LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Riot! By Night & Nixxon Dixxon), And Assorted Updates!

As you may have noticed, I'm back from Detroit! Hope the weekend's concerts went well! Now, with exams and vacations out of the way, it's back to work, and luckily, a lot of stuff to get to this evening! We'll start with some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!!

Sault Michigan hard rockers Riot! By Night (featuring 3/4ths of Absolute) are returning to the stage for three shows in the next two weeks! They will be at The Satisfied Frog THIS SATURDAY (Boxing Day, December 26th), with shows following that on December 31st (New Years Eve) and on January 2nd! All three of these concerts will take place at around 10:00 PM! These will be the bands' first local shows since the November 20th weekend, when they played two more shows at The Frog! Sorry for the short notice on these newest ones, I just found out about them today. The band are hyping the New Years Eve show as their biggest ever, hopefully they'll get a huge turnout for that night, and the rest of their upcoming concerts! I still can't tell you how they sound (No audio/video on their MySpace page, and I'm too young to hit their bar shows yet), but if they're anything like Absolute, they should be awesome! So for you Sault Michigan metalheads, keep those three nights in mind!

However, on December 31st, you may have a choice to make, as fellow locals Nixxon Dixxon have scheduled an area concert that night as well! The Kiss battle finalists will be in Barbeau (which is just outside of Sault Michigan) for a concert at the Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill that night! Much like the Riot! By Night show, it's a New Years Bash, which is a perfect excuse to have a few drinks, rock out with some great music, wave 2009 goodbye, and say hello to 2010! They'll take the stage at around 9:30 PM. Expect a concert full of great covers and hopefully some of the originals they unveiled at the Kiss battle too! Should be a fun concert as well, it'd be worth the drive, but if I was old enough to hit either, I'd be torn for which to see! Check out more from Nixxon Dixxon at their official MySpace page!

And now, assorted updates that my Detroit trip (And my uncle's slow computer) held up until now! And we'll begin with some page deletions from some local bands. Sault Ontario hard rockers Browbeat's MySpace page has been deleted. I liked Browbeat, I haven't seen them since the Rock 2 Roll skatepark fundraiser last year! I was hoping they'd be back playing shows after they resurfaced this year, but hey, what can you do? Sadly, they don't have other pages, so they're now gone from the listings (Still hopeful for a future return though!) Another band has also axed their MySpace page, but luckily, I can keep them on the SMS listings! Kincheloe's own Silent Despair have deleted their MySpace page. I saw that coming, seeing as they disbanded. However, their Facebook page lives on, so they're still on the SMS, unless that gets deleted, at least! Promising band, too bad things didn't work out!

And finally, four quick updates from four more local bands, in alphabetical order by band name!

• The collective websites for Caveman Morrison and the solo project of frontman Tym Morrison have been updated to reflect the band's local return and the new Caveman Morrison lineup! They now feature updated concert calendars, bio information on bassist Rick White and drummer Jeff Richards, and a bit more! Not everything's finished, but it looks nice, and it's good to see things updated! Check out both by clicking the above links!
• According to frontman J.D. Pearce on their Facebook group's wall, local horror rockers Frightlight are taking an extended break, though will be back in the new year. No other details besides that. I hope it's not too extended, I missed their Halloween concert at Coch's Corner, and would love to see them live real soon! Fingers crossed!
• The first new song from rising local hard rockers Silver Dream will be called "Scream And Shout", according to a promo image posted on frontman Matthew Silver's Facebook page. A comment from Matthew on the picture says that the band's tailoring to drummer Matt Hicks' availability due to school commitments, which may explain the band's slow activity pace. Can't wait to see what they have in store, they sound promising!
• On November 28th, Sykotyk Rampage released their 22nd studio album, named "22"! And if you know Sykotyk Rampage well, you know that they tend to release mulitple albums a year. Well, that trend may very well be continuing, as the band are soon beginning work on their 23rd album, and it just happens to be a CHRISTMAS ALBUM! How about that? Judging by their style & sound, it will definitely have Christmas songs the likes of which you've never heard! Source: Guitarist Dirk Becker on a Facebook status update.

That's all for now, hope to have some big news coming in the next couple days! And of course, I'll see you guys at Foggy Notions on Boxing Day for the Garden of Bedlam concert, if I can escape family stuff! Stay tuned!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Riot! By Night), Nixxon Dixxon Concert Preview, And A Bit More!

Short post today, but some good stuff that has to be mentioned! I have previews for two shows this weekend in Sault Michigan, and three small news items, but first, we'll begin with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!!

Sault Michigan's own Riot! By Night (fresh off their performances Halloween weekend), are back for two more concerts! The band (featuring members of Absolute) will be back at The Satisfied Frog in two weekends time, November 20th and 21st! No word on a possible admission price, but their sets are at 10:00 PM both nights! Great to see them back so quickly, I like what I've heard from Absolute, so Riot! By Night should do good as well! No audio to speak of from their MySpace page yet, but when there is, I'll let everyone know! Now, fingers crossed for some local metal bookings in December, I've heard nothing for next month in Sault Michigan!

Now, this weekend's local concert previews! Just two shows to speak of, both involving the same band in Sault Michigan! Young local hard rockers Nixxon Dixxon are back for two shows tonight and tomorrow night, both taking place at Dondee Lanes! Haven't heard too much from there for concerts lately, good to see they're still booking metal! Both concerts will take place at 8:00 PM, and I don't believe there's a cover charge (At least none advertised.) So if you have nothing to do tonight or tomorrow, I recommend heading to the Dondee! Nixxon Dixxon have always impressed me, and at their age, there's nowhere to go but up! Check out some studio-quality covers of theirs at their official MySpace page! For a preview, here's a video of the band covering Warrant's "Cherry Pie" from the 2007 Sugar Island Fest!



Finally for today, three small news stories, in alphabetical order by topic!:

• Planetary Pride have shut down the official website for the now-defunct Northern Ontario Hempfest. I knew this would likely happen, now that Hempfest is no more, but still it's odd to see. No matter, Hempfest is still in the Other Local Metal Links, I just replaced it with the Hempfest MySpace page!
• In a recent News Briefs article with The Sault Star, Essar Center events manager Trevor Zachary was asked about the odds of Kiss playing a second show there after the one on December 15th. He was quoted as saying "I don't see that happening at all." Well that sucks, but who knows what the future will hold! View this part of the article at this location, near the bottom of the piece!
• Kincheloe metal band Silent Despair have parted ways with bassist Robert Schroyer, replacing him with existing guitatist Isaac Suggitt! They're also teasing the possible return of former keyboardist Sam Lalruatpuia on their official Facebook page. Check there for more details from the band, hopefully something really exciting will come up!

Nothing else to share tonight, but more will come very soon, trust me! Also, tomorrow, the SMS goes "Spaceman" in preparation for Ace Frehley's Kewadin Casino concert next Saturday! Keep your browsers pointed here!