Creepshow/Frightlight Concert Preview, A Band Breakup, And Much More!!

Sorry for the delay, but here's our latest news post! Today, we're previewing a big and unique concert TONIGHT, showcasing a new video from a recent anti-bullying concert, reporting on a band breakup and related notes, and refreshing memories of a three year old metal band interview, so read on below to get caught up on everything!

Local metal/punk bands Frightlight & Sykotyk Rampage will rock The Roosevelt Hotel TONIGHT as support for a crowd-pleasing blend of punk and rockabilly! Postponed from it's original August 29th date, tonight's show will be headlined by Toronto quartet The Creepshow and Montreal trio The Hellbound Hepcats, who are both returning to the Soo for tonight's concert. The Creepshow's female-fronted country/punk/hellbilly blend & The Hellbound Hepcats' more traditional rockabilly sound should attract another sizeable crowd to The Rosie tonight, so if they're your thing, don't miss out! As for the heavier local bands, James White (a.k.a. Mr. Slim Cadaver) will return to the guest bassist position in lieu of the absent Eddie Fright for Frightlight's horror punk/metal set tonight, while Sykotyk Rampage will open the festivities with their improvised crash music, perhaps including songs from their newest albums, so don't come late! Admission is $10 in advance (through either promoter/Frightlight frontman Johnny Pints or The Rad Zone in the Wellington Square Mall), but the price jumps to $15 at the door. This is definitely a 19+ show, and Sykotyk Rampage are on first at 9:45 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

If you love punk, psychobilly, and a dash of metal, you'll wanna be at The Rosie TONIGHT! The Creepshow are definitely local favourites, and the rest of the bands have their own local followings, so if you can swing a concert on a Monday night, don't miss this one! Get your advance tickets A.S.A.P. before they're gone, and for a preview, here's Frightlight (with Slim on bass) playing "Dead Town Anywhere" earlier this year!



Next up, here's a video from Saturday night's Walk & Rock Against Bullying in Sault Michigan, courtesy of Munising metal quartet Infathom! Uploaded to YouTube by attendee Brendan Fitzgerald yesterday, this is one of three videos he shot at the event outside of City Hall, including one video of Chump Change's Terry Talentino and his sons covering an Imagine Dragons song, and another video of their guitarist Kory Garland and his daughter playing an acoustic song together, and it's nice seeing the family connections on them for sure! The Infathom video is of them covering Avenged Sevenfold's "Afterlife" (albeit cut off at the end), and the audio quality is pretty good, but it was filmed on that vertical cell phone camera angle for some reason, and part of the video focuses on a little girl dancing in the audience, so keep that in mind. Infathom sound really good, and Dillion Semasky's vocals hold up well, so definitely check out their performance below, and I'll let you know if I hear of any more videos from the Walk To Rock in the next while!

Also, here's some of the latest from Sault Ontario label/studio Blood Shed Productions! For one, it's been officially confirmed that "Tomgrindy is dead", as per a post on their Facebook page on Thursday. A reason for the local goregrind trio's breakup wasn't announced, but it likely stems from the past month's posts about not hearing from co-singer/band namesake Jacob Tombari, so I take it they either still haven't heard from him, or he left the project. Though similar in many ways to member Ringsnaps Gibson's other goregrind projects, their added vocals and fuller sound did help them in their demo releases, so best of luck to both Ringsnaps, Jacob, and Jean-Paul in the future! Don't worry though, Ringsnaps is still hard at work on new music for his fellow Blood Shed artists, with their next demo release planned to be a split demo between his medical grindcore project Malignant Neoplasm, collaborator Austin McCrae's solo act Brutaly Fatal, and the band formerly known as Spitneck, and we'll have more on them in an upcoming post, so stay tuned!

Finally, here's an old local interview that I recently rediscovered when cleaning around my place, that being defunct local death metal quintet Bring The Fallen's interview with the Sault Youth Association's former newspaper The Fresh Magazine from the fall of 2010! This was among the prizes that they won at the Downtown Showdown battle of the bands at The Oddfellows Hall that May, and the included photo was part of what was likely their last formal photo shoot before breaking up the following spring. The interview features questions from a Fresh Magazine contributor and answers from a B.T.F. member (both uncredited), and it features discussion of their battle of the bands success, future label and touring plans, how they see the future of the local metal scene, dynamics in the band, their (least) favourite local venue, their influences, and more, so check out the full interview on your left or at this link! Very solid interview with good (if brief) discussion of their music and work together, and it's interesting to note that at the time of this interview, Bring The Fallen still had aspirations of forming their own label and touring Western Canada in mid-2011, but they broke up before any of that could happen.

I miss The Fresh Magazine and it's interesting freelance articles and open nature, but this article is a good late glimpse at Bring The Fallen on top of their game before their mixed quality last gigs (July's reunion at Oddzfest aside, that was great closure!) Check it out above, and stay tuned when we hear more about the members' past and future local music work!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news soon, including last month's poll results & this month's newest poll on Wednesday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tantrym Tyme), A New Local Band, And Sault Michigan Weekend Concert Previews!!

I decided to double up posts today to make sure the Sault Michigan shows get enough attention, so this post relates to all-Sault Michigan topics, including previews of tomorrow's hard rock concerts in the area, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and leading off, a new band discovery, so read on below for what you need to know, and get caught up on Sault Ontario weekend previews and more in the post below this one! (Updated on Friday at 5:43 PM)

We have a new local band to add to our Sault Michigan band links, and it's an acoustic hard rock project named All The Dirty Words In One! Active since October of last year, their lineup includes singer/guitarists Josh Julch and Cody Rosebohm (ex-Elements of Madness) along with bassist/drummer Dan LaFord. They play hard & acoustic rock covers with original material plans, and their Facebook page is full of optimistic postings, including plans for an album named "Eddy the Skull" with an original song named "Break Down, Just Forget Me", but they've posted nothing on their page in 5 months. There are some live recordings of theirs on Dan's SoundCloud page, including covers of Tenacious D, Linkin Park, Eyeshine, and Gregory & The Hawk songs, but they're admittedly rough in quality. The guitar work is good, but Josh's vocals are not that refined, the recording quality is mixed, there's some pre-song talking left in, and Dan's doesn't appear to be featured as a performer from what I can tell. If they're still together, there's a lot of work to be done, but every band has to start somewhere, and become a fan of All The Dirty Words In One above!

Now to concert previews, starting with a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT, as young local metal band Tantrym Tyme will play their (at least) third show at The Malamute Saloon in Kinross this evening! Apologies for the short notice, this show was only just announced last night via their Facebook page. After two successful shows at this Kinross bar last month (no idea if they played an unannounced show there last week), the former Abstract are riding high partially thanks to their victory at this year's Rock Till You Drop battle of the bands at the Chippewa County Fair (as cited on their Facebook page), and in their second show of the day (more on that in a second), they should be good and ready to rock The Malamute Saloon with their fun covers! Like before, there's a 9:00 PM start time, you must be 21 to attend, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details, don't miss this talented young band in Kinross tomorrow, and for a preview, here's the guys at a recent talent show!



Now to previously announced concert previews, starting with Kinross classic hard rockers Banned, who are returning to Todd's Tavern in nearby Moran, Michigan TOMORROW NIGHT as well! Last seen at this frequent venue in May, this one night only gig is their first of the fall season, and before they play their Grand Rapids show, it'll be great to see the Traynors and crew rocking Moran again tomorrow! There is no announced cover charge, you must be 21 to attend, and an earlier start time of 8:00 PM is in place. For more details, visit the band's Facebook page! Though their current lineup information remains somewhat vague, hopefully tomorrow's show is a hit for Banned, but of course, check them out next weekend at the Sault Kewadin if you can't make it to Moran for their Todd's Tavern return! For a preview of their diverse hard rock covers tomorrow, here's Banned covering The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy"!

Finally for this weekend (at least for previously announced heavier shows), we have the Walk & Rock Against Bullying, a fundraising & awareness event being held THIS SATURDAY outside of City Hall! Designed to raise funds and education for bullying and the cause of ending it, there will be bands throughout the day, along with food, 50/50 draws, face painting, and vendor booths, and a 1 mile walk in support of those who have been affected by bullying. Click here for information on the non-musical events going down! 5 bands are confirmed for the lineup, including local cover rock quartet Chump Change (whose members were recently promoting the event on local radio), the first local appearance in over a year from Munising metal quartet Infathom (featuring ex-Half A Man singer Dillion Semasky), newer local hard rock quintet RamWagon, the aforementioned Tantrym Tyme, and acoustic/indie rock duo The London Gentlemen, so there's some heavy tunes and more general stuff for everyone! Note that the event poster lists "...And More!", but no public confirmation is out on possible added bands or guest performers. A 12:00 PM start time is advertised for this ALL AGES outdoor event (which will run until around 8:00 PM), and there's no admission price announced.

Check the above links for more details! Preventing bullying is a great cause, and hopefully this event does big things to that end, so don't miss tomorrow's Walk & Rock whether you're rocking or walking! There's a solid lineup of local and U.P. artists playing, including a solid selection of heavier bands, so don't miss out on Saturday, and for a preview, here's Infathom covering Papa Roach at Pigfest in Ishpeming this summer!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes into the weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Walk To Rock), Pop Evil Concert Videos, And More From Sault Michigan!!

(Updated at 1:33 AM) For this Saturday morning post, we were gonna focus 100% on the Sault Michigan area, but we have a late notice venue change to note for TONIGHT'S Haggith/Mike Haggith & The Din concert in Sault Ontario, as it's been moved from The New American Pub to The Rockstar Bar. A reason wasn't announced beyond singer Curtis McKenzie saying that it was "no longer scheduled" for The New A on it's Facebook event page this morning, but this doesn't affect Haggith's fall dates there. I'm not sure what happened, but now we'll see Haggith's first Rockstar Bar show since their second place battle run in April, and this will be The Din's debut at this venue as well, so don't miss it TONIGHT! 19+, 9:00 PM, $5 cover!

Now, this otherwise-Sault Michigan based post is mostly video centric, as we have a new teaser for a band's upcoming filmmaking projects, a video of a newer band covering a metal song, and the first public videos from the latest Dreammaker's Theater hard rock show, but first, here's an important LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

Five bands will take the stage on Saturday, September 14th outside of City Hall in Sault Michigan (225 East Portage Avenue) as part of the first annual Walk To Rock Against Bullying, a fundraising/family event to raise funds to promote work to help end bullying in schools and raise awareness for this important issue. There will be a mile long walk starting and ending at City Hall at around 10:00 AM, with food, 50/50 draws, awareness booths, and face painting among the entertainment, so click here for all non-musical details about this event! The five bands (who'll be playing at 12:00 PM and on) include three heavier bands, and in listed order, they are local cover rock quartet Chump Change, young local metal band Tantrym Tyme, local indie rockers The London Gentlemen, newer local hard rock quintet RamWagon, and (in their first Sault Michigan appearance in over a year) Munising metal quartet Infathom! Last seen locally at the 2012 LemmaFest, it's great to see Dillion Semasky bring his band back to the region, and hopefully they impress like they did at their other recent shows! The other bands are all popular recent acts in their own rights, so don't miss this talented lineup of rock bands on the 14th!

No admission prices are announced for this event beyond possible donations against bullying, while this is definitely an all ages event. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a great event to help put an end to bullying, and it's great to see these bands taking the stage to help promote the cause and entertain local fans, so keep it in mind for September 14th, and stay tuned for potential updates!

Next up, here's the first videos that I've found from the Pop Evil-headlined Team Jessica benefit concert at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino on Wednesday (and there's a lot more than their last local show had!) These were uploaded by YouTube user Dan Reck, who posted 5 videos from the concert onto his YouTube channel on Thursday, and they're of Pop Evil playing their singles "Hero", "100 In A 55", "Boss's Daughter", "Monster You Made", and "Last Man Standing", so click each link to check them out! Oddly filmed at a similar angle to his clips from last month's Shinedown show (albeit a bit closer), the recording quality adn the band's performance on these is solid, with a good camera angle & nice audio (if slightly muffled at times), and if these end up being our only videos from the show, they'll work well! However, I still find that YouTube auto-stability effect to be odd looking. I've embedded "Boss's Daughter" below, but check out more at the above links, and hopefully lots of money was raised to help Jessica Jorgensen and her family!



Also, here's our first look at (as best as I can tell) a new local band named Train Wreck! Note that they're not to be confused with the Banned predecessors TraynWreck, that was a completely different project. I have no idea if this new band was a one-off or will be seen live again, but they're an acoustic rock cover band, and they feature Half A Man frontman Erik Rintamaki on vocals & guitar alongside bassist Mitchell Willis and percussionist Rafe Rosini, who plays a box shaped instrument named the cajon in this video (no, that's not a speaker.) Two videos were filmed at an employee festival in nearby Bay Mills, Michigan on July 28th (but only just posted on Erik's YouTube channel on Thursday), including covers of Hellyeah's "Alcohaulin' Ass" and (as embedded below) White Zombie's "Thunder Kiss '65", which is effectively converted into an unplugged format here! Erik's vocals are paced well to fit the tones, and the guys have talent from what I can see, but the very nice recording quality (on a stationary camera) helps here!

If they're a new continuing project, we'll have to see if they continue to skew more to an acoustic Half A Man sound, or will take more influences from Erik's old Set To Random work, but check out Train Wreck's White Zombie cover below, see more at the above links, and stay tuned in case we hear more in the way of hard rock performances from them!



Finally for today, here's a short teaser trailer for local metal quartet The Highest of Fives' planned "short film/TV pilot" with local "Twitter personality" Crusty Puck that they recently previewed in this video last month! Uploaded to guitarist Devin Anderson's YouTube channel on Wednesday, this is just a 19 second teaser with the text "Things are about to get out of hand" preceding a short clip of Crusty and a band member rocking out to Nickelback's "Animals" while driving. We don't learn a lot (other than the film will share the name "Bang!" with The Highest of Fives' upcoming album), but check out the 18 second clip below and see if you can read into anything!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for our Airbourne preview and more TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!