LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Who Made Who), New YouTube Uploads, And Some Musician Searches!!

Happy President's Day to our American readers, and if you count it as a Canadian holiday, happy Family Day! Today's post is full of some recent stories that we couldn't fit in recent posts due to the glut of weekend concert previews last week, including local musician searches, a new cover, a new song posting, and a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, so here's what you need to know!

After two years away from the Soo, Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who will return to our area on Friday, March 28th for a show at The Rockstar Bar! My source for the above date is their official website's tour calendar. Canada's only AC/DC tribute act that tours the country full time, their accurate and hard hitting sound is sure to give a high voltage dose of rock n' roll to fans at The Rockstar Bar next month during the early stretch of their current tour, so don't miss the return of Who Made Who next month! No word on potential local openers yet, but for reference, their older local dates at The Canadian didn't have any that I remember. Though the venue has yet to confirm this show, I would assume a $5 cover charge, 19+ age limit, and 10:00 PM start time will be in effect on March 28th, and for more details, check the above links! Sounds like a good time for you AC/DC fans, and I enjoyed them when they played here, so keep Who Made Who's return in mind for next month!

Next up, Sault Michigan hard rock collective The Highest of Fives have stayed busy by finally releasing some full new material recently, and while we'll touch on their new full video "The U.P. Song" in an upcoming post, a song named "Take My Time" was just posted onto member Devin Anderson's YouTube channel on Thursday. Described as "a tasty jam", it was written by singer Mitch Goetz & features him alongside Devin and guitarist Marcel "Crusty Puck" Grengs. Compared to their material written by fellow member Travis Theel, this is closer to their hard/alternative prior work, but assuming a release of their CD "Bang!" is still forthcoming, I won't comment too much on it. Sounds good though, so give "Take My Time" a listen below!



Also in new videos, Ashes To Dust guitarist Alex Hemy's newest cover video is of Stone Sour's "Through Glass", as uploaded to his YouTube channel on Wednesday! A bit of a return to his older covers of heavier bands (albeit sung too like on other recent videos), he handles this softer track well musically, though his vocal range doesn't suit the more dramatic later verses. Solid cover though, so give it a look below!



Finally for today, here's three recent musician searches that could have metal/hard rock ramifications, as per the Musicians Wanted Facebook group in recent days (specifically, Saturday, Monday, and Friday respectively), so keep them in mind if you need to fill out a lineup! As usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist name:

• Local pianist Damjan Binda is looking for a drummer to jam with while he's in the Soo, though a specific genre wasn't cited. His solo work has some interesting dramatic qualities, so if you're interested, message him at this link or via the ones above!
• Local bassist Paul Stanghetta (ex-Smeltzer, The Fury) is looking for musicians (preferably female) of any instrument to fill out the lineup of his new band Keep It Lit (yes, the same "secret" band that dropped out of last fall's Viva La Battle.) He's looking for artists who will be committed to and devote time for performances, and genre wise, he described Keep It Lit as a band who "likes to rock really hard and also rap and sing hard poppy hooks." If you're interested, message Paul at this link!
• Former Ashes To Dust bassist Kyle Breckenridge is looking to join a new band (preferably punk, rock, or metal), and he's willing to play bass or rhythm guitar. It'd be nice to see him playing again, so if you're interested in trying Kyle out, message him at this link!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Ray Brown Arrangements, Viva La Battle Updates, And New Mike Haggith Albums!!

I wasn't expecting to have a new news post today, but given our busy Thursday and some new notes on a recent sad story and a late notice lineup change for TONIGHT'S battle of the bands, I thought I should get another up tonight. Today, we also have album updates (including a surprise release) from two Mike Haggith-featured projects, but first, here's some follow-up on a well liked local musician's recent passing.

Former local metal/hard rock drummer Ray Brown's obituary has been posted onto SooToday at this link, where it confirms that his funeral will be held on Saturday at 2:00 PM at the Arthur Funeral Home & Cremation Centre, with visitation taking place Friday from 6:00-9:00 PM and Saturday from 12:00-1:30 PM, and cremation and internment planned at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. The obituary also adds that memorial contributions to the Algoma Residential Community Hospice and the Sault Area Hospital Cancer Care Fund would be appreciated, and he's survived by his fiance Candy, two brothers, and four nieces & nephews, among other extended family. I'll also note that his former The Chosen bandmate Taryn Bugyra has launched this Facebook group as a memorial to him, with the hope of obtaining pictures of him for use at his services, so if you have any pictures of Ray, join the group and share them if you want.

The outpouring of condolences and memories has been really nice to see, and though I won't pretend to have known him, it does reinforce all of the good things I have heard from his friends and bandmates. I hope the funeral on Saturday continues the recent good feelings, and I send nothing but the best out to Ray's family and Candy at this difficult time. R.I.P. Ray!

Moving to some lighter recent stories, a band has dropped out of TONIGHT'S Viva La Battle at The Canadian Nightclub, that being debuting "secret" band Keep It Lit. Promoter J.D. Pearce confirmed on the Facebook event page this afternoon that a band member broke their hand, and though I'm not sure which member it was, note that Keep It Lit's intended secrecy prior to their debut hasn't noticeably bowed despite their exit from tonight's battle of the bands. With their withdrawal being so short notice, a replacement band will not be secured (making this the smallest battle of the bands in recent memory), but J.D. did note that the remaining bands can play up to 45 minutes in their set now if they want. Disappointing news to be sure, especially knowing Keep It Lit's lineup and sound descriptions, but hopefully they'll have some public news or a new show date sooner or later! With that said, we still have The Bear Hunters battling with the debuting North West and Punch TONIGHT to earn the right to open for Fuckface Unstoppable at The Canadian next month, so don't miss out!

With one less band, there's now a 66% chance that a Suicide Kings member will win their second straight battle tonight, but will North West throw a wrench into those odds? Find out TONIGHT, and you can help win by entering your ballot! First band goes on at 9:30 PM, you must be 19 to attend, and the cover charge is $5! See you guys there!

We'll close today with some news relating to albums featuring prolific local hard rock musician Mike Haggith, starting with the latest from Mike's new band, local funk/metal/jam trio The Strange Coyotes! The Project Legion successors recorded a live in-studio album at PaperClip Productions a few days ago and released it to their new BandCamp page last night after some editing and trimming, and a YouTube upload of said tracks is also planned. With 7 songs spread across 27 minutes, the self titled album features all originals by The Strange Coyotes, and I don't think any of them are expanded versions of Chase Wigmore or James Watterworth's existing original songs. I'll note that like defunct Sault Michigan band Insipid Bruality's posthumous album, this is up on a name your price model, so while you can buy it free, I'm sure the band would appreciate if you paid a sum for the album! Knowing that it's on sale, I'll confirm that a review of "The Strange Coyotes" is now likely, but when can we expect it on the site?

Probably not until next year, as I've reserved this month for SweetKenny's "Perception", and I tentatively have Haggith's "Apocalypse II" planned for next month to go along with their impending demise (if it does come out for sale, of course), but stay tuned for it in early 2014, and give The Strange Coyotes' self-titled original debut a listen above!

Finally for today, here's some announcements on his upcoming 48th solo album! As per his solo project's Facebook page yesterday, tracking & mixing is underway for this album, which will be called "A Place Of Our Own" (album cover on your right), which will be a concept album. It replaces his original planned next CD "The Tower", which is now on "an indefinite hiatus", though he's pushed back planned album ideas before, so I wouldn't immediately assume that it'll never surface. A release date and samples/indications of the album's sound are yet to be confirmed, but Mike tentatively pointed towards a possible completion date in February 2014. I'll note that if "A Place Of Our Own" comes out on time from that projection, we won't review it (or "The Present Din" if it's heavier) until at least April, as it'll be within our 6 month buffer from our review of "Neighbourhood Watch II", but I fully expect to review a new Mike Haggith album by mid-2014, so stay tuned for updates on it and Mike's other solo work as it all comes in!

That's all for today, but I'll see you guys TONIGHT at The Canadian for Viva La Battle! Will The Bear Hunters, North West, or Punch earn the right to open for Bam Margera next month? Find out tonight, and stay tuned at midnight for a special look back at a popular former local concert series that recently celebrated it's third anniversary. Thanks everyone!

Viva La Battle Preview!!

TOMORROW NIGHT marks the first Sault Ontario battle of the bands in 7 months, as four local bands will gather at The Canadian Nightclub for Viva La Battle, with an opening slot at the Bam Margera/Fuckface Unstoppable concert on December 14th on the line, so here's our extended preview of it! The first battle to take place at this central venue since the Kiss Battle almost 4 years ago, this will also mark the first metal-featured concert at The Canadian since their most recent post-flood renovations, and this is a nice way to return to normal on the concert front! Similarly to last June's Battle For The Blood, promoter J.D. Pearce is hosting this battle to fill the last opening slot for the aforementioned Bam Margera show next month, with the winners joining Fuckface Unstoppable, Wilson, and local openers Destroilet & Jack Spades on the bill. Like the Battle For The Blood, the winners will be chosen by a fan ballot, with all paid fans recieving a ballot to vote on at the door upon entry. After everyone wraps up, you can vote and submit your ballot, and the winner will be announced at the end of the night (no announced prizes for runners-up though), so keep all of that in mind!

Note however that unlike T-Rex Manning last year, there is not an announced non-competitive band scheduled to play tomorrow night. Performance order for the 4 bands will be determined tomorrow one hour before showtime, and each band has a 30 minute set to rock fans with. Like March 2009's YMCA Battle, this will be a good showcase for new bands, with 3 of the 4 making their debut at a live public venue tomorrow night, but there's some battle veterans in each band that will be aiming to win tomorrow night, so let's run through each in alphabetical order:

The Bear Hunters: By far the most experienced and well known of the competitors, local death metal quartet The Bear Hunters will look to continue their gradual improvement in their third local battle tomorrow night, following their 5th place finish at April's Rockstar Bar Battle. Though this will be their first battle as a quartet due to Josh Stephney's move, they're guaranteed a higher finish thanks to the lower band count tomorrow, but is first place finally in the cards for this brutal local band, and can guitarist Mitch Sirie's victory at the Rockstar Bar Battle with The Suicide Kings be beneficial?

Keep It Lit: Similarly to the now-defunct Sarah's Valley at the Rockstar Bar Battle, new local band Keep It Lit are intentionally going into tomorrow's battle as a "secret band", with no online page or public indications of their lineup & sound until showtime. Unlike Sarah's Valley though, I do know their lineup & genre, and while I'll respect the secrecy for now, I will confirm that their lineup features two local battle veterans who have both had runner-up finishes in the last 4 years. Will Keep It Lit hit the top of the votes in their debut tomorrow?

North West: Though they debuted on Halloween at a Oh! Right Arm!-promoted house party, this will be North West's first truly public live appearance. Currently sans an online page themselves, their lineup does feature recent solo acoustic favourite Greg Callaghan (who competed at 2008's Skid Row Battle with Terminal) and (I believe) Small Town Rivals bassist Mike Smykacz, which seems to point to an indie/alternative punk sound, but I've struggled to find out much else, including the identity of their other two members. We'll learn more soon hopefully, but will North West take the stage by storm tomorrow night?

Punch: An intriguing union of the top 2 bands from April's Rockstar Bar Battle, Punch sees Suicide Kings guitarist Steven Flint (moving to bass) and drummer Ben Boudreau aligning with Haggith singer Curtis McKenzie and guitarist Daniel Horton for what should be an anticipated debut set! It remains to be seen how they sound (or if they have original songs yet), but their members have had a lot of recent success both in concerts and at battles of the bands, so they're not to be overlooked! Will Punch "punch" their ticket for the Bam Margera show at tomorrow's battle?

Remember as well that the aforementioned Suicide Kings were replaced on the lineup by Punch, so they will not be defending their battle crown tomorrow, but they are still together, so stay tuned for updates from them! Though only 1 band tomorrow has extensive local familiarity, do not bypass the new bands! Both Sense of Truth and The Undead Warriors (later Bring The Fallen) won local battles in their live concert debuts in the late 2000s, and if they can do it, one of tomorrow's new bands can as well! Admission is $5 tomorrow night, you must be 19 to attend, there's an announced 9:00 PM start time, and as stated above, your admission will get you a judging ballot to help pick the winners (and an draw entry for a Destroilet/Jack Spades prize pack!) For more details, check the Facebook event page! It's great to have another local battle of the bands tomorrow night, and with a bunch of new (but often familiar) talent in store, you won't wanna miss out! The fan vote should be interesting to hear the results from, especially given the unknown variables of the new bands, so make sure to come to Viva La Battle TOMORROW NIGHT to help pick the winners!

Will the third time be the charm for The Bear Hunters at local battle of the bands, or can Keep It Lit, North West, or Punch debut with a bang and earn the right to open for Bam Margera? I'm very curious to find out, and I'll definitely be there tomorrow night to help pick the winners and see the bands in action! I won't post a preview video just to avoid showing bias (even if The Bear Hunters are the only band with a video), but I'll see you guys at The Canadian tomorrow night! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Viva La Battle), New Concert Recordings, And Oh! Right Arm! Show Updates!!

Before we preview the Halloween weekend metal/hard rock concerts in the region, we have another news post today, including a bunch of assorted updates from upcoming AlgomA-related concerts, some very cool new live concert clips from a new local studio/sound company, and first, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT concerning a previously announced event that now has an official date, so here's what you need to know!

A final date is set for next month's battle of the bands Viva La Battle at The Canadian Nightclub, where the fan-voted winners will open for Bam Margera's Fuckface Unstoppable at The Canadian Nightclub on December 14th! The battle will now take place on Wednesday, November 13th (almost a month before the show itself), and while the mid-week setting might be unfortunate to some, I'm just glad to see that The Canadian's back up and running to host everything! As previously announced, the battle will have ballots given to attendees at the door to vote on after the bands wrap up (similarly to last year's Battle For The Blood), and I assume it's a 19+ event, but details on admission costs, a start time, and any possible non-competitive performers have yet to be announced. A fourth band has been confirmed for the lineup though (joining Rockstar Bar Battle winners The Suicide Kings, fellow finalists The Bear Hunters, and new local band North West), and they are a new local band named Keep It Lit! From what I've been told, they're a "secret band" (similarly to Sarah's Valley from the Rockstar Bar Battle), but like them, I do know that they have battle experienced membership.

If anything public comes out on their lineup, sound, or anything else before November 13th, we'll have it here! It looks like promoter J.D. Pearce is hoping for more than 4 bands for the battle, and registration ends on November 1st (next Friday), so if your band is interested in competing to open for Fuckface Unstoppable at The Canadian in December, apply A.S.A.P. at the official Facebook event page, and stay tuned for more updates!

Next up, we have a new recording studio and live concert sound company that you guys might be interested in! As some of you may know, Caveman Morrison/Redundant bassist James White (a.k.a. Yimmy Blanco) has been providing sound at concerts and doing some recording sessions with local bands in recent months, but only last Friday did he launch a Facebook group for his work in this area, under the alliterative moniker White Wreckords. Full details on his work in this area isn't too elaborated on yet, but feel free to message James on Facebook or on the group's wall if you'd like to have White Wreckords to provide sound or recordings for your events! His work is good, as some mp3 samples there will indicate, given that James posted a pair of live concert recordings to the group as Facebook videos in the past week! These both come from the benefit concert at The Roosevelt Hotel on August 1st for Frightlight bassist Mike "Eddie Fright" Gingras' upcoming short film "The Kid Who Made The Face", one of which being a high quality audio clip of the original Chronic Demonic lineup's only live appearance!

A cover of The Misfits' "London Dungeon" (as previously seen here), this featured current guitarist Kevin "St. Mayhem" Powe & bassist Ryan Gratton alongside ex-singer Sabrina "Strange" Lavoie and then-drummer Rick "Styles" White. The only song they played during their surprise appearance that night, the quality's really good, and Sabrina's vocals are a nice change of pace with a solid tone, which is another positive sign for her current band Project Legion! Of course, the new lineup (featuring Bear Hunters alumni Nik Deubel & Mike Vincent) will likely sound very different at least vocally, but give the first Chronic Demonic live performance a listen below!



The other concert audio posting comes from Kevin & Rick's headlining set that night with their main horror punk/metal band Frightlight, featuring their performances of their original songs "Dead Town Anywhere" and "She Screams"! Their only concert since last fall featuring Eddie Fright on bass (and their last to date with this lineup), the songs are a bit messier than on some earlier dates, but their usual punk attitude and horror influences are clear as day, and they have been missed this fall! Check out the full video below, stay tuned for announced Bear Hunters studio clips from White Wreckords, and they're now in our Other Sault Ontario Metal Links!



Finally for today, here's assorted shorter notes relating to three upcoming concerts promoted by AlgomA frontman Darby Wigwaus' Oh! Right Arms! Promotions in a collective with/or drummer Jamie Vincent, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by the name of the highest slotted hard rock/metal band:

• The announced concert on Tuesday, November 12th featuring local grunge duo Bad Back opening for Calgary experimental punk band If I Look Strong, You Look Strong has been cancelled, as per the deletion of it's Facebook event page on Monday. A reason hasn't been announced, but the show never had a confirmed venue publically, which is why we didn't officially call it on here when still scheduled. Disappointing, but hopefully I.I.L.S.Y.L.S. try again for a local date!
• The Biipiigwan-headlined concert at The Moose Lodge on November 24th is indeed licensed for alcohol sale, so you don't have to worry about the all ages nature of it impeding any desire for a few drinks! My source is the show's Facebook event page, and stay tuned for more updates!
• If you're wondering why we haven't plugged the upcoming Halloween night concert featuring local grunge/acoustic project Telephone & Address (joining the aforementioned North West as openers for Winnipeg punk quartet Clipwing), it's because the show is taking place at Jamie Vincent's home, with the address only being given out on request. As a rule, we don't plug house parties on here unless they're treated as a publically available concert with a public address, but if you want more information, click here!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for Halloween weekend concert previews TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!