LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Mama Kin), Cavo Concert Updates, And Much More!!

I know news has been a little more spread out lately, but things will be a bit busier at the end of the week, so don't worry! Today, we've got a new solo performance clip, some assorted news stories, and some updates on a major upcoming concert's media coverage, but first, here's some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this spring! (UPDATED, 1:30 AM)

Toronto-based Aerosmith tribute band Mama Kin are coming back to Sault Ontario for the first time in at least two years in April! As currently being advertised on the marquee board outside of the venue, this talented tribute act will hit The Canadian Nightclub for a full weekend of Aerosmith classics on April 13th and 14th, so if you love Aerosmith, circle those dates on your calendar! The shows are listed on Mama Kin's website (so there's an online source), but they're credited as playing at The Knights Inn, which hasn't been the name of the hotel on The Canadian's site in quite a while. Minor error, no worries! I'd assume both of these shows would be 19+ affairs, a 10:30 PM start time would seem likely, and I'd expect a cover charge of around $5. For more details, check the above links! It's great to see Mama Kin back in the area after such a long wait for their return, and though I'm admittedly not the biggest Aerosmith fan going, there'll be lots of demand and fanfare for the next best thing to Steven Tyler and company! Keep an eye out for more on this and the rest of what is shaping up to be a huge month for the local metal scene as we get closer to this April!

Next up, here's the latest on April 6th's Cavo/My Darkest Days/Veer Union concert at The Dreammakers Theater at Kewadin Casino! Allstar Promotions (who are holding this concert) announced on their Facebook page on Thursday that they've joined forces with Cheboygan rock radio station Real Rock 105.1 to promote & hold contests for this show. This would include giveaways for tickets & meet and greets, along with a package including front row tickets and a night's stay at Kewadin's hotel. I've heard little directly referencing this arrangement from Real Rock yet, but if you listen in, things should pop up soon for advertising & contests! Remember, though Real Rock 105.1 is based out of the Traverse City area, they have a simulcast in Cheboygan, which is why better FM radios on clearer days can pick the station up in the Twin Saults. Plus, despite leaving the U.P. in 2010, stations owned by Northern Star Broadcasting in Northern Michigan still occasionally advertise & promote bigger shows up here, so it's not unheard of. If you're interested in tuning in to try and win some tickets, or you just want an alternative rock radio station in the area, tune your dials to 105.1 FM or listen online at this location!

Now, the post above also implies that the reason the radio promotions for the Cavo/MDD show aren't local is because of local stations' desires to only promote & advertise out of town shows, likely a reference to Rock 101 and their "Concert Track", which usually only mentions big rock shows in Southern Michigan and Southern Ontario. I'm not going to pass judgement on anyone for why the local deals aren't happening, as we only have one side of the story here, but there's reasons for everything, and things will work themselves out. Stay tuned for more news on this major concert as it comes in!

Thirdly today, local guitarist Neno Jovanovic has posted another solo guitar cover onto his YouTube channel! Uploaded yesterday, this is his cover of Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" (typo aside), and like his other covers, he plays the guitar track along with the remaining parts of the song, and he adds to it well! He could have mixed it in a bit better, or boosted it's heaviness a tad, but Neno knows the original song well, and give his take on "Ace of Spades" a listen below!



And finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Sault Ontario death metal quintet The Bear Hunters have begun recording of "colossal" bass tracks towards their debut full length demo! The news was broken yesterday on their Facebook page. Good to hear, I can't wait to check out the finished product when all is said and done, so stay tuned for more!
  
• Newer Sault Michigan quartet Elements of Madness have quietly added Landon Mattson (guitarist Cody Rosebohm's cousin) as their new drummer, replacing Kyle Hummelgard. A reason for the switch wasn't announced. Landon does have experience as a former drummer in the local indie/ska band The Pick-Me-Ups, so he does have talent! Stay tuned for more band updates, and best of luck to Kyle in the future!
• Sykotyk Rampage have posted a "new" song onto their Reverbnation page! Entitled "Roll a Doobie", it's an interpretation of The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" in their own crash style, with more off-colour lyrics related to the song title. It's an interesting mix, so check it out above, and stay tuned for full details on this & more new songs as we get closer to the release of their next albums!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news over the next few days, along with weekend concert previews, this week's classic video, and this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Friday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Cavo), Tym Morrison Concert Preview, And Much More!!

Today's news post is full of news and notes from the last little whole, so here's what's on tap on this Friday evening! Below, we've got this week's classic video, the latest updates from Hammerspace, and a concert preview for this relatively quiet concert weekend, but leading things off today, here's a major LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this spring!

Allstar Promotions are back in the mix for major local concerts at Kewadin Casino, and they have a package of high profile rock acts coming to The Dreammaker's Theater on Friday, April 6th! Headlining this concert will be St. Louis hard rock quartet Cavo, who are best known for #1 mainstream rock single "Champagne", but they have lots of other newer songs to go around for fans from their forthcoming new album "Thick As Thieves"! I think "Champagne" is extremely overplayed, but Cavo's other songs are good and catchy for the most part, and they should pull in a solid crowd on April 6th! Joining them will be Norwood, Ontario post grunge rockers My Darkest Days, who were originally slated open for Buckcherry & Papa Roach at Kewadin last March before frontman Matt Walst fell ill. You're bound to remember My Darkest Days for recent hits like "Pornstar Dancing" and "Casual Sex", and it's nice to finally see them play locally after missing their last opportunity! I'm personally not a fan of theirs, but I know many of you enjoy their stuff, so hopefully they put on a good show! Opening this concert will be Vancouver hard rockers The Veer Union, who are slowly making waves in the North American rock scene with tracks like "Seasons", which made the top 10 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, so keep an eye on them at this concert!

This concert goes down on April 6th at 7:00 PM, it appears to be all ages, and tickets are NOW ON SALE for just $22.50, which is quite a bargain for this package of bands! You can buy tickets online at this location, in person at the Kewadin box office, or by calling 1-800-KEWADIN. As of right now, the first four rows are sold out, but plenty of tickets are still available, so get them A.S.AP.! It's nice to see some more big rock acts hitting the area, and it's also awesome to see Allstar Promotions bringing a big show back to Kewadin Casino after almost a year's absence, but hopefully the contract issues and whatever else are all worked out, so they can bring us more quality concerts! Stay tuned for updates on this show as they come in, and get your tickets A.S.A.P.!

Now to a weekend concert preview, and in an otherwise quiet weekend on the local metal scene, there is some hard rocking to be had, specifically on Saturday afternoon, as Tym Morrison returns to Bossy's Pub N' Grub! This will be the Caveman Morrison frontman's fourth straight Saturday matinee show at the Pim Street bar & restaurant, and you know he'll have a nice long set's worth of acoustic hard rock covers in store for attendees tomorrow afternoon! Besides, until Caveman Morrison's next show, this will fill the gap nicely! Admission is completely free (buy something just in case though), Tym will be on at 2:00 PM, and I believe this is all ages. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's good to see Tym's new weekly concert arrangement succeeding, and hopefully a good crowd turns up tomorrow to see his proficient and entertaining unplugged covers! For a preview, here's Tym covering Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" at Bossy's last weekend!



Third today, here's the latest from Sault Michigan metal band Hammerspace! Firstly, the band has re-added guitarist Denny Breslin to their lineup, making them a quintet once again, as confirmed on the band's Facebook page on Sunday. As a result, frontman John Bergeron will trade his guitar for a keyboard full time, while also remaining their lead singer. Denny was briefly a member of Hammerspace in their 2010 infancy, but you're more likely to remember him locally from his runs in Half A Man & Bent Rollercoaster. Its good to see him back in a local band, and hopefully his skills help Hammerspace as they continue their resurgence this year! The other band news mostly relates to their recent jamming in Rudyard, but nothing too prevalent about onstage return or anything similar has came in a while. Notably, there was brief fears about a breakup due to the fact that they removed their name from their Facebook page earlier this week, but the band confirmed that it was just to be mysterious, and their name & status are unchanged. Hopefully we hear much more from Hammerspace shortly, so check them out at the above links for all current updates!

And finally, here's this week's classic video! With a largely quiet weekend for concerts, I thought I'd dip into the archives for a band to post a video from, and who better than Woods of Ypres? Despite the unfortunate passing of David Gold last month, there's still plenty of videos of Woods of Ypres from their heyday that deserve a wider audience, and none made more sense to start with than the music video for their 2007 song "The Northern Cold"! Released on April 1st of that year, it was filmed in a Northern Ontario forest that February, but it hasn't been seen on YouTube in a few years following David's deletion of it from his YouTube channel. I don't know whether it was due to his dissatisfaction with the video/song, to promote newer material, or something else, but it's a nice video that instantly evokes feelings of a cold northern winter, and "The Northern Cold" is a solid black metal song that should have been in their later setlists more often! This features the band's 2007 lineup, including David on vocals, guitar, and studio drums, Woods of Ypres' then-producer Dan Hulse on bass, and Jessica Rose on the keyboard, with live guitarist Shawn Stoneman and live drummer Chris Mezzabotta filling out their lineup for the video.

I ripped this video from http://rocktube.us/SYt1VWCj0Tx/WOODS_OF_YPRES__The_Northern_Cold.html where it was originally uploaded by RockTube user knjaz_abbadon on September 10th, 2008, though I cropped it to it's original HD dimensions & boosted the colour a bit after downloading it. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Woods of Ypres & knjaz_abbadon, I'm just trying to share this music video with a wider audience like it deserves! This is a nice video that should be seen, so give Woods of Ypres' video for "The Northern Cold" a look below, stay tuned for more from Woods of Ypres as it comes in, and R.I.P. David!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, as well as this month's CD review (likely of Foothill Road's second EP!) Thanks everyone!