LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (K-Man & The 45s And Eye Of Horus), Plus New Videos!!

With a pair of big new concerts announced today, let's focus today's news post around these LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but with a few new videos to cap things off! Here's what you should know!

Edmonton melodic death metal quintet Eye of Horus will make their local concert debut when they headline at The Canadian Nightclub on Sunday, August 27th! Capping off their Eastern Canadian Tour here in just under a month, Eye of Horus' blackened death attack should whet the appetites of extreme metal fans with their technical set, so be sure to check them out in advance of the 27th to see what Eye of Horus has in store! Joining them here for this concert are Guelph progressive metal quintet Becomes Astral, who fans may recognize from their set at The Algonquin Pub opening for fellow Edmonton metal band Elements (not the local Elements) two years ago. Becomes Astral should entertain new and old fans alike with their extreme and proficient originals, so don't bypass them either! Note that local advertising lists Eye Of Horus as headlining, despite Becomes Astral's higher poster placement. Local openers will include local death metal standouts The Bear Hunters in just their third concert of the year (and Live705 debut), as well as resurgent hard rock quartet Eclipse.

As of this writing, this will also be the first Live705 concert without A Dire Setback opening, which will be surprising to see, but they admittedly would be an outlier on this death metal-heavy event. Another licensed ALL AGES event with a 7:30 PM start time, this continues with Live705's recent reversion to advance ticket sales rather than vouchers, so get your $5 advance tickets from local openers or at The Canadian Motor Hotel front desk, or pay $7 at the door. Arguably the heaviest Live705 show to date, this should be a face melting good time, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for potential updates!

Next up, remember how Montreal ska-punk quintet K-Man & The 45s returned to the Soo for a concert in March, way sooner than expected given their four year run of local dates in the fall? Well, the balance has been restored, as they'll be headlining at LopLops Lounge on Tuesday, October 10th! Consider March's show a bonus, as The 45s will be back in our area for another autumn set of high energy ska punk originals and "Ska-mones" covers, and if you've seen them in their other four headlining appearances, you know how fun and memorable they are in person! Saskatoon noise/punk duo The Faps will also return to the Soo as a featured opening act, marking their first Soo stop since headlining at The New A in September 2014. This edgy minimalist duo made fans with their unique genre blend three years ago, so prepare for a belated second round in October! Local indie/hard rock quartet Bizotic will be the local opening act, and they should provide solid support like they did in March for K-Man and company!

Finally, local DJ The Dub Selectah will also be on hand on October 10th to spin ska and reggae music between bands, so keep that angle in mind! Quite possibly the first Six, Two, Oh. show ever held at LopLops, this will be the fourth straight K-Man show here from this agency, who also hosted The Faps in 2014 under their old Oh! Right Arm Promotions moniker. Unfortunately, the cover charge of this show is $10 (up $5 from K-Man's last three local stops), but it's still a 19+ event with a 9:00 PM start time. It's always great to see K-Man & The 45s here, who have quickly grown into local favourites with their ska attack, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

We'll close today with some new videos, starting with some recent footage from prolific local concert filmer Christopher Paci's YouTube channel! He has two more big shows with video to touch on in the coming days, but we'll start with the earliest ones here, as he was on hand for Mike Mikus' local farewell gig at LopLops Lounge two weeks ago! Posted three days afterward, Chris didn't upload anything from Id Iota's opening set, but he did shoot two videos of the Montreal-bound solo headliner's set, including one of an old Pixo Control song! The other video is of two apparent solo songs (if I forgot that one was a non-album original, apologies), with the first song being softer in tone, and the other being a faster & heavier number reminiscent of "Scratch". Embedded below is Mike, Dustin, and Keeghan playing their old band's lengthy song "Potpourri", which closed The Pixo Control's only CD "Probably Not", and it must have been a thrill for fans to hear that band's material one more time before Mike's big move!

The audio quality is good (admittedly better on softer stretches), and it's nice to see the guys rocking out in what had to be a bittersweet night, and while there are many attendee heads in the way of the camera, this was a highly anticipated concert. Hopefully Mike got a great sendoff, and best of luck to him in Montreal, I know he'll do great things as he progresses his solo career! Give Chris' videos of Mike's local swan song a look above & below!



Finally, local alternative punk quartet A Dire Setback live-streamed this video to their Facebook page on Thursday evening, and it features their preparation and setup prior to their set opening for Treble Charger at LopLops. That said, just when the band is starting to run through a soundcheck performance of "Catastrophe", the cell phone used to film the video falls over thanks to subwoofer vibrations, and ultimately falls to the stage floor after 11 minutes before being rescued in the waning seconds. Unique video in more ways than one, and A.D.S. sounded good during the soundcheck, so give their new live stream video a look/listen below!




That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates soon, plus our newest CD review tomorrow or Monday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Mourning Wood) & This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Before we begin this weekend's concert previews, I'll note that there was briefly a Facebook event page online for a Stiffler's Mom concert on Saturday at The Rockstar Bar, but that has since been deleted, as one of this weekend's previously announced shows was moved there. Hopefully we hear more from them soon though! Now, let's touch on the hard rock shows that we currently know about through Saturday, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!

Local classic/hard rock cover trio Mourning Wood will make rare appearances at The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apolgies for the short notice, the band only confirmed these shows via the official Facebook event page earlier this week, but at least these shows got that much for advance advertising! Unless a publically unadvertised show took place there in the interim, these will be Terry, Steven, and T.J.'s first shows at this west end venue in over three months, and following their OLG Casino and Rotaryfest debuts earlier this month, it's nice to see the guys continuing to spread their wings into unfamiliar and less frequent venues! Like usual for Mourning Wood shows, there are 9:30 PM start times in effect, no announced cover charges (but bring cash just in case), and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the above links, and here's the guys' country side earlier this month, plus special guests!

Moving to previously announced concerts, longtime Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's ongoing weekly concert arrangements will continue this weekend, as he's back at Gliss Steak & Seafood near the Station Mall TONIGHT, TOMORROW, AND SATURDAY, all preceding his long running Harp Bar & Grill shows TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Like recently usual, SooToday confirmation of these shows came prior to any Facebook announcements, but Tym recently began using his official website's calendar again to confirm upcoming concerts at both venues, so we can source from there again! However, shows listed there are once again for an exceedingly long period (Gliss shows are listed weekly through February 2020, and Harp shows are listed through June 2022), but whether theis is all accidental formatting, positive hopes, or truthful long term booking for both venues is up for debate.

Given the presumption of Tym playing at The Harp and Gliss for the forseeable future, we will address his shows in our calendar a month at a time like usual, as it's way too excessive to list 5-7 years worth of shows on the SMS. Stay tuned for details on his August gigs though!  His matinees at Gliss are all 6:00 PM gigs with no announced cover or age limit (but remember, this is a restaurant), while the regular Harp nighttime gigs are 10:00 PM events with no cover and a 19+ age limit. Check the above links for more details on this talented local hard rock veteran, and here he is live at Mill Square!

In a brief detour to Sault Michigan, Kinross hard/classic rock trio Banned will return to The Rapids Lounge at the Sault's Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Making their first appearances at this Kewadin branch in four months, these will be Banned's last shows before returning to the annual Sugar Island Music Festival next Friday. Alex Traynor and company are always staying busy, from Banned shows to Alex's own recent solo recordings (seen here, including a new Britney Spears cover), and fans should know their quality and often heavy covers by now, so definitely consider a trip to The Rapids Lounge this weekend for their own entertaining live show! There's no announced cover charges for this weekend, you must be 21 to attend, and there are 9:00 PM start times in effect. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Banned live last year!

Finally for this preview post, we'll head to The Rockstar Bar for an apparently relocated (upstairs) installment of J.D. Pearce & Tidal Records' Gonqshow concert series THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, which will be headlined by Edmonton hardcore metal quintet Elements in their local concert debut! Not to be confused with the recently dormant local funk rockers The Elements, Elements' brutal modern hardcore sound with progressive hints should find it's way to a solid audience this Saturday! Guelph progressive metal quintet Becomes Astral will open this concert in their own local debut, and their extreme technical sound is also making them many fans, hopefully with more to come this weekend, so check them out too! Avoiding a name conflict by adding the local Elements to the bill, local classic metal quartet Project 421 will open things in their second show with new drummer Chris Thompson, so don't be late for their attack!

Originally scheduled for The Algonquin Pub, the show has apparently been moved upstairs to The Rockstar Bar, as per the venue's own Hayley Warnock on the Facebook event page on Monday. A reason for the move wasn't announced, but it may be due to the venue's new Rockstar Republic events kicking off this weekend (more on that in the coming days), but in any event, J.D. himself questioned the move, feeling that metal bands of this style "wouldn't fly" upstairs. We'll let you know if there's any clarification! In any event, a $5 cover charge is likely for this 19+ concert, which has a 10:00 PM start time. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's an Elements music video!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's CD review likely next! Thanks everyone!