With news piling up, let's get this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles up on the SMS! This monthly feature series spotlights 1 or 2 defunct or inactive metal, hard rock, or punk bands from the Sault Ste. Marie area, in order to spotlight them and their material for current readers, all randomly selected from our inactive band links. With last month's choice only having minimal surviving information, we have rounded things out with a similarly limited band, so here's what you should know for this month's profiles! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Info/Analysis: Originally described as "an instrumental bass/keys/drums project" on his former PureVolume page, Andrew MacDonald had used the LikeKissingBricks moniker for solo pursuits from 2003-2004, complete with a demo cassette EP named "Rainy Days". Andrew revived it in late 2016 as "a rough demo recording project" (sans keyboard) on 4 track tapes, though LikeKissingBricks quietly fell inactive by last year. The demo and 3 newer songs can be streamed on his Bandcamp page, which showcase his bass and drum skills nicely, though the lack of guitar is noticeable sometimes, and the "Rainy Days" demo's recording quality is muddy. There's more of a punk bite to the newer demos, and while they admittedly feel more like songs in progress, LikeKissingBricks had promise, and hopefully Andrew revisits them in the future! Here's "Dunhills & Codeine" from his demo!
Members: (Members not in their last full lineup are in italics)
John Bergeron (Immortal Danish), vocals/keyboard/guitar
Justin Smith (Denaturant), guitar
Denny Breslin (Half A Man), guitar
Tim Podoba (Burn the Day), bass
Paul "Dorothy" Burns (Dystraction, Bent Rollercoaster), drums
Info/Analysis: Formed in late 2009, Hammerspace quickly became a frequent sight at local concerts over the following year, including a Corner Pub battle of the bands victory in June 2010, as well as a number of headlining sets at Zim's, among other Sault Michigan venues. Amidst vocalist uncertainty, the band dissolved in April 2011 for personal reasons, and later cancelled a reunion set at LemmaFest, before returning that fall with teased studio plans. The group dissolved for good in early 2012, though frontman John Bergeron sporadically updates their Facebook & Reverbnation pages with archive demos. You can hear 13 demos there with both John and Logan singing, and while rough in nature, they show promise with a heavy bite, strong guitar riffs, and quality drumming! The vocals weren't overly polished, but the aggression was there, and it's a shame Hammerspace couldn't sustain their potential in the early 2010s, they were a band to watch at their peak! Here's "Changing of the Guard" with Logan on vocals!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! This series returns on or around September 10th with another two band profile, as the first that we randomly selected has very slim public information nowadays, so we added a second profile to round things out. As we're starting a new 2-1-3-1-2-1 rotation between the Twin Saults, both are Sault Ontario acts, namely former Valentine's Day Massacre guitarist Andrew Angelic's old solo project, and mid-2000s hard rock quartet The Pisstanks! Look for those next month, and stay tuned for more news tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Here's another news post to kick off this Thursday with, and it has a lot of assorted stuff from the last while that we're finally getting on the site for you guys to check out! Today, we have a band breakup to mention, along with this week's classic video, a handful of assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and a new video discovery of a metal performance from a few years back, so here's what you need to know!
It looks like Sault Michigan metal quintet Hammerspace have disbanded again. An official statement hasn't been made to that effect, but posts are made by band members in a thread on the band's Facebook page last month that say things like "the band is broken, time to start anew" and "I had fun while it lasted." That comment thread got very personal & detailed, and I don't wanna bring anything bad to light, but a partial reason for Hammerspace's demise appears to be band members moving out of town, with only John Bergeron & Tim Podoba not mentioned as leaving by the spring. This appears to end Hammerspace's second local run, which didn't amount to much beyond some song postings, though fans are sure to remember their 2010-early 2011 run best of all, which featured a number of notable local concert dates. I enjoyed Hammerspace and thought they'd make it further than they did locally, but hopefully the guys stay active in music in the coming years, as there's a lot of talent there! Best of luck to John, Justin, Denny, Paul, Tim, and the other former members in the future, and if anything new comes out on Hammerspace or their members, I'll try to have it here!
Next up, here's an interesting find of a local band playing something heavier from a few years back! While doing research for an upcoming feature post, I came across a video of a Sault Michigan band named The Right Reverends playing two songs at a 2007 Battle of the Bands at Sault Area High School! The band featured singer/guitarists Robert Quinn & Tim Hall and drummer Mitchell Leon, who I believe was in the short lived death metal band Hands of Betrayal the following year. In this video, which YouTube user fishstix7711 posted online in February 2008, The Right Reverends covered Bob Dylan's "The Man In Me" before playing what sounds like an original song named "Puppies" that definitely leans in a metal direction! It doesn't start until 4:52 into the video, and it's not too long, but it has a good sense of humour about it, even if it's nothing too technically amazing! I'm not sure whatever happened to The Right Reverends, but this is an interesting video from 5 years ago, so give it a look below if you wanna!
Thirdly for today, here's three more assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band, musician, or post name:
I've updated our 2008 Case's Music Battle of the Bands Profile to note that "Best Bassist" winner Nathan Bouliane (then of the high school division champions Stillbroke) will also be at next month's Humane Society Battle with his new band The Moves, along with putting more emphasis on Behind Society drummer Josh Hatherley's later battle experience with The Glass Statues and Late & Loud. Nothing major, but I thought I'd mention them!
Ex-Bring The Fallen guitarist Dan Souliere is looking for musicians for a new local metal project he's hoping to launch in the fall when he moves back to town. He has a drummer already for the project, and he sounds like he's already taking this new band very seriously. If you're at all interested in possibly trying out come this fall, then get more details via Dan's post on Friday at the Musicians Wanted Facebook group!
The fourth band for March 30th's Lust Boys concert at The Canadian Nightclub has been confirmed, and it's a new band named Pools of Booze! More specifically, they're local punk band T. Rex Manning in a one-off set without frontman J.D. Pearce (likely similar to Late & Loud's turn as General Striker last year), though a reason for J.D.'s absence isn't known. My source for the addition is this show's Facebook event page, and don't miss out!
And finally, here's this week's classic video! With them playing two different concerts this weekend, it made perfect sense to focus this week's classic video around local hardcore quintet As It Stands, and with it almost being a year since this video's filming, it's as good a time as any to put this on YouTube! This comes from one of As It Stands' out of town concerts last year, when they headlined a hardcore concert at The Coach & Horses in Windsor on March 26th, 2011. Attendee Jo-Ann Chayka filmed this video of the band playing their song "Conception" that night, and posted it onto Facebook the next day. It's a solid performance with good audio quality (Justin Pregent's very quiet clean singing aside), but the lighting is very dark and red, almost like it's in Virtual Boy-vision. It's a nice video though, and it's nice to see local bands making waves in Southern Ontario like this! This video was originally posted onto Facebook at http://facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150174364083274 and NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!!! All credit for this video goes to As It Stands and Jo-Ann, I'm just trying to share this performance with a wider audience like it deserves! It's a solid video of As It Stands, so give it a look below, and go see them at The Rosie & Speak Easy this weekend!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news, hopefully some concert reviews, and my "Woods V" review shortly! Thanks everyone!
Today's news post is full of news and notes from the last little whole, so here's what's on tap on this Friday evening! Below, we've got this week's classic video, the latest updates from Hammerspace, and a concert preview for this relatively quiet concert weekend, but leading things off today, here's a major LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this spring!
Allstar Promotions are back in the mix for major local concerts at Kewadin Casino, and they have a package of high profile rock acts coming to The Dreammaker's Theater on Friday, April 6th! Headlining this concert will be St. Louis hard rock quartet Cavo, who are best known for #1 mainstream rock single "Champagne", but they have lots of other newer songs to go around for fans from their forthcoming new album "Thick As Thieves"! I think "Champagne" is extremely overplayed, but Cavo's other songs are good and catchy for the most part, and they should pull in a solid crowd on April 6th! Joining them will be Norwood, Ontario post grunge rockers My Darkest Days, who were originally slated open for Buckcherry & Papa Roach at Kewadin last March before frontman Matt Walst fell ill. You're bound to remember My Darkest Days for recent hits like "Pornstar Dancing" and "Casual Sex", and it's nice to finally see them play locally after missing their last opportunity! I'm personally not a fan of theirs, but I know many of you enjoy their stuff, so hopefully they put on a good show! Opening this concert will be Vancouver hard rockers The Veer Union, who are slowly making waves in the North American rock scene with tracks like "Seasons", which made the top 10 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, so keep an eye on them at this concert!
This concert goes down on April 6th at 7:00 PM, it appears to be all ages, and tickets are NOW ON SALE for just $22.50, which is quite a bargain for this package of bands! You can buy tickets online at this location, in person at the Kewadin box office, or by calling 1-800-KEWADIN. As of right now, the first four rows are sold out, but plenty of tickets are still available, so get them A.S.AP.! It's nice to see some more big rock acts hitting the area, and it's also awesome to see Allstar Promotions bringing a big show back to Kewadin Casino after almost a year's absence, but hopefully the contract issues and whatever else are all worked out, so they can bring us more quality concerts! Stay tuned for updates on this show as they come in, and get your tickets A.S.A.P.!
Now to a weekend concert preview, and in an otherwise quiet weekend on the local metal scene, there is some hard rocking to be had, specifically on Saturday afternoon, as Tym Morrison returns to Bossy's Pub N' Grub! This will be the Caveman Morrison frontman's fourth straight Saturday matinee show at the Pim Street bar & restaurant, and you know he'll have a nice long set's worth of acoustic hard rock covers in store for attendees tomorrow afternoon! Besides, until Caveman Morrison's next show, this will fill the gap nicely! Admission is completely free (buy something just in case though), Tym will be on at 2:00 PM, and I believe this is all ages. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's good to see Tym's new weekly concert arrangement succeeding, and hopefully a good crowd turns up tomorrow to see his proficient and entertaining unplugged covers! For a preview, here's Tym covering Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" at Bossy's last weekend!
Third today, here's the latest from Sault Michigan metal band Hammerspace! Firstly, the band has re-added guitarist Denny Breslin to their lineup, making them a quintet once again, as confirmed on the band's Facebook page on Sunday. As a result, frontman John Bergeron will trade his guitar for a keyboard full time, while also remaining their lead singer. Denny was briefly a member of Hammerspace in their 2010 infancy, but you're more likely to remember him locally from his runs in Half A Man & Bent Rollercoaster. Its good to see him back in a local band, and hopefully his skills help Hammerspace as they continue their resurgence this year! The other band news mostly relates to their recent jamming in Rudyard, but nothing too prevalent about onstage return or anything similar has came in a while. Notably, there was brief fears about a breakup due to the fact that they removed their name from their Facebook page earlier this week, but the band confirmed that it was just to be mysterious, and their name & status are unchanged. Hopefully we hear much more from Hammerspace shortly, so check them out at the above links for all current updates!
And finally, here's this week's classic video! With a largely quiet weekend for concerts, I thought I'd dip into the archives for a band to post a video from, and who better than Woods of Ypres? Despite the unfortunate passing of David Gold last month, there's still plenty of videos of Woods of Ypres from their heyday that deserve a wider audience, and none made more sense to start with than the music video for their 2007 song "The Northern Cold"! Released on April 1st of that year, it was filmed in a Northern Ontario forest that February, but it hasn't been seen on YouTube in a few years following David's deletion of it from his YouTube channel. I don't know whether it was due to his dissatisfaction with the video/song, to promote newer material, or something else, but it's a nice video that instantly evokes feelings of a cold northern winter, and "The Northern Cold" is a solid black metal song that should have been in their later setlists more often! This features the band's 2007 lineup, including David on vocals, guitar, and studio drums, Woods of Ypres' then-producer Dan Hulse on bass, and Jessica Rose on the keyboard, with live guitarist Shawn Stoneman and live drummer Chris Mezzabotta filling out their lineup for the video.
I ripped this video from http://rocktube.us/SYt1VWCj0Tx/WOODS_OF_YPRES__The_Northern_Cold.html where it was originally uploaded by RockTube user knjaz_abbadon on September 10th, 2008, though I cropped it to it's original HD dimensions & boosted the colour a bit after downloading it. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for this video goes to Woods of Ypres & knjaz_abbadon, I'm just trying to share this music video with a wider audience like it deserves! This is a nice video that should be seen, so give Woods of Ypres' video for "The Northern Cold" a look below, stay tuned for more from Woods of Ypres as it comes in, and R.I.P. David!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this weekend, as well as this month's CD review (likely of Foothill Road's second EP!) Thanks everyone!
It's time for some more news before our next YouTube Channel Profile goes up tomorrow! In today's post, we have new videos from a pair of local artists in each of the Twin Saults, the return to activity of a Sault Michigan band, and leading things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, so here's what you need to know!
Local hard rock quartet Sneaky Pete will take to the stage this coming weekend for their own Halloween weekend bash! Almost two months after last rocking the local stage, this talented outfit will return to the The Roosevelt Hotel for the first time since June next Friday and Saturday for two nights of hard rocking covers, new and old alike! Though both shows are hyped as part of their Halloween weekend, the Saturday nighter on October 29th looks like the actual Halloween bash, so if you want some Halloween weekend plans, aim for Saturday for some partying! Friday will be good too of course, and I actually have the Friday show tentatively pencilled in to attend, so hopefully I'll be there next weekend! Both of these shows will be 19+ events, they'll both start at 10:30 PM, and there shouldn't be a cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a great weekend of hard rocking from Sneaky Pete, and hopefully I'll be there on Friday the 28th to finally see the sneaky show live! Stay tuned for more Sneaky Pete news, and throw these shows onto a stacked Halloween weekend of concerts in the Sault area!
Next up, it looks like Sault Michigan metal quartet Hammerspace are back in action! Activity from them has been sporadic since a brief breakup in April and being scheduled for (and dropping out of) LemmaFest, but it looks like they're finally getting back into full gear as a band now! As posted on our Reverbnation page earlier this week, the band said "You bet your ass" that they're reforming, and that they've posted new versions of their originals on their Reverbnation page as well. Though I haven't been able to confirm if all of the songs there are indeed new versions, I'm certain "Corkscrew" is new, but how does it sound? Not too bad, and I think John Bergeron's finding his groove as a singer more now, but the song is sort of messy. That said, I have to compare to older versions, as I haven't heard Hammerspace's stuff in a while, but it's a heavy track and hopefully there's much more in the pipeline from them! They had lots of promise last year and early this year, and fingers crossed that they return to the stage sooner or later! Check out Hammerspace at the above links!
We'll wrap up this post with new videos, and first, here's some new live solo performances from End of Existence, Theater of Night, and Dust N' Bones keyboardist Craig Harrison! Both of these videos were posted on his YouTube channel on Saturday. One is a violin solo concept that he played on his keyboard, and coming from a guy who loves orchestral elements in metal, this should fit really well on a Theater of Night track! Sounds really nice, and here's hoping he shows more of this side of his music off in his projects! The video I'm sharing here though is a piano composition jam that he filmed, and it works well on it's own too! A bit darker in feel, and the lighting adds to the track, which would fit well on one of his bands' songs itself! Craig's got some great talents, and if check the above links for solo and band work of his, but here' his new piano jam from this past weekend!
And finally, here's some new audio tracks from SBD & No Arrow frontman Dann Pichette! While his bands are currently inactive, he shared some audio tracks with me that he wanted the world to check out, and he asked me to upload them onto the SMS' YouTube channel two weeks ago! Odd that he didn't put them on his own channel, but hey, I'm always willing to help promote local talent! One is a solo cover of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", which was one of their more psychedelic tracks, and Dann does it justice! Sounds trippy, and he tries to make it sound as good as possible, so if you like psychedelic rock and The Beatles, give it a look at the above link! The video I'm sharing below though is an unreleased No Arrow track named "You Might've Heard This Before", so if you're craving grunge, you'll be interested in this! Dann plays all instruments on this, but it definitely feels like classic No Arrow, and it has that unpolished alternative hard rock feel they did so well in their active periods! Give both of Dann's new songs a look above, and here's the new-ish No Arrow track below! Fingers crossed that Dann gets back into some band work soon!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our latest YouTube Channel Profile on defunct Sault Michigan rockers Bad Side's YouTube channel tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, I'm back with some more local metal news, and the topic of today's post is concert lineups! We have new bands and lineup news for a bunch of upcoming concerts, so let's get straight to that, going in chronological order, starting with TOMORROW'S 21st Roosevelt Hotel metal night! The Bear Hunters are in fact playing tomorrow night in their record 10th appearance at a Thursday night Rosie metal show! Dismembertainment confirmed the addition on their Facebook page earlier today, in what is also just the second all-local Rosie metal night with 4 bands. This confirms The Bear Hunters' earlier Facebook postings that they'd be playing tomorrow, though they weren't initially confirmed for the show when announced. Sounds good to me, this show should be awesome! Check the above links for more details on this show (also featuring Shit Liver, Winkstinger, and Bring The Misery), and stay tuned tomorrow for our preview of this show!
Next, we transition to LemmaFest at Dondee Lanes on Saturday, which is the first annual music festival in honour of the late Michael Lemma. Firstly, to the band changes, as local metal band Hammerspace have apparently dropped out of their planned 3:00 PM set. I haven't heard why, but note that their Facebook page hasn't been updated in a month, and they were recently coming off of a short breakup when they were initially announced for LemmaFest. Hopefully they haven't re-broken up, they're too promising to go away! Replacing them at 3:00 is Minus Everyone, a Petoskey-based solo project from musician Kenneth Harris, who plays solid rock music on guitar and bass accompanied by backing tracks. It's better than it may sound, he has talent, and he should leave a good impression on Saturday afternoon! The rest of the changes are all to performance order, so here's what we know. Local acoustic duo Fallen Heroes were moved from 8:00 PM to 1:00 PM (a previously vacant slot), and as such, night-capping acoustic bands 2PumpChump & Electric Motor Fish were bumped back an hour to 8:00 & 9:00 PM respectively. However, a recent update on the LemmaFest page indicated that local metal supergroup Great Bodily Harm are now playing at 8:00 PM instead, though whether 2PumpChump will replace them at 2:00 PM isn't currently known.
The rest of the night's bands (The Hixx, River Witch, Scofflaw, Bucksaw, and Infathom) are still on for their original set times, so click here for all current lineup details! Other notes: Great Bodily Harm are gonna cover some Pro-Pain songs (that's awesome), folding chairs are recommended for attendees (it is outdoors), and it is an all ages event for sure as well! Also, make sure you're at the Dondee at noon sharp if you want official LemmaFest t-shirts! And apologies for missing this, but the organizer of LemmaFest was apparently interviewed on Rock 101 on Monday, I hope it went well! The more press, the better! Stay tuned for updates over the next few days!
Next up, here's some more details on a concert taking place THIS SATURDAY in Sault Ontario! As you may remember, Kitchener hard rockers The Saigon Hookers are coming back to The Rockstar Bar once again on Saturday night, and if you missed their last local show in March, then definitely come on out! Details appear to be mostly the same as the March show though, which is good news if you missed them then, and that even includes the openers, as local punk supergroup Brad Example & The Role Models will indeed be back supporting at this show! This band, led by Brad "Example" Lacell of Inner City Surfers & Room 206 fame, featured longtime bandmate Dave Bahun, Lion Ride's Marco Pedalino, and veteran local drummer Phil Greco in their lineup in March, but according to their new MySpace page, "the cast of characters is always changing". Will we see a different lineup on Saturday? Time will tell! I imagine this show will have a 19+ age limit, 10:00 PM start time, and $5 cover, similar to their last show, but some new Saigon Hookers songs and older classics may find their way into the setlist! I'll absolutely be there, and hopefully you guys will be there too! For more details, check the Facebook event page, and stay tuned for more in our concert preview post tomorrow!
And finally, we come to lineup news for July 2nd's return of Lion Ride to Sault Ontario! Convenient, isn't it? Some more details have been released for this show, which is part of a short "Summer Kick-Off Tour" starting on June 30th in Peterborough and ending at The Rockstar Bar next Saturday for their first local show in almost three months! The band launched a general event page for the three shows at this location, featuring a short comical "interview" with frequently asked questions about the tour, band, and shows. Nice sense of humour! A second event page was launched by The Rockstar Bar's Hayley Warnock, which confirms a 10:30 PM start time and the second band on the bill, that being local folk/roots duo The Boot Hill Crooners, featuring the Jaaskelainen brothers (of Wild Turkeys fame.) Another interesting choice to open the show, but it's clear that with Lion Ride, they pick openers based on talent and friendship, not the best musical match, which is cool in itself! I should note that The Rockstar Bar's event page lists The Boot Hill Crooners first, not Lion Ride, but I can't see them being the headliners, given Lion Ride's prominence. Sounds like a great time, stay tuned for updates as they come in, and check the above links for more on this show!
That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for weekend concert previews, and we have more news to come from Rotaryfest, Half A Man, and more very soon, so stay tuned for all of that! Thanks everyone!
The news keeps coming today, and hopefully the rain's not getting you guys down at all! In this post, we have news on an upcoming concert, a new local band's lineup additions, some updates to one of our monthly series, and to start, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, including one rather SHORT NOTICE one! Also check our post below this one from this morning for FIVE new shows that should get your attention! Now, to this post, so here's what you need to know!
I REALLY apologize for having this concert so late, I only just heard about it within the hour. Cheboygan hard rockers The Darwin Project are playing a concert TONIGHT in Rudyard, which is just outside Sault Michigan! Unlike their usual shows there at Joe's Bar, this show will be at Dan's Place, another Rudyard bar which is 18794 South Tilson Road. You may recognize it as a frequent stop for defunct local hard rockers Absolute, if that's any help for a reference. This show was officially announced in a Facebook event page on May 4th, but it somehow slipped me by completely, and I'm only just mentioning it tonight. Again, I'm really sorry! So the show tonight will have The Darwin Project taking the stage at around 9:30 PM, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. Check the above links for more details! This should be a fun concert, hopefully it goes over well! The Darwin Project have a lot of entertaining hard rock songs that appeal to a diverse crowd, and hopefully a good crowd turns out! For a video preview, here's The Darwin Project playing their song "Disco Rockstar" in Traverse City in January!
The other new concert today is now official as a "metal" show, and it's LemmaFest at Dondee Lanes on June 25th! In case you forgot, this is the first annual festival in honour of the late Michael Lemma, a well-liked Dondee employee who tragically passed away last July at the age of 38. There will be activities going on all day that you can get details on at this location. That said, a schedule has been released for the bands playing at LemmaFest next month, so here's who to look out for! At least 5 metal/hard rock bands are confirmed, starting with Great Bodily Harm at 2:00 PM! This is the local metal band featuring ex-members of I.S.O.M., Half A Man, Hammerspace, and Kilacel, and they have the talent to deliver a great set! If anyone has any band info, internet pages, or videos of them, please tell me, as I have very little on them! Speaking of Hammerspace, they've officially re-united and will be on at 3:00 PM themselves! It's true, they returned late last month, as cited here, and will be back to rock the Dondee at Lemmafest! At 4:00 PM, local hard rock quintet River Witch will take the stage to play some entertaining songs of their own! I wish I could tell you how they sounded, but I can say that guitarist Chris Leask will pull double duty as a member of both River Witch & Great Bodily Harm, which is cool in itself!
Then at 5:00, Scofflaw (also featuring a River Witch member, drummer Ivan Schliska) will return for a set of their unique metal music! Nice to hear about one of their shows in advance for a change, they'll fit in well here! Finally for metal bands, Munising metal quartet Infathom (featuring Sault High graduate Dillion Semasky on vocals) will hit The Dondee at 7:00 PM, and if you wanna check out their promising brand of metal, click here! Hopefully they play here more often! As for the other bands scheduled for Lemmafest, the show will be opened at 12:00 PM by classic/Southern rockers The Hixx (featuring Grooves Music owner Gary Hatch). A local band named Bucksaw may be playing at 6:00 PM, although band member Jason VanLuven expressed uncertainty about their status due to some lineup concerns. I'm not familiar with them at all, so if you guys know of a page or videos or something, let me know! A pair of local acoustic duos are at 8:00 PM & 9:00 pm, including indie cover duo Fallen Heroes at 8:00 PM (they opened for Buckcherry in March) & the more "offbeat" 2PumpChump at 9:00 PM. The last advertised band is Electric Motor Fish at 10:00 PM (featuring Shift's Tony Rogers & Clownsack producer Fran Blackwood), though The Hixx are also advertised to perform inside in the evening, implying that the LemmaFest stage itself will be outdoors.
The lineup is subject to change (it's in fact already changed once), so stay tuned to all of the above links for details! Also, I should note that Half A Man are NOT playing, despite their own preliminary confirmation, as they're focusing on writing and working on new songs towards their album. This sounds like a great event, and who knows what will happen for this great cause? Stay tuned for LemmaFest updates as I hear them!
Next up, here's the latest updates from new Kincheloe metal band Chained Memories! First, they've announced the additions of guitarists Jacob Zeeryp & Ryan Nicklas to the band, replacing Brandon Mason & Isaac Suggitt. Jacob is best known as the singer & keyboard player in the inactive area Christian hard rock band Outshined, and it will be interesting to see how he does as a guitarist! He was a good singer in Outshined, maybe he'll sing a bit with the new band? As for Ryan Nicklas, I'm largely unfamiliar with his work, we'll have to see how he does! The band (including drummer Mike Rynberg) are still looking for a bassist and singer to complete their lineup, so head to their Facebook page for details on how you can try out! I'm interested to see how the band sounds, hopefully they succeed where Silent Despair failed! Check the above links for more, and as details come in, I'll have them for you guys!
Finally, I wanted to go over some edits I made to one of our monthly series for accuracy, that being our Defunct Local Band Profile Series! There's enough changes to warrant a block mention like this, so here's what you should know! The AtrophiA profile was edited to further downplay the Bring The Fallen references, given their breakup, and include a couple mentions for Bring The Blood, which is AtrophiA guitarist Dan Souliere's new band. Both the M7K & Death Rise profiles now reference the fact that Mike Vincent (from both bands) left The Bear Hunters. The Lower S.E.S. profile now links to my review of their EP at the end, and The White Knights profile has a minor edit related to Justin Langlois' work in Motion Carried, as I mentioned his work with multiple White Knights members in later bands. Finally, the Life's Eclipse profile now features a new embedded video (for their song "Out Of The Cold", as it has vocals), as well as minor updates on the reason for their original breakup, their current album statuses and info, some extra personal thoughts on the band, and a tiny reference to Jason Mills' work in Moss. Hopefully everything's up to date now, check the above links to see the newly updated profiles! Any profiles not mentioned above were still basically accurate.
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes very soon, including more from Woods of Ypres! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, it's time for another news post, in this 30th straight day of new postings! Today's a mix of good news and bad news, including two band breakups, the latest Woods of Ypres news, and kicking things off, a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!! Here's what you need to know!
I apologize for this being later than you'd assume, but it was only just announced yesterday. Sault Michigan hard rockers River Witch will hit The Merchant's Bar in Sault Michigan TOMORROW NIGHT for a short notice concert! The news came courtesy of this Facebook event page by The Merchant's Bar, which noted that drummer Ivan Schliska works there (I never knew that) and there will be drink specials as well! With that said, the band has not promoted the show on their Facebook page, but in all fairness, they don't frequently update it. A 9:00 PM start time is listed for this show, there is no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend tomorrow night. Check the above links for more details! I still don't know much about River Witch's sound, but they sound like a good and entertaining hard rock band, so give them a chance and check them out tomorrow night if you're in the area! Stay tuned for River Witch news and notes if they come in!
Next up, here's some bad news, as two notable area bands have broken up. One of these bands is Sault Ontario hard rock trio Browbeat 101, which is really surprising given their new lineup's chemistry and the recent news we've heard from them. Frontman Dutch Vanderploeg announced the breakup on his personal Facebook page on Wednesday, thanking James White and Johnny Belanger and saying that they were "done forever". When I talked to Dutch yesterday about the breakup, he told me that it's partly due to some recent medical issues that have impaired his singing, and partly due to musical differences with the other members. There was more said, but I won't go in-depth publically unless band members do. Though the idea of a new singer was briefly explored, Dutch is looking to join a new band instead of fronting one, a concept he appears to have drifted away from. With the breakup, it looks like their concert at The Vibe Lounge next month is now cancelled, and coincidentally, Dutch's Knownaym solo project's page has also been deleted. Their MySpace page is still online, but knowing past trends of deleting pages to update new lineups, it might not be long for this world.
Despite numerous lineup changes and lengthy breaks, Browbeat (101)/Social Play were always a great and catchy hard rock band, and it was always fun seeing them live! Dutch had big plans for Browbeat, and it's too bad he's throwing in the towel, as there's definitely an audience for his solo work! I'd love to see him post some old Browbeat songs online just for archival sake, as he really is a good songwriter and musician, but who knows. I'll miss Browbeat, and I'd be there to see them if a reunion ever happened! Best of luck to Dutch, James, Johnny, and all former members in the future, we'll be watching!
The other newly broken up band is Sault Michigan metal quartet Hammerspace, which is also very surprising given their recent local prominence! Just a year after their MySpace page was launched, frontman John Bergeron announced on their Facebook page that the band was "dead in the water". He elaborated by saying that "everyone is moving on to different things right now" and a reunion may happen in the future when "all of our heads are on straight". This should shut the door on their planned April shows (sorry I never saw them until now), including their downstate concert in Topinabee. This is really surprising, especially with their frequent area concerts over the past few months, and they really seemed like a promising local band! I enjoyed their posted demos, no matter who was singing, and they seemed to have everything thought out for a successful local future, but hey, if life's getting in the way like it sounds, it's best to take care of that first. Hopefully Hammerspace reunite down the road, I know they'd pick up where they left off! Check out the above links for more from Hammerspace, and best of luck to John, Justin, Paul, Tim, and the other former members in the future!
How about we close with some good news for today? Best not to end this post on a down note, and we'll cap things off with Woods of Ypres! Part 3 of their Barrie tour vlog is now online, having been uploaded onto frontman David Gold's YouTube channel on Wednesday, and if you enjoyed the live concert clips from Part 2, then good news: There's much more here! Only the last 33 seconds of this video don't involve the concert itself in some fashion, so there's loads of performance footage to rock out to here! The last 30 seconds only really feature the band making it to their hotel post-concert, with more from there presumably starting their Toronto vlog when it's posted. Check it out below for over 9 minutes of new concert footage, and I have much more on Woods of Ypres to share in the near future!
That's all for tonight, but I'll see you tonight at one of the bars for a concert, still debating on which one. Stay tuned for my review tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
Hey guys, here's an assorted news post for your Monday, collecting a bunch of older news stories and some short notice LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so let's get this post up and running!
Marquette hard rockers Nudge are coming to The Satisfied Frog THIS WEEKEND! These shows are definitely more of a short notice announcement than we're used to, having not been included on their tour itinerary when I initially added their 2011 local dates to our concert listings, so make note of their return this Friday and Saturday! It should be noted as well that Nudge will be a three piece this weekend only, as guitarist Tim Prisk will be out of town, so this could be a more unique concert than you're used to. As is standard for Nudge's local stops, they'll be on at 10:00 PM both nights, there's no announced cover charge, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, check the Facebook event page! It's always nice to see Nudge back in Sault Michigan with their hard rock cover attack, even if it's short notice and minus one member, so make note of their return this weekend when plotting your concert schedules! Stay tuned for updates, or if none come, watch out for a preview of the concerts later in the week!
Next up, here's the latest from Frightlight! Firstly, I forgot to mention this, but new rhythm guitarist Kevin "St. Mayhem" Powe actually made his debut with the band at that "secret show" at Coch's Corner earlier this month that also featured Motion Carried. I won't detail too much else though, it was secret for a reason. Now, to the big story, as Frightlight (like Garden of Bedlam) are also attempting to make it on this year's Vans Warped Tour through the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands! Like before, your votes can help send Frightlight to the Warped Tour stop in Mississauga on July 15th, where they can compete for big prizes, but you know what's happily surprising? They actually have a ton of votes so far, 1,240 at last count! This puts them at 22nd overall for the Mississauga voting, just a little over 500 votes from the top 10! Nice to see their votes so high, hopefully this leads to some big things, even if they don't make it to the Warped Tour! I've voted, hopefully you guys do as well! Click here to vote, and if you haven't registered an account to vote with yet (it's free and painless), the site will follow you in the right direction. Also, you do need Internet Explorer to hear the posted audio tracks (which are all songs from the "It's A...Live!" EP), as the player won't load in Firefox. Check the above links for more, and get voting!
Next up, here's the latest lineup news from Caveman Morrison! The band has announced the addition of drummer Willie Bellerose to the band, replacing Johnny Belanger. I've actually known about Willie's addition to Caveman Morrison for a couple months now, but he wasn't added to the band's lineup on their Facebook group until recently, so I hadn't posted it here. Johnny played with Caveman Morrison briefly last fall after replacing Jeff Richards in the band. A reason for Johnny's departure wasn't given on band pages, but he actually left late last year shortly after his Browbeat bandmate Dutch Vanderploeg left, and I believe their departures have a connection. Best of luck to Johnny though, his current bands seem to be doing well! I don't know much about Willie's drumming background, but from conversations I've had with frontman Tym Morrison, he is a very good drummer, so we'll have to see how he sounds when the band returns! Caveman Morrison have yet to announce a new bassist publically though, I'll keep you posted on that front! Tym has a good ear for musicians, so hopefully the new lineup will deliver when they return to the local stage! When more comes in on their new bassist and/or next concerts, I'll let you all know!
Fourthly, here's some more new Woods of Ypres footage from their current East Coast tour! These comes from their New York City concert on Wednesday at The Bowery Electric, as uploaded by YouTube user shesblonde the very next day. Two videos were posted, including a full clip of the band playing "Everything I Touch Turns To Gold (Then To Cold)" and a short portion of "By The Time You Read This (I Will Already Be Dead)", so click on each link to check them out! The audio quality's actually really good, very clear, though the video is darker than the audio would suggest. Only the Madden brothers seem well lit, and Joel Violette isn't seen too often at all, but the audio quality makes up for it! The filmer's camera died during the latter video, so I'll embed "Everything I Touch Turns To Gold (Then To Cold)" below, so check it out, and stay tuned for more Woods of Ypres video footage and updates in our next news post!
And finally for today, here's a collection of the newest out of town concert dates for three local bands, in alphabetical order by band name! Firstly, local hardcore quintet As It Stands have announced a concert date on June 18th at The Sharon Hall in East Gwillimbury, which is a Toronto suburb, click here for more details! I also want to apologize for missing their show last week in Ottawa at Cafe Dekcuf, it completely slipped me by. Also, Sault Michigan's own Elipzis have announced a number of downstate concerts for the next few months, including shows in Grand Rapids & Muskegon in May, a weekend set in Mears in August, and most surprising of all, a show at a baseball park in August, where frontwoman Rachel Kiger will sing "The Star Spangled Banner"! Nice, I hope that goes well! Click here for info on all of their upcoming tour dates! And last but not least, Sault Michigan metal quartet Hammerspace will make their first ever out of town trip on April 27th when they head to Topinabee, Michigan for a show at Breakers Bar & Grill! Congratulations to them, hopefully this helps lead to bigger things for them as well! Click here for details, and check out the above links for news on all of these new out of town shows!
That's probably all for today. I have a lot of school work to get to, but I'll have more news and notes very soon, so stay tuned! Thanks everyone!
You know today will be our third straight day with two posts? Busy stretch, partly cause of special feature posts, and partly cause there's a lot of news lately! Just as a preview, tonight's news post (which will go up in the afternoon) features two major new concerts, a huge departure in a local hard rock band, the final addition to a notable upcoming concert, and that same band's newest member, so you'll wanna stay tuned for all of that! Now, to today's topics, as we mostly focus on previews of this weekend's metal and hard rock concerts, including one cancellation, but first, here's a SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!
Sault Michigan hard rockers River Witch are back with a concert taking place THIS SATURDAY! The local quintet that evolved from Blind Baby last summer will hit The Merchant's Bar on Saturday night to lay down some hard rock tunes for their local fans! Apologies for the short notice, these were only just announced last night, and recent show updates have been their only posted news on their Facebook page since November. This show has a 9:00 PM start time, it is 21+, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's nice to see River Witch back out there, I was wondering where they'd vanished to! I still don't know how they sound, but for more on them, check the above links, and if you need something to do this Saturday, The Merch isn't a bad place to be at all! While I'm on the subject, I've restored all 8 of River Witch's previously announced Rapids Lounge concerts to the SMS concert listings, as the band ARE playing next weekend at Kewadin Casino, despite the deletion of River Witch's concerts from Kewadin's entertainment page. This same thing happened with Monkey's Uncle's shows there, confirmed concerts were deleted but not cancelled. So they ARE on, but if I hear anything different, I'll let you guys know!
Let's stay in Sault Michigan for another show, as a recently prominent local metal band return to the stage TONIGHT for a St. Patrick's Day metal assault! Progressive metal quartet Hammerspace will return to one of their favourite stomping grounds, Zim's, for a night of hard hitting heavy metal for a Thursday night show! With lots of originals & covers in store and a lot of talent to go around, a trip to Zim's shouldn't be out of the question for you Michiganders tonight! This show has a listed 9:30 PM start time, you must be 21 to attend, and there is no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds good to me, hopefully they tear it up tomorrow! Check out the above links for more, especially to stream their original material, as I have yet to see videos of the band in action. Also, while we're on the Hammerspace subject, they'll make their first ever trip out of town for a concert on April 27th in Topinabee, Michigan in the Lower Peninsula, click here for more details!
We have two more Sault Michigan shows to talk about, but they're a bit later so we can keep a rough chronological order. Before I launch into the Sault Ontario metal shows, I want to note a cancellation, as Tym Morrison will NOT be playing at The Big Cheese tomorrow, or for the forseeable future. Tym told me that The Big Cheese had lost it's liquor license, which is connected to the cancellations, including any possible future dates there until it's re-licensed. That sucks, but you can see him next Friday at The Eagles Club though, so mark that on your calendars!
Now, to Sault Ontario shows, and first, a unique local hard rock band returns to the stage TONIGHT at the latest Roosevelt Hotel punk night! Fresh off their return to the stage last month at The Rosie, "the original crash band" Sykotyk Rampage will be back there to headline tonight's punk night, and are sure to leave an impression with their very original brand of music! Featuring almost two dozen albums in their discography, and a good sense of humour, you won't wanna miss them tomorrow night, and check them out at the above link for a sound like none other locally! Also on the bill: Montreal pop punk band Skepsis, a month after they originally planned to play here. Though not hard rock, they have a high energy punk sound that will be sure to win over some fans tomorrow night, and check their page linked above to give them a listen! Finally, cello punk rock trio RedD Monkey will open things with their own hard hitting brand of punk, with a classical twist, in a prelude to their massive 12 band all ages headlining concert next month! Sounds like a diverse and entertaining night of music, and all for no cover either! This concert will also be 19+, and everything starts at around 9:30 PM! For more details, visit the Facebook event page!
With Irish drinking songs planned, Sykotyk Rampage are bound to entertain along with the other bands tomorrow, and I'll be there! I'll have a review, photos, and a video up tomorrow night, so stay tuned for all that! For a preview, here's (fittingly for St. Patrick's Day) Sykotyk Rampage playing their signature song "Drinking On The Weekend" from last year!
Staying at The Roosevelt Hotel, the music keeps coming through Saturday, as Browbeat return there for their second weekend set of shows since their return last month! The local hard rock trio featuring some very talented local musicians will be back to lay down some of their entertaining originals and covers for the Rosie faithful tomorrow night & Saturday night! A 10:00 PM start time is listed, there will be no cover charge, and as always for The Rosie, you must be 19 to attend. For full details, visit the official Facebook event page! Dutch and the guys in Browbeat deserve more attention and fans than they have, especially with the work they've put in, so check them out and if you like them, make it out to see them this weekend! I hope to be there one of the two nights, likely Saturday, so keep an eye out in case I head back to the Rosie! Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Browbeat playing their original song "Days Gone By"!
Two more shows in Sault Ontario on the heavier side of things, and these are different shows in the long line of Turner Up concerts! Why? Because this time, they're going to have an opening band! Yes, before the classic hard rockers take the stage tomorrow night and Saturday night at The Rockstar Bar, they will be opened up by local progressive rock quartet Machines Dream, featuring bassist/keyboardist Brian Holmes of Gates of Winter fame! Interesting mix of styles, but both bands are quite talented, and hopefully the Turner Up faithful will respond well to Machines Dream! Of course, Turner Up themselves will have loads of classic and newer covers that get heavier as the night goes on, so make sure you get ready for them as well! Everything starts at 10:00 PM tomorrow night and Saturday night, there is no announced cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! These concerts should be fun, especially with the double band appeal, so make it out for some great live rock music if you can! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's Turner Up covering Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone" at The Rockstar Bar two months ago!
Finally, we close today's preview post back in Sault Michigan, where a frequent local sight returns from Cheboygan to rock out for their Saultite fans! Yes, rising hard rockers The Darwin Project will roll through The Satisfied Frog this weekend for a pair of high energy rock shows tomorrow night & Saturday night! Like their usual local concerts, both shows will have 9:30 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no announced cover charge. For more details, as always, visit the Facebook event page! If you miss them this weekend, they'll be back at Kewadin Casino in two weeks, luckily, but go see them tomorrow or Saturday if you can! They always deliver an entertaining show full of their very good hard rock tracks, and with a new CD out to purchase, now's better than ever to see The Darwin Project live! Check the above links for more, and here's one last preview video, of The Darwin Project playing their original song "Do You Want It?"
That's all for now, but I have a huge post coming this afternoon, as I outlined at the start of this post, so stay tuned for that later today! Thanks everyone, and I'll see you guys at The Rosie tonight!
Anyone want some more local metal news and updates? I've got you covered with another post full of some newer stories, including some band removals from an upcoming concert, the newest video from a local band, and a pair of new demos, and three LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS! But before all that, if you guys have heard anything about a secret show tonight, you won't hear it from me. If Motion Carried areplaying tonight at Coch's Corner after 10:00 PM, I've heard noooothing official.... hint hint. So if there is a secret show tonight, you didn't hear it from me! Now, to the non-secret new shows!
Sault Michigan progressive metal quartet Hammerspace have announced their next concert, to take place one week from Thursday! This show will take place at one of their favourite local stops, Zim's on Ashmun Street, on March 17th at 9:30 PM! This should have a 21+ age limit, and there's no announced cover charge. The band are hyping their setlist as being original with a few covers thrown in, which is cool, make sure to check out their page linked above to hear some of their demos! For more details, visit their official Facebook event page! Nice to see them back out there, and the pictures I've seen from their last few Zim's concerts look cool! Zim's itself has a nice design from what I can see, hopefully the concert itself goes well itself! Stay tuned for more on Hammerspace as news comes in!
Meanwhile, that same weekend, Sault Ontario hard rockers Browbeat are back at The Roosevelt Hotel a month after their current lineup's live debut! The band officially announced on their Facebook page this afternoon that they will rock The Rosie on March 18th and 19th for a pair of weekend concerts! Now, the entry on SooToday's "What's Happening" event listing on their entertainment page says that Browbeat are playing there in exactly one week, but that's just a simple mistake, so don't head to The Rosie on Tuesday expecting Browbeat! Both of next weekend's shows have 10:00 PM start times (or later), there's no cover charge, and both are 19+ shows. Check the above links for more details! I regrettably missed Browbeat's return last month during my cold, but I have a hunch that I'll be there next weekend to check them out again! Hopefully the bookings pick up too, they deserve more! If more comes in, I'll have it here!
Thirdly tonight, how's about some new demos from a pair of local bands? I know of two new ones you guys should check out, so let's start in alphabetical order with Brimley hard rockers Half A Man! This got delayed a lot by other stories, but I'm finally giving it due credit, and it's the demo of Half A Man's newest song "Bad Way"! It's unfinished with no guitar solo yet, but it's well produced and pretty heavy! I think when it's finished, it will be one of Half A Man's better songs, it's hard hitting and makes good use of the band's talents! As it's no longer a front page story, click here to visit their Facebook info page, which features their posted songs to hear it! Good stuff! The other new demo is from Sault Ontario death metal quartet State of Misery, in what is their first posted audio track since their inception! Entitled "Devils Never Cry Cry, They Bleed", it's now posted and available to stream on their new Reverbnation page! I've heard they've wanted to get a demo CD started for a bit now, and this would be a good addition, though the production could use a boost. It's very heavy though, and the band sound in top form musically! Death metal fans will wanna check it out, see what you think! Check the links above for more on both bands!
Fourthly, here's the latest news on the massive April 9th all ages concert featuring 12 bands at The Oddfellows Hall! Now called "The Sewer Swampstravaganza", the lineup has taken a hit with the exit of two of the announced bands. One is local experimental grunge trio SBD, who dropped off of the show due to personal reasons. I won't go into detail why here, but it involves commitments for a band member that will keep them from performing. The other exited band is planned co-headliners The Fury, because frontman Paul Stanghetta will be out of town when the show takes place. It's a shame that both bands are out, but hey, hopefully quality replacements are found! This leaves the 6:45-7:30 PM and 10:30-11:15 PM slots open for new bands (I assume), though further lineup shuffling could happen for all we know. Click here to message concert organizers if you are interested in joining this concert! Note that Bring The Fallen are still scheduled to take part, but their status as an active band is still in question. If I hear anything on that front, I'll let you know! Fingers crossed for the lineup as a whole, but no matter what, this will be a huge show with tons of local rock talent, and hopefully you guys will be there! Stay tuned for updates, thanks to Dann Pichette and Steve Mozarowski for some of the above information, and click the above links for more details!
And finally, here's the latest video footage of Sault Michigan hard rockers Elipzis! Earlier this month, they played some concerts in the Grand Rapids area, and while down there, they stopped by Fox 17 in Grand Rapids on what looks like their morning show (am I wrong?) for an interview and acoustic performance! Frontwoman Rachel Kiger talked about where they were from, their plans for a new album this fall, the accomplishments they've made in just eight months together, what it was like opening for major bands, their writing process, and more! I'm surprised Ryan Harrison and Chris Webster didn't chime in more, but Rachel handled everything well! Then, the three of them (drummer Bob Helsten was absent) played an acoustic version of their song "Freedom", and they pulled it off pretty good, it translates well to an unplugged format! Rachel's singing is great, but the lack of drums does hurt the performance a tiny bit. Well shot and performed, you can check out Elipzis' Fox 17 interview and performance below, and thanks to YouTube user baileyboy321 for the upload! (If you want to skip to just the song, start the video two minutes in.)
That's all for today, but I have more news to share tomorrow, including our next weekly classic video and more! Thanks everyone!
Here's a long post for your Thursday, and our first of two today before we unveil our next special feature post! Today, we'll mostly devote our time to previewing the local metal and hard rock concerts taking place between tonight and Sunday, to go over what you should know for your concertgoing this weekend! I don't know how many of these (if any) I can attend, given that my cold is still hanging on, and I don't want to annoy people with persistent coughing, but time will tell! Remember that the planned all ages show featuring As It Stands and Changing Waves and headlining out of town pop rock bands has been cancelled, so that's why it's not featured below. But before we get to the previews, here's some short notice LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!
Motion Carried, the new hard rock trio featuring local music scene veterans Justin Langlois, Jamie Whalen, and Rick White, will be playing a short notice concert TOMORROW NIGHT at Foggy Notions! This will be their first "standard" concert following last weekend's gig at The Grand Theater after The Vagina Monologues, and it was only just confirmed on Facebook this morning. No other bands are scheduled for this show, which has a 10:30 PM start time, a 19+ age limit, and no announced cover charge. Motion Carried have no posted audio yet, but if I were a betting man, I'd assume their sound would be similar to a heavier version of The Scary Uncles, but I can't say for certain. There's lots of talent to go around though, and I imagine they'll put in a fun night of music tomorrow! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and I'll have more on Motion Carried as it comes in! Remember, this show is TOMORROW at Foggy's!
The other new shows I have today I literally JUST found out about. I was going to alert you guys on Facebook to this finished post, but when I flipped back to Facebook, here they were, new shows, so here's what you should know on them! Sault Michigan hard rockers Splitshot are playing at The Bird TOMORROW NIGHT & SATURDAY NIGHT! The band literally just announced the shows on their Facebook page at 5:24 PM, so their short notice status is exactly that. Both shows have 10:00 PM start times, 21+ age limits, and no cover charges for both of their shows this weekend. Sounds good! Remember, Splitshot is the new band featuring half of the former Nixxon Dixxon lineup, so you know they have sufficient talent! I still haven't heard or seen anything by them yet, but I believe they'll have a set full of classic hard rock and metal covers in store, likely similar to old Nixxon Dixxon setlists. If I hear more on them, I'll let you know, but get a glimpse of Splitshot in action by heading to The Bird tomorrow or Saturday night! Good luck to them, and apologies for the short notice again!
Now to our previews for shows we knew about beforehand, and we'll first head to The Roosevelt Hotel, where they bring you the latest metal night at The Rosie! Three more young local metal bands are back TONIGHT to devastate the crowd, including a band each from the last metal and punk nights there, and one new entry! Tonight's headliners are The Bear Hunters, who opened the last metal night two weeks ago. Look for a hard hitting blend of melodic death metal (and maybe some "Squirrel Buddy") from this fast rising young group! Playing support tonight is Shit Liver, fresh off last week's punk night at The Rosie! Their unique sound that mixes grimy crusty punk and death metal will be sure to turn heads as it always seems to do in concert, so be prepared for them! Opening tonight's show are local hardcore quintet Changing Waves, in their first ever 19+ concert. Despite the cancellation of their Oddfellows Hall show, you can see them rock out tonight at The Rosie, as they continue to make a name for themselves in the local scene! Solid and very talented hardcore band, watch out for them going forward!
Like all past metal nights, this show should have a 19+ age limit, no cover charge, and a 9:30 PM start time. For more details, click here! Sounds good, hopefully I'm feeling up to coming out for this one! Colds suck, I don't recommend catching one. Still, it's gonna rock, so make it out if you can! For a preview, here's The Bear Hunters playing, what else? "Squirrel Buddy"!
Next up, we'll head to Heyden for Tym Morrison's latest solo acoustic concert! With his weekly concert arrangements now taking place bi-weekly at two sort of far off concert spots, you'll likely need to make a bit of a trip to check out his solo shows, but trust me, they're worth the drive! Tomorrow night, Tym returns to The Big Cheese for a night of acoustic solo covers that will be sure to impress, and should help tide fans over while we wait for Caveman Morrison's return! So head on out to The Big Cheese on Highway 17 North tonight around 10:00 PM to enjoy some live music! I believe this is a 19+ show, and there's no announced cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a good concert, and really, what's an unplugged concert gonna hurt? It'll still rock, just go out and see! For a preview, here's Tym covering Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" last year at Foggy Notions!
Now we'll head to The Rockstar Bar for a weekend set from a frequently seen local band! Turner Up are back to deliver some classic hard rock to their fans tomorrow night and Saturday night! A constant presence at many local bars and concert spots, these talented local music veterans will be sure to entertain with their diverse setlist of classic hard rock covers that get heavier as the night progresses! As is standard for a Turner Up concert weekend, they'll be on at 10:30 PM on both nights, you must be 19 to enter, and there's no listed cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a good concert weekend as always, hopefully Turner Up "turn up" the dial and get the crowd going all night long! Check the above links for more details, and for a video preview, here's Turner Up covering Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone"!
On the subject of bands playing a full weekend, let's head back to The Roosevelt Hotel, where local hard rock trio Browbeat make their long awaited return to the local stage! They'll be at The Rosie tomorrow night and Saturday night in what amount to their first concerts in four months! These will also be their debut shows with new drummer Johnny Belanger, who replaced Rick White behind the drumkit late last year, and add to a busy weekend of three concerts that Johnny's playing at The Rosie this weekend! (He drums for The Bear Hunters tonight as well.) It's been a while for them, but the videos we've seen show promise for their chemistry and overall sound! Get more details at the official Facebook event page, but disregard the lack of a listed Saturday show, they'll be there that night too! It's great to see Browbeat back, especially with the work and effort that Dutch and company have put in to get back on stage, and they should knock it out of the park this weekend! If health permits, I hope to be at The Rosie on Friday night, but time will tell! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's Browbeat's current lineup playing their original song "Days Gone By"!
Now to the Saturday night concerts, and there's a pair of high profile shows taking place that night in Sault Ontario, and we'll start at Foggy Notions! That night promises a great mix of punk and metal featuring two hard hitting local bands and an out of town band with a local connection! The headliners are Toronto punk/metal quintet Maximum RNR, who currently feature Sault Ontario native Brenton Ellis (a.k.a. Diamond Brent Panther) on vocals! I believe this is his first local concert appearance since his last local show with Detroit in December 2009, and if you miss Detroit, I bet you you'll like Maximum RNR's sound! I'll elaborate more on Maximum RNR as a whole in TONIGHT'S Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on them, so stay tuned for that! The opening bands include local horror punk metal band Frightlight and old school hardcore outfit Destroilet, both of which are making their first live concert appearances of the new year! Great to see them back out there, they'll impress with their punk/metal hybrid sounds as well, but believe me, all three bands have their own unique styles! Doors open at 10:00 PM, there is a $3 cover charge, and you must be 19 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!
This should be a great high energy concert featuring lots of local talent, and I sense some moshpits and lots of beer will be had! If I'm better by Saturday, I'll definitely be at Foggy's for this show! For a video preview, I couldn't find any decent videos of Maximum RNR live with Brent singing, but if you like short fast paced hardcore punk songs, you'll enjoy them! Check their Reverbnation page out to hear some of their originals and see what you think! The ones without Gymbo Jak on vocals will likely be closer in line to what you should hear on Saturday!
One more Sault Ontario hard rock concert this weekend, and if you love tribute bands and classic metal from the 1980s, then take note of this show! On Saturday night at The Canadian Nightclub, 5150: Tribute To Van Halen will take the stage to lay down some Van Halen classics for the fans who come out! And before anyone asks, they do David Lee Roth AND Sammy Hagar era material, so all bases are covered! Frontman Steve Stanley isn't a dead ringer for either VH frontman, but he pulls off both very well, and that's hopefully good enough! Plus, 5150 features members of some locally familiar tribute bands like Gunz N' FN' Rosez, Destroyer, and Second Coming, so you know they have the chops! This show will have a 10:00 PM start time on Saturday night, I imagine there will be a cover charge of $5 or less, and you must be 19 to attend. For full details, click here! If you're a Van Halen fan, no matter which era, you should definitely head out to The Canadian on Saturday night! You won't be sorry, these guys are good! I imagine the vocals could be a sticking point, but hearing a carbon copy of David or Sammy might compromise the setlist. The whole band is really good, try to check 5150 out this weekend! For a preview, here's a 5150 promotional video featuring clips of many of their live Van Halen renditions!
We'll finish today's extra long preview post across the river, where a couple more shows that I know of are taking place that should interest you heavy music lovers! One will take place in nearby Rudyard, Michigan on Saturday night, as Cheboygan hard rockers The Darwin Project return to the area for a show at Joe's Bar on West Main Street! With no shows in Sault Michigan itself announced until April, you might want to head out to Rudyard tonight just in case. They've been growing in profile in recent months, and I heard they recently released a CD and got some radio press on Real Rock 105.1 (which picks up locally on better radios), so they've gotta be riding high right now! This show has a 10:00 PM start time, no announced cover charge, and a 21+ age limit. For more details, check the official Facebook event page! Their brand of radio hard rock has won them lots of fans, and rightfully so, and you'll be glad you saw them if you make it to Rudyard on Saturday! Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's The Darwin Project playing their song "The Dark" in Traverse City last month!
Finally, Sault Michigan metal quartet Hammerspace return to the stage on Saturday night just one week after rocking Zim's! This week though, they'll be at The Merchant's Bar for a night of metal mayhem! Details on this show have been scant, but there are no additional bands, it is 21+, I'd expect a 10:00 PM start time, and there's no announced cover charge. This is their third concert since they re-emerged as a four piece following some short lived runs with a standalone frontman, and I have heard good things about them on the whole as well! They have a good grasp of their progressive metal covers, and they should deliver a good night of music on Saturday! For more details, click the above links and The Merch's event page for this show, and visit their Reverbnation page for some newer instrumental demos of the songs you're likely to hear on Saturday! No videos yet that I know of, but when some pop up, I'll let you guys know!
That's all for now, hopefully you guys can hit some of these shows! Health permitting, I hope to be at some this weekend, but if I can't, I'll send my best regards, and make sure you guys get out this weekend yourselves! Stay tuned TONIGHT for our newest Saultites in Out Of Town Bands Profile on Maximum RNR, and of course, our new poll and my review of "...Bad Things Come In Threes" tomorrow if possible! Thanks everyone!
LikeKissingBricks
Info/Analysis: Originally described as "an instrumental bass/keys/drums project" on his former PureVolume page, Andrew MacDonald had used the LikeKissingBricks moniker for solo pursuits from 2003-2004, complete with a demo cassette EP named "Rainy Days". Andrew revived it in late 2016 as "a rough demo recording project" (sans keyboard) on 4 track tapes, though LikeKissingBricks quietly fell inactive by last year. The demo and 3 newer songs can be streamed on his Bandcamp page, which showcase his bass and drum skills nicely, though the lack of guitar is noticeable sometimes, and the "Rainy Days" demo's recording quality is muddy. There's more of a punk bite to the newer demos, and while they admittedly feel more like songs in progress, LikeKissingBricks had promise, and hopefully Andrew revisits them in the future! Here's "Dunhills & Codeine" from his demo!
