A New Battle Of The Bands, A Concert Cancellation, Bad Side's Return, And More!

I'm home! And now, SMS stuff gets back on a normal schedule, and today's a nice packed post! I have lots of assorted stories to get to, some more positive than others, and we'll start with a newly announced battle of the bands!

Yes, we're getting another Battle of the Bands in Sault Ontario, the first one since the Scotties Tournament/Sault College battle in February! Called "Downtown Showdown", it will be put on by The Sault Youth Association and The Fresh Magazine, and will be taking place at The Oddfellows Hall on May 28th! Finally, another new show there, what's up with the lack of concerts there in recent months? This is a "battle royale for band supremacy" according to the poster, and we can witness this for FREE! Now who doesn't love free concerts? A start time of 7:00 PM is listed for the battle, so it could be feasible to go to this AND Phatstick at Foggy's in the same night! Now, metalheads, are you asking yourself which bands are playing? We don't know, and that's where you come in!

The call is out for bands to sign up to compete in the battle, so here's what you need to know! The only restriction is that your band MUST only have members 25 years old or younger (remember, it's the Sault YOUTH Association putting this on.) The registration fee is just $25, nice and affordable! If you and your band are interested in taking part, e-mail joe@thefreshmagazine.com or tiffythompson@thefreshmagazine.com, or call the SYA at 946-1299! No definite word on any specific bands yet, but when I hear something, especially if it concerns a metal band, you'll be sure to hear it here! But think about signing up, cause there's mad prizes at stake! Get more information on this battle at this location!

Next up, it looks like an upcoming concert was cancelled. The planned show next Monday with Alaskan and Killing Queens at The Rockstar Bar appears to have been dropped from their tour itinerary, as neither band lists the show on their respective MySpace page right now. What happened to the concert? No idea, but The Rockstar Bar haven't plugged the show at all, so who knows. Sad to see the show get apparently called off, I was really looking forward to it, and I was glad to have helped the bands get a booking here! Both are great sounding extreme bands, hopefully they actually will be here one of these days!

Alright, let's get to more positive news now! And it concerns the return of a prominent local band! Sault Michigan hard rockers Bad Side are coming back from their "break" for their first live performances since last fall! Sadly, they're not local shows, but they are back, so here's what you need to know! On June 27th, Bad Side will hit Milwaukee, Wisconsin as one of the supporting performers on that night's portion of this year's Milwaukee Summerfest! No word on when that day or on what stage, but they'll join notable performers like B.B. King, Less Than Jake, and Justin Bieber on that day's lineup! The day before, Bad Side will play their first show in months when they play at Smokin' Joes in West Allin, Wisconsin, which should be awesome! It's great seeing Bad Side back, I was worried about their future last fall, hopefully they'll be back home for some shows soon! My sources for the above information come from Bad Side's Facebook page. Oh, and for your reference, guitarist Jason Mapes' solo project is still going strong, he recently finished recording a new solo demo called "Time Has No Mercy"! Can't wait to hear that either!

Now, just some minor updates on Bret Michaels, who is definitely on the road to recovery from his brain hemorrhage! He's the cover story of the new issue of People Magazine, where he talks about his health ordeal, so if you're a fan of his, you will want to pick up a copy! Some excerpts from the interview are available to read at this location. Nothing I've heard in the last week has pointed to any major downturns in his condition, nor have they caused a complication for his show here in Sault Michigan in July, and really, the slowing down of news on his condition is good! Nothing bad to report, he must be getting better! If there's something else of note I could share on Bret, it's this: His co-headliner on July 22nd, Vince Neil, was interviewed about his thoughts on Bret's medical problems, and you can see what Vince had to say by clicking here! Things are definitely looking up, if I hear anything that will positively or negatively impact Bret's show here at the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival, I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Finally for today, did you guys happen to turn your radio dials to 89.5 FM at 5:00 PM on Saturday? Well, if you didn't, you missed something cool, in a local music sense! Amanda Putz from CBC Radio One's art/culture program Bandwidth conducted part one of an interview with SooToday's own Donna Hopper about the local music scene! The two discussed how the Soo could be compared to Memphis, Tennessee for it's strong blues/roots scene (Sudbury would be Nashville), and discussed a selection of notable local bands, including The Floyd Lee Band (due to local guitarist Joel Poluck's involvement), Al Wood & The Woodsmen, DJ Seith, Kalle Mattson, and The Granola People! Nice interview, Donna shared some cool information on the above bands, and I learned how to finally pronounce a few names correctly too!

Now why am I mentioning this when none of the bands were metal? Simple: That's just part one, part two will have some heavier bands, Donna Hopper confirmed this in a Facebook status update! So if you wanna hear some CBC Radio One plugs and info on some heavier bands, and some blues/country stuff as well, the second half of Amanda Putz' interview with Donna on Bandwidth will be in about a month! Once I find out a confirmed day, you guys will for sure know about it! I wonder who'll get mentioned? CBC Radio One needs heavier stuff, but either way, local press of any genre is always welcome!

That's all for today, my next update will have another new demo from WinkStinger, the event page for some upcoming shows, and hopefully much more! Stay tuned!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Caveman Morrison & Alaskan), More Bands Looking To Play Here, And Nixxon Dixxon Videos!

Hey guys, the weekend's coming to a close, and we have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, lots more bands looking to play here, and some new local metal videos! So here we go!

Going in chronological order, we'll begin with the return of metal to a classic concert venue that's been getting back into booking bands in recent months! One weekend after they rock Coch's Corner, Caveman Morrison will be playing at....The Roosevelt Hotel on April 2nd and 3rd! Yes, The Rosie's back and metal's back with it! For those of you unaware, it's on Korah Road, which may be a bit out of the way from the downtown area, but a lot of people have fond memories of it, great to see it booking shows again! A start time of 10:00 PM is listed, there is no announced cover charge. If you wanna head down to The Rosie for some awesome metal covers, these could be the shows for you! Get full details at the official Facebook event page! Also, if you wanna know more about The Rosie, check out the "Rosie Nights" Facebook group by clicking here!

Looks like we can confirm this, as it was just posted yesterday on their MySpace page: Sudbury's Killing Queens are indeed playing at The Rockstar Bar on May 17th with Ottawa's Alaskan! After a bit of waiting to see if the venue would change based on some outside recommendations, looks like all is going to be as planned! A start time of 8:00 PM is listed, though from my experience at shows there, it may very well be later. It's nice to see them get a booking here, I hoped they would! Killing Queens have a bit of a unique sound going, their music is straightforward hard rock, but the vocals are harsher and heavier than the music's style, an interesting mix! Alaskan are also good, very doomy hardcore style, down-tempo and slower, neither band have a sound you get much here! This'll be worth hitting if you want something different, click on both band names to check them out on MySpace! If I hear more on this show, you'll find it here!

Now I don't know what it is about this time of year, but it seems like metal bands wishing to play in Sault Ontario is getting ever larger! Lately, a lot more metal bands than normal have either contacted me seeking help to get a booking for a Sault Ste. Marie show, or have been seen on external websites advertising a "TBA" show for here, or asking if people knew bookers. Last I heard, Rusted Dawn, Rape Revenge, Lab Rat, Aquila, Cop Shades, AND The Promonium Jesters were still looking for a venue to host them for a Sault Ste. Marie show! And today, I have FOUR MORE that are looking! Let's go in order by planned concert date to outline the next bands that wish for a Sault stop!

Firstly, we have On Burning Shores, a progressive/hardcore band from Markham and Oshawa (or as they conveniently mashed together, "Moshawa"!) Frontman Mike Bacon e-mailed me the other day asking if I could book them for a show in the Soo in late April. Now I don't book shows, but I'm more than willing to help! Very good band, metalcore fans will find a lot to like from O.B.S., their songs are hard hitting and have some cool progressive and death metal moments thrown in too, nice mix! If you're at all interested in helping On Burning Shores get a date in Sault Ontario, e-mail Mike on Facebook, or message the band at their official MySpace page! I think it'd be really cool to see them here!

And then we come to Durban Poison, a glam/punk band from Victoria, British Columbia! If you like Dirty Virgin, Durban Poison are right up your alley! They really remind me of Dirty Virgin soundwise, though they have enough of their own polish and swagger to set them apart! Plus, the fact that frontman Matti Corvette crossdresses in concert will surely draw some attention! Solid sound for what they play! The band has not been in contact with me, but their MySpace page lists a planned Sault Ontario stop for August 10th. Wanna help Durban Poison play here? Click on the links above to send them a messgae!

And finally, the most unique of the lineups that want to play here! Two bands, Ahna and Nu Sensae (pictured), are touring together and would like to play Sault Ontario on August 16th! Ahna are a drone metal duo from Vancouver that play some very unique heavy guitar-less music that, really, I can't describe without doing it an injustice. Click here to check them out on MySpace, let's see what you guys think! Again, this is something we don't get here much, it'd be interesting to see them here! The other band is Nu Sensae, a grunge band who are coincidentally also a two member bass/drums band from Vancouver! Nu Sensae are female fronted, and once again, this music is very hard to explain. It's grunge, but it also has some different "qualities" to it that I find intriguing! Click here to check them out! It never hurts to have variety and uniqueness in the local music scene, Ahna and Nu Sensae would be really interesting to have here! Both bands have an August 16th Sault date listed on their respective concert listings for a joint tour, if you're at all interested in bringing them here, visit their MySpaces above!

So let this be an open call to all venue staffers and concert bookers: ALL of the above bands I mentioned are looking to play here! It'd be awesome to see them all here, so if you want a band to play here between April and August, potentially at your venue, MESSAGE THEM A.S.A.P.!

And finally, more video is online from Nixxon Dixxon's shows last Saturday when they played at both The Dreammakers Theater AND Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino! I only shown you their "One Shot Woman" performance in support of Pop Evil, but YouTube user myangels1266 uploaded two more clips! One is a cover of the Ozzy Osbourne classic "Mama I'm Coming Home" from the Rapids Lounge set afterwards (Click here to check it out), while the one I'm showing you here comes from the Pop Evil show! So here you go, live video of Nixxon Dixxon covering the Alice In Chains classic "Rooster"!



That's all for now, more news and updates are in the very near future, as well as my newest profiles of out of town bands featuring Saultites in their lineup! Stay tuned!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym & Caveman Morrison And Keep The Faith) And Some Show Updates!

I'M HOME!!!! I caught a cold, but other than that, I'm glad to be home, where I can get back to normal SMS habits and update you all normally! I'm going to split up the stories I've missed during my slow Detroit computer spell to spread everything out. That being said, I'll start today with not one, not two, but THREE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!!

Another great tribute band is hitting Sault Ontario this month, as Keep The Faith: The Quintessential Canadian Tribute to Bon Jovi will be in town one week from Saturday! And yes, I know some may not see Bon Jovi as "metal", but before they commercialized their sound in the 1990s, they were one of the biggest hair metal bands going, so they do count for SMS coverage! That being said, Keep The Faith will bring an authentic Bon Jovi experience to The Canadian Nightclub on March 13th! Tickets cost $5 in advance starting tomorrow at The Canadian, or $8 at the door for this concert, which has a listed start time of 10:00 PM. Get full details at the Facebook event page! Now I am admittedly not a Bon Jovi fan, but when I checked out Keep The Faith's Facebook group, I was impressed by how faithful they are to the Bon Jovi sound and look! So if you're a Bon Jovi fan, keep this concert in mind!

Next up, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has scheduled another solo acoustic show, this one on March 12th at Coch's Corner! This will be Tym's first show there since his late-notice set at the Algoma Hope4Haiti benefit, and it will definitely be worth checking out! Tym's solo shows always impress, and if you wanna chill out to some mellower acoustic covers of your favourite rock and metal songs, this is a great way to do it! Admission is free, as is usually the case at Coch's Corner, and a start time of 10:00 PM is given at the Facebook event page for this show! Should be a good show, and if you can't make it out, don't worry, Tym will play a solo set the next night at The Bottoms Up Lounge too, so you have other options!

Now you may ask yourself, why did I discuss the later show first? Simple, because the Tym Morrison show goes hand in hand with my final new concert for tonight, also taking place this month! Caveman Morrison will also be playing at Coch's Corner this month, headlining there during the March 26th weekend! I know for sure they are playing there on the Friday and Saturday (March 26th and 27th), but the Facebook event page suggests that they could be playing on Sunday, March 28th as well (as it does say "All Weekend Long".) That seems unlikely though, so I'll just list March 26th-27th for the performing dates for now. Again, these should be great shows, the metalhead in me would love to head down there to check out some great heavy metal covers, maybe I'll go! No matter what though, fans of Tym/Caveman Morrison have a lot of live music to enjoy this month!

Closing today's post are two metal lineups that have been recently looking for a booking here: One who still is, and one who may be changing their plan. Firstly, remember on Tuesday when I mentioned that Alaskan and Killing Queens were looking to play here on May 17th? Well, it looks like they got the booking....maybe. Steve Smith from Killing Queens said that the band got a booking at The Rockstar Bar, which is awesome! However, in a thread on The705Scene forums, Steve may be looking to switch venues due to some recommendations on the thread that The Rockstar Bar may not be the best venue. I have no problems with The Rockstar Bar, never have, but I have heard about people getting some bad treatment. I can't back that up, or prove if it's widespread, all I know is I like it there, for what that's worth! So Steve is open to suggestions about moving it, I'll let you know if there's a change! I won't confirm this as a concert until the band (or a local venue) makes an official concert announcement!

Speaking of bands that potentially could play here, there's a couple of other bands that wanna hit Sault Ontario in May themselves! A pair of Calgary-area grindcore bands, Rape Revenge and Lab Rat (pictured), are hoping to play an all ages show in Sault Ontario on May 19th. Matt Elbows from Lab Rat posted a topic on The705Scene looking for help in making this show possible, and I'll do my part to help! Lab Rat are a solid hardcore band, fast short songs that are quite moshable, while Rape Revenge are a self described "feminist, straight edge, vegetarian grindcore band" with three female members, so they automatically stand out! Musically though, very good for grindcore, the moshing would be constant and high energy, I reckon! If you're interested in booking Rape Revenge and Lab Rat for a concert in Sault Ontario on May 19th, contact either band on their MySpace pages by clicking their names! It'd be cool to have another grind/hardcore all ages show, you know how few of those we get nowadays? The scene's getting older and moving into bars, what is there for the younger metalheads? Best of luck in them getting a venue, I'll update you guys if they do!

I like to spread news out so that nothing gets overlooked in the middle of a post, so I made sure to discuss upcoming concerts and potential ones today by themselves. Tomorrow, I will update you guys on The Bear, Silver Dream, the Pop Evil show from this past Saturday, Bring The Fallen, and anything else that I come across by tomorrow! Above all else, it's great to be home, I'm glad to be back doing SMS stuff regularly, and there's lots of stuff on the horizon, so stay tuned! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Destroyer) & New Bands Looking To Play Here!

Well, as you may have noticed, I haven't been online updating very much since making it to Detroit. As it turns out, the computer situation was even worse than I figured, I've barely had time to check my e-mail, let alone do SMS housekeeping! Luckily the Sykotyk Rampage album review went up yesterday as scheduled (Check it out below), so you guys had something new to read, but I really need to fight the slowness of this awful computer and update you all on a couple local metal news items! And today, we will start with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!! (Excuse anything looking weird or blank.)

Hey Kiss fans, are you clamoring for a chance to hear your favourite Kiss songs live in the Sault? Well, we still don't know when Gene Simmons and company are actually coming to the Sault for their rescheduled date, but in the meantime, the next best thing is coming our way! Destroyer, Canada's Premier Tribute to Kiss, are coming to Sault Ontario in April! One of North America's longest running and most successful Kiss tributes, Destroyer will bring the full Kiss experience to The Rockstar Bar on April 3rd, complete with full costumes, fire breathing, and excellent concert setups! This might be the closest thing to the real Kiss that non-ticketholders will get in Sault Ontario, so keep this show in mind! Now tickets are high as far as Rockstar Bar shows go, costing $12 at The Algonquin Hotel front desk or at The Rad Zone in the Wellington Square Mall, or $15 at the door, but the price is understandable considering the bang that Destroyer will give for your Kiss-loving buck! A start time of 9:00 PM is given on the Facebook event page, visit there to confirm your attendance! And check out Destroyer by visiting their official website!

I don't remember if this is the same Kiss tribute band who came to The Canadian Nightclub in 2008, but Destroyer should put on one hell of a show! I saw their stuff online, they do the Kiss sound very well, maybe I'll go! I'll keep you guys posted if I hear any show updates!

Next up, we have more bands looking to play here in the coming months! The other day, I got an e-mail from Steve Smith, who is the lead guitarist for Killing Queens, a hard rock band from Sudbury. Killing Queens are embarking on a tour in May as support for Ottawa metal band Alaskan (pictured), and are both are looking at potentially playing a show in Sault Ontario on Monday, May 17th. Now I sent Steve some contact info for venues and promoters, but it's anyone's guess if that will be any help, so here's another open call! Both are pretty good, Alaskan have a solid extreme hardcore sound, while Killing Queens play some cool heavy rock n' roll! As always, it'd be nice to see both bands in the Soo for a show, so if YOU would like to promote or help out towards a local show on May 17th featuring Alaskan and Killing Queens, e-mail Steve at casual.steve7@gmail.com! Click on both band names to check out their respective MySpace pages, and hopefully someone out there will be interested in making this show possible!

Now I did have a planned post for CML Productions, the company owned by Christopher M. Lance responsible for Garden of Bedlam's first music video (which was filmed by ex-Amethyst frontman Rick Dellavedova!) However, the page appears to have been deleted from Facebook. No word on why, but another CML Productions offering similar video-stuff already exists in California, so maybe it's a name conflict issue. If I hear anything else local-metal related from Christopher and Rick, I'll have it here!

I wish I had more for you guys, but I can't fight with this horribly slow computer all day, I guarantee I'd have a lot more if my connection was better and let me get to my typical habits. I don't know if I'll have another post tomorrow, but if nothing else, something will be up Thursday night or early Friday with stuff I've missed! In the meantime, if you have a local metal news story, update, concert, video, or tidbit that I could use in my next post, e-mail me at robertfigures@hotmail.com! THINGS WILL GET BACK TO NORMAL REAL SOON!!!!!!