The Emergency Festival Preview, Plus The Downtown Association's Fate!!

Let's get our extended preview of a major returning local concert festival up on the site today, but we'll cap things off with news on the resolution in a long debate that forced said festival's move for this year, so here's what you should know on this Friday morning!

The second annual Emergency Festival goes down TOMORROW! As you may remember, this sophomore music & arts festival is brought to you by LopLops Lounge, effectively replacing their version of the Rotaryfest Second Stage before it's hiatus last year, but due to the Downtown Association's fight for survival (more on that in a bit), the festival has been relocated from Queen Street East to Rocky DiPietro Field near The John Rhodes Centre at 260 Elizabeth Street for at least this year. With the new locale, the event has been somewhat downsized, with the multiple stage format (including bands on the main stage, in LopLops, and at two outdoor sidewalk "clinic" stages) shaved down to one 8 act-stage combining local & out of town talent, but there will still be an Art In The Park installation, refreshments, on-site games, and more for all ages! Bandwise, you might be interested to know that all but two bands are new to The Emergency Festival, while still featuring many familiar faces, but who all's playing, and when?

The set times for the festival were finally announced last week, and it will see Calgary indie rock quintet The Fast Romantics headlining at 9:00 PM, with Toronto alt-country band The Sunparlour Players (who headlined Rotaryfest's Second Stage in 2009) back for The Emergency at 8:00 PM. A couple more recent notables from LopLops events will take the stage in the evening, including Alberta reggae band Tasman Jude at 7:00 PM and Thunder Bay rock quintet The Poor Young Things playing at 6:00 PM. A trio of local punk/alternative bands precede them, including local alt-grunge trio The Pixo Control, who will debut their mystery new drummer in the 5:00 PM slot, will have this very poster available for sale, and have also teased a "special announcement" of some kind. Be there to get all of the news first! Local indie/punk quintet Northwest will play live for the first time this summer at 4:00 PM, while rising post-punk quartet Gnaeus (who played with The Pixo Control at last year's "Shock Stage" of the festival) will themselves hit the stage at 3:00 PM.

The Emergency Festival's music lineup will be opened by Saskatoon country artist Zachary Lucky, and while no other acts are listed, note that early festival advertising did imply there'd be more artists to be announced. With the changes this year, the festival is sadly not universally free like last year, so admission will be $35 for adults (there were discount rates in earlier months) or $20 for students with valid student ID cards, though kids under 14 years old do get in free. Tickets can also be bought at LopLops and through their website, at Case's Music, or at DISH Espresso Bar & Cafe, all conveniently located on Queen Street. For complete Emergency Festival details, visit the official Facebook event page and the above links! Despite all of the debating about the Downtown Association and so forth (coming in one second), it's great to see Stephen and everyone at LopLops keeping things going for year 2! I've heard a lot of good optimism and buzz, so if you're a fan of indie rock and local punk & alternative bands, be at Rocky DiPietro Field TOMORROW, gates open at 12:00 PM! For a preview, here's The Pixo Control live at Rotaryfest last month!



Lastly, we finally have a resolution in the ongoing fight to save and/or abolish the Sault Ste. Marie Downtown Association, so what's the verdict? .....It has been saved! Yes, the business improvement area that was instrumental in numerous outdoor events, concerts, and parties on Queen Street East will live on, as only 67 of 153 eligible downtown businesses voted to abolish the S.D.A., 10 short of the necessary majority, but you can read more details on the specifics about the vote and fallout on local news sites (including these three SooToday articles, here, here, and here.) In a message to association members from new president Duane Moleni, he said that "the numbers are not lost on us", and they know that there are "concerns and displeasure" concerning their work, but they know that business owners have seen that they are working to change and restructure how they do things, and look forward to working towards proving the S.D.A.'s worth and benefits to the downtown sector.

It's way too early to know what this means for concert events that did or might take place on Queen Street, and if ones that were cancelled or relocated will return in 2016, but hopefully this debate will give the Downtown Association a chance to answer critics and make changes while still helping the arts sector and provide special events again! Visit local news media for full coverage of today's decision, and hopefully Queen Street's hopping again next year!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Emergency Festival), Gatgas Concert Preview, And More!!

Barring a late notice Saturday nighter or extremely late notice show tonight, we're closing out this weekend's concert previews today with a big hardcore punk show tomorrow night, but joining it today are updates for a major upcoming Sault Michigan show, a new video from a rising young band, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for August! Read on below for what you should know, and check out this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile in the post below this one!

Here's some long awaited venue confirmation on this year's second annual Emergency Festival on Saturday, August 15th, so where's the LopLops Lounge-promoted music & arts festival being held? Well, how does Rocky DiPietro Field at The John Rhodes Community Centre sound? Due to the ongoing debate over the future of The Sault Downtown Association and postponement of their outdoor Queen Street events this summer, The Emergency Festival will move to the football field at 260 Elizabeth Street (not far from the skatepark) for it's second year, which sounds like a good location to keep this successful sophomore event going after another "emergency" affecting the summer concert calendar! No word yet on the band setup, including on if there will be multiple stages as was previously intended, but we'll keep you posted. As previously announced, The Emergency Festival will welcome local punk/alternative bands The Pixo Control, Gnaeus, and Northwest alongside a large out-of-town roster of primarily folk, roots, and indie rock artists, so click here for full current lineup details!

Also scheduled to have a special Art In The Park exhibition, The Emergency will again be an ALL AGES event at 12:00 PM on August 15th, with tickets going on sale at LopLops, Case's Music, and Dish Espresso Bar & Cafe at 740 Queen Street East tomorrow. Oddly, tickets will be $25 until July 2nd, then they'll jump $5 a month until August, so there's incentive to get yours early! Students with school ID will get in for $20, and kids under 14 are admitted FREE. Amidst all of the downtown association struggles, it's great to see Stephen and everyone at LopLops keeping The Emergency going, so check the above links for more details, and stay tuned for updates as they come in!

Next up, here's our preview of the fifth installment of Tidal Records & J.D. Pearce's Gonqshow summer concert series, as London hardcore punk quartet Gatgas will headline at The Algonquin Pub TOMORROW NIGHT! Featuring Saultites Bob Bromley Jr. & Garry Ingram in their lineup, fans may remember their memorable local debut at last fall's Hardcore Homecoming concert upstairs at The Rockstar Bar, but now they're headlining downstairs and should be up to their usual old school hardcore tricks! Local support will come via two of the local openers from last fall, those being local punk/metal quintet Jack Spades and local hardcore/punk sextet Destroilet (in just their third show with two singers), and given the presence of both Gatgas & Destroilet, might we see another Fistmagnet reunion of sorts like we saw at Hardcore Homecoming? It was a crowd pleaser, hopefully there's a reprise of it! Note that the Gonqshow event page still lists newer local metal trio Faceityoureametalband as opening, but they have since been removed from the concert's event page, and are not listed on the show's poster.

A reason for their exit hasn't been announced, but frontman Steve Mozarowski went on a trip to British Columbia this week as per personal Facebook postings, so that could be related. Hopefully we hear from his new band again soon though! Note also that I'm not sure if the presented band order on the poster is accurate (which would see Gatgas sandwiched between the local bands) or if they will indeed be last. This 19+ concert has a $10 cover charge and a 10:00 PM start time, so for more details, visit the above links! It's great to have Gatgas back (and Bob & Garry back home), so keep this show in mind for TOMORROW, and here's Gatgas live earlier this month!



Also today, here's some news concerning the P.O.D./Hoobastank/Fuel concert at The Dreammaker's Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino this coming Friday, including news of a late addition to the lineup, them being Rochester, New York post-hardcore band Lights Out Paris! Our source is co-promoter John Yeubanks on the Facebook event page on Monday. Currently slotted as the third of now six bands, Lights Out Paris have an intense modern hardcore sound that almost sounds like it'd better fit an Oddfellows Hall show, so don't miss them amidst the hard rock action next week! Also, in terms of the returning Integrated System of Machines (who will reunite after a 5 year breakup for this show), their teased new album is reportedly finished mixing, and sounds close to being done entirely according to frontman Orb Hearthstone's personal Facebook page! Remember, I.S.O.M. don't have a new updated online page as of this writing, we'll let you know if one turns up in the future.

Also, a separate personal posting confirms that I.S.O.M.'s new lineup will be a five-piece, with Orb, Chris Leask, Art Dietz, and Bart Rennels joined by a musician with the first name Jon, though I can't confirm a last name or instrument role yet (though process of elimination points to either the guitar or keyboard.) It is great to have Integrated System of Machines back, and hopefully we hear much more from them soon! Stay tuned for details on this huge concert, and get your tickets A.S.A.P. at this link!

Finally for today, here'a a light new video from the aforementioned Gnaeus, courtesy of their YouTube channel on Tuesday! It's of the local post-punk quartet watching their Lopstock II YouTube video on TV via a Playstation 3, so we're literally watching the guys watch themselves, though there is a temporary break late when bassist Matt Fronzi arrives with McDonald's food. Light and amusing, so check out Gnaeus' new video below, and don't miss drummer Brendan Garlick filling in with Long Shot TONIGHT at The Rockstar Bar, as per personal Facebook postings!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more this weekend! Thanks everyone!