In this Friday night auto-post (apologies if anything major isn't up yet, it's coming!), we have some assorted recent news and notes, a new live concert video, and a preview for a Sunday night concert in Sault Ontario, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!
Toronto hard rock quintet Diemonds will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on Thursday, November 21st at The Algonquin Pub!
Last seen locally at the old Coch's Corner in the summer of 2009, this
female fronted outfit have a fun and sleazy swagger that should fit in
well for their next local stop, and after missing their 2009 show until
after it took place, it's nice to get a rain check to cover it fully on
here! Local all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats
will open the show in their fourth full concert appearance (and first
at The Algonquin since debuting there last month), and they should be a
solid fit as they continue to carve a local name with their entertaining
and growing sound! The Facebook event page
still hypes bands to be announced, and if any do get added, we'll let
you guys know. Promoted by Frightlight/Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce
(in his first Algonquin Pub show in over 4 months), admission will be $5
with a 10:00 PM start time, and you must be 19 to attend. Check the
above links for more details!
It's great to have Diemonds
back in town after such a long wait, and hopefully there's a big turnout
next month for their return, and for The Danger Cats too! Stay tuned
for updates as they roll in!
Next up, here's the first new videos from The Big Loonie Bus Show at La Cucina in Echo Bay last week, starting with local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade's entire set! Uploaded by 62nd Chamber Productions' YouTube channel yesterday, this gives us our first clear view of La Cucina (white interior with a hockey jersey motif by the stage), but the stationary camera's at a high side-stage angle for some reason, so while the view is close, we only see the band's upper body and not much else. The video captures 30 minutes worth of action, including their songs "Here We Lay", "Pillage", "For Him", "Crimson Crusade", "Reality", "Vanquish The Tyrant", and "Lost Memories", closing with a cover of Death's "Pull The Plug", so click each song name to go straight to it! Crimson Crusade sound as great and brutal as usual, though I am sort of surprised that songs from their EP like "Left For Dead" and "Consumed" were snubbed. Check out Crimson Crusade's full Echo Bay set below!
Also from Echo Bay, here's a video from an act who you might be expecting. As you may remember, a secret special guest was hyped by promoters Oh! Right Arm! Promotions in the lead-up to the event, but the original planned act fell through for unannounced reasons (no word on who they were either, but my guess was a BeeFMouTH reunion.) Regardless, promoters felt obligated to ensure that there would still be a secret act to play at La Cucina last weekend, so they signed on local musician Chris Shoust's acoustic/grunge solo project Telephone & Address to play the Big Loonie Bus Show, and 62nd Chamber Productions filmed his set and posted this 15 minute video onto their YouTube channel on Wednesday! Alternating between stationary black & white shots and more psychedelic filtered & mirrored effects (but all from the side-stage angle), these continue with Chris' lo-fi original recording style, but all still retain the grungy outsider feel that would definitely be interesting to hear expanded to a full band.
Check out Telephone & Address live in Echo Bay below, stay tuned in case there's more fallout from this show, and watch for some more recent Telephone & Address video discoveries! (Also, note that Telephone & Address' Facebook page has been deleted for unknown reasons, but I've since replaced it with Chris' website again for their link in our active Sault Ontario band links.)
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, venue, or event:
I've replaced the link for the now-closed Bottoms Up Lounge in our inactive Sault Ontario venue listings with their Facebook page, as their website has been shut down. The Queen Street bar/acoustic venue's been closed since June, so this won't be a major change, but I wanted to give the heads up!
Sault Michigan solo guitarist Mike Libertoski has posted a rough demo of his/Galactic Alignment's original song "Abort the Export" onto his SoundCloud page, featuring vocals! They're done by his Toast bandmate Bob Helsten (a.k.a. Orb Hearthstone), who used to sing with I.S.O.M. & End of Existence, among other projects. His growling vocals fit really nicely on this technical death metal track, so give the new version a listen above!
In terms of lineup notes from the Ray Brown benefit concert last week at The Verdi Hall, I can now confirm some additional performers, including that Mike Case's Junior Rockers (featuring ex-Jack Spades drummer T.J. Case) apparently replaced Redundant on the bill, and Ray's former The Chosen bandmate Taryn Bugyra sang guest vocals during Lucky 13's set. My source is performer Valerie Powley's photo album on her personal Facebook page, and I hope the event was a huge hit for Ray!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!
Continuing with our recent abundance of Sault Michigan news, we have even more on this Saturday morning (our first of two posts today), so we'll lead off with a new band discovery and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT! After that, we'll touch on some recent Sault Ontario updates, including a new video and much more, so here's what you need to know!
In some recent Google searching, I recently discovered a defunct Sault Michigan hardcore/punk band named Poverty Stricken, so here's what you should know about them! Previously named Death By Kickdrum, Poverty Stricken were a young band (at the time) that was active from roughly 2003-2006, and they have a fairly detailed autobiography on their Angelfire website that has even minor details about their run, along with more info on their Tripod website and their PureVolume page. Their lineup widely varied, but frontman Taylor Keller & drummer Jack Messer were constants (alongside guitarist Ian Rose & bassist Justin Menard in their last lineup), and notable local metal guitarists like Mike Libertoski & Scott Savoie were briefly members according to the above links. Poverty Stricken did play live gigs, mainly at school functions, but they did play at the local Sidewalk Sales event in August 2006, and I can't find much else for band details after that point. They also released two demo tapes featuring mixtures of original material and metal/punk covers, and four rough demos were posted onto their PureVolume page linked above, but how do they sound?
The quality's rough, but there is a carefree style and a hard edge to the posted songs, and I think Poverty Stricken sound pretty good given their ages! I also admire the work put into their websites, band pages this old (let alone from high schoolers) don't tend to be this detailed. Some of the songs are a bit punk leaning, but there's something there musically, and I'd be interested to see what Taylor and Jack are up to musically now! Poverty Stricken are now in our inactive Sault Michigan band links!
Next up, here's that SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as Sault Michigan hard rock quintet Full Throttle will be playing at Golanka's Bar (a.k.a. The Bird) TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, this was only just announced yesterday, and it'd have made our last Sault Michigan-only post too long if I shoved it in late. Recent favourites at The Bird, Full Throttle (featuring Absolute's Donny Newell on vocals, guitarists Jason Lamoreaux & Steve Pevarnic, drummer Mark Gillotte, and a bassist to be determined) should have a varied set of hard rock-leaning covers in store for fans tonight, so if you need something to do after LemmaFest, why not take a trip down to The Bird for some Full Throttle action? There's no announced cover charge for this 9:00 PM show, and you must be 21 to attend. Check the above links for details, and for a preview, here's Full Throttle's current incarnation covering Velvet Revolver's "Slither" in March!
We'll close this post in Sault Ontario, starting with new videos from local hard rock quartet Ashes To Dust! These are their first live concert videos since last fall, and like most of their other uploads, these come from performances on the stage at Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School, where the members still attend. Featuring their current lineup (though with Noah Morden focusing on vocals only with no bass), the videos are of Ashes To Dust playing their new original song "Forgotten Lives" and (as embedded below) a cover of 10 Years' "Wasteland", and the quality's fantastic on these! Noah's vocal range is improving, and the guys have a good sound and know the songs, though they could all stand to be a bit more energetic. Check out their 10 Years cover below, see more at the above links, follow Ashes To Dust on Twitter, and don't miss the guys at the third annual Swampstravaganza in August!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news stories from Sault Ontario, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band or venue name:
Queen Street East bar/concert venue The Bottom's Up Lounge will close this weekend, due to the building's landlords selling the location to new owners who want it vacated by July 1st. Though not a common metal venue, Tym Morrison once frequented this small (though classy) lounge, and metal band alumni have played at their open mic nights. Disappointing news for sure, but hopefully the ownership returns with a new spot down the road!
The July 6th Promonium Jesters-headlined concert has switched venues
(sort of), as promoters have quietly moved the show from The Rockstar Bar to their downstairs neighbour The Algonquin Pub. A reason wasn't
announced, but a scheduling conflict wouldn't surprise me, as it is a Saturday nighter. The show should still be great no matter what floor it's on, so don't miss it!
I've removed defunct local hardcore band With Blood Build Character (the original band under this name, not the former Unbound that guitarist Christopher Neveau is also a member of) from our Sault Ontario band links due to the quiet deletion of their Facebook page earlier this year. Essentially the successors to March Into Regression, they played live just once (in Laird last August) before falling inactive, but hopefully their members stay active in local music going forward!
That's all for now, but stay tuned later today for this month's YouTube Channel Profile on ex-Intrepid guitarist Donnie Hank's channel! Thanks everyone!
The holiday season is in full swing, and tomorrow is what I'm calling the first day of our holiday concert season at The Sault Metal Scene, with at least nine metal/hard rock concerts confirmed through the end of 2010, and that doesn't even count some additional metal shows that promoter Rich Moreland has yet to officially confirm! Because of the amount and consistent stretch of shows, I'm breaking them up a tiny bit by previewing tomorrow's concerts ONLY tonight, with more to come on or around Friday. So we'll get to that soon, but first, here are some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!
We'll go in chronological order, starting with the long awaited local return of Sault Michigan hard rockers Elipzis! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is their first local concert set since July's Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival! After five months of shows all over Michigan, they're back home for a New Year's Eve concert at The Corner Pub Bar & Grill! A 7:00 PM start time is announced, and they'll be rocking well into 2011 at this concert, taking place one week from Friday! No cover charge has been announced, and given that this is a bar, you must be 21 to enter. It's great to see Elipzis back in town one more time to cap off the year, and I can safely say after finally seeing them live that they'll rock the house with their energetic brand of music! For more information, visit the above links and the official Facebook event page! Also, if you guys are Pop Evil fans and don't mind travelling, Elipzis will be supporting Pop Evil at a show in Traverse City on January 21st, get more details on it at this location! Stay tuned for more from Elipzis as I hear it!
The other new show involves a local hard rock musician's return to The Big Cheese in Heyden, just outside of Sault Ontario! That musician is Tym Morrison, who brings his acoustic solo project back there after quite a long hiatus from shows at that concert spot. The last one I can remember was in December 2009, so this has been a long time coming! He's confirmed for a show there on January 7th, with a 10:00 PM start time and a likely 19+ age limit, so if you live in the Heyden area, circle that on your calendars! But that doesn't appear to be all, as the Facebook event page hypes that Tym will be at The Big Cheese "every Friday". Additional dates after January 7th haven't been announced yet, but if this holds, he'll be there every Friday on a similar arrangement to his weekly Sunday night shows at Foggy Notions. It's great to see Tym booking so many shows so consistently, but I have to ask, what will happen with the Big Cheese arrangement once Caveman Morrison return? Usually, they do shows on the Friday and Saturday of a given weekend, so something likely has to give at some point once the new Caveman Morrison lineup debuts! For now though, get ready for Tym twice a week, every week for the next little while, and as the next Big Cheese dates after January 7th get announced, I'll let you all know!
For now though, we still have Tym Morrison solo dates in 2010 to get to, so here's a preview for one taking place TOMORROW NIGHT! Tym returns to The Bottoms Up Lounge for the first time in two months tomorrow for a set full of acoustic metal and hard rock classics, and more! This show is part of The Bottoms Up Lounge's Christmaspalooza concert week featuring some of their favourite local performers hitting the stage for the Christmas season! None of the other scheduled performers are in the hard rock/metal vein, but if you want to see what's on the horizon there, click here! Tym's likely to be on at 10:00 PM tomorrow night, with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's always fun to see Tym Morrison live, he has a huge setlist and lots of talent to go around, so hopefully you guys can make it out to see him tomorrow night, or on Sunday at Foggy Notions, which we'll preview on Friday!
For more from Tym's solo project, visit his official website, or check this video out! Yes, we finally have video footage of Tym Morrison solo, thanks to YouTube user Dave Running, who posted this video of Tym playing a very solid cover of Eric Claption's "Tears In Heaven" from his Foggy's show this past Sunday onto his YouTube channel! Check it out below!
The other local metal show taking place tomorrow night is the next metal night at The Roosevelt Hotel, who recently announced on their Facebook page that they'd be expanding the schedule to include metal nights every two weeks! Awesome to hear, hopefully it sticks! For now though, we focus on tomorrow's concert, featuring a slate of four local metal bands! The announced headliners are, in their live concert debut, local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters! Featuring 3/5ths of the classic D.O.T.H. lineup, plus singer Nik Deubel (ex-Dark Salvation) and guitarist Mitch Sirie (Stillbroke), they're sure to turn heads in their first official concert appearance! They'll be joined by three other local bands, including local grimecore trio Shit Liver, in their first live show since opening for Total Chaos last month! Whether you get their sound or you don't, they'll leave an impression with their dirty and grimy take on punk and death metal! New local death metal band State of Misery also return for this show, after debuting at the last Rosie metal night concert! I've heard and seen good things from their first concert, here's hoping the success continues tomorrow night! And finally, local classic metal cover trio Sativa Rose return to the stage for the first time since September to rock The Rosie in their debut at this venue! They may not growl or have originals that I've heard, but they've gotten a good response since debuting, so look out for them as well! For more on each band, check out the above links!
There is no announced cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time for tomorrow's show, and yes, you must be 19 to enter. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! None of these bands are al that established locally yet, but they all have their own style of music that will find fans locally, as these four bands could be a vital part of the local metal scene in years to come! Definitely head to The Rosie tomorrow night if you can! For a video preview, here's The Bear Hunters playing their song "Casualties of War" (minus Nik Deubel & Mike Vincent, and plus former guitarist Andres Duchesne) from a jam session earlier this summer!
Before we wrap up today's post, here's one more Bear Hunters note, that being a brand new audio sample! Posted three days ago on their MySpace page, it's an instrumental take of their original song "Collapse The Sun". It's the first audio recording of the band that we've seen, and it's also the first time we've heard them with current guitarist Mike Vincent, though once again, Nik Deubel is nowhere to be found. I wonder why we've heard nothing with vocals yet? The song itself is actually really impressive, the riff's proficient and catchy, and the band show good chemistry and heaviness! I really like Mitch's solo too! If "Collapse The Sun" is a sign of things to come, than fans should be VERY excited! Click here to check it out! That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the next few days, along with more concert previews on Friday night, and more to follow! Thanks everyone!
Well, because I'm pretty behind on some larger news stories, I'm gonna treat you guys to THREE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS and a brand new local band! We'll start with the new band, and transition into new concerts from there. Let's begin, and check out this morning's post featuring this weekend's metal/hard rock concert previews and another new concert below this post!
We'll start with the new local band, Sault Ontario's own State of Misery! They're a relatively new group, with the earliest materials I can find referring to their existence coming from October and November of this year. I don't know a ton about them yet, especially given that their only internet page so far is a Facebook group with the "invite-only" format, and it was only recently made open to the public. With that said, no official band information is there beyond wall conversations, but judging by the initial four members and later postings, I believe I know the band's lineup. If I'm correct, State of Misery are comprised of singer/guitarist Steve "Sykcy Ace" Rhodes, guitarist Ray Cowan, and former Stealing Kisses & Losing Ground bandmates Kevin Dorazio on bass and Nick Kainula on drums! Of course, if there is a lineup error, please let me know! State of Misery have kept busy jamming in recent months, and according to Steve Rhodes' Twitter page, the band have recently been working on original demo material, possibly to be included on a four song EP. I'm not positive on their sound, but they are metal, I guarantee you that! The band's live "debut" will be on Wednesday at the weekly jam night at Foggy Notions, but when can you see them in their official live debut? The answer is below!
For our first LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, we'll head to The Roosevelt Hotel, which will host it's second ever monthly metal night this coming Thursday! Sorry for the short notice, band confirmation was only made recently. Unlike last month's Breaking The Fourth Wall-headlined lineup, this one has no out of town bands (not yet, at least), but there are three confirmed local metal bands ready to melt some faces! Two are returnees from last month's metal night, including local hardcore quintet As It Stands and death metal rockers Bring The Fallen! Always great to see As It Stands on the stage, they'll bring lots of original devastation to the fans on Thursday, while Bring The Fallen will ride the wave of their brutal set at the Total Chaos show to The Rosie once again as well! The other confirmed band is the aforementioned State of Misery, in their live concert debut, not counting jam nights! Hopefully they'll set the tone nicely and leave a great first impression! This concert will have a 9:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and a 19+ age limit. I should note that there are three separate Facebook event pages for this concert, one by The Rosie, one by As It Stands' new Facebook page (become a fan today!) and one by State of Misery, so visit each for details! Those and the band's pages are my sources, though The Roosevelt Hotel's event page above hasn't been recently updated to reflect the current lineup.
This should be a brutally good lineup of young local metal talent, so make it out for this one if you can! Check out the above links for info and material on each band, and stay tuned for more updates on this concert, including possible band additions and more info on State of Misery as I hear it!
Next, here's another big show marking the return of a popular cover band to Sault Ontario! Crued: The Notorious Motley Crue Tribute will make their first local appearance since September when they return to The Canadian Nightclub for a night of glam metal mayhem on April 30th! To my knowledge, this is the first metal concert of 2011 in Sault Ontario that features an out-of-town headliner, so make note of that! Crued, based out of Toronto, will bring an authentic looking and sounding Motley Crue experience back to The Canadian Nightclub next spring for what should be a great show! Check them out for yourself at this location, their attention to detail is very good! A 9:30 PM start time is listed on the official Facebook event page, I'd expect there to be a cover charge of around $5, and you must be 19 to enter. The other big story about this concert is that Crued are looking for local openers! I've seen interest from bands like Bring The Fallen, Browbeat, and Half Past on the event page, but to my knowledge, an opener hasn't been selected yet. The door's still open if you or your band want to open for Crued in April, so contact the band at the above links to show your interest! This sounds like a perfect opportunity for a band like Dirty Virgin, but they've seemingly disappeared in the past year, so I figure the opening band that is selected won't be a perfect genre match. No worries though, variety is good! This will be a great concert for classic and glam metal fans alike, so circle April 30th on your 2011 calendars! Stay tuned for updates as I hear them!
The other new show is courtesy of Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison, who's continuing his recent influx of acoustic solo shows with another new date, but this one isn't part of his Foggy Notions arrangement! This time, he'll be back at The Bottoms Up Lounge for the first time in almost two months when he heads there for a show on December 23rd! It's a Thursday night, so make note of it being a midweek concert, but this and Tym's Boxing Day show at Foggy Notions perfectly bookend the Christmas weekend, so it's good timing in that respect! This show will have a 10:00 PM start time, no cover charge, and like any other bar show, you have to be 19 to enter. Get full details at the Facebook event page! It's always great to see Tym live, and if you want a change of location from Foggy's, The Bottoms Up Lounge could provide a nice intimate atmosphere that could appeal to you over the holidays! So if you want some acoustic metal and hard rock covers later this month, here's another option! Check the above links for more details and information on Tym's solo project!
That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for more news very soon, including more new local bands, our next CD review, and much more! Thanks everyone!
It's time to preview this weekend's slate of local metal and hard rock concerts! Decent amount this weekend on the heavier end of things, including two weekend sets in Sault Michigan and a pair of single shows in Sault Ontario to get hyped for, including a major out of town show featuring a rising hard rock band! So let's begin this weekend's previews in Sault Michigan!
First off for the weekend, we'll head to The Satisfied Frog, where Marquette hard rockers Nudge return to the area for a weekend of great covers! I should note that now, they're only playing shows as Nudge tonight and tomorrow night, as the band have removed their past "Nudge-coustic" sets from their MySpace page's concert listings. As it turns out, their past acoustic sets appear to have been pared down to just frontman Danzo McCracken playing a solo set on those nights, but without a clear idea of his solo genre, I haven't plugged them on here. But they are definitely on for Friday and Saturday concerts this weekend, with the full band in tow! Both shows start at 10:00 PM at The Frog, with no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to enter. These should be fun shows, as Nudge are a very talented band with loads of great metal and hard rock covers in store! For more information, visit the above links and the official Facebook event page! And for a video preview, here's a clip of Nudge covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Mama I'm Coming Home"!
Next up, Sault Michigan hard rock quintet River Witch will be playing at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino this weekend! Though not confirmed on their Facebook page, which is sporadically updated at best, Kewadin Casino's entertainment page has them playing, so there's my source! It's actually even more up to date and current now, because they updated the listing at some point last month to reflect the fact that River Witch had taken over the bookings previously made for Blind Baby, who River Witch basically evolved from this summer. That being said, River Witch will be playing at The Rapids Lounge tonight and tomorrow night for two shows presumably around 9:00 PM with no cover charge and a 21+ age limit. I still don't know a ton about River Witch-sound wise, but featuring members of Blind Baby, Kilacel, and Scofflaw can't be a bad sign! So if you wanna hear some modern and classic rock covers across the river, here's an option! Check the above links for more, visit Blind Baby's page linked above to get a possible glimpse of River Witch's sound!
Thirdly, we'll head back to Sault Ontario, and starting things on that front is another acoustic solo show from Tym Morrison! Yes, Caveman Morrison's frontman returns to the stage for his first public solo concert in two months when he makes his way back to The Bottoms Up Lounge tomorrow night! If you want to hear some intimate acoustic covers of your favourite metal and rock classics, among other genres, then seriously consider going to see Tym tomorrow! This is his only scheduled acoustic date on the horizon, so who knows when he'll be back? The fun starts at 10:00 PM tomorrow, with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit. This should be a good show to enjoy a few drinks to, and who doesn't love hearing great covers? Who needs an amplifier to rock anyway? For more details, check out the above links and the Facebook event page! Though I haven't came across any live videos of Tym's solo work, head to his official website for solo and Caveman audio clips!
Finally, a rising hard rock band are coming through town on Sunday night as support for a band full of big names from Canadian rock! Toronto's own Desperate Union will be playing an opening set tomorrow night at The Canadian Nightclub as direct support for alternative rock supergroup Crash Karma! Crash Karma are a very talented band with ex-members of I Mother Earth, Our Lady Peace, and The Tea Party in their lineup, and you may have seen them on MuchMusic in the past for hits like "Awake" and "Fight"! Not metal, but worth checking out, especially with the pedigree of their lineup! As for Desperate Union, they're a very talented and promising trio that have accomplished a great deal given their young ages! They have videos on MuchMusic, they opened for Soulfly recently, and are showing much promise with their brand of alternative-tinged hard rock! Check out the above links for more on both bands! This show will take place on Sunday night with doors opening at 9:30 PM. You must be 19 to enter, and tickets are $10 in advance at the Knights Inn front desk above The Canadian. The door price is $15. For more details, check out the official Facebook event page!
I'll be at this show, and it should provide some solid rock for a Sunday night! I'm digging Desperate Union especially, but prepare for some good stuff all around if you go! For a preview, here's Desperate Union's music video for their song "Don't Forget Me (Angel)"!
That's all for now, but stay tuned later tonight for another news post, and more very soon, including a Crash Karma/Desperate Union review on Monday! Thanks everyone!
Good day, metalheads! I was hoping to have more updates on the SMS this week, but I got saddled with too much homework and studying, so I'm a bit behind. There's a bunch of concerts this weekend to preview, more than we typically see, so today's post is mostly dedicated to previewing them, with some notes about two cancellations. But first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!
Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has scheduled another acoustic solo concert for this fall! Once again, Tym will be playing a set of acoustic rock hits at The Bottoms Up Lounge on November 6th, so if you wanna enjoy some unplugged metal classics, and more, in a more intimate setting, you know where to be in November! Like his past shows there, there will be no cover charge, a start time of 10:00 PM, and a 19+ age limit. This is Tym's only public solo show currently on the horizon, so make note of this concert and head on out! Tym's a great guitarist and is ever improving vocally, and who said metal always has to be plugged in? Click the above links for more news and updates on this show and info on Tym Morrison's solo project!
Now, on to this weekend's local metal and hard rock concert previews, and firstly, I should note that there are two concert cancellations from previously announced dates. Luckily, they intertwine, and you'll see why they do in a second. Firstly, it appears that tomorrow's scheduled Mama Kin show at The Canadian Nightclub has been cancelled. No reason as to why was announced, but it was confirmed that they were replaced on The Canadian's Facebook group. And to be completely fair, Mama Kin never announced this show on band pages, so who knows how far this show got before it was cancelled. Coincidentally, the planned Turner Up show at The Vibe Lounge for tomorrow night has been called off as well, due to circumstances beyond their control. This was confirmed on it's Facebook event page. So we have a local venue without a band and a local band without a venue for tomorrow night... see where this is heading?
That's right, Turner Up are the replacement band at The Canadian Nightclub tomorrow night! I believe this booking came up after losing the gig at The Vibe Lounge, as they said on the Facebook event page that they couldn't let their fans down. Nice to see them back there, it seems like they've only been rotating through Vibe, The Nicolet Tavern, and Foggy Notions lately. Never fear though, if you were hoping to see them at The Vibe Lounge this weekend, they've booked a new date there for THIS SATURDAY, so in a sense, this is a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT because it's technically a new show. So if you wanna hear some classic hard rock hits, you know where to be this weekend! Their show at The Canadian tomorrow night starts at 10:00 PM, the Saturday show at The Vibe Lounge has a 10:30 PM start time. Tomorrow's show should have a cover charge, likely around $3, while the Saturday show has no cover charge announced. For more details, the above link has info on their show tomorrow night, while Saturday's Vibe concert's event page is at this location. Should be fun shows, nice to see them playing more this weekend, and they'll do fine filling in for Mama Kin! Click the above links for more, and here for the first video footage of Turner Up's current lineup!
Meanwhile, at Foggy Notions, the metal will be brought, as Caveman Morrison make their way there for a pair of concerts this weekend! They'll be there tomorrow night and Saturday night for their first ever shows at Foggy's with their new lineup, including Browbeat's Dutch Vanderploeg on bass and The Bear Hunters' Johnny Belanger on drums! Both shows will start at 10:00 PM, you must be 19 to enter, and expect a cover charge of around $3. Expect a night full of heavy metal and hard rock covers that will be sure to get your horns in the air! Get more details at the Facebook event page! These should be fun, and I already have plans to be there one of the two nights to see the new lineup in action! Probably Saturday, but regardless, I'll have a review, photos, and video up on our various pages this weekend! It's been too long since I last saw Caveman Morrison, so this'll be fun! Click the above links for more, and as a preview, here's a short video of their live renditon of Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" from a show at Foggy's in January!
The other double weekend dates from a hard rock band this weekend are in Sault Michigan, in a pair of shows that we've listed here for around six months! Lots of advance warning, so here's what you should know! Cheboygan hard rock trio Driven will be playing at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino tomorrow night and Saturday night! They've played up north a few times in the past, and should deliver this weekend! Now I can't tell you much about Driven's sound, just that they play "anything with a groove thats gets people off there ass and party." No audio or video samples, but I'm almost positive they play a form of hard rock. Regardless, check out their MySpace page for more band info! Like past Rapids Lounge shows, this has a 9:00 PM start time and no cover charge. Check the above links for more, and if you go see them this weekend, let us know more about Driven!
Two more shows this weekend, both taking place on Saturday night in Sault Ontario, and we'll head back to The Canadian Nightclub to start, as the other scheduled tribute show is definitely on! Mama Kin may not be here this weekend, but Crush: The Best of Bon Jovi will be! The Toronto based Bon Jovi tribute band will make their first ever stop in Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday night in what amounts to the third Bon Jovi tribute concert at The Canadian in the past seven months, following two shows earlier in the year from Keep The Faith. Crush are a very good tribute to Bon Jovi with a nice grasp of their sound and look, so if you're a fan, head to The Canadian on Saturday night! There will be a cover charge of $5, the show starts at 10:00 PM, and you must be 19 to enter. Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details on this show! I'm not a huge Bon Jovi fan, but if you are, you'll enjoy this show, so consider going on Saturday! For a video preview, here's a live video of Crush playing the Bon Jovi classic "Bad Medicine" at a show last November in Toronto!
And finally, a new local metal band will return to the stage, as Sativa Rose will rock the newly re-renamed GLOW Nightclub on Saturday night! This is not only Sativa Rose's first set outside of Foggy Notions, but the first metal show at what used to be Nite-Life Dance Club in a few months! And of course, it's the first metal show at GLOW following tomorrow's grand re-opening party, which you can get more details about at this location! So really, you have two reasons to go see Sativa Rose on Saturday: The newly refurbished venue, and great heavy metal covers from a rising young band! These guys are very good, and will have lots of metal covers in store on Saturday, some of which you can check out at YouTube user MrJohnveale's channel! There will be a $3 cover, a 10:00 PM start time, and a 19+ age limit. Should be a fun concert, Sativa Rose have lots of promise and should deliver well at GLOW on Saturday! Check the above links or the Facebook event page for more, and for a preview, here's a clip of Sativa Rose covering Iron Maiden's "Two Minutes To Midnight" from a Foggy Notions jam night in July!
That's all for today, but stay tuned over the next while for our new poll, updates from Garden of Bedlam, Riverin, and much more!
Hey guys, I have some more local metal news to share with you all today, including a new concert video, the possible fate of a classic concert venue, and a local drummer's contest entry, but first, here are three LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!
Phatstick are coming back to Sault Ste. Marie... again! Just a month after they last rocked Foggy Notions, the St. Catharines hard rock band featuring Saultites Jason Taillefer and Joe LaVergne will be back there for two shows THIS WEEKEND! Both concerts have scheduled start times of 10:30 PM, with a likely $3 cover charge and a 19+ age limit. Sorry for the short notice, they were only just announced a couple of days ago. If you want to hear some very good covers of songs from all genres (and metal, of course), head on out to Foggy's this weekend! Phatstick deliver the goods musically, but I really wish they'd play their own originals in their recent concerts, cause they have some great stuff on their albums! Still, go see them this weekend if you can! Confirm your attendance for the Friday concert at this location, and the Saturday concert by clicking here!
Meanwhile, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has scheduled another solo concert, this time back at The Bottoms Up Lounge! Come rock out and mellow out at the same time on the long weekend, as Tym plays acoustic renditions of your favourite metal songs, and more! According to the Facebook event page, Tym's voice is stronger than ever, which is great news for the show! A 10:00 PM start time is listed, there's NO cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. Tym always delivers a great might of music when he plays his acoustic solo shows, so consider making it out, especially if you can't go see him THIS WEEKEND at The Roosevelt Hotel! Get more details at the above links!
Next up, a new concert video has popped up online from a recent show! No, it's not from the Kewadin Festival (I'm really surprised at the lack of videos from there), but it is from one of the bands that played it! This video is of Detroit hard rockers Fifth Way from their June concert at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino, when they backed up Tesla! Now you've definitely seen the first video from their set already on the SMS (their performance of "Rock N' Roll"), but we have another! This was uploaded onto Fifth Way's YouTube channel on Sunday, and it's a performance of a brand new song, "Burn Like You"! Good stuff, but the guitars really overpower the vocals. It's from the same footage shot that gave us the video of "Rock N' Roll", so it's got a nice view from above of the stage! Check it out below!
Also, as a side note, I found out last month that Fifth Way have more of a local connection than I realized! Did you know that guitarist Zak Stelmaszek is a graduate of Lake Superior State University, and lived here while he was going there? Yeah, he told me that through e-mail correspondence, and through some back checking, I can confirm that he earned an electrical engineering degree there in 2000! I think we have another subject for our out of town bands profile series! And of course, check out the new video!
Fourthly today, one of the more notable young musicians in the area has entered a major online contest, and he needs YOUR help! Nixxon Dixxon drummer Jake LaLonde has entered the Full Ride Scholarship Contest that's being run through Hollywood California's Musicians Institute, a major American music college that has tons of famous alumni to have graduated from there, including (among many others), notable metal drummers like Judas Priest's Scott Travis and Primus' Bryan Mantia. The Full Ride Scholarship Contest will give one lucky young musician a full complete scholarship, no strings attached, at The Musicians Institute along with $10,000 cash. For Jake to make it to the live finals in Hollywood, he needs tons of votes to get the attention of the MI judges, so this is where YOU come in! You have until August 15th (ONE WEEK FROM SUNDAY) to vote for Jake at this location! The more votes he gets, the better the odds! Note that YOU MUST REGISTER TO VOTE, but it is completely free and has similar criteria to other sites you register for, so don't be scared off.
On his page on the Musicians Institute site, you can hear a drum solo track named "Grooving", and if you click "Visit Backstage", you'll get a bio about Jake and a video of him playing Godsmack's "Bad Religion"! Best of luck to Jake, it'd be awesome to see him win, though I don't know what would happen to the drum position in Nixxon Dixxon if he did. He's a great drummer, and one can only imagine how much better he'd get with Musicians Institute support! VOTE FOR JAKE TODAY!!!
Finally, this is a story that I haven't followed in depth on the SMS because it doesn't have much relevance to the local metal scene nowadays, but really, I should have talked about it before for it's past connections. A lot of discussions have come up this summer over what should happen to The Eastgate Hotel on Queen Street East. Local music lovers will no doubt recognize The Eastgate as a very popular venue for concerts in the 1980s, especially metal ones! Concerts continued through the mid-2000s, but they noticeably slowed down into the new millennium. More recent notable metal/hard rock concerts there included headlining bands like Nazareth, Econoline Crush, and probably the last show of note there, Bret Michaels in October 2005. Now a vacant unused building, the city is hoping to gain control of the building and have it demolished. A decision on that could be made at a City Council meeting on August 23rd. According to SooToday articles, word is that the building is structurally sound (doesn't really look it though), and there is at least one buyer interested in saving it. If you were hoping for it to become a concert spot again, don't hold your breath, as the prospective owners want to turn it into a retirement home, but that proposal was already rejected once by City Council. Discussions about the fate of The Eastgate Hotel are expected at the August 23rd City Council meeting. Keep up to date with this situation at this link, this link, and this link, and if something of note comes up later on, I'll let you guys know!
That's all for today, but I have much more news in the coming days, so keep an eye out!
First off, before I forget, I likely won't have a new post tomorrow, as my computer is being brought to Staples in the morning for repairs. Trojan horse on the C: drive that I can't delete, system restore isn't working, bla bla bla. Hopefully it won't be in the shop for long, but just in case, I don't anticipate it being back until probably Saturday. If anything goes up before it comes back, it will be an auto-post, but even that might be iffy. So until I let you guys know of my computer's return, I will definitely keep you all updated on the Facebook and Twitter with my iPod if something noteworthy comes up! Note that my computer issues won't interfere with my concert-going on Saturday, so I'll still see you guys downtown!
That being said, today's post is solely and completely dedicated to profiling this weekend's stacked metal/hard rock concert lineup! Oddly, every concert I've came across for this weekend on the heavier end of the musical spectrum is in Sault Ontario, but if there's any metal shows in Sault Michigan this weekend, let me know! Five concerts, including a special benefit show and part of a major festival, so let us begin! (Check out the final installment of the GarageBand Profile Mini-Series at the post below!)
First off, we'll head to The Nicolet Tavern for a pair of concerts, both featuring local classic hard rock cover band Turner Up! These are extra notable because they will mark the debut of former Wishbone drummer and Settle For Silver frontman Brent Royer behind the mic! After the departure of Todd Killam and a pair of shows as a four piece, the Brent-fronted lineup will make their live debut tomorrow night with a new totally-classic music objective and a lot of anticipation on the band's end! Still sad to see Todd gone, but by all accounts, Brent is more than capable as a singer, so hopefully things will work out! So the band will be rocking The Nicolet Tavern tomorrow night and Saturday night, both of which start at around 9:30 PM! There's no announced cover charge for either night, and you must be 19 to get in. Should be good shows, and the notability of these being Brent's live debut will make them even more enticing! For more information, check the links above, and the official Facebook event page! And for a preview, here's a Todd Killam-era clip of Turner Up covering Def Leppard's "Hysteria" from a show this past spring!
The rest of the concerts we're profiling today will be taking place on Saturday, and first, we'll discuss a very special benefit concert at Foggy Notions! On Saturday at 5:00 PM, three local bands will hit the stage at Foggy's for a great cause, headlined by local horror punk/metal band Frightlight! Though you'll be sure to get their great brand of Misfits-influenced music, they're not the focus of this concert. The show is in benefit of Frightlight guitarist Rick White's two year old nephew Logan, who lost much of his hearing after a bout with meningitis. Logan needs special treatment in Toronto to undergo some testing and recieve hearing devices. Because of this, their family needs to raise money to cover the expenses involved in making trips to Toronto and getting Logan the help and care he needs, so all proceeds from this concert will be given to Logan and his family. This is a great cause, and hopefully lots of money is raised! Kudos for Rick, the guys in Frightlight, and the staff at Foggy Notions for putting this on!
Also scheduled to perform: Local guitar-less rockers The Fury (featuring ex-D.O.T.H. drummer Joe Bumbacco) and local rock band Tiny Trebuchet, who were one of the cancelled openers for Frightlight's Coch's Corner show last weekend! A band named Jesus Chrysler featuring Rick White and others were originally announced as well, but the newest schedule doesn't list them. The Fury open this special concert at 5:00 PM with Tiny Trebuchet at 6:00 PM and Frightlight at 8:00 PM! And also, at 7:00 PM, local sideshow entertainer Inferno from Alowishes Grotesk's Traveling Tent Museum & Snake Oil Show will perform for an hour of sideshow feats, and who doesn't love those? This concert is ALL AGES, it runs until 9:00 PM, and admission is $5 at the door, with donations to Logan's family also being accepted. Also make note that a potluck benefit to raise money for Logan will be held before the concert at Foggy's at 1:00 PM, so if you wanna show your support by attending that, you're more than welcome! Details on the potluck at this location!
I'm definitely going to be at the concert portion, it's for a great cause and there's lots of great music (and I love sideshow freaks), and it'll be over just in time for a certain Rotaryfest headlining act around the corner (More info in a second.) Hope to see you guys out for this one! Confirm your attendance at this location, and for a preview, here's Frightlight playing their original song "Dead Town" from their concert last weekend!
Quick detour to The Bottoms Up Lounge, as local metal singer/guitarist Tym Morrison returns to the live stage for a solo performance! Though he's kept busy in recent weeks by hosting Coch's Corner jam nights, the Caveman Morrison frontman will return to the stage as a concert headliner on Saturday night! Expect a night chock full of acoustic metal covers from one of the area's most prolific hard rock musicians! There's no announced cover charge, the show starts at 10:00 PM, and you have to be 19 to get in. As always, this'll be a great show, you'll no doubt enjoy Tym Morrison's guitar skills, wide knowledge of songs, and intimate atmosphere, and if you've been waiting patiently for the return of Caveman Morrison, this is definitely the next best thing! For more information and to check out original material from Tym Morrison, visit his official website, and get more details on the concert at this location! No videos of Tym's solo concerts yet, but believe me, you'll have a good time!
And that takes us to the final metal concert of the weekend, and the biggest one, as the Tenaris Second Stage returns to Rotaryfest! Tomorrow night and Saturday, Square One of Queen Street East (the block with The Grand Theater, the stage will be in front of it) will be turned into an outdoor ALL AGES concert venue featuring standout local musicians and select out of town bands rocking the night away! The Second Stage has been going strong since 2005, and has sporadically featured local metal/hard rock acts, but after a year's absence, the metal returns on Saturday! But before I tell you guys what you need to know, let me state that because this is The Sault METAL Scene, I won't completely detail the bands and information at The Stage at Clergue Park, The "secret" stage at Bottoms Up Lounge, or the Friday lineup of The Second Stage because there's no metal or hard rock bands playing there. But rest assured, there is LOADS of quality bands at each stage, no matter what genre! So let me quickly go over the notable bands (and metal band alumni) at each! And remember, ALL STAGES ARE FREE!!!!
Tomorrow's Second Stage lineup will be a short 5 band affair, headlined by Toronto folk rockers The Wooden Sky, with local rock bands The Craig West Band, RedD Monkey, and Kalle Mattson also among the performers! Interesting to note that three past or present Gates of Winter members (Brian Holmes, Kevin Overton, and Jimmie Chiverelli) will be performing with one of the three local bands! RedD Monkey are probably the heaviest of the Friday Second Stage bands, but head there for all of them! The second annual "Secret Stage" will take place tomorrow at 5:00 PM at Bottoms Up Lounge, and doesn't feature any local metal band alumni to my knowledge, but it will feature local acoustic talent like Al Wood & Lindsay Pugh, Brian Tremblay, Flat Stanley's Jim O'Leary, and more! Plus, you'll get your fill of sushi and martinis if you go there tomorrow! Click here for more Secret Stage details!
As for "The Stage" at Clergue Park, tonight will feature an assortment of jazz bands, so if that's your thing, have a great time! Tomorrow's First Stage entertainment will feature local classic rockers That's Chester (featuring Greg Simpson of Sin Stereo/Stiffler's Mom), along with notable local bands like Mustang Heart and Thin Ice (featuring Josh Donofrio of Garage Inc.!) Saturday's full lineup of bands includes headliners Glory Days, a Bruce Springsteen tribute band featuring some Saultites, along with local bands like Gsis Murphy, Bone Yard (also with Greg Simpson), and Boogie Fever (with Mark Oliverio from Foothill Road) among many other talented local bands! Get full details for bands at "The Stage" at this location!
Now, onto the Second Stage lineup for Saturday, where the headliners will surely give Sault Ontario a heavy dose of metal, as Garden of Bedlam return to the stage at Rotaryfest!! After roughly two months away from the stage to record their upcoming full length album, the band will make their long-anticipated return at 10:00 PM on Saturday night to cap off Rotaryfest on the heaviest note possible! The remainder of the lineup is not very metal at all, the closest opener being the very first band at 1:00 PM, Blues Harvest (featuring Jake Rendell of Garage Inc.) They are absolutely one of my favourite non-metal local bands, so they'll be a must see! Also scheduled: Local acoustic performers Catharine Taddo and Greg MacLachlan at 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM respectively, local indie rockers Porter at 4:00 PM, British Columbia folk rockers Billy The Kid at 5:00 PM, local country band The Wild Turkeys at 6:00 PM, Ottawa solo artist Amanda Rheaume at 7:00 PM, local rock band Big Wheel & The Spokes at 8:00 PM, and Midland, Ontario indie rockers Born Ruffians at 9:00 PM. Solid lineup there, especially if you like indie and roots music! Again, like with the other days and stages, it's FREE and ALL AGES to go to the Second Stage on Saturday!
I'll absolutely be at The Second Stage on Saturday night for Garden of Bedlam! I won't be able to see most of the other Rotaryfest bands, even if there were metal bands sprinkled in, cause I'll be at the Frightlight benefit show at Foggy's first, but keep this in mind: Foggy Notions and The Grand Theater (where The Second Stage will be set up in front of) are VERY close, you can swing both very easily! Frightlight will likely be done near the beginning of Born Ruffians' set, so you won't miss Garden of Bedlam at all! So just walk on over when the benefit's done, cause there's much more music in store! I'll be at both, so I'll have reviews, videos (I stress, "videos"), and photos of both Frightlight and Garden of Bedlam on Sunday! Of course, check out more from Garden of Bedlam at this location and more on the entire Second Stage lineup and details at this location! For a preview, here's video of the Kiss openers themselves playing their original song "Three Days" at The Garden River Community Center" from their last show in May!
So that's your preview of this weekend's local metal concerts! Make sure to see some this weekend, especially at Rotaryfest, cause there's loads of live bands this weekend to enjoy! I'll be back with a new news post very soon, fingers crossed my computer's back from Staples at some point tomorrow, but if not, I promise to make it up to you guys for any postless gaps! And I will see you guys downtown on Saturday night!
Hey everyone, I'm sorry for the lack of posts since Sunday, homework is finally catching up with me. Luckily, the major stuff is now done, and I always try to have something new every 3 days or earlier! So I have a lot of news to get to today, and before we discuss some new LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, we have a cancellation.
About an hour ago, Garden of Bedlam frontman Buzz broke the news that this Saturday's planned fundraiser concert at The Garden River Community Center has been postponed. Apparently, someone from Garden River passed away recently, and out of respect for the family at this difficult time, the fundraiser will be moved to another day so that the community center can be used for funeral arrangements. This has since been confirmed by Nathalie Belleau in an e-mail to planned attendees of the fundraiser on Facebook. Keep in mind that the fundraiser is NOT cancelled, it's just postponed until a future date. This is very sad news, it's always tough to lose a loved one, and at this difficult time, it rightfully is being given a higher priority over the fundraiser. When it's rescheduled, I will let you guys know, so stay tuned!
Now, LOCAL CONCERT ALERT TIME! And for the second time in two weeks, we have short notice concerts from a local hard rock cover band...in fact, it's the same band at the same venue! Turner Up are back at The Nicolet Tavern once again for another solid night of your favourite hard rock classics! On the Facebook event page, guitarist Jeff Gray says "It was so much fun, we had to do it again", and here they are! And you know if the band's having fun, they'll be playing at their best, so there's all the more reason to check them out! Curiously, the start time on Facebook is given as 9:30 AM, but that's likely a typo, I'd say they mean 9:30 PM. Check them out on Friday night and Saturday night if you want some awesome hard rock covers! And of course, for more from Turner Up, head to their official Facebook group! Sorry for the short notice too, this was only just announced the other day.
The other three concerts come courtesy of the two local projects from Tym Morrison! Over the past couple of days, he's been busy booking some more shows, so here's where else to see him next month! On April 16th, Tym will be back at The Bottoms Up Lounge for the first time since last Saturday for a night of hot acoustic rock music and cold beer! There's no announced show for the Saturday of that weekend, but if there is, I'll let you know! But what's that? You want something electric? Well, you'll wanna be at The Roosevelt Hotel on April 30th and May 1st, for two more nights of heavy metal madness courtesy of Caveman Morrison! That will be the second weekend in a four week span that Tym, Rick, and Jeff will be rocking at The Rosie, and if you like your metal hard hitting and all night, you'll wanna be there! None of these shows have announced cover charges, yes you must be 19, and all have scheduled start times of 10:00 PM. Click here to confirm your attendance for Tym's April 16th show, and here for the new Caveman shows at The Rosie!
Now, let's discuss The Warped Tour, particularly one local band's campaign to make it on The Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands on July 9th in Toronto. Which band is it? If you guessed Lion Ride, hold your horses, stuff on their Warped Tour campaign is coming. I meant Sykotyk Rampage! Yes, it looks like your favourite "blue Chinese metal crash punk" band are throwing their hat into the ring to try and get on the Ernie Ball Battle as well! You know the drill, sign up by clicking here, cast your vote for Sykotyk Rampage, you can only vote ONCE A DAY! Warped Tour organizers will pick a selection of bands competing for the Toronto segment of the battle from the top 100 bands overall, with cash prizes, recording sessions, and lots more on the line! At their Battle page, they have lots of songs, pictures, and bio info posted! As of 4:11 PM today, they have 28 votes, which is currently 53 votes out of 100th. Wouldn't it be cool to see two Sault-bands (them and Lion Ride) in consideration for the battle? VOTE FOR SYKOTYK RAMPAGE TODAY!!! I just did!
Now back to Lion Ride, and in an update on their ranking in the contest, they've jumped all the way to 81st place with 107 votes! They can jump 7 spots with just 10 more votes, and logical thinking says the more votes they get, the more likely The Warped Tour will consider them for the Ernie Ball Battle in July! Some of this might have to do with a new Facebook group started by drummer Iron Mike Bison entitled "Get Lion Ride on Warped Tour"! Currently 102 members strong, the group is to of course, raise awareness for Lion Ride's quest to be considered! Mike says on the group's wall that about 5 bands will be selected, and if that's true, there's even more reason to get the vote out! Click here to join the group, and most importantly of all, CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR LION RIDE!!!!! Again, I just did!
I'll leave it at that for now, tomorrow I WILL have another post! It will serve a double purpose: To preview the upcoming Turner Up, Sykotyk Rampage, and Cancer Bats shows, and to take care of the SMS poll results! What was your favourite metal concert of 2009? The results are revealed tomorrow, VOTE NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN! New poll in the works for tomorrow too, I'll leave you a hint: It concerns radio. Stay tuned tomorrow!
Hey guys, it's time to spread the updates around once again! And today, I have a triple shot of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know! (And afterwards, a Woods of Ypres story!)
The Ultraviolence related news continues, as it looks like they are indeed coming back to Coch's Corner, just a month sooner than I was thinking! J.D. Pearce from Coch's Corner has confirmed to me in an e-mail that Ultraviolence are apparently playing there on February 6th, which is just one week from Saturday! He also said a local band was asked about opening, but I'll hold from mentioning that until something official comes out. Seeing as this is a Coch's Corner show, don't expect a cover charge, start time of around 11:00 PM seems likely. Now I've only heard of this show from one e-mail, so there's more gaps to fill in, but as I hear more, you'll be sure to find out along with me! Who knows, if they're coming on March 6th like drummer Alexis Von Kraven's MySpace page implies, we could get UV for the third time in three months!
Meanwhile, two local hard rock acts have scheduled a concert each in the next few months, both of which involve Tym Morrison in some fashion! Firstly, local metal cover band Caveman Morrison will be back at The Rockstar Bar on, coincidentally, February 6th! (Ultraviolence or Caveman Morrison...tough call!) Expect 4 more hours of great covers of your favourite songs from all over the hard rock spectrum! There is no cover charge announced, you must be 19 to get in. Nothing radically different from past Caveman shows, but it should be a great time! It might be tough for me to hit either of the February 6th shows (what can I say, it's UFC 109 that night!), but it sure would be fun to make it to either or both! Hopefully they both draw great crowds! Confirm your attendance for this concert at the Facebook event page!
Then on March 13th, Tym Morrison will pick up his acoustic guitar once again and head to The Bottoms Up Lounge for another acoustic solo show! 4 more hours of more intimate rock and other genres, this will start at 10:00 PM that night (as does next month's Caveman show), and there will be no cover charge! Never hurts to cool down every now and then, and what bettwer way then to hear to The Bottoms Up Lounge for some acoustic hard rock? Might hit this, it was fun seeing Tym's acoustic set the last time, I'll have to check it out again, might be a good time! Once again, confirm your attendance at the official Facebook event page! If I hear any updates on the shows I just talked about today, I'll be sure to tell you guys!
Next up, remember on Friday when I mentioned that Woods of Ypres would be profiled in the next issue of Exclaim! Magazine? Good news for those of us that can't track down the February issue: The article is online for free! It features a short review of Woods IV: The Green Album by Exclaim!'s Laura Taylor, as well as an interview with Woods frontman David Gold, in which he discusses what makes "The Green Album" so green, David's year living in South Korea, sound influences on the CD, and the challenges of releasing albums independent of major labels. Nice interview with long well detailed answers, though it'd have been nice to see Laura ask more questions! Check out the full article at this location, or if you know of somewhere that carries Exclaim! Magazine, read it in the brand new issue!
And finally for today, I just got word from Social Play drummer Chris Smith that the band have decided to look for an official singer! They're looking to drop covers entirely and get a full-time frontman to sing with them, so he asked if I could help out at all! I do like Dutch Vanderploeg's singing, but if this is something they really want, all power to them! They're not looking for anyone underage, female, or with "screaming vocals", so keep that in mind if you're interested. Click here to check out one of their originals! If you're interested in singing lead vocals for Social Play, message Chris Smith on Facebook by clicking here!
That's all for now, more news and updates are coming very soon, including my review of TONIGHT'S Stillbroke concert at The Speakeasy (hope to see you guys there!), and my review of Detroit's "Brace To Impact" on Monday! Stay tuned!
Toronto hard rock quintet Diemonds will make their long awaited return to Sault Ontario on Thursday, November 21st at The Algonquin Pub!
Last seen locally at the old Coch's Corner in the summer of 2009, this
female fronted outfit have a fun and sleazy swagger that should fit in
well for their next local stop, and after missing their 2009 show until
after it took place, it's nice to get a rain check to cover it fully on
here! Local all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats
will open the show in their fourth full concert appearance (and first
at The Algonquin since debuting there last month), and they should be a
solid fit as they continue to carve a local name with their entertaining
and growing sound! The Facebook event page
still hypes bands to be announced, and if any do get added, we'll let
you guys know. Promoted by Frightlight/Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce
(in his first Algonquin Pub show in over 4 months), admission will be $5
with a 10:00 PM start time, and you must be 19 to attend. Check the
above links for more details!
Next up, here's the first new videos from The Big Loonie Bus Show at La Cucina in Echo Bay last week, starting with local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade's entire set! Uploaded by 62nd Chamber Productions' YouTube channel yesterday, this gives us our first clear view of La Cucina (white interior with a hockey jersey motif by the stage), but the stationary camera's at a high side-stage angle for some reason, so while the view is close, we only see the band's upper body and not much else. The video captures 30 minutes worth of action, including their songs "Here We Lay", "Pillage", "For Him", "Crimson Crusade", "Reality", "Vanquish The Tyrant", and "Lost Memories", closing with a cover of Death's "Pull The Plug", so click each song name to go straight to it! Crimson Crusade sound as great and brutal as usual, though I am sort of surprised that songs from their EP like "Left For Dead" and "Consumed" were snubbed. Check out Crimson Crusade's full Echo Bay set below!
