LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Breaking The Fourth Wall) & Five Bands Looking To Play Here!!

Some big updates today, mostly of the concert variety! The bulk of today's post comes from FIVE new bands that want a local booking! Well, three, but one need help again to secure a date I'd already posted here about. I'll give you all the details in a second, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Montreal hardcore band Breaking The Fourth Wall are coming back to Sault Ontario! A year after their planned show with Constructed Apocalypse quietly evaporated without notice, they will make their long awaited local return on July 30th at The Oddfellows Hall! Good, bookings there are picking up! Joining them are Calgary metalcore group Fall City Fall! This reminds me of some of the shows we used to get so often at The Oddfellows Hall from 2008 and earlier, maybe this is a sign of things to come? Well, that depends on how successful this show is. Click on the band names above to check out their material on MySpace, solid stuff from both bands! And the lineup doesn't end there, as local openers are needed! If you or your band would like to open at this all ages hardcore show, message Jasmin Nott at this location to show your interest! Start times and cover charges will be announced next week. Promoter Nathan Bouliane (Lorax/ex-As It Stands bassist) is hoping to bring lots of lights and a smoke machine to help make this show as good as possible! Sounds good to me, as soon as I hear more on this show, you'll be sure to find out here!

And now, pay attention, anyone who might wanna help these bands! FIVE more bands are looking for help getting a booking in Sault Ontario, and I'm always willing to help out, so I'm gonna tell you what you should know about these bands and how you can contact them! This goes for concert promoters, venue workers, and local band members who might want to play with them at a show, if you like what you hear and would like to help them get a show here, take the initiative! So, here's what you should know!

Firstly, we have a band I plugged a few months ago for a show here in July, but apparently had an issue with their planned promoter falling out. I won't say anything else about why here, but the band really would like to play here, and I've helped them in the past, so I've gotta try again! They are Aquila, a metal band from Windsor, and frontman Mark Arruda recently sent me a MySpace message seeing if I could help them with a date here for either July 6th or 7th. Trust me when I say this, Aquila kick ass! Very heavy band with some good thrashy qualities, and your head will sure be banging if you see them live! I'd love to see them here, and hopefully someone out there does too! Time's running out to lock up an Aquila show here on this tour, so if you can help in some way, send the band an e-mail through their MySpace page to show your interest, and check out their material! They really wanna come here, can you help?

Secondly, we have a band that I first heard wanted to play here today! They are The Great Sabatini, a progressive sludge metal band from Montreal, and if you want some slow grinding doom-ish heavy metal, this is what you'll be looking for! Very down-tempo and methodical, but very heavy, it's definitely something we don't see here often! The band itself actually didn't contact me, I was actually e-mailed by a booking company they're represented by, Tugnut Booking out of Cambridge, Ontario, and they're hoping to get The Great Sabatini booked here for...Halloween! Yes, Sunday, October 31st, and I was told that they always have trouble booking here for tours. If nothing else, this would be a unique show for here, and fitting too considering the night of it! Doom/sludge metal fans take note, if you want to help get a booking for The Great Sabatini here in Sault Ontario on Halloween, e-mail Tugnut Booking at this location! Click the above links to check them out too!

The other three bands I'm plugging concerning their search for a Sault Ste. Marie booking came to my attention me via e-mail, and in the case of this band, we've seen them here before! They are Fredericton, New Brunswick punk/thrash trio Hard Charger, and you may remember seeing them at a headlining show at The Oddfellows Hall in July 2008 with various local openers, including an early version of Bring The Fallen! I got an e-mail from drummer Tom Blizzard a few days ago, and he told me that Hard Charger would like to play here again on Wednesday, August 4th. I'd be up to see Hard Charger again! Despite a bad turnout for the 2008 show, I was impressed with their raw energy and mix of styles! I of course gave him some contact info, but if you'd like to help Hard Charger get a booking for here on August 4th, e-mail Tom at struggles999@hotmail.com or by messaging them through MySpace! There, you can check out some of their songs, lots of short, but heavy and relentless death/thrash/punk that will be sure to get a crowd moving! Want Hard Charger back? Then e-mail them and see if you can book them or help at all!

Finally, we have a double bill of bands hoping for a show here! Prince George, British Columbia electronic metal band Throat Kick (pictured) and Vancouver metal band GFAP are hoping to play in Sault Ontario on their upcoming Canadian tour! Looks like the show might be in September, but a specific date wasn't given, so there may be some flexibility here! The bands are both solid, Throat Kick have kind of a "breakcore" vibe and lots of electronic influences, interesting mix! GFAP are more straightforward groove metal with nice aggressive vocals, I'm really digging them too! Throat Kick frontman Kyle Pigeau e-mailed me today looking for some help to get both bands a show on their upcoming tour, anyone out there wanna help out? E-mail Kyle at kylepigeau@gmail.com or message either band at their above MySpace pages to offer your help to bring them here for a show! They're good bands, they just need a venue, or local openers, or a promoter, or something!

There's got to be someone out there that can help out these bands for a local booking of some type! We need more shows here, and if no one shows any interest, then these concerts won't happen! Even if you're just a local musician that would wanna play with them on that date, that would help! If you're interested in booking one of these bands for a show on the dates they'd like, playing with them on said show, or bring them to your venue, PLEASE e-mail them today! Let's bolster the scene with more concerts!

That's all for now, I don't know if I'll have a post tomorrow or not, it's actually my 21st birthday tomorrow so I could be busy, but I do have some cool things on the newsdesk to share, so keep an eye out, you may see something tomorrow!

Sykotyk Rampage Show Update, Bands Looking To Play Here, And More!

Another day rolls by, another pile of news to get to! I have an update concerning an upcoming local metal concert, a few bands looking to play here, a preview of a new song from a local band, and the confirmed demise of another. Let us commence with the news! (Stay tuned to the end of my post for info on what will happen SMS-wise during my next Detroit trip)

The Sykotyk Rampage concert on April 3rd at The Rockstar Bar has had a lineup change, as planned openers Nebraska Arms have either dropped off or were removed from the lineup. No reason was given, but hopefully nothing bad happened! In their place are RedD Monkey, the Toronto/Kelowna based classical/alt-rock band featuring three Saultites in their lineup! I've never went into major detail about RedD Monkey on here before, but just picture a band with Smeltzer frontman Steve "Knuckles" Mozarowski and drummer Kevin Overton (you metalheads better know him from Gates of Winter), alongside Steve's brother Pete on the cello...yeah, you read that correctly! But don't write them off as Smeltzer 2.0, RedD Monkey are way more unique and experimental, they'll definitely be worth seeing! But of course, seeing as this is Metal Militia Wednesday, Sykotyk Rampage will bring all the metal you'll want and need! For full details on this concert, which will be $3 at The Rockstar Bar on April 3rd, click here! I'll keep you posted with any updates as I hear them!

Next up, we have confirmation of a band breakup that I had feared since last month. Sault Michigan grunge rockers Half Stupid have indeed called it quits, as confirmed by frontman Zac Crook in an e-mail to me on MySpace today. Zac assures me that he's still jamming and working on music for future projects, as is bassist Matt Williams, so we haven't heard the last from them! Still, it is disappointing, I was a big fan of Half Stupid's, they filled the grunge niche nicely while No Arrow's been inactive! It really seemed like they were on the rise in 2009, but hey, what happens happens. Either way, it's nice to hear real word that they've ended, rather than just a vague statement that could be varyingly interpreted. Check them out as we remember them at this location, and if I hear anything amout new grunge/hard rock bands from Zac, Matt, or Jordan Gendreau, I'll be sure to let you all know!

Ok, more positive news now! I sometimes get e-mails from bands looking to play shows here on tour, and today was quite active in that regard! Two different bands sent me e-mails asking if I could help them find promoters or any help at all with getting a booking for Sault Ontario! And you know me, I'm always willing to help, cause after all, the more local metal shows, the better! The first band is The Promonium Jesters, an industrial metal band from Uxbridge, Ontario! Not bad, kind of a techno/metal mix with a psychedelic flair, definitely not something we see here a lot from rock bands! Frontman Ethan Moseley tells me that they've been trying to get a show in the Soo for years, but not for the lack of trying. He's looking for a good local promoter to help get the band a booking here, so I shot him off some contacts and tips, but I'll go the extra mile to help! If you want to book The Promonium Jesters for a concert in Sault Ontario, e-mail Ethan by clicking here! Check out the band at this location to get a taste of their sound!

The other band is one that I know I've tried to help before, though I can't remember if a booking ever came out of it. Windsor metal band Aquila are planning a July tour from Calgary through Southern Ontario, and would love to play Sault Ste. Marie during that span! Frontman Mark Arruda e-mailed me on MySpace this morning asking if I could give them some contacts to try and get a local booking, so I did just that! But just like with The Promonium Jesters, I just point them in a good direction. That's where you come in, the bookers and venue owners of the Soo! Aquila flat out kick ass, hard hitting and thrashy and very headbangable! I've been a fan of them since I first got contact from the band last March, and it'd be great to see them here! If you're at all interested in booking or helping out Aquila in their attempts to play in Sault Ontario in July, message the band at their official MySpace page! Let's see if we can get both these bands (and Rusted Dawn too, they're still looking) here for shows!

And finally for new news today, Stillbroke frontman Jesse Frigault has posted a new video to YouTube, which features his own solo acoustic rendition of a new Stillbroke song! Entitled "I'm Still Hanging On", it's slower but it has some nice heavy vocals, I imagine this should be a very powerful song when amps and other instruments are added! Interesting effect put on the video, makes it look older! Check the demo out below!



Alright, so to close this post, those of you closer to me may know that this weekend, I'm heading to Detroit again for March Break. I leave Saturday morning and will be back later in the week, Thursday roughly. Now there's a bunch of stuff coming up, blog or local concert related, that may or may not be affected by this. I just wanna get it out of the way so you know what to expect, or not to expect:

Firstly, concerts: Sense of Truth are playing at The Canadian Nightclub on Friday. As keeping with my own reverse psychology stand to avoid jinxing myself out of another SOT concert, omit the words in red: I will not be at the show on Friday, I will not enjoy myself or take photos and video, and I will not post a review at some point afterwards. (Remember, reverse psychology!) I don't know whether it will be immediately after the concert or at some point after I get to Detroit, but my review will definitely not be up one at one of those points in time! Ok, now for shows I'm really seriously not going to, I can't make the Garden of Bedlam/Papa Fogals Chair show at Foggy Notions on Saturday, because I'll already be in Detroit, so GO TO THAT SHOW FOR ME!!!! Make it a huge success, how often are we gonna see PFC back together? And it's Garden of Bedlam! Come on!!

As for SMS-related events, the review of Sykotyk Rampage's new album "22" will be posted on March 1st as scheduled! Postponing it would be a disservice for an album I've bypassed too long already, although the computer I have access to in Detroit is horribly slow. So I'm likely going to type up my review this week, and will save it for an autopost next Monday, so that will definitely happen as scheduled! I likely will not post the newest profiles of out of town bands with local members until after I get home, so don't worry about that. And as always, I'll update as much as I can fathom as long as I get a clear computer, and the patience to deal with it's slowness! Just a heads-up for everyone in case you miss something or assume anything. And I WILL BE BACK AROUND NEXT THURSDAY!!!

That's all for now, I'll have lots more news and updates in the coming days, stay tuned!