LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Numbing), New Eastern U.P. ConcertVideos, And Much More!!

We have a new news post to check out on this Monday night, including some assorted recent news and updates, new videos from the Sault Michigan area, and leading off, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for a couple months from now!

Victoria, British Columbia grunge quartet Numbing will make their local concert debut when they rock The New American Pub on Thursday, May 14th! A relatively new band who are touring in support of their debut album "Make Yourself Hard To Kill", Numbing definitely fit the 1990s grunge/indie vibe with their studio originals, and while not as heavy for the genre as familiar past local bands like No Arrow, Numbing will more than do the trick with their talented blend of sounds in two months! A local opener is to be announced. Promoted by Dryer Fire in their apparent New A debut, a $10 cover charge is in effect for this 19+ concert, which has an advertised 8:00 PM start time, and they're even hyping up free popcorn! It'll be neat to see Numbing on a local stage later this spring, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this concert as they roll in!

Next up, here's some new videos from Michigan bands of note, starting with a new teaser clip towards local classical metal band Theatre of Night's fourth annual Christmas tour, which will return for more seasonal metal renditions of Christmas carols on a live stage! This short teaser clip (uploaded to the band's YouTube channel earlier today) features a slideshow of photos from their Dreammakers Theater show at the local Kewadin Casino last year, as set to the band playing, albeit not of a recognizable carol. The photos were taken by photographer Crissy Dansak, but her Facebook page does not feature the full copies, alas. One can expect Theatre of Night to return to a local stage again in December, perhaps twice, though they only played the one E.U.P. date in 2019. The video's description notes that both a "2020 Christmas tour and album (are) in the works", with the latter not being an entirely new reveal given all of their studio teaser videos on their Facebook accounts in the late 2010s.

Aside from their minimally-advertised Reverbnation albums like "Guntower Democracy", what will the teased new album entail? A full-band re-recording of "Christmas Night", something more akin to their live concert in studio form, or something entirely different? We'll keep you posted when more comes out, but Theatre of Night should be busy in late 2020 once again, so see above and below for more details!

Also today, we have a new live video of Traverse City classic metal trio Peril to share here, specifically because it was shot at their concert at The Northern Pines Lounge at the St. Ignace Kewadin Casino on February 15th! The first ever video upload on their Facebook page, this 52 second clip features the guys covering The Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" to a packed audience on the floor, notably featuring occasional bassist Dave Weber (in place of his Scarkazm bandmate Adam Crawford that weekend) on lead vocals. You don't see much of Peril compared to the fans, but the cover sounds good, and everyone's having a good time, so what more can you ask for? It's just nice to see a Peril video shot at an E.U.P. gig, as those don't come along every day. Peril won't be back in St. Ignace for three months, but check their Beastie Boys cover from last month out in the interim, and don't miss Scarkazm at The Rapids Lounge in the Soo this weekend!



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

• Sault Ontario southern hard rock quintet Fort Creek will make their public concert debut (jam/open mic nights aside) when they open for Metallica tribute band Sandman at The Canadian Nightclub on Good Friday! The band just confirmed the gig on their Facebook page tonight, but the Facebook event page has not followed suit at press time. If true, this is a huge platform for Fort Creek to play their first formal show at, so visit the above links for more on this concert!
• In their first Facebook page posting in almost a year, defunct Sault Michigan grunge trio Half Stupid shared apparent cover artwork for a single (or album?) named "937 Years" last week, with the caption "Coming VERY soon." Zac (I assume) had teased that they were posthumously recording an original song they never finished in their original run last year, so is this that song, or have plans escalated? Stay tuned for updates as they roll in! 
• Sault Ontario/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith revealed on his Facebook page yesterday that his long-awaited new solo album "If Ever Comes The Day" will be released on Friday, May 15th! He also included the clearest image yet of the album cover, albeit with release advertising laid on top. Mike is promising to launch the CD "in spectacular fashion", but what does this entail? Follow Mike above to see what gets announced!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Half Stupid

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile at The Sault Metal Scene! This monthly feature looks at one or two randomly selected metal, hard rock, or punk acts, in order to spotlight them and their active run for current readers. Our first selection of the year is a talented young group from the late 2000s across the river, so here's what you should know on them!
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Half Stupid

Genre: Grunge/Alternative Rock

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members:

Zac Crook (Plastic), vocals/guitar
Matt Williams (Plastic), bass
Jordan Gendreau (Twisted Manikin), drums

Audio/Video: Half Stupid reportedly recorded one EP in the fall of 2009 at Power Slug bandmates Bob Helsten & Chris Leask's studio Claustrophobic Sound. The EP featured four songs, but it is long since out of print, and I cannot find a streaming or download copy online. YouTube channel deletions & privatizations haven't helped, let alone MySpace's heavy overhauls in the 2010s, but their posthumous Facebook page does contain 3 live videos from a Big Bear Arena concert in 2009. Here they are playing "Be My Angel"!

Info/Analysis: Launched in 2007 with their MySpace page following in the summer of 2008, Half Stupid brought a 1990s grunge sound to the E.U.P. in their relatively brief run, which saw them play a handful of regional concerts. including Malcolm High School functions and at least two multi-band festivals at The Big Bear Arena. Self-described as sounding like a "melodious racket" and creating "music with some substance", surviving details are in short supply nowadays, but Half Stupid abruptly announced their dissolution in January 2010, shortly after their EP's release. Zac & Matt would later reunite in the mid-2010s alt-rock band Plastic, while Zac has since achieved renown as a solo musician and as the owner of Crooked Music, and teasers have been made regarding posthumous studio material in 2019. Half Stupid delivered their own raw throwback sound with gusto and aggression, and it's a shame that they didn't last longer,as they had real potential!

I really enjoyed their music in their heyday (especially "The Pit & The Pendulum"), and at a time when No Arrow activity on the Canadian side of the border was waning, Half Stupid filled the grunge niche very well, and everyone seemed to compliment each other nicely! That said, Zac has shown more growth and maturity as a solo musician in the 2010s, but hopefully those teasers for new Half Stupid songs do conclude as planned. Check out what you can of Half Stupid at the above links!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! This series will return to Sault Ontario for our first Canadian installment of 2020 next month, when our latest randomly selected band will be mid-2010s grunge/hardcore punk duo Bad Back! Look for that on or around February 10th, and for more news and updates on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Tarnished), A New Local Band, And Much More!!

It's not too often where we have an all-Sault Michigan news post on here that's not solely focused on one band or concert, but we have a nice array of topics from the E.U.P. to touch on here, including a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT and new Facebook pages from local bands (one new, one old) to acknowledge. Here's what you should know!

We have a new band to add to our Sault Michigan band links, albeit a year or so late (my profuse apologies!), and they are St. Ignace progressive metal quintet Heavy Lies The Crown!  Publically launched in November 2018 via their Facebook page, their lineup consists of singer Brandon West, guitarists Ted Olson & Highway 63's Nathan Switzer (who joined the band in June), bassist Danny Tucker, and drummer Cale Krist. Heavy Lies The Crown began tracking studio material with producer Danny Vail as early as February, with videos posted regularly to show off their progress on Facebook. In April, H.L.T.C. made their apparent live debut in Kalkaska at Troutzilla Fest, and followed that up with a show in Saginaw in September, coinciding with the digital release of their debut EP "Scatter Brain". Fans below the Mackinac Bridge have since seen them in Saginaw & Kalkaska again, plus in Hemlock and Grand Rapids, while physical copies of the EP dropped last month.

Unless I missed something, Heavy Lies The Crown do not appear to have played local concerts yet, though I won't get into a big debate here regarding the E.U.P.'s lack of local extreme metal bands and shows in the 2010s. At least this new band is finding concerts and an audience! Their exclusively Lower Peninsula gigs may be why it took me so long to discover Heavy Lies The Crown, in conjunction with me not knowing the members from prior local bands (Nathan aside), but they musically have the chops to leave a mark locally! I don't want to show my cards in full regarding their sound, as I am heavily leaning towards reviewing "Scatter Brain" (physical cover art recreation pictured) on the SMS this month, but if you like technical metal with American Head Charge-style vocals, you should find a lot to like here. Check out more from Heavy Lies The Crown on Instagram and via the above links, stream their album on Spotify, and here's video from their debut!



Next up, here's that LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, as Sault Ste. Marie hard rock band Tarnished will return to Moloney's Alley on Tuesday, December 31st for that venue's New Year's Eve party! Clearly, their debut at the 227 West Portage Avenue nightclub on December 7th went well, as they have a high profile encore coming up in just over two weeks, though unlike then, their set will be shorthanded. As per the band's Facebook page, they will be playing as an acoustic trio sans drummer Tommy Korcal for unannounced reasons, though keep in mind that Tommy's infrequently seen prior band Project 906 haven't publically put their New Year's plans (if any) out there yet. As anyone who's seen Alex and Josh and/or Nathan at Biggby Coffee can attest, they know their way around an unplugged set, and that shouldn't hurt things come year's end! Potential admission fees and dinner specials aren't out yet, but festivities begin for this 21+ event at 5:00 PM, with Tarnished beginning at 9:00. Visit the official Facebook event page for more details as they roll in!

Finally for today, we go from a new E.U.P. band to a very much defunct one, but both have Facebook pages that I didn't know existed until just recently. In this case, the band in question is late 2000s Sault Ste. Marie grunge/alternative trio Half Stupid, who quietly launched a posthumous Facebook page last fall to archive their original run. Given how their MySpace page was decimated following layout overhauls and the music transfer errors, I fully welcome this development, and I wish more defunct bands would have something similar! Half Stupid was comprised of future Crooked Music owner Zac Crook on vocals/guitar, his later Plastic bandmate Matt Williams on bass, and Twisted Manikin alum Jordan Gendreau on drums, and they had a steadily rising profile around 2008 and 2009. Their Facebook page includes a handful of videos from an old Big Bear Arena concert, plus lots of promotional, jam session, and live photographs from 10 or so years back.

Intriguingly, Zac (I assume) teased in September 2018 to "stay tuned for something NEW in the near future", and elaborated in March that they were half done recording an original song they didn't get to record at the time, but there has been no apparent public follow-through since. This was a nice find when I was initially doing research for our Defunct Local Band Profile on Half Stupid (coming next month), and if you like grunge and 1990s alternative rock, these guys delivered the goods while they lasted. Check our more above, their link on the SMS is now updated, and here's one of their three Big Bear Arena concert videos from the archives!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates on the site this week. Thanks everyone!

Sykotyk Rampage Show Update, Bands Looking To Play Here, And More!

Another day rolls by, another pile of news to get to! I have an update concerning an upcoming local metal concert, a few bands looking to play here, a preview of a new song from a local band, and the confirmed demise of another. Let us commence with the news! (Stay tuned to the end of my post for info on what will happen SMS-wise during my next Detroit trip)

The Sykotyk Rampage concert on April 3rd at The Rockstar Bar has had a lineup change, as planned openers Nebraska Arms have either dropped off or were removed from the lineup. No reason was given, but hopefully nothing bad happened! In their place are RedD Monkey, the Toronto/Kelowna based classical/alt-rock band featuring three Saultites in their lineup! I've never went into major detail about RedD Monkey on here before, but just picture a band with Smeltzer frontman Steve "Knuckles" Mozarowski and drummer Kevin Overton (you metalheads better know him from Gates of Winter), alongside Steve's brother Pete on the cello...yeah, you read that correctly! But don't write them off as Smeltzer 2.0, RedD Monkey are way more unique and experimental, they'll definitely be worth seeing! But of course, seeing as this is Metal Militia Wednesday, Sykotyk Rampage will bring all the metal you'll want and need! For full details on this concert, which will be $3 at The Rockstar Bar on April 3rd, click here! I'll keep you posted with any updates as I hear them!

Next up, we have confirmation of a band breakup that I had feared since last month. Sault Michigan grunge rockers Half Stupid have indeed called it quits, as confirmed by frontman Zac Crook in an e-mail to me on MySpace today. Zac assures me that he's still jamming and working on music for future projects, as is bassist Matt Williams, so we haven't heard the last from them! Still, it is disappointing, I was a big fan of Half Stupid's, they filled the grunge niche nicely while No Arrow's been inactive! It really seemed like they were on the rise in 2009, but hey, what happens happens. Either way, it's nice to hear real word that they've ended, rather than just a vague statement that could be varyingly interpreted. Check them out as we remember them at this location, and if I hear anything amout new grunge/hard rock bands from Zac, Matt, or Jordan Gendreau, I'll be sure to let you all know!

Ok, more positive news now! I sometimes get e-mails from bands looking to play shows here on tour, and today was quite active in that regard! Two different bands sent me e-mails asking if I could help them find promoters or any help at all with getting a booking for Sault Ontario! And you know me, I'm always willing to help, cause after all, the more local metal shows, the better! The first band is The Promonium Jesters, an industrial metal band from Uxbridge, Ontario! Not bad, kind of a techno/metal mix with a psychedelic flair, definitely not something we see here a lot from rock bands! Frontman Ethan Moseley tells me that they've been trying to get a show in the Soo for years, but not for the lack of trying. He's looking for a good local promoter to help get the band a booking here, so I shot him off some contacts and tips, but I'll go the extra mile to help! If you want to book The Promonium Jesters for a concert in Sault Ontario, e-mail Ethan by clicking here! Check out the band at this location to get a taste of their sound!

The other band is one that I know I've tried to help before, though I can't remember if a booking ever came out of it. Windsor metal band Aquila are planning a July tour from Calgary through Southern Ontario, and would love to play Sault Ste. Marie during that span! Frontman Mark Arruda e-mailed me on MySpace this morning asking if I could give them some contacts to try and get a local booking, so I did just that! But just like with The Promonium Jesters, I just point them in a good direction. That's where you come in, the bookers and venue owners of the Soo! Aquila flat out kick ass, hard hitting and thrashy and very headbangable! I've been a fan of them since I first got contact from the band last March, and it'd be great to see them here! If you're at all interested in booking or helping out Aquila in their attempts to play in Sault Ontario in July, message the band at their official MySpace page! Let's see if we can get both these bands (and Rusted Dawn too, they're still looking) here for shows!

And finally for new news today, Stillbroke frontman Jesse Frigault has posted a new video to YouTube, which features his own solo acoustic rendition of a new Stillbroke song! Entitled "I'm Still Hanging On", it's slower but it has some nice heavy vocals, I imagine this should be a very powerful song when amps and other instruments are added! Interesting effect put on the video, makes it look older! Check the demo out below!



Alright, so to close this post, those of you closer to me may know that this weekend, I'm heading to Detroit again for March Break. I leave Saturday morning and will be back later in the week, Thursday roughly. Now there's a bunch of stuff coming up, blog or local concert related, that may or may not be affected by this. I just wanna get it out of the way so you know what to expect, or not to expect:

Firstly, concerts: Sense of Truth are playing at The Canadian Nightclub on Friday. As keeping with my own reverse psychology stand to avoid jinxing myself out of another SOT concert, omit the words in red: I will not be at the show on Friday, I will not enjoy myself or take photos and video, and I will not post a review at some point afterwards. (Remember, reverse psychology!) I don't know whether it will be immediately after the concert or at some point after I get to Detroit, but my review will definitely not be up one at one of those points in time! Ok, now for shows I'm really seriously not going to, I can't make the Garden of Bedlam/Papa Fogals Chair show at Foggy Notions on Saturday, because I'll already be in Detroit, so GO TO THAT SHOW FOR ME!!!! Make it a huge success, how often are we gonna see PFC back together? And it's Garden of Bedlam! Come on!!

As for SMS-related events, the review of Sykotyk Rampage's new album "22" will be posted on March 1st as scheduled! Postponing it would be a disservice for an album I've bypassed too long already, although the computer I have access to in Detroit is horribly slow. So I'm likely going to type up my review this week, and will save it for an autopost next Monday, so that will definitely happen as scheduled! I likely will not post the newest profiles of out of town bands with local members until after I get home, so don't worry about that. And as always, I'll update as much as I can fathom as long as I get a clear computer, and the patience to deal with it's slowness! Just a heads-up for everyone in case you miss something or assume anything. And I WILL BE BACK AROUND NEXT THURSDAY!!!

That's all for now, I'll have lots more news and updates in the coming days, stay tuned!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Nixxon Dixxon & Sykotyk Rampage), Plus Algoma Hope4Haiti Updates And More!!

The weekend's upon us again, hope you guys can make it out to the concerts tonight and tomorrow! A bit of news to get to today, we'll start with LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!!

Nixxon Dixxon have scheduled a handful of extra dates for The Rapids Lounge at Kewadin Casino! Firstly, they'll be there on February 26th, the night before they back up Pop Evil at the Kim Rogers benefit show at The Dreammakers Theater! The February 26th concert does conflict with an already scheduled date featuring Peril, but I don't know if Peril cancelled or they're both playing that night. I'll keep you posted if I hear something! Also, Nixxon Dixxon will bring their high energy hard rock back to The Rapids Lounge on April 9th and 10th, which is great to see! The more concerts, the better! Stay tuned for more updates on Nixxon Dixxon as I hear them, especially concerning the Pop Evil concert next month! All three shows are now in the concert listings on your right!

Meanwhile, you guys remember when I talked about that Battle of the Bands that Sault College was holding on February 3rd in conjunction with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts? Well, the auditions were held yesterday! Every band had to include at least one Sault College student, so the band selection was restricted, but there is one local metal band in the finals! The bands moving on to the finals at the Soo Curlers Association rink on February 3rd are....Blackwater, Middle of Nowhere, Nebraska Arms, and....Sykotyk Rampage!!! Yes, the blue Chinese metal crash punk rockers themselves have made it to the final four in this Battle of the Bands! On that night, admission will be FREE to anyone with valid student ID from any area college or university, and guests are welcome if accompanied by a student! It will be at 8:00 PM that night, the winning band wins $750, with $500 going to second place, and $150 for third place! Though as a metalhead, I'd love to see Sykotyk Rampage take first place, all bands are very talented and worthy of winning! For more information and to confirm your attendance, visit the official Facebook event page!

Next up, we have updates on what to expect on February 20th's Algoma Hope4Haiti benefit concert event! Eight local concert venues have been announced to take part so far, and they are: The Algonquin Pub, The Bottoms Up Lounge, The Canadian Nightclub, Coch's Corner, Foggy Notions, LopLops Lounge, The Rockstar Bar, and Top Hat Billiards! I'm not trying to sound preferential here, but it's great to see that all of these venues (except LopLops) are ones that have hosted metal bands in the last 6 months! Foggy Notions and LopLops Lounge have also committed to having Hope4Haiti shows on February 19th too, so that's great to see as well! More venues might be announced soon, and personally, I'd like to see The Oddfellows Hall get involved so there's at least one all ages show for the underagers who might want to take part. We'll have to see though.

Numerous bands have shown interest in taking part (I've seen visible interest from Bring The Fallen and Destroilet on Facebook), though a schedule is still in the works. As soon as I find out a tentative schedule, I will let you guys know! Also in the works for Hope4Haiti: Door prizes will be at EVERY VENUE that is taking part! As well, a silent art auction is planned to take place at LopLops. As I've previously said, the tickets, which cost $10, are good at every venue, so you can go see some bands in one place, then head to another place to see more bands without paying extra! Your ticket will also entitle you to unlimited pool at Top Hat Billiards on Saturday night! Get full details on Hope4Haiti so far by visiting Donna Hopper's post about it on SooToday, or checking out the official Facebook event page! Tickets go on sale in TWO WEEKS!

If you are interested in either playing at Hope4Haiti, getting your concert venue signed up to host bands, donating door prizes or artwork for the silent auction, or if you have any questions whatsoever about this very special event, e-mail Donna Hopper at slackhopper@gmail.com for full details!

Next up, is another Sault Michigan band calling it quits? Maybe, if their MySpace status is any indication. Local grunge rockers Half Stupid have posted this as their status: "Goodbye and thank you all." Does that speak for itself, or is it implying anything else? They're not the first local band to post a somewhat cryptic message that could be interpreted as their end. Bad Side & Absolute have posted similar MySpace statuses in the past few months, and since, they've played no shows or made any major band announcements. But none have flat out said "We've broken up", just made somewhat vague statement that implied a stoppage in band activity. I dunno. If this is the end of Half Stupid, it will be sad to see them go, I was always a fan of theirs, and with the lack of news from No Arrow in recent months, they fit the space for local grunge very nicely! I was also eagerly awaiting their first EP too! Hopefully this isn't the end though, I'll let you guys know if I hear any updates!

And finally, Woods of Ypres are going to be in the next issue of Exclaim! Magazine! No word on what for, but it was broke on Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, so that's a good source of proof! I don't know where in town you can pick it up, but if I find a copy of the February issue, I'll be sure to share what's discussed! That's all for now, I will see you guys tonight at the Social Play concert! I'll have my new 2 GB SD card in my camera, so I can take MUCH LONGER video than I could before! See you guys there!