(Updated at 2:02 PM) Today marks the first of our concert previews for this weekend, but just as a special mention, remember that the celebration of life for former Foggy Notions owner/bartender Patrick Casey will take place at Coch's Corner (formerly Foggy's) SATURDAY NIGHT at 8:00 PM! It was recently postponed from tomorrow to Saturday for unannounced reasons. Attendees are asked to wear funny slogan t-shirts like Pat used to if possible, and also, his obituary is finally up on SooToday at this link, confirming that he passed suddenly on April 18th at just 40 years old in Tottenham, where he had been living. No services beyond tomorrow's celebration are listed, and the family is asking for Sault Humane Society donations in lieu of flowers. Raise some smashlovs for Pat on Saturday!
Now, let's kick off this weekend's previews, starting with SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, including the next scheduled Tym Morrison solo concert, as the local hard rock solo singer/guitarist will play once again at The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be the second straight week where Tym's only playing an acoustic solo concert on the Friday due to The Harp's broadcast of a sports PPV, and while referenced on the Facebook event page as UFC (who don't have an event this weekend), they're presumably showing the Floyd Mayweather/Manny Pacquiao fight on Saturday. If you want to see Tym, be at The Harp TOMORROW, not Saturday! For reference, this remains the last listed gig on the calendar on Tym's website, but it remains to be seen when/if he'll announce new gigs at The Harp or elsewhere this month.
Like usual for Tym's lengthy regular run at the former Madison's Pub, there are no announced cover charges for tomorrow, a 19+ age limit, and a likely 10:00 PM start time. Don't miss Tym at The Harp TOMORROW ONLY for lots of hard rock favourites, and here's Tym live at the former Smack Daddy's!
Next up, here's a pair of other new concerts for this weekend, as local classic/hard rock quartet Havadder are advertised to return to The Rednecks Saloon for headlining concerts TOMORROW AND SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, we heard about the shows when at the venue on Tuesday night via the outside marquee board, and as of this writing, Havadder haven't plugged the dates online. This will be their first concert weekend at the former Nicolet Tavern in a month, and the shows come fresh off of their Moose Lodge benefit appearance a couple weeks back, so if you've missed Jugga and company's hard hitting cover attack at a regular concert event, keep this weekend's shows in mind! That said, if anything is said to the contrary regarding this weekend's bookings, we'll let you know.
There's no announced cover charge, a 19+ age limit, and likely 10:00 PM start times for this weekend, and for a preview, here's Havadder live last year!
Moving to previously announced concerts, here's a big ALL AGES Thursday nighter going down TONIGHT, as Ottawa sludge metal trio Biipiigwan will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario at 180 Projects on Gore Street! Last seen locally at The Moose Lodge in the fall of 2013, this hard hitting band should devastate local fans once again with their doomy & relentless originals TONIGHT, so don't miss them if you can help it! Local support will come via doom metal trio AlgomA in their first show since releasing their debut CD "Reclaimed By The Forest" last fall, and they've also teased having new band t-shirts on sale for tonight, so keep that in mind too, and pick up their album if you haven't already! And finally, local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control
will kick things off in their 180 Projects debut and first public gig
since the Boot Hill Crooners release party, and while they're not doom
metal, their talent speaks for itself! Note that Sudbury stoner metal trio Horse Lung were originally scheduled to co-headline, but dropped out of the event today due to "last minute work related issues."
Disappointing for sure, but we'll see Horse Lung at Das Bunkerfest II this summer! No word yet on a possible late notice replacement. This ALL AGES show is the first of the year from Oh! Right Arm Promotions, it has an $8 cover charge, and an 8:00 PM start time, and note that the new official poster (amusing as it may be) isn't embedded here due to potentially offensive content. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a great concert for doom metal fans, so don't miss out TONIGHT, and here's Biipiigwan live in 2013!
Finally for TONIGHT is the expected eighth weekly jam night at the aforementioned Rednecks Saloon by local classic/hard rock trio Mourning Wood, which has received a visibly positive reception over the past couple of months! Though we don't know yet if this union of Asylum Country & Beaumont Avenue members will be playing regular concerts this weekend at a separate venue (Havadder are listed there Friday & Saturday), fans can take in their diverse and often heavy covers tonight during this weekly jam night series, where anyone with musical or singing talent can join them to jam and rock out on stage! Should be fun as usual, and like in past weeks, there is a 19+ age limit, no announced cover charge, and an announced 9:30 PM start time. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Mourning Wood last fall at Rock For Dimes!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for our review of Tuesday's Shit Liver concert at The Rednecks Saloon next, guaranteed! Thanks everyone!
Hope everyone's having a great week so far! I'm currently out of town due to a family emergency, hence the delay in our recap of Wednesday's VM Radio Battle of the Bands semifinal, but it is coming! I have one more post to get up beforehand, due to it having a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this weekend, and a preview of one more big concert TONIGHT, but also read on for two more big shows taking place next weekend and next month that fans should enjoy! Now, here's what you should know, and thanks for your understanding at this busy time!
Sault Ontario alternative/hard rock cover quartet Lucky 13 will return to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT for a one-night-only gig at The Rockstar Bar! Apologies for the short notice, the band only confirmed the gig via it's Facebook event page yesterday. Fresh off of their short notice weekend at The Rednecks Saloon, this talented veteran quartet will be playing their first announced concert there since January, but this is a one nighter due to the previously announced Journey tribute concert tonight (more info here.) Despite the limited notice again, Lucky 13's talent and experience speaks for itself, so for look for a solid night of hard hitting covers TOMORROW at 10:00 PM! There's a 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge, so visit the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's the guys at Toystock last fall!
Also in new concert announcements, local hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue will return to the stage on Friday, March 20th & Saturday, March 21st at The Rednecks Saloon! Last seen in January at The Rockstar Bar (and at Rednecks on Boxing Day), the former Suicide Kings had originally announced that they wouldn't be back until the summer, but they timed these shows with the March break, which makes sense for availability! However, drummer Ben Boudreau isn't available to come home from Hamilton for the shows, so bassist Mitch Sirie's Bear Hunters bandmate Johnny Belanger will fill in for the weekend, and he should fit in well with the 2013 Rockstar Bar Battle winners! Just in case we don't see Beaumont Avenue back until the summer this time around, don't bypass these shows next weekend, which both have 10:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover.
For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see the guys back together (though it'd have been nice to see Ben back too), so stay tuned for updates on Beaumont Avenue's March break reunion when and if they come in, and hopefully we hear much more from them in 2015!
Finally for new shows, the previously teased return of Ottawa sludge metal trio Biipiigwan to the Soo will take place on Thursday, April 30th at 180 Projects! Last seen in November 2013 at The Moose Lodge, this hard hitting and doomy trio have made many fans in the area, and it's great to see them finally back in our neck of the woods! Joining them at this show are Sudbury studge/stoner trio Horse Lung, who some of you may recognize as one of the bands scheduled for Das Bunkerfest II in August, but are otherwise making their local debut next month. Their hard hitting, doomy originals should also find a strong audience on April 30th, so be sure not to miss them! Local support will come via local doom metal trio AlgomA, in their first concert of the year and their first since the release of their "Reclaimed By The Forest" CD last fall (might this count as their official release concert?) Nice to see them back on stage in any event, especially on the same bill as Biipiigwan!
This show will be opened by local alternative/grunge trio The Pixo Control in their 180 Projects debut, and though they're the only non-doom band on the bill, their rising talent and energy will set the tone well next month! The first metal show that we've heard about at 180 Projects since AlgomA opened for Skynet last year, this show is promoted by drummer Jamie Vincent & Oh! Right Arm! Promotions (their first show of the year too), this is an ALL AGES event with an $8 cover charge & a 7:00 PM start time. For more details, visit the Facebook event page, and stay tuned for much more on what should be a great doomy time for local metalheads!
Finally for today, we close with our preview of arguably the biggest of this weekend's metal and punk concerts, as Toronto/Montreal groove metal quartet Exes For Eyes will make their local concert debut TONIGHT at The Canadian Nightclub, in a nice intermission of sorts from that venue's battle of the bands! Fronted by Endast's "Big" James Arsenian, Exes For Eyes are touring in support of their new album "Tongues Like Figure Eights", the subject of their recent "platinum project" to sell 1 million copies of the album for $1 in an attempt to go platinum. Exes For Eyes' brutal and intense sound should endear them to local fans, be you an Endast fan already or not, so be sure to come on out for their original attack! Joining them on this local stop on their "Tours Like Figure Eights" tour are three local bands, including local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades in their first local concert set of the year, and I know the show ties in with frontman/promoter J.D. Pearce's birthday, so be sure to wish him a happy birthday TONIGHT!
Joining them tomorrow are two bands from this month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands (our recap is coming next), including death metal standouts (and finalists) The Bear Hunters and new local punk quartet Stereo North in their third local concert set, and fresh off of a strong performance in Wednesday's semifinal. so come early for their fast-rising punk renditions! This ALL AGES concert has a 7:00 PM start time and a $10 cover charge, so visit the Facebook event page for more details! This should be a great concert for metal and punk fans alike, and it's great to see Exes For Eyes finally in the Soo, so don't miss TONIGHT's action at The Canadian! For a preview, here's Exes For Eyes' music video for "Stop Thinking, Start Feeling"!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for our recap of Wednesday's second night of the VM Radio Battle of the Bands later today, I promise! Thanks everyone!
With a busy concert weekend in store, we're slightly breaking up this week's hard rock and punk concert previews to spread them out, so a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT will take residence in today's post, alongside some more news and notes! We also have upcoming CD notes, some assorted updates, and first, a new band addition to our full coverage, so here's what you should know!
We have a local metal project to add to our band links, though we've alluded to them on here for the last few years in a series of posts. You may remember that we cover Sault Michigan metal label Werehold Records' Friday the 13th new music posting events (which return next week, by the way), and in some of the installments, you may have seen us mention The 1,000,000,000's Who Died (or The Billions Who Died), an extreme metal band that was billed from outside our coverage range in Isle Royale, Michigan, which has no permanent population, adding to their initial secrecy. Given that, we held from adding them to our full coverage... until now, as Werehold owner & Life's Eclipse mainman Jason Mills revealed on his personal Facebook page earlier this week that The 1,000,000,000's Who Died is his own solo project (albeit under the stage name Spizwizbanizz), and their Facebook page now bills them from the Soo as well! So, now that we know more on them, what else should you know on them?
Active since at least May 2012, The 1,000,000,000's Who Died have largely only shown signs of life for the Werehold Records Friday the 13th events, with 3 songs from them being posted on the Werehold YouTube channel ("Whispers Removed", "Declaration", and last year's "Pile of Tongues"), though all are instrumentals. Their sound will be familiar to Werehold loyalists, though putting an extreme death metal slant on crunchy groove metal, and it'll be interesting to see what Jason has in store for next Friday! Give "Pile of Tongues" a listen below, and stay tuned for more from The 1,000,000,000's Who Died!
Next up, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT, as Sault Michigan cover hard rock trio Power Slug will be playing a unique concert set under the beer tent as part of the events leading up to the annual International 500 snowmobile race (or I-500) this weekend! Apologies for the short notice, the band only just announced their involvement yesterday on their Facebook page. Though not credited by name on the I-500 website, their set will be among the entertainment during what is billed as "the midwest's largest Winter Pub Crawl", and spectators are encouraged to visit bars and beer tents tomorrow night in Sault Michigan and at the I-500 track, which is based at 984 West 4th Avenue, a few minutes from Lake Superior State University. Power Slug should deliver a solid night of hard rock action during the pre-race events at the I-500 this year, and kudos to them for braving the elements too, as tent or not, it is outdoors. Admission is via purchase of a button (a'la Bon Soo), and while it is $20, that guarantees you admission to see the actual I-500 race on Saturday, which is always exciting! Power Slug's set is at 8:00 PM tomorrow night, and given the time and connection to the pub crawl, it's likely 21+. For more info, visit the above links, and here's Power Slug live at The Bird!
Also today, here's some updates from Sault Ontario doom/punk trio The Revolution, who recently unveiled more details on their forthcoming debut EP! Last week, the guys revealed that their first release will be called "Roll Call", and it will feature 5 songs, those being "Prisoner of Hate", "Monsters", "Cold Temptress", "Into The Fog", and "Get High With Me". Most have been teased in earlier concerts and videos, but "Into The Fog" isn't immediately familiar, so it may be the new song that the guys teased in this Facebook video (unless one of the other songs was reworked.) Obviously, not all of their originals made the cut, including live songs and older preview tracks like "Murder For Sport", "We Are The Gladiators", "Mercury", and "Belly of the Beast", but if things work out, we might see some or all on a future CD. It sounds like the guys have things under control, and with PaperClip Productions behind them, things can only go up, so stay tuned for updates as they roll in!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
A new post by promoter J.D. Pearce on next month's VM Radio Battle of the Bands' Facebook event page strongly hints that local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters have signed up to compete at said battle, with J.D. noting that "things just got heavy in here", and that the battle may "end 'er with Render" (This Void). Will The Bear Hunters successfully defend their Viva La Battle crown from 2013 next month? Stay tuned for updates, and sign up A.S.A.P., as only 3 band packages are left!
Oh! Right Arm! Promotions are apparently bringing Ottawa sludge metal band Biipiigwan back to the Soo on Thursday, April 30th, as per a post by co-promoter Jamie Vincent at this link yesterday. No venue or other details have been announced yet, but for reference, Biipiigwan last played here in November 2013 at The Moose Lodge alongside locals The Bear Hunters & Bad Back. Stay tuned for more as it comes in!
According to their Facebook page on Monday, local punk/grunge solo project Telephone & Address have sent their new studio album "Rust Orchid" away for pressing of physical copies! No word yet on when we can expect CDs and digital downloads to be officially released (along with their teased "Early Tapes" compilation), but we'll keep you posted when more is announced!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more of the weekend's concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
For a second day in a row, we have a concert review at the SMS, as last night was the well anticipated all ages concert at The Moose Lodge headlined by Biipiigwan! Before we get to the actual show, here's some notes on the venue, one I've never been to for a concert before. Very plain interior (almost like a smaller Oddfellows Hall) with attendees making good use of the tables and chairs, but there was a good open area for the bands to play in, and I imagine it could get good future use for shows (especially for fans in the East End!) The cold temperature can't have helped the attendance though. Now, to the bands!
Opening last night's show was newer local duo Bad Back (replacing AlgomA), and though they've played live and had one online video posting this summer (albeit of very low audio quality), they were somewhat unknown to many fans, so how'd they sound? Really cool! Guitarist/promoter Jamie Vincent and drummer Nathan Sauve tore through a 6 song set of what I'd call "hardcore grunge", with yelling vocals, relentless riffing and drumming, and a straightforward aggressive approach that was far removed from their past Fuller work! Originals like "Breeding Weak" and "Two Tongues" got a good response and some solid moshing from the younger attendees, and given how Jamie & Nathan handled and powered through their set, there was no overt need for extra musicians to fill out their sound! If anything, Jamie should work on his stage presence a bit (he seemed somewhat quiet and reserved), but this was a solid set, and I'm very curious to hear more from Bad Back soon!
Next up, surprisingly, was Ottawa sludge metal trio Biipiigwan (no word on why they weren't headlining), but they tore it up in their first Algoma District appearance in over 2 years! With the lights dimmed and the crowd peaked, they ripped through a bunch of their very brutal original songs with little room for breaks, crowd banter, or song introductions, and fans ate up every second! Musqwaunquot Rice's guitar work was doomy and non-stop, and Steve Vargas was a wildman on drums from start to finish, with everyone showing a good determined stage presence and aggression that I appreciated! My only problem was that I could barely hear anyone's vocals, especially when everyone was playing a heavier stretch of a song, though what I could hear from Musqwaunquot & Steve fit the material! I've heard a lot about Biipiigwan in recent years, and I can see what people were raving about after their Thessalon show, as they brutalized with a very sludgy and doom-filled set, and hopefully we'll see Biipiigwan back up north again!
Last on the evening was local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters (replacing Giwakwa) in their first concert appearance since winning Viva La Battle earlier this month, and they continued to ride the momentum of their victory with another dependably brutal set! Their 8 song set included fan favourite originals like "Deception" and "Transcend Judgement" (plus their Amon Amarth cover), and while there was no major surprises from their other recent four-piece sets, their talents and chemistry came through as usual! Nik Deubel's vocals were audible, but in contrast, Mitch Sirie's guitar was buried somewhat (though it did help Justin Lam's excellent bass work be heard easier!) I always enjoy The Bear Hunters' sets, and though I would have liked to see them bring back some older originals (like "Casualties of War"), you can't argue with results, and they continue to fire on all cylinders and brutalize as good as ever, so don't miss them at next month's Bam Margera concert at The Canadian!
Overall, this was a great concert to cut through the bitter northern cold, and hopefully everyone in attendance would agree! I did get photos and videos of each band, so click here to check them out or visit our Facebook page, and for the videos, here's Bad Back playing their song "Lung Bucket", Biipiigwan playing their song "Rodentia", and The Bear Hunters playing their classic "Collapse The Sun"!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow, and yes, our large amount of updates to our past Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profiles this week! Thanks everyone!
At last, here's our last weekend concert preview posts on this very busy weekend in the region for metal/hard rock concerts! Today, we're previewing a second cancer benefit concert featuring local hard rock acts, as well as an anticipated ALL AGES concert in Sault Ontario, but to fill things out, I've also included two new video discoveries from a pair of linked Sault Michigan bands, so read on below for what you need to know!
A very special event is going down at Bay Mills Resort & Casino in Brimley, Michigan (a rare metal-featured concert there) TONIGHT, as Munising metal quartet Infathom and young local metal standouts Tantrym Tyme will be among the bands playing at The Nick Cam Jam!
The event (which will be held in the casino's Horizons Conference
Center) is in honour of Bay Mills resident Nick Cameron, who's currently
battling cancer, so a number of performers are gathering together on
Saturday to raise funds and support for his fight, which is awesome of
them! Performers will include the aforementioned Infathom (featuring
former local metal frontman Dillion Semasky) and Tantrym Tyme alongside
local cover rock quartet Chump Change and duo performers Adrian & Taylor Hatfield and Candy & Larry Fultz (unsure of how they sound), while Phoenix Sounds Entertainment
(a regional live sound/DJ company) are credited alongside the bands.
Admission will be $10, with 50/50 draws and other raffles on hand to
raise funds, there is an 8:00 PM start time, and this event has a
special younger age limit of 18+.
For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!
I don't know Nick, but hopefully the Nick Cam Jam helps him and his
family out a lot at this time of need, and there's a solid entertainment
lineup in store for what should be an interesting event at a venue we
don't cover a lot! I wonder if this will help jump start hard rock shows
there? It's awesome to see Infathom back in the area for a second show
this year too, so hopefully everything goes well on Saturday, and for a
preview, here's Infathom covering Alter Bridge!
Finally for this weekend, a rare public metal concert will hit The Moose Lodge at 543 Trunk Road TOMORROW NIGHT, where Ottawa sludge metal quartet Biipiigwan
will finally rock the Soo! Last seen in
the district as headliners of a F.A.T.I.L. event in Thessalon in 2011,
Biipiigwan (Ojibway for "flute") have a strong local following thanks to
their hard hitting extreme metal sound and proud Ojibway heritage, so
you know they'll devastate the local stage on Sunday night! The local
openers have completely changed since originally announced, but there's
solid stuff to go around even still, including local death metal quartet
The Bear Hunters (replacing Giwakwa) in their first concert since winning Viva La Battle, and they're definitely riding a wave of momentum right now, so be sure not to miss their brutal set! The opening band will be local grunge duo Bad Back (replacing promoter/frontman Jamie Vincent's sludge trio AlgomA) in their first show in 3 months, and their unique (yet minimal) attack should be a solid fit tomorrow, so come early to see Jamie & Nathan rock out!
Promoted by Jamie and Oh! Right Arm! Promotions, this ALL AGES concert will begin at 8:00 PM tomorrow night at The Moose Lodge (just seconds from The Wellington Square Mall), and admission costs just $5. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to finally have Biipiigwan in the Soo tomorrow night, and hopefully there's a solid attendance despite falling right before the work week! Note as well that The Bear Hunters opened for Biipiigwan at the aforementioned Thessalon show, so this could be seen as a partial make-up date if you missed that event! Check the above links for more details, I'll see you guys there, and for a preview, here's Biipiigwan live in Halifax last year!
We'll close today with some new Sault Michigan video finds, starting with a few new Power Slug video discoveries (nice to finally have a few more in good quality!) Courtesy of YouTube user Ernesto Marquez's YouTube channel, these are from one of the pageless hard rock trio's concerts in July at Golanka's Bar (a.k.a. The Bird), and they're of Power Slug covering Puddle of Mudd's "She Hates Me" and (as embedded below) Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak". Very solid audio quality on these videos, and the band sounds good on each, with Chris Leask making nice use of his vocal range, and he, Bob Helsten, and Chris Gurnoe know the songs well, but the lighting isn't fantastic, and it's hard to make out faces or details of the members (especially Bob.) I can't to be too critical though, as it's been so hard to track down Power Slug footage in general, so I'm just glad to see any! Check out Power Slug covering Thin Lizzy below, and catch them at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino TONIGHT!
And to close this post, here's a new hard rock cover video from Power Slug drummer Bob Helsten's other recent band project Toast, courtesy of singer Melissa Strand's YouTube channel! Though Toast haven't played live since the summer (with Melissa moving to Ishpeming), a handful of live videos from an acoustic show at (I believe) The Corner Pub Bar & Grill were posted onto her channel in early August, including covers of R.E.M.'s "The One I Love", The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army", and (as embedded below) Seether's "Gasoline"! Note that as these were acoustic shows, Bob isn't featured, with Melissa joined by guitarist Mike Libertoski & bassist Tony Rogers only. The Seether cover's an interesting adaptation, but they handle it well, and Melissa still has a nice singing voice! Again, the video quality's the problem, as it's from a far dark angle with no attempts to zoom or move, so keep that in mind. Check out Toast's latest videos above and below, and keep an eye out for Mike & Tony's new acoustic band with Tony's former Shift bandmate Amy Beairl on vocals!
That's probably all for today, but I'll hopefully see you guys at The Canadian TONIGHT for the Amy Ellis benefit show featuring The Suicide Kings, the returning Havadder, and the debuting Late Shift! Thanks everyone!
Our next post (today's) was supposed to be dedicated to previews of this weekend's regional metal/hard rock concerts, but for ones I can 100% source and verify for heavier content, I only know of a pair in Sault Ontario from the same band this weekend, so that will lead off today's post! Of course, if any late notice shows make it online, we'll get them up here A.S.A.P., but for now, we have some notable updates for some upcoming concerts and a new lineup note for a local metal band, and first, the aforementioned concert previews!
Local classic/hard rock quintet The Thrill Junkies will play their eighth and ninth local concert dates TONIGHT AND TOMORROW NIGHT when they return to Docks Riverfront Grill for their second weekend of shows there! Two weeks removed from a successful Halloween weekend gig at The Rosie, this band (essentially the successors to Turner Up's last lineup) should have some entertaining harder-edged covers (and from what I'm hearing, some originals) to light up the stage with, so don't miss the action on Foster Drive this weekend when The Thrill Junkies rock Docks once again! A cover charge in the $4 range wouldn't surprise me, you must be 19 years old to attend, and there's a 10:00 PM start time both nights. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Travis, Robert, Jason, Justin, and Scott won't be back at Docks until late next month, so if you like this venue and the guys, don't miss out this weekend, as their well-tested and always fun sound should give a thrill to fans! No videos yet surprisingly, but when one turns up, we'll share it here to preview The Thrill Junkies with!
Next up, here's some notable upcoming metal concert updates, starting with the Biipiigwan concert at The Moose Lodge on Sunday November 24th, as both local openers have been replaced. We already reported on here that local sludge trio AlgomA had to pull out due to Darby Wigwaus' back injury, but their replacements will also feature drummer Jamie Vincent (a.k.a. Geezer), as his grunge duo Bad Back will take their place, now as the show's opening band! After a few interim sets were called off, this will be Jamie & Nathan's first live Bad Back concert in over 3 months, so it'll be good to have their chaotic and grungy sound back in just over 2 weeks! The other band replacement sees local stoner/death metal band Giwakwa being replaced by ex-singer Josh Stephney's other former band The Bear Hunters, who are now the co-headliners of this concert. No word on why Giwakwa are out (perhaps this is related to their singer vacancy?), but I will note that guitarist Chris Page had teased "a special surprise" related to this show on his personal Facebook page when they were still slated to play it.
It's disappointing to see Giwakwa drop out, but I'm curious to hear how their new lineup sounds when they actually do debut, so hopefully some good news comes out sooner or later! The Bear Hunters will be fitting openers though (especially having opened for Biipiigwan in Thessalon in 2011), so don't miss their melodic death metal fury at The Moose Lodge on the 24th, and stay tuned for more if/when it comes in!
Also in concert updates, here's the latest on Haggith's final show at The Algonquin Pub on Saturday, December 7th! An event poster (made by Sykotyk Rampage singer/guitarist Dirk Becker) is now up on the Facebook event page which details everything well, but it also teases that there will be "other surprise bands" at the show. No idea who's meant, but might we see one or more of the many recent live bands featuring Haggith band members? Time will tell, but they have a lot to pick from! As well, former Chronic Demonic/Project Legion singer Sabrina "Strange" Lavoie has said on her production company's Facebook page that she hopes to conduct a tell-all video interview with the members of Haggith before the show (joining other teased interviews with bands like Crimson Crusade & Destroilet), but she admitted that technical difficulties have slowed things down on that front. Hopefully that happens as planned, I'm curious to see her next interviews! Finally, a member of Haggith finally addressed a reason for their impending breakup on the event page linked above via a comment reply, saying on Wednesday that the members have all been moving in different creative directions, and they feel it's time to "take a break from Haggith & explore other musical ventures."
Note that the post said "take a break"? That seems to contradict the absolute finality of other online posts from the band, but was that a tease to give fans some hope, a misstatement, or exactly what it suggests? I don't know, but at least we're hearing something public beyond "all good things must come to an end"! I do remember seeing reference to a member having personal commitments to focus on too, but I'll yield further word at this time. Don't miss Haggith's second-last show at The New A on in two weeks, and stay tuned for updates on their final show as they roll in!
Finally for today, here's the latest from local thrash metal band Pillory, as they've finally filled out their current lineup by enlisting Social Suicide
frontman Tyler St. Amour as their new bassist, replacing the departed
Cole Royal. Drummer Bret Shuttleworth revealed the news on the band's Facebook page on last month, but Tyler has only been confirmed by name in person & via personal Facebook posts. Known more recently for work with Blood Shed Productions, Tyler may be best recognized from playing bass in metal bands like Fountain of Betrayal & March Into Regression
(both with his brother Travis on drums), though I'll note that a former
member of his Social Suicide project was late Pillory guitarist Andres
Duchesne, so keep that connection in mind too. Tyler's a solid bassist,
and hopefully this finally sparks the full return to activity that I
know the guys have been aiming for over the past months! Their recent
Facebook posts also indicate that rehearsals toward a return to the
stage are in the works, and there had been some debate on Pillory
entering next week's Viva La Battle, but when final word on everything Pillory comes in, we'll have it here!
That's all for today, and unless a big amount of news comes in beforehand to cover a new news post, stay tuned on Sunday for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles on The Diego Experience & Deprecor! Thanks everyone!
This post may seem like deja vu from yesterday, but trust me, the content is all new! Things just fell into place in such a way where everything is roughly analogous in theme to what we posted about yesterday, hence why we have (in order) notes on a funk/metal band that you saw at last week's Oddfellows Hall show, videos of two Ringsnaps Gibson grind projects from the same show, and three assorted shorter stories once again. Everything is brand new though, so read on below to get caught up!
New local funk/metal band Project Legion have officially disbanded, less than a month after their public launch. The news was revealed on their (once again renamed) Facebook page on Monday night, and though a reason wasn't announced, the formation of The Strange Coyotes
(featuring members James Watterworth & Chase Wigmore and recent
live drummer Mike Haggith) is likely a contributing factor, so I'd
assume some Project Legion originals will carry over to the new band as a
result. Though Project Legion had more joking name
changes & temporary drummers than they had official concerts, they did leave a good impression in their two gigs, including a late
notice set at 180 Projects and their last show at The Oddfellows Hall
last week. I will note that ex-singer/guitarist Sabrina "Strange" Lavoie
(who only played live with them once) has indicated that she might
re-use the name in her next band (a'la the second version of Turner Up),
but that's not a definite yet. The Strange Coyotes should carry the
torch well for James, Chase, and Mike's next live band work, so stay
tuned for updates on them, but best of luck to Sabrina going forward,
and hopefully her talents find a lasting live band soon!
Next up, here's the newest videos from the Devil's Night concert at The Oddfellows Hall last week, again from yesterday's featured bands, Blood Shed Productions goregrind artists Crucify The Whore and Rotopsy! Uploaded to the label's YouTube channel yesterday, the C.T.W. videos include this one (with a title I won't give here, again due to potentially offensive content), but embedded below is the band playing their new original song "People These Days" with guest singer Austin McCrea (Brutaly Fatal), essentially making this a "Brutaly Crucified" reunion! The lighting is poor on these, especially thanks to the light strips screwing with the camera, but this was a solid performance of one of C.T.W.'s better recent tracks, so give it a look below!
The new Rotopsy video (and the longest so far of their set) features Ringsnaps and Dylan playing another untitled track, followed by their song "Neurological Sperm Bucket", this time from a unique angle behind the stage! Good idea in theory, but the lighting is such that only their shirts and a couple of fans show up even on a medium level. If you liked Rotopsy's other concert videos, give this newest one a look below, and keep an eye out for more from this show soon!
Finally, here's three more assorted shorter news items from the last
little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or
venue name:
Local sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA reportedly will have to drop out of the Biipiigwan-headlined concert at The Moose Lodge
on November 24th, due to a recent back injury sustained by
singer/guitarist Darby Wigwaus. My source is Darby in a Facebook
conversation, who gave me permission to post it on here before the Facebook event page
is updated. No replacement has been finalized yet, but a band with
AlgomA members is possible (maybe Bad Back?) Stay tuned for updates as
they roll in!
In their most recent posts on their Reverbnation page, newer local metal quartet The Hydra's Teeth
revealed that they've already sent feelers out to record labels and
companies to possibly work with and produce merchandise through, while
they're also looking for fan input for what cover to add to their set
next (either Judas Priest's "One Shot At Glory" or Metallica's
"Disposable Heroes".) The guys really seem to be working overdrive to
get noticed and big, especially after just one live concert, but here's
hoping this works out well!
The Roosevelt Hotel
will be closed until Friday, November 22nd as part of an agreement from
an incident in April, where a now-fired Rosie employee over-served a
customer, leading to an investigation under the Liquor License Act. The
news was revealed on the venue's Facebook page
on Halloween, and while the closure won't affect any scheduled hard
rock shows, it's re-opening coincides with the first of two Thrill Junkies shows that weekend. Hopefully this is the last bad news at The Rosie for a long while!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and concert previews in the next few days! Thanks everyone!
Keeping the recent news rolling, we have some more big stuff to get to today, so what's on tap? New video discoveries from a recently featured act, a preview of a show going down tomorrow night, and some more assorted notes, but first, here's a pretty cool LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you need to know! (Updated on Sunday at 2:46 AM)
Ottawa sludge metal quartet Biipiigwan will hit Sault Ontario for a rare metal show at The Moose Lodge at 543 Trunk Road on Sunday, November 24th! Yes, I know this concert's Facebook event page has been online for two weeks now, but the venue was only just confirmed on Thursday, so I held it until a location was announced. Though Biipiigwan (which is Ojibwe for "flute") have a solid local following with their hard hitting brand of metal, and you may recognize them from a For All That Is Lost-hosted Thessalon event in 2011, this will be their first Sault Ontario stop that I can 100% source, and it'll be awesome to have their sludgy and brutal original sound here! Two local sludge-influenced opening bands are signed on, including the fifth live appearance (and fourth public set) from local stoner metal trio AlgomA, and the return of local death metal outfit Giwakwa, in their first concert in four months! No word yet on the status of their vocalist position following Josh Stephney's move out of town, but bassist Nolan Rainville will indeed be back for the concert, though I'm not positive whether he's already moved back home, or if this is a temporary return.
This show is being promoted by Oh! Right Arm! Promotions in a collective with AlgomA drummer Jamie Vincent (a.k.a. "Geezer") and his promotion agency, so like most of Jamie's other shows, this will be ALL AGES! It's also the first non-stag & doe that I can recall in a number of years to feature metal bands at The Moose Lodge (just seconds from The Rad Zone), so if you're in the East End, here's a very heavy bone that was thrown your direction! Admission is just $5 (great deal), and a 7:00 PM start time is advertised. Check the above links for more details, and don't miss what should be an awesome metal concert at an unfamiliar venue next month! Stay tuned for updates!
Next up, here's a preview of a special Sunday night concert, as local grunge/alternative rock quartet Haggith will play their second show in their current fall arrangement with The New American Pub at 602 Bay Street TOMORROW NIGHT! After a successful first show at this newly renovated downtown venue last month, Haggith are still on a roll with their entertaining hard rock originals and select covers, and hopefully tomorrow's show continues their run well! Note that any talk of a bassist addition hasn't amounted to anything public as of this writing, so nothing should look any different tomorrow. Like last month, there will be an opening band, as newer local rock quintet Nikkfitt (featuring Fitswitch, Caveman Morrison, and W.F.O. alumni) will play their third live concert set, second publically attendable set, and first at The New A tomorrow as well! Unless you've seen them live, the jury's still out on their sound, but I have heard good things, and we'll have to see if any media or specifics come out at all! A $4 cover charge is in effect for tomorrow's concert, you must be 19 to attend, and Nikkfitt will open the festivities at 9:00 PM.
For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! Haggith continue to make a big name for themselves, and they always put on a good show, so don't miss tomorrow's concert at The New A, and come early for Nikkfitt! For a preview, here's Haggith playing their new original "Metal Cage" at The Algonquin Pub last month!
Also today (and leading from yesterday's new live video of this act), we have some new video finds from local lo-fi/grunge solo project Telephone & Address! Uploaded to mastermind Chris Shoust's YouTube channel in the past few months, they're of songs named "Can I Just Answer?" and (as embedded below) "Slow Brood". The former video features Chris walking with the camera pointed at his head, with no direct performing aside from the backing music, while "Slow Brood" has an artistic painting slideshow with graffiti messages slowly added, altered, and crossed off or painted over. Unlike his usual acoustic work, these songs feature electric instrumentation (the latter has no vocals either), but they show his creative alternative style well, and it's nice to see some variance from the usual outsider/grunge format of much of his recent work (I especially like the "Slow Brood" video.) Check it out below, and stay tuned when we hear more from Chris' music!
Finally for today, here's three shorter assorted notes from the
last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by
company or series name:
It's not just the forums of the 705 Video Magazine that are down now, as their whole website
has just been replaced by this message: "If you are the owner of this
site please contact customer support.", which generally implies that a
domain has been suspended for one reason or another. The 705VM is still
alive and well via their Facebook page,
and though I'm not sure if they're letting the site die or will
eventually revive it, I know the forum had a spam issue when last
active. For now, I've removed the forum and replaced the site's link on
the SMS, but if anything returns, I'll let you guys know!
In our "Other Local Metal Links" section, I've replaced the website of former local metal concert promotion agency Dismembertainment with their Facebook page,
as their website's domain name has expired. Aside from hints at booking
Edmonton-area concerts in July, the Rich Moreland-led company has been
inactive since last summer and his move out of town, but hopefully he
stays active in music!
Profiles in our YouTube Channel Profile Series on the SMS are now all
updated with larger featured videos, to better make use of the expanded
field where posts are read on the site. No new updates than those
otherwise, but I have more coming, and check out our past YouTube
profiles in the sidebars!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates in the coming week! Thanks everyone!
Next up, here's a pair of other new concerts for this weekend, as local classic/hard rock quartet Havadder are advertised to return to The Rednecks Saloon for headlining concerts TOMORROW AND SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, we heard about the shows when at the venue on Tuesday night via the outside marquee board, and as of this writing, Havadder haven't plugged the dates online. This will be their first concert weekend at the former Nicolet Tavern in a month, and the shows come fresh off of their Moose Lodge benefit appearance a couple weeks back, so if you've missed Jugga and company's hard hitting cover attack at a regular concert event, keep this weekend's shows in mind! That said, if anything is said to the contrary regarding this weekend's bookings, we'll let you know.
Finally for TONIGHT is the expected eighth weekly jam night at the aforementioned Rednecks Saloon by local classic/hard rock trio Mourning Wood, which has received a visibly positive reception over the past couple of months! Though we don't know yet if this union of Asylum Country & Beaumont Avenue members will be playing regular concerts this weekend at a separate venue (Havadder are listed there Friday & Saturday), fans can take in their diverse and often heavy covers tonight during this weekly jam night series, where anyone with musical or singing talent can join them to jam and rock out on stage! Should be fun as usual, and like in past weeks, there is a 19+ age limit, no announced cover charge, and an announced 9:30 PM start time. For more details, visit the above links, and here's Mourning Wood last fall at Rock For Dimes!
