After a busy week (for me, personally), let's get back up to speed a bit with a stacked news post today, so what's on tap? Some assorted notes, a new Shaw TV piece on a rising young band, and a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TONIGHT, but first, here's a new local band that you may remember from one of last month's battles of the bands!
We have a new local band to add to our band links, and they are the alternative hard rock duo Infinity Grinder! Though they didn't have a known online page by the time of their debut, they now have a Facebook page, so now we can list them on the site1 Featuring Northern Tragedy singer/drummer Terrence Gomes and ex-No Arrow/SBD bassist Brad Griffith in their lineup, you may recognize Infinity Grinder from their set at last month's Speak Easy Battle of the Bands, and they'll follow that with a set at the fifth annual Swampstravaganza at The Canadian on May 9th. Their Facebook page is still incredibly bare at the moment, aside from a a link to their new Soundcloud page, which features an instrumental recording named "Initiate The Time Vortex", but you can also see them live via this YouTube video of an original from last month's battle of the bands.
Both showcase a heavy grinding sound that is definitely more similar to Brad's past band work than Terrence's (especially Sounds From The Green Room), and it does add an extra dimension to the recent influx of two man bands in the area! No word on what Infinity Grinder's existence (if anything) means for The Northern Tragedy's active status, as that band hasn't played live in over a year. Check out Infinity Grinder above, and hopefully we hear more soon!
Next up, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as local classic/hard rock cover trio Stiffler's Mom will return to The Rockstar Bar for a headlining gig TONIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the show on their Facebook page yesterday. A one nighter due to the Havadder concert yesterday, this will be Greg, Mike, and Jon's first show since the Ride For Sight chili cook-off, and their first at The Algonquin Hotel's upstairs venue in three months. These fun established veterans should deliver a great night of hard hitting covers for fans and revelers at The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT, so keep this show in mind for your Saturday plans! There's no announced cover charge for tonight (but bring cash just in case), a 10:00 PM start time is likely, and you must be 19 to attend. See above for more details, and here's the guys live last summer!
Also today, here's a neat new Shaw TV piece on a rising local band, that being alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control! Recently airing on rotation on channel 10 for local Shaw customers (and uploaded to the local Shaw YouTube channel on Tuesday), the video was filmed at a recent set by the guys at Superior Heights Collegiate & Vocational School, and it features performance footage and interview clips that were apparently conducted by Habitat Shuffle's Christian Lemay, but he's not heard on camera. In the video, The Pixo Control's members discuss how they met and formed the band, how fast things have developed for the band since launching, their ongoing album plans and creative process, their set opening for Treble Charger in February, and where you can check them out online, as interspersed with footage of their set that day.
In terms of brand new items, frontman Michael Mikus did reveal that their album will be called "Probably Not", and they're hoping for a release by June and a tour run in the summer. Solid video overall with nice thoughts and remarks on the band's run and plans so far, though the vocals (when heard) are often buried in the mix. Check out The Pixo Control's Shaw episode below, and on TV if you can! Note that local acoustic duo Deviant (featuring 2/3rds of Infamous) were also featured in a recent Shaw TV piece from Superior Heights, so give that a look here if you want.
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:
Local rap/party metal quartet The Apocalypse Afterparty have dropped out of the aforementioned Swampstravaganza next month, as per a comment reply by "songwriter" Paul Stanghetta on the Facebook event page yesterday. Paul vaguely cited "the lineup" as being why they and fellow locals AlgomA & Bad Back aren't playing, but read into that however you want. Promoter & fellow A.A. songwriter Steve Mozarowski (credited as "faceityoureametalband" again) will replace them with a solo set, so keep an eye out for that!
Local death metal veterans The Bear Hunters are fielding fan response towards possibly playing an acoustic concert at LopLops Lounge, which would be a first for them in terms of sound and venue. While not unprecedented for extreme metal bands in the area (Gates of Winter went unplugged at LopLops in 2006, and Sault Michigan's Condemned were 100% acoustic), this would be an intriguing change of pace, but voice your opinion at the band's Facebook page!
Chicago Cookshop (the new steak restaurant at 384 McNabb Street) has "closed until further notice" after just 5 months in business at the former Aurora's building, as per this recent SooToday article. The reason is reportedly due to financial issues, but Facebook posts and discussion will explore other areas that we won't get into here. This fits the SMS as Tym Morrison played a show there in February, but either way, hopefully the restaurant reopens down the road!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile next! Thanks everyone!
In this second post of the day, we're mainly taking a look at this weekend's hard rock concert previews (including SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS), so give everything a look below, and check out plenty of VM Radio Battle updates in the post below this one!
Local indie/punk quintet Northwest will reportedly rock LopLops Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT as openers for an out of town band in the Soo for a special event! Apologies for the short notice, we only just got word on this show via a SooToday article on Northwest earlier today, and we'll have more on their recent news coverage in an upcoming post. This show (the first with hard rock or punk bands at LopLops of the year that we've heard) will be headlined by Thunder Bay pop rock quintet The Poor Young Things, who have previously played at LopLops on at least two prior occasions. They'll also be among the musical entertainment at the Rogers Hometown Hockey festival on Saturday and Sunday at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion (which doesn't feature any advertised local bands, and none are heavier), but this is bound to be a great event for hockey fans, so definitely check it out this weekend! The Poor Young Things have a good pop rock sound, and Northwest's punk edge should kick things off right tomorrow!
If you're a LopLops regular or planned Hometown Hockey attendee, you can also see Toronto indie rockers Jane's Party there on Saturday night after that night's festival events, they too having played here before. Tomorrow's Northwest-opening show has no announced cover charge (but have money on hand just in case), a 19+ age limit, and a 10:00 PM start time. For more details, check the above links and the Facebook event page, and here's Northwest live last year!
Next up, veteran local hard rock solo artist Tym Morrison will return to The Harp Bar & Grill TOMORROW NIGHT for his usual hosted jam night, but with UFC 184 being broadcast there on SATURDAY NIGHT, he's making his debut at another central venue to fill up his weekend plans! In lieu of his usual Saturday nighter at the former Madison's Pub, he'll make his debut appearance at the new Chicago Cookshop (formerly Aurora's, Amici's, and Casa Mia) at 384 McNabb Street, which is seconds from The Harp as it is, so if you'd rather see Tym on Saturday, this won't be a huge imposition! Apologies for the short notice, Tym previously announced Saturday's show on his website's calendar, but it slipped us by. I'm unfamiliar with the Chicago Cookshop as a venue, but it's a Chicago-themed steak restaurant that has achieved noticeable success since opening last fall, and hopefully Tym's acoustic covers go over as well there on Saturday as they do at The Harp each week
Both shows have 10:00 PM start times, no announced cover charges, and I'd assume both are 19+ given the time of day, but remember that the Chicago Cookshop is a restaurant. For more details, visit the Facebook event pages linked here & here! It'll be interesting to see how Saturday's show does, as this could be a future frequent venue for Tym (especially on off nights from The Harp), but no matter which location, give his shows this weekend a look! For a preview, here he is at the former Smack Daddy's!
Next up, we'll head to the Eastern Upper Peninsula for some Sault Michigan-area concerts, starting with a correction of sorts. Remember when we added local classic/hard rock cover quartet Highway 63's Kewadin Casino concert slate through September to our concert listings, but didn't add this weekend's shows because new local hard rockers Ten Kings had announced that they were playing them? Well, it turns out they were wrong (citing a scheduling conflict), and Highway 63 were right, as they will indeed be rocking The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! This will actually be the Switzers & company's first announced concert weekend of the year, and their skilled covers (including some new setlist additions) should be right at home once again this weekend, especially if you liked members' past work with bands like Monkey's Uncle and Sir Charge!
Like usual for Kewadin Casino gigs, Highway 63 should be on at 9:00 PM tomorrow & Saturday, there's no announced cover charges, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, check the above links, don't miss Highway 63's 2015 debuts THIS WEEKEND, and here's the guys live last year!
Lastly for known concerts this weekend with advance notice, we'll head south to The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino, where Traverse City metal trio Scarkazm will return for headlining gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Just a month after their last St. Ignace concert weekend, the hard hitting trio featuring Peril's Adam Crawford & Jeff Hudson have quickly became a favourite sight at the regional Kewadin branches, and they should be up to their usual tricks with plenty of aggressive covers this weekend! If you'd rather see them in the Soo, they'll be back at The Rapids Lounge in just two weeks, so you won't have to wait long! Like with this weekend's Highway 63 gigs, Scarkazm will be on at 9:00 PM tomorrow & Saturday, you must be at least 21 to attend either night, and there's no announced cover charges. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and here's Scarkazm covering Alice In Chains live!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!
