Squatfest Concert Preview, Plus A New Live-Streamed Concert!!

Let's close up our first true hard rock concert weekend in the Soo in over four months by previewing a big outdoor house party event tomorrow night, with a live-streamed concert to round things out! Here's what you should know!

With the hard rock concert schedule in Sault Ontario easing back into operation this week, here's the first public multi-band event in the pandemic era, as lots of Blood Shed Productions-affiliated artists will congregate in nearby Heyden TOMORROW NIGHT for Squatfest! To be held outdoors at 5 Dixie Drive (near Christie's RV; look for Nessie), promoters have confirmed that this is a publically attendable event with paid admission, despite the Facebook event page being set to private. Similar in spirit to the Oh!No festival in Leeburn, attendees are welcome to camp at the Squatfest site, enjoy the outdoor amenities on the property, stay overnight, and even come by tonight for a planned bonfire jam and to help set the stage up. Promoted by Blood Shed owner Tyler Gibson and assorted collaborators, a huge lineup of familiar and somewhat newer acts are slated for tomorrow night at Squatfest, so who all can you expect? I will go in order of listed acts on the event page here.

Four solo acts are listed at the top of the event page's lineup, including ex-Brutally Fatal/Revolution frontman (and Blood Shed co-founder) Austin McCrae in a rare solo set, former Honest Job frontman Mister Tahti, prolific folk/punk musician (The Ghost Of) Chase James Wigmore, and Tyler's drum-and-bass side project Alegendary. Chase will reunite with Strange Coyotes bandmate James Watterworth for that funk metal band's second reunion set tomorrow night, while Blood Shed-affiliated death metal one man bands Black Cloud and Tyler's own Crucify the Whore will also take the stage. Party/rap metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty will make a rare live appearance at Squatfest, as will rappers Joonas "JSK" Kamula and Austin's rap alter ego Miracle Man. Lastly, the Strange Coyotes will split off into two more solo acts, including James' scarcely seen solo set, while Chase will deliver some extreme metal under his Awokest handle. More unadvertised performers are also planned, we'll let you know if we hear anything.

This presumably all ages event has a 12:00 PM start time, and while a $5 admission fee was previously advertised, it is no longer referenced on the event page. Band and Blood Shed merchandise will be on sale, food and drinks will be available (please don't bring glass bottles), and while Tyler is asking attendees to respect the area and stay clean and on the property, nothing directly references social distancing measures, but of course, please use common sense. This sounds like an ambitious but fun event, especially if you love the Blood Shed roster of artists, so consider a trip up to Heyden tomorrow for Squatfest! For a preview, here's Chase live!



Finally for today, let's get into local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison's 34th live-streamed concert, which took place on Tuesday on his YouTube channel! I won't lump yesterday's live-stream in here as it was at a separate location (the Motley Market, host of his Thursday matinee gigs this month), but I am currently planning to hold that one for when we preview his show there next week. After blocking external embedding privileges of his last 7 live-streams, that quarantine has quietly been lifted, so this episode is embedded below! Again, I hope it wasn't because of anything I said or did. Yesterday's live-stream begins about 7 minutes in with a Spanish guitar instrumental, which seems rare to lead off these at-home shows with, but it's well performed as usual! The covers proper lead off with Berlin's "Take My Breath Away", Supertramp's "Breakfast In America", Amy Holland's "Shooting For The Moon",  ...

...Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive", Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle", and Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart", before Tym played an original song named "The Hardest Stone", which he originally did with his old Hollow bandmates. Tym next tackles Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver", before dipping into the instrumental well again with an adaptation of a classical piece, followed by a cover of The Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon", a partial version of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons' "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)". and two Days of the New songs ("Shelf In The Room" & "Touch, Peel, and Stand"). After playing a lengthy original instrumental, Tym finished with covers of Chicago's "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven", and The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun". Fun set with lots of classic and occasionally heavy cuts to check out from this talented local veteran!

There did seem to be more chatter between songs with the live viewers, but Tym offered good insights into certain songs and his compositions! However, fans who aren't as into instrumentals may not like their extra focus here, and the Bryan Adams and Jim Croce songs were repeated from last Thursday's live-stream. For the first time in almost a month, give this live-stream a watch below, and stay tuned for his Thursday show in an upcoming post!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site next week! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Squatfest) & A New Solo Performance Video!!

Kicking off a new and hopefully a much busier (and more positive) month at the SMS, we have a new solo clip to check out, but first, we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for the Sault Ontario area, believe it or not, and much sooner than you think! Here's what you should know!

Over four months after the Sault Ontario concert calendar ground to a halt, Blood Shed Productions head Tyler Gibson is planning to host a outdoor concert festival called Squatfest on Saturday, August 8th (one week from today!) The Facebook event page is set to private, but Tyler confirmed there that the show is publically attendable and will have paid admission. To be held at 5 Dixie Drive in nearby Heyden (down the road from Christie's RV; look for the Loch Ness Monster statue), this seems to be formatted similarly to the Oh!No festivals, even down to encouraging attendees to stay the weekend and partake in outdoor activities in the vicinity. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic isn't over yet, and while this is outdoors, use common sense if you take the trip north next week. The stacked lineup includes a lot of acts shared between prior projects, many with ties to the Blood Shed label, so I'll be deviating from the Squatfest's advertised artist order here, and it is subject to change.

Tyler himself will perform as his grindcore solo project Crucify The Whore and as his drum & bass side project Alegendary, while his frequent collaborator Chase Wigmore will be performing as himself (presumably doing his folk/punk originals) and as his extreme metal project Awokest. As well, Chase will reunite with Blackwater alum James Watterworth for The Strange Coyotes' second reunion set, though I have yet to hear publically if the band proper is back beyond one-offs, let alone if they will be formatted similarly to their December acoustic gig. James will apparently also play a solo set, much like he frequently did in the early 2010s. Blood Shed co-founder Austin McCrea is scheduled twice for Squatfest, including a regular solo set (perhaps doing Brutally Fatal or Revolution material?) and as his scarcely seen rap alter ego Miracle Man. The remaining acts are not shared elsewhere, including ex-Honest Job frontman Mister Tahti, death metal project Black Cloud, ...

...party rap/metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty, and rapper Joonas "JSK" Kamula, who has collaborated with Chase in the past. More yet-revealed acts are also advertised, we'll let you know if they are announced next week. Squatfest is an ALL AGES event with a recommended $5 donation upon entry, and merchandise from Blood Shed and performing acts will be on sale. Camping is welcomed, and while food & drinks will be on sale, Tyler is asking attendees to not bring glass. As well, Tyler is welcoming possible attendees to come to the site as early as Friday to hang out, jam at a planned bonfire, and help set up the stage. Given the climate with the pandemic, any ambitious multi-band concert like this would have to be outdoors due to indoor space limitations and what have you, and Squatfest seems like a workable alternative, if under somewhat limited notice! If you love Blood Shed Productions and Tyler, Chase, James, and Austin's back catalogues, this will be well worth a trip north to Heyden, so see above for more details!

Finally for today's post, here is a new solo performance video from ex-Brain Tuel guitarist Zach Reid's YouTube channel, as posted last month! An instrumental acoustic number, this folksier song is well done (if a little repetitive down the stretch), and it's nice seeing Zach still working on some new music during these crazy times. Give this video a look below!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Long Shot Concert Preview, Upcoming Album Updates, And Much More!!

I wasn't expecting to have a second post today, but I just remembered that we missed a concert TONIGHT when we did our concert preview post on Thursday, so I put this one together to give it some proper attention and address some other recent notes, including a new concert video share, upcoming album updates, and the latest from AlgomA, so here's what you need to know!

We accidentally missed a show in Thursday's weekend concert preview post, so let's get the preview up now before the show takes place, as newer local hard rock quartet Long Shot's previously announced show at the Fraternal Order of Eagles' clubhouse in nearby Heyden goes down TONIGHT! Apologies again for this being later than expected, but at least it wasn't a short notice event. The official poster indicates that they're "back by popular demand", so they had a successful set here earlier in the year, and while the Eagles club may seem like an odd venue for a concert, remember that Long Shot's gigs haven't been in the typical locations that you'd see other cover bands at (plus, Tym Morrison once had a regular arrangement there.) Everything starts at 7:00 PM tonight, but supper will be available beforehand, where you can enjoy quesadillas and nachos supreme, as indicated on the official poster. Note however that there hasn't been an age limit or cover announcement.

For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an entertaining show, if Long Shot's videos are any indication, so don't miss their first show of the fall TONIGHT if you can help it, and for a preview, here's 3/4ths of Long Shot (and guests) covering Blue Oyster Cult at a recent outdoor event!



Next up, here's the latest album updates from two of local musician Mitch Sirie's active bands! Concerning his death metal group The Bear Hunters, their Facebook page revealed yesterday that the mixing for their debut CD "Eternal Hibernation" is complete, with today being spent adjusting vocal volume, and mastering taking place tomorrow. Physical copies will be pressed over the next three weeks, along with orders for new t-shirts, toques, and hoodies, and you can contact the band if you want a specific shirt size. The post closed by saying that the band plans to release their "Aftermath" EP of unreleased older songs and their second studio album in 2015, which sounds ambitious, but hopefully things pan out better than the recording process for the first disc! Also, Mitch's hard rock quartet Beaumont Avenue revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that they're planning to record 2 EPs (with 4 originals each, grouped by how they feel) and then write a proper debut album from scratch when drummer Ben Boudreau returns home.

No word yet on if these will involve the original recording sessions that the then-Suicide Kings held at The Smoke & Oak Room Studio last year will be used or remixed for these plans or not, or if they'll completely start over on everything. Sounds like Mitch's bands are on a good path, and hopefully things don't get derailed further on the way! Don't miss the Bear Hunters' EP release show on October 18th!

Also today, here's the latest from local doom metal trio AlgomA! The band (along with drummer Jamie Vincent's grungecore duo Bad Back) will join local rap/metal duo The Apocalypse Afterparty and Toronto garage rockers Ghost Daze for a Toronto concert dubbed "The Northern Horde" on Thursday, October 16th! This will mark all of the local bands' Southern Ontario debuts, and it's great to see them expanding their reach, especially given that this will be AlgomA's first announced show following their CD release! Speaking of which, the first advance review of their debut album "Reclaimed By The Forest" is now online via the German metal website Doom Metal Front, where reviewer Sven Mihlan called it ''mesmerizing" and "relentless in its expression", positively comparing them to Electric Wizard, Eyehategod, and Sleep. Solid, if short review, and it's nice to see them getting some attention overseas before it comes out! Stay tuned for more from the AlgomA camp!

Finally for today, here's a metal concert video from the spring that was only just publically shared on Facebook 6 months after the fact! This comes from Winnipeg deathcore quintet Commencing Human Desperation's headlining set at a short notice Heavy North Entertainment concert at The Oddfellows Hall concert in March, as filmed by promjoter Tyler St. Amour and uploaded to Facebook on his personal page at the time, but now it has the all clear! The lighting is dark, and the audio's a bit warped, but C.H.D. have solid aggression and brutality on this clip of their original "Devil's Throne", so give it a look below for some spring-time all ages metal intensity!



That's definitely all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Long Shot) & This Weekend's Concert Previews!!

Before we get into the details of this month's poll, let's cover this weekend's hard rock & punk concert previews, as there's some interesting shows going down, including one TONIGHT, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next weekend!

Newer local hard rock quartet Long Shot will play their next gig on September 26th (one week from tomorrow) when they play at the Fraternal Order of Eagles' clubhouse in nearby Heyden! The band featuring the Dawe brothers, Nathan Muto, and Jeremy Ganuelas were last seen at a LopLops event in August, and while a show at the Eagles club may seem a bit odd, remember that many of Long Shot's gigs have been in unique settings (and Tym Morrison used to play regular gigs here.) There appears to be some sort of on occasion for this show though, as Mexican food will be on sale, so keep that angle in mind too! There is no cover charge, Long Shot will be on at 7:00 PM, and there's no announced age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Should be an interesting show, so if you're in the Heyden area, remember Long Shot's next show next Friday, and stay tuned for updates!

Moving to this weekend's previews, Montreal ska punk quintet K-Man & The 45s will make their second headlining appearance in Sault Ontario when they return to The Rockstar Bar for a special Thursday night show TONIGHT! Well known for their fun reggae-infused punk rock originals and Ramones covers (hence the alternate Ska-Mones moniker), K-Man & The 45s impressed when they came here in October, and they should be up to similar standards tonight, so don't miss them for a good old fashioned night of ska! Like last fall, local all-female hard rock quartet The Danger Cats will be opening this show in their second Rockstar Bar appearance of the month, and their entertaining blend of covers & originals should fit right in tonight as well! Keep in mind however that guitarist Paula Panther got hit with an illness (as per their Facebook page status referencing that they're "cursed"), but they'll power through! Promoted by J.D. Pearce, you may also remember that this show was originally planned to be an afterparty for the now-cancelled Misfits concert that would have taken place today, so at least we still have something!

This show has a $7 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 9:30 PM start time. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Ska-punk fans would be well served to head down to The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT for all of the action, so don't miss K-Man & The 45s & The Danger Cats, part 2! For a preview, here's the headliners playing three songs live last year!



Next up is week #42 of Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison's ongoing weekly concert arrangement at The Harp Bar & Grill, as he returns there for solo gigs TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Like usual for his lengthy run at the former Madison's Pub, Tym will be hosting and playing at their weekly jam night tomorrow, before headlining a usual unplugged solo concert on Saturday, so he'll be delivering some solid tunes and hard rock renditions regardless of the day you come by! Tym's approaching 10 full months of his Harp run, easily the longest of his weekly engagements at a venue since moving back to the Soo, so come see a solid night of acoustic classics either night! Like usual, there's no announced cover charge, 19+ age limits, and 10:00 PM start times in effect. Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Tym covering Extreme!



Finally for known area hard rock concerts this weekend is new Rudyard, Michigan hard rock quintet Exiled, who will be rocking out at the first annual "Wild In Da Wilderness" party for the local branch of the Jokers Motorcycle Club of Michigan THIS SATURDAY! Sort of a different show compared to what you'd expect, but I assume at least one Exiled member is in the Jokers club. The event itself will feature food, bike games, 50/50 raffles, and free camping, with Exiled (featuring Absolute, Full Throttle, and Division of Sanity alumni) rocking out at some point later in the day, I'd assume, though I can't confirm if there will be other bands. The event (which is open to the public) will be held at 7100 M-129 (close to the 7 Mile Road turnoff), with a $10 cover charge ($15 for couples), doors opening at 1:00 PM, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and Exiled's own page for their own confirmation about the event! If you're interested in hitting up this Jokers club party (biker or not), then keep it in mind for Saturday! No preview videos yet of Exiled though.

That's all for now, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and this month's new poll later today! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Elipzis & Tym Morrison), Plus Concert Previews For Tomorrow Night!!

The holiday season is in full swing, and tomorrow is what I'm calling the first day of our holiday concert season at The Sault Metal Scene, with at least nine metal/hard rock concerts confirmed through the end of 2010, and that doesn't even count some additional metal shows that promoter Rich Moreland has yet to officially confirm! Because of the amount and consistent stretch of shows, I'm breaking them up a tiny bit by previewing tomorrow's concerts ONLY tonight, with more to come on or around Friday. So we'll get to that soon, but first, here are some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

We'll go in chronological order, starting with the long awaited local return of Sault Michigan hard rockers Elipzis! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is their first local concert set since July's Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival! After five months of shows all over Michigan, they're back home for a New Year's Eve concert at The Corner Pub Bar & Grill! A 7:00 PM start time is announced, and they'll be rocking well into 2011 at this concert, taking place one week from Friday! No cover charge has been announced, and given that this is a bar, you must be 21 to enter. It's great to see Elipzis back in town one more time to cap off the year, and I can safely say after finally seeing them live that they'll rock the house with their energetic brand of music! For more information, visit the above links and the official Facebook event page! Also, if you guys are Pop Evil fans and don't mind travelling, Elipzis will be supporting Pop Evil at a show in Traverse City on January 21st, get more details on it at this location! Stay tuned for more from Elipzis as I hear it!

The other new show involves a local hard rock musician's return to The Big Cheese in Heyden, just outside of Sault Ontario! That musician is Tym Morrison, who brings his acoustic solo project back there after quite a long hiatus from shows at that concert spot. The last one I can remember was in December 2009, so this has been a long time coming! He's confirmed for a show there on January 7th, with a 10:00 PM start time and a likely 19+ age limit, so if you live in the Heyden area, circle that on your calendars! But that doesn't appear to be all, as the Facebook event page hypes that Tym will be at The Big Cheese "every Friday". Additional dates after January 7th haven't been announced yet, but if this holds, he'll be there every Friday on a similar arrangement to his weekly Sunday night shows at Foggy Notions. It's great to see Tym booking so many shows so consistently, but I have to ask, what will happen with the Big Cheese arrangement once Caveman Morrison return? Usually, they do shows on the Friday and Saturday of a given weekend, so something likely has to give at some point once the new Caveman Morrison lineup debuts! For now though, get ready for Tym twice a week, every week for the next little while, and as the next Big Cheese dates after January 7th get announced, I'll let you all know!

For now though, we still have Tym Morrison solo dates in 2010 to get to, so here's a preview for one taking place TOMORROW NIGHT! Tym returns to The Bottoms Up Lounge for the first time in two months tomorrow for a set full of acoustic metal and hard rock classics, and more! This show is part of The Bottoms Up Lounge's Christmaspalooza concert week featuring some of their favourite local performers hitting the stage for the Christmas season! None of the other scheduled performers are in the hard rock/metal vein, but if you want to see what's on the horizon there, click here! Tym's likely to be on at 10:00 PM tomorrow night, with no announced cover charge and a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's always fun to see Tym Morrison live, he has a huge setlist and lots of talent to go around, so hopefully you guys can make it out to see him tomorrow night, or on Sunday at Foggy Notions, which we'll preview on Friday!

For more from Tym's solo project, visit his official website, or check this video out! Yes, we finally have video footage of Tym Morrison solo, thanks to YouTube user Dave Running, who posted this video of Tym playing a very solid cover of Eric Claption's "Tears In Heaven" from his Foggy's show this past Sunday onto his YouTube channel! Check it out below!



The other local metal show taking place tomorrow night is the next metal night at The Roosevelt Hotel, who recently announced on their Facebook page that they'd be expanding the schedule to include metal nights every two weeks! Awesome to hear, hopefully it sticks! For now though, we focus on tomorrow's concert, featuring a slate of four local metal bands! The announced headliners are, in their live concert debut, local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters! Featuring 3/5ths of the classic D.O.T.H. lineup, plus singer Nik Deubel (ex-Dark Salvation) and guitarist Mitch Sirie (Stillbroke), they're sure to turn heads in their first official concert appearance! They'll be joined by three other local bands, including local grimecore trio Shit Liver, in their first live show since opening for Total Chaos last month! Whether you get their sound or you don't, they'll leave an impression with their dirty and grimy take on punk and death metal! New local death metal band State of Misery also return for this show, after debuting at the last Rosie metal night concert! I've heard and seen good things from their first concert, here's hoping the success continues tomorrow night! And finally, local classic metal cover trio Sativa Rose return to the stage for the first time since September to rock The Rosie in their debut at this venue! They may not growl or have originals that I've heard, but they've gotten a good response since debuting, so look out for them as well! For more on each band, check out the above links!

There is no announced cover charge and a 9:00 PM start time for tomorrow's show, and yes, you must be 19 to enter. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! None of these bands are al that established locally yet, but they all have their own style of music that will find fans locally, as these four bands could be a vital part of the local metal scene in years to come! Definitely head to The Rosie tomorrow night if you can! For a video preview, here's The Bear Hunters playing their song "Casualties of War" (minus Nik Deubel & Mike Vincent, and plus former guitarist Andres Duchesne) from a jam session earlier this summer!



Before we wrap up today's post, here's one more Bear Hunters note, that being a brand new audio sample! Posted three days ago on their MySpace page, it's an instrumental take of their original song "Collapse The Sun". It's the first audio recording of the band that we've seen, and it's also the first time we've heard them with current guitarist Mike Vincent, though once again, Nik Deubel is nowhere to be found. I wonder why we've heard nothing with vocals yet? The song itself is actually really impressive, the riff's proficient and catchy, and the band show good chemistry and heaviness! I really like Mitch's solo too! If "Collapse The Sun" is a sign of things to come, than fans should be VERY excited! Click here to check it out! That's all for tonight, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the next few days, along with more concert previews on Friday night, and more to follow! Thanks everyone!

Local Concert Previews For This Weekend, And Let's Help A Kiss Fan Out!

Greetings once again! The weekend's approaching, and there are four local metal concerts this weekend to discuss! So here are your local concert previews for this weekend! Stay tuned for info on a devoted local Kiss fan who'd love our help in meeting the band!

Two shows each in Sault Ontario and Sault Michigan, let's start in Sault Ontario, where Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison returns for two more solo acoustic shows! Tomorrow night, he will be at The Big Cheese in Heyden, which is a popular restaurant/bar that, though not in Sault Ste. Marie itself, is close enough to get to from here! Then on Saturday night, he'll be back at The Bottoms' Up Lounge on Queen Street East! Both shows take place at 10:00 PM, neither have an announced cover charge. Tym's promising the debut of his new pedal that allows him to sing three part vocal harmonies, which should be interesting! For more details on both shows, and to confirm your attendance, visit the official Facebook event pages, this one for Friday's concert, and this one for Saturday's!

He'll be playing a wide range of metal and hard rock covers in an intimate acoustic setting, and I know from experience that he's a great musician! His solo album is really good (Review of that likely in the future), and I've been a fan of Caveman Morrison's since before Tym's move to Calgary, so I of course think highly of his solo material as well! I highly recommend at least checking Tym's solo show out, you'll have fun! I will try and make the Saturday concert, and if I do, there will be a review posted here on Sunday! In the meantime, cause I can't find embeddable video, check out lots of songs and video from Tym & Caveman Morrison at his official website!

Meanwhile, Sault Michigan hard rockers Riot! By Night are back for two shows tomorrow night and Saturday night at The Satisfied Frog! Like the Tym Morrison concerts, both are at 10:00 PM, and with no announced cover charges. Riot! By Night sound very promising, but with no posted audio or video yet, all I can recommend is for you guys to check out Absolute, a local band that shares the same lineup with Riot! By Night, save for the singers. Absolute are a good band, so Riot! By Night be at least as good too! Should be good concerts, I'd likely go to Friday's if I was old enough! Check out more from Riot! By Night at their official MySpace page!

And finally for today, a local Kiss fan is looking for your help in his dream to meet the band! If you've followed the various Kiss articles on SooToday this year, you might have seen a couple mentions of local taxi driver Robert McIntomney, who might just be the biggest Kiss fan in Sault Ste. Marie! He has been collecting Kiss memorabilia and merchandise since he was 8, including everything from board games to condoms and toilet paper! He has a whole room dedicated to Kiss at his home, and wears something with Kiss on it every day! He's even dressed up like Gene Simmons while driving his taxi to promote the Kiss fan-routed tour voting and for Halloween!

It's been Robert's dream for years to meet Kiss, and friends of his have started an online campaign to help drum up support to hopefully get Robert a chance to meet Gene Simmons and company when they come for their Sault Ste. Marie concert on December 15th! His dream is to pick Kiss up at the Sault airport in his taxi, which would be cool! If you want to join the movement to help Robert meet Kiss, click here to visit the Facebook group where you can see photos of Robert's Kiss devotion and post messages of support! The group was started November 3rd, and there's already 193 members! It's picked up so much steam that even the local CTV News did a video report on Robert, which you can check out below! It features interviews with Robert and friends of his! Good luck Robert, I'm pulling for you!



That's all for today, more news and updates to come this weekend, as well as a possible review of Saturday's Tym Morrison show! Stay tuned, thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), Plus A Couple Updates!

This is probably my shortest post in a while, but really, news does tend to slow up after Halloween every year. No matter, you can't let a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT slip by if you can help it! Plus, a tiny bit of updates as well, so let's get started!

Caveman Morrison's own Tym Morrison has scheduled another local concert for later this month! He'll be at The Big Cheese in Heyden one week from Friday, on November 20th! This show will take place at 10:00 that night. No listed cover charge, but just in case, buy something if you go. According to the Facebook event page, Tym will debut his brand new pedal that allows him to do three part vocal harmonies, which should be interesting! Sounds like a good weekend of shows if you're a Tym Morrison fan, as he'll also be at The Bottoms Up Lounge the night after! I'll update you guys if I hear anything else, but in the meantime, check out some of Tym's quality solo material at his official website, and his lengthy potential setlist at this location!

Now for a couple link changes on the SMS. First, I've removed the MySpace page for defunct local band Metallurgy. The page either expired or was deleted. Shame too, the page had some solid material, here's hoping Metallurgy members are still active in the scene! The other change is to local punk/metal band Destroilet, as they've officially launched their own MySpace page! Looks good, nice to see them expand beyond Facebook! Remember to go see them with Detroit and Talk Shit on December 29th at Coch's Corner!

And finally, Sue Inside frontman Shane Fraser has uploaded a pair of new videos to his YouTube channel featuring two more acoustic demos of upcoming songs, "Nerf For Not" and "Betcha Not"! Sounds good, especially "Betcha Not", which definitely sounds like classic Sue Inside, just unplugged! Definitely my favourite of the new acoustic songs! Check it out immediately below!



That's all for now, I do apologize for the slow stories and lack of daily posting lately, but again, this always seems to happen around November every year. The busiest times for local metal updates are typically summer and Halloween, but things will pick up! Stay tuned!

This Weekend's Local Concert Previews, And Stillbroke's New Album Is Out!!!

First off, are you wondering why the banner image is referencing Stillbroke? Their new album is out, that's why! Plus, there's three metal concerts in the Sault area this weekend to cover for you guys, all in Sault Ontario, curiously! So here are your local concert previews for this weekend, stay tuned for more on the new Stillbroke EP!

First, at 9:00 PM tomorrow night, Hamilton hard rockers 40 Sons will make their way to Coch's Corner! Admission is free, as is typical at Coch's, just make sure to buy something! 40 Sons will take the stage at around 9:00 PM! No other bands are on the lineup, to my knowledge. 40 Sons aren't bad, they have a radio hard rock kind of sound, the singing stands out to me though! They actually won the Bodog Battle Championship this past year, and have won a bunch of awards for their music! Not a bad band at all, and if you're downtown, why not hit this show? Check out some of 40 Sons' solid original material at their official MySpace page! For a video preview, check out this clip of 40 Sons playing their song "The Weight Of The World" from a show in June!



Meanwhile, there's more metal goodness tomorrow night! Caveman Morrison guitarist Tym Morrison is back for another solo acoustic show, as he returns to The Big Cheese in Heyden, which is just outside of town! Doesn't look like there's a cover here either. Tym will take the stage at 10:00 PM, and promises to play "all your favorite metal, pop, country, hard rock and even classical if ya want it." Two options for you metal lovers tomorrow night if you're looking for live entertainment, and if you wanna support local talent, Tym's your guy! Great guitarist, he plays tons of great songs, and he has good originals too! Check out samples from his debut solo album at this location, and the official event page on Facebook here! I have no videos that I'm capable of embedding on here, but check out some live clips of Tym and Caveman Morrison shows at this link!

And finally, a big hard rock/metal show hits The Canadian Nightclub on Sunday night! Your headliners are Austin Texas "country metal" band Grady! Making their first Sault-area stop since April 2008, this band features former Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson, and effectively mix heavy metal with country to create some solid music! Playing support are Winnipeg female-fronted metallers Domenica, who finally play the Sault after two previously scheduled shows were called off. Solid stuff, accessible for normal hard rock fans, but heavy enough for metalheads to headbang to! Local rock band Wishbone were to round out the lineup, but as mentioned in the post above, they have been dropped from the show.

Advance tickets are still available at the front desk of The Knights Inn (a.k.a. the hotel above The Canadian) for $10. If you wait to get them at the door, the price jumps to $15. The show takes place at 9:00 PM Sunday night, and should be a hard rocking good time! Click on each band's name in the above paragraph to check out some of their original material! I plan on being at this show, which will sadly be my last local concert til November (I can't believe I'm missing all the fun over Halloween!) Yes, I'll have some free CDs, and yes, I'll have a review and photo album posted at some point Monday afternoon! Check out more details for this show at one of the three Facebook event pages: Grady's, Wishbone drummer Glen Thomas', and The Canadian's! For a video preview, check out the official music video for Grady's song "Woman Got My Devil"!



And finally, we have a brand new album release from a local metal band! Stillbroke have officially announced via their Facebook page that their debut EP, "Never Enough", is officially available for purchase! Each disc costs just $10, and you can pick up a copy by calling 759-8696, or by messaging the band on Facebook! Excellent news, I can't wait to pick up this album! It also fills in a possible gap in my local review schedule, as I'll review "Never Enough" after I get it either this month or next! All depends on when Sykotyk Rampage releases "22"! Now let's cross our fingers for new Stillbroke shows! Stay tuned for a review of Never Enough in the next couple weeks!

Also, notice the new banner image? Well, I did say I'd have custom banners and logo designs for new local metal albums and major concerts, and unexpectedly, we can begin that tonight, now that Stillbroke have released the album! I'M NOT PLAYING FAVOURITES! I have more custom logos already made up, and stay tuned Wednesday afternoon for the Papa Roach banner and logo!

That's all for tonight, stay tuned for more news, my Grady concert review, and more! Thanks everyone!