Halloween Weekend Metal/Hard Rock Concert Previews!!

It's time to preview this weekend's concert previews, and given that it is Halloween weekend, there's a special air to the proceedings! Before we get to the metal concerts going down, here's a couple of related notes. We won't preview the Garden of Bedlam show on Devil's Night until next week because it's too early, but it is coming! The majority of bars and concert venues in the Twin Saults have bands or Halloween parties either this weekend or next week, so check venue & band pages, SooToday, and Sault This Week to hear about all of the ones that wouldn't fit well on the SMS! And for the record, I don't believe there's any metal/hard rock bands playing live in Sault Michigan this weekend (Powerslug are at Manistique's Kewadin Casino on Saturday though, if you're up for a road trip), but Sault Michigan are having their own Zombie Walk tomorrow night for the first time (but with no visible concert attachments.) Of course, if I hear of any heavier Halloween season concerts across the river, I will have them here, so keep an eye out! For now though, let's get to the Sault Ontario metal shows over this spooky weekend schedule!

First up for the Halloween metal concert schedule is the return of Caveman Morrison to The Nicolet Tavern this weekend! Last seen at the Albert Street venue last month, this hard working trio will bring their entertaining metal and hard rock covers back to the stage tomorrow and Saturday night, and yes, Halloween costumes are encouraged! I'd assume moreso on Saturday just for proximity to the 31st, but nothing says you can't get in the spirit tomorrow either! Admission should be free for these 19+ concerts, and a 9:30 PM start time for both nights is advertised. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! This should be a fun weekend of Halloween mayhem from Tym and company, and hopefully a big crowd turns out tomorrow and Saturday to drink in the Halloween themes and great covers! For a preview, here's Caveman Morrison covering Judas Priest's "The Ripper" at The Rosie last year!



And finally for the heavier Halloween weekend concerts is The Halloween Party! More specifically, this is the seventh annual Halloween party/concert held by local promoter/singer J.D. Pearce, and after 6 years at the former Coch's Corner on Bay Street, the event did not move along with the (now acoustically based) venue to the old Foggy Notions location. Instead, the party will be held at The Algonquin Pub & Sports Bar (downstairs from The Rockstar Bar) on Saturday night, and though I don't think The Algonquin Pub has hosted a heavier band since Algoma Hope4Haiti in 2010, there are hopes that it could become a more active concert venue, so hopefully this Saturday's event is a huge hit! With that said, this year's Halloween Party will be bigger than ever, with a fitting Halloween ambiance, the return of the costume contest (which I don't remember happening last year), and the biggest band lineup yet, including headliners Frightlight in their fourth straight appearance at this event! Fresh off of their set opening for The Misfits TONIGHT in Toronto, this popular punk/metal quintet will be sure to deliver a fun set of originals and Misfits covers, and you know that with their lyrics and stage personas, they'll fit perfectly for a Halloween event! Note that I think their full lineup will be present this weekend, following Redundant frontman Justin Langlois' fill in stint on rhythm guitar for tonight's Toronto gig.

Joining them on Saturday will be Toronto pop punk quartet The Fairmounts, who are fronted by former Lion Ride frontman and veteran local musician Mikey Hawdon! Though briefly advertised as the headlining band at one point, this rising pop punk band should deliver a fun set of originals in their Sault Ste. Marie debut on Saturday, and it'll be awesome to see Mikey singing original material in town again! The other bands on Saturday include The Brews (a.k.a. local punk trio Redundant covering NOFX material) and "the original crash band" Sykotyk Rampage, who'll both add some interesting sounds as the opening bands! Redundant can pull off NOFX songs well, so this turn as The Brews should be fun, while Sykotyk Rampage (who will be joined by fill-in bassist Tony Briglio again) should deliver an entertaining set of improvised drinking songs and recent originals, as they did at the Zombie Walk afterparty this past weekend! Note as well that this will be the first Halloween Party in this series since the mid-2000s (if not ever) to not feature the yearly cover band that played under different genres and personas (most recently as The 151s), but hopefully we see them in the future in some form or another!

Admission will be $5 for this 19+ event, and everything starts at or around 10:00 PM. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It's great to see J.D. keeping this yearly Halloween tradition going, even if at a new location, and hopefully there's a great response and participation to ensure more shows at The Algonquin in the future! Barring any illness complications, I hope to be there for a review and more, so I should see you guys there on Saturday night! For a preview, here's Frightlight playing one of my favourite songs of theirs at last year's Halloween Party at the old Coch's Corner!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes shortly, including our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on Genocya tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Sykotyk Rampage), Half Past News, And More!!

Hey guys, here's one more post before I return home to Sault Ste. Marie! Today, we have news from a local music site (or two), some upcoming concert updates, and a major lineup change in a local hard rock band, but let's lead off with a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

A month after their successful return to the stage at the second Roosevelt Hotel punk night, local "blue Chinese metal crash punk" quartet Sykotyk Rampage will return to The Rosie for the third punk night! This will be the first of two straight Thursdays featuring the "punk night" banner following the upcoming two week streak of metal nights there (more on those in a second), and given that it's taking place around St. Patrick's Day, Sykotyk Rampage are dubbing Thursday, March 17th "Sykotyk Paddy's Day" in honour of this show! Additional bands for this show have yet to be confirmed, but other prior punk night veterans could well return, so stay tuned for updates on that front! As with prior shows of this type, I'd expect no cover charge and a 9:30 PM start time, with a 19+ age limit as well. For more details, visit the Facebook event page! Sounds like fun, and yes, I should be at this one! I wanted to see Sykotyk Rampage this past Thursday, but with my Detroit trip, I couldn't swing it. Pencil me in as an attendee for this show, and you know this will fit the St. Patrick's Day theme well! After all, Sykotyk Rampage have tons of songs referencing alcohol and drinking, they'll fit just fine! Stay tuned for updates as they come in!

Next up, here's a major lineup change for a local hard rock band that, frankly, I never saw coming. Yesterday, it was announced that Half Past have parted ways with frontman Luke LeBlanc. This news came just two days after the band returned to the stage for a very well recieved concert at The Rockstar Bar, making the news even more shocking than it would have been. The news was broken in a note on the band's Facebook page yesterday afternoon, and though a specific reason for Luke's departure wasn't stated, I can guarantee that the split was amicable. I do know why he left, but out of personal respect, I won't publicize it unless the band does. Luke originally joined Half Past (then known as Fingerbone) in mid-2009, replacing ex-Driving Dave Home frontman John Barber as the band's singer. With Luke up front, Half Past played some notable shows like the 2009 Coch's Corner Halloween Party and Garden of Bedlam's website launch concert last spring. I have to say, Luke leaving is a big shock, as he's a great singer and a funny guy who really added to Half Past over the last 16 months. Hopefully we'll see him another band in the future!

With that said, Half Past are now on the hunt for a new singer. If you'd be interested in auditioning to join Half Past, message the band at their Facebook page, or e-mail bassist Arthur Lacasse on Facebook by clicking here! Remember, Half Past play mostly modern hard rock songs, with some really exciting originals as well, and I imagine they'll be after the best candidate possible to front the band in the future! I'll keep you posted on their singer search as news comes in!

Thirdly tonight, here's the latest lineup news on three upcoming metal concerts courtesy of local promoter Rich Moreland, who deserves lots of props for the high volume of shows he's been booking in town! Firstly, THIS THURSDAY'S metal night at The Rosie's lineup is now complete, as local hardcore quartet Changing Waves will join As It Stands and Desbarats death metallers For All That Is Lost on the bill. My source is Rich's personal Facebook page, and it looks like Changing Waves will be headlining this Thursday as well! Interesting to note that this will be the third straight Thursday that Changing Waves will be rocking The Rosie, following the last punk and metal nights there, so if you're a fan of theirs, then you've gotta be excited! Then, there's the We, The Undersigned concert at The Vibe Lounge on Sunday night, which is also being booked by Rich. He confirmed on his personal Facebook page as well that local grimecore trio Shit Liver will be one of the opening bands on that show, with WinkStinger potentially being the second opening band, though this is NOT confirmed officially yet. Sounds good to me, hopefully The Vibe becomes a more frequent metal stomping ground!

Finally on the subject of WinkStinger, they may have been added as a third local opening band for the Woods of Ypres show at The Rosie on March 10th. Though event or band pages don't verify this at present, WinkStinger guitarist Jason Ladouceur posted a comment saying "With Winkstinger!" on a Woods of Ypres Facebook posting about the March 10th show. That suggests what you think it suggests, but until something more official comes out confirming or denying this, I won't get too much further. It'd be cool to see them playing too though!

Finally, here's the latest on two well known local music sites run by Flat Stanley/Wishbone drummer Glen Thomas, those being the music site The Barking Eye and his long-running (but often controversial) forum Freq's Music Planet. In his latest news posting on The Barking Eye, Glen announced that he's planning to shut down the Freq's Music Planet forum at the end of the year due to a lack of time to properly maintain the forum due to expanding musical commitments. He's planning to focus on writing, recording, and graphics more, but has said that he'll decide at the end of the year whether he wants to shut down the forum or give it to someone else. The Barking Eye news site itself may be shut down as well due to lack of interest. Things will operate as usual for the remainder of the year though. I'm sure some of you might not shed a tear if either leaves, but regardless of content, Glen does deserve credit for starting a message board like this, maintaining it for this long, and attracting a decent sized group of users without major promotion. I can attest to how hard it is to start and maintain a forum, my attempts at SMS forums crashed and burned. I hope Glen doesn't shut down Freq's Music Planet, as there's some interesting stuff there that shouldn't be deleted, and I think there are uses for it in some form. Time will tell though!

As for The Barking Eye, I wanna say a little something. A news site like that isn't easy to find an audience for, and I can attest to that. When the SMS started as a Facebook group, it never took off very far, but with time and patience, look at where we are now! Sure, readership isn't at an ideal level, but Glen's a great writer and knows a ton about the scene, and I know people would be interested in checking The Barking Eye out if they knew about it! That's just me though, but do check out the above links to see what's up at both sites!

That's all for tonight, but I hope your March has kicked off well! Our next post will be our latest "Where Are The New Albums?" post, so stay tuned for that, and more! Thanks everyone!