LemmaFest 2012 Extended Preview!!

After a successful first installment last year, the second annual LemmaFest goes down TOMORROW at the outdoor stage outside of Dondee Lanes in Sault Michigan, so here's an extended preview of it for this post! This annual festival in memory of late Dondee employee Michael Lemma will go down all day tomorrow with all kinds of activities for fans and revelers, including $1 bowling offers, prize draws, drink specials, food by donation, and shirt & mug sales for the event, though volleyball & horseshoe games from last year aren't advertised this year that I can tell. Check the above links for more on the non-musical aspects of tomorrow's event, and we'll get to the admission details in a bit, but how about tomorrow night's performers? 8 bands have been scheduled for this year's LemmaFest, down from 10 last year, but this helps facilitate both longer sets and easier set up and tear down time, so this should all work out well! Plus, there's been a LOT less lineup changes, with no bands dropping out and only one timeslot being switched, luckily! I believe Grooves Music are also on hand to take care of the sound for tomorrow's bands. The lineup is full of veterans from last year and some newer talent, including a greater local concentration, so here's who's on tap for this year in chronological order!

This year's opening band (right at 12:00 PM) is Brimley metal trio Half A Man (pictured), fresh off of their first show in 13 months TONIGHT at The Bird, and with a hard hitting metal sound (complete with their Lemma tribute song "Goodbye"), you know they'll set the tone really well for this year's event, especially after missing last year's LemmaFest! Also note that they may have a CD of some form available, and some merchandise proceeds will go to area firefighters, which is an awesome gesture! Following them at 1:30 PM are new local indie cover band The London Gentlemen, whose singer/guitarists Mike Russo & Steve Sivret played second last year as well with their acoustic band Fallen Heroes. However, The London Gentlemen also feature Trail's End/ex-Nixxon Dixxon bandmates Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde on bass & drums, but despite their metal pedigrees, this new band won't be too heavy from what I know. Still, they're a talented quartet, so don't miss them, and if I hear anything good or bad on Trail's End's recently quiet status, I'll have it here! Third up tomorrow at 3:00 PM are the local rock cover band Chump Change (fronted by Terry Talentino, who was 3rd last year as well with the inactive acoustic band 2PumpChump), and they have a nice mix of covers from many genres for their fans tomorrow in a rare afternoon concert for them. Think of 2PumpChump plugged in with a full band, and you'll get a good idea of what to expect!

The 4:30 slot tomorrow belongs to local hard rock trio Powerslug, whose members performed at LemmaFest last year in both River Witch & Great Bodily Harm. Expect an entertaining hard rock set from the two Chris' and Orb tomorrow, as the talent's there, even if the online pages aren't (and click here for a rare video of Powerslug in action!) After them, the fifth band at 6:00 PM is the local rock band Bucksaw, who I know very little on, despite returning from last year's LemmaFest at the exact same timeslot. I know their lineup last year included guitarists Bill Ogston (ex-Blind Baby) and Ryan Franklin (a local boxer), bassist Barney Gravelle, and drummer Jason VanLuven (also in Chump Change), but is that the same this year? Do they have online pages or media? Are they even hard rock? If I ever find anything more on Bucksaw, you know I'll have it here! Sixth is the only non-local band at this year's LemmaFest, that being Munising metal quintet Infathom (pictured), who played right after Bucksaw last year as well. Featuring former Half A Man singer Dillion Semasky, this will be Infathom's first announced show of 2012, and they're sure to build on their brutal sound and good local notices with another entertaining set of covers and originals tomorrow night at 7:30 PM!

The outdoor portion of LemmaFest will be headlined by the return of local metal trio Scofflaw (featuring Barney Gravelle from Bucksaw) at 9:00 PM, who will play their first announced local concert since October tomorrow! After a successful set at last year's LemmaFest, look for Jeff, Barney, and Ivan to melt faces with their rough but entertaining metal assault tomorrow night! As Scofflaw begin their set, local southern rock cover trio The Hixx will play a standard Saturday night set inside The Dondee to close the festival, just like last year, though they aren't playing an earlier outside set this time around. Their dependable and oft-seen party music will be a great way to end the evening, so don't miss The Hixx inside at the end of the night! Now, if you're planning on going, here's some attendance details. Tickets are $10 in advance at The Dondee, Grooves Music, and The Merchant's Bar, but the price jumps to $15 at the door. All times are above for when the bands play, and while the event itself is ALL AGES, attendees under 21 years old can't be in the Dondee's bar or the fenced in area after 8:00 PM. For more details, including individual merchandise and drink pricing, visit the official Facebook event page!

This sounds like an awesome festival for a great cause, especially seeing as some proceeds will go towards the Grosse Point Music Camp this summer in Sault Michigan, so click here for more details! Mike Lemma would definitely be proud of everyone coming out for this year's festival in his memory, and with 5 returning bands (and only one with no performers from last year), the synergy and talent will go a long way tomorrow! For metalheads, half the lineup (plus one if Bucksaw count) are hard rock or metal, so there's no shortage of music up your alley if you come out to LemmaFest, which will be worth every penny! Check the above links for more on the festival and each band tomorrow, and for a preview, here's Scofflaw playing their original song "Love Destroyer" circa 2008!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and this month's YouTube Channel Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone, and don't miss LemmaFest tomorrow outside of The Dondee!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Nudge), LemmaFest Lineup News, And More From Theatre Of Night!!

Sault Michigan's had a lot of news lately, and that trend continues this morning with this post full of news and notes from across the river! We've got the latest news from a local metal project, all of the latest details (including an early lineup) for a major upcoming concert festival, and leading things off, some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, so here's what you need to know!

Marquette hard rock quartet Nudge are finally coming back to Sault Michigan for a pair of concerts next weekend! These talented local favourites will return to The Satisfied Frog for their first local shows in almost six months on May 4th and 5th, in what should be a solid weekend of hard rocking covers! Notably, these shows will be Nudge's first local stops since drummer Eric Schlumpf left the band in December, having been twice replaced since then, so welcome new drummer Jed Thibeault to the Nudge fold next weekend! As well, the band will have some new merchandise for sale, and frontman Danzo McCracken will bring his acoustic solo concert back to The Frog tomorrow night as well, so keep that in mind! Admission should be free for both of next weekend's shows, you must be 21 to attend either, and there'll be 10:00 PM start times. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Nudge were almost last seen in February at The Frog, but those dates were later moved to Gladstone, so if you've been missing Nudge's prolific and entertaining hard rock covers, you know when and where to be! They'll be sure to rock the house and impress their local fanbase, so circle the return of Nudge on your calendars if you're across the river!

Next up, the lineup for this year's second annual LemmaFest has been announced! The festival in memory of late Dondee Lanes employee Michael Lemma now has a full lineup set for the July 23rd festival outside of the Dondee, and though I'm sure it's subject to change (last year's changed a lot beforehand), there's a solid lineup of veterans from last year and some new bands and talent, so here's who to look out for on the current schedule! The festival will open at 12:00 PM with Brimley metal quartet Half A Man in their first live concert appearance in 13 months, and their first with their current lineup! They were tentatively lined up for last year's event at one point, but with a hard hitting metal sound a Lemma tribute song in their setlist, they'll be the perfect band to open LemmaFest on June 23rd! They'll be followed by the new local acoustic quartet The London Gentlemen at 1:30 PM, who are comprised of Fallen Heroes' members Mike Russo & Steve Sivret on vocals & guitar and Trail's End bandmates Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde on bass & drums. You may recognize Mike & Steve alone from their set with Fallen Heroes at last year's LemmaFest, but the presence of a fuller lineup (and Nixxon Dixxon alumni) shouldn't indicate a radically different sound from Fallen Heroes, so expect some proficient indie rock covers from these guys!

Four straight bands from last year's LemmaFest will follow The London Gentlemen on June 23rd, those being sporadically seen local metal trio Scofflaw at 3:00 PM, local hard rock quartet Powerslug (who were known as River Witch last year) at 4:30 PM, the page and media-less rock band known as Bucksaw (featuring Blind Baby alum Bill Ogston) at 6:00 PM, and Munising hardcore metal quintet Infathom (this year's only band from outside the Sault Michigan area) at 7:30 PM. It's great to see these bands back for more LemmaFest action this year, and in most cases, it's been many months since they've played a publically announced concert locally so this is as good a time as any for them to rock the area! The outdoor portion will end with new local cover rock quartet Chump Change (fronted by 2PumpChump's Terry Talentino from last year's LemmaFest) at 9:00 PM, while one more band from last year (classic rock cover trio The Hixx) will be on at the exact same time inside the Dondee to close out the night. Remember that this lineup is subject to change, and bands & times could change for varying reasons, so stay tuned to LemmaFest pages and the SMS for updates, and for more details, check out the above links and the brand new Facebook event page!

This sounds like a very solid lineup of familiar and new bands from the area, and if you attended last year's LemmaFest, it should be just as entertaining! Note that the band total is 8 rather than 10 from last year, but this does likely give each band slightly longer sets, so that works out! Also, for trivia sake, note that 4 musicians (Barney Gravelle, Ivan Schliska, Dillion Semasky, and Jason VanLuven) are all in two of the bands this year, if returning band lineups are the same, which is awesome to see their hard work for in Mike's memory! There will be food, drink specials, and raffles at this year's event, and though official sources haven't confirmed age limits or admission costs yet, note that last year's LemmaFest was all ages with $10 admission. Also, a fundraising event/band camp will be held on May 29th at the Taco Bell in Sault Michigan with part of the proceeds going to LemmaFest and the cause, so click here for info on that evening's event! This is all shaping up well for this year's event for sure, so stay tuned for more updates as they roll in, and go honour Mike Lemma's memory with some great music on June 23rd at the Dondee!

And finally, here's some more recent updates from local classical metal band Theatre of Night! First off, they have officially confirmed that German musician Gaby Koss is their new singer for the project, and she'll be featured in a re-release of their debut album "Christmas Night" later this year, along with an additional release projected to come out by early next year. I'm not overly familiar with her work, but she has experience in both opera and metal settings, and she has a beautiful voice for sure, so click here to hear some of her past work! Among other recent news: A new instrumental song named "Dreams of Winter Night" was posted onto the band's Reverbnation page, which has a nice epic orchestral feel, and I recently heard from keyboardist Craig Harrison that their planned American patriotic-themed album is only planned to be finished in May, not released that quickly. No matter what though, I'm anticipating their next work, as they're definitely a unique band in the local scene, and I'm a sucker for orchestral influences in metal, so fingers crossed more updated and material come out soon! Check the above links for more, and stay tuned hopefully by this weekend for my review of End of Existence's debut album!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews later tonight, and our (delayed) Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

Another Local Metal Video Showcase!!

Anyone want some more videos? The month of December has been good for them so far, and I've got a bunch to share today, so here's what's on tap! Today, we've got tons of videos from a pair of concerts this past weekend, new jam videos from a notable band from across the river, and a new solo cover from a notable local hard rock guitarist, so here's what you need to know!

Did you miss the Helix concert at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday night? If so, then good news, as 9 videos from the concert are now on YouTube! They were uploaded last night by YouTube user dtwalker79, and they amount to about 25 minutes of the Kitchener metal legends' headlining set over the weekend. The videos include Helix playing "Wild In The Streets", "Heavy Metal Love", a solo from bassist Daryl Gray, guitarist Kaleb Duck's solo (in two parts; click here & here to see them), "Good To The Last Drop", a solo from drummer Greg "Fritz" Hinz, "Rock You", and "Dream On", so click on each video link above to see the footage! Things sound pretty good, though Brian Vollmer's singing doesn't come off very loudly on the videos, and the band seems to have a good sound and chemistry as I'd expect from most of their classic lineup! There's also a lot of people in the way on the earlier videos, but dtwalker79 did get closer to the stage by the end of the cycle. Solid stuff, and kudos to him for getting all of these videos from the show! I bet it was huge, but if you missed it, this is the next best thing! Check the above links for more, and here's Helix playing "Wild In The Streets" at The Rockstar Bar on Saturday!



Also for videos from concerts this past weekend is some new video footage of local deathcore quartet View To A Kill from their headlining slot at Feedback on Saturday night! Also uploaded onto YouTube yesterday, this is the first posted video of V2AK from John Veale, who frequently films videos of his son Adam's other band Sativa Rose. In this case, he shot View To A Kill covering the Parkway Drive song "Carrion", and the guys sound good here (Steve Rhodes sounds particularly brutal), though the lighting doesn't seem as active as it was at the Shit Liver show last weekend. Still, it's a solid performance, and hopefully John has some more videos in store for fans of Adam's local bands! Check out their cover of "Carrion" below!



Next up, here's even more new videos from Brimley hard rockers Half A Man, who have uploaded three new jam session videos onto their YouTube channel! All uploaded last night, two of the new videos are in the "drum cam" position, so we only see drummer Mikey Bishop in frame, but they give us glimpses of an untitled new song (that sounds very heavy) and a new track named "Goodbye" that was written in memoriam of the late Michael Lemma, the beloved Dondee Lanes employee who suddenly passed away last summer & later saw LemmaFest launched in his honour. Great cause for a song, it's a fitting tribute, though the lyrics have repetitive moments. Mikey's drumming is as solid as ever too, so definitely check the above videos out, but I'm gonna embed the third new video here, which is of the three active members of Half A Man (Denny Breslin's still absent) playing "Goodbye" on a camera with everyone in view! Audio's slightly scratchy on this camera, but you can see Erik Rintamaki trying a guitar solo, lyrics and captions, and more, so give Half A Man's new videos a look above and below, and stay tuned for more news on them as it comes in!



And finally, Sneaky Pete guitarist Mario Carlucci uploaded a new solo guitar cover video onto his YouTube channel on Thursday, where he covered the intro of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"! I'm admittedly not a huge Pink Floyd fan, but the intro is well played here, though it sounds very quiet compared to other videos I've been listening to lately, so have the volume dial on hand. Nice work overall, so give Mario's rendition of "Wish You Were Here" a look below!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news this week! Thanks everyone!

News From Destroilet, Half A Man, Meatplow, And A New Festival!

Get ready, guys, for this is a triple post Saturday! We'll start today with a new news post featuring some new scattered updates. we'll have some more news and the latest March Mayhem updates this afternoon (YOU HAVE UNTIL 2:15 TO VOTE!!), and then tonight, our review of Woods of Ypres' debut EP "Against The Seasons: Cold Winter Songs From The Dead Summer Heat"! This is a big day, hope you guys come back frequently today! Now, to the news, as we have new pages, new songs, new concert details, new videos, and kicking things off, a new concert event! Here's what you need to know!

On June 25th, a special concert event will take place at Dondee Lanes in Sault Michigan named LemmaFest, and apologies to everyone if I'm missing or misstating anything here. The event is being held in memory of Michael Lemma, a Dondee employee who tragically passed away on July 2nd of last year at just 38 years of age. He was a funny, well liked, and respected guy that was frequently seen at area concerts, and his loss was definitely felt in the Sault Michigan area last summer. From this sprung the first annual LemmaFest, which will be held on June 25th at the Dondee, and it will be an all day concert, with bands playing from 12:00 PM to 2:00 AM! Other events like a 50/50 draw, prizes, special bowling deals, horseshoes, and beach volleyball are also planned. I'm not aware of an admission price yet, I'll keep you all posted on that. I never knew Mike, but from everything I've seen and heard, I can tell he deserves all the love and respect that people are giving him, and this is a great way to honour his memory one year later! As for bands, a full schedule and official announcements on most bands aren't out yet, but I have seen visible interest and preliminary confirmation from hard rock acts Half A Man, Scofflaw, and River Witch, along with other area bands The Hixx and Fallen Heroes, so make note of their likely involvement!

I can't speculate too much on other possible bands, but as word trickles in, I'll let you guys know! This sounds like a great event for a great purpose, and I will absolutely keep you guys posted as more official word comes in! For more details, visit the official Facebook page, event page, and fan page in Mike's memory!

Next up, are you guys craving a new local metal or hard rock album already? This isn't quite that, but it'll do until it comes out, as Destroilet have posted unmastered mixes of every song from their upcoming debut EP onto their MySpace page! Their originals "Hypocrite" and "My Life" along with their cover of The Billy Bastards' "Mile 58" are now available to stream on there along with the previously posted tracks, so now you can hear the whole EP before it's release! Of course, things won't be 100% the same though from the final copy, as these are unmastered mixes. That's why I'm not rushing to review it immediately, there are changes and improvements to come before the CD pressing begins, but Destroilet have moved at a rapid pace to get this material out there! The EP only clocks in at around 13 minutes long, which isn't as short on the whole as six Detroit songs, for example, but it will still will fly by, especially with only one song exceeding 3 minutes in length! What do I think of the new songs? Again, I'll hold complete thoughts until the EP actually comes out, but if you enjoyed the first three demos for the EP, your opinion will be the same on the latest three! Check the above links for more details, and remember to vote for them to make The Warped Tour's Montreal stop at this location!

Thirdly today, have you been wondering what's been up with the local metal band Meatplow? Honestly, so have I, especially given their long break from real band news. Guitarist Dennis Porter frequently posted links to the same videos I shown you early last year on his personal Facebook page, which sounded promising, but nothing new has popped up until this month! Five very short HD videos of recent jam sessions were uploaded by singer/drummer Phil Temporao (ex-Amethyst) onto his YouTube channel over the past week, and they do show and tell us some more! They tell us that they were recorded in what is now called GreenTown Digital Recordz, which appears to be Phil's name for their recording studio, but nothing implying the name Meatplow is thrown about in the videos. Same members though! The new videos are a heavy groove metal improv section, a clip of a cover of Alice In Chains' "Them Bones", a bass solo with drum accompaniment, a drum solo, and a short guitar riff, so click each link to check them out!

Again, guitarist Mike Thiffault (I think that's his last name) isn't in any of these videos, but they again show the unique promise that Meatplow had from last year! Phil's vocals are heavy and suit their original improv songs, the songs still retain a groove/industrial feel, and everything fits as well as I'd expect! I wonder what we'll hear next from Meatplow (if this is in fact still their name) and GreenTown Digital Recordz? Check the above links for more, and here's a clip of Phil and Dennis jamming out some improv groove metal!



Finally, here's some new Half A Man news! The Brimley hard rock quartet have been keeping busy recently with lots of scattered updates and developments, including a ton of new logo concepts (judge for yourself at their Facebook page), but there's some other interesting news to share! For one, the band was talking about doing some touring and possibly taking part in a self-organized local concert featuring them, Detroit hard rockers Fifth Way (featuring Saultite Zak Stelmaszek), and a major headlining band from their own contacts. They threw Skid Row out there as a possibility, but this is talk at the moment. It'd be cool if it happened though, so click the above links to join this conversation! As well, their April 16th headlining concert at The Merchant's Bar (poster on the left) has been bolstered with the addition of a new band making their live debut as openers! Originally hyped as a "secret" opening band, I can now confirm that they are called Great Bodily Harm! The band will feature former Hammerspace singer Kirk Labadie, former Half A Man drummer Doug Reed on guitar, River Witch guitarist Chris Leask on bass, and End of Existence frontman Bob "Orb Hearthstone" Helsten on drums! How's that for a supergroup of sorts? No word on them beyond the members, but if I hear more, I'll let you know! Check out the above links for all of this Half A Man news, and more!

That's all for now, but stay tuned this afternoon for our second of three posts today, as we hopefully cover some more news, as well as unveil the results of the first four March Mayhem opening round matches, and start the voting for the next four! Remember, you have until 2:15 PM TODAY to vote, so if you want to help swing the results the other way, or secure victory for the current leaders, you still have time! VOTE TODAY, and I'll see you guys real soon!