LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Archelon), New Video Postings, And Much More!!

Just to make sure we don't interfere with your Super Bowl plans, today's post is up well and early, so what's in this one? The return of the shorter items bumped from our second Thursday post, two new videos from local concerts last fall, and leading off, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!

Sudbury death/thrash metal band Archelon will make their long awaited return to Sault Ste. Marie with a headlining concert at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday, March 10th! Most recently noted on the SMS when they and locals Jack Spades toured Northern Ontario together in the fall, this will be Archelon's first set in the Soo since the Devil's Night show at The Oddfellows Hall in October 2014. This brutal Northern Ontario quintet should be easily welcomed back to the local stage next month, so welcome their aggressive and crushing originals back on March 10th! The aforementioned Jack Spades will return from last fall's tour as openers next month in their first live appearance of 2018, while debuting local classic metal quintet Re:Born will hit the stage for the first time ever as the night's advertised openers (though members did open for Archelon with Project 421 and The Revolution back in 2014.) How will Re:Born sound in their first live go-around? We'll find out next month!

Promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce in his first self-promoted event in four months, this 19+ concert has a $7 cover charge and a 10:00 PM start time, and while it is advertised as being upstairs at The Rockstar Bar, the extreme metal nature of the headliners is more akin to what would be held downstairs at The Algonquin Pub/Spin Nightclub, so keep that in mind if the show changes floors. This should be a great show for metalheads to help ring in the spring months with, so visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for current & future details!

Next up, here's a new live audio track (albeit posted as a Facebook video) that I apologize for missing on the site for the past two weeks, namely the first official soundboard recording from The Din's farewell show last fall! Last month, the defunct local alternative hard rock trio announced that their posthumous live CD "Suburban Sendoff" (recorded at LopLops Lounge in October) is "finally ready to share", and they're starting with a few advance cuts to preview it's forthcoming full release. This is the cover artwork, obviously an adaptation of the front of their final studio album "Suburban Dream". The first preview track is actually their only cover from that night, aside from frontman Mike Haggith's prior solo material, namely their rendition of The Tragically Hip's "Blow At High Dough" from their encore. The Din weren't planning to cover any outside bands for their farewell, but as Gord Downie passed away just days out from the show, they added it into their set as a tribute, which was a nice gesture!

As a cover, will this make "Suburban Sendoff"? Given that The Din axed covers from the Bandcamp version of their debut live album "The Din Does Laundry", I can't see it, especially if Bandcamp is the primary sale location for this new live album, but I have been wrong before. In any event, this was a loving and welcomed tribute to Gord and The Hip at a time when fans would appreciate it the most, so give it a listen below, and stay tuned for more on the "Suburban Sendoff" live album as it rolls in!



Also today, here's the first video from local blues/hard rock trio Electric Church's new YouTube channel! Recorded at their set at Odeno at Sault College in September during their reunion celebration, I'm not sure why this performance of their song "Muddy Water" (no plural) took so long to hit the internet, but it's a cool way to launch their YouTube channel, so better late than never! Filmed on a stationary camera (albeit with minimal drift if you skip around), the audio's a little muffled, but Electric Church are in solid form from a nice camera angle, and hopefully we hear more from them live and in studio in 2018! Give their new video a look below!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and yes, these are the ones bumped from Thursday's second post. They're not going anywhere now! As usual for these short-form stories, these are in alphabetical order by artist or company name:

• Former Haggith/Project 421/Eclipse frontman Curtis McKenzie is looking to get back into the local scene in a new project. He noted that he can play guitar, bass, keyboard, and some drums, he has a complete jam space, his schedule is wide open, original songs are welcomed, and and he'd be interested in playing metal as well as classic, alternative, or pop rock. It'd be great to see Curtis again in a new band, but if you're interested in jamming with him or learning more information, message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from January 19th!
• This probably goes without saying, but the band named Griphook that played an Orlando, Florida concert on Saturday is not the local hard rock cover quartet, despite their logo being erroneously used on the poster, and the Soo's Griphook sharing the poster on Facebook (presumably in jest.) The Orlando band that played that event is an old school punk outfit named Grip Hook, who made their live debut last fall. Aside from nearly identical names and both being veteran all-male rock quartets, there's no connection between the two Griphooks, but hopefully this clears up any confusion!
• Local recording studio Pretoria Hill Productions now has a Facebook page, so we have added them to our "Other Local Metal Links"! Best known here as the studio where The Din recorded their two albums (guitarist Tammy Hill's father Daniel Schmidt owns Pretoria Hill), the studio is currently home to recording sessions for Tammy's country duo The Steeltown Girls' debut CD. Daniel has done solid work with Pretoria Hill so far, and contact him above if you're interested in recording music there or gaining more details!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Highway 63), A New Local Band, And Much More!!

Let's touch on some more news and updates on this Friday morning, so what's in store today? Some assorted shorter notes, a new guitarist addition for a local band, and late SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this weekend, but first, we have a new band discovery that links to the new guitarist write-up! Here's what you should know, and best of luck to Jack Spades as they open for The Misfits in Toronto this weekend! (Updated at 2:48 PM)

We have a new local band to add to our links, and they are Leaked, a young classic rock/punk trio! Formed by classmates at Korah Collegiate & Vocational School, their lineup features singer/bassist Matt Schell, guitarist Tammy Hill (more on her in a second), and drummer Nic Buckner, and Korah students may recognize Tammy and Nic from being current members of Korah's school band Mustang Sally. Updates on Leaked have not came since June, but the band played at two outdoor school events at the end of the spring semester, including at the Buick Drive For Your Students event in May, and at their Relay For Live event the following month. Also, I believe this is the band Tammy was referencing when looking for members on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group earlier this year. I'm not sure if Leaked are still active and functioning or not, but they do have one video from the latter gig, so what should we know from it?

I can't identify each of the (at least) five songs by name, as some are short and/or instrumental clips, and Matt's voice is hard to hear, but the second song is a familiar punk cover, and they also tackle The Beatles' "Come Together" and Golden Earring's "Radar Love". It's not a huge glimpse at Leaked, but they have instrumental skill, and Tammy shows some solid guitar ability, but again, Matt's singing isn't that strong. Hopefully Leaked keep at it though, it's great to see more young talent emerging! Check out their video below, and they're now in our active band links!



Next up, we have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT, as Sault Michigan classic/hard rock quartet Highway 63 will reportedly be back at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this weekend! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced them on their Facebook page this morning, and Kewadin Casino's entertainment page still hasn't been updated to reflect dates at The Rapids Lounge for this latter stretch of the year (at least we know that they're still hosting bands!) Last seen at the Sault Kewadin last month, it's good to see the Jager successors back at it as we slowly approach their Halloween gig at the Legion, and definitely consider checking them out TONIGHT and/or TOMORROW NIGHT if you're across the river this weekend! Both shows are 21+ affairs with no announced cover charges and 9:00 PM start times. See above for more details, and here's Highway 63 live!

Also, we can now reveal the identity of Mike Haggith & The Din's new guitarist, as they've enlisted the aforementioned Tammy Hill to round out their new lineup, replacing the departed Curtis McKenzie. The local alternative hard rock trio had originally revealed her addition two weeks ago via this Facebook video of the band playing "Out Of My League" during a jam session, but opted to keep her full identity secret until posting this photo on Wednesday. Tammy will make her live debut with The Din at the second Speak Easy Battle of the Bands on November 19th, and the band also teased "some studio surprises coming soon", so we'll keep you posted when more comes out on those! This is a surprise addition, especially with Tammy being a somewhat unknown musical commodity (unless you're a current Korah student), but she did show clear talent in the brief clips from the above Leaked video, and it's great to have another female musician getting into the local hard rock scene! Stay tuned for more from Mike Haggith & The Din when it comes in!

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

• Local sludge/doom metal trio AlgomA posted the interview that they did with the Northern Darkness Print Zine onto their Facebook page on October 1st via three photos of the physical copy, though Halloween props obscure some of the questions. The interview was conducted with frontman Kevin Campbell apparently in the winter (quite a delay to print!), and it includes remarks about their debut CD, the cover artwork, and their influences, but questions about their name's meaning and closing remarks are obscured from view. If you want to read the full interview (in case the band never posts it), click here for purchasing details!
• Local hardcore punk sextet Destroilet's studio cover of The Rebel Spell's "Murderers" (from the upcoming "Fed Up!" three way split) was briefly posted onto their Bandcamp page yesterday, but was suddenly pulled today due to "an audio glitch", but will apparently be re-posted in the near future. For reference, the song features Billy Bastards guitarist Greg Beharriel, Jack Spades drummer Johnny Belanger, and Joni Radford as backing vocalists, while it did not credit co-lead singer Brent Ellis as being on the recording.
• We have finally added the official Facebook group/fan club for Rock 101's Saturday night program The Hair Scare to our "Other Sault Michigan Links" on the right! Hosted by Scott Cook, The Hair Scare has long been a favourite show for it's assortment of 1980s metal and hard rock (including songs not usually heard on the regular rotation), and the Facebook group is active with diehard fans of the program, even attracting official fan club status over the years, so join in above and tune in Saturday nights at 9:00 PM on 101.3 FM!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for last month's poll results and our new poll on Sunday, and more news soon! Thanks everyone!

Bear Hunters Album Updates, New Videos, And More Recent News!!

Before we tackle this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles, here's some recent news and notes for your Monday afternoon, including assorted shorter notes, new video postings, and first, here's some big updated for an anticipated new CD!

We'll start with some new updates from local death metal favourites The Bear Hunters, as per guitarist Mitch Sirie on their Facebook page early this morning, so what should you know? In terms of last night's Golers show at The New American Pub (apologies for missing it, blame personal family matters), the guys debuted two new songs during their set, including a track named "The Wrath of Angmar" (which appears to reference a kingdom in The Lord of the Rings), and a black metal parody named "The Forest of Forests". Hopefully someone got video of both! Mitch also noted that the former will be on their planned second CD "The Dead Testament", which will also have a closing title track of the same name that has yet to be completed. The first three songs will, in order, be "The Void", "The Omen", and "I Fear No God", but the track listing order for the rest is to be determined. Title track included, there are just 3 songs left to be unveiled live, though it's unclear whether "The Forest of Forests" will be one of them or not.

Mitch noted that they take their time writing their songs, rather than writing a handful of singles and adding filler for the rest, and he sounds proud of the work the guys are putting in! Plans are still to begin recording sessions on "The Dead Testament" next month and release it during the winter, so check the above links for complete current details on The Bear Hunters' highly anticipated new album!

Next up, here's a newly discovered solo performance video from Pixo Control frontman Michael Mikus, courtesy of local music/culture community Ears & Eyes' YouTube channel last summer, and it's of him covering the 1960s rock classic "Twist & Shout", which is frequently seen in full Pixo Control concerts. Uniquely filmed outside, this solo cover is done in the same style that Pixo Control fans know from concerts, as it's slowed down into more of a jam style, but it's abbreviated from the lengthy version fans hear in live concerts.  Solidly done, and a bit of a window into how this would sound in an acoustic setting, so give it a look below!



Also, here's the newest released cover from new local atmospheric black metal duo Dullahan, this time a cover of Absurd's "Pesttanz"! Set to World War II video footage (don't worry, there's nothing offensive), this was uploaded to their YouTube channel last week, and can also be heard on their Bandcamp page. It's a little repetitive in this form, but Dullahan have talent and they show it on this cover, so give it a listen below and above!



Finally for this post, here's three assorted shorter items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• An upcoming episode of Local2's stripped down music performance series Bare will apparently star Inner City Surfers/Role Models bandmates Brad "Example" Lacell & Dave Bahun as featured performers, as per personal Facebook photos showing them on playing on the Bare set. Is this a sign that Brad Example & The Role Models are alive, or is this a solo or new project? Hopefully we find out more when this episode is posted in the coming weeks!
• On Saturday, Detroit punk trio Heroes of Charlotte posted this jam session video of them playing their song "Goodbye", which begins with a shoutout to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, as they can't make the Superior Festival (now on August 21st) that they were originally booked for, but hope to see us soon. I'm not sure if they meant that they couldn't make the original Saturday date or the rescheduling, but it's nice of them to acknowledge that they couldn't play, but wanted to, and hopefully they can at some point!
• Local musician Tammy Hill is looking for a drummer for her new "classic rock/punk/pop" band, who reportedly already have original material and want to do some recording and play live (no word though on if this is the same band she was looking for members for in February.) If you or someone you know are interested in trying out, message Tammy at this link or via her Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from this morning!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles next! Thanks everyone!

Swampstravaganza & Mike Haggith Updates, And Much More!!

Before we recap the results of last night's VM Radio Battle's opening night, here's a new news post to clear out some recent items, including a sudden new EP release, a unique video, and more, but first, here's some honestly overdue news on a big upcoming concert event!

We'll start today with some big updates for the fifth annual Swampstravaganza, now at The Canadian Nightclub on Saturday, May 9th, including that the annual multi-band all ages concert now has an official website! Created through Wix, the page includes photos and band lists for the past 4 installments at The Oddfellows Hall, an official logo, a $10 admission fee, and confirmation that this year's Swampfest will begin at 5:00 PM with the first band starting at 6:00 PM, with timeslots alotted for just 8 bands. This would make this year's event the smallest yet in the Swampfest series, but it would allow for a more manageable schedule! Also, the former "Sewer Swampstravaganza" branding is now only designated for the first year's concert in 2011, with "Quagmire", "Marshland", and "Bog" replacing "Sewer" to label later installments (no word on what this year's swamp-esque name would be.) As for confirmed bands, there's such high demand for this year that promoters have opted to roll out official band registration forms to apply to play, so what should you know on them?

We won't get into the legal jargon, but full details on what bands should bring and expect can be read at this link, where you can also sign up to potentially play this year, and what you need to provide in your application. I know many local artists want to play at this year's Swampstravaganza, so if you want in, act A.S.A.P. via the above links, stay tuned for updates, and the show's website is now in our "Other Local Metal Links"!

Next up, here's the latest from a solo performer from last year's Swampstravaganza, that being Haggith drummer Mike Haggith, so what's he currently up to? yesterday, Mike put a new digital EP named "Of Cars & Criminals" on sale via his Bandcamp page, which compiles three songs from his upcoming full length studio album "The Warinside". The EP (which is available on a "name your price" model) features the title track, "The Snake", and his newest song "We Met As Surrogates", which was just unveiled on his YouTube channel yesterday as well. Featuring Haggith/Din bandmate Curtis McKenzie on guest guitar and/or backing vocals on all 3 tracks, this EP is a nice teaser for fans awaiting "The Warinside" in full, but we'll hold on a review of this EP until the full album's expected release, as it'd be redundant to review both. Check out "We Met As Surrogates" below and the whole "Of Cars & Criminals" EP above, and don't miss Mike Haggith & The Din at The Speak Easy Battle of the Bands TOMORROW!



Also today, here's a unique look into local guitarist/Audiofumes podcast host Mike Cliffe's work behind the scenes, as this video (uploaded last week to his YouTube channel) is of him running a soundcheck for a live podcast, using The Bear Hunters' "Collapse The Sun" as background audio! It's an interesting look at the technical side of things (and not odd when you look at other similar videos on Mike's channel), and fans of The Bear Hunters who don't have "Eternal Hibernation" yet may like the audio sample! Give the video a look below, and definitely consider checking out Audiofumes, it's a quality podcast with notable, local, and underground artists galore!



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

• Local all-female hard rock/punk quartet The Danger Cats have unveiled their first ever studio-produced original song via their new Reverbnation page! It's of their song "Wanted Man", which was produced by AlgomA's Jamie Vincent and mixed by Cross Dog's Mark Rand, according to their Facebook page. It's nice to hear a great quality version of one of their originals, and fans should love it, so check it out at the above link, and don't miss the girls at the VM Radio Battle of the Bands next week!
• The Hiroshima Mutant Mindframe, the local/London solo metal project from Our Place Or Yours guitarist Matt Parr, now has a few new songs uploaded to their Soundcloud page in the past month! They include two acoustic songs (named "Huh" & "A Very Special Acoustic Song", the latter being longer and better composed) and the 49 second unfinished "Heavytrack" (no space) that has a lot of djent-heavy potential! Give them a listen above!
• Local musician Tammy Hill is looking for a singer, guitarist, and drummer to start a punk rock band that would play both originals and covers, as per her post on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on February 19th. If you're interested in trying out, message Tammy above or at this link!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for our recap of last night's VM Radio Battle of the Bands opening round later today, with weekend concert previews and our Speak Easy Battle review to follow! Thanks everyone!

Lion Ride Concert Review & An Apology For The Recent Lack Of Posts!!

Hey guys, I really apologize for the lack of activity over the last few days, especially considering that this past weekend had two shows I attended for reviews on the site, there was two Monday night concerts we couldn't properly preview (sadly), AND our big 4th anniversary plans yesterday. My computer finally became uncooperative enough where we basically had to bring it to Staples yesterday morning, despite my plans for the 4th anniversary surprises and the Titan's Eve show contest. We managed though, and I did unveil my announcements briefly yesterday, so at least you guys know. But I still want to detail the changes, the reasons, and the new stuff, but we'll do that tomorrow. Now that my computer's RAM problems are fixed, we can get back to work, and we'll get to each scheduled post in the order I intended, starting with my review of Saturday night's Lion Ride concert at The Rockstar Bar! How was it? Find out below, and my apologies if I missed anything from the show over the weekend. As for the new SMS page design? Stay tuned tomorrow for more on that!

So the concert started slightly later than I expected, and had a higher than expected cover too ($7 for a locals only bar show?), but I knew we'd get our money's worth! Despite The Rockstar Bar's advance coverage, local roots/folk duo The Boot Hill Crooners were indeed the opening band for the show, and though their style of music is way out of my typical preferences, they left a good first impression! Consisting of singer/multi-instrumentalist Sheldon Jaaskelainen and his brother Marshall on the upright bass, you may recognize them as bandmates of Lion Ride's Mikey Lion in Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide, so they are better opener fits than you might expect! This was my first time seeing them, and they delivered a mix bag of songs ranging from original roots songs to some more country based tracks, to select covers, including Nirvana's "All Apologies" and a curious folk rendition of House of Pain's "Jump Around"! Yes, I say folk, they didn't rap once but kept the lyrics intact. They have clear talent, and knew their way around numerous instruments and types of songs, with Sheldon navigating from guitar to banjo to violin to harmonica, even playing some percussion throughout! Not my thing, but very talented, and they have a nice on stage rapport and humour level!

And I'd be remiss if I didn't miss the bachelorette party that were at The Rockstar Bar during The Boot Hill Crooners' set. Very lively bunch of women, and the drunken dancing and fun they were having sure gave life to the dance floor! Now the easily offended might have been put off by their "suggestive" paraphernalia, particularly a "well endowed" blow up doll, but they had fun, and The Boot Hill Crooners had a good sense of humour about it, even as said blow up doll and a partier joined them on stage to help out! The party bolted between sets though, and once they were gone, the attendance was actually fairly average. This reminded me of Lion Ride's show at The Canadian over the May 2-4 weekend last year, where they had an uncharacteristically low attendance due to a show over a camping weekend. Similarly, the band blamed the attendance on camping, this time due to Canada Day weekend. I'd rather rock out than be stuck in the woods, but hey, that's just me. Hopefully Lion Ride don't book a vacation weekend like this again, cause now they've been hit hard by it twice in their last four local shows!

As for Lion Ride's actual set, they were on fire as always, and it's great to see that despite a low crowd, they come to rock at their best no matter who shows up! Musically, they sounded on par with their show in March, and that's a very good thing, as they sounded great then! It was kinda nice to not be so packed amongst people, but the environment was less with a smaller crowd. Lion Ride launched into a fast paced set of classic originals like "Trust" and "Sneak Attack", newer songs like "Snail Trail" and "Bang Bang, Bye Bye", and yes, covers of Motley Crue, Kiss, and The Pointer Sisters! I felt their set ran kinda short compared to some local bands I've seen lately, and I figure they could stand to lengthen it a bit if they threw in songs like "Lock Me In" and "Lazer Lover". That said, they did debut an untitled new song at the show, which sounded very promising, though I think I'm still partial to "Snail Trail" as my favourite newer original! The band's mix of speedy hard rock and punk swagger continues to serve them well, and from Marco & Marky Lion's proficient shredding to Mikey Lion's perfectly suited punk inspired singing, the band had no major flaws! Anything I'd have to say is minor, like that Cobra Carmander needs to make his presence felt more, he always seems buried behind the three Lions on the stage.

Very entertaining concert overall, despite the lower attendance, but as Lion Ride put it during the show "Fuck camp!" Their shows are always a fun blast of energy, and they went nonstop from start to finish, and I couldn't ask for more out of them! For my photos from the concert, click here or visit our Facebook page, but if you want the best photos from the show, Curt O'Neil is your man! The talented local photographer was on hand to take a few photos (11 in total) from the concert, and his black and white takes are now posted at this location! Great quality, and a bit different than usual, though I'm surprised Mikey isn't in very many. Also, I noticed that Curt hinted a possible Lion Ride show in the fall? Fingers crossed! And yes, I got a video, so check out Lion Ride playing their original "Cocaine Crazy" from this past Saturday below!



That's all for today, but our next post will detail our 4th anniversary surprises, including the new layout of the SMS itself and everything else I announced on Facebook yesterday! After that, it's the Titan's Eve review, and I should have all of the photos and videos up by early tomorrow, so stay tuned! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), The Turner Up Concert Review, And More!!

Hey everyone, I'm back from last night's Turner Up concert, and that is the bulk of today's post, so if you're curious about the new lineup and all that, you'll find out stuff in a little bit! I also have a little surprise related to the concert's location as well, but before all that, we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!! Here's what you need to know!

Add another acoustic solo concert to Tym Morrison's itinerary, as Caveman Morrison's frontman will play at an unexpected venue of sorts for him next month! On February 12th, he'll head to nearby Goulais River for a concert at The Blueberry Hill Resort! If you're not sure of the general location, it's on Highway 17 North at the bottom of Mile Hill. Aside from the location, the only real difference that this show has from most of Tym's shows is that it has a listed start time of 9:00 PM, which is slightly earlier than we usually see. So expect no cover charge and a 19+ age limit, and most importantly, an entertaining night of hard rock and metal covers in a more intimate setting! So if you're in the area and ant to enjoy some solid music on February 12th, you know where to be! Of course, Tym will be at Foggy Notions the following night too, so there are options! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page, and also note that Tym will be at The Eagles Club on January 28th for a birthday party concert, which I probably won't cover due to it's birthday party status, but click here for info if you want it! Stay tuned for more Tym Morrison updates as they come in!

Now to my Turner Up review from last night at The Rockstar Bar! This was the first time I've seen Turner Up live since Todd Killam was still their frontman, having regrettably missed the Brent Royer era entirely, so I expected things to be a lot different than what I remembered from the last time I saw them. The first element I should mention is Krista Marshall, Turner Up's new frontwoman, and I have to say, she was really good! I don't wanna compare her too much to Todd or Brent, as they're all very different in style and manner, but she has a good stage presence, a sense of humour, and her voice is more than up to the task! I liked her singing in Johnny Lunchbox, and that has carried over to Turner Up well, though I find that she didn't hit as many high notes as I was hoping. She has a good range that's well suited to the material, and I'd like to see her hit more high notes! The rest of the band were about as good as I've ever seen, and that's not hard to imagine with the chemistry that they have together dating back from the Lois Lane and Bangers N' Mash days! Jeff Gray's bass work was really good all night, Len Ward and Robert Brown had solid grasps on each song with their guitar work, and Scott McClurg was pretty impressive on drums!

One thing that hasn't changed from when I last saw Turner Up is that their sets still get progressively heavier as the night goes on, so as a point of reference to fans, don't be discouraged by their opening set! Early on, covers of songs by bands like Collective Soul, The Stone Temple Pilots, Seven Mary Three, and Hole were the typical sight, but things got heavier to include The Cult, Joan Jett, and Bon Jovi, with bands like AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Billy Idol, and Led Zeppelin among the covers in the last set! For a band who described themselves as '70s and '80s classic rock, I'm surprised at the amount of '90s material, but it's all good! I find that with Krista singing, their song choices have grown more diverse, and not just because of the inclusion of songs by female singers. If you'd told me that Turner Up would cover "Been Caught Stealing" by Jane's Addiction going into last night, I probably wouldn't have believed it, but it happened! The crowd was good but not too engaged in the first set, but in the last two, lots of people were dancing and having a great time, and it's nice to see this sort of environment maintained through Turner Up's lineup changes!

Overall, this was a fun night of music, and though they're not the heaviest band locally, they make up for it with solid talent all around, good chemistry, and clear enthusiasm to be on stage! Plus, when they play some hard rock, they play it well, and I can't ask for much more out of them! I've gotta make it out to see them again sooner than the gap between the last time I saw them, that was longer than it ever should have been! For my photos from last night's show (yes, my camera's working again), click here or visit the SMS' Facebook page, and here's the video I shot, which features Turner Up covering Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone"!



Before we close today's post, here's a little extra surprise related to The Rockstar Bar. If you frequent The Rockstar Bar, you're likely well aware that numerous band photos, album covers, posters, instruments, and signed items cover the walls, which all really add to the atmosphere! Well, a few items inside relate to local artists, including a bunch of metal and hard rock artists, and I compiled some of it into a Facebook album! The picture on your left is a drum skin signed by Lion Ride from their December 2009 concert there, and it features the autographs of the band's then-lineup, including former bassist Diamond Brent Panther. A Lion Ride sticker also found it's way to the wall near the security camera warning beside the bar area. Another drum skin signed by Turner Up is on the wall, which is from the Todd Killam era, likely from early last year. A broken cymbal signed by That's Chester from a November 2009 show there also graces the wall (I wonder if Ric Datson broke it mid-set while drumming?) A framed poster from The Billy Bastards' late 2009 campaign to win the Kiss Battle of the Bands is above the front entrance, which is cool to see! Not metal, but well designed and Kiss-connected! The other notable item I saw was a guitar signed by Garden of Bedlam at their Kiss concert afterparty in August! Good stuff, hopefully more local metal and hard rock bands grace the walls soon! Click here to see the photos I snapped!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for our newest Defunct Local Band Profile tomorrow night, as we take a look at Nite Wulfe! Thanks everyone!