LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Tea Party), A Concert Cancellation, And Much More!!

Here's a new news post for your Tuesday morning, which is by and large devoted to two topics: A major concert cancellation that many were expecting, and a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for next month, but we also have some assorted recent news and notes to take in as well. Now, here's what you need to know!

Juno nominated Windsor hard/world rock trio The Tea Party will headline a FREE & ALL AGES concert at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Sunday, July 16th! As announced by in a press release on SooToday on Friday, the show is one of 23 free outdoor concerts taking place across Ontario between June 25th and September 17th as part of the Government of Ontario's ONTour concert series, which will see over 50 Ontario music acts playing across the province to celebrate Ontario's 150th' birthday, with the Soo's coming fourth in the tour. This is a nice surprise for music fans across the province, so visit the above links for current details on the tour so far! This will be The Tea Party's first local concert appearance since headlining at The Princess Theatre in 1998, before they had their biggest chart hit with "Heaven Coming Down", so this should be a cool chance to hear these Canadian rock legends playing many of their hits on a local stage after 19 years away, and for FREE!

A diverse opening lineup will include Toronto drum & bass duo Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (who played at LopLops Lounge back in 2011) and Barrie country quartet The James Barker Band in their local concert debut. Both bands have had top 10 hits on the Canadian alternative and country charts, and should find solid audiences of their own next month! A 6:00 PM start time is advertised on the Facebook event page, and for readers elsewhere in the north, note that there will be ONTour events in Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timmins, and Blind River as well, artists to be announced. This sounds like a great time for local music fans of varying genres, especially given The Tea Party's return, so stay tuned for updates if they come in!

Next up, it is now 100% official: the planned Rock The Border Music Fest at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion on Sunday is not taking place. Organizers quietly deleted the official Facebook page and event page yesterday, following a tumultuous month of no new public updates despite mounting local debate and pessimism about the planned concert. Australian hard rockers and planned co-headliners The Lazys confirmed the cancellation on their Facebook page, while planned local openers The Din took their issues and concerns public via the Facebook video below from this past Friday. The clip explains The Din's reasons for dropping out of the show (which hadn't officially been cancelled at that point), noted that they've obtained refund money for outstanding local tickets from March's aborted Quiet Riot concert from the same promoters, and encouraged fans to instead check out the Electric Church/Speaker concert at The Canadian on Sunday from local promoters Live705.

It's worth noting that if you purchased a Rock the Border Fest ticket, Live705 will honour them as coupons for their show on Sunday night, getting you admitted for the $5 father's discount price, which is very admirable of them! The Din encourage sharing of their video "if you value this city's ability to bring in big name concert acts". Also, note that the Eventbrite page for online ticket sales is still up as of Tuesday morning, despite the Facebook deletions, so don't buy tickets there hoping that this show might still occur. I won't single out any individual promoters here, but after two high profile hard rock cancellations in a three month span, it's easy to see why there's been so much online reticence in the past month, and the lack of public updates since May 7th was telling that something was up (at the very least.) Give The Din's video a look below, and don't miss Live705's Canadian Nightclub concert on SUNDAY or the aforementioned FREE Tea Party concert at The Pavilion in July!



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

• Local alternative/hard rock quartet Bizotic, alt-punk/no-genre trio Handsome Sandwich, and rapper Mikey Thomas have all been added as openers for the Vaultry-headlined concert at The Canadian Nightclub on July 7th. Promoters Live705 had originally only planned for 2 more acts on the bill of this rock/rap hybridization event, but now there's 7 total acts, including 4 bands and 3 rappers. Very intriguing event to be sure, so check the above links for full details on all of the action next month!
• This past Thursday night's CKY concert was covered by SooToday's Donna Hopper in this article posted online yesterday, featuring interview remarks with frontman Chad Ginsburg on his move to lead vocals and their upcoming CD "The Phoenix". As usual, Donna got some great photos at the show (albeit in black & white), including 5 of CKY's set, 10 of The Wild's set, and 4 of Jack Spades' set, though she didn't get anything from A Dire Setback or with CKY touring keyboardist Matt Cole. Solidly done once again, so check out Donna's new concert photos and coverage at the above links!
• Remember how Toronto death/groove metal quintet Sludgehammer were to have headlined the postponed Oddzfest II concert at The Oddfellows Hall on Saturday? Well, it was announced on Sunday that Bear Hunters guitarist Josh Stephney (the promoter of Oddzfest II) has replaced Chris Szarota as Sludgehammer's new frontman! No word on if the reveal would have been a surprise unveiling on Saturday or not had the show taken place, but it's great to see Josh singing again in a death metal band, so follow Sludgehammer above, and hopefully he brings them north for Oddzfest II at some point!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for even more news and notes on the SMS in the next few days! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Oddzfest II), Windigo/Id Iota Concert Preview, And More!!

Here's one more SMS post before Easter Sunday, so what's in store for today? A few assorted news updates, our preview of a special Easter Monday concert, and to kick things off, a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for this summer, so here's what you should know!

Remember Oddzfest 2013 Metal Mash-Up, the all ages Oddfellows Hall metal concert that helped send off Bring The Fallen's Josh Stephney & Nolan Rainville prior to their moves out of town that July? Well, after a nearly four year wait, Josh is promoting a sequel, as Oddzfest II goes down on Saturday, June 17th! Headlining this show are Toronto death/groove metal quintet Sludgehammer in their local concert debut, and their brutal and fast paced aggression combined with diverse vocals should helped them pick up where West of Hell left off four years ago, so definitely give them a listen! Local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver will return to the local stage for the first time since last April as co-headliners, while local death metal veterans The Bear Hunters will return to the stage themselves for their first concert appearance of 2017, and first set with Josh on rhythm guitar since May of last year. We've definitely missed both bands on the local stage in recent months, and it just feels right to see them sharing the stage at Oddzfest again, so don't miss out in June!

Local death metal quartet Exploring Detritus are also scheduled to play at Oddzfest II in their first concert appearance in about a year, and their first since parting ways with guitarist Daeson Lesage & changing their name from Kaepora Gaebora. No idea where they've been, but it's great to have the guys back, especially with the tie of having Josh's former Bring the Fallen bandmate Dan Souliere on guitar! Bear Hunters drummer Johnny Belanger's new punk/alternative trio Handsome Sandwich will open in their Oddfellows Hall debut, so come early to see what they hype is all about! This is an ALL AGES concert, and while a start time of 4:00 PM is currently advertised, I'd honestly be surprised if that held up, as 2013's Oddzfest I had one more band and started 2 hours later. No word on admission prices yet, but 4 years ago, entry was $5 (though wearing band merchandise got you in free.) I'd also be surprised if that deal recurred, but stay tuned for confirmation on admission in any event!

This sounds like a fun concert for death metal fans, and it's a nice throwback lineup to boot, especially with Shit Liver and Josh Stephney having moved out of town and The Bear Hunters not performing as often as they used to (did you know that they only played live twice in 2016?) Visit the official Facebook event page for more on Oddzfest II, and stay tuned for updates as they roll in, including on recent queries on if this should become a 2 day event?!

Next up, here's that preview of a special concert THIS MONDAY NIGHT, as local alternative/hard rock quartet Id Iota will return to The New American Pub when they open for Calgary psychedelic pop band Windigo & New Jersey surf rock group Dentist in both bands' local debuts! This show will be a nice capper for a busy weekend for Id Iota, who stepped out from the studio on Friday to open for K.I.C.K., and they should have another fun set of new and old originals ready for their first New A stop of 2017! The headliners don't largely fall into our typical genre ranges on the SMS, but Windigo's often trippy and creative pop rock sound should find an audience on Easter Monday, and Dentist do have some punk-influenced material in their sets that will appeal to fans, even if you're not high on surf rock! Apparently self-promoted by Id Iota (though Six, Two, Oh. & Ears and Eyes are given special thanks), this 19+ concert has a $5 cover charge and 9:00 PM start time.

Though officially called an "indie Easter show", there's enough hard rock and punk-tinged material on display to keep SMS readers happy on Monday at The New A, so keep this show in mind to end the season with! Visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Id Iota live!



Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter items from the last few days, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or venue name:

• In their belated first reveal of a new band member on their Facebook page, local punk/metal favourites Jack Spades have announced the addition of Eclipse guitarist Daniel Horton to their new lineup, replacing the already-departed Jesse Cook. Daniel's a solid choice that should add a lot to the band, so don't miss his debut with Jack Spades at the CKY concert in June! No word though on if his addition means anything for the active status of Project 421, who have not issued a public update since February, or played live since October.
• Pillory bassist Jordan Leach (going under his full last name Leach-Berube) is now offering his services as a session bassist for live concerts and recording projects, and he does have his own gear. Jordan is a talented artist in different rock genres, so message him at this link or via his Musicians Wanted Facebook group post from last month if you're interested in working with him in some form!
• New private concert venue Mellow D's Underground will host an "Easter Eafterparty" (sic) TONIGHT after Live705's Easter Bash! This is a private event with the the address obtained by personal request at The Rockstar Bar after the show, but it will be a concert with live bands, including The Noochin' Lanterns and mystery guests, plus an open mic component. This is a licensed event, but it is also all ages. Invite-only as it may be, keep it in mind if you want to extend the bash into the wee hours of the morning!

That's all for today, but I hope to see you guys at The Rockstar Bar TONIGHT for Live705's Easter Bash! Thanks everyone!