Sault Ontario Weekend Concert Previews!!

For the first time this month, it's time to preview this weekend's upcoming slate of metal and hard rock concerts! Due to the amount of shows, I'm going to break up the previews by nationality, so we'll cover the Sault Michigan concerts in a post tomorrow, and just for reference, those will include at least one new concert weekend. So today, we have a bunch of notable concerts ranging from a cover concert weekend to out of town headliners to F.A.T.I.L.'s latest gathering, so here's what you need to know! (Updated at 2:55 PM)

First, we'll cover "The Jamestown Massacre", a metal/punk concert going down TONIGHT at The Roosevelt Hotel, and it's the first of two Sault Ontario shows this weekend featuring a band with "Shotgun" in their name! The headliners of this concert will be Calgary hard rock trio The Shotgun Dolls, and if you've ever wished Lion Ride could have played at The Rosie, these guys will offer up a similar sound! Nice melodic and punk tinged brand of hard rock n' roll, and they have some very catchy originals in their setlist, so definitely check them out tonight and online! Three local opening bands have been secured for this concert, including local classical/punk trio RedD Monkey (fresh off of their Canadian tour), blue Chinese metal crash punk quartet Sykotyk Rampage (in their first concert appearance since the Humane Society Battle of the Bands in April), and local punk standouts Redundant, who themselves will kick off a very busy weekend of concerts as the first band up tonight! All are known to inject some metal into their sets occasionally (especially Sykotyk Rampage), and if you've missed any of the local bands in recent months, you won't wanna miss them at tonight's concert!

Note that this is NOT a Roosevelt Hotel metal night despite flowing with the recent bi-weekly Thursday schedule for that series, as this is being promoted by Frightlight/T. Rex Manning frontman J.D. Pearce, who also put on the Die Mannequin-headlined Thursday nighter in May outside of that series, but I'll keep you posted on the metal nights' return when I hear more! There will be no cover for this 19+ show tonight, and a 10:00 PM start time is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! The Jamestown Massacre sounds like an intriguing concert with enough heavy music to appeal to metalheads and punk fans alike, so I'll see you guys there! For a preview, here's The Shotgun Dolls' video for their song "Graveyard Girls"!



Continuing our theme of shotgun-named bands playing local concerts with Redundant opening, two touring Ontario hard rock bands will descend upon The Canadian Nightclub TOMORROW NIGHT for what should be an entertaining concert in it's own right, and this show's shotgun-named headliners are Toronto hard rock quartet Riding Shotgun! Though there's a familiarity with their sound I can't place, they have solid hard rocking grooves and great guitar riffing, and fans of a more radio friendly hard rock sound might take to Riding Shotgun over a band with harsher vocals! Opening for them will be Ottawa alternative hard rockers Project Mars, who will deliver an interesting mix of old school influences and some solid hard rocking sounds into their set tomorrow night, and you won't wanna miss them either! The local openers will once again be local punk trio Redundant, in their second of three shows this weekend, which conclude with a solo acoustic headlining set at the new Coch's Corner on Saturday night. Interesting openers choice, but their talent will speak for itself as the local openers for this concert! Admission will be $3 tomorrow night, a 9:00 PM start time is advertised, and unlike other recent Canadian Nightclub shows, this will be a 19+ event. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This should be a fun hard rock concert in it's own right, and I plan on making it out to take in all of these bands! I think I can handle two shotgun-named bands in one weekend, and hopefully some of you guys will pop up at The Canadian tomorrow! For a preview, here's Riding Shotgun's press kit video, featuring live and studio clips of them in action!



Now to the other Sault Ontario metal shows this weekend, and while there's no shotguns or redundancy left on the schedule, there's lots of entertainment left, including the latest concert weekend from Caveman Morrison TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Continuing with their busy stretch of concerts, the popular metal cover trio will return to The Roosevelt Hotel this weekend for the last of their latest batch of shows at The Rosie and The Nic, and these should be good as you'd expect! Remember that these shows were postponed from their original mid-July date for unannounced reasons, but at least they're still going on! Though who their current bassist is is still unknown to me, their hard hitting covers should entertain all at The Roosevelt Hotel this weekend, so don't miss them tomorrow or Saturday! Admission should be free with a 10:00 PM start time and 19+ start time both nights. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! These should be some solid new concerts from Caveman Morrison, and though I hope they have more on the horizon, they should knock it out of the park this weekend no matter what! For a preview of their next two shows at The Rosie, here's 2/3rds of their current lineup covering Living Colour's "Cult of Personality" in 2010!



Finally for this weekend in the Sault Ontario is the F.A.T.I.L. Requiem! After the success of Sault area death metal quartet For All That Is Lost's "gathering" at 436 Neebish Road in Laird in June, they're hosting another concert event there on Saturday night for what should be another entertaining evening of metal! However, due to noise complaint issues, things are both shorter and better organized this time around, with five bands rather than the nine who played at the gathering in June, and since we last updated you guys on the lineup, it's noticeably changed, so here's who to look out for! As expected, For All That Is Lost will headline at 10:00 PM, with local death metal bands The Valentine's Day Massacre (in one of their last pre-move concerts) and The Bear Hunters on at 9:00 PM & 8:00 PM respectively. Here's where the changes start though, as with Crimson Crusade dropping out of the 7:00 PM slot, and planned replacements Winkstinger not being able to play, that slot now belongs to new local progressive hardcore band With Blood Builds Character, who have been bumped up from 5:00 PM to fill this open slot!

W.B.B.C. will essentially look like March Into Regression if only Jeremy Hannah is on vocals, though they are separate bands. As far as I know, M.I.R. drummer Travis St. Amour will be behind the kit for their debut, but he's not staying full time (I think he goes back out of town for college next month), so while the two bands will look similar, With Blood Builds Character is a different band, and promising in their own right, so look out for them at 7:00 PM on Saturday! The 6:00 PM slot now surprisingly belongs to an out of town band, that being the Drummondville, Quebec experimental band Slaughter Slashing, who had been searching for a summer date in the area earlier in the year. Slaughter Slashing are an interesting and creative metal band, and they're slightly hard to describe, but if you like extreme metal with some avant garde flourishes, you'll enjoy their set on Saturday evening, and kudos to F.A.T.I.L. for snagging them for this concert! However, with the lineup shuffling, the 5:00 PM timeslot is currently vacant, but if it's filled, I'll let you guys know. Admission will be $10 for the F.A.T.I.L. Requiem, it is all ages, everything starts at 4:00 PM, and there will be refreshments and camping room if you're staying the night. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!

This sounds like a very brutal and entertaining concert event, and it's definitely above and beyond any house party! I can't say whether I'll be able to go or not, but I hope I can, as there's a quality lineup of metal bands scheduled for this requiem, including an our of town band, one new local act, and much more from there! Make the trip out to Laird on Saturday if you can, and for a preview, here's For All That Is Lost playing "Graves of the Ancestors" outdoors in the Soo in May!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post later today! Thanks everyone

Anvil Concert Preview, F.A.T.I.L. Requiem Updates, And A New Metal Cover Video!!

One more news post for this Tuesday evening, but remember to check out this morning's post below this one for news on two newly announced concerts, some great recent radio coverage of the scene, Rotaryfest fallout, and some Coch's Corner updates! Now, this newest post features a new metal cover by a non-metal local band, updates on some of the bands at a Laird show next month, and leading off, a slightly extended preview of a major mid-week concert that you guys should really enjoy, so here's what you need to know!

First up, it's a huge concert preview for TOMORROW NIGHT, as Toronto heavy metal legends Anvil will make their long awaited return to Sault Ste. Marie at a headlining show at The Canadian Nightclub! Potentially making their first local stop since 1984 (though I may be missing some in between), the Juno nominees and stars of the hit 2008 documentary "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" will bring their highly influential brand of speed metal to their Saultite fans tomorrow, and they have tons of classic and very heavy songs to break out tomorrow, so I definitely wouldn't miss this concert if I were you! Three local bands have been signed to open this concert, including local horror punk/metal notables Frightlight (last seen at The Canadian headlining the Dead In The Van fundraiser), and it'll be good to see their eerie Misfits-inspired brand of music back for this show, and kudos to frontman J.D. "Johnny Pints" Pearce for booking this show! Also to note: 62nd Chamber Productions will be on hand to film their set for upcoming media uses, and they're encouraging fans to wear costumes as part of the video plans, so keep that in mind if you wanna appear on camera! Fellow local metal standouts Garden of Bedlam (fresh off of headlining the Rotaryfest Second Stage) will also open tomorrow's show, and they're definitely on a roll right now, so expect only the best and heaviest from them tomorrow!

The concert will be opened by the debuting Skeyes of Seven, the new local hard rock band featuring Sense of Truth alumni Cory Murchison & Ron Baxter alongside Half Past guitarist Alain Fletcher, ex-Tripod the Dog bassist Mike Mannarino, and Cherry Crush drummer Jonny Amendola, and just on the surface, that's quite an impressive lineup! Media has yet to be released to preview their sound, but I'd expect some solid stuff in their live debut, so be there bright and early to check them out! Tickets should be available in some capacity at the door tomorrow for $25, but I believe advance sales have wrapped up, so if you wanted to save $5, it's probably too late now. An 8:00 PM start time has been announced, which seems early (if I hear a correction or change, I'll have it here), and this show will be ALL AGES! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an awesome concert, and you know I'll be there to cover and review it for the site! That, and I'm a fan of the bands, including Anvil, who I have great respect for as musicians and people, and hopefully my Metal Pounders Union card will come in handy tomorrow at the merchandise table! I will absolutely see you guys there, and for a preview, here's a well done compilation video for their song "Flying Blind"!



Next up, here's the latest updates on the F.A.T.I.L. Requiem taking place at Neebish Road in Laird next weekend! A new band is being sought for this show, as local/North Shore metal band Crimson Crusade have pulled out of the event. A reason for their withdrawl has not been announced, but the Facebook event page had hinted that their participation wasn't final, so this isn't really a surprise. If you or your band are interested in replacing them in the 7:00 PM slot next weekend, message promoters A.S.A.P., or if you have available P.A. equipment for the concert! My other note concerning this show is for co-headliners The Valentine's Day Massacre, as the F.A.T.I.L. Requiem might be one of your last chances to see them the local death metal quartet in the Sault area for a while. Though not publically addressed on their online pages until Sunday, the band's members are all moving to the London, Ontario area for school in late August, and frontman Steve Rhodes mentioned on his personal Facebook page over the weekend that it'd be their "second last show" before the move took place. As far as I know, The V.D.M. will still be active as a band down there (similarly to Infrastrate after they moved to Ottawa), and local shows will take place when they come back home for breaks and such.

While it will be disappointing to see The Valentine's Day Massacre move down south for the forseeable future, hopefully they can make some inroads in the London scene and hit all of their educational goals in the process! With that said, I'll make it clear that we won't stop covering them after the move, as they were formed here and will always count as a local band as a result. We didn't stop covering Sue Inside after they moved away, did we? No matter what, The V.D.M. have a bright future, so stay tuned for more news from them as it comes in, and don't miss their last local gigs before the move next month!

Lastly for today, here's a new metal cover by a local band! As you may know, we'll mention metal/hard rock covers by non-metal local bands if I come across them (like Fusion's AC/DC cover that I missed at Rotaryfest), but this one actually comes from a Sault Michigan band, that being the local indie rock quartet The London Gentlemen. This past weekend, the new band featuring the members of local acoustic duo Fallen Heroes alongside Nixxon Dixxon/Splitshot alumni Kyle Beaumont & Jake LaLonde were rocking The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino, and two videos were filmed over one of the nights for their YouTube channel, one of which is a surprising cover of Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name"! Nice throwback to Kyle & Jake's past metal work, but how does this performance sound? Pretty good, though Mike Russo's singing is fairly soft compared to a song this potent and aggressive (but at least it's not forced!) Well done, but I have a feeling this won't be terribly common, as I know their sound is similar to Mike & Steve's Fallen Heroes work (just fuller & plugged in), and their other video is a Black Keys cover, but hey, this is a nice diversion, so check out The London Gentlemen's R.A.T.M. cover below!



That's probably all until Thursday, but I'll see you guys at the Anvil show tomorrow night! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (For All That Is Lost), A Band Breakup, And New Concert Videos!!

Before we get to the news, I wanna offer my condolences to the family and friends of former Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord, who passed away today at the age of 71. Jon was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968 & featured heavily on their albums during his tenure with the band, along with stints with respected acts like Whitesnake, and a respected career as a composer. I've always enjoyed & respected Deep Purple and their musical contributions, and Jon was a huge part of that, especially in their early years, and his loss is definitely being felt by many. R.I.P.! Now, to today's local metal news, as we have a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month in the Sault Ontario area, a band breakup, and a couple of new local concert videos, so here's what you need to know, and also check out our latest all-Woods of Ypres/David Gold post below this one!

After last month's successful F.A.T.I.L. Gathering in Laird, local death metal quartet For All That Is Lost will host and headline another similar event named "A F.A.T.I.L. Requiem" at 436 Neebish Road in Laird (which I believe is a band member's home) on Saturday, August 4th! This time however, the concert will be shorter and a bit tighter organized due to noise complaints, but much metal will be had at this concert! For All That Is Lost are listed to headline and open the show at 5:00 & 10:00 PM respectively on August 4th, with four other local bands joining in. Those include local death metal bands The Valentine's Day Massacre at 9:00 PM, The Bear Hunters at 8:00 PM, and Crimson Crusade at 7:00 PM (all of whom played last month's F.A.T.I.I.L. Gathering), but the 6:00 PM slot is currently open (though I have heard tentative news on that slot, which I'll have for you guys soon!) There will be a $10 admission charge for this show, it will be an all ages event, and it all starts at 4:00 PM that day with bands to follow. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Hopefully this is another great F.A.T.I.L. event, and even with plans to make this smaller, hopefully the quality's just as good, so stay tuned for updates, and hopefully I can make the trip out to Laird for this one!

Next up, this might be somewhat of a broken record statement, but local death metal band State of Misery have disbanded once again. Drummer Nick Kainula confirmed the news via e-mail correspondence the other day, saying that they were "completely done", though he and bassist Kevin D'Orazio are working on a new project. Like their previous breakups, the writing was on the wall once again, thanks to their return set at the West of Hell concert two months ago not going well, half of the band's current primary projects (The Valentine's Day Massacre & March Into Regression), and imminent out of town school plans for a member, so I'm not surprised to see them end again. I was hoping that this second return would lead to local prominence akin to their early 2011 run, but who knows what exactly happened behind the scenes, and hopefully their current paths are the best for them individually. Best of luck to Steve, Ray, Kevin, and Nick in the future, and if they come back for a third time ever in the future, you know we'll cover it here!

We'll close this post with new videos, starting with a new "music video" for an out of town metal band, featuring footage from a local concert! Sudbury improv/comedy death metal trio 85 Pound Poutine's set-closing song "Bacon Fuck" (as titled/suggested by an attendee) was filmed at their co-headlining appearance at the Hallows Die show at The Canadian Nightclub on June 29th, and it's been posted onto the band's YouTube channel, complete with song lyrics! Filmed at the side of the stage by another attendee, the video quality is very washed out, but everything is heard well enough, and if you have trouble deciphering Gravy Smith's death growls, the added lyrics help (and though I know this is how their other videos look, why paste the words over the middle of the video?) Nice stuff, and amusing, so check out 85 Pound Poutine in the Soo below!



Finally, here's a new video from our newest addition to our band links, young local hard rock/metal quartet Ashes To Dust! An attendee of their set at the second Sewer Swampstravaganza filmed them covering System of a Down's "Aerials" on Friday, and the results were posted onto their YouTube channel after their set. Quality's pretty good for the camera, and the guys sound good here, but I dunno if this is the best song for Noah Morden vocally, as parts of it are a bit above where his range can go. It's nice to see another video of them in action, especially at a non-Superior Heights performance, so check it out below, and stay tuned for more Ashes To Dust updates as they come in!