Battle Of The Bands Rewind Mini-Series: The Sault College/Scotties Tournament Of Hearts Battle Of The Bands

It's Friday, so it's time for our sixth of seven initial entries in our Battle of the Bands Rewind Mini-Series! We're nearing the end of this series' first run with one of two 2010 battles of the bands in Sault Ontario, and this one had a familiar lineup of local talent, with a notable sports event behind it all, so what went down? Who won? Where are the bands now? Find out below, and if you have any additions or corrections to improve this post, please let me know! (Updated on January 28th, 2016)
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The Sault College/Scotties Tournament of Hearts Battle of the Bands (February 3rd, 2010)

Background: Sault College, in cooperation with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, joined forces to put on a battle of the bands on February 3rd, 2010 as part of the annual Canadian women's curling championship's festivities when Sault Ste. Marie hosted it that year. Auditions for the battle took place privately at Sault College's former bar The Outback on January 21st, 2010, after which four bands were selected to compete at the battle, which was held at The HeartStop Lounge inside The Soo Curlers Association's building on Anita Boulevard. Only bands with a Sault College student in their lineup were allowed to audition. At the battle itself, the competing bands received a half hour to play their material, after which prizes were awarded to the top 3 bands, though judging criteria wasn't explicitly posted online.

Prizes: The first place band walked away with $750 and the right to play an encore set that night, with $500 going to second place, and the third place band winning $150. Prize money was donated by the Scotties Tournament organizers, with the battle itself charging free admission.

Competitors: The four competing bands came from a wide array of genres, including folk rock standouts Blackwater, classic rockers Middle of Nowhere, indie punk quartet Nebraska Arms, and "blue Chinese metal crash punk" band Sykotyk Rampage. Notably, each of these bands (except Blackwater) had competed in the Kiss Battle of the Bands at The Canadian Nightclub two months before this event, where Nebraska Arms was the only band of the three to make the finals. Bands that auditioned for this battle were not publically revealed, adding to the audition's private nature.

Results: In the end, Blackwater pulled out the victory at this battle of the bands, with Nebraska Arms coming in a close second place. Sykotyk Rampage scored a solid third place finish, with Middle of Nowhere ending up in fourth place.

Aftermath: Blackwater continued to play numerous concerts and events in the Sault area through mid 2010, and though they're now inactive, frontman Cody McMillan still plays Blackwater material & sells their self-titled CD at his solo concerts, even holding a CD release party for it and his later solo releases in September 2012. Sykotyk Rampage remain a prolific and unique sight on the local scene, recording dozens of original new albums, and continuing to play scattered concerts in the area, while Nebraska Arms and Middle of Nowhere both quietly went inactive later on in 2010.

Some Notable Performers' Newer Bands (Metal/hard rock in italics):

Aggressive Acoustic (Brian Cattapan from Sykotyk Rampage; Based out of Sudbury)
The Business Suit Trappers (Guy Thiffault & Adam Sauve from Nebraska Arms)
Cody McMillan (Cody McMillan from Blackwater; Based out of Toronto)
Fusion (Lino D'Orazio from Middle of Nowhere)
The Mark Rand Band (Guy Thiffault & Dave Prendergast from Nebraska Arms)
The Moves (Cody McMillan & Dave Pihlaja from Blackwater)
Northwest (Wayne Watkins from Nebraska Arms)
The Small Town Rivals (Wayne Watkins from Nebraska Arms)
The Soft Shoe Shufflers (Cody McMillan & Dave Pihlaja from Blackwater)
The Strange Coyotes (James Watterworth from Blackwater)

Trivia:

• This battle of the bands was notable for it's high production values compared to other recent battles in the Sault area. This was especially evident by the presence of giant video screens on each side of the stage, which shown professionally filmed footage of each band's set as it happened. The bands received some of their footage from their sets after the fact, which Sykotyk Rampage edited to create some new music videos on their YouTube channel.
• Sykotyk Rampage put in the extra effort to drum up crowd support at this battle, including making many posters for fans to hold up in the crowd, and giving away free t-shirts in paper bags that lined the stage during their song "Bag On Your Face".
• With their second place finish, Nebraska Arms members Wayne Watkins & Adam Sauve ensured that they would either make the finals or win an award at a local battle of the bands in three consecutive years. They previously made the finals of the Skid Row Battle in March 2008 (as members of The Blockade), and the finals of the Kiss Battle with Nebraska Arms in December 2009, with the three battles taking place within a 2 year span.
• Sykotyk Rampage returned to another local battle of the bands, this time hosted by the Sault Humane Society, on April 20th, 2012 at The Grand Theater. However, they didn't compete at the event, serving instead as an opening band. Cody McMillan and Dave Pihlaja from Blackwater were scheduled to compete at the same battle with their newer blues rock band The Moves, but they quietly pulled out of the event due to external commitments.
• Sykotyk Rampage (now featuring ex-The Fury bassist Tony Briglio in place of Brian Cattapan) returned to competing at a battle of the bands at April 2013's Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands, though they did not see the same success, finishing in third out of three bands in their April 17th semifinal, and missing the next week's final round.
• Nebraska Arms bassist Wayne Watkins repeated his second place finish at Viva La Battle at The Canadian Nightclub on November 13th, 2013, when he scored another runner-up placement with his newer indie/punk quintet Northwest, albeit as their singer & guitarist.

Videos:
Sykotyk Rampage video from The Sault Metal Scene
Three Sykotyk Rampage videos from their YouTube channel



Sources/More Info:
The Facebook event page for the battle auditions
The Facebook event page for the battle itself
Pre-audition coverage from The Sault Star
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We're almost done this series' initial run, as next Friday's profile of the Downtown Showdown battle from May 2010 will close up the seven weeks of looks back at recent battles of the bands! Then, of course, the Sault Humane Society Battle rocks The Grand Theater on April 20th, so there's lots of band battling action to come, so stay tuned for all of that, and keep an eye out later today or early tomorrow for our Ypres Metal Fest preview and more news! Thanks everyone!

Sykotyk Rampage/Scotties Battle Review And Weekend Concert Previews

The posts just keep piling on to kick off February, and we have a packed one today! We have previews for all SEVEN metal shows in the Sault area this weekend, but first, it's time to review/recap what happened at last night's Sault College/Scotties Tournament of Hearts Battle of the Bands! (Remember to check out my out of town bands with Saultites profile from yesterday, featuring Papa Fogals Chair and The Sexual Vigilantes, which is immediately below this post!)

Firstly, I should comment on the venue and atmosphere of the battle, seeing as this is a venue that isn't used often for concerts. I hadn't been to the Soo Curlers Association Rink since 2003 for a class field trip, so I had no idea what to expect. Once inside, The HeartStop Lounge was straightforward to get to, which is nice! The lounge has a clear divide in sections, the left area had the stage and general concertgoers, the right side had tables and was mostly populated by curlers and curling fans rather than those there specifically for the battle.

The Scotties Tournament people sure got everything spiced up inside, with food and beer tokens for sale, a beer cart with draws, a HUGE blow-up Alexander Keith's can, and other curling/alcohol related things to draw people's attention! But what struck me most from the concert-goers perspective was the fact that A. They were filming the bands, and B. We saw the results of said filming in real-time on VIDEO SCREENS on each side of the stage! There was even video effects to boot! I don't know if the videos will be used for anything else, or if the screens are a permanent feature at the lounge, but it was awesome and gave everything a professional feel! (The picture has Sykotyk Rampage singer/drummer Paul Becker on the big screen.) I wonder if The HeartStop Lounge will start booking some heavier bands again in the future?

Even though the battle supposedly started at 10:00, the first band, Blackwater, had already begun. Just a touch early, no worries! Of the four competing bands, Blackwater were the only ones I had never seen live before, mostly because they were out of my genre range. But for what they play, they were quite good! Of course, it's not my cup of tea, but they are quite talented! They have kind of a folk/blues rock style, which doesn't seem to fit guys of their younger age, but they pulled it off! Is Neil Young accurate to give a sound comparison to? I didn't recognize anyone in Blackwater from other groups I know, but then again, it's not something I listen to every day either. Nice on-stage banter, good musical quality for their style, they definitely looked like possible favourites to win!

They were followed by Middle of Nowhere, who weren't bad! Solid classic rock sound, though the reception from the crowd wasn't as good as it was at the Kiss battle. Sergio Palumbo sang pretty good, the band were probably better to me than the crowd thought! However, their set was underwhelming, and I'll tell you why: They only played 3 songs, when they had a 30 minute time limit. They could have played another 20 minutes or so, but nope, 3 and done. I found that odd, but hey, what can you do? Not bad regardless! Nebraska Arms (pictured) followed them and played a very energetic set of their brand of indie rock! This if the fourth or fifth time I've seen them live, and their on-stage activity and energy still impresses me! Lots of good dynamics in their songs, and Guy Thiffault continued with some amusing on-stage banter! Yet, like Blackwater, their style isn't something I listen to a lot. But they were as impressive as ever for their style, their live shows are quite entertaining, so check them out if you're an indie rock fan!

Fittingly capping the night was the only competing metal band, the original crash band themselves, Sykotyk Rampage! And in terms of entertainment, they deserved to win! They reeled off lots of classics like "Treating You Bad", "Called In Dead", and "Drinking On The Weekend", as well as some newer material like "Lit'le Crocochild" and more! Paul Becker sang in his own entertaingly unique way (while drumming good simultaneously), while the guys up front were also quite good! Shane Kokis and Dirk Becker played very nicely on guitar, Dirk had a lot of energy to boot! Same for Brian Cattapan, his basslines was quite clear and well performed! From a musical standpoint, they were great to get the crowd going, with some girls and guys alike dancing! Heavy but danceable, it works! I may be biased as a metalhead, but I'm a big fan, but I admit they will be polarizing to some. Just have a drink, let loose, and have a good time with these guys!

Aside from the musical aspect, Sykotyk Rampage were pulling out all the stops to win the fan interaction vote and be as entertaining as possible, and it worked very well! The band had paper bags to throw the crowd, each of which had a band t-shirt! Dirk channeled Jeremy Salatuk from the Kiss battle and SMASHED HIS GUITAR, then sang one song sans guitar while almost going nuts on stage with his antics, which was cool! The band interacted with us a lot, joking around and dancing and having fun, and the crowd responded properly! In fact, many of us had Sykotyk Rampage posters to show our support with, thanks to Jen Crouthers for making them! I'm putting my "Self Indulgent Nympho" one in my room! Fans even ran to the front of the stage to show their signs! If the battle was by fan support, Sykotyk Rampage would have won hands down, and I'm not being facetious in saying that! On sheer entertainment value, they were my pick to win it all!

After Sykotyk Rampage wrapped up their set, we waited to see who'd leave with the big money. When the MC came up to the stage to announce the top 3, we were all ears! So, here are the results!

1st place: Blackwater
2nd place: Nebraska Arms
3rd place: Sykotyk Rampage
4th place: Middle of Nowhere

Although I'd have loved to have seen Sykotyk Rampage pull off the upset, I figured Blackwater or Nebraska Arms would be more likely to win the judges over. No worries though, all bands did good, even Middle of Nowhere, who might have gotten a lesser result than I would have thought. Blackwater left with the $750 top prize and got to play an encore set at the end of the night! Nebraska Arms won $500, and Sykotyk Rampage left with the $150 third prize! Overall, it was a fun concert, not the heaviest show I've ever been to, but musically it was top notch! Sykotyk Rampage stole the show, and I'm not just being metal-biased, they really did! Check out my photos of Sykotyk Rampage's set at this location, or visit the SMS Facebook page to see them there too! Here's the video I filmed at the show, Sykotyk Rampage playing their song "Treating You Bad"!



Now, it's Thursday, as we're anticipating the weekend's slate of concerts! Seven on tap this weekend, unusually busy but hey, it's all good! Let's start in Sault Michigan where a band plays three times this weekend!

Marquette Michigan hard rockers Nudge return to The Satisfied Frog TONIGHT, tomorrow night, and Saturday night for a triple-header of great music! As has been the standard for recent Nudge shows in Sault Michigan, Nudge's Thursday show (that's tonight) will be a "Nudge-coustic" set, so prepare to mellow out to some unplugged rock n' roll! If you're looking for electric instruments and heaviness, head to The Frog tomorrow or Saturday! All three shows are pegged to start at 10:00 PM, there has been no announced cover charge. These are Nudge's only scheduled dates for Sault Michigan in 2010, with bookings at various other places scheduled for much of the year. I don't know when they'll be back, so if you want to hear some solid hard rock, go to The Frog this weekend! Should be some great shows, too bad I'm not of age to see them yet at American bars though. Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page! No audio on their MySpace, but I have video of these guys finally to share, so check out this live clip of Nudge covering the Ozzy Osbourne classic "Bark At The Moon"!



Now we'll head back to Sault Ontario for the other four concerts this weekend, and kicking things off tomorrow night, in the first of a two night stint at Foggy Notions, is Half Past! The local hard rock quartet will play their first concerts since the Frightlight Halloween show at Coch's Corner! There will be a cover charge of $2, they should be starting at around 10:30 PM! Confirm your attendance at the official Facebook event page! I'll tell you this much, I will be at Foggy's tomorrow for the Friday portion of their weekend double shot! I haven't seen what is now Half Past since 2008, having been out of town over Halloween. Hopefully I'm not cursed out of seeing them like I have been lately for Sense of Truth shows, but I digress. This should be a fun show, for a preview, here's a video of Half Past playing their original song "Dead Again" at a 2009 jam session! And check out more from Half Past on their Facebook page!



So we have Half Past Saturday at Foggy's, but if you're looking for a band to go see that night, you have choices! Two other metal bands are rocking local bars on Saturday night, and we'll start with Caveman Morrison! Yes, the local metal cover band are back at The Rockstar Bar on February 6th for another good long night of your favourite songs by one of the Sault's most frequently seen bands of recent months! They're also on at 10:00, and there is no cover charge! Confirm your attendance at the Facebook event page! Caveman Morrison put on a great show every time they play, and they're bound to know songs you really like, so throw out a request! Hopefully Tym and company get a good crowd! For a preview of what to expect, check out some audio and video at their official website, and this video of Caveman Morrison covering the Metallica classic "Seek and Destroy"!



And finally for this weekend, Ultraviolence are BACK! Not even a month after they rocked Coch's Corner at a show I'm STILL bitter about missing, they will be headlining a Scotties Tournament of Hearts wrap party at Coch's Corner! A start time of 10:25 PM is listed for this show, which will also be Saturday night. No cover charge is listed. I never expected to see Ultraviolence back so soon, but the Sault could always use more filthy drunk n' roll, so it's just fine by me! If you like AC/DC, this is up your alley! If it wasn't for UFC 109 (Go Mark Coleman!), I'd be there, but regardless, it will be an awesome concert! Hopefully you guys spread out equally to the three Saturday shows and make them all successful! Confirm your attendance for the show at the Facebook event page, check out UV on MySpace, and for a preview, here's Ultraviolence playing "Big Ol' Swig" at a show last year!



I know I promised to talk about Quite Frankly's new singer, but it would get lost in the shuffle of this post if I did now, so I'm gonna hold off on that until my next post, which will likely be tomorrow. Stay tuned for that, news on the other band on the Pop Evil show later this month, and more at some point tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Sykotyk Rampage Concert Preview, Woods Of Ypres Updates, And More!

Good afternoon metalheads! Hope you guys enjoyed my review of "Brace For Impact" by Detroit yesterday! If you haven't read it, it's the post immediately below this one! Next review is in just under 4 weeks when I finally take a look at the newest album from Sykotyk Rampage, who return to the live scene tomorrow for this concert we're going to preview! Stay tuned afterwards for more assorted news stories!

Tomorrow night, Sault College, in association with this year's Scotties Tournament Of Hearts, are holding a Battle of the Bands as part of the festivities for the tournament! As you may remember, private auditions were held on January 21st at The Outback at Sault College, where local bands with at least one Sault College student competed to fill one of four spots for this battle, the first local one since the Kiss battle in December! Each band will play a half hour of music, and when all is said and done, the first place band will leave $750 richer! Second place wins $500 and third gets $150. As I hinted above, Sykotyk Rampage are one of the four bands competing tomorrow night, in their first live performance of more than two songs since October at The Outback! Bringing their unique brand of hard rock to the masses once again, Sykotyk Rampage are the only metal act on the lineup tomorrow night, though there's no shortage of talent! The other bands are, in alphabetical order: local classic rockers Blackwater, local rock band Middle of Nowhere, and indie rockers Nebraska Arms! Though not metal, all three bands have large fanbases and should put in great performances tomorrow night!

Admission is FREE to all area post-secondary students, so bring your Sault College, Algoma, or LSSU IDs tomorrow night! Guests are welcome if accompanied by a student. I don't know if there's an admission price for non-students without guests, they haven't said if there is or if it's restricted. Doors open at 8:00 PM, the battle commences at around 10:00 PM! The battle will be held at The Heartstop Lounge, which is the bar/lounge area in The Soo Curlers Association Curling Rink on Anita Boulevard (on Northern Avenue past Alexander Henry Collegiate.) It is 19+, so make sure to be of age! It's great to see another battle to give local bands a chance to show their stuff, even if only four bands are competing. One might look to the Kiss Battle results to predict a winner, as Nebraska Arms were finalists, while Sykotyk Rampage and Middle of Nowhere were not, but this is a whole new ball game! Don't count Blackwater out either!

And of course, being a metalhead, it's great to see Sykotyk Rampage back on the scene! Will we hear songs from "22"? Who knows, but it will be another fun set from these guys! I'll be there, best of luck to them and all the bands! To preview what to expect, head to their Soundclick page to hear hundreds of songs from their back catalog! And here's a video for one of their signature songs, "Drinking On The Weekend"!



While we're on the subject of videos, here's two that will interest Woods of Ypres fans on a more lighthearted level! Both come courtesy of frontman David Gold's YouTube channel. Firstly, he uploaded a video where he shows where he's storing the ideas for the band's next album, "Woods V"! I won't spoil anything, just watch it. Is this how all bands come up with song ideas?



Keeping with the kinda offbeat tone, here's the other video! Have you ever thought to yourself "I wish washing my car was more metal?" Here's how to make it metal: Put Woods of Ypres decals on your car and blast "The Northern Cold" while you run it through an automatic car wash! And boom, even the car wash becomes a headbangable exercise! Check it out!



Next up, some local music forum related updates. If you're a casual viewer of The705Scene forums, and you noticed that the forum selections aren't popping up, you're not alone. Looks like admins are disabling casual views of the forum at present, so if you want to read without posting, you're gonna need an account. Luckily I have one, so it won't impact any news from The705Scene still making it to the SMS as I hear it! Just figured those of you without accounts might want to know. The other updates come from the new forum for local metallers Caveman Morrison! Lots of activity and new topics there, among the more noteworthy ones: Caveman Morrison are available for special gatherings and parties, they've been trying to get bookings in St. Joseph Island, and they are learning songs from bands like Slayer, Living Colour, and Kiss! Check everything out, and join the discussions, at this location!

Two more quick topics to get to today. Remember when I mentioned that Nixxon Dixxon's weekend dates at the end of the month at Kewadin Casino conflicted with concerts already scheduled featuring Peril? Well, something did indeed give, as Peril moved that weekend's shows to Kewadin Casino in St. Ignace. But if you were hoping to see Peril that weekend, don't worry, they'll be back at The Rapids Lounge on the March 12th weekend! And finally, a new DJ for Energy Rock Radio has been announced, and it's none other than "Castle Farms" author Duane Roy! I guess his radio exposure on Rock 101 has led to some great positive heights! Congratulations Duane! And yes, I will review "Castle Farms" on the SMS, school and general SMS activity have been consuming a lot of my free time. Soon though!

That's all for now, next post could be this month's preview of two more out of town bands with local members! Or it could have my review of tomorrow night's Sykotyk Rampage show! OR, it could be another news/preview post. Or a combo? We'll see how things shape up, but you guys will get one of the three next! So keep on the lookout!