LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Havadder) & New Videos Of Theirs, Plus More Updates!!

As promised, here's our second post of the day, touching on one more SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for TOMORROW NIGHT, but with plenty of new videos from this band's recent gigs, this post is largely about them, albeit with some shorter assorted updates at the end. Read on below for what you should know, but check out more Canada Day concert previews and more in the post below this one!

Local classic/hard rock quartet Havadder are returning to Studio 10 TOMORROW NIGHT for their Canada Day bash! Apologies for the short notice, we only heard about the show via an ad in last week's Sault This Week, with the band confirming the show online this mornning with the official Facebook event page. Notably, tomorrow's show will mark the return of drummer Scott McLurg to the band after his heart attack in May, so if you've missed Scott with the guys in the past month+, be sure to welcome him back to the stage TOMORROW NIGHT! The Sault This Week confirms that tomorrow's Canada Day bash (Havadder's first Studio 10 stop since New Year's Eve) will have prizes and drink specials, and yes, ladies dancing, so if that's your thing, there you go! A personal posting by frontman Jason Roy implied that one giveaway would be for a guitar.

Note also that the same Sault This Week ad plugged that the venue will be holding a drawing for AC/DC concert tickets in Toronto next month, so keep that in mind if you go there! The show has no announced cover (but bring cash just in case), you must be 19 to attend, and there's a likely 10:00 PM start time in effect. For more details, check last week's paper and the above links, and for a preview, we have plenty of new Havadder videos to touch on today! Glen Thomas (who filled in for Scott at last month's Havadder shows) uploaded nine combined videos from both the Havadder concert at The Rednecks Saloon on June 13th and Scott's benefit show at The Rockstar Bar on the 20th onto his YouTube channel in the past couple of weeks, so what can be seen there? The six videos from Rednecks are all as a trio (guitarist Jamie July missed the show for unannounced reasons), while each show featured guest musicians, including Scott's former Turner Up bandmate Krista Marshall (also of Johnny Lunchbox fame) as a guest singer at both shows.

The Rockstar Bar videos include covers of Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog" (with local blues musician Paul Dellavedova on guest vocals & guitar) and Collective Soul's "Gel" (with Lucky 13's Ed Vowels on guest guitar) in one video, while the others are of Seven Mary Three's "Cumbersome" (with guest singers Taryn Bugyra and Dave Kendrick, I think) and Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" with Krista on guest vocals. Glen noted on his Freq's Music Planet forum that the show raised over $1,000 for the McLurg family during this difficult time, Scott did make a speech to thank everyone, and there were other guest performers that weren't captured in Glen's videos. We didn't embed any of the three below though, as all were from the drum-cam angle, but the audio's solid, and it's great to see so many familiar faces coming out to help Scott out during his recovery! As for the Rednecks concert videos, those were filmed from a regular angle of the stage, but what was filmed?

Krista's guest spots were captured on two more videos of "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" (here and here, albeit without Jamie this time) plus a cover of Ugly Kid Joe's "Everything About You", while Jason, Travis, and Glen covered Alice In Chains' "Man In The Box", "The Travelling Wilburys' "Tweeter & The Monkey Man", and Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike". Though shorthanded, Havadder sound strong as ever on these covers, and Glen fits in well on each, while Krista's vocals have been missed on stage, and hopefully we see her in a new band again soon! Check out these new Havadder videos above &"Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" below, and don't miss Havadder (and Scott's return) at Studio 10 TOMORROW NIGHT!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, event, or station name:

• We have deleted the short lived Garden River concert promotion agency GFC Promotions from our "Other Local Metal Links" due to the deletion of it's Facebook (and only online) page. Intended as a regional branch of Oh! Right Arm! Promotions to promote shows just outside of the Soo, plans for GFC likely dried up when promoter Boyd Rendell moved to Sault Ste. Marie proper earlier this year, with O!RA! shows now promoted under the Six Two Oh banner anyway.
• Sault Michigan rock radio station Rock 101 have extended their deal with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to continue broadcasting all Soo Greyhounds games on 101.3 FM through at least the 2017-18 OHL season, which will take their current agreement into it's ninth season. Though this might be disappointing news for fans of Rock 101's usual music rotation, this is great news for Hounds fans, especially coming off of their great season! Click here for more details, and go Hounds go!
• The cast list for the local stage production of The Who's Tommy (featuring That's Chester as the house band) has been revealed, via promoters Shot In The Dark Productions' website, with local singer and actor Steven Hewgill playing the title role. That's Chester members aside, there are some familiar faces from local bands in the cast, including Obsession's Valerie Powley & Ashes To Dust alum Noah Morden, so get more details at the above links, and get your tickets for November 4th-8th at The Machine Shop at this link for $25, $20 for children or seniors!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for an all-Rotaryfest post TOMORROW, so who's playing when, and where's the Second Stage this year? Find out tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

VM Radio's Pilot Stream Info, Plus More Recent Updates!!

With a new week in full swing, there's news and notes to touch on now that we're fully out of the Halloween weekend, and hopefully everyone had a fun time seeing The Brains last night! Today, we have plenty of assorted recent updates, and first, your first chance to sample a new network of regional radio stations, so here's what you need to know!

SooToday parent company Village Media's new digital radio network VM Radio is now in it's pre-launch pilot phase, so we can now check out samples of each! Though originally planned for a September debut with 3 stations, it's better late than never, especially as there's actually 5 feeds, so what's available to check out? SMS readers will likely be most interested in VM Rocks, whose description says will feature modern rock, alternative, metal, and classic rock, citing bands like Gob, Seether, The Black Keys, and locals Garden of Bedlam & Jack Spades among it's playlist, so click above to hear the current stream! The other four stations include the previously announced VM Roots (for folk, roots, and blues rock), and in lieu of the originally hyped "Mix" station, VM Bounce (for hip-hop, dance, and club music), VM Indie (for indie, pop, and electronic music), and VM Y'All (for country music.) All streams are available to check out right now with less commercials than on terrestrial radio, but a full launch involving news and weather broadcasts is expected for later this week.

The idea of a full new network of local internet radio stations is a sound one, especially as Sault Ontario only has Country 104 and Kiss 105 for locally produced FM stations (and even with Sault Michigan stations, there aren't any FM indie or roots stations here.) Also, with Energy Rock Radio moving out west a few years ago, it's nice to have a full local internet radio presence based out of here again! For my own experience checking out the pilot streams of the stations, I've had no problems with the audio quality or speed of the playback, though the player's own page is very plain looking. For potential listeners of VM Rocks, today's rotation included artists like Big Wreck, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Steely Dan, Crash Karma, and ZZ Top, so it will cover a wide gamut of rock genres, with lots of Canadian content! That said, plans for potential programs or genre blocks with live DJs haven't been publicized yet, so I can't say with certainty if metal or punk fans will get a dedicated show on VM Rocks, but it'd be cool to see!

I'm very curious to see where VM Radio (and VM Rocks) go from here, including on if there will be other ways you can listen (i.e. through TuneIn Radio), so stay tuned for more updates on the full launch as they are made, be sure to check out all of the stations at the above links, and VM Rocks is now in our Sault Ontario internet radio/podcast links!

Finally for today, here's _ shorter assorted recent news items from the last few days, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, website, or company name:

• Local concert promoters Oh! Right Arm! Promotions have launched a sister promotional company named GFC Promotions that will specialize in shows outside of Sault Ste. Marie, specifically in Garden River like next August's Das Bunkerfest II, related private house parties, and perhaps future attempts at Echo Bay concerts? No word what "GFC" stands for, but like them above, and GFC Promotions are now in our "Other Local Metal Links"!
• In his latest local band search posting on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on October 30th, local bassist Jordan Leach is now looking for a singer, guitarist(s), and drummer for a horror punk band he's launching, though "other interesting instruments" are also welcome. The band would mostly play originals with some covers. With Frigtlight's demise, there is a horror punk void now, so hopefully this takes off, and message Jordan at this link or above for more details!
• On his solo Facebook page on October 15th, Haggith drummer Mike Haggith revealed the tentative setlist for his upcoming 49th studio album "The Warinside", and while most of the 10 songs are new, the CD will apparently include a re-recording of his 2009 song "Lay My Body Down To Rest" (which Mike and The Din have played live recently.) Intriguing titles, so stay tuned for updates on this and his other upcoming solo plans!
• Though not a formal review of the show, a new SooToday article from Donna Hopper on Halloween costumes and parties in the Soo from this past Friday does feature photos of Frightlight's headlining set at The Algonquin Pub during frontman Johnny Pints' annual Halloween party (in colour too!), and they're excellent as usual, so click here to see them and all of the great costumes from Halloween 2014 at four different downtown bars!
• In the first finite info regarding this year's third annual Toystock fundraiser concert, promoters Maxx Entertainment revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that the event is still slated for Sunday, November 30th at The Canadian Nightclub, will feature 10 live bands once again for a roughly 10 hour duration, admission will be via a toy or food donation (money is accepted too), while the band lineup will be revealed shortly. Great to see Toystock back once again, and stay tuned for confirmation of this year's bands!
• Sault Band-O-Rama promoters, Mourning Wood bandmates, and local metal band alums Terry Eaton & Steven Flint have launched a new live event sound company named Twin City Sound that are available to book for various types of events, presumably including concerts (like Sault Band-O-Rama at the Primavera Hall on November 21st.) Though the "Twin City" name implies that they'll cover Sault Michigan too, nothing is explicitly stated regarding cross-border bookings. This should be interesting, and Twin City Sound are now in our "Other" links section!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as November rolls along! Thanks everyone!