Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Hoist The Sails & The 12 Gauge Ready

After a day's delay to verify lineup information for one band in particular, here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! Our monthly look at 1 or 2 randomly selected inactive local metal, hard rock, or punk bands takes us across both sides of the border today, uniquely and ironically both being bands whose main lineup each had six members in it! As the first band didn't have substantial information, we randomly selected the second band (similarly lacking for surviving details) to fill things out. With that said, read on below for this month's Defunt Local Band Profiles!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hoist the Sails

Genre: Metalcore/Progressive

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics)

Lucas Falkowski, harsh vocals
Travis Theel (The Highest of Fives), clean vocals
Nathan Switzer (Highway 63, Analog Defiency) guitar
Cody Reed (Analog Deficiency, The Eleventh Hour), guitar
Mitch Goetz (415E, The Highest of Fives), bass/guitar/clean vocals
Marcel Grengs (The Highest of Fives, Analog Deficiency), drums
Joe Niemi (Analog Deficiency), bass

Info/Analysis: Successors to the defunct Analog Defiency, the six-piece Hoist the Sails publically debuted in December 2011, and are one of the more recent visible attempts at an extreme metal band in Sault Michigan. Public activity was limited to studio work towards an unreleased debut EP, two preview videos of songs being tracked (here & here), this clip of Travis Theel jokingly recording vocals, and the departure of founding bassist Joe Niemi, resulting in Mitch Goetz moving to guitar & Cody Reed joining in his place. Only one song from the sessions ("Mind Over Matter") was officially unveiled in February 2012, and band activity slowed down after that April, with Travis, Mitch, and Marcel Grengs later joining forces in The Highest of Fives. Though Hoist the Sails never played live, they showed promise with their technical hardcore sound, powered with strong guitar work by Nathan and complimentary vocals by Luke & Travis, and it would have been very interesting to see where Hoist the Sails could have went! Give one of their tracking videos a look below!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 12 Gauge Ready

Genre: Ska Punk

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics)

Adam Hayward, vocals
Lucas "Dr. Sal Velinus" Schmiedendorf (Bankshot), guitar/vocals
Dave "Beano" Barrett, bass
Clint "Clinto" Wilson (Late Shift, Bankshot), drums/keyboard
Scotty "Lamar" Hill, keyboard/drums
"DJ Frosty" Jesef Monty Frost, turntables
Michael Wright, drums
David George, saxophone

Info/Analysis: Active from 2002-2006, The 12 Gauge Ready are arguably the biggest local ska punk band to come out of Sault Ste. Marie, and were a frequent, fan favourite sight at local concerts during the mid-2000s. Though information on their run is now minimal (to the point where surviving band pages don't even feature a band photo), they played many high profile headlining & opening sets at venues like Foggy Notions (opening for the likes of The Planet Smashers there), plus an appearance at Hempfest 2003, though the band broke up by the end of 2006. Their run in the local scene was largely before I became a concert regular, but I have heard many good things about The 12 Gauge Ready's live show, and their posted songs (5 across their CBC & PureVolume pages) showcase a fun, reggae-infused punk sound with catchy guitar work from Lucas & nice melodic vocals from Adam, so be sure to check out their material above & their track "Made In Canada" below!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles! We will return to Sault Ontario for next month's random selection, and that is Punch, the recent but short lived hard rock quartet featuring members of Project 421 and The Suicide Kings! They'll have enough for a solo profile, especially thanks to the songs that Haggith and Project 421 later re-appropriated as their own after the fact, so look for that profile on or around August 10th, and stay tuned for more news soon! Thanks everyone!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Lead The Dead

In our last monthly feature post of May 2013, it's now time for this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile on this Memorial Day! As you likely know, this ongoing series looks at a band from outside of the Twin Saults that has featured at least one Saultite in any of their past or present lineups, along with bio information, media, and more on each! Though defunct, this band hit some solid heights during their run, and their local member has been quite prominent recently (in fact, he's playing at The Oddfellows Hall on Wednesday), so read on below for this month's out-of-town profile! (Updated on November 27th)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lead The Dead (London, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics)

Martin Ryersee (vocals/ex-bass)
Chad McLaughlin (guitar)
Andre Fetchison (guitar)
Goran Mamika (bass)
Chris Johnson (drums)

Nathan Stokes (vocals)
Chris Page (guitar)
Ted Feica (drums)

Official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/leadthedead

Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/pages/lead-the-dead/149155226341
Official PureVolume page: http://www.purevolume.com/leadthedead

Local Info: As best as I can tell, the only Saultite to have played in Lead The Dead was original rhythm guitarist Chris Page, who local fans may better recognize for his work in the local stoner/death metal quartet Giwakwa! You may also recognize Chris from local (and arguably obscure) 1990s bands like Oblige and Mimik, but he hit his biggest heights in music to date after graduating from Fanshawe College in the early 2000s and during his Lead The Dead tenure, before returning home by 2011, but keep watch for Giwakwa's next shows!

Band Bio: Lead The Dead were a death/thrash metal band from London, Ontario that launched in 2006. After securing a full lineup, they debuted circa January 2007, and they played numerous opening sets and headlining gigs in the London area over the next 4 years, including sharing the stage with notable bands like Fuck The Facts, Threat Signal, Abriosis, and Endast during their run. Though their lineup were generally stable from 2007 onward, Chris Page left the band circa January 2009, and was replaced by current Mulletcorpse guitarist Andre Fetchison, completing the lineup that would record their debut (and only) EP "Everything Burns", which came out in May 2010. Last seen opening for Soilwork in London on August 17th of that year, Lead The Dead had begun working on djent-influenced original material that fall, but no public updates followed, and it's presumed that the band quietly broke up by early 2011.

Surviving material of the band's tenure with Chris Page is honestly very hard to find, so I admittedly can't comment on his work with Lead The Dead, but if his Giwakwa material is any indication, he was a key member of their arsenal! For the media that is available, I'm detecting a hard hitting and brutal mix of death and thrash metal with a lot of melodic flourishes, and they'd fit nicely at a varied mix of metal shows! Martin Ryersee's vocals are harsher and more extreme than his predecessor Nathan Stokes' work in other bands, but they better fit the genre, and they add a good compliment from the often very technical guitar work, and I'm also really impressed by Chris Johnson's often blistering drum work! I also like how they don't pigeonhole themselves into one genre, they throw a lot into their music, even incorporating softer material on songs like "Withdrawal", along with some experimental and progressive elements on others. I wish there was more to judge some of L.T.D.'s earlier work, but if their EP's any indication, they were not a band to be missed, and maybe they'll resurface down the road!

Adding to their relative elusiveness for surviving media, the only videos I can find of Lead The Dead are studio instrumental samples, filmed on very grainy cameras, both of which are on their MySpace page linked above. The only full videos of the band that I've found are through Rock Band playings of their material, and this upload of their original song "Rip'er" from their "Everything Burns" EP, so click here for most of those, and check out their very cool track "Rip'er" below!


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month in this series, I've chosen Lethbridge, Alberta metal band Caste of Shadows (now featuring veteran local musician Paul Melanson) to look at in our June profile, so watch out for that on or around June 26th, and stay tuned for more big news tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Devastation of the Heavens

It's now time for this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! As always, this monthly feature series looks at one or two defunct/inactive metal bands from the Sault Ste. Marie region, including their local run, surviving material, and notable events and shows, and so on. This month's band was originally randomly selected in February for last month's two band profile, but after discovering more info than anticipated, I bumped them to this month for a solo profile (Sault Ontario was next in the rotation anyway), so read on below for this somewhat overdue defunct local band profile, and if anything's missing, please let me know! (Updated on August 28th, 2013)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Devastation of the Heavens

Genre: Death Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics. This band's lineup may be incomplete. E-mail me at robertfigures@outlook.com if you have any additions or corrections!)

Mike Ladouceur* (Skull After Betrayl, The Bear Hunters), vocals/guitar
Joe DelBasso (Quite Frankly), rhythm guitar
Jestin Ryan, rhythm guitar
Justin Lam (The Bear Hunters, Jack Spades), bass
Johnny Lowrie* (The Bear Hunters, Caveman Morrison), drums

Jayson Day, vocals/bass
Joe Bumbacco (RedD Monkey, The Fury), drums

(The * refers to band members whose last names have since changed. Mike's current last name is Vincent, while Johnny's last name is now Belanger.)

Audio/Video: Devastation of the Heavens (or D.O.T.H.) have a few examples of surviving media from their run, including one live video from July 2006. An instrumental jam session video featuring Mike, Jayson, and Joe Bumbacco loosely covering Slayer's "Raining Blood", it was filmed by former local concert promoter Aisha Day, but it's admittedly very rough (as the comments and rating for the video will tell you), so out of respect, I won't embed it here. D.O.T.H. drastically improved by their last show in April 2007, where their other two surviving media files (their proposed album's title track "Heaven's Final Apocalypse" & a cover of Metallica's "The Four Horsemen") came from, so hear their original below from their PureVolume page, and check out more at the above links, including both tracks on YouTube!



Info/Analysis: Devastation of the Heavens were a young Sault Ontario metal band that was active from roughly 2006-2007. Possibly evolving from the earlier Death Rise, D.O.T.H. notably opened for Gates of Winter at The Oddfellows Hall in 2006, before peaking early the next year with appearances at two battles of the bands, along with a few Bawating high school performances. D.O.T.H. quietly disbanded by the summer of 2007, with members moving on to newer projects, including local death metal quintet The Bear Hunters, who featured 3 D.O.T.H. members in their 2010-2011 lineup. D.O.T.H. showed some of the talents and success that many members had in later projects, but they work to do, especially if the comments for their 2006 video are any indication. There was clear improvement by their demise, with overall solid guitar & bass work, and increasing chemistry, but neither Mike nor Jayson had a great voice at the time, and there were some timing issues, especially in 2006. D.O.T.H. had the potential to make a larger impact if they'd kept at it, but at least most of their alumni have hit bigger heights in newer bands!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month, we'll be looking at two bands for the second time in three months due to the first band we randomly selected having no media, but who's on tap for May? We have the defunct Sault Michigan metal project Cherubic Red lined up, along with the late 2000s Sault Ontario metal band Faithless Sin (featuring No Arrow, Gates of Winter, and Quite Frankly alumni), so watch out for all of this on or around May 10th, and stay tuned tomorrow for our recap of tonight's second night of this latest battle of the bands! Thanks everyone!

Apocalypse: The Musical Review!!

Tonight, we have our fourth post in two days, and it's my review of last night's Apocalypse: The Musical at The Canadian Nightclub! Of course, check out this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post from this morning below this review. Last night was devoted to just tribute bands, none of which are complete regular bands in the local scene in the forms we saw last night, so things were fairly unique for this medium-attended show, but at least there was a good contingent of fans on the floor for the bands! That said, how'd the bands do last night?

After a bit of a delay, the opening band was the one-off Motley Crue tribute band Loud Lazer (replacing Late & Loud and the Metallica-covering Pillory), who were essentially the full lineup of Lazer Queen, just with Benn Garside trading the keyboard for the bass, hence the direct link to Late & Loud. Their set saw them cover 8 Motley Crue classics from their heyday (including "Dr. Feelgood", "Looks That Kill", and "Kickstart My Heart"), and though there were some self-deprecating jabs at how they sounded, the guys did alright! It was a good move having Kate Drew handle lead vocals, as she has a good voice that fits Vince Neil material much closer than the guys in Late & Loud would have had they played. They all generally looked the part and showed some good energy and enthusiasm, with guitarist Jonathan Tiberi even hitting the floor for some guitar action with the crowd! The members and music fit well and gave a good Crue vibe, but Jon and Benn's backing vocals were hit and miss, only fully fitting the songs when they did gang shouting.

Overall, solid set from Loud Lazer, and if you like what you heard, go see Lazer Queen in full for a more varied night of rock covers! I'm a bit surprised that the full Lazer Queen didn't play, as normal bassist Josh Hatherley was in attendance, but given that Motley Crue don't generally use keyboards, I don't know how it'd gel if Benn played them last night rather than bass.

The middle band last night was Misfits tribute quartet The Fiend Brigade (a.k.a. T-Rex Manning with Rick White on drums in lieu of Daniel MacDonald), and they pushed out 11 Misfits covers for a nicely receptive audience! Including covers of Frightlight/T-Rex Manning favourites like "Helena" & "Halloween", they also covered songs like "Hybrid Moments" & "She", and even capped off with the T-Rex Manning original "She Banged The Mayor" for good measure! Though frontman/promoter J.D. Pearce took many shots at how they didn't practice the songs, they still sounded pretty good (with all the past covers and inspirations from them, how could they sound bad?), and his vocals held up well along with the other members' musical contributions! Tiffany Stocco shone on guitar, and Bill Bennett's bass work also help up nicely! The guys even welcomed a few guest performers on some songs, including Frightlight alums Kevin Powe & Jeff DeRose on guitar & drums, and a guest singer whose name I didn't place.

The Fiend Brigade put in a fun set of Misfits classics, and it was good to see the Frightlight body parts on stage again, especially with Frightlight's recent absence!  These guys know their Misfits and do justice to them each time out, and hopefully we'll see J.D. and company back soon, no matter what name they're under!

Headlining last night were Welland doom metal trio Xanadu in their first ever local appearance (though we're very familiar with frontman Jon Tiberi), and they covered early Black Sabbath classics for their set last night! Just the first four albums got attention, including Sabbath hits like "N.I.B.", "Children of the Grave", and "Iron Man", and despite the occasional tick (and a microphone issue at one point), they got the crowd's attention with these early metal classics! The big problem with their set was Jon's singing, as his voice was very hoarse and scratchy, which made him almost inaudible during much of their set, and when covering Ozzy Osbourne, singing clearly would help a lot. Musically though, the guys put in a very energetic and fun effort, with Mike Agostini in constant motion with some very solid riffs, and Scott Brady's drumming was on form and technical when need be! Jon's dark wizard-esque costume was cool as well, it helped set a good introductory mood, and by nid-set, the fans were very vocal and active!

I'd like to see Xanadu play locally again, as they have the talent and spark dating back to the old Welland days, so hopefully they'll come together next year in the Soo! If they do, hopefully Jon's voice will be back to normal, and maybe we'll get some Sabbath covers from the 1980s? It'd be cool to see a band cover "Zero The Hero" here, but that's just me.

Great concert overall, and while there were some hit & miss elements, there was a little something for everyone musically, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the performers! I did get plenty of photos, so click here to check them out (or visit our Facebook page), and for videos, here's Loud Lazer covering Motley Crue's "Shout At The Devil", The Fiend Brigade covering The Misfits' "Angelfuck", and Xanadu covering Black Sabbath's "Snowblind"!







That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news shortly! Thanks everyone!

A New Local Band, Nudge Concert Previews, And More!!

It's time to bring March in like a lion with our first news post of the month, so what's on tap? We have a new local band to introduce (as well as a related new label/recording studio), along with the last remaining concert previews for the coming weekend, and a cool archive glimpse at a local band, so read on below for what you need to know!

We have a new local metal project to add to our Sault Ontario band links, and they're a goregrind/death metal act named Crucify The Whore! A solo project by a local musician named Ringsnaps Gibson (real first name unclear), the project was launched circa November 2012, and it's the flagship band on Ringsnaps' new independent label/studio Blood Shed Productions (more on them in a second.) Since the end of last year, Ringsnaps has been uploading original material to the Blood Shed Productions YouTube channel (both from this project & his own solo horrorcore/rap songs), but in terms of C.T.W., he's already recorded and released a number of original songs (many with titles and lyrics that some readers may find questionable), and while there have been two different CDs produced, they're all homeburned demos with handwritten titles and paper sleeves from what I can tell. Future plans involve some sort of split release with an artist named Splitneck, although full details aren't yet known. I imagine fans of grindcore & goregrind music will enjoy C.T.W., but I admit that this music is a really acquired taste.

Ringsnaps has skills at multiple instruments & programming, but the short, repetitious songs & distorted, guttural (and often low) vocals have the ability to wear on uninitiated listeners. It's not really my thing, but it does what it's supposed to do, and while I don't agree with or speak in favour of many presented statements, I admire the unapologetic stance for their lyrics & imagery (though supporters of Amanda Todd will want to steer clear.) If you like grindcore & goregrind metal, give Crucify The Whore a listen and see what you think, and I've embedded one of their songs below to check out!



While we're on the subject, let's touch on Crucify The Whore's label/studio Blood Shed Productions! Also launched last fall, the label already plays host to various newer local projects (mostly solo), including a death metal project named Brutally Fatal led by label co-owner Austin McRae (who apparently just released a disc of some kind), plus some horror rap performers like Miracle Man & Phat Boii, and others yet to be revealed. As well, March Into Regression/With Blood Builds Character bassist Tyler St. Amour's recently inactive death metal band Social Suicide will apparently be relaunched "soon" with new material, a new sound, and a new name under the Blood Shed Productions banner, as per a recent Facebook page posting. Judging by updates on their page, the band has also parted ways with every surviving former member except Tyler, though with no media posted from their earlier incarnations, there shouldn't be any jarring changes from what we already knew. I'm impressed with how quick this has all come together for B.S.P.'s performers, but I wonder if they would go further musically if some of them joined forces in a full band rather than assorted solo acts?

Brutally Fatal especially seems unfinished, as Austin has bass skill and decent growling abilities, but maybe things will be shored up with time for them and others. There's some ambitious plans in the works, so if goregrind and horrorcore appeal to you musically, check the above links, and both Crucify The Whore & Blood Shed Productions are now linked on the SMS on your left!

Next up, here's our previews of the remaining concerts this weekend, as Marquette/Ishpeming hard rock quartet Nudge will return to The Satisfied Frog in Sault Michigan TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! Their first local stops since the end of last year, the guys should be raring to go with a quality night of hard rock and metal covers & originals, and hopefully their local fans will be at The Frog in full force this weekend to drink it all in! Note that unlike most of Nudge's recent local concert weekends, there was no mid-week acoustic shows, so if you wanna see the Danzo, Scott, and the guys in action, you haven't missed anything yet! Admission should be free for tonight & tomorrow's shows, you must be 21 to attend, and there are 10:00 PM start times in effect. For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! It'll be great to see Nudge back in Sault Michigan, and hopefully the guys bring some awesome covers and originals back to their local fans all weekend long! For a preview, here's Nudge covering Motley Crue's "Shout At The Devil" last year in Marquette!



Finally for today, here's a little bonus discovery relating to the subject of our most recent CD review. While researching defunct local hard rock band Aftersight towards our review of their only CD "Waiting For Lightning", I discovered that the website cited on the back of the jewel case (though long since expired) survives via The Internet Archive Wayback Machine, which archives & preserves websites of the past for people to look at in the present day! Three different incarnations of Aftersight's website have been archived from 2003, 2004, and 2005 respectively, but what does each contain? The 2005 archive is bare bones and features mainly placeholder text and little band info, while the 2004 version appeared to mainly exist as a host for songs from their album, though neither the mp3 files nor most of the page's images have survived. The 2003 version, however, is in surprisingly good form, despite many missing photos and page elements!

Included within is info on the band's "Hottie of the Week" contest, news on concerts at venues like The Eastgate Hotel, references to old local bands like JaxxMadd, band member bios, a number of surviving band photos, a setlist (with covers), and much more, so if you can get past missing and dead portions, check the full thing out at this location, and see more at the above links! Hopefully I'll find more similar local band pages with archives like this at some point!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news & notes shortly, including this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: The Line Drawn

Today marks our second-to-last monthly feature post of the month at the SMS, and it's this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! As always, this series looks at a band from out of town that just happens to feature at least one past/present Sault Ste. Marie-area resident in any of their lineups, and this month, we're looking at a fifth out of town project from one of the most prolific relocated metal musician Saultites of recent memory! Read on below for what you need to know, and if anything's missing or incorrect, tell me! (Updated on November 27th, 2014)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Line Drawn (Windsor, Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED)

Jay Buston (vocals)

Chris "Sugar" Wilkins (guitar)
Ash Richtig (bass)

Mike "Mihilo John" Kryworuchko (drums)

Official Facebook page: http://facebook.com/thelinedrawn

Official Reverbnation page: http://reverbnation.com/thelinedrawn

Official Twitter page: http://www.twitter.com/thelinedrawn
Official YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/thelinedrawn

Local Info:  Already well represented in past installments of this series, Sault Ontario native Ash Richtig is the current bassist in The Line Drawn, one of many current music projects of his in his current Windsor home! Likely otherwise best known as a drummer with The Heatseeking Moisture Missiles and NeanderTHRALL, he also plied his bass skills in the Line Drawn predecessor band Repetitions, and played all instruments in the late 2000s Windsor metal project Under Earth. He also continues to leave a mark as an administrator at regional music webzine The Windsor Zene, and even though his bands aren't common sights in the Soo, his links back home are still clear & present! 

Band Bio: Launched just weeks after Jay Buston & Ash Richtig's prior band Repetitions' July 2012 breakup, The Line Drawn saw them join forces with Ash's former NeanderTHRALL bandmate Chris Wilkins and ex-Gunsmith drummer Mihilo John, while playing a hardcore punk style close to that of Repetitions. After a few months of preparation, the band debuted in St. Thomas, Ontario on November 24th and in Windsor on December 1st. Since then, they've played and scheduled a number of metal & punk concerts in Southern Ontario (including opening sets for bands like Gypsy Chief Goliath & KEN Mode), and have also released original studio material, so be on the lookout for further news and notes from The Line Drawn! So far, there isn't a lot of live videos of The Line Drawn yet, but they are similar in many ways to Repetitions musically! Having Jay and Ash in the fold helps, and like earlier footage, the higher punk-tinged yelling vocals and hard hitting old school sound is familiar and very brutal!

I will say that Repetitions had a fuller sound than The Line Drawn (utilizing two guitarists helped in that regard), but they have fleshed out some of the messier rawness of earlier shows. The Line Drawn sound very exciting though, so keep an eye on them as they rise up the Windsor scene, and check out their first live video below!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you guys liked this month's Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile! Next month, we'll keep with Sault Ontario projects, this time looking at Brynhildr, the new black metal project from Sault College alum & Winter of Silence mainman Ryan DeWinter (a.k.a. Geiravor Hrist Herfjotra), so watch out for that on or around March 26th! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news & weeekend concert previews soon, along with this month's review of Aftersight's only album! Thanks everyone!

Woods Of Ypres' Juno Nomination, Apocalypse: The Musical Updates, And A Possible Local Concert!!

Here's one more news post before we preview this weekend's metal and hard rock concerts tomorrow morning, and in today's entry, we have a possible show for the spring that needs a booker, a lineup change for an upcoming local metal show, and leading off, huge news relating to a major award nomination for a local band, so here's what you need to know!

Woods of Ypres have been posthumously nominated for a Juno Award! As revealed during yesterday's announcements of the nominees (viewable here), the defunct local blackened doom metal band were nominated in the Best Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year category for their final studio album "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light", which is absolutely huge news for both the local metal scene and the band as a whole! (for Yooper reference, the Junos are essentially the Canadian Grammys.) "W5" is up against the newest albums from The Cancer Bats, Castle, The Devin Townsend Project, and Ex Deo for the honour, ensuring some stiff competition for the award (KEN Mode beat the likes of Anvil & Fuck The Facts to win the first Juno in the Metal/Hard Music category last year). The 2013 Juno Awards will be held on April 21st in Regina, Saskatchewan, but the metal category will likely be a part of an untelevised private gala dinner the night before the main ceremony, as was the case last year (but those awards are acknowledged on air during the main ceremony on CTV.)

This is fantastic news, and I think in some ways, totally unexpected, as you don't picture the Junos and local metal bands going hand in hand, but the introduction of a full metal category is great in that regard! This may seem like a late nomination given the "Woods V" release last spring, but eligible songs/bands/albums for this year stretch from the end of 2011 through most of last year, so it came out too late for the 2012 awards. I don't know as of yet if anyone connected to the band will be able to attend the awards (guitarist Joel Violette & Gold family members would make perfect sense), but it is still sad that frontman David Gold isn't with us anymore to fully realize how well "W5" has been received. This just adds to the mark he left as a musician locally and nationally, and if this helps spread Woods of Ypres to a larger fanbase (even posthumously), their legacy will benefit, win or lose! I just wish the metal awards were broadcast in some form. If any updates come out concerning the category or ceremony that would impact local Woods fans, we'll have them here, but keep the Junos in mind come April! David would be proud!

Next up, here's another lineup change relating to Apocalypse: The Musical at The Canadian Nightclub on March 1st, as Late & Loud have dropped out of the all-tribute concert. A reason for their withdrawl wasn't announced, but seeing as two members are still playing at the show, I imagine there's either individual scheduling or personal reasons involved. Hopefully we'll see Late & Loud back soon though, as their recent shows have been way too sporadic! In their place, a one-off tribute band named Loud Lazer has been formed, ostensibly because it's a combination of members of Late & Loud (guitarist Jonathan Tiberi & bassist Benn Garside) and local rock quintet Lazer Queen (singer/guitarist Kate Drew & drummer Bret Shuttleworth.) This "new" band will still be playing a set of Motley Crue covers, as Late & Loud had originally intended. I'll note that Bret's involvement returns him to this show following his & Jon's thrash band Pillory's exit earlier this month, while the complete Loud Lazer lineup is almost the same as Lazer Queen, but with Benn Garside on bass (not keyboard) instead of Josh Hatherley, there is a unique direct L&L connection.

This "new" band should be interesting to hear, especially with the added lead vocal possibilities now that Kate's involved! Make sure not to miss Loud Lazer along with The Fiend Brigade (essentially T-Rex Manning) and Xanadu (Jon Tiberi's metal band from Welland) one week from Friday at The Canadian! Click here for all current details, including the updated poster above!

Finally for today, wanna help bring a touring metal band here for a concert? Last week, I received an e-mail from Aaron Homma, a guitarist in the Ontario/Quebec grindcore supergroup Killitorous, and he's hoping to get a booking for both them and Hamilton groove/hardcore metal band Skynet in Sault Ontario in May. I sent him some promoter contacts, but can you help? Killitorous' lineup has a lot of local concert connections, as Aaron played here with Immersed in July 2011, while they also boast members of Blind Witness, Today I Caught The Plague, and Blessed By A Broken Heart in their lineup, all of which you're bound to remember from late 2000s hardcore/metal shows! Skynet themselves have local links too, as members Blake Prince & Adrian Levasseur are alumni of local concert headliners Straight Reads The Line, and they were briefly advertised to headline the Locals Attack show at The Canadian in November before dropping out, so if this show goes down, it will be very familiar!

Musically, both bands are very cool, with Killitorous employing a brutal moshable grind/death sound, and Skynet having a djent-inspired technical style that has some Meshuggah influences, and I recommend checking both out! In the event that the contacts I sent don't work out, can you help promote or book Killitorous & Skynet in May? Message Aaron at this location if you're interested, and hopefully we'll see the guys here in the spring!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for this weekend's metal/hard rock concert previews tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Powerslug), New Videos, And More Assorted Updates!!

While we wait for fallout from the April Wine concert to trickle in, let's cover some recent stories in this evening's news post! Today, we have new archive videos from the band we profiled in this morning's Defunct Local Band Profile (in the post below this one), a new video from a newer Sault Michigan band, and more assorted stories, but first, here's a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

Sault Michigan hard rock trio Powerslug will return to The Cozy Corners Tavern & Grill in Barbeau this coming Saturday! Normally, I'd only hear about this short notice due to the band's continuing lack of an online page to promote concerts in advance, but thanks to The Cozy Corners' Facebook page recently starting to put up Facebook event pages for their live bands, we know about this one! Fresh off a road trip to the Kewadin Casino in Manistique yesterday, look for Powerslug to tear up the stage on Saturday in this visibly one night only gig with plenty of hard rocking covers, as is usually the case! There's no announced cover charge, a 9:00 PM start time is advertised, and you must be 21 to attend. For more details, visit the above links! While I still wish Powerslug would launch a larger online presence, their talent and frequent local appearances bode well for this weekend, so take the drive down to Barbeau (40 minutes from the Soo, an hour from St. Ignace) on Saturday to chug your mug with Powerslug!

Next up, here's a new video relating to newer Sault Michigan hardcore band The Eleventh Hour! Clean singer Cathy Burgos uploaded this video onto her YouTube channel in November of her playing a short piano composition named "That's Not the Wind Howling, It's the Wolves", which is apparently for an Eleventh Hour original song. Just 80 seconds long, it's nicely done, yet reserved, and it would add well to one of their tracks, even if she was a bit nervous when filming this! Also of note, this video is the first real confirmation that The Eleventh Hour will include keyed instruments in their material, while it also indicates that Cathy hasn't fully left the band (despite her removal from their Facebook page's lineup and her current residence in Indiana), so we'll have to see where this all goes! Check out Cathy's new video below, and keep an eye out for Eleventh Hour updates as the new year rolls on!



Thirdly today, here's three assorted shorter stories from the last little while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by band name:

• Local death metal quartet Crimson Crusade's recording sessions are actually being done at the Smoke & Oak Room Studio with producer Dave Pihlaja, similarly to Late & Loud's recording sessions towards their EP. The band hasn't formally confirmed this, but the studio's Facebook page has mentioned Crimson Crusade a bit this past weekend. This is bigger than I was expecting, and I can't wait to hear what the guys have in store from this!
• Sault Michigan hardcore band Hoist The Sails quietly broke up late last year. A reason wasn't announced, but the news was confirmed in a comment reply on their Facebook page on December 13th, where they said that they're "not a band anymore." Featuring Analog Deficiency & Highest of Fives alumni, Hoist The Sails had promise early last year with some well recorded demo material, but best of luck to Travis, Luke, Mitch, Nathan, Cody, Joe, and Marcel in the future, and hopefully the guys all stay active in music!
• I can now confirm the full lineup of new Sault Michigan band Toast, as veteran local singer & drummer Bob Helsten is on drums with this band too, reuniting him with former Clownsack/Chord On Bluz bandmate Tony Rogers. The jury's still out on if they're essentially a successor to Swayze Train, or if they take a heavier or lighter slant from that band, but if I hear anything, I'll let you guys know! My source is recent personal Facebook photos from Bob's Powerslug bandmate Chris Leask.

Finally for today, I wanted to share a couple of new archive videos that I recently uploaded to our YouTube channel! As you may remember, we profiled late 2000s Sault Ontario grunge trio No Arrow in this morning's Defunct Local Band Profile, and I like I often do in this series, I wanted to post some new media of theirs on YouTube that wasn't there previously. As these weren't featured on the profile itself, they deserve a spotlight on here, so these are two early clips of No Arrow live at Madison's Pub! The videos are of them covering Nirvana's "Breed" on New Year's Eve 2006 (when they were still known as Murder Playground) and, as embedded below, them playing their original "Colder Side of the Sun" in April 2007 after their name change. I think both feature their "classic" lineup (Dann Pichette, Harley Syrette, and Joe Falco), and both had edits made to the video quality to fix poor lighting. The quality on both is mixed (though the audio is clearer for the original), but it's good to see these videos all the same, especially as clips from Madison's Pub metal/hard rock concerts aren't plentiful from my experience.

Both of these videos were uploaded to the band's MySpace page in early 2007 at this location, and NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!! All credit for both of these videos go to No Arrow, I'm just trying to share these with a deserving wider audience! No Arrow are on form with their grungy alternative hard rock on both videos (despite patchy video quality), so check out these videos above & below, and our No Arrow defunct profile in the post under this one!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news this week, including hopefully some fallout from this past weekend's April Wine concert! Thanks everyone!

Defunct Local Band Profile Series: Out Of The Mouth Of Babes

Hey guys, it's time to kick off year 2 of our Defunct Local Band Profile Series, and seeing as 4/5ths of this band are playing at The Roosevelt Hotel later today, the timing couldn't be better! The joys of random selection, huh? As always, this series explores a band from the Sault Ste. Marie area that is either defunct or visibly inactive for a year plus (with no biases for sound, longevity, talent, or membership), and we'll tell you a bit about them, what to expect, and what you can check out and read about for said band! Hopefully you guys like this month's Defunct Profile, so check it out below! (Updated: May 5th, 2012)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Out Of The Mouth Of Babes

Genre: Hardcore/Metal

Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Members: (Members not in their last lineup in italics.)

Matt Maccarone (A Fall From Innocence, Stay Seventeen), vocals
Garrett Masters (As It Stands), guitar
Albert Bourrier (As It Stands), guitar
Angelo Huckson (As It Stands), bass
John Mignacca (As It Stands), drums
Josh McNally (The Moves, Deter, The Fury), vocals

Audio/Video: Though members of Out Of The Mouth Of Babes produced a lot of material before and after their run in their other bands, OOTMOB specifically didn't have too much. Only one song was recorded & posted on their MySpace page, entitled "Take A Walk With Me", though two versions of it were recorded with both of their frontmen. Both were recorded at idioRECORDS with producer Dave Hunter. I uploaded the version with Matt Maccarone singing from 2010 on our YouTube channel (I don't have the original), so check it out at this location! For actual videos, there isn't much either, especially given their single live concert, but at least two exist! A 1:50 long video featuring assorted clips was posted on YouTube in March 2010 by drummer John Mignacca, but here's a full performance from the show, as Out Of The Mouth Of Babes covered (oddly enough) "Last Name" by Carrie Underwood! Check it out below!



Info/Analysis: Out Of The Mouth Of Babes formed in July 2009 out of the ashes of the then-defunct As It Stands, who broke up the previous month. The lineups of the two bands were almost identical, save for prolific local musician Josh McNally on vocals in lieu of Justin Pregent. Josh fronted the band for the next few months, though they never took the stage with this lineup, and he was quietly replaced by Matt Maccarone in late 2009. They finally made their live debut on February 20th, 2010, opening for Bring The Fallen at Nite-Life Dance Club (later GLOW) for their portion of the Algoma Hope4Haiti concert benefit event. It would be their only show, and updates stalled after April 2010, with a few announced shows never materializing. OOTMOB quietly ended that summer, and As It Stands (with Justin back) reunited that August to great fanfare. It's clear from As It Stands' quick resurgence that they made a wise choice reuniting, but Out Of The Mouth Of Babes deserve some love as well! Their style showed the progression that the new AIS songs have, while still being very heavy, moshable, & energetic, though with some added humour & similar flourishes. Matt Maccarone's singing suited their aims at the time, with better clean vocals & stage presence than Justin had showed then, but Matt's screaming was higher in tone. Josh McNally was good too, but his voice wasn't as heavy.

As It Stands' current form is much better & tighter than they ever were originally, especially with Justin's improvement, but OOTMOB deserve a lot of credit for helping the transition. From what little we heard, we knew there was a lot of good hardcore stuff there, and had As It Stands not returned, I'm sure their fans would have loyally followed Out Of The Mouth Of Babes!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There we go, I hope you guys enjoyed this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! Next month's profile, which was also randomly selected, will be about defunct local death metal band State of Misery! How's that for a pick? They're probably our newest chosen band in terms of when they were last active, and if members of this band are playing a show around August 10th, the ironic timing of this series will surely continue! This should be an interesting feature post next month, so watch out for it around August 10th, and I'll see you guys THIS AFTERNOON at The Roosevelt Hotel for the Fatality/Immersed all ages show! Thanks everyone!

That's Chester Concert Review & Two Concert Previews!!

Well, I promised I'd make it up to you for missing the Rosie metal night on Thursday by hitting a Saturday nighter, and that's exactly what I did! For the first time ever, I went to Docks to check out That's Chester, so my review of that show will lead off this post! We'll cap it with previews of two metal shows taking place tonight and tomorrow night, so stay tuned for those! Now, on to the review!

Firstly, here's some of my initial impressions on Docks Riverfront Grill, a concert spot I'd never previously been inside. Very fancy and higher end than I expected, with lots of fancy lighting and TVs. Fairly big too, but the stage area isn't as big as I expected it would be. I should note that there WAS a cover last night, $4, which I assume is standard for Docks most nights (this is why I said there was no ANNOUNCED cover charge), and believe it or not, you had to get a bracelet before getting in! I'm not used to that for a bar. The environment seemed a bit "high level" at first, but once That's Chester kicked into gear, things relaxed quickly. One thing that caught my eye really heavily was the contrast between the concert stage and everywhere else in the bar. The stage area's woodgrain and rather small apart from a dance floor area, and with a classic hard rock band playing on it, things flowed well in that area. However, the rest of the bar's very high end and attracts a largely different looking crowd than you think That's Chester would typically get. It felt like they were playing to the wrong audience, or they were at the wrong bar. If you would have seen guys in suits and well dressed ladies dancing to the music, you'd see what I mean. Still, it's a very nice bar, and I'm not opposed to returning!

When I got to Docks, That's Chester had regretfully already begun, but I didn't miss very much, I was there just a shade after 11:00 PM! For my first live impressions of them in action, I can gladly say they were as good as I figured they would be! Their setlist comprised of a large assortment of classic and hard rock songs, everything from AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin, and Velvet Revolver to Wings, Pink Floyd, Bryan Adams, and The Tragically Hip! Nice to see them throwing some Canadian content in their sets, that's always welcome! Muscially, I can't complain too much, all five members of That's Chester are very talented musicians and there was no major flubs of the included songs! Greg Simpson (of Stiffler's Mom & Bone Yard fame) proves to be a very good frontman when he emerges from the drumkit, with lots of energy and enthusiasm, even jumping into the crowd to mingle with fans mid-song! His range isn't up to the task of some of their songs, but his tone and melodies were spot on for most of the night! Of the rest of the band, Ric Datson's drumming was awesome all night, and the chimes were a nice touch! Aubrey Falls is a very good bassist (though he was mixed a bit high in the first set), I love how Gabe Tessaro incorporated an Angus Young skip into their "Jailbreak" cover, and his and Eugene Orlando's guitar work were very impressive!

It's the little things that add up in a concert like this, and That's Chester delivered those! Their on-stage banter was amusing, and they included some fun moments throughout the night! Remember, when That's Chester cover ZZ Top's "La Grange", it's tequila time, for example! There was even a birthday song for an attendee that was "off colour", to state it mildly. It was odd seeing well dressed fans dancing to classic hard rock, but they were having a good time, and you can't ask for much more than that! I like how they didn't group songs into sets either, they played a mix of everything throughout the night, giving everyone a little something throughout the night! It was nice to finally see That's Chester live, their tequila fueled brand of hard rock was basically what I expected, and I hope to see them live again! I did get pictures, but excuse the quality, I had to take them on a picture stabilization setting with no flash because of the windows behind the stage, which made normal photos look too dark. Click here to check them out! And yes, I got a video, so here's That's Chester covering Led Zeppelin's "Good Times, Bad Times"!



Now to a pair of concert previews for shows taking place over the next two days, as we make one last push for you guys to make it out and rock out in style! Firstly, there's a big metal show TONIGHT at The Vibe Lounge on Goulais Avenue (nice to see more shows there), so here's who's playing tonight! Headlining is Fredericton, New Brunswick progressive metal outfit We, The Undersigned, who'll look to devastate the local fans with their brand of extreme hard hitting metal in this stop on their "Tonight, We Dine..." tour! The vocals are unique for their style, and they sound ripe for a moshpit, check them out at this location! Two local openers are primed for this show as well, including grimecore trio Shit Liver in their first of two concerts on consecutive days (more in a second) and extreme metal quintet WinkStinger, who are 100% confirmed to open now! They'll fit well as openers, especially WinkStinger, so don't miss the local content to start tonight's show! There is NO cover tonight, you must be 19 to attend, and everything starts after 9:00 PM! For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! Sounds like a great concert, but I'll sadly have to skip it, as it's a school night, and I have a lot of homework to get done tonight to boot. Rock out for me though, it'll be worth your time to go! Three hard hitting extreme metal bands for free? Sounds good to me! Check the above links for more, and for a preview, here's We, The Undersigned's video for "Burning Bodies (In The Distance)"!



Finally, here's Shit Liver's second show in a two day span, as they back up a prominent Canadian punk band in their local return! The band is Vancouver's own The Rebel Spell, who are no strangers to Sault Ste. Marie! I remember seeing them on Halloween night five years ago, and they were awesome then, so I imagine little will change! Hard hitting punk rock with lots of attitude, you should enjoy them! Of course, Shit Liver are opening with their grimy and crusty brand of death metal, but local ska punk rockers Free Beer are also opening, in a rare concert appearance of their own! If you've been a fan of Free Beer's since their 2007 inception, then you'll wanna see them for sure tomorrow night! There will be a $5 cover for this show, you must be 19 to attend, and it all starts at 9:00 PM or later! Sounds like a fun show itself, though I do have a night class tomorrow, so making this one could be tight. Check the above links for more, hopefully a big crowd of punk fans shows up! And for a preview, here's Shit Liver playing their original "Survival Of The Shittiest" at The Rosie!



That's all for now, but I have some big news to share either tonight or tomorrow, so stay tuned1 Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Saigon Hookers & We, The Undersigned), Another New Local Band, And More!!

Hey everyone, here's a post to keep you guys entertained before the Super Bowl! Today, we have some long overdue SMS link updates to share, our weekly classic video (finally), and two LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, but first, here's another new local band!

This has to be the youngest band we've ever talked about on the SMS in terms of average age, and the band in question is Abstract from Sault Michigan! Formed last summer through Shift guitarist Joey Beairl's Guitar Studio rock camp, their ages range from 11 to 12! They were originally known as Aux, and I briefly mentioned them last year as a possible band to perform at the Kewadin Casino 25th Anniversary Summer Festival, which they did end up playing on. Abstract features singer/guitarist Jacob Hotlen, guitarist Kyle Burton, bassist Mike East, and drummer Ethan Twardy. They've actually racked up a lot of gigs so far, including shows in Mackinac City, a set at Oktoberfest, and even a show at The Satisfied Frog. They even have band t-shirts on sale at Pro Sports & Harmony Health Foods, which is cool! When I first found out about Aux/Abstract last year, I didn't talk much about them because the only video I found had the band covering The White Stripes & Weezer, neither of which are "metal". However, Abstract do cover The Scorpions (among likely others), they have tons of metal bands as influences, and Jacob Hotlen plays a Dean ML guitar live, which is awesome! Musically, they are very good for their age, and have a good grasp of their covers! If you're of a more critical mindset, don't be, remember the band's age.

I don't know what the future holds for Abstract, but an early start into rock of any type is never bad! Don't be discouraged by the lack of metal covers on the videos on their Facebook page, I have a feeling they have more than that during their live shows! Check the above links for more, and also, kudos to Joey Beairl for his rock camps! These are giving young area musicians a great start towards hopefully bright futures in music, and some real talents have been developed through there!

Now to our LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS, and we'll start with a show at The Rockstar Bar on March 4th! On that night, Kitchener hard rockers The Saigon Hookers will hit Sault Ontario for a long awaited concert! In case you didn't know, The Saigon Hookers used to feature Lion Ride bassist Carmine "Cobra Carmander" Romano in their lineup before he joined Lion Ride full time in January, and the two bands are good friends, so there is some local good will for them! Full details on this concert haven't been unveiled yet, though "friends" will join them presumably as opening bands. Doors open at 9:00 PM (I'd assume it has a 10:00 PM start time), there's no listed cover charge, and you must be 19 to enter. It's nice to see The Saigon Hookers finally coming to Sault Ontario for a concert, I was wondering when they'd finally come to their Lion Ride friends' hometown for a show! Hopefully this goes well, as their punk/metal hybrid sound is sure to get fans out to The Rockstar Bar on March 4th! Check the above links for more, and I'll keep you guys posted when updates on this show come in!

Next up, here's another new concert that I have for you guys! When I was browsing the local concert listings on Reverbnation, I came across a concert scheduled for March 6th at The Vibe Lounge! The band in question is We, The Undersigned, a progressive metal trio from Fredericton, New Brunswick, and they have a good sound going for them! Chaotic energetic metal with unique vocals for their genre, they should impress on the live stage! This concert is announced to be taking place at The Vibe Lounge, the Goulais Avenue bar that has hosted the scattered metal show, on March 6th at 9:00 PM. 19+ and no cover charge are likely too. My source for this information is the band's official Reverbnation page, but note that We, The Undersigned still have the venue as "TBA" on their MySpace page, with a TBA local date for this Saturday listed as well. That show was moved to Thunder Bay though, so don't get your hopes up. I don't know a ton about this show, but if they say they're coming to The Vibe in March, then there must be a level of truth to it! I like their sound, they should pull in some fans next month! Check the above links for more!

Now, finally, it's this week's weekly classic video! It just got pushed back and back from filled posts over the last few days, but I at least got it uploaded last week! Again, I'm tying it in with an upcoming concert (well, it was upcoming last week), and it's of Sault Michigan hard rockers Monkey's Uncle! I've never seen a video of them on YouTube, and they deserve the views and attention, so I decided to upload one of their MySpace videos onto the SMS' YouTube channel! This is taken from a concert circa February 2008 at The Northern Pines Lounge at Kewadin Casino in St. Ignace, back when they were still known as Jager and had a second guitarist, and it's their cover of Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog"! The original video was filmed by a concert attendee and later uploaded onto Monkey's Uncle's MySpace page not long afterwards. The original video can be viewed at http://myspace.com/monkeysuncle3/videos/hair-of-the-dog/28440633, and I mean NO HARM OR INFRINGEMENT WITH THIS UPLOAD! Monkey's Uncle deserve extra attention, I want people to check them out more! They do a good job on this cover, no major quibbles, but I do like how Henry Switzer adapted his vocal range well to the song! Good stuff, check it out below, and I have more Monkey's Uncle news to share tomorrow!



And finally, I wanted to share some updates that I made to our links on the SMS. In the Sault Ontario concert venue info, I added The Big Cheese in Heyden and Docks Riverfront Grill, and moved The Algonquin Pub and Madison's Pub to the Other Local Metal Links, as neither have hosted a metal or hard rock concert in over a year. In the Sault Michigan concert venue info section, I added Joe's Bar in Rudyard, The Merchant's Bar, The Savoy Bar & Nightclub, and Zim's, while removing The Big Bear Arena, as I don't believe they've hosted a "metal" concert in a year either. All of the added venues include addresses, phone numbers, and internet links where applicable. I adjusted the old Sault This Week link in the Other Local Metal Links section to reflect the inactivity of the old Hot Spots section (now it links to the main page.) In the Sault Ontario music stores section, I added the new Facebook page for Gore Street music store Music Depot, and I corrected the phone numbers for Real Rock 105.1 & Classic Rock: The Bear in the local radio stations section, as they no longer share a number. I edited the Sault Metal Video Bar to remove channels with a now low percentage of local metal videos, and added 8 new YouTube channels. I also re-added a Facebook badge for our page on there, as well as a badge to link to our Reverbnation page. These were long overdue, hopefully everything's up to date now!

That's all for now, hope you guys enjoy the Super Bowl (I'm going for Pittsburgh), and I'll have a new post tomorrow! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Turner Up), Another FM Rock Station, Plus More Band Updates!!!

Well, now that my 21st birthday is over and done with, it's back to work on the SMS! Big update to kick off June with, featuring some pretty big stories, including a new local album announcement, new tour dates for a local band, another group's search for a new member, and my recent discovery of yet another Mackinac Bridge-area FM rock station! But first, here is a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!!

Turner Up are back at The Canadian Nightclub on Saturday night! "The Sault's Party Band" will hit the stage there at 10:30 PM on Saturday to rock the night away with some great rock covers, including some heavy stuff if you stick around! Luckily, a Facebook event page was launched for this show, so I found out about it a little sooner than I had in recent weeks, so visit there to confirm your attendance! It is definitely 19+, I'd expect a cover charge of $5 or less. Should be fun, as usual, Turner Up are a good band and definitely play some great tunes, even when they play more accessible material! For more information on Turner Up, visit their official Facebook group! And yes, it's just a Saturday night show. Why nothing Friday? Well, according to an e-mail by The Canadian's Mary Lou Johnson to members of their Facebook group, there's apparently a Rush tribute band playing there on Friday! Now I can't reasonably verify this yet, because she didn't specify which Rush tribute band it was, and in my internet searching, I've found none with a scheduled date for Sault Ste. Marie on ANY date. So I won't plug the show yet, BUT if someone can verify which specific Rush tribute band is playing on Friday at The Canadian (if one still is), LET ME KNOW!!

So, I'm sure by now that you know that FM radios in the Sault area can often pick up signals from the Mackinac Bridge area, right? That's how we can pick up Real Rock 105.1 and the new feed of Classic Rock: The Bear on 94.5 FM. Well, just by accident, I found another rock radio station from that area yesterday! If you turn your dials to 98.9 FM, and if the signal picks up, you will be treated to KLT: The Rock Station, a mainstream rock station out of Petoskey! KLT also has a feed out of Kalkaska that serves the Traverse City market at 97.5 FM for that area. KLT sort of falls between The Bear and Rock 101 in terms of what it plays, basically more classic stuff than Rock 101 but more new stuff than The Bear, if that makes sense. It's a good station from what I've caught, it's a wonder I haven't came across it before! Maybe I'm just so used to most stations being in the 100s. They have some cool features, like custom listener playlists on Thursday, a "KLT's Garage" program showcasing area talent (Rock 101 should do that!) It's a good station, flip your radios to 98.9 FM to hear some more great rock! Getting tougher though to choose FM stations to listen to, as we get Rock 101, WLSO, Real Rock, KLT, AND The Bear here!

Next up, Woods of Ypres have announced the first tour dates for their first ever American tour AND their mini-Eastern Canada swing afterwards! As posted in a topic on the band's forum, Woods of Ypres will spend a little over two weeks touring the United States beginning with a show in Portland on June 28th! Their travels will take them to California, Arizona, Texas (where they'll play FOUR shows), and New York, before wrapping up their American tour in Worcester, Massachusetts on July 15th! Then, the band come back to Canada for shows in Toronto and Ottawa on July 16th and 18th, with a possible Montreal show still on the 17th still to be finalized. Check out all dates on the right of the page, or by clicking the above link! Great to see Woods of Ypres hitting the road this much, but I have a tiny little request: Come here for a show, we'd welcome Woods of Ypres back, I'm sure of it! I'd love to hear some of the new "Woods IV" songs live!

Also, if you're worried about Woods of Ypres future (as in, are they breaking up), well, let this put you at ease. David posted this in a reply to an inquiry about playing shows in Britain and Ireland on that same forum topic: "...yeah, it will happen eventually. We're always ready. All we need is an invite for a 'one-off' (festival etc...). We're touring Canada and at least some of the USA this summer, 2010, so our first trip to Europe might be a logical next step for 2011." There you go, no band breakup! But there is SOMETHING major David Gold is planning to do concerning Woods of Ypres, the question now is what?

Alright, now are you local metalheads wondering what ever happened to Sault Michigan hard rockers Clownsack? Well, here's an update! The band has posted a new bulletin on MySpace (check it out by clicking here) where they have announced that they are looking for a new guitarist, two possibly! Current guitarist Butter Cookie is still with the band for now for recording of their next E.P. and a few shows, but is leaving eventually, hence the need for a new guitarist. If they go with two, the band would want a rhythm guitarist with a seven string guitar, along with a lead player, so keep that in mind if you want to audition. Also, because this is Clownsack, make a note that you'd have to dress like an evil clown with a clown-like stage name, a'la Schloppy and Slappy. This could be a big opportunity, Clownsack are definitely one of the more recognizable and popular of the Sault Michigan hard rock bands, hopefully the right guitarist(s) comes along! E-mail the band at their official MySpace page for audition info! Sad to see Butter Cookie leaving eventually though, I loved his work on "Rotten Candy"!

And finally, a new album from a local band has been officially announced! Which one though? Is it Garden of Bedlam? Lion Ride? Sense of Truth? Nope, actually, it's Sykotyk Rampage! Guitarist Dirk Becker uploaded the album cover for the band's 23rd album onto Facebook the other day, and you can check it out on your right! Interesting artwork! The album will be entitled "Bella Disgusta", and according the photo's caption, it will be released in "June 2010". Good sign, but will it be released for sure this month? No idea yet, but if it counts for anything, their last album "22" was released months after what was originally announced. But if it does come out, might it be June's SMS CD review? Only time will tell, but expect "Bella Disgusta" to be another one of a kind album from the kings of "blue Chinese metal crash punk"!

That's all for today, I have some extra assorted news updates lying around to share in my next post, with hopedully some more big stories, including (hopefully) news on that Rush tribute band at The Canadian on Friday, and much more! Also, on Friday, I have an announcement to make concerning the SMS' 3rd anniversary on July 4th. No, it's not bad, just look out for it, cause I need your help with something!