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

As it's the 18th of the month, it's now time for this month's new poll to kick off, and also, time to end last month's poll! As you may remember, last month's poll posed this question to you guys: What was your favourite local metal/hard rock concert of 2013? We got a very solid 50 votes in the past month (2 higher than in the late 2013 poll), so thanks to everyone for voting, but who won our last "favourite _____ of 2013" polls? The results are below!

The Dayglo Abortions at The Rosie on September 9th (17 votes, 34%)
Haggith at The Algonquin Pub on December 7th (13 votes, 26%)
40 Sons at The Rockstar Bar on February 28th (9 votes, 18%)
The Bear Hunters at The Oddfellows Hall on October 30th (2 votes, 4%)
Biipiigwan at The Moose Lodge on November 24th (1 vote, 2%)
Airbourne at The Canadian Nightclub on August 19th (1 vote, 2%)
Bunchofuckingoofs at The Roosevelt Hotel on August 12th (1 vote, 2%)
Swampstravaganza III at Oddfellows Hall on August 10th (1 vote, 2%)
Frightlight at The Roosevelt Hotel on August 1st (1 vote, 2%)
The Golers at The Roosevelt Hotel on July 4th (1 vote, 2%)
The Golers at The Roosevelt Hotel on June 20th (1 vote, 2%)
Skeletonwitch at The Canadian Nightclub on June 3rd (1 vote, 2%)
Other (1 vote, 2%)
The Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands from April 3rd-24th (0 votes)
The Ripcordz at The Algonquin Pub on April 13th (0 votes)
The Crusade at The Canadian Nightclub on May 20th (0 votes)
Striker at The Roosevelt Hotel on June 25th (0 votes)
Oddzfest 2013 at The Oddfellows Hall on July 26th (0 votes)
The Ripcordz at The Roosevelt Hotel on October 26th (0 votes)
Bam Margera at The Canadian on December 14th (0 votes)

What do you guys think? In ascending order, I'm very surprised by the amount of shows that got 0 votes, especially as all received at least one in the half year polls, including the early 2013-winning Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands, and both of last year's Ripcordz shows (which combined for 7 votes!) It's all in who votes, I guess. 8 shows (and "Other") were tied for fifth with a single vote, including a surprising 5 vote dropoff for Frightlight's short film benefit last August, but most finished in an appropriate location given their totals in their predecessor polls. Fourth place went to the Devil's Night show at The Oddfellows Hall last fall (which was only a slight drop from the half-year poll), while in the biggest surprise of all, the first 40 Sons show from last year surged from 1 to 9 votes! More fans must have been on the site in the past month than in the summer! Again though, the late 2013 poll's top 2 voted shows held their spots for the full year poll, with the Haggith farewell show holding steady in 2nd, and in 1st place with 17 votes (34% of the total) was The Dayglo Abortions' gig at The Rosie on September 9th!

I'm still impressed with how well the most recent Dayglo concert has done in these polls, especially given the rainstorm's severe impact on the turnout, but longtime fans of theirs will know exactly what a great show that they put on, and it was well worth the weather!  As one of the last major metal/punk shows at The Rosie, it's extra notable in hindsight too. Thanks to everyone for voting, and here's to a great 2014!

As for this month's poll, I thought I'd cover a topic I've debated doing for a while, but in the wake of some recent concert venue closures and changes in the area, this makes sense to see where people's hearts lie. With that said, here's this month's question: Which of these recently closed local concert venues do you miss seeing metal/hard rock shows at the most? I often hear complaints about there being few places for local metal bands to play at, and we have lost a few notable venues in the last 5 years, but which one has the most fan support nowadays? To be included in the poll, the venue must have closed in the given incarnation in the past 5 years (so no Club Princess), it can't be still open in the form we last knew (i.e. Runway Park), and it must have hosted multiple bands that are on the SMS (so no Bottoms' Up Lounge.) For sake of clarification, we haven't included venues that have the same general band roster despite a name and theme change, hence the absence of The Nicolet Tavern & Madison's Pub.

With that said, I've chosen 8 recently closed concert venues in Sault Ontario to focus on this month (plus two more general options for fans who don't agree with the 8 given), so read on below for your choices in this month's poll!

The original Coch's Corner: Though Coch's Corner lives on at the former Foggy Notions location, I know there are fans who miss it's prior location underneath the former Days Inn on Bay Street, which became a Holiday Inn Express shortly after Coch's moved in early 2012. Unlike it's current incarnation, the old Coch's Corner welcomed non-acoustic metal and punk bands, and hosted many of J.D. Pearce's late 2000s shows, but do you miss the old Coch's Corner's inviting downtown locale?

The Eastgate Hotel: This is a bit of a cheat given that The Eastgate was long closed by the time of it's demolition in 2010, but it was still an active bar as recently as 2006, and there were still some fans holding out hope that it'd return as an active bar/venue in the late 2000s. Now the site of Algoma Insurance parking, The Eastgate was once a go-to location for metal concerts back in the day, but do you miss it more than it's more recent counterparts?

Foggy Notions: The other venue that ended as we knew it due to Coch's Corner's move into it's building in 2012, Foggy Notions (last known as Feedback in late 2011) was a long-time mainstay for music fans at 708 Queen Street East, and before then at 624 Bay Street under a few different owners, hosting a number of notable local and out of town bands, including many metal bands! Small but inviting, do you miss Foggy's more than other recent closed venues?

GLOW/The Other Place: I've long heard discussion relating to buying this Gore Street venue and re-opening it, but nothing has came out since GLOW closed it's doors for the last time in late 2010. Also briefly known as the Nite-Life Dance Club, fans may remember a number of big metal shows there in 2007 & 2008 under it's Other Place moniker, and it had a successful run for dance fans too, but do you miss the venue at 119 Gore more than the rest?

The Outback: The closure & demolition of Sault College's on-campus bar and concert venue in early 2012 may have been a long-term gain in order to facilitate their new Student Wellness Centre (which hosts The Outback's successor Odeno), but there are bound to be many Sault College alumni (like myself) who miss The Outback for it's occasional heavier concerts and memorial events! Do you miss The Outback the most?

The Roosevelt Hotel: Admittedly, the jury's still out on the future of this Korah Road venue as a metal host after recent news media hinted that the now renamed Reggie's West is open to booking out of town bands, but given the original Reggie's Place's full country theme, some fans still have reservations. Largely thanks to The Rosie's former metal & punk night series', it became a go-to spot for concerts in the early 2010s, but is it your most missed recent venue?

Smack Daddy's/Bossy's: This recently closed central bar & venue was most active in mid-2011 as Bossy's Pub N' Grub for metal bookings (including Tym Morrison, Hollow, and more), but longtime patrons probably know it best as Smack Daddy's Bar & Grill. Never as active for SMS-covered concerts as other choices in this poll, Smack Daddy's is being torn down this year to construct office buildings, but will you miss it more than other examples?

The Vibe Lounge: Active as a bar & venue in 2010 & 2011, The Vibe Lounge on Goulais Avenue served fans even deeper into the west end than The Rosie, and it hosted a fair amount of (largely cover) hard rock bands during it's short run. Still the home of the Polish-Canadian Hall (which has recently been a popular wrestling venue), The Vibe Lounge did have some loyal fans when open, but were you among them?

Other: Do you not particularly miss any of these concert venues the most? Is there another closed concert venue that you miss more than these 8? Were you thinking of an older venue like The Windsor Park Hotel or the Ramada Inn? Maybe one that's just been inactive recently, like the Bellevue Park Bandshell? If for any reason, you don't miss any of the above bars and venues, vote for "Other"!

VOTE TODAY!! You have until June 18th to cast your votes, so let's see what you guys think about this month's topic, and let's see what people's general thoughts are on closed concert spots! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news later today! Thanks everyone!

"Yooper Bars" Book Review!!

Hey guys, here's a special feature post to help add to the recent stretch of posts, and it's our fourth ever book review at The Sault Metal Scene, that being of "Yooper Bars"! Described as "a travel guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula bars", it was written by Randy and Kevin Kluck, published by the Whiskey River Publishing Company in Sault Michigan, and released on December 22nd, 2011 after an 8 month journey of most of the U.P.'s bars, taverns, and pubs, many of which serve as concert venues. Clocking in at 234 pages long, the book costs $20 and can be bought online at this location and at various local storefronts, including (but not limited to) the Barnes & Noble bookstore at Lake Superior State University, but the store locator on the book's website is not updated. Given the nature of this book (it's a travel guide, not a narrative story or recollection), this will be a shorter book review than our past ones, and I'll try as I usually do to not give away anything too in-depth, as I want to encourage sales of the book. With that said, let's begin this review!

"Yooper Bars" is broken up into three sections based on geography, starting with the Eastern U.P. (anywhere east of Newberry), and then going west through the Central U.P. (between Gwinn & Gould City), ending with the Western U.P. (everywhere west of Negaunee), adding up to 109 bars in total. Each bar is given an equal space of two pages to be profiled on, with the first page of each including a short biography of the bar in question, ground rules and amenities there, the bar's address & phone number, and a check off box to denote which Yooper bars you've been to. The second page of each generally features fun facts and bits of knowledge on the bar, ranging from popular drinks & historical background notes to celebrity sightings & favourite jokes, along with recommendations from bar regulars. Both pages for each bar also feature scattered photos of the bar, it's staff, and it's patrons, including some occasional shots of live performers, food, and special events. This formula helps give each bar equal time and importance in the book, with the familiar layout helping connect everything and making it easier to read and follow.

In terms of "local" bars, the book covers 28 bars in Chippewa County (mainly in Sault Michigan and De Tour Village), 3 bars in Newberry/Luce County, and 9 bars in Mackinac County (mostly in Cedarville & Hessel), though Gould City and Curtis are counted in the Central U.P. section. Notable Sault Michigan hard rock concert venues like The Bird, The Satisfied Frog, and The Corner Pub are among the covered bars, along with Eastern U.P. concert spots like The Cozy Corners Tavern, Timmy Lee's Pub, and Dan's Place, among numerous others. In terms of metal/hard rock references, there are a few photos of hard rock performers in the Eastern U.P. section, including Half A Man, ex-Splitshot drummer Tony Hubbard, Scofflaw, and former Detroit Red Wings star Darren McCarty's hard rock band Grinder, and there's some interesting celebrity sightings of some rock legends to take note of!

The other chapters are laid out very similarly to the Eastern U.P. section, and as someone who doesn't travel west through the U.P. often, I can't reliably comment on those bars beyond what I've read, but they definitely intrigue me in many ways! A number of bars in cities like Marquette, Menominee, Ishpeming, Munising, and Escanaba are featured, and you're bound to have heard of many of them from your own travels or band associations, and yes, one featured tavern is the Gay Bar in Gay, Michigan! Notably, local favourites Nudge pop up in the section on Rookie's Sports Bar in Negaunee, and they join notable Yooper bands like Slave to Gravity among the later thirds of the book. Of course, whether any given bar in "Yooper Bars" lives up to the praise it receives from the authors is subjective depending on the reader and their own experiences, but if you go in with an open mind and expect the best, you'll learn a lot in advance of your own U.P. bar hopping!

Overall, I would recommend "Yooper Bars" to anyone who loves bars and concert venues in the Soo area and/or the Upper Peninsula! It lays out a ton of quality information and previews on each featured bar, and any novice to the 21+ scene or uncharted waters should find this book invaluable in their barhopping! That said, there are a few things I'd correct, including the book's size, which doesn't help the clarity or context of some photos, though the Yooper Bars Facebook page features many of the photos in larger versions. As well, given it's 2011 release, some entries are now slightly dated (i.e. Bullwinkle's Bar & Grill is now Todd's Tavern), but it's still mostly accurate from what I can tell. Most disappointing of all is that "Yooper Bars" isn't entirely comprehensive, omitting local bars like the one at Dondee Lanes and the bars at the Kewadin Casino branches, but I won't pass judgment as to why they're not in the book. It'd be nice to see a later pressing with added bars and updated references down the road, and maybe in a larger size, but other than that, I can't complain!

Definitely pick up "Yooper Bars" at the above links, and hopefully if you have a copy, you can begin your own journey throughout the U.P. to explore their bars and taverns, just like Randy & Kevin did, and kudos to them for their journey across all of these bars last year! Thanks everyone, and stay tuned for more news and notes this week!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sault Riverview Music Festival) And Lots Of Sault Michigan News & Notes!!

Today's news post is entirely dedicated to Sault Michigan, partly thanks to new stuff I bought and learned on a trip I made there this morning! Though mainly to set up some stuff for classes, I bought a book I'm touching on in this post, and stopped by Grooves Music where I bought a CD by a Lansing metal band named Genocya (featuring Saultite Matt Cunningham) who you'll hear more about on the site this fall, and I got some concert information there for a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT in this post as well! Along with news on a local concert from the 1990s that you can buy, and some more assorted notes, read on below for today's all-Sault Michigan post!

A new local music festival is going down next weekend, and it's The Sault Riverview Music Festival! Presented by The Sault Events Inc., this family festival will see all of it's proceeds going towards the Chippewa County Hospice, and there will be plenty of non-musical activities going down on September 7th and 8th, including beer & concessions tents, family activities and games, a 50/50 draw, and a fish fry, so click here or look at the poster on your right for more details! As for the bands, while a full schedule hasn't been posted, the Friday schedule does feature three local hard rock bands, those being Sault Michigan hard rockers Monkey's Uncle, Kinross classic hard rock cover quintet Banned, and young local hard rock quartet Tantrym Tyme (formerly known as Abstract!) They'll join local indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen (featuring Nixxon Dixxon alumni) on the Friday lineup, while the bands on Saturday the 8th don't lean in a heavy direction. The Saturday bands include The London Gentlemen again, plus members Mike Russo & Steve Sivret's acoustic band Fallen Heroes, along with local southern rock band Bittermoon (featuring Monkey's Uncle alum Jim Belleau), a band named Omega Rock that I can find nothing on (can anyone help?) and The Grooves All Stars, who I believe are a band comprised of employees at local music store/festival sponsors Grooves Music. More bands are possible to be announced, so stay tuned in case I hear anything!

This festival will take place outdoors at the grounds of City Hall at 225 East Portage Avenue, it's definitely all ages, and admission is FREE! Bands will be on from 5:00-10:00 PM next Friday and from noon-10:00 PM next Saturday, and check the above links for more details! This sounds like a fun family festival with lots of talented area bands, and hopefully it's a big success so it can return next year! Also, it's nice to get advance notice of a Monkey's Uncle show that isn't at Kewadin Casino, for what that's worth. Stay tuned for updates on the Sault Riverview Music Festival as they roll in!

Next up, I'm glad to finally note that I now have the book "Yooper Bars" that was released last year! I picked it up for $20 at the Lake Superior State University book store, and if you're unaware of it, it's a travel guide and collection of profiles of most of the bars and taverns in the Upper Peninsula. Written by local authors Randy & Kevin Kluck after an 8 month journey through the U.P.'s bars last year, and published by the Whiskey River Publishing Company in the Soo, it does feature a heavy dose of bars in Sault Michigan & the Eastern Upper Peninsula, including some references to metal bands & live concerts that go down at them! This includes 28 bars & taverns within our current coverage range, 10 more in Chippewa, Mackinac, and Luce County that we'll likely touch on in future SMS expansions, and dozens more in the central and western U.P.. Just on my first readings of it, I notice that it's not entirely comprehensive (the bars at Dondee Lanes & and at any of the Kewadin Casinos aren't covered, for example), and parts are now a bit outdated (i.e. Bullwinkle's Bar & Grill in Moran is now Todd's Tavern), but this looks like it will be a quality resource for barhoppers & revellers in the U.P.! That said, I'll leave full assessments until my formal review, but definitely get more info at this location, and pick it up wherever you can!

Thirdly today, does anyone out there wanna pick up a live video from the old Tumble Inn in Eckerman, Michigan? There's a glam metal band that is actually selling a full concert video from their show there in the 1990s, so here's what you need to know! Some of you guys may be familiar with the Phoenix, Arizona glam metal band Tuff, who may be best known for their ballad "I Hate Kissing You Goodbye" and their Kid Rock parody "American Hair Band", but back in their late 1980s/early 1990s heyday, they came through the area once with cameras in tow! Tuff played at The Tumble Inn on September 8th, 1994, and while online details of said show are minimal, you can purchase the full video of that concert by clicking here or here! The concert (and other past show videos) are $22 plus tax and shipping, which will tip the total cost to $30 and higher depending on where you're having it sent. I don't know whether the show will be on DVD or VHS, but this is an interesting offer, especially knowing how hard it can be to find 1990s concert videos from the Sault area, and I might have to take Tuff up on this offer and buy the Tumble Inn show for SMS uses! If you guys are interested, visit the above links, and check out Tuff online for some fun glam metal originals!

Finally for today, here's four assorted shorter stories across the river from the last little while, and as always, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Local concert promoters Allstar Promotions have posted a photo album from the Buckcherry/Fuel concert at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino on August 13th onto their Facebook page featuring shots of the headlining bands and the pre-concert autograph & meet and greet sessions! I wish they'd advertise the meet & greets more online, but everyone looks like they had fun, and for photos of The London Gentlemen's opening set, click here!
• One of the opening bands for the Evans Blue-headlined concert at the Soo Kewadin Casino on September 29th will be State Your Cause, an Ohio based hard rock quintet who have been opening for them on Evans Blue's current tour run. Local promoters haven't confirmed their addition online, but concert posters in town confirm their involvement. They have a solid radio hard rock sound and should fit in well for this special charity concert, so check them out at the above links! The other band isn't known yet, but my money's on a local band. I'll keep you guys posted!
  
• Defunct local hard rock quintet Swayze Train have quietly deleted their Facebook page. A reason for the page's removal isn't known, but the breakup in April is likely tied in with it. That said, as their Reverbnation page is still online (bare as it may be) and as we have online information on them still in good supply, I just replaced their link on our inactive Sault Michigan band listings. Stay tuned for hopeful updates on the members' next moves!
• I wanted to apologize for another missed concert, as young local hard rockers Tantrym Tyme apparently performed at this year's Sidewalk Sales event in downtown Sault Michigan last month, as per postings on their Facebook page. Bands generally play outdoors for free during this sales event at local stores, such as the recently inactive Free Refill, but these slipped me by, and I sincerely apologize for that! Keep an eye out for future proper concerts from them as I hear of them!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our last posts of the summer (this weekend's concert previews and our Oddfellow CD review) tomorrow & Friday! Thanks everyone!

Half A Man News And The Winner Of March Mayhem!

In our final post for this Saturday three-for-all, we have three aims: Preview a concert tomorrow night, update you guys on some recording plans from that band, and unveil the winner of our March Mayhem tournament! Before we preview tomorrow's concert, remember that the previously announced punk show at Foggy Notions tomorrow featuring Dancing With Paris has been cancelled, but you can still see them at The Oddfellows Hall on May 28th, details of which you can find at this location! But there is still one metal show tomorrow, so here's what you need to know!

Brimley hard rockers Half A Man are back on the local stage tomorrow night for a special early concert at Golanka's Bar (The Bird)! Though the band have lots of great original hard rock in store for their fans tomorrow, there's a lot more going on than just their set. This show will serve as an afterparty for a softball team's opening game, though I'm not sure of the specifics. I'd guess it's either a Bird-sponsored team, a team made of Bird employees, or has band members or family/friends on the team. Aside from that, I have heard that Half A Man have giveaways planned for free band merchandise, and the people behind the upcoming "Yooper Bars" book will officially be on hand to gather photos and info on The Bird for their book, so if you want to make a cameo in the book or talk about The Bird, there's some added incentive! This show has a special early start time of 7:30 PM, you must be 21 to attend, and there is no cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! There's a lot going on tomorrow evening, but remember to be there for Half A Man's set, as their hard hitting music is making a fast rise in the local scene, so they'll be on the top of their game! For a preview, here's Half A Man playing their song "Drunk" at The Bird in February!



Also, I wanted to add that Half A Man announced on their Facebook page last month that they've unveiled their official plans to record a full length album this summer! They're planning to hit McNally Smith Studios in St. Paul, Minnesota in June to record the album, with a hoped release date for late 2011. The band also noted that they could get former Machine Head/Soulfly guitarist Logan Mader to mix and master the album, presumably through his production team Dirty Mind Productions, but nothing is concrete. Click here for full details! Intriguing news overall, I hope everything falls into place, and I'll absolutely pick the album up when it comes out!

And now, here's the conclusion to the SMS March Mayhem tournament! So, who won the tournament, and how does the final bracket look? The results are below!


Congratulations to Sykotyk Rampage, the winners of the March Mayhem tournament! The local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet took a surprising 207-83 win over Frightlight in the last week of voting to claim 1st place in this tournament! This was definitely a surprising result in both vote totals and pre-final round predictions, but Sykotyk Rampage did good to win all 5 matchups they were placed in! What does this all mean though? In terms of the spoils for the winner, it's just bragging rights, as the tournament was all basically an experiment in good faith. Some could point to band member-run voting campaigns for some of the results, but to me, it's just indicative of their devoted fan base rallying together! The results are interesting overall though, providing some interesting insights into some band's fan bases and how they can surprise you when the votes come in! Will we do this again, possibly with Sault Michigan bands? I don't know. I won't do one right away, as I do want to get back to some old school polls on the SMS over the next few months, but if I do do another, you guys will get lots of advance word, and it'll hopefully get an even bigger response! So congratulations to Sykotyk Rampage again, and here's hoping you guys enjoyed the tournament on the whole!

That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow, as I have a "surprise" post to share tomorrow to help make up for the delays the other day. What's the surprise? Well, if you see me at The Canadian Nightclub tonight, that could be a hint. Thanks everyone!