Upcoming Concert Previews, And Much More!!

With two early-week public concerts coming up in Sault Ontario, we have special concert previews for the next few days coming up, and stay tuned after that for some recent news and notes! Without any further adieu, read on below for what you need to know, and check out this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on Elipzis in the post below this one! (Updated at 9:24 PM)

To mark the one year anniversary of Blood Shed Productions' first foray into live concerts, the label and Tyler St. Amour are bringing a second annual "Grinded Live In Your Ears" house party concert to 110 Penatgon Boulevard TOMORROW NIGHT! Also hyped as an afterparty for this past weekend's Das Bunkerfest, this event is a rare house party event from the label to have a public address and invitations, so keep it in mind for tomorrow! However, the lineup has almost completely changed after 3 of the 4 announced acts dropped out late last week for unannounced reasons (the show was even briefly cancelled), so as a result, goregrind bands Crucify The Whore & Rotopsy, and rapper Phat Boii are all not playing, with only an apparent reunion of local death metal solo project Brutaly Fatal remaining on the bill, though it's unclear whether this is a one-off gig or if Austin's bringing them back. The new lineup features talented local solo bassist James Watterworth, the aforementioned Brutaly Fatal, rapper Miracle Man, and some sort of act named Sharp Flavoured Knives that I've never heard of (we'll let you know if we hear anything!)

A bonfire is also planned for this event, which goes down tomorrow at 5:00 PM, and more acts may be added as well. There's no age limit or announced cover charge, and click here for more details! Though the lineup has taken a hit, fans of Blood Shed Productions should keep this event in mind tomorrow, and there's some solid varied performers to take in! For a preview, here's James live at The Oddfellows Hall last year!



Lastly for these early-week concert previews is another show from Tyler St. Amour and Heavy North Entertainment, as their only major concert of the summer goes down on Tuesday night at The Oddfellows Hall! Originally scheduled to be held on August 3rd before being postponed due to new tour commitments, this show will be headlined by Vancouver technical death metal quintet Archspire at 11:00 PM, whose brutal progressive sound and rapid fire vocals will be sure to attract some intense moshpit action on Tuesday, so don't miss their set! The announced openers on the poster include Thunder Bay grindcore trio Grindcorchestra and local openers AlgomA, The Bear Hunters, and Crucify The Whore, but promoters have since confirmed that both Grindcorchestra & AlgomA have dropped out of the show for unannounced reasons. As a result, The Bear Hunters have been promoted to the 10:00 PM co-headlining slot for their own death metal attack, while C.T.W. are now at 9:00 PM, and will split their set with frontman Tyler Gibson's similar two man band Rotopsy (again, for unannounced reasons), but they should deliver the bruality!

The new acts are both also from tonight's Grinded Live In Your Ears event, as the Brutaly Fatal reunion will extend for at least one more day at 8:00 PM tomorrow, while James Watterworth will play his first non-house party solo show in many months to open the show at 7:00 PM, and it will be nice to see them back at it! Admission for this ALL AGES show is $10, and for more details, visit the above links! Note as well that Tyler St. Amour has teased that this might be the last Heavy North Entertainment show, so whether that was hypothetical or not, let's get a packed house to ensure that there's demand for more, or at least a big sendoff! Archspire and company will deliver your metal fix, so I hope to see you guys there on Tuesday! For a preview, here's Archspire live in 2010!



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

• Banned singer/guitarist Alex Traynor will be making a radio appearance this coming Saturday, though not on the station you may be expecting. Alex will actually be on The Gentleman George Show on Radio Soo (WSOO, 1230 AM) at 10:00 AM on Saturday morning, where he'll be interviewed and will play some original songs on air as well! This is a bit of a surprise, but George Snider has had local artists on his show before, and it's solid exposure! Listen in at 1230 AM on Saturday morning, click here for more info, and check out a live stream then at this link!
• Are defunct Central Algoma death metallers For All That Is Lost planning a reunion? Their Facebook page was updated yesterday to state that a "reincarnation" is in process, and they'll be back "one day." Though officially broken up since April 2013, F.A.T.I.L. members have posted reminiscences & new solo guitar tracks since, though any reunion would likely come with a different lineup, due to drummer Kameron Nicholson's move from the area. This would be awesome to see, so stay tuned just in case!
• Photos from local grunge/alternative quartet Haggith's set at the Late & Loud farewell concert at The Rockstar Bar have finally been added to For The Music Inside's Facebook photo album from the event, so if you missed the show, you can finally get your first look at the band with new bassist James White! Solid shots, so give them a look above, and keep an eye out for F.T.M.I.'s pictures of Late & Loud's set at the concert!
• Add one more artist to the lineup of this weekend's well advertised (but invite only) Das Bunkerfest event in Garden River, as local pianist/busker Damjan "Spider Fingerz" Binda played the event yesterday! Our source is his Facebook page. It's not known if he replaced someone or was added late (or perhaps was involved with the still unknown Beau Regards), but hopefully his set went well either way!
• Remember when the cast of The Trailer Park Boys (and ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach) were filming their new movie "Swearnet" in Sault Ontario in late 2012? Well, the full movie will finally come out on August 29th! The official website features lots of preview photos of the film (including one of Sebastian at centre ice of The Essar Centre, and another with a local concert poster in the background), and more familiar sights can be seen in the official trailer. This should be funny, and hopefully we can head down to Galaxy Cinema to see it at month's end!
• Apparently, local punk/grunge acoustic solo project Telephone & Address have recorded a new album and have already sent it off to be pressed in Toronto! Though surprising, this is likely the same album that Chris was teasing on their Facebook page in April, though there's been no public posts about it otherwise, aside from recent Soundcloud song uploads. Stay tuned for possible updates!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Grinded Live In Your Ears & Division Of Sanity), Haggith's New Bassist, And More!!

Though I'm out of town until tomorrow, there's still news and notes to cover at the SMS! Today, we have new drum cover videos, the reveal of Haggith's big surprise, and first, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for TOMORROW and next week, so here's what you need to know!

Sault Michigan hard rock trio Division of Sanity will apparently be among the live entertainment at TOMORROW'S 42nd annual Sault Summer Arts Festival! Apologies for the short notice, we only just heard about their involvement this weekend. Presented by the Sault Area Arts Council, this annual family event features sales and exhibitions of the work of regional artists and craftmakers, along with free children's activities, food vendors, and other live entertainment, so for full details on non-musical events tomorrow, click here! Note however that festival-specific sites haven't plugged the band roster, so I'm unsure of the other musical performers, but Caine & Myke played this event last year too. They'll fit well with their unique rock originals, keep this event in mind for some Tuesday music action! Being held on the grounds of City Hall at 225 East Portage Avenue, this is a FREE AND ALL AGES event, with bands playing between 12:00 & 8:00 PM (though I'm unsure when D.O.S. are playing.)

For more details, visit the above links! This should be a solid showcase for Division of Sanity, so consider a trip down to city hall for the arts and for the music tomorrow! For a preview, here's Division of Sanity at LemmaFest!



Next up, a newly announced concert goes down in exactly one week, as Blood Shed Productions are hosting a second annual "Grinded Live In Your Ears" concert at 110 Pentagon Boulevard, and unlike most of their house party events, this one is publically advertised and attendable! As you may remember, the label (in association with local promoter Tyler St. Amour) hosted a show of this name last August, in what would mark the formal live concert debut of many of Blood Shed's then-roster of artists, and we're seeing similar things this year, though only flagship grind project Crucify The Whore are returning from last year. The likely headliners are Blood Shed owner Tyler Gibson's goregrind duo Rotopsy at 10:00 PM, with C.T.W. preceding them at 9:00 PM, and label-signed rapper Phat Boii opening at 6:00 PM, but in a surprise, an apparent Brutaly Fatal set is listed at 8:00 PM. Now, you may remember that there were two Brutaly Fatals led by Austin McCrae (the original solo death metal version that became Re-Born, and the later doom metal band that became The Revolution), so what does this mean?

While it's great to see what looks like a return to good terms with Blood Shed, does this indicate a return of the original Brutaly Fatal next week, or did they mean The Revolution? Hopefully we get confirmation soon! This ALL AGES event has an announced 5:00 PM door opening time, and there's no announced cover. Click here for more details! It's hard to believe that Blood Shed Productions have been around for close to two years, and hopefully this show is a success as they push on through the rest of the year! Stay tuned for updates when & if they come in!

Also, remember how local grunge & alternative quartet Haggith were teasing "a big surprise" for their set at the Late & Loud farewell concert at The Rockstar Bar on Friday night? Well, it looks like we now know what it was, as the band has added Redundant/Caveman Morrison bassist James White to their lineup, replacing Caleb Cachagee. Making his debut with the band on Friday, the news was otherwise announced on Saturday via their Facebook page. A reason for Caleb's exit has yet to be announced, but fans may remember that there were brief discussions of a bassist switch last fall before their initial breakup, so the same issues may have recurred. Hopefully things are amicable though, and best of luck to Caleb for sure! This is definitely a surprise announcement, but fans will know how talented James is from his past and recent band work, so hopefully this bolsters Haggith well for the future! No word yet though on if he'll be featured on their new albums, whose recording sessions and songwriting have already begun. Keep an eye out for updates as we hear them!

Finally for today, here's two new videos from ex-As It Stands drummer John Mignacca! Uploaded to his YouTube channel on Friday, these covers are closer to his local band material than his recent techno/EDM solo work, and they include a loose play-along with Skynet's "Heartburn" and (as embedded below) a straighter cover of A Day To Remember's "If It Means Alot To You". Though he remarked in the description that he hasn't drummed in three weeks before filming, it's hard to notice, and he and the electric kit sound good here! Check out his new videos above and below, and give his recent solo music a look at this link!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and features as the week progresses! Thanks everyone!

Big Loonie Bus Show Updates, Grinded Live In Your Ears Fallout, And Much More!!

Keeping the news rolling on this Wednesday morning, we have a bunch of shorter recent updates to get to, and fallout from a recent concert, but first, here's some big updates for an upcoming regional metal concert, so here's what you need to know!

We'll start this news post with updates to the upcoming "Big Loonie Bus Show" going down at La Cucina (under Bucci's Place) in nearby Echo Bay, Ontario on October 12th! One new note is that grunge duo Bad Back have quietly dropped out of the event in the past week or so. A reason wasn't announced, but given that frontman Jamie Vincent is still playing with his other band AlgomA, a scheduling conflict on drummer Nathan Sauve's part wouldn't surprise me. Replacing them (and maintaining the alphabetical name trend) are local death metal standouts The Bear Hunters, who should brutalize in their Echo Bay debut! The fifth band slot remains open, though promoter/AlgomA guitarist Boyd "Darby Wigwaus" Rendell is hyping "a possible special secret attraction", so we'll have to see if that leads somewhere. The event will be alcohol licensed (so I assume it's fully 19+), and tickets will be $10 in advance and $11.50 (odd number) at the door. While ticket purchasing details have yet to be announced, a purchase will guarantee you a round trip bus ride to and from the concert!

Yes, there will be at least one bus rented for Saultites to get to Echo Bay for the show (hence it's name), and there will be pick-up spots at both the Wendy's/Tim Hortons on Great Northern Road and at The Wellington Square Mall, so there's all the more reason to go! This concert (also featuring Crimson Crusade & Destroilet) is shaping up to be quite the unique event, so keep it in mind for the fall, stay tuned for updates, and get more information at the official Facebook event page!

Also in concert updates (albeit for one already taking place), here's some clarification and fallout from Saturday night's "Grinded Live In Your Ears" house-hosted concert in the P Patch following the Swampstravaganza! First, I can confirm that "Todd the Shitty Busker" was an alias used by local solo musician Chase James Wigmore, who we'll be covering more in depth on the site next month for our Defunct Local Band Profile on his old Smiling Giraffes project. He does have some creative talents, though the stage name usage still seems odd. A photo album from the event (which was indoors) was posted onto Facebook by attendee Katie Stevenson, featuring shots of Todd/Chase, Crucify The Whore, Crimson Crusade (pictured), and surprise late notice performers Warsenal. No pictures of Pillory or Social Suicide's sets are featured, but Pillory drummer Bret Shuttleworth told me their set featured just him and frontman Robert Sartini, so it wasn't a full return set.

There were also assorted musical guests (like ex-Undead Warriors guitarist Aaron Gasparetto), some of which can be seen in videos uploaded to Blood Shed Productions' YouTube channel yesterday! All from Crucify The Whore's set (essentially Ringnaps Gibson on vocals/guitar with backing tracks and/or guest drummers), one video has an original and a loose cover of Slayer's "Reign In Blood", while the others include a cover of Burning The Masses' "Nailgun Massacre",  his original "Bunk, Shake, and Headache", and the one embedded below merging two original tracks. In terms of drummers, Winkstinger's Jesse Cook sits in on the below video and the "Reign In Blood" cover, and Bring The Fallen alum Travis St. Amour drums on "Nailgun Massacre", while Ringsnaps uses a backing track for "Bunk, Shake, and Headache". The lighting on these videos isn't spectacular, but C.T.W. tracks do sound heavier and fuller in a live setting (even the pig squealing fits better), and I'd like to see Ringsnaps take his projects to a public stage again and see where it goes! Check out Crucify The Whore live below and see more at the above links!



Finally for today, here's six shorter recent news items, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

• I forgot to mention this in our Swampstravaganza review, but Bear Hunters frontman Nik Deubel announced during their set that their upcoming debut CD will be called "Eternal Hibernation" (presumably referring to the end result of a successful bear hunt.) Sounds fitting, and stay tuned for updates on it's release!
• Local musician Chris Raginskis is yet again exploring the idea of forming a dedicated cover band, this time to cover Volbeat material. Sounds intriguing (you know how much Garden of Bedlam and fans love them), but if you're interested, message Chris at this link or through his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post on August 4th!
• Also from the Musicians Wanted Facebook group, local bassist Jason Lang is looking to get back into live music, preferably in a classic/modern rock band, though he emphasized he'd just like the odd gig, not to become a rock star. Reply to his post on the group from Sunday or message him at this link to inquire further!
• AlgomA guitarist Boyd Rendell's new promotion agency Oh! Right Arm! Productions now has a Twitter page, so follow along there for updates on the Big Loonie Bus Show and other events, and they're now in our Other Sault Ontario Links section!
• I can finally confirm that Purple Core (who played at Haggith's private Canada Day bash) are a Stone Temple Pilots cover band featuring the members of Haggith (minus Caleb Cachagee), with the name coming from a combination of their first two albums. Essentially, they're like The Nirvanabees with a different source band. Thanks to Daniel Horton for the clarification!
• Dafter, Michigan hard rock solo artist Ken "SweetKenny" Sutton has announced plans to release his seventh studio album "Cracks In The Wall" on Halloween, though little beyond the album cover is out at present. As a result, I'll hold our next SweetKenny CD review until at least November so I can choose it or "Perception" next (likely the heavier of the two), but look out for updates!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and more very soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Battle Of The Bands & Pillory) & Sault Michigan Weekend Concert Previews!!

Keeping our weekend concert previews rolling, we're mostly focusing on Sault Michigan today, but we also have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for shows TOMORROW and later this month, including Sault Michigan's next battle of the bands, so read on below for what you need to know, and if any late notice concerts pop up, we'll have them here A.S.A.P., if possible!

A night of grindcore and death metal will hit the P-Patch area TOMORROW NIGHT in honour of former March Into Regression/Fountain of Betrayal bassist Tyler St. Amour's birthday, in what is being called "Grinded Live In Your Ears"! Apologies for the short notice, the Facebook event page was only launched yesterday. To be held at 110 Pentagon Boulevard (Tyler's home?), this publically attendable concert is being hyped as an option for Sewer Swampstravaganza attendees to hit after leaving that concert, and it reminds me in ways of the old F.A.T.I.L. Gatherings, but who's lined up to perform? The headliners are local thrash band Pillory in just their second live show, first in over 8 months, and first since the passing of guitarist Andres Duchesne & addition of new bassist Cole Royal, and it's great to see them gigging again! Swampstravaganza performers Crimson Crusade are also lined up, while two death metal acts from local grind/horror rap label Blood Shed Productions will make their public concert debuts in the preceding slots, those being Crucify The Whore and Tyler's own long-gestating death metal project Social Suicide!

No word on if either have full lineups for these performances or if they'll be solo sets, but it's nice to see Ringsnaps and Tyler finally bringing these bands to a live audience, and hopefully it's just the next step in their evolution! The show will be opened by a solo performer credited as "Todd The Shitty Busker" at 11:20 PM, though I can't reliably verify his identity, sound, or genre at present. This show has free admission and no announced age limits, Blood Shed demos will be on sale, and doors open at 11:00 PM at 110 Pentagon (which is seconds from the St. Bernadette Elementary School.) Check the above links for more details! There's a lot of unknowns with this concert, especially given it's location and somewhat mysterious live forms for two of the bands, but it should provide attendees with death and grind intensity all night, so keep it in mind for tomorrow! For a preview, here's Pillory live at The Canadian last year!

The other new concert is this year's "Rock Till You Drop" battle of the bands at this year's Chippewa County Fair, which goes down on Thursday, August 29th at the grandstand at the Kinross fairgrounds, so what should you know? Like past years, three local bands will compete for votes from fans, with votes likely being determined in a busker style via cash donations in a bucket after each set, with the winning band being the one whose set raised the most cash. This year however, all donations will go to Team Jessica, the fund to help local high school student Jessica Jorgensen through her leukemia battle (which is also the cause behind next week's Pop Evil concert at The Dreammaker's Theater), which is awesome, so hopefully attendees give generously! The three bands include two returnees from last year's "Rock Till You Drop", as local classic hard rock quintet Banned and young local metal quartet Tantrym Tyme will give this yearly battle another stab on the 29th, and note as well that Tantrym Tyme (then Abstract) won the 2011 edition, so are they the band to beat?

The third band (replacing pop duo Missy & Chelsea from last year) is new local hard rock quintet RamWagon, who should give a strong performance in what I believe is their first ever local battle appearance, so don't bypass them on the 29th! To be emceed by Rock 101's Allison "Alli J" Miller, "Rock Till You Drop" has a 7:30 PM start time and no age limits. For more details, visit the above links, and thanks to Tantrym Tyme for battle updates! The field's wide open for this year's battle, and hopefully lots of money is raised for Team Jessica! Who'll take this year's "Rock Till You Drop"? Be at the Chippewa County Fair to find out, and stay tuned for updates!

We'll close this post with this weekend's Sault Michigan concert previews (at least, the ones with advance word), and conveniently, both bands in question are among the "Rock Till You Drop" battle competitors! We'll start with RamWagon, who will make both their non-Sault and Kewadin Casino debuts TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT when they hit The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin! RamWagon have been making a quick regional impression in the past month, and with more gigs and exposure imminent, this union of Full Throttle and Analog Deficiency members should impress with their blend of covers this weekend in St. Ignace! 9:00 PM-ish start times, no announced cover charge, and 21+ age limits are to be expected, and for more details, check the above links and Kewadin's entertainment page! RamWagon should deliver a fun weekend of hard rocking covers, so don't miss out tonight or tomorrow, and when we get some embeddable preview videos, I'll let you guys know!

Finally for the known advance hard rock shows across the river, Kinross classic/hard rockers Banned will play their next local concert TOMORROW NIGHT at The Runway Bar in nearby Hessel, Michigan! Their second show at this venue in just over a month, watch out for the Traynors, Tara, Denny, and Jim to knock it out of the park with their own diverse blend of covers and originals, though remember that their 2011-2012 concerts are proof that they can deliver lots of metal still! Tomorrow's show in Hessel (a half hour northeast of St. Ignace, 50 minutes south of the Soo) will have a 9:00 PM start time, 21+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. For more details, visit Banned's Facebook page! Banned continue to be one of the most entertainingly prolific bands on weekends in the E.U.P., so keep tomorrow's Runway Bar stop in mind, and for a preview, here's Banned's current lineup covering The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy" earlier this year!



That's all for today, but barring late notice show announcements, we'll likely touch on some non-preview news tomorrow, with Hempfest and BFGs previews coming on Saturday! Stay tuned!