LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison) And Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews!!

Alright, it's now time for our second part of our three-post weekend concert previews, and today, we have five shows in Sault Ontario itself to preview, one of which is newly announced, so that's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT too! And yes, Sault Michiganders, we'll preview your weekend concerts early tomorrow! Now, to this weekend's previews on the Ontario side, starting with the new show! (And for my preview of this weekend's Hempfest, check the post below this one!)

As could be expected, Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison will return to Service Grill Pizza on Saturday for some acoustic metal goodness! His weekly arrangement there continues for two sets on Saturday, after just playing the afternoon set there last week due to the Hollow reunion show. So if you wanna see Tym at 3:00 PM or 8:00 PM, you're good this week! Actually, knowing that this arrangement was only scheduled for the summer, this could be one of the last times you could see him at the Korah Road pizza joint this year (barring an extension), but I assume it will run at least through the end of August. Also note that he'll be back at the Tilt'n Hilton in Hilton Beach on St. Joseph Island Sunday too, so if you wanna make the long drive out there on Sunday afternoon, then definitely go see Tym on Sunday! There is no announced cover charge, and again, it appears to be all ages on Saturday. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like fun, hopefully Tym tears it up this weekend! Go see him here or in Hilton Beach if you can, and for a preview, here's Tym covering Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" in 2009!



Now to the previously announced shows, and first, it's TONIGHT'S 28th Roosevelt Hotel metal night! However, if the lineup seems familiar to a non-Dismembertainment show at The Oddfellows Hall three weeks ago, it's no coincidence, as Halifax classic metal bands Black Moor & Sanktuary are coming back to Sault Ontario tonight to rock The Rosie! Awesome to see them back so soon, seeing as they slayed The Rosie the first time around! However, there will be changes, including cooler temperatures and a new band order. This time, Black Moor will headline, with Sanktuary again co-headlining the concert. Local death metal band The Bear Hunters (who played last three weeks ago) will instead be third on tonight's bill, in what will also be their record 13th appearance at a Thursday metal night! The opening band for tonight will be grimecore rockers Shit Liver, in their first metal night appearance in 7 weeks. Good to see them back, they're piling on the bookings now that they're back gigging! With the out of town bands (which we haven't seen on a Thursday since The Dayglo Abortions), there will be a nominal cover of $3 (it's worth every penny though, and cheaper than three weeks ago.) As usual, it's a 19+ show, and Shit Liver start things off at 9:30 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Awesome show all around, hopefully a big crowd shows up! And if you missed Sanktuary and Black Moor last month, do yourself a favour and check them out tonight, their classic metal sounds aren't to be missed! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's Black Moor playing "Acid Biker" at The Oddfellows Hall last month!



Also this weekend is a very cool all ages show taking place tomorrow night at The Oddfellows Hall featuring three metal bands and the return of alternative rock trio Smeltzer! They were a talented & prominent sight in the mid-2000s, and now they're back for one night only to headline this all ages concert! Not metal, but if you saw them, you know how entertaining they were! Not sure which of their old lineups will reform for this show, but for reference sake, their last active lineup featured RedD Monkey frontman Steve Mozarowski, bassist Paul Stanghetta of The Fury, and ex-RedD Monkey/Gates of Winter drummer Kevin Overton. Conveniently, RedD Monkey are also scheduled for tomorrow night as the co-headliners, which should ensure a punk filled finish for tomorrow's show! Below them, the show includes local hardcore band Changing Waves (replacing Winkstinger tomorrow), indie rockers The Tenagens, and one day after the Rosie metal night, Shit Liver & The Bear Hunters once again! That's the performance order, but I should address the lineup, as it's changed since the show was first announced.

The Tenagens & The Bear Hunters flipped their spots at 7:45 PM & 9:00 PM (now 9:15 PM), but now, Changing Waves have been promoted from opening at 7:00 PM to third on the bill at 9:15 PM, bumping The Tenagens, Shit Liver, and The Bear Hunters back a slot each to 8:30 PM, 7:45 PM, and 7:00 PM respectively, with Smeltzer & RedD Monkey playing at 10:45 PM & 10:00 PM. This show is ALL AGES with a $5 cover, and doors open at 6:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like fun, and I will be there to enjoy the local talent! It's been forever for me to see Smeltzer, and you can't beat an old school all ages show like this! Hope to see you guys there, and for a preview, here's RedD Monkey covering Motorhead's "Ace of Spaces"!



Finally for this weekend, local classic hard rock quartet Full Circle are back at The Roosevelt Hotel for a weekend set tomorrow night and Saturday night! Their busy schedule of weekends continues at The Rosie this weekend, and they should have some great covers in store from all eras of hard rock over the next two nights! Nothing too different for their shows this weekend, but remember that the new patio at The Rosie is open, if that's a selling point! They'll be on at 10:00 PM both nights, you must be 19 to attend, and there is no cover charge. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Always good to see Full Circle out and about, and hopefully they'll deliver a great weekend of music as always tomorrow night & Saturday night! Hopefully Hempfest doesn't sap the attendance either, but fans will come out either way! For a preview, click here and move to 13:20 of the video to see Full Circle cover of Heart's "Alone" at this year's Rotaryfest!

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

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Black Moor & RedStone Riot) And Some New Videos!!

One more post for your Wednesday before we devote tomorrow to weekend concert previews, and before that, remember to check out our Defunct Profile on State of Misery and my review of Monday's Mares of Thrace concert in the posts below this one! Now, to the news, as we have three LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, a new Woods of Ypres interview, and a new End of Existence song, so let's get things going!

Three weeks ago, you may remember attending an all ages concert at The Oddfellows Hall featuring local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters and Halifax classic metal bands Sanktuary and Black Moor. It was a great show, but if you missed it, then good news, as all three bands will be at The Roosevelt Hotel TOMORROW for this week's metal night! This will be the first Thursday metal night at The Rosie with out of town bands since The Dayglo Abortions headlined in June, and the first one with four bands since the week after that show, so this will be a Thursday night not to be missed! This time however, Black Moor & The Bear Hunters will flip flop the headliner and third spots on the lineup, with Sanktuary co-headlining again. The opening band will instead be Shit Liver, marking the death metal trio's second show of three this week, and they'll fit well as openers! This show will have a $3 cover (it's worth every penny though), you must be 19 to attend, and Shit Liver will open the proceedings at 9:30 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's awesome to see Sanktuary and Black Moor back so soon, and for $3 on metal night, how much more convenient could it be? I know this is short notice, but remember, this show is TOMORROW, and if you missed them three weeks ago, don't let this show slip by! We'll have more tomorrow in our weekend concert previews!

Also new for concerts is the debut of Muskegon hard rock quintet RedStone Riot, who will make their first ever concert stops in Sault Michigan this weekend! The new band from former Elipzis members Rachel Kiger, Ryan Harrison, and Wally David (plus members of Muskegon-area bands One Past Mars & Tracing Yesterday) will hit The Corner Pub Bar & Grill across the river on Friday & Saturday night for two nights of hard rocking originals and possibly covers! My source for this show is this blog entry on their website. No word yet on if any old Elipzis songs will make the setlist, but I do know that this will be the first time we'll see Rachel, Ryan, and Wally on the local stage since March, and it will certainly be interesting to hear the new band in action! A 21+ age limit can be expected, both shows should have 10:00 PM-ish start times, and there's no announced cover charge. Check the above links for more details! These shows should be really good, and I've heard very positive things about the new band, so don't miss RedStone Riot's debut this weekend! Again, stay tuned for more details on these shows tomorrow or Thursday when we preview the weekend's metal and hard rock concerts!

Thirdly today, here's a brand new original song from Sault Michigan/Grand Rapids metal quintet End of Existence, which is just their second original song featuring their full lineup. Uploaded onto their YouTube channel earlier today, it's entitled "Recurring Dreams", it's nice and heavy with lots of aggression with some nice melodies thrown in! Steve Giles' guitar work is really nice, and the presence of bass really helps their material! The video footage, which mixes what looks like surgical stock footage and heavy filters, works well, but doesn't give the vibe of the song to me. Promising song though, hopefully they have some more songs in the works, and now that they have a full lineup, maybe some live shows? Check out "Recurring Dreams" below!



And finally, local blackened doom metal band Woods of Ypres were featured in the Calgary-based webseries Extreme Metal Television's fourth episode, as posted onto YouTube on Monday! The piece, which begins at 4:40 in the video below and runs for about 4 ½ minutes, includes short interview clips with frontman David Gold, where he talks about the band's signing with Earache Records & the recording and release of the "Home" vinyl EP, along with assorted live clips from the band's May 19th show in Calgary and some assorted remarks and plugs from the series' host. Nice to see, but it's pretty short as a whole. Give the new Woods of Ypres interview a look below (along with pieces on Cephalic Carnage & Sacred Ally), and stay tuned for some more cool news from the band pertaining to "Woods V"!



That's all for today, but stay tuned tomorrow for weekend concert previews, especially pertaining to Hempfest! Not sure entirely how I'm going to approach this very busy weekend for preview purposes, but we'll work something out. Thanks everyone!

The Bear Hunters/Sanktuary Concert Review!!

Hey guys, here is my review of last night's all ages metal show at The Oddfellows Hall! How was it? Did the metal flow despite unhumanly disgusting humidity? I'll tell you, but first, just an update on this weekend's post schedule. Tomorrow's two posts will be auto-posted at midnight and 6:00 PM. The first one will be the debut of our YouTube Channel Profile Series (Lion Ride fans should take note) and the post at 6:00 PM will be a news post including a new concert. A review of TONIGHT'S Rosie metal night will likely be postponed until early Saturday because we're actually going out of town tomorrow for a family trip to Manitoulin Island, so I'll be working on limited time to upload photos & videos and post a review, and I sincerely doubt it'll be finished tomorrow. That explains the autoposts, so we don't fall behind. The review's coming though, I promise! Now, to the review of last night's show! (EDIT: 2:12 AM)

First off, it was extremely hot, the second straight concert I've been to where the heat was an issue. We managed though, and the fact that pop and water were on sale at The Oddfellows Hall helped! Opening last night's show were local cello/punk trio RedD Monkey, who replaced Sativa Rose as openers. Since I first saw RedD Monkey live last fall, they've really grown on me as one of my favourite non-metal local bands, and they continued that trend last night! Amidst Steve Mozarowski's numerous reminders about the benefits of water, the set was great, and I dunno if it's just me or not, but they sounded heavier than usual last night! Fast pounding punk riffs and cello playing from Steve's brother Pete that blended in really well to their musical attack! I'm still of the belief that capping a set with a rap number is anti-climactic, but they tore it up with their unique sound, and while I enjoyed the set on it's own merits, their cover of "Ace of Spades" went over really well with much of the crowd too! Solid set from RedD Monkey, I'll absolutely be back to see them next month!

Next up were one of two out of town bands, that being Halifax metal quartet Black Moor, and despite the dark sounding name, they were straight up classic metal at it's best! These guys knew how to mix a thrashier speed metal sound with influences from old school British metal, and there was some creative touches that helped make their set far from boring! Lots of longer songs too, which is always welcome! Eric Hanlin's vocals were harsh and suited the songs perfectly, while his and Evan Frizzle's guitar playing was relentless and catchy on each song! Rob Nickerson's hair seemed to fly every which way in the midst of his entertaining stage presence, but his bass playing stood out on his own, as did Kenny Myers' rapid fire drumming! I was really impressed with these guys, who put it all out there in their original songs, and the moshpits were honestly the biggest of the night during their set, though the heat may have helped lessen them in later sets. Hopefully Black Moor come back here soon, we will welcome them back with open arms!

The penultimate band last night was another Halifax speed metal band, that being Black Moor's good friends Sanktuary, and though their sounds were similar in genre, Sanktuary stood out on their own as well! Compared to Black Moor, Sanktuary's sound wasn't as varied, taking more cues from speed metal in general, so it was more straightforward, but still very relentless and entertaining! Alan Binger's vocals were really nice, ranging from a suitable heavy metal tone to some really melodic patches and even a couple falsetto notes here and there! He and Cole Hume rocked our faces off with their crushing metal sounds, and Anders Grasholm fit perfectly with his proficient drum skills! Though their originals were really entertaining and full of great old school metal, fans of Metallica were pleased to hear them cover "The Four Horsemen" and "Motorbreath" at the end of their set, which was really cool! Though I was getting worn out by this point, I recognized the talent of Sanktuary, and hopefully they come back to the Soo really soon!

And of course, your local headliners were local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, which seems odd given the presence of out of town bands, but hey, this ensures their local fans stay the whole night! Their set last night comprised of basically all of their quality originals, like "Dominate", "Succumb to Eternity", and fittingly (given the heat), "Collapse The Sun", and they tore it up to the fans who braved the humidity for the whole set! Nik Deubel's a great growler, but I couldn't hear him well, which sadly comes up a lot for their sets. He needs to be turned up! The rest of the band were on form, including great guitar work from Mitch Sirie and the ever-improving Josh Stephney, and Justin Lam's bass lines were as great as ever! Fans ate their set up, which was full of brutal death metal that was a fitting capper to the night, but hopefully fans will show up in even larger numbers tonight! I enjoyed their set, and here's hoping for more great death metal to come!

Humidity aside, it was a great show, but I wish more people had braved the heat to rock out for the whole thing! I despise summer, but metal lays down for no weather! I got photos last night, so click here to check them out or visit our official Facebook page, and while we're on the subject, have you ever wished I took photos of the crowd? Well, wait no more, as I'm starting a new album of just crowd shots called "Tag Yourself!" Why that name? Cause I want you guys to tag yourself in the photos if you're seen moshing, rocking out, or just enjoying the music! I've seen other bands do this for their shows, and I thought I'd try it on the SMS and see how it goes over. Besides, you guys wanted crowd shots, now I'm finally delivering! Check out the first photo at this location, and if you're in the picture, tag yourself! And yes, I got videos, so check out RedD Monkey covering Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff" in their own cello rap rendition, Black Moor's song "Acid Biker", a newer Sanktuary original (I think it's called "Hail The Villain" but I'm not 100% sure), and The Bear Hunters' own "Collapse The Sun"!

That's all for now, but I will see you guys at The Roosevelt Hotel TONIGHT for Garden of Bedlam, and stay tuned for the debut of our YouTube Channel Profile Series at midnight sharp! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tym Morrison), A Concert Preview, And More!!

Hey guys, it's time for another news post, but two things before we start. One, I've heard nothing new on The Canadian Nightclub flooding front in terms of it's condition or scheduled shows since yesterday. Jay Perron put some more photos up from after the rain stopped at this location, and all I can say is "Wow." I'll keep you guys posted when I hear anything. Secondly, apologies to Full Circle for erroneously saying their Saturday show at The Roosevelt Hotel was cancelled due to their Rotaryfest booking, because apparently, they mentioned on stage that they'd be at The Rosie afterwards. To be fair, the event page last weekend didn't mention a Saturday bar show, but still, I erred, and I apologize to anyone who may have been affected! Now, to the news, as we have a midweek concert preview, new material from two bands, and much more, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

As expected, Tym Morrison will return to Service Grill Pizza on Korah Road on Saturday for another acoustic set fill of hard rock classics! This is the third announced show in his weekly arrangement of Saturday sets at this local restaurant, and though it was expected to happen, we of course waited for official confirmation, as Tym's website's calendar isn't updated to reflect late summer bookings yet. So head out to The Service Grill either at 3:00 PM or 8:00 PM to catch either of his solo sets while enjoying some pizza, maybe a beer, whatever you want! I assume the sets are all ages given the setting, but I'd be wary of age limits for the nighttime set just in case. There's no cover charge, and get more details at this location! Sounds like fun, hopefully Tym's sets go well on Saturday! We'll preview his sets that day probably early Thursday. Also of note, if you live in or near St. Joseph Island, note that Tym will be playing a solo set on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM in Hilton Beach at the Tilton Hilton, which could start it's own weekly engagement if successful. Hilton Beach is too far out of our "local" range to cover (it's a 75 minute car ride), but as a former Island resident (I lived in Jocelyn Township until I was 4), I couldn't let that show slide, so definitely make note of Tym's trip to the island on Sunday as well!

Now for a mid-week concert preview, which I decided to break from the rest because it'd be insane to preview Friday or Saturday shows on a Tuesday. Big concert though, so here's what you should know! A high quality package of metal (with a hint of punk) is coming to The Oddfellows Hall TOMORROW NIGHT for an all ages show that's sure to melt a few faces! Despite the presence of out of town bands, local melodic death metal quintet The Bear Hunters will headline tomorrow's concert, with a high impact set of brutality in store for their fans of any age! That said, two touring metal bands from Halifax will be playing direct support tomorrow night, those being speed metal trio Sanktuary and the thrash influenced classic metal quartet Black Moor! If you love classic speed metal from the early 1980s, both of these bands will be perfect for your tastes, and they're a welcome change for out of town bands locally! The opening band will be local classical punk trio RedD Monkey, who replaced Sativa Rose on the lineup last week. Interesting choice, but RedD Monkey are very talented, quite original, and even "some metalhead" can appreciate them, so don't miss their set! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

Doors open at 6:00 PM tomorrow evening for this show, RedD Monkey kicks things off at 6:30 PM, there will be a $5 cover charge, and again, this show is ALL AGES! This will be a great concert, and I will absolutely see you guys there tomorrow night! For more details, visit the above links, and for a preview, here's The Bear Hunters at their last Oddfellows Hall show in April, playing their original song "Bloodthirst"!



Now to some brand new samples from the recent studio sessions of two local bands! Going in alphabetical order, we will start with Sault Ontario metalcore quintet As It Stands, who have released the first pre-production track from their May recording sessions in Mississauga onto their "BandPage" on Facebook! The song is strangely titled "Oh Herm, Herm Delish", but the song sure doesn't sound like the title may suggest! Very heavy, Justin's vocals are as brutal as ever, and there's some nice melodies thrown around too! It sounds familiar to their live shows, but I'm not 100% certain if they've played it live or not. Check the song out at the above links, and if this is a preview of what to expect from the new album, we should be very excited! The other new song is from Half A Man, and it's an unfinished clip of their song "Die In Disgrace" from their upcoming debut album! It's not complete and has no vocals yet, but it sounds very heavy, and effectively switches speeds at the drop of the hat! Good stuff, check it out at this location, and click here for a full live version shot in early May so you can preview what the finished product will sound like!

And finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories in alphabetical order by band or venue name:

• I was able to dig up a few more details on Bucksaw, a Sault Michigan band who played at LemmaFest last month. According to photos posted at this location, Bucksaw featured singer/drummer Jason VanLuven, ex-Blind Baby bassist Bill Ogston on guitar, and Scofflaw bassist Barney Gravelle in their lineup. Though online posts indicate that the second guitarist was Mark Bowen, he looks different from the other guitarist in the photos, but I could be wrong. If anyone has any extra details on Bucksaw (pages, genre, audio/videos, etc.), please let me know!
• I've added a couple new photos to our Facebook photo album of local hard rock-relevant items at The Rockstar Bar! One is just an update to our old photo of a Lion Ride sticker on the wall (a Saigon Hookers sticker was placed beneath it), while the other is a photo of a cymbal signed by Half Past! The cymbal, which has the band's 2009-2011 lineup's autographs, is actually on the wall behind the drummer's spot on the stage, so it can be hard to spot. Check the new photos out at the above links!
• Can a cat roaming in a ceiling manage to evade Woods of Ypres frontman David Gold and guitarist Joel Violette? Watch what happens at this location, as filmed at a house the band were staying in during their Saskatchewan shows in May, when David accidentally left the wrong door open. Entertaining, especially for cat lovers!
  

That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews, our YouTube Channel Profile Series' debut, and much more very soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sanktuary) & Major Hempfest Lineup News, Including The Complete Schedule!

It's been a couple days since we posted about news in the local scene, rather than reviews and features, so let's get back to that today, starting with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT! Stay tuned afterwards for tons of Hempfest lineup updates, and more, but now, to the new show!

Hot off the heels of the all ages show at The Roosevelt Hotel on Sunday night, it looks like another is on the horizon, only this one will be at The Oddfellows Hall! On July 20th (next Wednesday), two out of town headliners will hit Sault Ontario on their "Annihilation Of The Nation" tour, including headliners Sanktuary, a speed metal trio from Halifax! They're really good too, so if you like classic influenced speed metal, you'll really enjoy Sanktuary! Joining them are fellow Halifax metal band Black Moor, who'll bring their own classic metal sound to The Oddfellows Hall next week, with some NWOBHM and thrash influences thrown in as well! Awesome to see some straight up metal bands coming for an Oddfellows Hall show! The local openers are local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters (guitarist Mitch Sirie actually is booking this show, nice work!) and local classic metal rockers Sativa Rose, who'll both be sure to set the tone really well for this concert! Tickets are projected to be $5, a tentative 6:00 PM start time is listed, and I believe it's all ages, but this all could be subject to change. For more details, visit the official Faceboom event page! Kudos to Mitch for getting this package of bands here, this should definitely be worth hitting for some old school metal (and a pinch of death!) Pencil me in to attend, and stay tuned for updates if they come in!

Next up, have you been waiting for Hempfest updates? Well, I have a bunch today! I admit a lot of this news could have came earlier than now, but much of it was confirmed on a Hempfest Facebook group I didn't know existed until this month, so I'm slow to the party, so to speak. My apologies! So over the past two months, Hempfest organizer Robert Neron has unveiled the full schedule for this year's performers at the familiar outdoor stage in nearby Ophir, and first, we'll go over the bands that dropped out and who were replaced. I should note beforehand that I imagine that schedule conflicts were the reason for most of the droputs, as the original bands signed on when it was announced for the August 25th weekend, but it's now taking place over the August 11th weekend, which I can see being an issue for bands who didn't plan to be in the area then. With that said, these bands dropped off of the Hempfest band lineup for this year: Local horror punk quintet Frightlight, London hard rock trio Violet Fuse (featuring Saultite Thom Edwards), Vancouver metal band 4Ward, and Arizona solo artist Scott Huckabay. Disappointing news, but hopefully they'll all play here sooner rather than later, cause I know they were looking forward to rocking Hempfest this year originally!

No worries though, as in their place, there's FIVE new bands, none more notable on a metal scale than Garden of Bedlam! Yes, the local metal band will return to the Northern Ontario Hempfest for a third time next month, for what should be a high energy set of heavy metal originals! Nice to see them back, and stay tuned for more news on another upcoming local show of theirs! The other newly added bands include local folk/classic rock trio The Blackberrys, St. Catharine's indie rap band Theatre Crisp, a band I'm not positive on the identity of named Radar (any help?), and local punk trio Motion Carried. However, I should note that Motion Carried formally broke up last week as per their Facebook page, so what will happen to their spot isn't known yet. Will former members take their spot over in a new band, or will a completely different act get it? I'll keep you all posted!

Continuing with Hempfest stories, the complete entertainment schedule is now out! I love that there's finally a full publically viewable schedule for the festival, there never was one when I covered Hempfest under it's old ownership. In order, here's what you guys should watch out for! On Thursday, August 11th, Hempfest opens with opening ceremonies at 4:00 PM, along with the 4:20 siren at (when else?) 4:20 PM, and The Willy High Games, which amount to the first rounds of the spitting and gram sprint contests that day. Click the above link to see the full Willy High Games schedule! Then, the lineup includes (in order) The Blackberrys at 4:30 PM, local hard rock quartet Half Past at 6:00 PM (in their first currently announced show with new singer Jordan Rains), Hamilton ska-punk band Lo-Fi at 7:30 PM, Motion Carried(?) at 9:00 PM, Burlington reggae rockers The Killin' Time Band at 10:30 PM, local sideshow performer D.J. Williamson (of The Dark Karnival Entertainment) at 11:30 PM, followed by a second Killin' Time Band set at 12:15 AM. Friday, August 12th's schedule is even longer, beginning with Blind River folk artists T.J. Kirby at 12:00 PM & Josh Odair at 1:30 PM respectively, followed by West Virginia rappers Northern Lights at 3:00 PM, and then more Willy High Games at 4:00 PM (Round 2 of the Thursday games, plus the junkyard bong contest), plus the 4:20 siren.

The remainder of the Friday schedule includes Theatre Crisp at 4:30 PM, Radar at 6:00 PM, Lo-Fi once again at 7:00 PM, then frequently seen AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who at 9:00 PM (who also have a vendor table at Hempfest this year), D.J. Williamson once again at 10:45 PM, and headlining at 11:30 PM, prominent Canadian tribute band Misery: The Metallica Xperience, so make sure to stay up for them on Friday, metalheads! Saturday, August 13th's lineup includes (in order) Half Past at 12:00 PM, Who Made Who at 1:30 PM, Misery at 3:00 PM, more Willy High Games at 4:00 PM (including the finals of the previous games and the bucket race), the 4:20 siren, Motion Carried(?) at 5:00 PM, Northern Lights at 6:30 PM, Radar at 7:00 PM, Lo-Fi at 7:30 PM, the Halloween costume contest between 8:30 & 9:00 PM, then Garden of Bedlam at 9:00, The Killin' Time Band at 11:15 PM, D.J. Williamson at 12:15 AM, and The Killin' Time Band one more time at 1:00 AM. Joshua Odair, T.J. Kirby, and The Blackberrys play an abbreviated Sunday set as well on August 14th from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, before the Hempfest closing ceremonies and 4:20 siren wrap things up that day. For complete Hempfest main stage lineup details, click here!

Nice to see such an extensive lineup, and there's a ton of solid bands, including lots of local talent! Shame that three metal bands had to drop out, but there's plenty here for every preference, including (yes) marijuana in general! And in case you're wondering, the second stage runs from midnight to 10:00 AM Thursday-Saturday, featuring three DJs spinning tunes all night long (including former Renegades guitarist Jason "Wyza" Wysynski Thursday morning), so click here for that schedule, game descriptions, and much more for the scheduled goings on this year! There is a ton of stuff going on to celebrate marijuana culture, music, and good times this year (as always), so click here and here to get all current details on tickets, events, and much more! Hempfest is back where it belongs, this year's should be awesome!

That's all for now, but I have a lot more news to share very soon, so keep an eye out! Thanks everyone!