Before we begin this post, we have a concert cancellation to acknowledge, as tonight's Nova Rex show at The Rockstar Bar is no longer taking place. The Florida hair metal headliners have reportedly dropped out of the show due to a band member falling ill, as per The Rockstar Bar's Hayley Warnock on the Facebook event page yesterday. Very disappointing, but hopefully Nova Rex play up here at some point in the future, this was shaping up to be a big event! Now, today's post features some new videos, and big album updates, but to lead off, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month!
Marquette cover hard rock quartet Spun will return to The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan for one night only on Friday, September 22nd! Two months removed from their last stops in our neck of the woods, the Nudge successors will be back in full force for another night of hard rocking classics for their E.U.P. fans, so circle September 22nd on your calendars to help ring in the fall season! This show is definitely advertised as being on Friday the 22nd only, no word on why they're not playing at The Frog on Saturday the 23rd, or if it's omission is accidental. Similarly to Spun's past Frog gigs, expect a 9:30 PM start time in three weeks, you must be 21 years old or greater to attend, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for current details on this concert!
Next up, here's the latest updates on the upcoming split album from local metal trios AlgomA & Shit Liver, so what's new to say about "Trading Faces"? As per Shit Liver's Facebook page on Monday, the digital release of the split will take place on September 5th (THIS COMING TUESDAY) via both bands' respective Bandcamp pages, and while Shit Liver will also post their half on YouTube, they couldn't guarantee the same for AlgomA's half. The release date for the physical cassette tapes still appears to be two weeks later on September 17th, and they will be on sale during their Ontario/Montreal tour run next month (which ends at The New A on October 2nd) and online via AlgomA's label Deadbeat Media, though we await specifics on the release otherwise. As for the content, throw all assumptions about potential originals you had hoped to hear out the window, as this is a covers-only album! AlgomA are only doing songs by Dead Mouth and Kittens (they've played the latter live before), but expect these to be slow and sludgy!
Shit Liver will tackle songs by Leftover Crack, Macabre, Deicide, Antischism, and Dystopia, but one big twist here is that the two bands will also cover each other, with AlgomA covering "Fabricated Nonsense" and Shit Liver either including or re-recording their sped up grindcore version of "Fell Down A Well" from 2015. I didn't expect this to be a covers release, but it'll be very interesting to hear how this one turns out, so check the above links for full details and song names, and stay tuned for updates on the split's price and availability when it comes in, hopefully starting on Tuesday!
Closing today with new videos, here's a new live streamed clip from local hard rock quintet Skeyes of Seven's Facebook page from two weeks back! This video was intended as a promotional clip for their return set at the now cancelled Eye of Horus concert this past weekend, but the video is still relevant to share, as it's a performance of a new Skeyes of Seven original song, which I believe is entitled "Differences". The band's first video with their full current lineup (as recorded in their recent jam session locale), you'll hear a solid new original that fits with their existing original repertoire, and I'm sure it would have played well live, but hopefully we'll get a chance soon at another event! If only this wasn't filmed on a vertical camera angle, but it's still great to see a full five-piece Skeyes of Seven for the first time in 3 years, so give their new live video a look below, and stay tuned for more from their camp!
Finally for today, here's a new videos of Project 906 guitarist Joe Jenkins, as shared by Sault Michigan music store Crooked Music's Facebook page on Monday! Remember, Joe is their current guitar instructor. Originally posted to Joe's personal Facebook page, this features a test run of the Ashmun Street music store's most expensive guitar pedal while playing a Reverend Sensai 290 guitar, as recorded the day prior when the store was closed. This is a bit of an instructional or demonstrative clip with Joe talking to the camera about the gear, but he has some nice bluesy riffs to show off, so give it a look below, and don't miss Project 906 in Brimley this Saturday!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!
As promised, our extended preview of a major returning music festival is leading off today's post, but we also have a recent video upload and a few recent news and notes, so here's what you should know!
The second annual Rudyard Musicians Festival goes down TOMORROW, where 13 regional music acts will rock out at Rudyard Township Park (18725 South Mackinac Trail) all day long, and despite the earlier indication of "NO METAL", there will be some hard rock acts to help close out this sophomore installment! Harbouring a largely similar lineup to last year (only Stoned Ape Evolution, Second Offense, and The Gaskins aren't back), this year's Musicians Fest will be headlined by Sault Michigan hard rock quartet Project 906 at 11:00 PM, fresh off of their recent Moloney's Alley gigs, while classic rockers and festival organizers Steelhead
(with guest performer Jimmy Bishop) will co-headline at 10:00 PM. Online page-less experimental hard rockers and festival newcomers The Karstens will return to the stage at 9:00 PM, while classic rock band The Whole Shabang will also debut here at 8:00 PM. Remaining acts are largely country or bluegrass-centric unless otherwise stated, and they include The North Country Band at 7:00 PM...
...The Wednesday
Night Headliners at 6:00 PM, Robert & Bob Malaski at 5:00 PM, Jimmy
Williams at 4:00 PM, pop singer Hayley Malaska
at 3:30 PM, the solo festival debut of Kevin Blakeney at 3:00 PM, Crossroads
alum Denny Verrett at 2:00 PM, Traverse City experimental outfit The Neighbourhood Dogs at 1:00 PM, and The (New?) Jazz Trio opening the day's musical entertainment at 12:00 PM. In a related musical note, TONIGHT will see an open mic "free for all" at Rudyard Township Park, as organizers feel that they might as well use musical equipment that's already set up, so keep that in mind if you love open mic nights and jam sessions! As was the case last year, the Rudyard Musicians Festival is a charitable event with all proceeds going to Rudyard Area Schools' music and band programs, which is a great gesture on their part! An ALL AGES event, admission is $5 tomorrow save for kids 10 years old and under, who will get in FREE.
Concessions will be available all day, including a $5 pig roast (again, kids eat free here), while camping on site will be available free to festival patrons today through Sunday, so keep all of these details in mind! This is shaping up to be another entertaining installment of this E.U.P. festival, and it could serve as a fine sequel to the musically similar Sugar Island Festival last week, so visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for more details, stay tuned for potential fallout, and here's Project 906 live at last year's Rudyard Musicians Festival!
Next up, here's a new video of Sault Ontario hard rock/experimental guitarist and Audiofumes podcast host Mike Cliffe, courtesy of his YouTube channel on Tuesday, and it's of a work in progress guitar track named "Afro Shuffle". With a name inspired by the backing African drum tracks, this song is less heavy and honestly has a bit of a progressive/world music vibe that even has some country-ish tinges. Hard to explain, but well performed and melodic, so give it a look below, and check out more above!
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
Apologies for the delay in this making a proper news post ("Where Are The New Albums?" aside), but the title and cover artwork for AlgomA & Shit Liver's upcoming split cassette tape were each revealed via both bands' Facebook pages on August 1st! Entitled "Trading Faces", the artwork (by frequent AlgomA collaborator) puts a sludgy spin on the movie "Face/Off", I'll say that much! No word yet on the release, other than a tease that it will be posted on Bandcamp before tapes themselves are put out, but stay tuned for updates on this anticipated split in any event!
Nova Rex bassist Kenny Wilkerson was interviewed by Brian Kelly for a Sault Star article yesterday, where Kenny discussed the Florida hair metal band's first Canadian tour in 2 decades (including their Rockstar Bar show on August 30th), their new album, past tour memories, and more. Nice interview overall, especially to prime fans who may not be familiar with Nova Rex, so give it a look above or in yesterday's paper! Unfortunately, it also appears that local classic rock openers Nikkfitt have disbanded, as per the deletion of their Facebook page, and the above article indicates that the opening act is now "to be announced".
The Oh!NO 2017 Music Festival at "Robbie's Church" in nearby Leeburn on September 9th has one more confirmed act, as DJ Seith will now close the night with a set of his turntable mixes. Solid choice, and some added variety, so look for him to wrap things up in three weeks! Also, despite earlier advertising in the affirmative, plans to have a shuttle bus to get fans to and from the event have been cancelled, with co-promoter Jamie Vincent citing the bus' cost for the change in plans, though he encouraged ride-sharing or Union Cab as alternatives. Good to know in advance, and see above for more festival updates as we approach the 9th!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next week! Thanks everyone!
On this Friday evening, we have a new video to share, but first, let's tackle two recent LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS featuring notable American headlining bands, including one in particular that's gotten tons of local buzz since it was announced yesterday! Here's what you need to know!
Pennsylvania alt-metal trio CKY will make their local concert debut at The Canadian Nightclub on Thursday, June 8th! Yes, the band best known for songs like "96 Quite Bitter Beings", "Flesh Into Gear", and "Familiar Realm" will rock the Soo in a few short months, and even without longtime frontman Deron Miller in their current lineup, their energetic punk-influenced originals are sure to get a huge reception in their local debut! After all, they're the namesake of and a huge part of the old CKY DVDs that begat the Jackass series, so keep that angle in mind too! A stacked local openers lineup will include the return of hardcore quintet As It Stands to the stage for the first time since 2012 on June 8th. Though A.I.S. only formally broke up in 2014, we've been waiting well over 4 years for a new show from the guys, and with John Mignacca back home, they're primed to reclaim their spot in the local scene! Also slated to open are punk/metal favourites Jack Spades, in the public debut of their new lineup!
No word yet on who's joining J.D. and Justin in their new lineup, but this will mark Jack Spades' first show since opening for SNFU in September, and this will be a great way to welcome them back after over 8 months away! The current opener lineup is rounded out by newer alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback, who should be in fine form following their own recent Canadian gigs, so don't be late for their set either! Notably, this is the first announced concert promoted by Jack Spades frontman J.D. Pearce since his annual Halloween party last year, but what a way to get back into the swing of things, and keep posted in case he has anything sooner to announce! This 19+ show currently lists an unusually early start time of 6:00 PM, and tickets are now on sale at this link for $20, though in-person local availability has not been publically noted as of press time. As a long-time fan of anything to do with the CKY name, this is a huge deal, and it will be awesome to have Chad, Matt, and Jess in the Soo come June 8th!
J.D. has noted that this show has seen the fastest online sales on the first day of any of his promoted concerts, so get your tickets A.S.A.P. just in case by clicking here, as who knows when and where they'll be available in person, especially with As It Stands and Jack Spades both returning that same night! Stay tuned for continued updates as they roll in, and As It Stands are back in our active band links, hopefully this isn't a one-off!
Next up, here's one more new show announcement for later this year, as Florida-based hair metal veterans Nova Rex will hit The Rockstar Bar for a headlining concert on Wednesday, August 30th! A familiar band to glam metal diehards, Nova Rex have been active since the mid-1980s, and while they never achieved the mainstream superstardom of other contemporary acts, they have a solid following that carried them to their own Netflix documentary in 2011, and they should light things up at The Rockstar Bar to help send out the summer! Returning local classic rock cover quartet Nikkfitt (featuring Browbeat and Redundant alumni) will open this show, and this will be a nice showcase for this talented local outfit who don't play live often enough, so keep them in mind as well! Admission for this 19+ event is $8, with advance tickets likely to be available at The Algonquin Hotel's front desk, and an oddly early start time of 8:00 PM is advertised. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and stay tuned for updates on this Hair Scare-worthy concert!
Finally, we were going to close with a new Facebook video from the aforementioned A Dire Setback, but that video was quietly deleted today for unannounced reasons, so we'll cover it if it's re-posted later. Instead, here's the latest clip from local alternative hard rock trio The Din, as uploaded to their Facebook page yesterday! Another in The Din's long line of comedic Facebook videos, this is a "public service announcement" on how not to headbang, a direct nod to Quiet Riot, who will no doubt play "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" on THURSDAY at The Machine Shop, with The Din opening the night's lineup! Needless to say, the headbanging demonstrations in the video aren't "traditional", and while the guys recuperate, drummer Brandan Glew hypes up the Quiet Riot show, especially as tickets are almost sold out. Click here for full ticket details while they last, and give The Din's new video a look below, as it is funny, and sound effects may be employed!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes over the weekend! Thanks everyone!
Let's keep the news coming on this Monday morning, as I've got a lot of stuff to get to today! While there's some disappointing news involving a prominent local band's breakup, we also have some assorted news relating to band statuses, a preview for a show taking place TOMORROW NIGHT, and leading things off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this week, so here's what you need to know!
Here's a short notice announcement for a touring rock band's stop in Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday, as Toronto hard rock trio The DGB are stopping in town! Influenced by grunge & stoner hard rock bands, this will be a special acoustic concert at Feedback on Wednesday night, in what's a last minute stop on their return from a cross-Canada tour, so we're getting a unique look at this talented Southern Ontario outfit! If you like stoner rock or early 1990s alternative hard rock, The DGB will be right up your alley, and with it being an acoustic set, there's no chance that the police will be called on them, so that's a plus! No opening bands have been announced, and I'll of course let you guys know if any are named before Wednesday. There is no cover charge, you must be 19 to attend, and a 9:00 PM start time is listed. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be an interesting concert, and hopefully a good crowd turns out despite the late notice & mid-week setting! The DGB are talented and have that grungy sound I like, so hopefully they have a great show on Wednesday night! For a preview, here's The DGB playing "Insert Your City" at a Halifax acoustic gig, but check the above links to hear more of their unplugged and electric material!
Now, while we're in the concert previewing mood, there's also a show with some metal representation taking place at The Roosevelt Hotel TOMORROW NIGHT, so here's what you need to know! It's primarily a punk concert, to be headlined by Toronto pop punk trio The Unbelievers, and they've got an entertaining & energetic style of female-charged punk rock, so they're definitely worth seeing! However, metalheads might also be interested to note that one of the opening bands is classic metal quintet Sativa Rose, who are finally returning to the stage after a four month hiatus tomorrow night! This will be their first concert since adding singer Marisa Valois to their lineup this summer, and how will she sound in her live debut? Well, there's only one way to find out, by going to The Rosie tomorrow! The other opening bands will include the debuting T. Rex Manning (the new band from Frightlight's J.D. Pearce & Skull Fist concert booker Tiffany Stocco) and frequently seen local punk trio Redundant, so there's a lot of metal potential on the undercard of this concert! Admission will be just $3 (which is more than worth it), it is a 19+ show, and doors open at 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page!
Sounds like a stacked night of hard hitting music, so if you love punk (and metal), head to The Rosie tomorrow night if you can! How will Sativa Rose's new lineup sound? What do T. Rex Manning play exactly? All will be answered at what should be a great show tomorrow night, and kudos to J.D. for bringing The Unbelievers here after they shared the stage with Frightlight in Toronto last month! Check the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's Sativa Rose playing their original song "Fall From Grace" earlier this year!
Now, here's some disappointing news, as noted local hard rockers Sense of Truth have broken up. An official statement has not been made by the band, but band members confirmed on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group over the weekend that Sense of Truth split up a few months ago. A reason hasn't been announced for their breakup, but I'll note that they haven't played live since May of last year, and a proper update hasn't came onto their Facebook group in almost 8 months, so things haven't been looking up for a while. That said, members Cory Murchison & Ron Baxter are forming a new local hard rock band, and you can get more details on the Musicians Wanted group linked above if you're interested in joining on bass or drums. This surprising news comes after a successful 3+ year run for Sense of Truth, who memorably launched in April 2008 by winning the Skid Row Battle of the Bands, and later opened for notable groups like Econoline Crush, State of Shock, and Ultraviolence, made the finals of the Kiss Battle of the Bands in 2009, and headlined the re-opening of Foggy Notions that year. Though Sense of Truth recorded songs towards a self-titled EP in February of last year, a formal release for it never came, and it's looking unlikely now that we'll ever see it come out.
It's a real shame to know that Sense of Truth have ended, as they were one of the most prominent & fastest rising local hard rock bands of the late 2000s. I know that personal commitments and such slowed band activity a lot over the past year & a half, but I'm not alone in saying that I hoped things would clear up and Sense of Truth would return to the stage at some point. If I hear anything more on the next steps of the members or their breakup, I'll be sure to let you guys know, but best of luck to Cory, Steve, Ron, Curtis, and Ryan in their future musical endeavours, and if you're interested in trying out for Cory & Ron's new band, click here!
And finally for today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, all relating to band statuses, and as always, they're in alphabetical order by band or musician name:
Sativa Rose guitarist Anthony Orazietti is apparently looking to start a new melodic metal band influenced by everyone from All That Remains to Iron Maiden, and is looking for musicians for the project. No, I don't think he left Sativa Rose, this appears to be a separate band. If you're interested, click here and scroll to his post on November 23rd!
Sault Michigan metal quartet Great Bodily Harm have also broken up. The reason is due to personal issues involving a band member, but without an official statement, I won't elaborate, and with no official band pages, public word might not come. Disappointing news, but I heard that most of the members are forming a similar new band, so keep an eye out for updates!
Skull After Betrayl frontman Mike Vincent is also looking for musicians towards a local metal project, specifically a drummer who can double kick and a singer with screaming ability. Whether this is related to Skull After Betrayl or not, I don't know, but if you're interested in trying out for this band, click here and find Mike's post from November 21st!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for our review of Theatre of Night's "Christmas Night" album on Wednesday, and more news over the coming week! Thanks everyone!
Let's keep things going on a busy note today, as we have some more news to share from the local metal scene! Today, we have new videos from a local guitarist, a full concert video from a band with some metal covers, and recent news coverage of a local concert series, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT relating to a local band's return!
Classic hard rockers Turner Up are back! But wait, didn't they change their name to Full Circle in May? Yes, but drummer Scott McLurg confirmed with me in recent e-mails that he & bassist/founding member Robert Brown have decided to bring back Turner Up as a new band separate from the still-active Full Circle! As such, from what I understand, the new Turner Up will have a noticeably heavier setlist than Full Circle, who I think will now be reserved for the softer edged rock material. The new Turner Up lineup will see the return of Krista Marshall on vocals, and Robert will handle guitar again as he did before their spring lineup overhaul, though the rest of the new Turner Up lineup will have new members. Their new guitarist is Havadder frontman Jason Roy, who definitely has some heavier chops from his past musical work, while former Carbon Black singer Travis Sharpe will take over on bass! How's that for some surprising, yet cool lineup news? Nice to see Travis back in an active band! From what I've heard, Turner Up will not play live as often as Full Circle, but it's good to see a band with this name back after six months!
That all said, Turner Up have a return concert lined up for next month, but I'll wait for more official confirmation before plugging it here. Thanks again to Scott for telling me about Turner Up's return! It's great to see them back, and some great & busy times are ahead for Scott & Robert's two bands! That said, I'll probably be slowing down our coverage of Full Circle as I don't believe they'll play a consistent hard rock set now with Turner Up back, but they're still a talented band you should see live! And yes, I've restored Turner Up to our active band links, so check them out!
Next up, here's a recent news article from The Sault Star that talks about the return of Roosevelt Hotel metal nights! On Tuesday, an article written by The Sault Star's Jeffery Ougler entitled "Pedal to the metal" was posted online and in that day's paper that profiled the Thursday metal nights' return. It features interview remarks from new booker/Rosie manager Stephane Vincent, where he talks about the reception for the metal nights, why the bar started putting them on, and the response to them. That said, while it's mostly well written, there are things I'd change. The article incorrectly says the metal nights are returning after "a couple month's hiatus" (they were only gone for three weeks), the article generalizes that there were 3 bands a week (16 of the past 37 metal nights had more or less than 3 bands), and neither original booker/founder Rich Moreland or his booking company Dismembertainment were given any name credit for their work starting or putting on the past year's Thursday nighters. I understand the emphasis on The Rosie & their current work, but Rich put in a lot of work, you think he'd get a bit of name credit. Still, it's nice to see The Sault Star giving local metal some notice, and I hope the return show on Thursday was a huge hit! Read The Sault Star's article on the Rosie metal nights at the above links!
We'll close this post with new videos, and first, here's a 40 minute video of local punk trio Redundant's entire set from their Halloween concert at Feedback last week! This was uploaded by drummer Rick White onto his YouTube channel yesterday. Now, Redundant are first & foremost a punk band, but they do occasionally cover metal, and you do see that here, as they covered a guitar solo-less version of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" midway through their set! It sounds good, if a bit rough, but it's what you'd expect a punk version of it to sound like, which isn't bad at all! The full video also features Redundant covering Johnny Cash, Green Day, Screeching Weasels, Weezer, Del Shannon, Blink-182, and NOFX songs with their usual punk swagger and sense of humour, and the camera's at a good angle and quality to capture their set! Regrettably, it was cut short due to (surprise surprise) noise complaints from a neighbour, a problem I hope gets resolved soon! The video also features Rick's former Fitswitch & Frightlight bandmate Larry Mousseau stepping in on drums for a portion of Blink 182's "Dammit", which is interesting!
Check out the full video of Redundant from Feedback on Halloween below, it's nice quality punk rock from some very talented musicians! And yes, there's metal to be had, so fast forward to 21:53 for their cover of "Enter Sandman", and for some short metal asides before launching into other full songs, move to 1:05 for another Metallica cover snippet, and head to 37:09 to hear them rock a portion of "Sober" by Tool! Good stuff!
And finally for today, here's a bunch of solo performance videos from a local guitarist! These come from T. Rex Manning guitarist and Skull Fist concert booker Tiffany Stocco, who has posted a number of guitar track covers of punk and metal songs onto her YouTube channel over the past year. She's posted covers of Metallica, Seether, Distillers, Bloodhound Gang, Foo Fighters, Misfits, Megadeth, Ramones, Anvil, and Tool songs on her channel, plus some original compositions with vocals. She's pretty good, and she seems to improve the newer the videos get! A couple messups here and there, but she's honest about them, which is good! I'd turn up the guitar though, it doesn't sound too loud on some of the videos. Makes me more curious to hear T. Rex Manning live, and remember, they make their debut at The Roosevelt Hotel opening for The Unbelievers on November 29th! Check out Tiffany's metal and punk covers at the above links, and here's her rendition of Anvil's "Metal On Metal"!
That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news as November rolls along, hopefully including a post by Tuesday! Thanks everyone!
Well guys, here's some more news for this Tuesday evening, and we've got a lot of big stuff here! Tonight, we have some big news from a prominent local metal band, new videos from them, and some LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for this month, so here's what you need to know!
Caveman Morrison frontman Tym Morrison has two more acoustic solo concerts lined up for you local fans, both of which take place this weekend! His first new show will be his debut at Feedback on Friday night in a rare non-Service Grill concert from him! Though his acoustic metal covers are new to Feeback as it currently exists, you may remember him from a number of Foggy Notions shows in the past, including a weekly concert arrangement there that started late last year and ended in February, so he's no stranger to this bar! That said, if you're used to his Service Grill shows, never fear, as he'll also be back at the Korah Road restaurant on Saturday night as well with lots of hard rocking hits to play for his fans! He's back there after another off weekend, suggesting a bi-weekly arrangement now for his shows there, but there hasn't been a finite weekly schedule for them since September. Neither show this weekend has an announced cover charge (bring cash just in case for Feedback though), he'll be on at 10:00 PM on Friday and 8:00 PM on Saturday, and though I know it will be a 19+ show on Friday night, I don't believe the age restriction will apply for the Service Grill. Click here and here for each show's respective event pages! It's great to see Tym playing some more solo shows this weekend, so check them out if you can! Stay tuned for more later in the week!
Also for new shows, it's the long awaited return of Sativa Rose to the local stage! The classic metal quintet will finally make their debut live appearance with new singer Marisa Valois at this show, after initially dropping out of Sunday's Skull Fist concert, when they rock The Roosevelt Hotel three weeks from today on November 29th! After a four month hiatus, how will they sound? Time will tell! At this concert, Sativa Rose will be among the local openers for Toronto pop punk trio The Unbelievers, who recently played with local standouts Frightlight when they opened for The Misfits last month in Toronto! Good to see them here, their stylish punk attack will be sure to turn heads at The Rosie! As well, the new local band T. Rex Manning (who were briefly advertised for the Coch's Corner Halloween Party before dropping out) are scheduled to open this concert as well. I still don't know much about them, but I can confirm they're Frightlight frontman (and this show's promoter) J.D. Pearce's new band, alongside guitarist Tiffany Stocco, bassist Bill Bennett, and drummer Daniel MacDonald. Punk covers and some metal, from what I understand, but hopefully we see and hear more from them soon! Thanks to Tiffany for filling me in!
Doors open at 10:00 PM for this concert, you must be 19 to attend, and there's a $3 cover charge, which is well worth it. Check the official Facebook event page for more details! Sounds like an interesting lineup of bands, and hopefully a good crowd turns out for the punk and metal within! If I hear any updates, you'll absolutely hear them here!
Next up, here's some huge news from Gates of Winter! If you've been wondering what they've been up to lately, bassist Steve Furgiuele will tell you in the video below courtesy of the band's official YouTube channel. Firstly, he announced that Gates of Winter's forthcoming second studio album will be entitled "Perihelion" (which means the point of a planet's orbit when it's nearest to the sun), and the planned release for it will be in December... of 2012. That's a ways off, but at least we have a tentative idea of when to expect the CD! He also announced in the video that Gates of Winter plan to re-record some material from their 2008 CD "Lux Aeterna" and release it in some form in the summer. I'm glad to see they're not abandoning it all like past pages had alluded to, and hopefully the new versions of whatever songs they re-record showcase their current talents well! Nothing about a potential live return was announced in the video, but my fingers are crossed! Also, he plugged that "Lux Aeterna" is on sale now on iTunes (click here to pick it up for $8.91 or 99¢ a song), and he referred to the band's website at http://www.gatesofwinter.com which now redirects to their Facebook page, replacing that error-filled fan page that had taken the domain name since 2009.
Nice to see some more detailed word from the band on their next steps, and the audio clips bookending Steve's portion sound brutal and very promising! If the December 2012 release date for "Perihelion" sticks, it will be almost 5 years since their last album came out, but knowing how they want to improve and emphasize newer material, you know they're making it worth every second of waiting! Check out the full video below, and get hyped up for "Perihelion" next year!
And finally in Gates of Winter news, the band has uploaded two new 2008 concert videos onto their YouTube channel! Though their live instrumental demo of "From Nothingness" and their "Gates TV" episode were disappointingly deleted from the channel, the band has replaced them with two live videos from what (I think) was their surprise return show at The Grand Theater in September 2008, and also their first of two local concerts with former drummer David Gold. The posted videos, which apparently have never been released to the public before, are of Gates of Winter playing their song "Winter Flight" and their unreleased song "Torment", which was axed from "Lux Aeterna" before it's release. Very nice quality footage from a high viewpoint, and I've always liked how much heavier the vocals were on the later version of "Winter Flight" especially! Always good to hear "Torment" too, though I wish the band would have released it on a CD. Check the above links to see this newly posted Gates of Winter footage, and here's the "Winter Flight" video! Awesome stuff!
That's all for today, but in case there's no news tomorrow, stay tuned for our next Defunct Local Band Profiles & weekend concert previews on Thursday! Thanks everyone!
Marquette cover hard rock quartet Spun will return to The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan for one night only on Friday, September 22nd! Two months removed from their last stops in our neck of the woods, the Nudge successors will be back in full force for another night of hard rocking classics for their E.U.P. fans, so circle September 22nd on your calendars to help ring in the fall season! This show is definitely advertised as being on Friday the 22nd only, no word on why they're not playing at The Frog on Saturday the 23rd, or if it's omission is accidental. Similarly to Spun's past Frog gigs, expect a 9:30 PM start time in three weeks, you must be 21 years old or greater to attend, and there is no announced cover charge. Visit the official Facebook event page and the above links for current details on this concert!
