LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Pixo Control), Shit Liver Concert Preview, And More!!

As we begin to wrap up April, we have a new news post for you guys on this Monday afternoon, including a new vlog posting, a local band's new Kickstarter campaign, and a preview of a special Tuesday night show TOMORROW, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!

Local hard rock/alternative trio The Pixo Control will return to the stage on Monday, May 11th when they open for Winnipeg pop rock quartet Naysa at Cafe Natura! This will be The Pixo Control's first show at the Elgin Street venue/whole foods cafe of the year, though it will visibly be upstairs rather than December's basement show. With that and Thursday's Biipiigwan show on the horizon, it's great to see the guys breaking out of the studio for some more gigs, and hopefully both go well! As for Naysa, they deliver a gloomy pop/indie sound that isn't "heavy", but has it's own appeal, so be sure to check them out and see what you think in advance of May 11th! This ALL AGES event has an 8:00 PM start time and a $7 cover charge, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details. This should be an entertaining show for fans of indie and alternative rock, and Cafe Natura has definitely earned a positive reputation as a concert venue, so keep it in mind for next month, and stay tuned for more from The Pixo Control in a bit!

Next up, here's a preview for a special Tuesday concert going down TOMORROW NIGHT, as local/St. Catharine's death/grind trio Shit Liver will make their Rednecks Saloon for their second and final stop of their brief homecoming! Currently on their Homeland Debauchery Tour of Canada, this will be your last chance to see Shit Liver in the Soo before they hit the road again, so keep this one in mind for TOMORROW! They're scheduled for 1:00 AM, while local death metal veterans The Bear Hunters (who also played with Shit Liver at this weekend's house party gig) will hit the stage at 12:00 AM. Local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades will also play at 11:00 PM, with alternative rock trio Mike Haggith & The Din making their Rednecks debut at 10:00 PM. The opening set will see Jack Spades bandmates Johnny Belanger and Jesse Cook reprising their acoustic punk set at 9:00 PM (last seen as Sleigher at X-Mess 2), and though the teased Mitch Sirie solo set is no longer listed, it may have always been a joke given the announced Alicia Keys covers.

Promoted by Bear Hunters guitarist Mitch Sirie, this is the show originally intended as a benefit to raise money for Johnny Belanger's smashed windshield, complete with Kickstarter-esque rewards for donating, but insurance covered the repairs, so Johnny just wants this to be a normal concert. With that said, admission is FREE, and the music starts at 9:00 PM, but there's a 19+ age limit. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a great concert, and a throwback of sorts for fans missing the old Rosie metal nights, so don't miss out TOMORROW, and I hope to be there as well! For a preview, here's Shit Liver live last year!

Staying with a Bear Hunters related topic, the guys have launched a full Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for their second full length CD "The Dead Testament"! Similarly to Jack Spades' Kickstarter to crowdfund their three-way split, The Bear Hunters are hoping to crowdfund $5,000 to professionally record this album, which would have 11 songs and is aimed for a release this winter. Mitch's write-up on the Kickstarter page notes that the band wasn't entirely happy with how "Eternal Hibernation" sounded, and while the top goal is lofty, they hope that this will ensure the best sounding album possible, with some of the money going towards limited edition digipaks and possibly their teased "Aftermath" EP. Like any Kickstarter campaign, there are multiple incentives that you'll get or recieve at various funding levels, so what lies ahead if you donate to the album?

Oddly, there's no sub-$12 rewards, but if you pledge $12, you'll get "The Dead Testament" upon release, while higher amounts could get you the digipak, handwritten song lyrics, complete tablature for each song, your own custom Bear Hunters song, private drum lessons, carpool rights on an upcoming tour, and at the $1,500 top level, a private concert. The Bear Hunters deserve the best possible album, so make sure to help crowdfund their next album if you can via the above links, and don't miss the guys TOMORROW NIGHT at The Nicolet Tavern!

Finally for today, we'll come full circle with more from The Pixo Control! Among numerous recent photo postings on their Facebook page from their ongoing album recording sessions, and this Instagram video reacting to their Shaw TV interview, the guys have also launched their own official YouTube channel, with the first video being of a planned vlog series! The five minute vlog features the guys playing and interacting in studio before transitioning to them having a photo shoot with Local2's Dan Nystedt at Village Media headquarters (note that this isn't from their Bare episode, which was also shot there.) You get lots of random light clips of the guys having fun and keeping things light, including a brief tour of the studio and a view of the band getting their photos taken, and it'd be interesting to see more of these! Give it a look below, and note that The Pixo Control teased a North American tour in the info for the vlog. Stay tuned for updates on that!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for much more this week, including this month's CD review by Thursday! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (40 Sons), Rockstar Bar Battle Of The Bands Updates, And Much More!!

Hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl! Today, we're back with a full news post, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, updates on a major spring concert event, a local band's new Kickstarter campaign, and a new tribute song from a prominent local musician, so here's what you need to know!

An out of town hard rock band is returning to Sault Ontario at the end of the month, that being Hamilton hard rock quartet 40 Sons on February 28th at The Rockstar Bar! A long running act who've opened for numerous major artists since their 2004 inception, you may remember 40 Sons from shows they headlined at the old Coch's Corner in 2009 & 2010 (and a later cancelled Speak Easy gig in March 2010), and it'll be great to see them back in town after 3 years away! Their energetic hard rock sound with unique higher singing has helped them get a solid following in Southern Ontario, and hopefully they pick up where they left off in the area at this show! Promoted by Frightlight's J.D. Pearce, this 19+ concert surprisingly has NO COVER, and a 9:00 PM start time is advertised. For more information, visit the official Facebook event page! Don't miss 40 Sons at The Rockstar Bar on the 28th, as this will be a fun night of original hard rock and metal, and stay tuned for any possible updates!

Next up, here's the latest on the Rockstar Bar Battle of the Bands going down every Wednesday in April! While nothing official on the battle's event page has been posted to confirm registered bands, we do know a couple of confirmed bands thanks to their own Facebook postings, so why not start getting the word out? At least two have publically confirmed their registration, including local hard rock quartet The Suicide Kings and local death/sludge metal quartet Giwakwa, in their live concert debut! No strangers to the stage recently, this will be The Suicide Kings' first Rockstar Bar appearance of 2013, and their lineup isn't inexperienced in battles of the bands, with members Steven Flint & Mitch Sirie competing at last year's Sault Humane Society battle with Wishbone and The Bear Hunters repsectively. Can they build on Steven's third place finish last year come April? As for Giwakwa, they feature Bring The Fallen alumni Josh Stephney on vocals & Nolan Rainville on bass alongside veteran local guitarist Chris Page & Frightlight drummer Chris Thompson, and this marks their long awaited debut show following over a year of anticipation and lineup shifts.

Note as well that their lineup has experienced recent battle competitors, as Bring The Fallen won 3 battles out of 4 they competed in between 2009 & 2010, and Josh also played with The Bear Hunters at last year's Humane Society battle. Will Josh & Nolan's experience and success help Giwakwa make a huge first impression?

Both bands confirmed their involvement via Facebook event page postings by band members, so check the above links for proof, but official announcements from organizers are forthcoming. Also, while they haven't explicitly confirmed if they registered yet, Central Algoma death metal quartet For All That Is Lost and local grunge rockers Haggith posted on the event page to imply that they were going to sign up, but full confirmation has yet to come from either the bands or battle organizers as to if they're in, and it's still too soon to confirm dates for each band. I'll keep you guys posted when we hear more! Also, rules on setlist content have been changed to allow competing bands to more or less play what they want, as per postings by J.D. Pearce on the event page linked above, which should encourage more bands to register without fear (though I believe having some original material is still encouraged.) Limited slots are still available, so sign your bands up for A.S.A.P. for $150 at Case's Music, The Rad Zone, or The Algonquin Hotel, with $1,000, studio time, and a guaranteed concert opening slot for the winners, and check the above links for all current information on this huge battle!

Also in the news, Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night needs your help! Drummer Greg Giles launched a Kickstarter campaign recently to help fundraise towards the band's planned re-recording of their debut album "Christmas Night", so what should you know? Unlike the 2011 re-release, this album will feature vocals from German soprano singer Gaby Koss, and it sounds like they're re-doing the whole album and counting it separately from the original instrumental version. As such, this won't be a free process, so Theatre of Night are looking to raise $7,000 to fund the recording sessions and other related fees, and they'll be campaigning to that end for the next two months. If you're familiar with Kickstarter, you'll know that backers who pledge varying amounts of money will get rewards depending how much they pledge, ranging from three song downloads for a $1 pledge to everything from copies of the album and their back catalog (potentially signed if you donate enough), exclusive downloads of new material, free copies of any future Theatre of Night albums, and even credit in the album booklet (plus everything else) if you pledge $1,000.

The album won't be funded the required money unless the $7,000 is raised by April 4th, with a hopeful release coming in the fall, so if you want to pledge money towards this classical epic album of Christmas standards and some originals, click here and donate what you can! I think this is the first time a local metal band's used Kickstarter for fundraising, but hopefully Theatre of Night get the funds they need (and more) by April, so help out however you can, and stay tuned for band updates!

Finally for today, let's close on a somber note, as Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison recently posted a new solo original song onto his YouTube channel in memory of Nadine Dowding, who passed away this weekend. While not a local musician (that I know of), she was a friend of many musicians and mutual contacts, and I've heard very good things about her as a person and mother. Tym's tribute song "Nadine R.I.P. My Friend" has a lot of real visible emotion, and it's well done, especially given the short timeframe to write it. Check it out below, and stay tuned for more news as the week rolls on! Thanks everyone!

Haggith & Late And Loud Updates, Plus Woods Of Ypres' Alumni News!!

Keeping up with the news posts, we have some updates from three bands with local ties, including a fundraising campaign for the next album of one that is familiar to Woods of Ypres fans, what we know about a local classic metal band's current status, and leading off, what's went on with another local band over the past day, so here's what you need to know!

(EDIT, 8:22 PM) We had originally led off this post with updates relating to the local grunge band Haggith, specifically covering the announcement yesterday that they had parted ways with lead guitarist Daniel Horton, and as a result, would be shelving the release of their debut album "Dragon Joy Ride" in order to re-record most material and produce a new debut album with some new tracks. In case you missed the reports on that front, they are still on Haggith's Facebook page as of this evening. Well, Haggith announced on Facebook tonight that they have decided to regroup with Daniel and settle their creative differences in the name of their "public image, sound, and the release of 'Dragon Joy Ride'." A Facebook video was also posted with the update featuring Daniel talking about his brief departure, saying that they'll see how things go in the next couple weeks, while also complimenting the group and their sound, and apologizing for any inconvenience over the last little while. I can't embed Facebook videos here, so click the above links to check it out and the latest statement!

As a result of Daniel's return, Haggith have restored plans to release "Dragon Joy Ride" as it was originally intended, which is now scheduled to come out for paid release THIS SUNDAY! The release was postponed a bit before the last day's events over some cover art concerns, if I remember correctly. This means that the 6 added songs from their brief new album plans ("Safe on the Outside", "Public Enemy", "Leon The Janitor", "If You Get Out Alive", and the yet-unheard "August 5th, '08" & "75") will likely be postponed to future releases, of which we'll hopefully hear more on in the near future. It's great to see Haggith reuniting with Daniel, and hopefully the release of "Dragon Joy Ride" helps boost their local profile even further, so stay tuned for updates and news from Haggith as I hear it!

Next up, here's the latest updates from Late & Loud... wait a minute, didn't they break up? Since their last concert on August 31st, any indication from most of the members has mentioned them as broken up or on an indefinite hiatus (such as Brendan Christie's singer search for a new band & a September 23rd Facebook page comment reply by Josh Hatherley), but in the past couple of days, their Facebook page has been increasingly updated by guitarist Jonathan Tiberi with hints towards some type of future plans. These include updates to their Twitter page, this new psychedelic-inspired band logo, plans for something called "Operation Heavy Thunder", and indications of  "important stuff soon" & "unfinished business". Postings on Jon's personal Facebook page also indicated that he didn't consider the band inactive, just in hibernation, so what's going on in the L&L camp? A formal EP release? A band resurrection, possibly with new members? Something completely different?

Judging by what the majority of the band has said, a full on Late & Loud reunion seems a ways off (if ever) but Jon's updates are giving fans some hope, and I know I'm not the only person who'd love to see new Late & Loud anything, so when news & updates come up, I'll be sure to have it here!

Also today, I wanted to cover some updates from a band that, while no longer having a direct local connection, still has a lot of familiarity. As you guys may remember, late Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold was the drummer in numerous side projects, and one of the most prominent was Thrawsunblat, the Fredericton, New Brunswick black/folk metal project led by Woods of Ypres' final lead guitarist Joel Violette. We've already mentioned on here that final Woods drummer Rae Amitay has replaced David on drums in Thrawsunblat, but now they've also enlisted the remaining member of Woods of Ypres' final lineup (bassist Brendan Hayter) to join Thrawsunblat as well! Very fitting, and it's great to see Brendan a part of Joel & Rae's next musical projects! While none of the three are from the Soo, they'll always be known as Woods of Ypres alumni, which gives their plans for their new concept album "Thrawsunblat II: Wanderer on the Continent of Saplings" some extra local weight, so what should you know?

A press release for the album was posted on Facebook, which indicates the album's planned sound & influences, including confirming that the tracks for the album were recorded this summer with mixing & mastering by "Woods V" producer Siegfried Meier, but they are also looking to raise funds to release "Thrawsunblat II" with a fundraising project (a'la Kickstarter) to pay off studio costs & make it and a physical release of it a reality next year. Click here for information on how you can donate, and what rewards you will get for donating to the cause, or watch this video about the "Thrawsunfundraising", which includes some previews of the album's sound and some background on the leadup to this album & fundraising from Joel & Rae. I sure hope that "Thrawsunblat II" becomes a reality, and the guys deserve some major successes from their work! Without David & his labels around to help, a fundraising campaign will help tremendously if it takes off, and in a way, this is as close as we're going to get to a "Woods VI", so I'd follow Thrawsunblat's fundraising and check out Joel & David's first album "Canada 2010" (pictured) via the above links, and best of luck all around!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews and likely some more news tomorrow morning! Thanks everyone!