bedlam releases "Everything Will Die" (3 votes, 7%)
Noise complaint issues at Foggy's/Feedback (2 votes, 5%)
Bring The Fallen parts ways (2 votes, 5%)
The launch of Dismembertainment (2 votes, 5%)
Helix rocks The Rockstar Bar (1 vote, 2%)
Sense of Truth breaks up (1 vote, 2%)
Rosie metal nights change hands (1 vote, 2%)
Feedback debuts with Napalm Death (1 vote, 2%)
Hempfest returns to the Sault area (1 vote, 2%)
State of Misery disbands (1 vote, 2%)
Woods of Ypres releases "Home" (1 vote, 2%)
Other (1 vote, 2%)
Bret Michaels returns to Sault Michigan (0 votes)
Buckcherry and Papa Roach hit Kewadin (0 votes)
Clownsack releases "Funny Farm" (0 votes)
Duane Roy's "Soo Stories" hits the shelves (0 votes)
Flooding at The Canadian Nightclub (0 votes)
Gates of Winter announce "Perihelion" (0 votes)
Lemmafest debuts at Dondee Lanes (0 votes)
The Searchmont Music Festival debuts (0 votes)
Sykotyk Rampage release 5 new albums (0 votes)
Theatre of Night releases "Christmas Night" (0 votes)
Whitesnake plays Sault Michigan (0 votes)

What do you guys think? Well, in ascending order, I am surprised that 11 different choices got no votes, including every Sault Michigan-centric choice I made on the poll. I know it's a smaller scene compared to Sault Ontario's, but a lot of big stuff happened there last year! It depends who votes, I suppose. Of the Sault Ontario stories with one or less votes, I expected more love for Helix, Hempfest, Gates of Winter, Sense of Truth, and The Canadian's flood, but again, it's all in who votes. The three-way tie for 5th place with 2 votes each didn't surprise me too much, those choices finished where I expected, but Garden of Bedlam's CD release only made 4th with 3 votes? Odd, you'd think it'd get more support, especially with the quality of that album! Tied for second with 6 votes each were The Dayglo Abortions' show here in June and (in another surprising high vote run) Destroilet's EP release, and while the Dayglos' support is always there, the support for Destroilet despite a year long hiatus from the stage and a very quiet CD release is still surprising, but cool to see! But the rightful winner with 16 votes and 36% of the final total was the passing of Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold in December, and though this certainly wasn't a happy story for the local scene, it left the biggest impact, and we're still feeling it and missing David to this day. Thanks to everyone who voted, and R.I.P. David!

So with that done, we're nearing the homestretch of our "favourite _____ of 2011" polls, and having done our poll on your favourite concerts in the first half of 2011 last July-August, it's about time to complete the year before we sum it all up in one final poll next month. So this month, I'm posing this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal concert in the first half of 2011? Simple enough question, and for this month's poll, I've chosen 19 notable Sault Ontario metal/hard rock concerts from between July 1st and December 31st, 2011 for you guys to pick from (along with "Other"), and I tried to get a representative slice of the bigger and more notable concerts from late last year for this poll! Like our other polls of this type, we're only counting concerts with at least 50% of the bands being metal or hard rock, which eliminates notable concerts like Hempfest, Rotaryfest, the Coch's Corner Halloween Party, and Sativa Rose's current lineup's debut, though you can vote for those and other non-choices by voting for "Other". So, what's your favourite local metal show from the last half of 2011? Here are your choices!

Bands: Lion Ride & The Boot Hill Crooners
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: July 2nd
Info: Little did anyone know it at the time, but Lion Ride's last show on their "Summer Kick Off 2011 Tour" would also be their last as an active band, prior to their February 2012 breakup. Despite that, Lion Ride's headlining show at The Rockstar Bar on July 2nd was a success, even with a lower than expected turnout over the Canada Day weekend. Also featuring local favourites The Boot Hill Crooners opening, was this your favourite show in late 2011?

Bands: Titan's Eve, Sativa Rose, and Skull After Betrayl
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: July 4th
Info: Despite attendance concerns on the Fourth of July, a solid crowd turned out to see Vancouver thrash quartet Titan's Eve rock The Rosie last summer, and it was an awesome night of hard hitting metal! Also notably featuring Skull After Betrayl's last live appearance to date and Sativa Rose's last concert set as a quartet, this was an explosive metal show, but did it top all others from July-December 2011 to you?

Bands: Fatality, Immersed, The Bear Hunters, and As It Stands
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: July 10th
Info: A rare all ages concert at The Roosevelt Hotel, Dismembertainment kept their hot streak of metal concerts going on this very hot Sunday afternoon show, and the despite the absence of F.A.T.I.L., we still got our fill of metal, including high impact Southern Ontario headliners Fatality & Immersed! I highly enjoyed this show, and a solid turnout was there for everything, but was it your favourite of recent months?

Bands: The Bear Hunters, Sanktuary, Black Moor, and RedD Monkey
Venue: The Oddfellows Hall
Date: July 20th
Info: Like the Fatality concert, this was another extremely hot all ages show featuring The Bear Hunters and two out of town bands, but this was at The Oddfellows Hall with The Bear Hunters oddly headlining! A good crowd turned out to see them, punk favourites RedD Monkey, and two Halifax classic metal outfits in the first of two gigs last summer that Sanktuary, Black Moor, and The Bear Hunters were a part of! Was this your #1 show from late last year?

Bands: Garden of Bedlam, The Bear Hunters, and Winkstinger
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: July 21st
Info: The 25th Roosevelt Hotel metal night (and last Dismembertainment-promoted one with three local bands) finally saw local metal standouts Garden of Bedlam make their Rosie debut in their last show before the "Everything Will Die" CD release party, and fans sure came out to rock out with them on July 24th! Also notably featuring Winkstinger's last concert set for four months, was this metal night your favourite late-2011 concert?

Bands: Gunz N' FN' Rosez
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: July 23rd
Info: Originally scheduled for July 7th, the popular Toronto-based tribute to Guns N' Roses brought their exciting version of GNR classics to The Rockstar Bar once again on July 23rd for what was surely a fun concert! I couldn't make it out, but GNFNR have attracted a good following in the area, and they surely didn't disappoint, but do you agree with that?

Bands: Hollow
Venue: August 5th-6th
Date: The Rockstar Bar & Bossy's Pub N' Grub
Info: Years after they disbanded, local metal quintet Hollow reunited for one weekend only last August with shows at The Rockstar Bar and (after The Canadian's flood) Bossy's Pub N' Grub, and fans responded well to seeing Tym Morrison and company regroup for these shows! Though they haven't been seen since, was Hollow's reunion weekend your top concert moment of the second half of 2011?

Bands: Smeltzer, RedD Monkey, Changing Waves, The Tenagens, Shit Liver, and The Bear Hunters
Venue: The Oddfellows Hall
Date: August 12th
Info: An old school all ages show was in store for local fans on August 12th, headlined by a one-off reunion set by local alt/punk trio Smeltzer and frontman Steve Mozarowski's current active band RedD Monkey! Among the openers: Changing Waves in a well recieved set, The Tenagens in their most recent local concert appearance, and death metal standouts The Bear Hunters and Shit Liver, but was this show your favourite of the second half of last year?

Bands: Laika, Annex Theory, Thekillingfield, and Shit Liver
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: August 25th
Info: The 30th Roosevelt Hotel metal night had a great lineup of metal talent in store on August 25th, including touring Winnipeg metal bands Laika and Annex Theory (on their "Tour of Redundancy Tour"), and frequently seen North Bay extreme trio Thekillingfield for a night of explosive and aggressive Canadian heavy metal! Also joined by local notables Shit Liver, was this your favourite concert in the Soo in late 2011?

Bands: Thekillingfield, The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: September 15th
Info: The 33rd Roosevelt Hotel metal night was very similar to the 30th, with Thekillingfield coming back to Sault Ontario for a second show in three weeks, though this time with The Bear Hunters joining Shit Liver as local openers! Thekillingfield's hard hitting technical metal is always a welcome sight in the area, and this second 2011 appearance was definitely also well recieved, but was this show your favourite post-June concert of last year?

Bands: Empyrean Plague, The Bear Hunters, and Shit Liver
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: September 22nd
Info: The local openers were exactly the same for the 34th Roosevelt Hotel metal night as they were the previous week, but this time with a different North Bay metal band headlining the festivities, that being black metal notables Empyrean Plague! Another well recieved metal night in the later stretch of Dismembertainment's run with the series, was this your top metal show of late 2011?

Bands: Napalm Death, Shit Liver, Hallows Die, The Bear Hunters, and Wake
Venue: Feedback (formerly Foggy Notions)
Date: October 15th
Info: After Foggy Notions became Feedback, the newly renamed Queen Street venue launched it's high profile two month run with British grindcore legends Napalm Death in a huge metal concert event featuring a stacked lineup of out of town and local bands! The buzz and fallout from this concert was huge, and Dismembertainment outdid themselves for this major event, but was it your favourite metal concert of recent months?

Bands: Half Past
Venue: October 22nd
Date: The Rockstar Bar
Info: Following their successful return to the stage at Hempfest in August, Half Past debuted new singer Jordan Rains to a Sault Ontario audience at this one night only concert on October 22nd at The Rockstar Bar! Also featuring guest bassist Harley Syrette, this is Half Past's most recent concert to date, but despite a cut short set due to noise complaints, they rocked the house with some great covers! Is their return one of your favourite 2011 concerts?

Bands: Skull Fist, Late & Loud, and View To A Kill (now The Valentine's Day Massacre)
Venue: The Canadian Nightclub
Date: November 6th
Info: The first metal concert at The Canadian since the flood in July saw Toronto speed metal quartet Skull Fist return to the Pim Street venue once again for another classic and fast paced set of heavy metal! Also featuring local standouts Late & Loud and the live debut of the band now known as The Valentine's Day Massacre, this concert attracted a solid crowd of local metalheads, but was it your top local metal concert of the last 6 months of the year?

Bands: The Bear Hunters, Shit Liver, and Redundant
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: November 10th
Info: After a three week absence and a promoter switch, the Roosevelt Hotel metal nights returned on November 10th for a 38th installment and a return to all local lineups, with local punk band Redundant joining metal night regulars The Bear Hunters & Shit Liver for it's return, with The Sault Star in tow for a report! It was great to see the series return (albeit on a more spread out schedule), but was the new metal nights' return your favourite 2011 show?

Bands: Helix & Boogie Fever
Venue: The Rockstar Bar
Date: December 3rd
Info: Three and a half years after they last rocked the Sault area, Kitchener metal legends Helix rocked The Rockstar Bar on December 3rd with a set full of their classic hits, including "Rock You" and many more songs! Their set got a great response, and with Boogie Fever kicking off the night, a lot of fun was had, but did this show top the latter half of 2011 for you?

Bands: Caveman Morrison
Venue: The Roosevelt Hotel
Date: December 9th-10th
Info: Though frontman Tym Morrison was a frequent sight on the local scene last year, his band Caveman Morrison played more sporadically, and their December concert weekend at The Rosie marked their first shows in five months. Still, with the debut of new bassist James White and the return of his brother Rick as their new drummer, their return was a notable late-2011 sight on the local scene, but was this concert weekend #1 for late last year for you?

Bands: Turner Up
Venue: Feedback (formerly Foggy Notions)
Date: December 10th
Info: Seven months after the original Turner Up became Full Circle, a new version of Turner Up brought classic hard rock back to the local stage on December 10th at the former Feedback, featuring three ex-Turner Up members in their new lineup! Their heavier style of classic covers was welcomed back with open arms, and they've been going strong ever since, but was their return your top concert of late 2011?

Bands: Garden of Bedlam
Venue: The Canadian Nightclub
Date: December 26th
Info: Capping the year in style was Garden of Bedlam's CD release concert at The Canadian on Boxing Day, where fans got their first opportunity to buy "Everything Will Die"! This well received headlining concert sent 2011 out on a clear high note with lots of high impact original songs, and the success of "Everything Will Die" is still felt around the area, but was this your favourite local concert of the year?

Other: Did I miss your favourite concert from the second half of 2011? For reference sake, bands like Abriosis, Fifth Column, For All That Is Lost, Frightlight, Full Circle, La Promesse, Laugh At The Fakes, Sneaky Pete, Sykotyk Rampage, That's Chester, Tribune, and Tym Morrison have played concerts in the Sault Ontario area in late 2011, along with other concerts featuring bands already covered in the poll choices. Or maybe your favourite concert was one with less than 50% metal bands? If I didn't touch on your favourite, vote for "Other"!

VOTE TODAY!!! You guys have until April 18th to cast your votes, and then we'll compile the highest voted options from this month's poll and from our "favourite concerts in the first half of 2011" poll into a cumulative "favourite show of 2011" poll next month, so here's hoping we get a representative sample of your favourite concerts! All I ask is don't launch any campaigns to boost the totals of any one concert/band, I want to see a fair sampling of your thoughts. Vote A.S.A.P. at the red poll bar on the left of the page, and stay tuned for a new news post very soon! Thanks everyone!