SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Splitshot), Weekend Concert Previews, And Two New Bands!

Hey guys, it's time to get you all caught up on some new stories, including a pair of new band additions to the SMS and this weekend's concert previews, but first, some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!! (Also, check out our latest Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile in the post below this one!)

Thanks to Ernest Beaumont for telling me about these concerts, I wouldn't have heard about them otherwise. Sault Michigan hard rockers Splitshot will be playing a weekend set at The Bird TOMORROW AND SATURDAY NIGHT! Both concerts will start at 10:00 PM, there's no cover charge at either, and you must be 21 to attend either show. Note that these concerts are not listed on the band's official Facebook page, which doesn't appear to have been properly updated since early last month, and I don't know of any other official band pages, but Ernest has always been a reliable source for shows dating back to the Nixxon Dixxon days, so these are a go! If you need concerts to hit this weekend across the river, Splitshot should do the trick! Remember, they're the new local hard rock band featuring Chris Hubbard and Kyle Beaumont from Nixxon Dixxon, and though I've yet to hear anything of theirs, they've gotta have something going for them! Check them out this weekend if you can, and consider this our first previews for this weekend's concerts!

Before we launch into the remaining previews for this weekend, here are the two new bands I came across, and we'll start with a Sault Ontario solo project I only just came across this week! The project is named "The Shaner", and it's the mastermind of a local guitarist named Shane D. (not entirely sure of his last name.) Influenced by southern rock and metal, he's posted 20 instrumental original tracks onto his Reverbnation page, with apparent hopes to compile some of the songs on a full length album. The Shaner doesn't appear to be active at present, with no visible updates since at least the spring of 2010, but I will say that Shane does have talent! He has some heavier tunes with nice aggressive riffs like "Redeux" and "Righteous Own", but diversifies with bluesier fare like "Tin Blues" and even some more funk based material. His production isn't too bad either, and he has an ear for good and catchy riffs! I don't know if Shane's still active locally, but he has promise, so check out The Shaner at the above links!

The other new band is, to the best of my knowledge, a new page for a band we featured here briefly two years ago. In late 2009, you may remember when we featured a local metal project named Metallurgy that sounded promising, but had no real information. Well, their MySpace page was deleted about a month later, but it looks like Metallurgy are back! That, or a band of the same name, but I have a hunch this is the same band. This time around, I can confirm that the mastermind of this project is Sault Ontario guitarist Neno Jovanovic, and he has posted two songs onto his Reverbnation page as well! Both appear to be newer uploads, including an original demo with some nice riffing, and a cover of Motorhead's "Ace Of Spades" where Neno plays guitar along with the original vocal track from the song. He mostly has it down, though it was a bit surprising to hear Lemmy! Metallurgy are definitely active at present, and we'll have to see what pops up from Neno and/or Metallurgy in the next while!

Now, we'll return to the weekend concert previews to close the post, and firstly, we'll head to The Rockstar Bar for some Turner Up! Yes, after a two week absence from the concert stage (Foggy's jam nights notwithstanding), the local classic hard rock quintet will be back at The Rockstar Bar tomorrow night and Saturday night for pair of concerts! Though announced short notice, fans will surely just be happy they're back, as two weeks off is a long time for Turner Up! Both of this weekend's concerts will be at 10:00 PM, with 19+ age limits and no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I'd like to remind everyone that, largely thanks to my camera's return to working condition, I will be at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night to check out Turner Up for our first concert review of 2011! I've yet to see video or hear audio of them with Krista Marshall on vocals, so this will be a good first sample, and I'll have a review, photos, and a video on Sunday, so stay tuned! And check the above links for more details on this weekend's Turner Up shows!

And finally, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison is back for another solo acoustic concert this weekend in his continuing arrangement at a local concert spot! Note that I didn't say two concerts, as according to the schedule on his official website, his planned show at The Big Cheese in Heyden tomorrow night has been cancelled, as well as his planned shows there on February 11th and 25th. Why? I don't know, though I'll chalk it up to existing commitments at The Big Cheese, but I honestly can't say. With that said, his Foggy's arrangement has no imminent breaks, and he'll absolutely be back at Foggy Notions on Sunday night for loads of acoustic hard rock and metal covers! The show starts at 10:00 PM, you must be 19 to make it in, and there is no announced cover charge. It's great to see Tym out there again rocking out and entertaining his fans, and it helps fill the Caveman Morrison void that we've had for the last few months! If you miss him on Sunday, you have ample opportunities to check him out through February, so check the above links for more details!

For a video preview, here's something I literally just found: A new Tym Morrison acoustic solo original! Entitled "How I'm Wanting You More", he uploaded it onto his official YouTube channel on Sunday, and it's a reserved but emotional and well played acoustic number, and it would fit in nicely at his solo concerts! Check it out below!



That's all for today, but I have more news to share tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that, plus my Turner Up concert review, our next Defunct Local Band Profile on Nite Wulfe, our next poll, and more! Stay tuned!

Concert Previews For This Weekend!!

Hey everyone, it's time (as usual) for our weekend concert previews! As far as I can determine, we have seven metal or hard rock concerts from Thursday-Sunday, so let's go over everything you should know for your concert going this weekend! And in case anyone asks, I may not be able to hit any shows this weekend, partly because of my camera issues (family commitments too), but my charging adapter is finally being mailed from Detroit today, so it should be back here next week! For now though, here's all you need to know for this weekend's concerts!

First, we'll head to The Roosevelt Hotel for TONIGHT'S next metal night! Three local metal bands will return to The Rosie for a night of mayhem at 9:00 PM tonight, including headliners As It Stands! A little over a week after they headlined Soo Music Mash-Up, the fast rising metalcore quintet will headline another entertaining concert, with their new originals sure to deliver tonight! Joining them are local death metal band Bring The Fallen, also in their first show since Soo Music Mash-Up! With loads of devastating extreme music in store, make sure you don't miss their set tonight either! Opening the show are The Bear Hunters, who've logged in a few high profile and well received sets since their live debut last month, so make sure to be there early for their own brand of death metal originals and covers! Despite the relative short notice of most of these metal shows at The Rosie, Rich Moreland has been booking loads of quality bands for these shows, so don't miss tonight's if you can help it! Tonight's show starts at 9:00 PM, there is no cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! I hope I can make it for this one if possible, but if not, PLEASE go for me and have a moshing good time! Videos would be cool too if anyone has a camera! For a preview, here's As It Stands playing their original "Conception" last month at The Oddfellows Hall!



Next up, we'll take a quick detour to Sault Michigan, as a local hard rock trio make their first stop at The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino of the year! A busy year for Kewadin's bar/concert spot begins tomorrow night and Saturday night when Monkey's Uncle return for a weekend of hard rocking covers and originals! Featuring Henry Switzer of The Mama's Boys on vocals and guitar, Jim Belleau on bass, and Hair Trigger drummer Ron Suchey, Monkey's Uncle always deliver a fun set of hard rock songs in any of their local stops! Though it's hard for me to verify dates of theirs at other venues, they are absolutely at The Rapids Lounge this weekend! Both tomorrow and Saturday's shows should start at around 9:00 PM, you must be 21 to get in on both nights, and there is no cover charge. For more information, click here or the above links! If you need something to do or check out this weekend across the river, Monkey's Uncle should fit the bill nicely! For a preview, here's Monkey's Uncle covering Nickelback's "Figured You Out"!



Back to Sault Ontario, as we'll head to Docks Riverfront Grill for a pair of classic hard rock shows this weekend! Despite earlier claims that Turner Up would be there this weekend, we now know that That's Chester will be rocking Docks tomorrow and Saturday night! These five local music veterans will be sure to deliver a high energy set of your favourite covers this weekend, so make sure not to miss them! There is also no announced cover charge for both shows, you must be 19 to enter, and the show will start at around 11:00 PM each night. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! These should also be good shows, with That's Chester launching into a likely busy 2011 in style at one of their favourite stomping grounds! Check out all of the above links for more information, and for a preview, here's That's Chester covering Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Time" from a 2006 show!



And finally, Tym Morrison's back for two more acoustic solo shows! First, he kicks off his first show in his new weekly arrangement at The Big Cheese, the bar/restauarant in Heyden that he has been a regular sight at in past years! This arrangement will see Tym at The Big Cheese every Friday, with shows scheduled every Friday through at least February, starting tomorrow night! Then, his Foggy Notions arrangement continues on Sunday for another acoustic solo set there! Like with the new Big Cheese deal, he'll be at Foggy Notions every Sunday through February as well, so there is loads of music in store for you fans of Tym's local work! If you want to mellow out with some great acoustic metal and hard rock covers, then make sure to head to Heyden or Foggy's this weekend! Both shows have 19+ age limits, I assume he'll be on at 10:00 PM at both venues, and there's no advertised cover charge for either night. For more details, click here for the event page for tomorrow's show, or here for details on his Sunday concert. For a video preview, here's Tym covering Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" last month at Foggy Notions!



That's all for today, in our eighth post already of 2011! Stay tuned for much more very soon, including our next CD review and more news very soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Tym Morrison, That's Chester, & As It Stands), And Our New Weekly Feature

2011's been busy so far, and the marathon continues with this post! Today, we have the debut of a new SMS feature, but first, here are a bunch of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! Eighteen of them, so here we go!

Tym Morrison has updated the schedule on his official website to reflect his January AND February concert dates, and now we have confirmation of his planned shows on his weekly arrangements at Foggy Notions and The Big Cheese in Heyden for the next two months! As previously assumed, Tym will be back at Foggy's every Sunday this month, including THIS SUNDAY, January 16th, January 23rd, January 30th, February 6th, February 13th, February 20th, and February 27th! As well, his weekly arrangement as The Big Cheese kicks off THIS FRIDAY and continues on January 14th, January 21st, January 28th, February 4th, February 11th, February 18th, and February 25th! I assume all SIXTEEN of these new dates will have the same general structure, that being a 10:00 PM start time with no cover charge and 19+ age limits at both venues. Nice to see Tym booking so many dates, here's hoping the Big Cheese deal goes as well as the Foggy's arrangement has been! If you want some acoustic hard rock for your weekend concert going, you now have two options, so head on out if you want to! Check the above links for more, and for more on FRIDAY'S Big Cheese show, click here!

Next up, consider these new shows a cancellation as well, but we'll get to that in a second. According to this new Facebook event page, local classic hard rockers That's Chester will be rocking Docks Riverfront Grill THIS WEEKEND for a pair of concerts! But wait, weren't Turner Up confirmed for this weekend at Docks? Guitarist Robert Brown listed dates for this weekend at Docks on the band's Facebook group, so what happened there? I'm not sure, but according to his personal Facebook page, guitarist Len Ward is currently battling an illness, so that could be related. Nonetheless, Turner Up are scheduled for a Docks weekend next month, so keep that in mind! With that said, it is definitely That's Chester on Friday and Saturday night at Docks! Both shows have start times of around 11:00 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! That's Chester always deliver with their classic rock sound, including a healthy dose of metal and hard rock covers, so they'd be worth checking out this weekend! Stay tuned for more either tonight or tomorrow morning during our weekend concert previews!

Finally, this isn't a metal concert per say, but one of the opening bands is a local metal band, so we'll of course mention it here! On February 19th, local hardcore quintet As It Stands will return to The Oddfellows Hall for the first time in 2011 as openers for two out of town pop rock bands! The headlining band is London, Ontario power-pop band Right From The Start, and another London pop punk band, Calling Ocala! I wouldn't say either are my thing or metal at all, but both are talented bands who are sure to find a good crowd next month! Honestly, As It Stands' original emo incarnation would be a better fit at this show than their current very heavy style, but hey, they'll really add to this show and get things going at a fast and relentless rate! Another opener is being sought but hasn't been announced yet. Tickets will be $8 in advance (or $10 at the door) for this ALL AGES show, which begins at 7:00 PM on February 19th at The Oddfellows Hall. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and as I hear more on this show, I'll have it here!

And finally, I'd like to announce a brand new feature on the SMS: A weekly classic video! Over the years, I've seen many videos of local metal and hard rock bands, live or otherwise, that don't get the recognition they deserve. Be they on Facebook, Photobucket, MySpace, or other external sites, there are many that are not readily available to share, watch, and/or embed that should be brought to people's attention on YouTube and on the SMS. What's the point in recording video of a band in action when people can't see it? So every week, I hope to upload one video of or featuring a local metal/hard rock band from a non-YouTube site to The Sault Metal Scene's YouTube channel! In most cases, I'll rip the video using Freecorder (a great tool for the SMS) and in EVERY SINGLE CASE, I WILL CREDIT THE ORIGINAL UPLOADER!! After all, they did the work to film the footage and/or upload it online originally, and I'll NEVER pretend like I filmed it. I hope not to repeat bands too closely together, and like I often do with our CD reviews, I want to tie in these videos with upcoming concerts or events, as is the case with our first weekly classic video below!

This comes from the first ever 19+ concert that I ever attended, on June 22nd, 2008, which was headlined by Sandman: A Musical Salute To Metallica. But this video wasn't of their set, it was of the openers, As It Stands! This was during the latter stages of their first run as a band, and it's of them playing an older original song that I don't remember the name for. This video was shot by Dave Pipoli and uploaded onto Facebook not long after the concert at http://facebook.com/video/video.php?v=18516826644. Dave deserves ALL CREDIT for this video and I mean absolutely no harm with this upload! No copyright infringement is intended!! Dave's camera work is slightly jittery, but the audio and video quality are pretty good, and this brings back memories for me as well! I find it interesting to note as well that in the description of the video, Dave mentioned that As It Stands were auditioning to open for Skid Row with this set, referring to the aborted Skid Row concert at Runway Park on June 28th, 2008. I never knew that a slot on that show was on the line for As It Stands during this concert, but I'd say they would have deserved to make it on! Though I think As It Stands have gotten heavier since their return, this was still good stuff! So, check out our first weekly classic video below!



That's all for now, but our next post will absolutely feature previews of this weekend's concerts, including TOMORROW'S metal night at The Rosie, so stay tuned! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Elipzis & Tym Morrison), Plus Concert Previews For Tomorrow Night!!

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!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Updates On Both Battles Of The Bands, And More Metal From The Past!

Good morning, all! Lots of news this morning, some of which you may have caught on our Facebook page last night! Some exciting stuff to get to, and we'll begin with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Fresh off his recent performances this past weekend, Tym Morrison will be back at The Big Cheese in Heyden on Friday, December 18th! His show will take place at 10:00 PM that night! This comes just one week after his metal band Caveman Morrison play at The Rockstar Bar for a pair of shows! Of course, Tym will crack out some great acoustic covers of metal classics and songs of many other genres as well! I reviewed his show at The Bottom's Up Lounge from this past Saturday on the SMS, check it out at this location for a further idea of what to expect! If you great music and get yourself ready for a casual good time! For more details on this concert, head to the official Facebook event page!

And now, Kiss Battle of the Bands updates! Loads of new bands have been announced for this battle, which will determine local openers for Kiss at their Essar Center show on December 15th! Since I last posted updates on the blog, NINE new bands have been announced, three of which are metal! One is local death/thrash metal band Bring The Fallen, who are also scheduled for the battle of the bands at The Speakeasy for December 1st, so my money's on them playing on night one of this battle, November 30th. Also joining them: Stillbroke, in their first local concert since their Verdi Hall show in April! They're riding high off the release of their first EP, so expect songs from it at the battle! The other new metal band is the returning Dirty Virgin, pending the confirmation of their new drummer! If confirmed, this will be the band's first live performance since July, and their first proper concert appearance since the YMCA Battle of the Bands in March!

The other new bands announced (thanks to Jay Perron for the help) include local rock band Wishbone, notable local pop rockers Gsis Murphy, the always entertaining Stiffler's Mom, and local indie rockers Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide, as well as The Fury, a band you can't classify by genre, but are still very entertaining! I figure Gsis Murphy and The Fury will play on November 30th, as Gsis Murphy's drummer and The Fury have roles in the Speakeasy Battle the next day. Another band was announced too, named "Middle of Nowhere", who I know practically nothing about (Can anyone help with some details?) These nine bands will join the previously announced Garden of Bedlam, Lion Ride, Caveman Morrison, and Flat Stanley for the battle, with 7 spots still open as of yesterday!

For the announced bands, the only real "update" I can give to involvements is that Caveman Morrison, a band typically known for covers, will be playing two songs off of frontman Tym Morrison's solo CD to meet the "all originals" requirements (thanks to Tym for announcing that!) Remember, if you're in a band and want to enter this battle of the bands to get a chance to open for Kiss, CLICK HERE!!!! THERE'S STILL TIME! Also, I can confirm one band who sadly won't be a part of the battle: Half Past can't enter because bassist Arthur Lacasse will be out of town when it happens. That sucks, but at least we'll get to see them on Boxing Day at The Rockstar Bar! I've heard rumours and interest from other local bands, but I won't spread hearsay, let's wait and see more confirmed bands trickle in. Already, this is without any shadow of a doubt the most impressive battle of the bands lineup I've EVER seen for Sault Ste. Marie! I'll keep everyone posted! Remember, it will take place November 30-December 2nd at The Canadian Nightclub!

Also, Jay Perron from The Canadian hinted that this could be for more than just opening for the band, as Gene Simmons is always on the lookout for new bands to sign. You never know!

While we're on the subject of Battles of the Bands, let's discuss the one scheduled for December 1st at The Speakeasy. I fear it's getting lost in the shuffle thanks to the Kiss battle, which is inevitable, but this one can't be ignored either! It appears that they've finalized the lineup, though with only 5 bands compared to the announced 7. As such, the song limit for each band has been raised to 4! The new band are another group I know nothing about, named "Kargi" (Can anyone help me with info on this band?!) This leaves just one metal band on the lineup, Bring The Fallen, who as I mentioned earlier, are playing at the Kiss battle too! Imagine if they won BOTH battles? It could happen! The Fury (also on the Kiss battle themselves), Creedon and the Animal Detectives (the former Good Morning Gorillas), and local punk band The Scary Uncles round out the lineup! The other new announcement is ticket prices, which will be $7 for Algoma University students with their student card, and $10 for everyone else!

I fear this may have a low turnout thanks to the second night of the Kiss battle taking place on the same night, but don't overlook this one! Crank Sound Distribution are doing sound (I can't confirm if the Kiss battles are) and it's all ages too! (I doubt the Kiss battle is) Remember, this battle is at 7:00 PM on December 1st at The Speakeasy! Aside from cash prizes, the winners open for The Inner City Surfers at The Speakeasy on December 22nd!

And finally, more awesome local metal from the past! Flat Stanley drummer Glen Thomas has been uploading more classic audio tracks from his old metal and hard rock projects onto his YouTube channel, including stuff from old bands like Scrooge, Dirty World, Genghis Khan, and J.A.B.! I'll show you guys one of them here, but please head to Glen's YouTube channel to see more, it's great to check out old classic metal and hard rock from back in the day, it's a shame I wasn't around to enjoy it! Here's an instrumental of a song from the band Thansis Colle, which is described as being "strange with odd time signatures"! Good song, check it out!



That's all I have for now, I'll of course keep you guys updated on both of the upcoming battles of the bands, along with hopefully some Sault Michigan concert announcements, and any other news and updates that come my way! Oh, and remember, my review of "Woods IV: The Green Album" takes place exactly one week from today! Stay tuned!

Local Concert Previews For This Weekend, And Let's Help A Kiss Fan Out!

Greetings once again! The weekend's approaching, and there are four local metal concerts this weekend to discuss! So here are your local concert previews for this weekend! Stay tuned for info on a devoted local Kiss fan who'd love our help in meeting the band!

Two shows each in Sault Ontario and Sault Michigan, let's start in Sault Ontario, where Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison returns for two more solo acoustic shows! Tomorrow night, he will be at The Big Cheese in Heyden, which is a popular restaurant/bar that, though not in Sault Ste. Marie itself, is close enough to get to from here! Then on Saturday night, he'll be back at The Bottoms' Up Lounge on Queen Street East! Both shows take place at 10:00 PM, neither have an announced cover charge. Tym's promising the debut of his new pedal that allows him to sing three part vocal harmonies, which should be interesting! For more details on both shows, and to confirm your attendance, visit the official Facebook event pages, this one for Friday's concert, and this one for Saturday's!

He'll be playing a wide range of metal and hard rock covers in an intimate acoustic setting, and I know from experience that he's a great musician! His solo album is really good (Review of that likely in the future), and I've been a fan of Caveman Morrison's since before Tym's move to Calgary, so I of course think highly of his solo material as well! I highly recommend at least checking Tym's solo show out, you'll have fun! I will try and make the Saturday concert, and if I do, there will be a review posted here on Sunday! In the meantime, cause I can't find embeddable video, check out lots of songs and video from Tym & Caveman Morrison at his official website!

Meanwhile, Sault Michigan hard rockers Riot! By Night are back for two shows tomorrow night and Saturday night at The Satisfied Frog! Like the Tym Morrison concerts, both are at 10:00 PM, and with no announced cover charges. Riot! By Night sound very promising, but with no posted audio or video yet, all I can recommend is for you guys to check out Absolute, a local band that shares the same lineup with Riot! By Night, save for the singers. Absolute are a good band, so Riot! By Night be at least as good too! Should be good concerts, I'd likely go to Friday's if I was old enough! Check out more from Riot! By Night at their official MySpace page!

And finally for today, a local Kiss fan is looking for your help in his dream to meet the band! If you've followed the various Kiss articles on SooToday this year, you might have seen a couple mentions of local taxi driver Robert McIntomney, who might just be the biggest Kiss fan in Sault Ste. Marie! He has been collecting Kiss memorabilia and merchandise since he was 8, including everything from board games to condoms and toilet paper! He has a whole room dedicated to Kiss at his home, and wears something with Kiss on it every day! He's even dressed up like Gene Simmons while driving his taxi to promote the Kiss fan-routed tour voting and for Halloween!

It's been Robert's dream for years to meet Kiss, and friends of his have started an online campaign to help drum up support to hopefully get Robert a chance to meet Gene Simmons and company when they come for their Sault Ste. Marie concert on December 15th! His dream is to pick Kiss up at the Sault airport in his taxi, which would be cool! If you want to join the movement to help Robert meet Kiss, click here to visit the Facebook group where you can see photos of Robert's Kiss devotion and post messages of support! The group was started November 3rd, and there's already 193 members! It's picked up so much steam that even the local CTV News did a video report on Robert, which you can check out below! It features interviews with Robert and friends of his! Good luck Robert, I'm pulling for you!



That's all for today, more news and updates to come this weekend, as well as a possible review of Saturday's Tym Morrison show! Stay tuned, thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Plus A Couple Updates!

This is probably my shortest post in a while, but really, news does tend to slow up after Halloween every year. No matter, you can't let a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT slip by if you can help it! Plus, a tiny bit of updates as well, so let's get started!

Caveman Morrison's own Tym Morrison has scheduled another local concert for later this month! He'll be at The Big Cheese in Heyden one week from Friday, on November 20th! This show will take place at 10:00 that night. No listed cover charge, but just in case, buy something if you go. According to the Facebook event page, Tym will debut his brand new pedal that allows him to do three part vocal harmonies, which should be interesting! Sounds like a good weekend of shows if you're a Tym Morrison fan, as he'll also be at The Bottoms Up Lounge the night after! I'll update you guys if I hear anything else, but in the meantime, check out some of Tym's quality solo material at his official website, and his lengthy potential setlist at this location!

Now for a couple link changes on the SMS. First, I've removed the MySpace page for defunct local band Metallurgy. The page either expired or was deleted. Shame too, the page had some solid material, here's hoping Metallurgy members are still active in the scene! The other change is to local punk/metal band Destroilet, as they've officially launched their own MySpace page! Looks good, nice to see them expand beyond Facebook! Remember to go see them with Detroit and Talk Shit on December 29th at Coch's Corner!

And finally, Sue Inside frontman Shane Fraser has uploaded a pair of new videos to his YouTube channel featuring two more acoustic demos of upcoming songs, "Nerf For Not" and "Betcha Not"! Sounds good, especially "Betcha Not", which definitely sounds like classic Sue Inside, just unplugged! Definitely my favourite of the new acoustic songs! Check it out immediately below!



That's all for now, I do apologize for the slow stories and lack of daily posting lately, but again, this always seems to happen around November every year. The busiest times for local metal updates are typically summer and Halloween, but things will pick up! Stay tuned!

This Weekend's Local Concert Previews, And Stillbroke's New Album Is Out!!!

First off, are you wondering why the banner image is referencing Stillbroke? Their new album is out, that's why! Plus, there's three metal concerts in the Sault area this weekend to cover for you guys, all in Sault Ontario, curiously! So here are your local concert previews for this weekend, stay tuned for more on the new Stillbroke EP!

First, at 9:00 PM tomorrow night, Hamilton hard rockers 40 Sons will make their way to Coch's Corner! Admission is free, as is typical at Coch's, just make sure to buy something! 40 Sons will take the stage at around 9:00 PM! No other bands are on the lineup, to my knowledge. 40 Sons aren't bad, they have a radio hard rock kind of sound, the singing stands out to me though! They actually won the Bodog Battle Championship this past year, and have won a bunch of awards for their music! Not a bad band at all, and if you're downtown, why not hit this show? Check out some of 40 Sons' solid original material at their official MySpace page! For a video preview, check out this clip of 40 Sons playing their song "The Weight Of The World" from a show in June!



Meanwhile, there's more metal goodness tomorrow night! Caveman Morrison guitarist Tym Morrison is back for another solo acoustic show, as he returns to The Big Cheese in Heyden, which is just outside of town! Doesn't look like there's a cover here either. Tym will take the stage at 10:00 PM, and promises to play "all your favorite metal, pop, country, hard rock and even classical if ya want it." Two options for you metal lovers tomorrow night if you're looking for live entertainment, and if you wanna support local talent, Tym's your guy! Great guitarist, he plays tons of great songs, and he has good originals too! Check out samples from his debut solo album at this location, and the official event page on Facebook here! I have no videos that I'm capable of embedding on here, but check out some live clips of Tym and Caveman Morrison shows at this link!

And finally, a big hard rock/metal show hits The Canadian Nightclub on Sunday night! Your headliners are Austin Texas "country metal" band Grady! Making their first Sault-area stop since April 2008, this band features former Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson, and effectively mix heavy metal with country to create some solid music! Playing support are Winnipeg female-fronted metallers Domenica, who finally play the Sault after two previously scheduled shows were called off. Solid stuff, accessible for normal hard rock fans, but heavy enough for metalheads to headbang to! Local rock band Wishbone were to round out the lineup, but as mentioned in the post above, they have been dropped from the show.

Advance tickets are still available at the front desk of The Knights Inn (a.k.a. the hotel above The Canadian) for $10. If you wait to get them at the door, the price jumps to $15. The show takes place at 9:00 PM Sunday night, and should be a hard rocking good time! Click on each band's name in the above paragraph to check out some of their original material! I plan on being at this show, which will sadly be my last local concert til November (I can't believe I'm missing all the fun over Halloween!) Yes, I'll have some free CDs, and yes, I'll have a review and photo album posted at some point Monday afternoon! Check out more details for this show at one of the three Facebook event pages: Grady's, Wishbone drummer Glen Thomas', and The Canadian's! For a video preview, check out the official music video for Grady's song "Woman Got My Devil"!



And finally, we have a brand new album release from a local metal band! Stillbroke have officially announced via their Facebook page that their debut EP, "Never Enough", is officially available for purchase! Each disc costs just $10, and you can pick up a copy by calling 759-8696, or by messaging the band on Facebook! Excellent news, I can't wait to pick up this album! It also fills in a possible gap in my local review schedule, as I'll review "Never Enough" after I get it either this month or next! All depends on when Sykotyk Rampage releases "22"! Now let's cross our fingers for new Stillbroke shows! Stay tuned for a review of Never Enough in the next couple weeks!

Also, notice the new banner image? Well, I did say I'd have custom banners and logo designs for new local metal albums and major concerts, and unexpectedly, we can begin that tonight, now that Stillbroke have released the album! I'M NOT PLAYING FAVOURITES! I have more custom logos already made up, and stay tuned Wednesday afternoon for the Papa Roach banner and logo!

That's all for tonight, stay tuned for more news, my Grady concert review, and more! Thanks everyone!