LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Crued & Cross Dog), Sykotyk Rampage Albums, And More!!

Before we take a few days out to focus on weekend concert previews, we have some more interesting news to get to on this Tuesday morning, including a prolific local band's next recording plans, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for mid-2014 returns by prominent out of town bands, and more, so here's what you need to know!

According to the calendar on their official website, Toronto-based Motley Crue tribute band Crued will be back in Sault Ontario on Saturday, May 3rd for a headlining date at The Rockstar Bar! Though not confirmed by the venue yet (probably because it's too early), this will be the notorious and well regarded quartet's first stop in the Soo in 5 months, and if you've seen Crued in town, you'll be well aware of their faithful and entertaining tribute set to Motley Crue (and hopefully they won't follow in the real band's footsteps by making this a "final tour"!) It's also too soon to know about potential opening bands like they usually had at some prior Soo shows, but for reference sake, they didn't have any local openers in November. A 19+ age limit and 10:30 PM start time are likely, and while ticket details aren't out yet, their last Rockstar Bar show had $8 advance tickets & $10 entry at the door, so it may be similar this time around. Sounds like a good time for you Hair Scare and Motley Crue fans, so stay tuned for updates at the above links!

Next up, and among two recent concert announcement for the new Heavy Thursdays series at The Roosevelt Hotel, Peterborough hardcore punk trio Cross Dog will return to the Soo for a headlining date on Thursday, July 24th! Last seen locally as openers for The Dayglo Abortions in their Rosie show last September, it'll be great to have this exciting guitar-less outfit (featuring prolific local punk/metal musician Mark Rand on bass) back in town, and hopefully there's no rainstorm to throw a wrench into this one like there was 10 months ago! Local openers are to be determined, but just in case it's a possible indicator, the local bands who played with Cross Dog at The Rosie last year were Destroilet & Jack Spades. A 10:00 PM start time is advertised, admission costs are to be announced, and I assume this will be a 19+ show. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! To be the 23rd Heavy Thursday if no weeks are skipped in the interim, it'll be great to have Cross Dog's extreme and unique sound back in July, so keep an eye out for more!

In terms of the other new Heavy Thursday announcement, that will be for April 24th (tentatively the 11th installment), and it will be headlined by Peterborough punk duo The Bumpin' Tacos, but announcements of local openers (including potential metal/hard rock acts) are not public yet. Follow this link for updates, and we'll keep you posted! No word yet on the teased Die Mannequin return though.

Also today, here's the latest from the original crash band themselves, local alternative hard rock quartet Sykotyk Rampage! The band unveiled a new slate of 2014 "albums" on their Facebook page last Thursday, which will push their discography to 50 official albums, so what should you know? In chronological order, they include "Wyrd Radio" (a double-length release that appears to feature cover songs), "Padre Pwadge with Ready for Revival" (described as "band doing covers of Sykotyk Rampage"), the previously announced "Environ-Mental Suits 2: Anvil of Antioch" (a space adventure concept release, artwork pictured), three general new albums named "Kitty Farts & Other Play Full Noises", "Who's Driving Spaceship Earth?", and "Santa's Night Out" (perhaps the Christmas release they hinted at years ago?), with the 50th album to be a live release named "Double LIVE".

Typically ambitious and prolific to go along with Sykotyk Rampage's recent material trends, so River Front Recreation Studios should be hopping in 2014! I wonder if album plans are partly to blame for them not playing live yet this year? Like their most recent albums, I don't expect these to have a paid release, but when finished, look for them on Sykotyk Rampage's Reverbnation page, and stay tuned for updates as they come in!

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

• Local rock drummer Glen Thomas' redesigned local music message board Freq's Music Planet has recently began helping cover and promote some local bands and the concerts they play via this calendar and threads in the "Music Planet" section. They mostly focus on veteran cover rock bands at present, but message Glen above if you're interested in some extra coverage! Note that I won't get into some of the more divisive discussions that take place there on here, but I'm aware of the local media-related discussions that have occurred there recently.
• In an update on tickets for the upcoming Heart/Jason Bonham concert at The Essar Centre on June 20th, tickets are still on sale at this link and the arena box office! Premium floor seats appear to be sold out, but some further back seats on the floor are still available for $74 (along with bowl seating for $44.50.) Get your tickets A.S.A.P., as this will be a huge show!
• In a post on his solo project's Facebook page yesterday, Strange Coyotes drummer Mike Haggith announced that his next solo album "A Place Of Our Own" will be postponed due to instrumental tracks still needing to be mixed. Originally scheduled for a Valentine's Day release, he said that it should be released in the next two months. Mike's always been honest & forthcoming for his albums' releases and delays, so hopefully this turns out great, and look out for it hopefully by April!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for some mid-week concert previews TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sykotyk Rampage), Half Past News, And More!!

Hey guys, here's one more post before I return home to Sault Ste. Marie! Today, we have news from a local music site (or two), some upcoming concert updates, and a major lineup change in a local hard rock band, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

A month after their successful return to the stage at the second Roosevelt Hotel punk night, local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage will return to The Rosie for the third punk night! This will be the first of two straight Thursdays featuring the "punk night" banner following the upcoming two week streak of metal nights there (more on those in a second), and given that it's taking place around St. Patrick's Day, Sykotyk Rampage are dubbing Thursday, March 17th "Sykotyk Paddy's Day" in honour of this show! Additional bands for this show have yet to be confirmed, but other prior punk night veterans could well return, so stay tuned for updates on that front! As with prior shows of this type, I'd expect no cover charge and a 9:30 PM start time, with a 19+ age limit as well. For more details, visit the Facebook event page! Sounds like fun, and yes, I should be at this one! I wanted to see Sykotyk Rampage this past Thursday, but with my Detroit trip, I couldn't swing it. Pencil me in as an attendee for this show, and you know this will fit the St. Patrick's Day theme well! After all, Sykotyk Rampage have tons of songs referencing alcohol and drinking, they'll fit just fine! Stay tuned for updates as they come in!

Next up, here's a major lineup change for a local hard rock band that, frankly, I never saw coming. Yesterday, it was announced that Half Past have parted ways with frontman Luke LeBlanc. This news came just two days after the band returned to the stage for a very well recieved concert at The Rockstar Bar, making the news even more shocking than it would have been. The news was broken in a note on the band's Facebook page yesterday afternoon, and though a specific reason for Luke's departure wasn't stated, I can guarantee that the split was amicable. I do know why he left, but out of personal respect, I won't publicize it unless the band does. Luke originally joined Half Past (then known as Fingerbone) in mid-2009, replacing ex-Driving Dave Home frontman John Barber as the band's singer. With Luke up front, Half Past played some notable shows like the 2009 Coch's Corner Halloween Party and Garden of Bedlam's website launch concert last spring. I have to say, Luke leaving is a big shock, as he's a great singer and a funny guy who really added to Half Past over the last 16 months. Hopefully we'll see him another band in the future!

With that said, Half Past are now on the hunt for a new singer. If you'd be interested in auditioning to join Half Past, message the band at their Facebook page, or e-mail bassist Arthur Lacasse on Facebook by clicking here! Remember, Half Past play mostly modern hard rock songs, with some really exciting originals as well, and I imagine they'll be after the best candidate possible to front the band in the future! I'll keep you posted on their singer search as news comes in!

Thirdly tonight, here's the latest lineup news on three upcoming metal concerts courtesy of local promoter Rich Moreland, who deserves lots of props for the high volume of shows he's been booking in town! Firstly, THIS THURSDAY'S metal night at The Rosie's lineup is now complete, as local hardcore quartet Changing Waves will join As It Stands and Desbarats death metallers For All That Is Lost on the bill. My source is Rich's personal Facebook page, and it looks like Changing Waves will be headlining this Thursday as well! Interesting to note that this will be the third straight Thursday that Changing Waves will be rocking The Rosie, following the last punk and metal nights there, so if you're a fan of theirs, then you've gotta be excited! Then, there's the We, The Undersigned concert at The Vibe Lounge on Sunday night, which is also being booked by Rich. He confirmed on his personal Facebook page as well that local grimecore trio Shit Liver will be one of the opening bands on that show, with WinkStinger potentially being the second opening band, though this is NOT confirmed officially yet. Sounds good to me, hopefully The Vibe becomes a more frequent metal stomping ground!

Finally on the subject of WinkStinger, they may have been added as a third local opening band for the Woods of Ypres show at The Rosie on March 10th. Though event or band pages don't verify this at present, WinkStinger guitarist Jason Ladouceur posted a comment saying "With Winkstinger!" on a Woods of Ypres Facebook posting about the March 10th show. That suggests what you think it suggests, but until something more official comes out confirming or denying this, I won't get too much further. It'd be cool to see them playing too though!

Finally, here's the latest on two well known local music sites run by Flat Stanley/Wishbone drummer Glen Thomas, those being the music site The Barking Eye and his long-running (but often controversial) forum Freq's Music Planet. In his latest news posting on The Barking Eye, Glen announced that he's planning to shut down the Freq's Music Planet forum at the end of the year due to a lack of time to properly maintain the forum due to expanding musical commitments. He's planning to focus on writing, recording, and graphics more, but has said that he'll decide at the end of the year whether he wants to shut down the forum or give it to someone else. The Barking Eye news site itself may be shut down as well due to lack of interest. Things will operate as usual for the remainder of the year though. I'm sure some of you might not shed a tear if either leaves, but regardless of content, Glen does deserve credit for starting a message board like this, maintaining it for this long, and attracting a decent sized group of users without major promotion. I can attest to how hard it is to start and maintain a forum, my attempts at SMS forums crashed and burned. I hope Glen doesn't shut down Freq's Music Planet, as there's some interesting stuff there that shouldn't be deleted, and I think there are uses for it in some form. Time will tell though!

As for The Barking Eye, I wanna say a little something. A news site like that isn't easy to find an audience for, and I can attest to that. When the SMS started as a Facebook group, it never took off very far, but with time and patience, look at where we are now! Sure, readership isn't at an ideal level, but Glen's a great writer and knows a ton about the scene, and I know people would be interested in checking The Barking Eye out if they knew about it! That's just me though, but do check out the above links to see what's up at both sites!

That's all for tonight, but I hope your March has kicked off well! Our next post will be our latest "Where Are The New Albums?" post, so stay tuned for that, and more! Thanks everyone!