Heavy Lies The Crown Updates From The Last Few Months!!

How did I go all of July without a post catching us up on St. Ignace deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown? Given that they're returning to the local stage this month for the returning 2nd Street Music Festival, it's high time we check out what the guys have been up to since late May! When we last left off with H.L.T.C., they were hitting the road for another concert downstate, this time 5 hours away in Chesterfield Township (outside of Detroit) on May 30th, where they opened for Buffalo post-hardcore band The Bunny The Bear at The Diesel Concert Lounge. Drummer Blaze Beairl was unable to make the trip that weekend, so they did a bit of lineup juggling. Guitarist Kaycee Mason sat in behind the drumkit (he already drums for Alpena metal band Katharsys Theory anyway), and they called in Kaycee's old bandmate Paul Nolan to sit in on guitar "for the time being", including at a private birthday concert the following day.

In their first Facebook video upload of the summer, Heavy Lies The Crown posted a very high quality performance video from the Chesterfield Township show, and while it only runs for 40 seconds, I do sincerely hope that this filmer got more content! The video in question shows Heavy and Paul in action, and this was reportedly the first time that bassist Christian Cook deployed backing vocals on stage with them, catching frontman Brandon West slightly off guard (in a good way). Christian has a very capable death growl there, so I'd be game to hear him more vocally! You can see more from that night in this highlight video featuring brief clips of all bands on May 30th, but it's another one of those videos that dubs over all live audio with an H.L.T.C. original ("Friend" here). With how good this video quality is, I'd be showing it off on full songs, but what do I know. Check everything out above & below!

Much of June was spent with Heavy Lies The Crown entering a contest to try and get voted in as a performer at the Global Citizen Festival in New York next month, which would also net them a $50,000 prize and a feature in Rolling Stone magazine. The Global Citizen Festival isn't exactly a metal haven in any year, but H.L.T.C. made a solid run at it, going as far as the quarterfinals, so congratulations to them on getting as far as they did! In their next Facebook video from early July, Brandon was seen driving his vehicle while talking to the camera in more of an off the cuff manner (not even saying "Hey guys, Heavy here" at the start). The focus here was on his vocal styles in their songs and what he prefers to do re: harsh vocals and "scare screaming", noting that their song "Jell-O" and his vocals there will very much be what their next album will largely sound like. Fun little update clip, so give it a watch below!

Regarding their annual 2nd Street Music Festival in their hometown (one of the very few times that Heavy Lies The Crown ever play public concerts in the E.U.P.), Brandon confirmed on their Facebook page on June 2nd that the show has moved up a week from this Saturday to next Saturday (August 16th), while also moving it from its prior 2nd Street location to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5114 at 1110 North State Street, right along the shore of the Straits of Mackinac. Now simply called Brandon's Birthday Bash, the show will feature H.L.T.C. alongside two touring metal bands from Metro Detroit, namely metalcore quintet Nothing After This and alternative/nu-metal band Influence. as well as Hannahville "rez metal" band Ghidora, who made the trip east for the St. Ignace show last year. Ghidora are replacing Macomb Country metalcore quartet At Water, as per this video on July 25th.

Brandon only said that "things happen. Understandable" when citing the reason for At Water dropping out, but hopefully nothing too serious happened, as it'd be neat to see more Detroit-area bands play north of the Mackinac Bridge! Because H.L.T.C. have been fairly quiet this summer beyond teasers and hype (including a mention last month of more potential lineup changes), we are now caught up on their recent updates, but with the big St. Ignace show ahead next Saturday, there'll be more to discuss from their camp soon, so stay tuned for more from Heavy Lies The Crown this month, and for more news & notes this week! Thanks everyone!

Johnny B.'s #Litfam Birthday Sheezy Review!!

It's now time for our review of Saturday night's birthday concert for prolific local metal/punk drummer Johnny Belanger at The Oddfellows Hall, under the curious name "Johnny B.'s #Litfam Birthday Sheezy"! Only a mixed turnout at best, peaking for the last two bands, which may have partially been from the show's branding as a birthday event (maybe people were scared off thinking it was private?) Hot dogs and pop were on sale for the occasion, and everyone even sang "Happy Birthday to You" to Johnny midway through the show, which was a nice moment!

Opening Saturday's show was new local hard rock quartet Heavy Head in their Oddfellows Hall debut, and it's safe to say that they've improved a ton since their VM Radio Battle of the Bands set! The talented quartet seemed more casual and tighter than they did during their early appearances, and seemed to entertain early fans with their set, which seemed to evolve their cover selection away from poppy songs like "Shut Up & Dance" into a better-suited rock set. Actually, punk made up a substantial part of their set, with Blink-182, NOFX, and Sublime getting prime spots alongside a handful of originals (like their closer "Mikey Doesn't Whiskey".) The guys all performed strongly, with Daniel Horton and Jesse Cook having fun interactions, but Mike Gaetano mostly stuck to the mic stand, only rarely bantered with the crowd, and, in what was to recur with later singers, was often inaudible on heavier songs. Heavy Head are definitely turning the corner, and hopefully they keep at it into the summer!

Next up was local modern hard rock quartet Eclipse (also making their Oddfellows debut), and for fans who like their System of a Down renditions, you'll have been quite happy, as the first 7 songs of their 11 song set were S.O.A.D. covers! I often find it hard to critique the same band twice in a short span, as things don't usually have drastic changes in the interim, but this definitely helped! The guys have the instrumentals down well, but I will say that Curtis McKenzie's vocal range doesn't suit certain S.O.A.D. songs with Serj on lead vocals ("Aerials" is a good example.) Closing with originals "Crywolf" & "Silver Bullet" and Led Zeppelin & Billy Talent renditions, Eclipse were in good form with solid energy, with Chris Thompson keeping the beat strongly on drums, and Fred Dunn holding his own on bass! Eclipse delivered a unique set for early fans, and we'll have to see if they repeat it at all in the future!

Third was new local death metal quintet Kaepora Gaebora in their own Oddfellows Hall debut, and they delivered a strong, if work-in-progress set that got some light moshing going on Saturday evening! Playing a short 5 song set (including songs like "Evolution By Force" and one that appeared to be called "ABCDEFG"),  Kaepora Gaebora endured some technical difficulties with their own amps and gear to deliver a strong death metal wallop that called to mind guitarist Dan Souliere's Bring the Fallen past! Original B.T.F. drummer Joey Graham proved to be a capable growler, but with vocals muffled for most of the night's bands, I'd want to hear him again before I really compared or critiqued him. It was also nice to see Kevin Overton back behind a drum kit for a local band, his skilled playing has been missed in recent years! Kaepora Gaebora need to get some more songs under their belts, and some more guitar solos, but they're on their way, and hopefully we hear more soon!

Punk/metal quintet Jack Spades took the stage next in Heavy Head bandmates Johnny Belanger & Jesse Cook's second sets of the night, and they were up to their usual entertaining standards on Friday! Unfortunately, the first half of their set had a very low turnout, but with songs like "Breakneck Speed", "To The Left", and covers of the likes of SNFU and The Ripcordz, fans in the hall definitely took to Jack Spades' melodic punk/metal fusion! J.D. Pearce's vocals were as consistent and fitting as ever (just a shame the vocals were quiet all night), while Jesse & Tiffany Stocco provided strong guitar throughout! Jack Spades are a band that really feeds off the crowd, so they've had stronger sets than this, but the guys delivered well!

Jesse Cook stuck around for the co-headlining set from his reunited extreme metal quartet Winkstinger, who showed clear improvement from their new lineup's debut last month! Playing a similar set mixing familiar originals with covers of the likes of Pantera and Anthrax, Winkstinger avoided the technical difficulties and stage rust of their debut with an entertaining metal onslaught, with the new members showing improved stage presences! Keith Gagnon (complete with Little Mermaid poncho) relied less on lyric sheets this time out, and had a fun chemistry & rapport with Jesse throughout the set, while bassist Andrew MacDonald didn't face the back of the stage as much as he had during their return. It was also fun seeing Johnny, Dan, and Bear Hunters frontman Nik Deubel joining in for vocals on Winkstinger's covers, and if Winkstinger continue on this path, they'll be back at their early 2010s peak before you know it!

And finally, your headliners on Saturday were local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters in their first show of 2015, but their set contained the teased special guest appearance, as rhythm guitarist Josh Stephney did indeed return to the fold for the first time since the "Eternal Hibernation" release show in November 2014! It was great to see Josh retake his rightful spot on stage with the Hunters, and he didn't lose a step in the past year & a half, fitting right in like he'd never moved! Busy in studio lately, The Bear Hunters broke out a set full of brutal originals new and old like "Servitude" and "Neckbreaker", plus fan favourite covers of "Guardians of Asgaard" and, yes, "Squirrel Buddy", though the quiet vocals killed the humour of the latter with Mitch Sirie's vocals virtually inaudible. Everyone was on form, with Nik in ferocious form, and Justin Lam strong on bass, and it was great to see The Bear Hunters' full lineup again! Here's hoping it's not another 18 months!

Overall, this was a very fun concert despite the constant vocal audibility issues, and it looks like Johnny had a great birthday party with lots of local talent, including three of his own bands! You can check out our photos from the show at this link or at our Facebook page, and as for or videos, here's Heavy Head playing their original "5 A.M.", Eclipse covering System of a Down's "Hypnotize", Kaepora Gaebora playing "Death Spins", Jack Spades playing "Crossroads", Winkstinger playing an unclear song (let us know if you can help title it!), and The Bear Hunters playing "I Fear No God"!













That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates this week! Thanks everyone, and Happy Birthday, Johnny!!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Bear Hunters), Plus New Videos!!

We're back with a new news post for your Monday morning, and it includes some new videos from local artists, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a big upcoming all ages show!

Prolific local metal/punk drummer Johnny Belanger is throwing a birthday bash on Saturday, May 21st in honour of his upcoming 27th birthday, in the form of an ALL AGES concert at The Oddfellows Hall! Entitled "Johnny B's #Litfam Birthday Sheezy", at least 7 bands will take the stage in under two weeks' time for what should be a great time, but who all is playing? Timeslots aren't 100% official, but he official hand-drawn poster credits three of Johnny's active bands as playing on the 21st, including his death metal band The Bear Hunters (in their first public concert appearance of 2016) and his punk/metal quintet Jack Spades, alongside reunited extreme metal quartet Winkstinger, and three local bands making their Oddfellows Hall debuts on the 21st, they being modern hard rockers Eclipse, Johnny's hard/pop rock quartet Heavy Head, and new death metal quintet Kaepora Gaebora (who aren't on the poster, but Johnny confirmed them on the Facebook event page last week.)

The event page also indicates interest in doom metal trio AlgomA joining the bill too, but they are by no means confirmed at this point. As well, Johnny announced last week that "a band" will be making "a special guest appearance" that "you do not want to miss" that night. I honestly don't have any clue who Johnny is referencing, but what band is it? A reunited band that we haven't seen in recent years? A debuting or one-off supergroup? A surprise out of town headliner? Something completely different? Unless there's an early spoiler, be at The Oddfellows Hall on May 21st to find out! Promoted by Johnny in association with Eclipse guitarist Daniel Horton, his Litfam Birthday Sheezy is planned to also feature a barbecue if all goes according to plan, so keep that in mind as well. Also, don't be scared away by the private Facebook event page, Johnny confirmed that is a public show too, and to that end, there will be a $5 admission fee, and as of right now, a 6:00 PM start time.

This is shaping up to be a very fun concert, and quite a bash for Johnny's birthday! He's definitely stacking the deck with familiar faces, Oddfellows newcomers, a triple run of sets from his active bands (sans Caveman Morrison and his acoustic work), and not to mention the teased guest band, but there's more to come out on this show in the next couple of weeks! Stay tuned for updates as they roll in!

Next up, here's a video of a new local classic rock band that just played their debut concert last week, as they tackled Aerosmith's classic "Sweet Emotion"! The band in question is Red & The Muscle, featuring ex-Sativa Rose frontwoman Marisa Valois alongside Machines Dream guitarist Keith Conway, his former Blues Harvest bandmate Michael DiSanto, and veteran local rock drummer Cliff Alloy, which is a strong lineup to say the least! This video (from their Water Tower Pub debut last week) was uploaded to Keith's personal Facebook page but later shared by Marisa on her solo music page, and it's well filmed from a close angle, but the song isn't the best showcase of Marisa's strong vocal range, and the filmer was in a location where Keith's guitar overpowers the the other instruments. Nicely done though, so keep an eye out for more from Red & The Muscle if you like classic & blues rock (I hear they cover Led Zeppelin too), and here's their first video!



Finally today, here's a new solo guitar cover video from Sault Ste. Marienative and Lethbridge, Alberta-based metal guitarist Paul Melanson's YouTube channel! His first posting there in four months, this is a loose cover of the solo from Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher", and while Paul admitted that it's not note for note, it's a solid rendition, so give it a look below, and follow his current bands Damage Inc. & Bottoms Up as well!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next, and for more news soon! Thanks everyone!